Rachel Mendonça

May 10th, 2019

Workshop at Space Center

Our Access students were taken to the city's planetarium for a workshop on aviation hosted by college grads and undergrads from the University of Brasilia (UnB). There were lectures on the challenges and achievements of aviation in many areas, and where they could go regarding future studies, such as drones, air travel and space travel. Students asked questions to presenters at the end of each talk.

May 3rd, 2019

Cinco de Mayo

Today was an incredible day for us to discuss the plurality of American Culture and history. We started out looking at some incredible pictures on the National Geographic website and discussing the Good Neighbor Policy from Roosevelt's administration along with cultural aspects that started to bleed into the American culture, making it the incredible melting pot that it is today, accepting of all and that's why we decided to have our own celebration! We talked about respect and how to show appreciation to the culture and invite friends to our Cinco de Mayo celebration.

They prepared the recipe in by themselves. They had to take careful notes on the steps so they could remember them.
They had a blast talking about the steps and the ingredients and where they came origininally from.

They had the time of their lives discussing ways they could create fun environmental e-vites for our communal snack time!

March 29th, 2019

Reading Corner Project

We continued the work we started last class and divided the groups into their prefered tasks. The groups started talking about the place where they wanted to create the Reading Corner and what was the reason we were doing it - to encourage other people to read and to get in contact with the English language.

The groups in charge of marketting started discussing strategies on how to get the word out about donations and to get people excited to visit the corner in order to get books in English when it is finally finished.

They started drafting a proposal to send to various websites and have started devising an online presence for the project, including the use of a hashtag and a brand new instagram account.

The physical campaign is going to be centered in posters and bookmarkers.

READING CORNER | List of Materials

The decoration and organization group started discussing how the reading corner would look like and what material they would need to make it look inviting and comfortable for readers to engage with the books.

The Contact team started articulating ways to contact the school where the Reading Corner is going to be set up. They decided on a school and spent the time of the discussion looking up information about the principal and the schools internal organization online.

The Catalog team looked up how to organize books in a way that checking movimentation and organization would make sense and would help people find the books they might be looking for. They also helped create posters for the project in order to get more books to categorize.

March 22nd, 2019

Reading Corner

To start off the project, as a class we defined volunteer work. We discussed what we had done before in the Access Program and how we can make a difference by helping others in a different way than charity. We then talked about ways to bring English to our fellow students and maybe future Access students.

The Reading Corner Project is a way to bring our students closer to volunteer work and have them make a positive impact to their communities. They are going to collect books in English and then create a corner in their schools where reading in English will be encouraged.

In my class, we divided the class in three groups. One was in charge of marketing, another, in charge of materials and organization of it, and the last one in charge of design, meaning, they would talk to the school where the Reading Corner is to be posted and organize the interior design of it.

The marketing group started selecting pictures for the Posters that will be done using the language of marketing and the persuasive use of "Will" and royalty free pictures. They have scheduled a time to talk to our own school's marketing team to discuss use of color and fonts.

The material group started helping with the phrasing of the posters and the design team started making sketches of what the reading corner will look like.

They haven't finished any posters, yet, but bellow, are some of the images that they selected for future projects.

March 15th, 2019

Saint Patrick's Day

We discussed the things we talked about last year and we had a game to remember the date and why it is celebrated. After that, we made Shamrock Shakes.

March 8th, 2019

Professional Development

In class, I gave them two CVs and we discussed which one was effective and wich wasn't. We talked about what was necessary to create a CV and what should be included, the importance of a resume when applying for a job and how to include information that was relevant to the position they wanted. This is how they started creating their own CVs. Bellow, some examples of their resumes.

PEDRO AUGUSTO DE MELO ROCHA - Resume Template
CARLOS EDUARDO MARINHO DOS SANTOS - Resume Template
THALES EMANUEL DE OLIVEIRA MARQUES - Resume Template
LAIANE ALVES RODRIGUES - Resume Template 2
THAÍS MARÇAL DA SILVA - Resume Template 2
GIOVANNA CASTRO GONÇALVES - Resume Template 2
SARAH SIRQUEIRA MUNCHEN - Resume Template
MILENA SOUSA DE CARVALHO - Resume Template 2

February 22nd, 2019

Black History Month

Today was the last day of Black History Month in the USA. I took my students to the resource center and we sat down on the floor. We talked about what we were doing (sitting down) and if that was an active process or a passive one. Then I asked if the act of sitting down could change anything. I asked them to research Google with the iPads for pictures of Sit-Ins. I asked them what did they think was happening.

