13th English Summer Camp 2011 Monday July 4th- Sunday July 18th English camps have been a partnership venture since they began. Volunteers come to teach English and are introduced to a new culture and its people. The local children attend the camp to improve their English but also to build relationships with those who come to lead. In the past, the foreign volunteers have received much more than they could have ever intended to give. Arabs in the Nazareth, Galilee region give new meaning to the word "hospitality". The volunteers are welcomed into their homes and their community. The key is to come with a heart to learn as much as to teach. The best way to get to know a culture is through building relationships.
English camps can be done in a number of ways, but the way we have found most successful is through thematic teaching. The theme is taught through stations where students perform different tasks. In the past some of the stations have been: music, sport, arts/crafts, phonics, reading comprehension, writing (for example, journals), grammar. Students rotate through the stations in their ability group. Each station is for 30 minutes. Students gather in an assembly at first and sit with their group. Each group has a symbol (a color, animal, etc). The camp coordinator makes sure to keep the time so that groups rotate on schedule. Snacks are provided at the end of each day. All instruction is given in English and Arabic translation is used when necessary. The translators are either local ESL teachers who want to build relationships as well as observe new teaching methods or high school students who need to practice their oral English for their university entrance exams (Bagrut exams). This system is a win/win for everyone. The only complaint has been that the camps aren't long enough. For this reason, camps have been extended to 2 weeks with a field trip at the end. If enrollment is high, camps can be taught in the morning and then an older group in the afternoon. The times could be: Session 1 from 9:00 am - 12 Session 2 from 3:00pm - 6:00 pm. (Time would be needed for lunch and the heat is too much at that time as well.) Time can be spent touring the local sites on the weekends, or the volunteer coordinator could arrange to have a few extra days set aside when camps are finished to tour the country before leaving.
Your expenses would be airfare, ground transport (to be worked out by Kamel Barghouti), entrance fees for local holy sites, and approx. You can be hosted by local families which will provide breakfast and one meal a day or you can stay in either hostel or hotel accommodations. This depends on your focus and your budget.
Groups are encouraged to come. It's an experience of a lifetime to be sure!
English Summer Camp on FaceBook: English Summer Camp- Nazareth (E.S.C)
If you are interested please contact:
Kamel Barghouti
+972 505474551
Email: kamel_barghouti@yahoo.com
Nazareth, Israel
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