RELO Russia

🌟Starting TODAY 🌟

Beginning May 18th at 20:00 MSK, join AMC for the new 4-part biweekly Board Games Club led by English Language Specialist Marie Van Romburgh. Open to participants 16+ with intermediate to advanced English, this club uses board games as a fun way to build fluency and communication skills.

Learn more and register: https://amc.timepad.ru/event/3978575/ 

Materials Monday: Molodets Game Cards 🍎

We are excited to share the Molodets Games collection, specifically designed to accompany our learning modules. These resources bridge the gap between complex grammar points and American cultural insights through interactive play.

What’s included?

Custom Game Cards: Available for both print and digital use.
Teacher Support: A supplemental document for each game providing detailed instructions and five unique adaptations for in-person and virtual settings.

🌍✨ Culture Share Sunday: Montana

🏔️ Did you know? Montana is known as “Big Sky Country” because of its wide-open landscapes and expansive blue skies. It’s home to incredible natural beauty, including Flathead Lake—the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River!

🤠 Montana has a strong cowboy and ranching heritage. Rodeos are a popular tradition, where people compete in events like bull riding and barrel racing—an important part of life in many rural communities.

🐻 Montana is also known for its wildlife. Animals like grizzly bears, elk, and bald eagles can be found across the state, making it a great place for nature lovers and photographers. 

Want to help your learners connect classroom writing to real-world communication? ✍️📰

This English Teaching Forum article by Kamran Akhtar Siddiqui introduces a “letter to the editor” project that takes students step by step through the writing process. Learners analyze model texts, choose an issue they care about, draft and revise their ideas, exchange peer feedback, and prepare their letters for authentic publication.

🔗 Read the full article
🔗 Explore the full issue

On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 17:00 MSK, join Keith Boswell, Betsy Lewis-Moreno, and Marie van Romburgh for an interactive webinar on practical ways to use Molodets with English language learners. The presenters will share how they adapt the curriculum to create engaging, communicative, and student-centered lessons.

Register and learn more: https://amc.timepad.ru/event/3977567/ 

Looking for a creative, collaborative speaking activity? 🎤✨

This idea gives students a fun way to work in groups, think creatively, and practice functional language while pitching an idea to “organizers” or “funders.” 🚚💬

The best part? It’s flexible! You can easily adapt the challenge to different themes—like designing a café, starting a school club, launching a community project, or creating a new product.

🎯 Differentiate by level: • Beginner: Use sentence frames (“Our truck sells…”, “Try the… it’s…”) • Intermediate: Add comparatives (“spicier than…”, “cheaper than…”) • Advanced: Incorporate conditionals (“If we join your event, we can…”)

✨ Wednesday with Virtual English Language Specialist Marie van Romburgh ✨

From K–12 classrooms to adult learning environments, English Language Specialist Marie van Romburgh brings deep expertise in ESL instruction, teacher development, and academic English to her projects with Russian teachers. She has also led workshops around the globe—from Haiti to Cambodia to South Africa—supporting educators in diverse contexts.

💡 Recommendation: Inspired by the podcast “Sold a Story,” Marie has been reflecting on literacy instruction and its impact on teaching practices. 

🥞 And on a lighter note—one American tradition she loves? Breakfast culture. Because truly… no one does breakfast quite like the USA!

🌟 Participate in Marie’s courses hosted by the American Center Moscow: 

Teacher2Teacher Series: Frameworks for Teaching English

Teacher2Teacher: Advanced English for Teaching Professionals

Interested in Theoretical Linguistics, Global Cultural Studies, or Creative Workshops? 

Join V-NYI #12 Summer Intensive Advanced Certificate Program by NYI! 📚
Attend a series of advanced seminars and workshops designed for dedicated professionals, scholars, and lifelong learners on June 24 – July 10.

Completion of three seminars/workshops is required to receive the Advanced Certificate.

📌 Space is limited 📌 Registration is first-come, first-served 📌 Workshops and seminars may close once filled

🗓 Early Bird Deadline: May 15, 2026 🗓 Final Deadline: June 10, 2026

Learn more: https://nyispb.org/vnyi12/

Application form

Join American English on May 20 at 15:00 and 20:00 MSK for the fifth webinar in American English Live Series 24. 

During this session, "Integrating Culture Through Clip Chat and Picture talk," Kevin Parker will review strategies such as picture talk and clip chat to engage students, support language learning, and build key skills.

Register and learn more here: https://bit.ly/4r1Je3F 

Join via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96503218412 

We are excited to announce that Molodets is now available as a complete digital textbook series — free to download.

