Felipe Attux

July Camp

From the 8th of July to the 12th, the Access students from Uberlândia took part in a 5-day program of activities:

• Day 1: the students learned about the Piñata culture, how it was introduced in the USA and they made their own Piñata, which they smashed in the end.
• Day 2: there was a cooking workshop, during which the students learned how to prepare naked gingerbread mini cakes, canapés, donuts and bruschettas.
• Day 3: the students were taken to the cinema to watch "Spider-man: Far from home". They then had a discussion about Pop / Geek Culture and how it affect their lives.
• Day 4: there was a makeup workshop, in which students learned about different types of products and how men and women can wear them. They then practiced on each other.
• Day 5: the students were taken on a trip to the Sewage Treatment Station. There was a guided tour and they had a discussion about what they have learned and how that would affect their lives from then on.

Enhancement Class 4 - Civil society and pop culture

June 28th, 2019

After learning about Nikola Tesla and Jesse Owens, students produced some content about them that included posters, oral presentation and quiz games. They then read about American pop culture and quiz games and had their own opportunity to produce one. Each group created a game and the others had to play it for points. At the end, they all played a "Who wants to be a millionaire" game about American culture.

Enhancement Class 3 - Means of transportation, disabilities and accessibilities

May 24th, 2019

In this Enhancement, students were visited by Solange Smith, from the Embassy, and three ETAs who are in the city: Gautam, Erin and Maria José. They had the opportunity to use their English to talk to natives about the things they are learning or have learned and also to ask about other curiosities they might have had. The topic of Means of Transportation was started in a conversation with the ETAs, who explained how it works where they are from. Disabilities and accessibilities was then discussed regarding our city. Students then had to come up with a project of a product that would help people with disabilities get over some hardships they have while using the public transportation system.

Enhancement Class 2 - Democracy and elections

April 26th, 2019

In order to increase their understanding of how American Elections and Political System work, he students from the Access group in Uberlândia studied the concept of Democracy and created a comparison chart between Brazilian and American Elections. They read about Political Parties and what each of them believe, divided themselves in Republicans and Democrats according to their own beliefs and presented political proposals regarding Economy, Healthcare, Gun control, Abortion, Immigration, Marriage, etc. They then ran an Election of their own to choose the Representative, who will give a speech in the graduation ceremony.

Enhancement Class 1 - Environment

March 22nd, 2019

Last Friday, the Access students came to Thomas for another Enhancement Class. This time, they studied how Tiny Houses could be an alternative to reduce Environmental Impact. They all demonstrated an excellent environmental awareness and were able to go deep in the discussion.

They started listing all possible environental impacts that could be reduced if more people adopted the Tiny House lifestyle. They all recognized how these special houses would be great for the environment, even though some of them confessed they wouldn't be able to live in one.

We watched a video about a Tiny House built in Canada and, at the very beginning, a lot of "Oh, my!" could be heard - students were impressed with how beautiful the tiny house was. Talking about this with them, they said they had this misconception that practical or environmentally correct houses would not be beautiful or comfortable. We made a list of all the furniture that there was inside the house and it only contributed to their astonishment.

After getting inspired by the video, students planned their own tiny houses. Very creative blueprints were made. They were invited to describe their houses to their colleagues using "There is / are" to talk about the rooms and the furniture.

We closed the activity by making colorful furniture out of play dough. This was a very nice part of the class, as some students said they got very relaxed when they played with the dough. In the end of it all, this even worked as a relaxation therapy for them :)

Thanksgiving 2018

October 23rd, 2018

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving Day in the USA. It is perhaps the most important holiday in the country, and definitely the most delicious one as well. All across the States, families get together around dining tables to have a feast in celebration of their predecessors' history and give thanks for the harmony, prosperity, and whatever it is they are all grateful for.

The Access students were able to live a similar experience, as all of them sat together and had lunch at 12:30 pm this Friday along with teacher Ciro. The food was delicious, and of course, there was a lot of turkey involved. Everyone had their plates full of it!

While the students were finishing their meals, teacher Ciro took some time to talk about the holiday's origins, the arrival of the Mayflower to Plymouth, the agreement reached between the Wampanoag tribe and the Pilgrins and the first Thanksgiving in 1621.

The students also watched videos about the holiday, among which a video of an American family explaining the importance of Thanksgiving to them, and wrote about the things they are thankful for on maple leaves that were put on the school's thanksgiving mural.

If you think about it, there's a whole lot of things to be thankful for every day. What about you? What are you thankful for? Have you given enough thanks this year?

Enhancement Class - Halloween

October 26th, 2018

This Friday the Access students from Uberlândia had a great time learning and enjoying some American traditions, as part of the Halloween Enhancement Class. There were games, a classic movie and, of course, a lot of candy!

Early on the students were excited about the activities of the day. Gabriel, Marcela and Gabi and a few more colleagues offered themselves for making the traditional Red Velvet Cake, which took plenty of work, but looked and tasted amazing at the end of the day. They've also made some pop corn for the movie session.

