“The American told schoolchildren of the outskirts of Dnipro about America in English”.
The week of English Language in Ukraine still continues. The New Year holidays are approaching! So let’s create festive mood to everyone who studies English festively!
The American volunteer and English teacher of Mr. Jason Rush and the Head of the information and resource Window on America center Msr. Svitlana Usenko made a friendly visit to secondary school No 39 being invited by school teacher Victoria Platonova. It was a welcome surprise for 5th graders. Mr. Jason became inspirator of oral skills of the schoolchildren and checked their knowledge of English by asking questions and answering the counter-questions of the braves. The conversation was focused on Washington D.C., where our guest came from, about his sphere of activity in Ukraine, hobbies, sports, cars, plant and animal kingdom and much more on which children’s imagination is capable of.
The schoolchildren prepared several festive activities like declaiming a poem and dancing with a song. The performing artists received commemorative photos with the guest on them.
The weather was pretty cold (-8 C), but it did not intervene our planned picturesque outskirts excursion in the Pivnichnyi district, which took place in the end. The group of activists made a start to feed birds and squirrels in the forest to help them to survive in these frosty days. The American guest liked the New Year garland on the front doors which looked like it was in American style, and he was interested in buildings of the Soviet architecture and enchanting Orthodox Church.
The English teachers of the school also joined the activity. So we shall wait for the new invitations and prepare new activities for the schoolchildren of the secondary school No 39.
Number of participants – 50 persons.
#УкраїнаSpeaking #americanspaces #DniproWOA #Dnipro #library #DOUNB #ДОУНБ #Ukraine #educationalactivities #LearnEnglish #Christmas
Dnipro high school № 22 provides in-depth study of English; it’s a specialized school – one of the best in town. For many years it cooperates with DOUNB Library and "Window on America" Center.
The WOA’s Head Svetlana Usenko was invited to take part in the Week of English and to tell the students about American Christmas and New Year traditions.2 lessons in which Svitlana participated flew like a flash.
The students’ show was followed by S. Usenko’s slide-show presentation and demonstration of relevant videos. The students learned about the annual celebration in the USA.
The final Christmas activity offered to the students was coloring Christmas pictures. Many of the students left school with a lovely Christmas gift for their parents.
Number of participants – 62 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
Christmas Fun for Teenagers – Christmas bells jingle - 5
"Window on America" Information and Resource Center (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) held the fifth cultural event in the project "Christmas bells jingle" for the "American Teen Club" members. The meeting was prepared and moderated by the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program graduates Akastyelova Anna and Olga Chichikalo. The event was attended by the WOA’s American volunteer Mr. Jason.
"Window on America" Center offers all its resources to make the Club sessions interesting, effective and positive at the same time. To break the ice the teenagers played some motion games. The slide show “American traditions and symbols of Christmas” was reviewed with a lot of interest. Teen Club leaders Olga and Anna showed the members how to make DIY festive Christmas paper decorations. Can you imagine a New Year party in Ukraine without sweet treats and tangerines? Teen Club holiday table was no exception.
Teenagers left the library in a good mood and with new knowledge.
The "U.S. Art Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” project continues.
At the "Window on America" Dnipropetrovsk the “Gabfest” club members were introduced to the popular songs about Christmas. Language learning through music and lyrics – is a fun activity for all English language students.
The Club’s Moderator Tamara Gavryliuk presented 7 songs performed by the iconic American singers – Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Natalie Cole others. The lyrics of the songs created a festive, friendly, warm atmosphere. Translation of the lyrics enriched club members’ vocabulary and added optimism.
The DOUNB Library welcomes its patrons with a positive attitude and inspires them with a desire to share good feelings with other people.
Number of participants – 10 persons.
The Drama Fantasy Family film "It’s A Wonderful Life" (1946) was presented to all who wish to improve their English language skills.
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy comedy-drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story "The Greatest Gift", which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1945. The film is now considered one of the most popular films in American cinema and due to numerous television showings in the 1980s has become traditional viewing during the Christmas season.
The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his dreams in order to help others and whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would be had he never been born.
Despite initially performing poorly at the box office because of high production costs and stiff competition at the time of its release, the film has come to be regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television in many households. Theatrically, the film's break-even point was $6.3 million, approximately twice the production cost, a figure it never came close to achieving in its initial release. An appraisal in 2006 reported: "Although it was not the complete box office failure that today everyone believes ... it was initially a major disappointment and confirmed, at least to the studios, that Capra was no longer capable of turning out the populist features that made his films the must-see, money-making events they once were."
It's a Wonderful Life is considered one of the most critically acclaimed films ever made. It was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture and has been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made, placing number 11 on its initial 1998 greatest movie list, and would also place number one on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time. Capra revealed that this was his personal favorite among the films he directed and that he screened it for his family every Christmas season.
