With the end of the school year already on the horizon,

we bring you some practical ideas on how to improve

your cognitive abilities using gymnastics. All students

can benefit from it

and the teachers might

find it useful, too. We

bring you new ideas

on how to use

technology in the

classroom and

modernize your

teaching experience.

This report comes with

an offering to take

part in online learning

sessions for the

interested parties.

Finally, make sure to

watch the video on the

history of English, not

because we think you

should revise it, but

because we think you should have fun! ▪ I.P. & M.I.

“LOVE IS IN THE AIR…”

Inside this issue:

Groundhog Day 1

Valentine’s Day 2

Singles’

Valentine’s

4

Brain Gym 6

ICTREV & DOTS 7

Wordle 8

History of

English

8

FEBRUARY 2014

ISSUE 10/14

DID YOU KNOW—GROUNDHOG DAY

Many people hope that the end of January and beginning of February

mean the winter is almost over. According to folklore, February 2 is the date we can be sure about it. On

that day, called Groundhog Day, a groundhog emerges from its burrow.

If the day is cloudy and the groundhog doesn't see his shadow,

then spring will come early; however, if it is sunny, the groundhog will sup-

posedly see its shadow, and scared by it, retreat back into its burrow, which means the winter weather will

continue for six more weeks.

Modern customs of the holiday

involve celebrations where early

morning festivals are held to watch

the groundhog emerging from the

ground. There are numerous social

events in which food is served,

speeches are made, and plays or skits

are performed for entertainment. The

largest Groundhog Day celebration is

held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

The 'official language' of the event is

the Pennsylvania German dialect and

those who speak English pay a

penalty, usually in the form of a nickel,

dime, or quarter per word

spoken. This year's celebration begins

on January 30th and continues until

February 2nd. ▪ I.P.

Monthly newsletter for and by English learners and teachers

Editors:

Maja Ivanović, prof. Komercijalna i trgovačka škola

Bjelovar

Irena Pavlović, prof. mentor Srednja škola Čazma

email: sparkles.newsletter@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/

Sparkles.newsletter

CONTRIBUTORS

TO THIS ISSUE:

Ivan Lukovečki, cartoon artist

Dario Vidić,

High School Čazma

And here it is, the month of love… It’s hard to believe

how fast time passes, and this short month will be over

before we know it. The second semester is already in

full heat and the seniors

have only three months to

go. Regardless of your

current relationship status,

this issue of Sparkles© has

something for all of you—

those happily involved

and the blissfully single.

As is now our tradition in

the making, we are ask-

ing four your valuable

opinion in deciding on the

best love films, songs an

romantic couples in recent

history, so make sure to

visit our Facebook page

and vote on the polls.

While there, feel free to

comment and share your

ideas on whatever comes to mind.

February 14th is dedicated to people in love.

The custom of celebrating Valentine’s Day

probably began with the Roman festival of

Lupercalia on February 15th. During

Lupercalia there were games and dancing.

Every young man took the name of a young

lady from an urn and that lady was the young

man’s sweetheart for one year. Those pagan

customs were not permitted after the arrival

of Christianity but still the festival continued.

Later on, in the 7th century, it was called St

Valentine’s Day.

The origin of the name is still a mystery.

Some historians say that the name was taken

from a Christian martyr named Valentine,

who died on February 14th, 270. It is also

believed that Valentine was put in prison by

Emperor Claudius because he secretly

married young couples, the practice the

Emperor didn’t like. There is also a legend

that says that birds begin to mate on

February 14th.

The celebration was brought to England by

the Roman conquerors where the pagan

customs began to combine with the Christian

ones and form the Valentine festivity.

The Valentine tradition was popular in

Shakespeare’s time. His characters, Romeo

and Juliet, are the eternal symbol of love.

In the 17th century in London, sweethearts

exchanged presents on that day. This

romantic tradition was brought to the New

World by the English settlers. They made

beautiful cards and painted them with

butterflies, flowers, cupids and hearts and

they wrote love verses inside. With the

development of industry there was the loss of

interest for making cards so everyone bought

manufactured ones. Today there are all types

of Valentine’s cards: romantic, poetic, comic,

artistic and handmade.

