RELO Russia

🎵 Teaching Tip Thursday: Music in the English Classroom 🎵

Music makes learning English fun! Try these quick activities:

• Song Rewrite: Change the lyrics to practice vocabulary or grammar.
• Karaoke Challenge: Sing along to improve pronunciation and fluency.
• Tense Hunt: Identify verb tenses in the lyrics for grammar practice.
• Gap-Fill (Cloze): Listen and complete missing words.
• Create a Playlist: Students choose songs around a theme.
• Vocabulary Expansion: Highlight and discuss new words from lyrics.
Even a few minutes of music can boost listening, speaking, and cultural awareness! 🎧✨

For more songs and ideas for teaching English with music, check out this FREE resource: https://thelyricsproject.org/ 

🌟 Wednesday with Virtual English Language Educator: Laura Briggs 🌟

Laura Clark Briggs is an educator and literacy researcher with 25+ years of experience working with both K–12 and adult learners. Based in Nashville, she teaches high school English and supports adult English learners. Her research focuses on how learners from non–Roman-alphabet backgrounds develop reading skills in English, and she also reviews national assessments for fairness and bias.

Using a Universal Design for Learning approach, Laura offers multiple pathways for expression—retelling scenes from new viewpoints, modernizing legends, or blending folklore into original work—so each participant can connect with the material in a way that feels authentic, creative, and enjoyable.

🌟 LAST Call for Early Career Teachers: FLASH: Multimedia Design and Use in the English Classroom 🌟
FLASH is a FREE online series of 15 hands-on sessions that explore how digital tools—mobile learning, storytelling, open-source content, music, video, podcasts, and more—can transform your classroom. 

📝 Don’t wait – apply by December 19, 2025: 🔗 https://forms.gle/8VZ31a7rRhH6ED887

✨ Join FLASH and inspire your learners through creativity, technology, and multimedia! ✨

❄️ Materials Monday with Molodets ❄️

December is a season of stories, imagination, and a little bit of magic — which makes it the perfect time to explore Walt Disney in the English classroom 🎬✨
Explore Molodets Module 7 and read about Walt Disney’s life and creative journey. His story encourages students of all ages to dream big, persevere, and be creative — good themes to highlight at the end of the year.

🔗 Access Module 7 here: https://www.molodetsell.com/module-7

📚 Friday Focus: Unlock Academic Language

Academic language is more than just “big words”—it’s how students organize ideas, explain reasoning, and participate in school discussions. 
If you’d like your students to grow comfortable with that register, try weaving in one simple strategy this week: pick a short text and have students summarize it using a frame.

👉 Read more about this and find practical strategies here: https://bit.ly/4oCFlQJ 

🎯 Try weaving in short activities that encourage students to use academic vocabulary and structure their thinking clearly. Mixing these skills with everyday conversation helps them confidently use the right language in writing, speaking, and thinking.

🌟 Call for Early Career Teachers: FLASH: Multimedia Design and Use in the English Classroom 🌟
Are you a teacher in your first five years of teaching? Are you ready to bring more creativity into your English lessons? 🎧📱🎬✨

FLASH is a dynamic online training series featuring 15 hands-on sessions that explore how digital tools—mobile learning, storytelling, open-source content, music, video, podcasts, and more—can transform your classroom. You’ll learn practical strategies to boost engagement, fluency, collaboration, and student expression.
Throughout the program, you’ll create your own classroom-ready materials and build confidence working with text, sound, image, and performance.

💡 Plus: Participants are paired with experienced TESOL coaches from the United States for personalized guidance, professional growth, and international collaboration.

✔️ Certificates awarded upon completion

📍 Where: Fully virtual (Russia ↔ USA) 📅 When: January–June 2026 Sessions every Tuesday at 19:00 MSK

📝 Apply by December 19, 2025: 🔗 https://forms.gle/8VZ31a7rRhH6ED887

✨ Join FLASH and discover new ways to inspire your learners through creativity, technology, and multimedia! ✨

🌟 Wednesday with Virtual English Language Specialist: JT Rehill 🌟

We're thrilled to highlight JT Rehill, a dedicated educator with a refreshingly human take on teaching in the age of AI.
JT reminds us that while new tools and technologies can help us work smarter, real learning still depends on real intelligence, real connection, and real teachers. As JT says, “Computers will never replace teachers—except those who deserve to be.”

What truly inspires JT? ✨ Working with passionate, funny, and incredibly hard-working teachers around the world. ✨ Building meaningful learning experiences that go far beyond what any tool can do. ✨ Supporting educators who—according to him—are some of the best students he’s ever had.

We’re grateful for JT’s insight, humor, and dedication to empowering our teaching community in Russia.

🎙️✨ Teaching Tip Tuesday! ✨🎙️

Are you looking for motivating, speaking-focused activities for pairs and groups? If so, you won’t want to miss this excellent resource from American English!

🗣️ Adaptable Speaking Activities offers ready-to-use tasks that boost communication, interaction, and confidence in the classroom. Perfect for energizing learners and getting everyone talking!

