Merry Christmas from our friends in Russia!

We sent our friends a Christmas card and they prepared this wonderful video for us!

 Thank you very much!

The origin of Santa Claus!

Nowadays everybody knows Santa Claus as the jolly old man who brings presents to young children.
Do you know his true story? Let's read this article and find out!
No matter what, Christmas is about GENEROSITY and HAPPINESS !!!

Great Christmas games! 
Post your Christmas wishes as a comment or on your canvases!

Our personality!

Since ancient times some people believed that our zodiac signs tell us more things about character.
There is western astrology and there is Chinese astrology.
How much do you know about Chinese astrology?
Let's read this article .
Let's find out what our Chinese sign is.
Now some predictions for 2013.

Does your Chinese sign reflect your true personality? Explain.

Mobile phones!!!

Young people only know about the latest mobile phones!
How much do you know about the history of them?
First, let's read a very interesting article !
This person explains the difference between older mobile phones and today's mobile phones!

 Let's see some photos and find out how much mobile phones have changed over the years.
How have mobile phones affected society? Read this article !
Are you addicted to your mobile phone? Take this quiz and find out!

What is your opinion on mobile phones?

Let's play...

a board game!

spin the wheel !

wheel of fortune!

hangman!

fling the teacher!

Computers.....

Who invented the Computer? Let's watch this video and find out.
How have computers changed our lives?
Read this article and find out.
A very interesting video!

Let's see how much you remember! Take this quiz !

How have computers changed your lives?

We skyped with our friends from Smart School, Russia!

We talked about sports!

Let's hear your opinion!
Answer the questions below.
1. What was your part in this skype meeting?

2. What did you learn from it?

3. What ideas did you share?

4. Did you engage yourself in a dialogue?
     If yes, what was it about?

5. Did you use new vocabulary?

6. Is there anything else that you wanted to say, 
     but you didn't?
     If yes, why didn't you say it?

7. How did you feel in this skype meeting?   

Post your answers as a comment.

Music!!!

Let's see how much you know about music!
Do this quiz !
Do you really listen to the lyrics of a song?

Let's play....

with pirates!

hangman!

jeopardy!

walk the plank!

snakes & ladders!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Let's play...
turkey pardon!

What are you thankful for?

Let's play!

with prefixes & suffixes!

with word types!

with conjunctions!

football!

snakes & ladders!

Music!

Everybody likes music! Everybody has a favourite kind of music!
Does music define who we are?

Does music influence us?

Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of a song?
Read this article !
How does this song make you feel?

Post your favourite song on your canvas.
Write:
What is it about?
How does it make you feel when you listen to it?

Antarctica!

Let's learn a few things about this remote, vast and isolated continent...
clik here!
username:winners
password:winners
South Pole Station

What would you ask the scientist who live in Antarctica?
Post your question as a comment.

Friendship!

What are the qualities of a good friend?
Read the article!
Are you a good friend? Do the quiz and find out.
I bet you know this song.

Write a few things about your best friend. This chart may give you some ideas.
You can either write about what friendship is.

Peer Pressure.

A very interesting article about peer pressure and how it can affect us. In a positive or a negative way.

Click here to read it.
Play the game.
Do the quiz.
What do you say in these situations?

What have you learnt about peer pressure?
write a comment of about 100 words.

Happpy Halloween!

We skyped with our friends from Russia!

It was great fun!

Our friends have created a video with some questions for us.
This is their Blog: Smart&Crazy
These are our friends!

 Let's answer their questions.

Films!

Everybody has seen these films. What do the critics say about them.
Avatar
Clash of the Titans
Pirates of the Caribbean

Now write your review of a film that you love or hate.

Unbelievable transformation!

Watch the video and answer the questions that you have written.
1. How did they prepare the mask?
2. How did they make the face of John Travolta?
3. How long does it take them to put the make up on?
4. Why did they have a problem with the cheeks? 
5. What colour did they use for the make up?
6. What did they have to do with the fake body parts before the actor put them on?
7. How many sculptures of  "fatness" did they make?
8. Who designed the costume?
9. How did Travolta become a woman?
10. how many pairs of legs and arms have they got? 
  

Past simple vs Past continuous

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=8484

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=7949

Sports!!!

            This is a true story, from a real person.

