English Summer Camp

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

~Dr. Seuss

Friday marked the end of our four-day English camp at school. There were 42 middle school students from my school who participated in the camp.  I worked with the other English teacher to organize the camp activities and games. It was great to see my students enjoying the activities and using English outside of the classroom setting. I think some students don’t like learning English because they think it is hard and boring, but when you show them how much fun It can be, that can help to motivate them to keep trying. 

You might be wondering what kind of activities you do at English camp. Here are a few examples:

• Ice Breakers: duck, duck, goose, the hokey pokey, Simon says, etc. 
• Pictionary: split into three teams, take turns sending one person to the board to draw, the person picks a piece of paper out of a hat and has to draw what is written on the paper, the first team to say what it is they are drawing wins one point. Some examples were a dog, boat, school, river, laundry, and sewing. 

•  Blindfolded Scavenger Hunt: Split into two teams. Have previously hidden bits of fabric throughout the school courtyard. The first person gives instructions to their blindfolded teammate on where to go to get the fabric. Once the blindfolded person successfully finds the fabric, they blindfold the next person in line and now it is their turn to give instructions on how to find the piece of fabric. The first team to finish wins and since it is English camp all the instructions have to be said in English. 

• Circle It:  Split the group into two teams. Have many words previously written on the black board. The teams form three lines and each first person in line has a piece of chalk. The instructor says one word that is written on the blackboard. Then the first team to find and circle the word gets one point. If they circle the wrong word they lose one point.

Those are just a few examples of games we played. The students also learned a few new songs during camp. They especially like Bob Marley. We also viewed three movies. The first day we watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc, and the students enjoyed it so much that we decided to just continue and watch the whole Indiana Jones series. One thing my students have in common with Indiana Jones is how much they hate snakes!! It was so funny to watch their reaction to the snakes in the film. They really freaked out and a few even ran out of the classroom! Overall, I'd say camp was a success. It felt good to have one last classroom experience with my students. I will miss these kids.