👉 Explore the resource here: https://bit.ly/AdaptableSpeakingActivities

⭐ Materials Monday: Bringing a Bit of Thanksgiving Warmth to December!

Even though it is past Thanksgiving, it’s still a great time to explore gratitude and American traditions with your students!
This lesson introduces learners to the history and customs of Thanksgiving in the U.S. in a simple, accessible way. A great fit for students who are curious about the culture behind the language.

Students will:
🍂 Discover how Thanksgiving began
📚 Learn useful thematic vocabulary
🗣️ Practice reading, writing, and speaking
🤝 Work together creatively
🧡 Reflect on people and experiences they’re thankful for

The lesson also includes optional activities that help you continue the gratitude theme throughout December—ideal for adding warmth and positivity to winter lessons.

A ready-to-use cultural resource for busy teachers!

🧤✨ Culture Share Saturday: Mitten Tree Day (USA) ✨🧤

Mitten Tree Day is an American tradition that celebrates winter, kindness, and the spirit of giving. In many communities and schools, people decorate a “mitten tree” with donated mittens, gloves, and other warm items to share with those in need. It’s a simple but heartwarming way to spread generosity during the cold season.
This is a lovely opportunity to bring U.S. winter culture into your classroom while practicing vocabulary and encouraging acts of kindness.

❄️ Classroom Activity Idea: “Create a Classroom Mitten Tree”
1. Introduce winter clothing vocabulary: mittens, gloves, hat, scarf, etc.
2. Have students design and color their own mitten on paper.
3. Inside the mitten, ask students to write one kind or helpful action they can do this winter.
4. Display all the mittens on a classroom “Mitten Tree” (a poster, bulletin board, or drawn tree).
5. Finish with a short discussion about kindness traditions in Russia and the U.S.

A cozy, creative way to connect language learning with cultural sharing! ❄️❤️

🎉 Fun Friday Challenge: "Spill the Beans!" 🎉

Happy Friday, teachers and learners! ✨ Ready for some Friday Fun? Let’s dive into the idiom of the week: "Spill the beans" 🫘— meaning to accidentally reveal a secret or share a surprise! 🤭

📝 Classroom Idea: Turn it into a game!
Have your students "spill the beans" by revealing a secret fact or funny story, but they can only give part of the information.
The class has to guess what the rest of the secret is! 🕵️‍♀️🔍
Or have students act out spilling the beans (without talking) and let the class guess what the secret is! 🤫

🌐✨ Free Online Courses for English Learners!

Do you know someone who wants to improve their English AND build real career skills?
Share these two free Massive Open Online Courses with them — they’re perfect for students, job seekers, and young professionals.
✔ Free ✔ Self-paced ✔ Designed for English learners

💼 English for Business and Entrepreneurship
Learn key business vocabulary, pitching, and how ideas become businesses.

🚀 English for Career Development
Practice résumé writing, interview language, and professional communication.

🔗 Learn more & enroll: https://openenglishcommunity.org/page/massive-open-online-courses-moocs

🌟 Wednesday with Virtual Educator: Jenn Edvardsson 🌟

We’re excited to introduce Jennifer Edvardsson, an experienced educator with a global perspective! 🌍 From teaching ESL at the University of Michigan to working in Russia, Japan, and France, Jen has taught students across continents. ✈️

Her expertise also extends to designing global learning programs. 💼
✨ Jen’s teaching philosophy? Learning is most effective when it’s engaging, practical, and enjoyable!

📚✨ Teaching Tip Tuesday! ✨📚

Want to help your students read and truly understand graphs? Try incorporating Graph Literacy activities into your lessons!

📊 Graph literacy helps learners identify important features of graphs and connect them to real-world meaning—an essential skill for navigating information in today’s world.

Explore this engaging resource from American English: 👉 https://learn.concord.org/graph-literacy

🌟 Call for Early Career Teachers: FLASH: Multimedia Design and Use in the English Classroom 🌟
Are you a teacher in your first five years of teaching? Are you ready to bring more creativity into your English lessons? 🎧📱🎬✨

FLASH is a dynamic online training series featuring 15 hands-on sessions that explore how digital tools—mobile learning, storytelling, open-source content, music, video, podcasts, and more—can transform your classroom. You’ll learn practical strategies to boost engagement, fluency, collaboration, and student expression.
Throughout the program, you’ll create your own classroom-ready materials and build confidence working with text, sound, image, and performance.

💡 Plus: Participants are paired with experienced TESOL coaches from the United States for personalized guidance, professional growth, and international collaboration.

✔️ Certificates awarded upon completion

📍 Where: Fully virtual (Russia ↔ USA) 📅 When: January–June 2026 Sessions every Tuesday at 19:00 MSK

📝 Apply by December 19, 2025: 🔗 https://forms.gle/8VZ31a7rRhH6ED887

✨ Join FLASH and discover new ways to inspire your learners through creativity, technology, and multimedia! ✨