About fifty years ago, my family moved from Oklahoma to Texas after my dad was offered a position as pastor of a nice big church in Irving. At that point in my life moving to "the big city" was very exciting, since until then my days had been spent on the simple things found in rural small town USA... collecting turtles from the side of the road probably topped my list of most enjoyable activities.

Upon arrival in Texas, one of the first things that was done to keep us kids occupied was to join the local YMCA. Many great days were spent at the Y over the next several years, however not every experience was a good one.

One day when my brother and I were probably about 5 and 6 years old, it was decided we needed to learn to swim. Sounded great to us, so plans were made, and we anxiously awaited our first class.

That day arrived, and we all hopped in the car and drove to the YMCA. The instructor greeted us, and told the parents to be back in an hour. Little brother and I were led to the pool by this swimming teacher. As we stepped up next to the pool, without warning, this genius pushed me into the 10' deep end. I quickly found myself sinking directly to the bottom. Nothing I could think of to get myself back to the surface worked, and intense panic set in. About the time thoughts of drowning crossed my mind, the teacher jumped in and pulled me to safety.

Goes without saying, if I could get a hold of that instructor today, God knows what I might do to him. Because of his idiocy, I literally spent decades petrified of being in water more than chin deep. Yes, I learned to swim, but it was a chore for a person who could not float.

One day 25 years later, I was invited to "test drive" a new custom made sailboat. Not knowing what to expect, I was more than a little concerned when I got to the cold mountain lake in Utah, and was greeted by a "kit made" tiny boat... barely looked large enough to support me, let alone two of us. Asked the guy if he really knew what he was doing, and was assured he did. Of course, my first reaction was to back out, but these were my "macho" days, and ego wouldn't allow me to open myself up to ridicule.

Initially things went just fine, until a big gust hit us... out in the middle of this large lake. The boat basically fell apart around us. Within two minutes we were clinging to the remains dog paddling for our lives. Yes, we had life jackets on, but they just don't do a lot of good for me.

About the time I had begun to consider the possibility of drowning since my legs were losing their ability to kick from the cold and strength draining, a boat happened by. Not sure why the guy didn't haul us on board, but he did tie on to the remains of the sailboat and tow us in. That was the longest ten minutes of my life. Once on shore, my legs were toast, and I had to drag myself with my arms.

Strangely enough, I lost my horrific fear of the water that day. Funny what surviving a very harrowing event can do for the human mind.

Ordering Ideas:          Useful vocabulary:

 About ... (years) ago                   keep...occupied=keep busy

At that point(in my life)                 anxiously=impatiently

Until then                                      be led to=take(sb)somewhere

 One day when                              greet=say hello

 As                                                 intense=powerful

 At about that time                        it goes without saying=you can easily understand

 When                                           get a hold on(sb)=get (sb)

 Initially=at first                              petrified=very scared

Within...(two minutes)  chore=a task that needs to be done but it's not very pleasant

                                                      contribute=do my part

                                                     concerned=worried

                                                     barely=almost not at all

                                                     assured=certain

                                                     reaction=act on something that is happening

                                                    back out=not do something

                                                    allow=let

                                                    ridicule=embarrass very much

                                                    consider=think

                                                     drain=empty

                                                      horrific=very scary

                                                      harrowing=painful    

Now write your own sports story.

Sports!

Do this fun exersice!!!

Present simple vs Present continuous

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=7328

Learning English!

We watched this video!

Have a great new school year!

We watched a video about the life of Alexander the Great.

Alexander the great was the king's of Macedonia son. When his father died, He covered the throne at the age of 12. He was educated by a philosopher, Aristotle. He conquered countries with his best horse, Bucefalus. He cut with his sword the Gordian knot that anyone else had managed to do it. He killed his friend and a few years later he died suddenly in Babylon.
Flora & Elpida B1B

At the age of 13, he became a prince. With his army he conquered many places. At the place of Tyre, the people made a statue on his honour. In addition, he had solved the Gordian knot and he used his mind to solve it. He cut it with his sword. He killed his friend because he told him that he wasn't the only one who conquered cities. He died at Babylon because of getting sick.
Jason, Ellie & zanis B1B

Alexander the Great was the son of the Macedonian king Philippos. When he was twenty years old, his father died. So he took the throne. He wanted to conquer the world. He became the greatest commander of Greece and he died from malaria.
Aldo & Stamatis B1A

