English quizz for Palestinians' kids

Palestine Quizz

1.     What continent is Palestine in?
2.     What language do people speak in Palestine?
3.     What is the capital of Palestine?
4.     Another famous city in Palestine?
5.     Name one sea that is next to Palestine?
6.     Name one sort of Palestinian food?
7.     A famous Palestinian?
8.     What religions do people have in Palestine?
9.     One thing that Palestine is famous for?
10.                       One problem that people have in Palestine?

We gave this Palestine questionnaire to the students and they did it by pairs. The answers were heterogeneous so, it was funny.

Newsletters, blogs and kids' visit

We started with a name game and after we looked at the newsletters and showed them the blog of one of the kids' visit. We talked about it and asked them if they wanted to become "buddy" for the kids' visit. It was a good session with 8 pupils. Hopefully the other sessions will be good like today. 

Football Tournament!

We've been running a football tournament in our last few lessons with the grade 8s and 9s at Abu Dis Boys in an attempt to channel their endless energy and enthusiasm. We hoped they would find football fun and interesting and we were thrilled at the results. We spent the first lesson letting the boys choose teams from a selection of forty player cards, and going through football-related vocabulary. Today was match day!

The students and teachers were all suitably impressed by our AMAZING football pitch:

Our football pitch with two teams of player cards- if you land on a red squares you draw a 'Chance' card

We started with the grade 9s, who were initially skeptical, especially when they realized our homemade effort was more about luck than skill, but soon they were yelling in frustration and throwing their hands up like real football players when the 'goal card' they drew said the goal keeper had saved the ball, and doing celebrations worthy of Amfield or Old Traford when they scored a goal!

The Grade 9s getting competitive!

We only managed one match before the lesson ended, although our students almost refused to leave! Team A scored 2 goals against Team B. In the next lesson Team C will play Team D and then the winners will play each other for the cup- I mean, teapot of sweets.

The grade 8s managed to play an entire tournament. Team A suffered a crushing defeat against Team B owing to an unfortunate tendency to draw cards telling them they had injured the other player in a tackle and given the other team a penalty, failed to score, and lost the ball...

The Grade 8s watching Team A play Team B

A snippet of the Team A vs Team B match 

Team C and D played a more balanced game, but Team D won and went on to play an exciting final game against Team B. For most of the game it looked like Team B were going to be our trophy winners but Team D snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the last few minutes of the game in a nail-biting finale which resulted in a 2-1 scoreline.

In the lesson after the tournament we will brainstorm words about great footballers and great teams. We will then ask them to write something about a favorite player or a team they support.

Poems

Some of the Grade 8's from Abu Dis boys school have been coming to Dar Assadaqa on Saturdays  to attend our morning English club, especially when there has been teacher strikes and they have been unable to attend school.

Last week some of them wrote poems relating to their situations and how they feel:


It's up to you,
One song can spark a moment
One tree can start a forest
One smile begins a friendship
One touch can show you care
One step must start a journey
One candle wipes out darkness
One life can make the difference
You see, it's up to you.

            ---

I can't go everywhere
If I want go to Jerusalem
I can't...
If I want to think about the future
I can't...
If I want healthcare
I can't...
But...
In the end I have
good parents
good friends
good English teachers
good brothers
and I don't have to worry about life because
Inshallah
I will be in heaven

Maps of Abu Dis

Last week we showed our classes maps and explained how they can be useful for finding out about a place. They looked at a map of London and also a map of Camden. We pointed out where Hampstead school is and other places of interest, they particularly wanted to know where the football stadiums are.

In the second class they produced their own maps of Abu Dis, including what is important/prominent to them in their town. They included shops, houses, schools, the university, Dar Assadaqa (a.k.a. Camden) and mosques. Noticeably they also included the Separation wall, the military camp and the watch tower, which reminds us that Abu Dis is an occupied town.

Here is some of their work:

Grade 8 map of Abu Dis

Grade 9 map of Abu Dis

Abu Dis Boys say hello!

We (Charlotte and Claudia – Group 6) have now spent our first two weeks at Abu Dis Boys School. We have been made very welcome by the staff at the school and are happy to be working with two classes of boys (8th Grade and 9th Grade). Whilst there are still ongoing teacher strikes at the school, due to teacher's wages being withheld, we are fortunate that so far our time with them has not been too disrupted.

Here are photographs of the students in our classes

Grade 8 Class

Grade 9 Class

Last week we showed them the letter written by some of the students from Hampstead School. They were happy to receive it and give thanks, see the video of Grade 8's above. We have been helping them to write sentences in English about 'a day in Abu Dis' in response to the letter.

Here are some of their sentences about Abu Dis:

My Day in Abu Dis

I eat my breakfast and get ready for school.
I go to school. I learn English.
I play football with my friends.
I go home.
I talk to my friends on Facebook. 
I read the Quran.
I do my homework.
I play computer games.
I go to my bedroom and go to sleep.