Designed with today’s flexible classrooms in mind, these textbooks are:
• Fully fillable for online instruction
• Easy to print for in-person classes
• Built around structured grammar development
• Rich in high-frequency vocabulary practice
• Infused with meaningful American cultural content

Whether you teach synchronously online, asynchronously, face-to-face, or in hybrid formats, Molodets provides adaptable, ready-to-use materials that support communicative competence while strengthening accuracy and cultural understanding.

Download free copy

🌍✨ Culture Share Saturday: Idaho

🥔 Did you know? Idaho is famous for its potatoes! Popular foods like french fries and potato chips are loved across the U.S. In some regions, people even use the slang word “spud” instead of “potato.”

📺Philo Farnsworth, a young farm boy from Idaho, invented the first fully electronic television! His idea came from looking at rows in a plowed field and imagining how images could be transmitted line by line.

🌋 Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve looks like something from another planet! Its lava fields and caves resemble the surface of the moon.

✏️ Classroom activity: Have students imagine they are visiting Idaho.

Ask them to write a short travel post or dialogue including:
• one new word (like spud)
• one fact about Idaho
• one place they want to visit

Looking for high‑quality multimedia lessons you can use right away in your English classroom? 🎥✨

TED‑Ed offers thousands of free educational videos with ready-made lesson plans, discussion questions, vocabulary tasks, and opportunities for critical thinking. You can use a TED‑Ed lesson as a warm‑up, a speaking prompt, a listening activity, or even as the basis for a project.

The best part? Each lesson includes flexible tools you can adapt for different levels and teaching contexts. TED‑Ed is an excellent resource for teachers who want to bring more popular media and meaningful discussions into their classrooms.

🎲💬 Teaching Tip Thursday

Games are a fun way to practice English—but sometimes students focus more on winning than speaking.

Try this: make your language goals visible. Choose a few grammar or communication targets and share them clearly with students. Then, use simple peer scoring cards so students can track each other’s use of the target language.

This keeps everyone engaged, encourages more speaking, and builds learner responsibility—especially in large classes!

✨ Wednesday with Virtual English Language Educator Mara Barrow ✨

With 20+ years of global experience and an MA in TESOL, Mara specializes in business English and helping professionals communicate with confidence. She’s taught in seven countries and is fluent in Spanish, with a passion for connecting people through language 🌍 

When she’s not teaching, you’ll likely find her enjoying a great cup of coffee ☕ or spending time with dogs 🐶 — her two favorite ways to stay energized and smiling. 

Recommendation: The BBC World Service radio program The Food Chain — a fascinating look at food from business, science, and cultural angles, rich in vocabulary and global perspectives. 

In the past, salt was a highly valued commodity used for preservation. Today, when we call someone “the salt of the earth,” we mean they are dependable, kind, and truly valuable.

Teachers are the salt of the earth—shaping lives, supporting communities, and making a lasting impact every day. 🍎

✨ TODAY at 15:00 MSK! ✨

Rachelle Dené Poth, the author of How to Teach AI: Weaving Strategies and Activities Into Any Content Area, will provide you with possibilities to: 
• Connect with global educators
• Ask an expert your burning questions about AI
• Gain practical, ready-to-use strategies 

Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom

🌍✨ Culture Share Saturday: Colorado

Did you know that Colorado is home to some of the highest peaks in the United States? It’s a paradise for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, offering breathtaking views and exciting challenges at high altitudes!

⛰️ One unique place is Grand Mesa — the largest flat-top mountain in the world! Unlike sharp peaks, a flat-top mountain has a wide, level summit, almost like a giant natural table, with steep sides and a smoother surface on top.

🗣️ Language tip: In Colorado, you might hear the phrase “a ways to go” (or “a long ways to go”), meaning there’s still a significant distance left to travel.

👩‍🏫 Quick Discussion Idea:
Ask students:
• Do you like to hike? Why / why not?
• What is more difficult: heat or high altitude?

RELO recommends this upcoming webinar from the Pro2Pro community!

💡 Human Creativity and Ideation: Practical Skills to Increase Quantity and Quality of Ideas
🎓 Pro2Pro Webinar
🗓 May 6 (Wed) | 5:00 PM (CET) / 6:00 PM (MSK)

🎤 Speaker:
• Matthew Manos — Associate Dean & Associate Professor, University of Southern California

This session will explore practical approaches to creativity and ideation that can help educators and other professionals strengthen idea generation, refresh familiar formats, and bring more creativity into everyday work.

The webinar may be especially useful for those who want to improve the quantity and quality of ideas, develop stronger creative habits, and find new ways to design engaging concepts under time pressure.

🔗 Register for the webinar:
https://luma.com/pro2pro_may6

🌳 Ever heard the expression “can’t see the forest for the trees”?

It’s similar to saying someone “can’t see the big picture”—when we get so focused on small details that we miss what really matters.

👩‍🏫 As teachers, this can happen more often than we think—lesson planning, grading, or even classroom challenges can pull us into the details.