Bringing home the Gold... Olympic dreams!

t is hard to believe, but the end of our school year is already here… and what a year it has been!

Since our last blog lots of things took place in our classroom…

To start with, we welcomed a new friend in April: Eyal! … and unfortunately, we also said goodbye to: Fernando and Matthew…. We miss you so much but wish you all the best in your new schools! We also would like to thank Ms. Julia and Mr. José, our two fantastic interns this year! 

In February we had our first snack shop! The children were able to practise their numeracy skills as they sold their snacks, they set the prices and they also managed to give change back. It was a wonderful learning experience! Check out the pictures!

A few days later we celebrated the 100^th day of School! We ate yummy cupcakes and ice-cream and decorated the classroom and build our own crowns and funny sunglasses! That same week our first general knowledge quiz took place… This afternoon quiz became a very popular activity in our classroom, and I would like to congratulate everybody for their fantastic effort in improving their knowledge!

Our unit of inquiry ‘Buildings’ came to and end also in February, Ms. Erica planned an online conference with two brilliant architects! The kids got the chance to chat with them and to ask questions, really an unique experience! The architects gave the children a challenge: they needed to make a cardboard model of their own “den”. The class were busy planning, creating and building! This was a fantastic way for the children to use their knowledge and skills to build and to build up their understanding. 

Since the beginning of this school year, it was clear that the children of my class were always hungry for knowledge, their curiosity about the world and how it works was remarkable. There for, right after our building unit, we embarked in a mini project about the Moon! During this project we discovered important facts about the moon, we had fun with a moon poem and we create a cool display showing the phases of the moon using recycling materials. The children were really amazed about the moon that they decided it is Magical! We created a short video about all our Moon learning. Check out our seesaw page to enjoy this video!

After our moon project, we started the wonderful unit of enquiry “Stories people tell”. This unit took us on a trip to discover different types of stories (fables, legends, Greek myths and fairy tales). We studied three legends from around the world and the children rewrote them using their own understanding and vocabulary. Take a look at our entry point video  https://youtu.be/9cf00pXp_v0 .

One of the legends we studied was: ‘Becoming Buddha: the story of Siddhartha” Through this legend the children reflected on the meaning of happiness. https://youtu.be/VfD7DBilEE8

The class had a brief introduction to the intriguing world of Ancient Greece! We talked about Greek Mythology and explored a few Myths like Hercules, Pandora’s box, The story of Medusa and The Origin of the Seasons. Ms. Veta and Ms Ourania (two amazing interns from Greece) came to our class to tell us these fascinating stories, they also introduced us to the main Olympian Gods… we thank them so much for enriching our learning! Look at this video to learn more about the Olympian Gods. https://youtu.be/tRPi3nheWUM .

During this unit we also investigated how people in the past represented stories and characters We learned about ancient Greek pottery and designed our own plates and told a short story around it We also explored what fables are. We looked at the characters, conflicts, and morals in a few fables. As a class we discussed how we can learn from these fables and use this understanding to solve problems.

For our exit point, the class planned and performed a shadow puppet show! Everybody participated in this production. The children learned about teamwork and how every member of a team contributes to the success of the team. I am so very proud of everybody; they did a fantastic job… we presented our show to the whole school! Take a look at this fantastic video!!

Our very last project was about…. of course… THE OLYMPICS! This final unit of inquiry blended perfectly with all our previous learning about Greece and the Olympian Gods… we learnt how the Olympics have changed over time. They understood the origins and essence of the Olympic Games. The children learnt the meaning of the Olympic rings and created their own Olympic flags and medals. We explored all the host countries of the modern Olympic Games and learnt some facts about Japan, the host country this year. As a class activity we also created a timeline with all the host countries since the origin of the Modern Olympics. And we explored what it takes to be an Olympian. We looked at some Olympic and Paralympic athletes share their stories of diversity, courage and perseverance. But the cherry on the top was to meet and chat with an Olympian Champion! His name is Hugh Freund, a Paralympian sailor who represented the United States of America during the Paralympics Games in Brazil in 2016. Hugh Freund is a silver medallist!

This remarkable athlete talked to the kids about his personal journey becoming a Paralympian and he shared positive stories about his life and achievements. The children had the chance to ask him very interesting questions as well. Hugh Freund is a friend of Ms Sophie, and we would like to thank her for organizing this conference!

We wrapped up this unit with our very own Wacky Olympics. This schoolwide event was organized by Mr. Francis. The kids got the chance to work as a team in different physical activities mixed up with lots of fun. We had fun races, hula-hoop, burpees, cartwheels, and tennis challenges. We all had tons of fun! Catch some of the pictures on our school Facebook page!

I would like to thank all my students and their parents for a fantastic year. We have learnt, grown, matured, and changed together… I am extremely proud of all of my students and their achievements.…

have a fantastic summer and see you all around! 

Ms Julieta