I told them about the sit-in protests that happened in the US that encouraged discussions about Civil Rights. We talked about how they must have felt and if we had something similar happening in Brazil right now. They came up with the Rolezinhos, which are small trips kids from underprivileged neighborhoods take to malls to occupy the space.

I taught them how to sing "This Little Light of Mine" and we sang it while sitting on the floor.

I told them to close their eyes and image their perfect world. What would they eat? What would they do? Who would be their friend? What they would be doing. I asked them to write these ideas down.

After this, we watched Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's speech and I told them they would write their own speech using the structure "I have a dream..." They chose the pictures and the sentences in groups of three.

Below, you can see their efforts.

October 26th, 2018

Halloween

This year, I tried on two activities very different from what we did last year. Instead of decorations, we had them practice the simple past they had learned the previous class by creating a new scary halloween story. First thing we did was talk about the origins of Halloween and how people still celebrate it in the US and how this type of party started being celebrated here in Brazil. Based on Teacher Zé Antônio's idea, I showed them the painting "The Scream" by Edward Munch and I gave them the start of the story. "It was a normal day, until sunset, then...". They had to create a story for a spooky day and then tell it to each other.

The other activity we did was a recreation of "The Scream" depicting the thing that made their story scary in the first place. It was a way for them to be creative and let off steam after a very language heavy exercise.

It was a very fun day!

October 19th, 2018

Democracy Awareness

Because of Brazilian elections, this seemed like the perfect moment to discuss politics and civil responsabilities with our students. I started the class by asking them to work in pairs and write down all the words they could think of that had to do with democracy. We compared after the fact and discussed what we had in common with the United States. We discussed about parties and what a good leader should be responsible for and what a people should be responsible for. We had a debate in class, dividing the class into two groups and having them prepare questions for the other "party" to answer.

We had an election between all the students first. The votes were cast and, in Brazilian fashion, we rounded up the two most voted students and had a second turn.

Using a google forms, the students cast their vote to the representative they thought was more attuned to their needs and had the better answers to their questions.


October 5th, 2018

Native People's Day and Christopher Colombus

We had an interesting discussion about why we celebrated Columbus day more widely than Native America's Day. In class, the students used iPads to research Native Tribes in America and to connect with the content, to create a presentation explaining part of the culture.

August 17th, 2018

Prepositions and Stop Motion!

Our students had a chance to create stop motion videos to practice prepositions they learned. Here are some of the videos they created.

August 10th, 2018

Party Time!

I welcomed my students with a very different classroom: They were welcomed to different lighting, food and music. I asked them, after they had some fun, what was there inside the classroom when they got inside. They used the language "there was/were" to describe the class contents. Then, I asked them what was essential for an amazing party. We labeled the contents on my table and made a list of things that were missing. It was a fun way to discuss the vocabulary of the lesson and the grammar point "there was/were" in the past and comparing to parties they've been to in their lives.

August 3rd, 2018

Tiny houses

Coming back to our classes, our students started the new semester learning about parts of the house. We introduced the idea of Tiny Houses and how they affect the environment. We discussed their carbon footprint and how they could reduce them in their lives by recycling material.

My group was divided into five groups and each had to create their own room for our tiny house with recycled material that I'd previously collected. They discussed between themselves what should be inside the room and created a plan for what they would be doing. They did this to practice the vocabulary for furniture and the grammar point "there is/are" for the rooms. The results were amazing, as you can see in these pictures.

June 22nd, 2018

Independence Day

We decided to celebrate The Fourth of July by doing something very typical: eating hot dogs and Watermelon. So, before taking the kids down for food, we talked a little about what the date meant.

Then, we took them to the mingling and socializing. The teachers were stationed in different booths while students lined up to "assemble" their sandwiches with hot dogs, tomato sauce, straw potato, and sweet corn. Each of the booths with little plaques with the names of the ingredients that would go into their food. Teacher Lucas had a great idea. He created a Padlet Wall and we asked our students to take selfies and post the pictures to the wall.

June 15th, 2018

Father's Day

We had a very interesting class to approach when talking about family relations. Not everyone has a father, and if they do, not everyone has a good relationship with them. So I decided to approach it in a sense of community and family. I started asking for a definition of a father and what it is that the position entailed. Then, I asked them to find a person in their lives that would fit into that position, regardless of gender or blood relation.

After that, we watched parts of a video that showcased generations and then they proceeded to put that person and themselves into one according to age. Later, we practiced expressions that communicate enjoyment of activities and compared what they liked compared with their "father" figure.

