Intensive English summer camps are conducted at English Access Microscholarship* sites as well as at many other sites around Russia. Summer camp sessions include opportunities for learning cross-cultural, computer, civic and leadership skills in an immersion environment. A limited number of grants from the U.S. Embassy’s Alumni and English Language Offices are available to support non-Access summer sessions on a cost-share basis. Camps linked to teachers’ associations are given priority.
Access summer camps include exchange program alumni as faculty and camp counselors. They also involve the participation of U.S. Embassy Moscow and Consulate employees, English Language Fellows and Specialists, Fulbright English Teaching Assistants, and Camp USA counselors. The communicative curriculum focuses on studying language through thematic units with hands-on, student-centered activities. Sports, games, drama and songs are a regular part of the camps.
In 2009, a joint project with Russia’s premier year-round educational camp, Orlenok Children’s Center, was approved at the federal level. As a result, Access teachers, counselors and students spend three weeks in the camp participating in an intensive language program.
One of the projects developed during the summer camps is the “Lessons in Kindness: Accessing English through Students’ Stories” publication and website. The 50 stories in this project – accessible at http://access.lingvograd.ru/ - were written by Access students in Russia and are particularly interesting for other teenagers. These stories promote tolerance and respect for others who are seen as different in some way: in language, history, culture, nationality, and physical attributes. The book can be used for teacher training and for language learning in a classroom setting or individually. Access students prepared, acted out and filmed sketches that were based on their stories, and also produced some artwork to illustrate the stories.
*The English Access Microscholarship Program for academically-gifted children from financially-deserving homes provides an American-style classroom experience using U.S. books and materials. The program started in 2004 in Ufa and has been extended to 14 regions in Russia, with 300 students participating. It consists of two years of after school learning English and a summer camp after each year. The program is known for its strong Russia-U.S. cross-cultural component and for its emphasis of the use of technology in language instruction.
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Summer Language Camp in Ufa |
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Summer Language Camp in Elista |
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