The second HUPE Rijeka Branch meeting was held at Gradska knjižnica Rijeka, ogranak Trsat – American Corner in Rijeka on January 26th, 2019. Twenty-four members attended the meeting.

The agenda included:

1. Gracijela Orobabić: Learning English Through Video Picture Books
2. Tamara Pleše: International English projects
3. Deni Kirinčić: Using songs in the EFL clasroom

The first workshop was held by Gracijela Orobabić, the teacher in elementary school ‘Gornja Vežica’. She talked about video picture books as the additional teaching material. She finds them just the right kind of teaching tool that ticks all the boxes. You can use pre-existing tasks or create your own, especially digital ones, to keep young learners active, focused and eager to use and develop all their language skills. In addition, we should use real-life experience and work on developing their thinking and problem-solving skills. In her workshop Gracijela presented a two-week projects she did with her 6th graders.
Tamara Pleše, the teacher in elementary school ‘Delnice’, presented the project she did with her students in collaboration with the Polish students and their teacher from Gdansk in previous two school years. They were exploring English through different cultures, presenting their hometown and region they live in, and finally, some of them hosted Polish students in their homes and even visited Poland. Students showed enthusiasm and were very pleased to meet students from another country and collaborate with them.
Deni Kirinčić, the teacher and pedagogue in elementary school ‘Gornja Vežica’, talked about using songs in ELT. Music should be one of the most important tools an English teacher uses in their classroom. It offers a chance for students to get a glimpse of authentic language. Songs are easily obtained, and they can be selected according to students’ needs which makes them perfect for the introduction of new vocabulary, grammar and even various cultural aspects. In class, teachers can opt for different teaching strategies and exercises, some of which are gap-filling exercises, spotting mistakes, translation, correct verse order, making comics, debates, etc. The choice of songs should be based on students’ preferences, bearing in mind the appropriateness and suitability, as it will surely increase their motivation levels
If you wish to join HUPE Rijeka, contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Nataša Žarkov
HUPE Rijeka