Lastly, we listened to a song called "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens. I used an activity developed by teacher José Antônio and had the kids working together to unscramble the song lines in order. Later, I asked them to label the lines according to who they thought was the person speaking, the father figure or the child one.

The kids then listened to the song and learned how to sing it. It was a very emotional moment for some.

June 8th, 2018

Flag Day

Our class started with a riddle. Using the idea of the video (suggested to me by teacher Lucas) with clues about the flag, I wrote down clues about the American Flag under the students seats. Together they guessed correctly that the topic of today's activities was to be the American Flag. Then, we read and listened to Star-Spangled Banner and correlated the importance of the flag to the American people and our own realities, such as laws about respecting the flag in both countries. After that, students then played a kahoot game with the information they learned.

Next, the teachers decided to get all our students together in our resource center and we asked them to get in pairs. Randomly, each pair was assigned a state of the US of which to recreate the flag in a creative way. My students got crayons, A4 sheets of paper, paint, scissors and glue. On the back of the flag, they had to include information about the state that related to the grammar they have been studying so far (there is/there are and public spaces).

They got to be creative in their reimaginings and they also learned about amazing parks and natural resources the US has to offer. It was an incredible activity and they had a great time!

May 25th, 2018

Memorial Day

We started this activity asking them if they remembered the activity we had for Veteran's Day. We then watched a video and discussed Memorial Day and what it represented. They reflected on the differences between Brazil's military history and the American one. They reflected on historical reasons for these differences and the value of Freedom. We

We played a kahoot game with the topic and then they made their own Wall of Peace in our classroom.

May 11th, 2018

Gospel show + Mother's Day

This Friday, we took our students to a gospel show so that they could be in touch with this incredible aspect of the American culture. To get our students into the topic, we gave them a handout and QR codes to complete on the bus in which they had to search for the answers of biographical questions about the band that they were going to watch: Oscar Williams and the Band of Life. At the show, students had an amazing and authentic experience.

Then, our students worked on a collaborative wall on music in which they shared music videos of their favorite songs and artists, being those songs gospel or not.Then, they spent some minutes watching the videos and grading them according to their personal taste.

Later, they also worked on making cards for their mothers to celebrate Mother's Day.

May 4th, 2018

Cinco de Mayo

We had a wonderful day in class today. We started our activities by googling images of the cinco de mayo and trying to discover what the day was a celebration of from the images. Then, I asked them to list down examples of Media and they came up with multiple print and online examples. Then, I asked them to fill out this Google Form and discuss their own definitions of what media was and the pictures they saw.

From then on, we went to a discussion about stereotypes in media and media literacy. We analyzed the pictures we found online and they used the vocabulary related to clothing to discuss what they were wearing and if the Mexican people wear those clothes on a regular basis.

Then, we watched a small video about the history of Cinco de Mayo and how it was brought to the US to discuss Latino influece. My students were encouraged to research and later discuss common roles latinos or latinas occupy in various media they consume. They mentioned their favorite tv shows from various channels and streaming services and even current super hero movies and noticed there were hardly any latinos or latinas in them.

We then brought the discussion of representation to their own reality and they discussed who they saw the most on Brazilian tv shows and who was absent.

It was a fun class about media literacy and they got to discuss the cinco de mayo holiday in a significant way. We finished our discussion by eating a traditional dish called guacamole. It was the first time most of my students were exposed to Mexican food and they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit

April 27th, 2018

World Press Freedom Day

For this day, teacher Lucas and I decided to create a magazine with our classes. I started my class talking about North Korea and what their experience using the internet might be. Then I asked what might be different in the news in the Koreas and in Brazil and they came up with Press Freedom. We then worked together on understanding what "freedom" and "press" mean and what that would entail together.

To facilitate and enhance their learning experience, we helped them start their own Online Magazine, which was related to the topic of the Earth Day and the environment. They were told we would show their magazine in our school to all other students. They had complete control over the content of the magazine and the language, teacher Lucas and I served only as facilitators in the process.

They created their own articles, posters and interviews. They demonstrated agency and interest in what they were doing. It was an incredible experience.

Earth Day Paper

April 20th, 2018

Earth Day

We started our activities talking about awareness and if they knew what a carbon footprint was. We then watched the official video for this year. Next, we visited the official website so they could put up important words they saw related to the theme in our word cloud on the board and also sign up for community pick up and what that meant.

We then played a kahoot game with the information related to the video to solidify their knowledge. I then asked them what could we do, besides signing up to collect trash. Together, we came up with the idea of planting new trees to help their carbon footprint. Here are some pictures of them planting.