While the volunteers baked the cake, a couple of students were interviewed by a local news crew from Rede Bandeirantes. They were wearing carefully prepared costumes and make up. Talk about scary!!

In the classroom, teacher Ciro presented a video about the history of halloween. Click here to check it out! The students learned about the Celtic origins of a festival called "Samhain" and its later connection to the Catholic holiday, "All Saints Day". They also discussed some Halloween superstitions and how it's celebrated in modern day America. After the lesson, they competed for some candy by answering a timed quiz (via Kahoot.it).

During the movie session, the students watched the classic Disney production directed by Kenny Ortega, "Hocus Pocus" (1993), with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, performing three recently revived sister witches causing mayhem in Salem, Massachusetts, while three kids and a black cat try to put a stop to their plan, facing spells, zombies and much more. There was lots of pop corn and laughter involved. At the end of the movie, once again the students competed in a Kahoot quiz to see who remembered more details about the movie.

After trying their luck with "Poke-a-pumpkin", with students choosing a cup with Tricks or Treats, the Access students had the chance to experience Halloween themed games. There was a very funny game of "Bobbing For Apples" using strings, "Mummy bowling" and "Mummy race", with people getting tangled up in lots of toilet paper. haha!

Finally it was time to taste the beautiful and delicious Red Velvet Cake, so carefully prepared by the teens. It was a success and the cake was finished within minutes.

Check out the photos below!

Enhancement Class - Columbus Day + Halloween Preparation

October 5th, 2018

This week, the Access students from Uberlândia had the chance to learn more about two important events in American culture, Columbus Day and Halloween.

During the first hour of the enhancement class, students engaged in making the best possible Halloween classroom decoration. First they evaluated different possibilities of decoration, then they decided the pieces they would make for classroom 104 and finally they put their hands to work, using the material provided by the school in the Maker's Space. Now the class looks beautiful and scary, with pumpkins, bats, zombies, little spiders and the big spider queen hanging over its web on the ceiling. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun!

During the second part of the enhancement class, students had the chance to learn about Christopher Columbus and the celebration of Columbus Day in America and all around the world. They brainstormed and searched for words in English that come to mind when they think about Columbus and justified their choice. After that, they watched a video and learned more about the history of the holiday and how it's celebrated in America.

Students found out in places like New York, Columbus Day is commonly celebrated with parades and it is associated with the Italian community. Meanwhile, among people of Latin descent it is also called "Día de la Raza", or "Day of the Race". They have also had the chance to discuss the controversy that surrounds this holiday nowadays, due to the protests of indigenous people against the dark consequences of Columbus' discovery to their ancestors. In Spain, the date of the discovery of America is also a very important one, when they celebrate "Hispanic Day" (Día de la hispanidad), also referred as "Spain's National Day" (Fiesta Nacional de España).

See the pictures of the activities and slides with videos about Columbus Day below:

Photos

Columbus Day - Presentation + Videos

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Enhancement Class - Labor Day

September 14th, 2018

In honor of this month’s labor day celebration in the U.S.A, Uberlândia’s Access students spent last Friday learning about the origins of this holiday, exploring different occupations and also thinking about their own professional future.

First, teacher Ciro provided a few concepts related to the origins of the Labor Day in the U.S. and had the students research and explain those concepts to colleagues. After that, the students watched the Ted-Ed video “Why do Americans and Canadians celebrate Labor Day?”, by Kenneth C. Davis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqmPE2HtkyU

The students then had the chance to learn and practice new vocabulary related to jobs, as well as interact and practice talking about the job of their dreams with their peers, until it was time for some hands-on assignment.

Divided into groups, the young team of students created posters about some of their favorite professions, what is it that they do and their relevance for society, which were later presented to class and hung on the walls.

Finally, teacher Ciro provided students with tips and references to build their own resumés in English as a homework assignment. Here’s the link for their CVs, if you’re looking to hire bright young apprentices:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WxuCzbvg_LqgbJOTOdyW1tkVEqJI3KpE

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Enhancement Activity: Independence Day

July 5th, 2018

To celebrate the 4th of July, students decorated the Resource Center and prepared a typical 4th of July dish - guacamole. After decorating the room, students watched a video about the holiday and discussed it with the classmates and the teacher. Two quizzes about Brazil and US were proposed, so students could talk about Brazilians and Americans presidents. After that, students prepared the dish, discussed about US presidents and played games (Red, white and blue concentration, 4th of July jar and Capture the American Flag).

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Enhancement Activity: Memorial Day

June 8th, 2018

Our first Enhancement activity was about this American holiday. First, introductory videos were shown, in order to stimulate discussions about the date. After that, students had the opportunity to learn about specific aspects of the American culture, such as: what Americans usually do on Memorial Day (e.g. visit cemeteries and memorials, participate in parades and hold family gatherings). The following topic covered was related to the US flag, and after that, students made craft decorations based on the concepts they learned from Memorial Day and Flag Day. The last activity proposed was a Kahoot! game, in which students were supposed to answer questions about the content learned in this enhancement activity.