EPIK English Summer Camp 2013

Part of my EPIK contract is running a week long English camp twice a year (Summer and Winter). Last week I finished my Summer camp and I thought I would share some pictures.

But first some advice for new EPIK teachers. Start planning your camp ASAP. I did some brainstorming for mine very early on, but I didn't do most of the work until the couple of weeks before the camp. It was a massive amount of work. Every month, try and plan one day of your camp if you can. It will make the experience much more enjoyable and less stressful.

My classes were split into a morning class and afternoon class. The first thing to do was deciding on team names and make team posters. 

Then, we played a fun game to get to know each other better. Not using their hands, they had to pass a balloon around the circle while I played music. When the music stopped the person holding the balloon had to tell everyone their western name, their Korean name, one thing they like, why they want to learn English and what job they want. 

Then, we made boomerangs. Instructions here. Not all of them got their boomerang to return, but they seemed to have fun. 

Next day we watched some short films and then using goanimate.com students made their own film on the computers at the back of the classroom.  

The students did a good job. The students voted on what film they thought was the best. Click on the picture below to see the best film. 

 The next day was a science themed day about bridges. In the morning we played a game called running dictation. They had to memorize as much of a paragraph as they could and then run back to their group and tell them what they read. We played it in the hallway to make the students run a decent distance and also avoid injuries that would have been sustained running in a classroom filled with desks. The paragraph I gave them was filled with facts about some world famous bridges (Golden Gate, Sydney Harbor, Brooklyn Bridge)

Then, after the running dictation game it was time to build some bridges from paper. Some of the students came up with some... err... interesting concepts. 

We then tested the bridges to see what load they could carry. 

This bridge received top points for most beautiful bridge. 

 

  

The theme of the next day was food, so I decided to play a game called spaghetti dictation. I would read a short sentence and students would then have to make the sentence using broken uncooked spaghetti strands. 

We then played a game I called odd one out. I showed four words (food related) on the board and students had to choose which one was the odd one out. For example, pizza, hamburger, candy, carrot. The odd one out being carrot because it is healthy. Students then had to blow up a balloon and write the correct answer on the balloon. 

Then, it was time to make some food. I decided something easy and fun to make would be fairy bread. For anyone not from Australia, fairy bread is a food at childrens parties in Australia. For more info, check out the youtube video here.

Students had a mixed reaction. Some liked it, others didn't. Most said they liked it, but it was a little too greasy and sweet for them which is fair enough. They are not used to these kinds of foods. 

Then, the theme on the last day was fashion. I let the students design their own clothes using newspaper, brown paper and sticky tape. 

And then after they finished designing their clothes, they had to make and advertisement for their clothes. 

A group photo of my first class of students from grade 1 and 2. 

A group photo of my second class of students from grade 2 and 3. 

Preparing for English camp was stressful, but once the camp was underway I had a good time.