April 6th, 2018

Autism Acceptance Month

We had an interesting class relating to this topic. I started by asking them if they knew what autism meant and if they had ever met an autistic person. We worked together to define autism and they came up with a definition of autism as a developmental disability which affects language and communication, sensory processing and motor skills, cognition, and social interaction. That is, another way of seeing the world.

They were asked to create posters to shine a light on why autism needs acceptance and what was their own opinion on this issue. Their posters are incredibly moving and show a sensitivity that is sorely needed in today's society.

March 23rd, 2018

Easter

Easter is an important day for many people around the world. We celebrated this day in our school with learning and fun. I asked them to look up what Easter means for different religions and what was the connection with the bunny as a symbol. They came up with the Jewish Passover, the Equinox and the Christian Resurrection. After that, I played them a clip of the annual Easter Egg Hunt that happens at the White House and elicited from them what was happening. I told them we were going on a qr-code egg hunt throughout the school. In pairs, they had to look for the code and answer the questions or actions described in them, all relating to Present Continuous and Weather vocabulary.

The correct answer would direct them to another place which had another qr-code that had a question and redirected them to another place. After going from room to room, performing the tasks described on the eggs, they finally met me back at our own classroom to claim their own prizes: chocolate eggs. It was an incredibly fun activity, the kids could practice the language they'd seen previously and engaged in a cultural activity in a meaningful way.

March 16th, 2018

St Patrick's Day

Our students started the day with some research: What was the connection between the rainbow and the golden coins? And why is the day called "St. Patrick's Day"? What is the significance of the shamrock? They got a prize after they found an answer to all three questions. A small box with some chocolate golden coins inside at the end of a rainbow. After that, we played a kahoot game involving the information they had found.

After that, we wanted our students to experience a little bit of the culture involved with St. Patrick's Day, so teacher Lucas Gontijos and myself taught them how to dance a very simple traditional Irish ceilidh dance: The Gay Gordons. They moved around, had to collaborate and follow directions in English, and most importantly: They had a blast.

March 9th, 2018

Field trip to see Athos Bulcão Exhibit

We strive to make our students well rounded and to achieve that goal, we must provide cultural activities that will motivate them into becoming more creative individuals. We went to an art exhibit of a Brazilian artist called Athos Bulcão. To make a connection with the American culture, we decided to expose students to the work of an American artist very similar to the one the students would see. Teacher José Antônio produced a slide show with information about Ernest A. Batchelder including his work, techniques, and some biographical information, which would provide the students with both the language questions they'd already learned and some they hadn't yet. While going to the exhibition, students saw the slideshow and answered the questionnaire. They worked in pairs and while one wrote answers the other looked for information on the slides. Teachers walked on the aisles and helped out when they had doubts. By the time we got to the venue, they were done with the questions.

When we got to the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (the place where the exhibition was being held), we were divided into four groups. Each teacher conducted students to the four different exhibition halls. Students were instructed to take notes and try to answer the same questions they had answered on the bus about Athos Bulcão, looking for the information printed next to the works of art. This task was a bit difficult because in some galleries information was scarce. They also could see a different kind of tile work and make aesthetic judgments on its features. The work done on the bus provided a framework to compare and contrast the work of the two artists. At the end of the visit, students took pictures of a panel that all the information they would need to answer the questionnaire.

My students were expected to create a virtual tour using the google tool Tour Builder in groups. They could choose either of the artists we saw during the tour. These are some of the examples of the tours they've created with the tool.

Tour 1 Tour 2 Tour 3

After we came back, we asked the students to create their own tiles, and they looked amazing!

February 23rd, 2018

Black History Month

Black History Month is such an important month to American Culture, that we had to introduce this topic with our students in the best way possible. We first saw a video about the history and meaning of Black History Month. After watching the video, I asked them when was this kind of celebration in Brazil (November) and what were the differences (we only celebrate for a day, not for a whole month). We discussed struggles that black people have lived through all over the world, but specially in the US and in Brazil.

After watching the video, we played a kahoot game with important dates and personalities. They had fun with the game while learning about a couple of important figures.

We prepared, in pairs, slides about important historical figures of their choice. They chose them based on a google search they had after playing the game.

They chose people like Barack Obama, Martin Luther King JR, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Angela Davis.

They had a wonderful time learning a little more about Black American History and making a connection to their own.

In the end, we had a moment to make a connection to their own lives and experiences in the present. And what they hope for the future. Using post-its and a piece of cardboard, they demonstrated what they believe in and what they want for our country.