St Valentine’s Day

THIS MONTH’S BUZZ Page 2

In Great Britain it is customary to send an

anonymous card or a present to your loved

one. In the United States this day has a bigger

meaning today. On Valentine’s Day people

send gifts and cards to family, friends and all

the people they care about. In New York City

the top of the Empire State Building is

illuminated with red lights to celebrate

Valentine’s Day.

The usual presents one gives on Valentine’s

Day is a box of chocolates, flowers or some

other token of appreciation.

In 1947 the town of Loveland in Colorado,

USA, became Cupid’s residence. Every year, a

few weeks before the 14th, their Post Office

receives thousands of love letters and cards

from all over the world. There they put special

stamps on these letters and send them to the

addressees. ▪ M.I.

THIS MONTH’S BUZZ

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Darling sweet

I love you!

Page 3

Page 4

STUDENTS’ CORNER

SINGLES’ VALENTINE’S DAY

Throw a party. Invite your friends over to celebrate being fabulous! You can make it a theme party, like suggesting that everyone wear all pink and create a playlist with songs like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Holding Out for a Hero.” Give love to those around you. It has been proven that kindness spreads, so start an epidemic. Give Valen-tine's Day cards to those close to you and help those less fortunate than you. Seeing their faces light up from your small gesture will restore your faith in love and make the world a better place. And don’t complain about not having a Valentine when there are millions of them waiting for you in shelters.

Adopt the love of your life! ▪ M.I.

Just because you’re single doesn’t mean you’re alone! Round up your single friends and have your own Valen-tine's Day for singles! Go to your favourite café, organize a karaoke or a stand-up comedy night. If you don't feel like going out, spend the night with your favourite actor. Rent a handful of his/her movies and treat yourself to a movie marathon. Organize a Secret Admirers gifting session. Have a group of friends draw names and deliver small gifts like chocolates, flowers and teddy bears to each other. Since you aren’t spending your money on that one per-son, spend it on yourself. Give yourself some credit for how amazing you are and get yourself something special. Since Valentine's Day is all about love, spending the day loving yourself makes perfect sense.

STUDENTS’ CORNER

CHECK IT OUT! Have you heard this? Have you seen this? Have you read this?

If you are amongst those hard core

fans, who were more than delighted

when it turned out that James Blunt

hasn’t in fact given up the music busi-

ness to be a full-time soldier, well...

We’ve got a treat for you! Moon

Landing was released on 18 October

2013 and is Blunt's first new material

in three years. I guess he was trying to

decide whether or not to stop making

music (and, boy, are we glad he did-

n't). The album was announced with

the single Bonfire Heart and instantly

became a hit, rating in the top 10 in

different countries all over the world.

The album is filled with strong lyrics

and Blunt's voice sounds as amazing

as always. He even paid tribute to

Whitney Houston in the song Miss

America. James, you were made for

making music!▪ M.I.

Social Nightmare (2013) is a film about a high school senior whose life

gets turned upside down when someone creates a fake web page in her name and starts posting her

pictures all over the Internet. The Student body President, Catherine Hardy, has it all. Smart and ambitious

as she was, everybody liked her and everybody wanted to be her. She was a straight A student who was accepted

to the university of her choice and dating the most popular boy at school.

Until one day everything fell apart... Played by the young an upcoming Kirsten Prout, she shows us the

dangers young people can get themselves into on the Internet nowadays. ▪ M.I.

Joyland is a novel by Stephen King, published in 2013. The novel is set at

a North Carolina amusement park in 1973 and involves a carny who must confront the "legacy of a vicious

murder and the fate of a dying child." Devin Jones is a student at the University of New Hampshire who

takes a summer job at Joyland in North Carolina after his girlfriend left him. Soon he finds out that a girl had

been murdered in the park’s haunted house, and her ghost still haunts the

ride, so he becomes interested in the murder. He later learns that this was only the latest in a string of unsolved

murders, which had never been connected by the police. Another one of King’s amazing spine-tingling,

action-packed page-turner. The King

does it again!▪ M.I.