Alexander the Great was brave. He conquered Turkey and he untied the Gordian knot. He conquered Egypt and the Nile river. He built Alexandria in Egypt. He died in Babylon.
Theodore & Chris B1A

Alexander the Great became one of the greatest heroes in ancient Greece. He was a Macedonian king. He worked with his parents in everything. He was a good killer. He killed his friend.
Panagiotis & John B1A

Alexander the Great never lost in a fight. He was a Macedonian king. He untied the Gordian knot. He killed his friend. He was a hero.
Deppy & Rafaella B1A

FOODS WE LIKE

Take a look at these traditional Cuban dishes! Don't you feel hungry?

GRAPHOLOGY PROJECT

Last Friday we read a text concerning an "artistic" science called Graphology. Graphology is the science that determines our personality traits through your handwriting. Take a look below:

Την περασμένη παρασκευή διαβάσαμε ένα κείμενο που αφορούσε μία "καλλιτεχνική" επιστήμη που ονομάζεταιο Γραφολογία. Η Γραφολογία είναι η επιστήμη που καθορίζει τα χαρακτηριστικά της προσωπικότητας μας διαμέσου του γραφικού χαρακτήρα. Ρίξτε μια ματιά  παρακάτω:

Hello, I'm Chris!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm shy and intelligent. Also, I'm calm and rarely get emotional. I'm confident and ambitious, too. Finally, I'm an honest, loyal and dependable friend.

Hello, I'm Depy!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm independent, sociable and sometimes too sure of myself. Also I'm very sensitive and generous. I'm confident and ambitious, too. Finally, I'm quite honest and loyal friend.  

Hello, I'm Marina!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm independent, sociable and sometimes too sure of myself. Also, I'm honest and dependable friend. I'm calm, too. Finally, I rarely get emotional.

Hello, I'm John!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm insecure, shy and intelligent. Also, I'm calm. I don't have much confidence and ambition, too. Finally, I'm loyal and dependable friend.

Hello, I'm Panagiotis!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm calm and rarely get emotional. Also, I'm quite independent, sociable and at times too sure of myself. I'm very confindent and ambitious, too. Finally, I have a childish nature.

Hello, I'm Rafaela!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm independent, sociable and sometimes too sure of myself. Also, I rarely get emotional. I'm not very confident, too. Finally, I'm honest, loyal and dependable friend.

Hello, I'm Stamatis!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm independent, sociable and sometimes too sure of myself. Also, I'm sensitive and generous. But I'm not very confident. Finally, I'm loyal and quite dependable friend.

Hello, I'm Theodore!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm independent and sociable. Also, I'm quite sensitive and generous. I'm very confident and ambitious too. Finally, I'm an honest and loyal friend.  

Hello, I’m Aldo!

According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I’m an independent and sociable person. Also, I’m generous, but at the same time sensitive. I’m quite confident, too.  Finally, I have a childish nature.

Hello, I’m Elli!

According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I’m calm and rarely get emotional. Also, I’m intelligent and a bit shy. I don’t have much confidence, but I’m an honest and loyal friend.

 

Hello, I’m Flora!

According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I’m an intelligent, but shy and quite insecure person. Also, I’m calm and I don’t get emotional easily.  Finally, I have a childish nature.

Hello, I’m Jason!

According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I’m quite confident and ambitious. Also, I’m intelligent, but a bit shy. I’m calm, too. Finally, I have a childish nature.

Hello, I’m Thalis!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I’m independent, sociable and sometimes too sure of myself. Also, I rarely get emotional. I’m confident, too. Finally, I’m an honest and dependable friend.

Hello, I’m Thanasis!

According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I’m intelligent, shy and a bit insecure. Also, I’m quite calm and I rarely get emotional.  Finally, I’m a loyal and dependable friend.

Hello, I’m Zanis!

According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I’m intelligent, shy and a bit insecure. Also, I’m sensitive and generous. I’m not very confident or ambitious. Finally, I’m honest, loyal and dependable friend.

Hello, I'm Elpida!
According to Graphology my handwriting indicates that I'm intelligent shy and a bit insecure. Also, I'm sensitive and quite generous. I'm not very confident, though. Finally, I'm honest and dependable friend.