February 16th, 2018

Valentines Day

On our first day back from their vacation, we wanted to greet our students with a great cultural activity. First, the students were asked if they knew of any special days that happened in February. We played a guessing game with clues I left under their desks. When they got the answer "Valentine's Day", we discussed the differences between the celebration in the United States and in our own country. I told them that in the USA it is also common to share the holiday with friends and that simple presents and cards are given.

Using scissors, colorful paper, and other materials, which were provided to them, they created amazing origami cards. The class was divided into groups of four and they collaborated with each other to accomplish the goal of making at least two cards for their friends. They have formed an incredible bond between themselves and, in order to celebrate it, I decided to adopt "Valentine's Day Bags", where they could place their cards throughout the month.

November 17th, 2017

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, we had our students partake in a Casa Thomas Jefferson tradition. Each student had a chance to write down what they were most thankful for on a paper maple leaf and put them up to form our Thanksgiving tree.

We've just begun our 'food' unit and we thought it would be fortuitous for them to research the types of food served during Thanksgiving dinner. In pairs, they discussed the types of food they most wanted to try and which they thought were the most different from what they are used to.

Little do they know, they will have a chance to have a real thanksgiving meal with the dishes they discussed previously on November 24th during a special Thanksgiving Luncheon prepared specially for the Access Program students.

November 10th, 2017

Veteran's Day and Job Fair (presentations)

In today's class, our students had the chance to learn a little more about American culture and did a little research about Veteran's day. They could practice the language in a fun way and later, they connected the cultural aspect with their grammatical class and talked about their family members who were a part of the military and what that means, culturally and historically in Brazil and the differences between the twocountries.

They watched a small video relating the historical importance of the holiday and then they had a chance to play a game to see who could remember more details without checking their notes. They had a blast!

They had had an opportunity to discuss jobs and careers in their future in October 20th, however, we decided to have a Job Fair with all the students of the Access Program. Each class had up to eight groups responsible for jobs (of their own choosing) that reflected their own wishes and aspirations.

October 27th, 2017

Halloween

Halloween celebrations are an important staple of American culture and are becoming increasingly popular in Brazil. Our students had a chance to be take part in the celebrations and had a chance to go "trick or treating" in costume.

To get into the mood, we had students help decorate the school. We provided them with all the material, however, they had to use their own imaginations for ways to use them, always speaking in English all the while. They really enjoyed doing their day and, of course, their candy.

October 20th, 2017

Job Fair

Our Access Students are all in High School and focusing on their future careers. They are working hard in studying for their Entrance Exams, which is why discussing what they want to do in the future is very relevant to their day-to-day lives. We had planned for an activity about jobs and careers for Labor Day, however, they had little to no time in contact with the language then. In this class, the students told each other what their heroes did and what they wanted to be in the future. They interviewed each other and then created a profile for a classmate with the information.

October 6th, 2017

Columbus Day

In this class, we discussed Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America, as well as the controversy of the date in the U.S.A. right now. The Access students used the app Chatterpix in the iPads to create a short introduction about him using the vocabulary they had learned before, such as, name, age and origin. They had a blast!

September 22nd, 2017

Literacy day

Today, we had an incredible experience relating to the International Literacy Day. The students received their own Library Cards for our Resource Center and could check out a new book from our beginner section.

They managed to help each other with words they didn't know and they also learned how to grasp a word from context. They got to take their chosen books home, so they will have plenty of time to engage with reading as a constant part of their lives. They also recreated their favorite books in this mini project.

September 15th, 2017

International Day of Peace

Our students worked on their interpretation of what it would mean to celebrate the International Day of Peace, an important day to talk about tolerance and peace. It it is observed around the world on September 21. We had a class discussion about what peace meant and then, they created posters using Google Slides to express their opinions on which type of tolerance was the most important.

September 1st, 2017

Personal Paragraph

Today, the kids created their own paragraphs to introduce themselves, using Padlet, they were able to talk to each other and comment on each other's pictures. They are starting to create their own Learning Community using the technology!

August 25th, 2017

Meet My Friend Event

Today, we practiced the vocabulary we learned last class, by creating our own "Meet My Friend" event, where students introduced someone else from the class and asked each other where they'd come from.

The students had a chance to practice with different partners before posting the last version of the video online.

August 18th, 2017

First Class

Welcome aboard, class of 2017!

Today, we learned how to greet one another, introduce ourselves and how to share some interesting extra information as well! We also learned each other's nicknames and how we prefer to be called socially.

In order to achieve this, we used our iPads and Google Slides, so we could work on our digital literacy.

The kids had a blast exploring the Google Tools!

I hope our year together is wonderful!