Page 5

Page 6

Sparkles© lovers already know that we are always eager to

find out what you think about a particular topic and what

your likes and dislikes are. Since this month's buzz is

Valentine's Day and since February in general is

considered to be the month of love, the topic of our

Facebook polls is exactly that - love. Not only have we

prepared the usual array of songs and films with love

themes, we have also come up with a selection of well-

known (but mostly fictional) couples. Let us know what

you think and, as always, our polls are open to your

comments in case we have forgotten something or

someone. Here they are, listed alphabetically.

BEST LOVE FILM

Armageddon (1998; starring Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler)

Dirty Dancing (1987; Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey)

Ghost (1990; Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore)

Love Actually (2003; Hugh Grant and Martine

McCutcheon)

Notting Hill (1999; Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts)

P.S. I Love You (2007; Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank)

Silver Linings Playbook (2012; Bradley Cooper and

Jennifer Lawrence)

The Bodyguard (1992; Kevin Costner and Whitney

Houston)

The City of Angels (1998; Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan)

The Notebook (2004; Ryan Gosling and Rachel

McAdams)

BEST LOVE SONG

Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith

(Everything I do) I do it for You by Bryan Adams

Just Give me a Reason by Pink and Nate Ruess

Stand By Me by Ben E. King

The One I Love by R.E.M

Without You by Mariah Carey

Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton

Your Love Is King by Sade

You're My First, My Last My Everything by Barry White

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by The Righteous

Brothers

BEST COUPLE

Chuck and Blair (Gossip Girl)

Edward and Bella (The Twilight)

Homer and Marge (The Simpsons)

Jack and Rose (Titanic)

Marshal and Lilly (How I Met Your Mother)

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet (Jane Austen, Pride

and Prejudice)

Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare's tragedy)

Shrek and Fiona (Shrek film series)

Snow White and Prince Charming (Once Upon a Time)

Stefan and Elena (The Vampire Diaries)

LET’S TRY THIS!

Brain Gym® exercises, based on the copyrighted work of

Paul E. Dennison, Ph.D., and Gail E. Dennison, are exercises

designed to help the brain function better during the learning

process. Using the idea that our bodies are very much a part

of all our learning and learning is not an isolated "brain"

function as the starting point, Brain Gym® tells us that

simple physical exercise helps blood flow to the brain and

improves the learning process by making sure the brain stays

alert. Carrying out specific movements prior to a learning

activity, learners can improve their stability, mobility, and/or

sensor motor coordination. In turn, these motor skills support

ease of learning. There are 26 activities which movements

have been designed to coax the two hemispheres of the brain

to work in synchronisation. Their creators claim they foster

eye teaming, spatial and listening skills, hand-eye

coordination, and whole-body flexibility, which are to

activate the brain for optimal storage and retrieval of

information. The exercises can be done by students on their

own, while teachers can use them in class to help keep

energy levels up throughout the day. Besides exercising,

students should drink masses of water since it is essential for

the development of the nerve network during learning.

Drinking water is very important before any stressful

situation as we tend to perspire under stress, and de-hydration

can affect our concentration negatively.

Except with learning, Brain Gym® helps with staying calm,

problem solving, keeping positive, goal-setting, public

speaking, being assertive, boosting self-esteem, taking

responsibility, dealing with disappointment, keeping a sense

of humour, communicating effectively, keeping enthusiastic,

speed reading, handling rejection and many more areas of

private and professional life. Why not give it try?

The picture below shows some of the exercises and you can

always visit their official website to find out more:

http://www.braingym.org/. ▪ I.P.

Brain Gym®

LET’S TRY THIS!

USE OF ICT IN SUPPORT OF

LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

What is the initiative about? Language education is an area where open-access

resources, online courses, virtual classrooms and

social networks based on information and

communication technology (ICT) are being

increasingly used to give learners access to

in fo r mat io n, pro mote int eract io n and

communication, and enhance digital literacy skills.

However, the rapid development of tools and

resources presents both opportunities and challenges.

In order to maximize the potential of ICT in

language teaching, it is crucial that it is used in a

pedagogically sound way that corresponds to the

individual needs of the learners. It is also important

that the use of ICT is introduced and supported in a

sustainable way and in a range of pedagogical

approaches that promote lifelong learning.

