This afternoon our session was attended by WOA’s foreign guests Mr. Armando and Mr. Jason.
The Ukrainian club members group was offered a video that introduced the Easter vocabulary and explained the Easter traditions. We watched a video and shared information about unusual Easter celebrations in some countries, the content of the Ukrainian Easter baskets (with Easter bread, cured lard, home-made sausages, and water).
The highlights of the Easter session were the stories of our foreign guests about Easter traditions in the USA, UK and Italy. On the other hand the guests were interested in the English language video about Ukrainian painted Easter eggs and the symbols used for the traditional egg designs.
At the end of the educational session we had an Easter tea party and wished each other Happy Easter!
Number of participants – 25 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
Dnipropetrovsk high school №141 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.
On the 3rd day of the Orthodox Easter the group of 6th year students and 3 teachers visited the WOA’ Center to learn more about Easter celebration in different countries of the world. The group was offered a slide show which presented Easter traditions in English and German speaking countries. The kids participated in several Easter craft activities and completed Easter words puzzles.
The visit was complemented with the tour of the library departments located in the WOA’s building.
Number of participants – 24.
Dnipropetrovsk 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.
On the Orthodox Easter Eve the WOA’s Head Svetlana Usenko was invited to take part in the festivities and to tell the students about American Easter traditions.7 lessons in which Svitlana participated flew like a flash.
Each lesson began with a story in English about Easter traditions presented by students. The most creative school students performed musical numbers. Most impressive were gospel type lyrical religious songs, the girls sang and played on the piano, flute and saxophone. One boy performed a violin number; another girl recited a funny Ukrainian Easter story.
The students’ show was followed by S. Usenko’s slide-show presentation and demonstration of relevant videos. The students learned about the annual celebration at the White House in Washington. A popular activity there was an Easter Egg Roll, which involved a large number of American children and their parents. President Barack Obama read a story to the children, played tennis and basketball with American athletes. The First Lady Michelle Obama demonstrated her dancing skills and encouraged the audience to lead healthy lifestyles.
Another Easter activity offered to the school children was egg decoration, they were encouraged to hand-paint the eggs. Cartoons about Bunny rabbit raised the students’ spirits - they sang and danced along.
The final Easter activity offered to the students was coloring Easter pictures. Many of the students left school with a lovely Easter gift for their parents.
Number of participants – 255 persons.
Today the WOA Center Dnipropetrovsk was visited by the group of the 5th grade students from the local high school No. 141 with teachers.
Within the framework of the “Discover USA” project the group was presented a slideshow about the Easter celebration in the USA. The presentation introduced the children to the popular Easter games - Egg hunt and Egg Roll. The information was illustrated with the images and videos about Easter celebration at the White House.
The kids were asked to compare the traditional symbols of US and Ukrainian Easter.
They compared the methods of Easter eggs decoration and Easter basket content in two countries. The new vocabulary that was introduced will help the students to talk about Easter in English.
The highlight of the presentation were kids’ Easter songs in English with subtitles. Some of the students tried to sing along the merry tunes.
The presentation about American Easter was enjoyed by both kids and adults.
Number of participants – 22.
Today’s session of the Gabfest English speaking Club at the "Window on America" Dnipropetrovsk started with an influx of new-comers. The most numerous was a group of senior high school students from the Pidhorodne suburb of Dnipropetrovsk. Their teacher brought the group prior to the beginning of the Club session in order to introduce the student to the FLEX exchange program. Several videos gave the students an insight into the process of candidates selection and other formalities for the program participants.
The official topic of the session was “Easter Celebration in the USA”. The group was offered several You Tube videos about the Easter story. The videos introduced the basic vocabulary to the topic and enabled the group to support a conversation about Easter in English. The most impressive was the video about the Holy Sepulcher as it visualized a lot of important historical details.
The video about the traditional celebration of Easter in the USA presented the popular kids’ games – Easter egg hunt and Easter egg roll – that were new to the group. We talked about the differences in Easter celebration in Catholic and Orthodox denominations. The Club members shared their plans for Easter weekend.
In spite of the complicated topic the group enjoyed the conversation and the new information received at the session.
Number of participants – 25 persons.