Objectives The objectives of this initiative are as follows:

To promote the benefits of ICT in language education;

To identify and review a selection of freely available ICT tools and

open educational resources which support language teaching and

learning;

To provide training and awareness-raising workshops for teachers,

education stakeholders and multipliers, focusing on self-training in the

use of ICT;

DEVELOPING ONLINE TEACHING SKILLS (DOTSACT)

BITE-SIZE TRAINING FOR LANGUAGE PROFESSIONALS

Many language teachers want to use up-to-date

technology in their teaching but often do not have the

time or resources for the necessary training.This

training kit presents bite-size activities for ten popular

tools that even the busiest language professionals can

fit into their schedule. Working through training units

which can be completed in around 30 minutes, teachers

will get to know the uses and pedagogic benefits of

online tools and learn how to integrate them into their

language classes. On the workspace users can join a

community of language professionals and online

teaching experts to watch video clips of experts

explaining their use of tools and discuss different

experiences and needs. They can also create their own

training activities, upload materials for others to use

and translate the existing activities into various

languages.

• The training kit for language teachers contains 30 bite-

size activities for self-training in using Moodle, wikis,

forums, blogs, audio-conferencing, Audacity, online

surveys, YouTube, podcasting and quizzes. Information

about the project is available at: http://dots.ecml.at.

• The online version on the workspace contains interactive

features and encourages collaboration with others. You can

sign in and explore the interactive online workspace

ht tp://moodle.dots.ecml.at for act ivit ies and

communication.

Page 7

There are things every teacher should be doing in order to achieve order in the

classroom. The problem is that not all teachers agree what they are.

Here are some suggestions.

TEACHERS’ CORNER

Set out your behaviour expectations from the

very start.

Many students will assume that there are no rules

until you tell them the opposite. It simply suits

them better. So, have a whole lesson talking about

the rules; put a poster on the wall…anything that

gets the point across that there are rules in your

classroom. Students probably know how to be-

have, but that’s not the same as knowing how you

want them to do it.

Have a seating plan. Sketch out where you want students to sit. If you

don’t know them, simply break them up alphabeti-

cally or by gender. This dislocates friendship

groups, by introducing a random element into their

pairings and groupings. Not only will a seating

plan assist you with behaviour, but it will help you

to know their names which is essential (and good

manners). Make a point of speaking to every pupil

in your class throughout the lesson at least once,

and naming them. Not knowing their names,

makes any kind of sanctions nearly impossible.

If they break the rules, they have to pay the penalty. Sanctions are an essential part of running a classroom. They are intrin-

sic to guiding pupils on to the path of better behaviour. They need to

be fair, consistent, and proportionate. If at first you don’t succeed,

keep it up. Also, get the parents involved. Some parents are unsuppor-

tive, but they are by far in the minority. The vast majority want the

best for their children, just like you do.

Don’t freak out.

In case you’re not getting the behaviour you planned, then it’s very

tempting to scream your head off. Never do this - the students are

most likely to put their feet up and think ‘Oh, great! A TV show!’. It’s

a totally disproportionate response to most classroom behaviours and

makes you look weak. Don't let them have the pleasure.

Be prepared and be the teacher.

Be there before them, have your resources ready and a lesson planned

in advance. If you turn out to be more badly organised than students

are, they’ll rarely respect you. The mental attitude you need to suc-

ceed is ‘They are here to learn, and my job is to help make that hap-

pen.’ Don’t try to be their friend; students need rules, boundaries and

an adult who will treat them with manners and civility, encouraging

them to do the same. You are supposed to be an authority figure with

a responsibility for their education so be it.▪ I.P.

HAVE YOU TRIED...?

Ever thought about a new way to encourage guided writing

or present your students word lists? Why not try Wordle?

According to their website http://www.wordle.net/, it is a

toy for generating word clouds from text that you provide.

The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear

more frequently in the source text. You can tweak the

clouds with different fonts, layouts, and colour schemes.

The images you create with Wordle are yours to use

however you like. Give it a go! You're bound to like it!

CPD in 10 minutes or less

You've probably forgotten the most of what you've learnt about

the history of the English language. Here is a short video to

remind you of the nitty gritty. Plus, it is guaranteed to make

you laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=H3r9bOkYW9s&feature=youtu.be