School news... before they get too old to be told!

Last month a nutritionist visited our school to talk about the benefits of eating right, i.e. eating a lot of fruit and vegetables and less meat or sweets. She asked the students a lot of questions and most of them knew the answers. That means everybody knows what is good to eat and what is not - the question is, how many of us put it into practice?

The nutritionist pointed out the need of eating fruit of different colours every day and she played a game with the students. They were excited. Then she talked  about bananas in particular and showed them a relevant video. 

Before she left, she treated every student to a big, yellow, tasty banana. The kids were happy! Let us hope they will follow some of the valuable advice the nutritionist gave them.

 

The Parent Association of our school kept the custom of cutting the vassilopita this year, too. Every student got a large piece of vasilopita and we all wished the best for the New Year. The lucky ones to find the coin were Panayiotis, a student of 4^th grade, and Panayiota, a student of 6^th grade. Each one of them got a book as a present.

Last but not least, a professor from the Technological Educational Institute of Kalamata came to our school to help us start a garden. Our school has a lot of space for a garden. We are going to plant vegetables, flowers and herbs. The professor talked to the students about plants. Everybody is excited with our new project and you can see seeds and little plants in every classroom. We are still planning about planting!

My favourite hero

Can you spot your favourite hero in my students' drawings?

The area I live in

Here is what the 4th Grade students wrote about Messinia.

The sun and the wind

Collaboration

Collaboration can work miracles. Have you got any objection?

Here' s a slideshow I' ve made. See photos of my students working together on a project. They had so much fun that I enjoyed that lesson, too! It will be one to remember!

Every problem has a solution

In E class, we learnt how to talk about problems, give our opinion and suggest a solution. The students made some drawings about the things we discussed.

Time

Time is a big issue. It flies, it makes you forget, it puzzles you...
Learn how to tell the time. Be a master of time!

Time - Clocks

Rock around the clock

I am just a passenger here...

Do you all know what a passenger is?
I am sure you don' t know better than Iggy!
Let him explain...

The Fall of Icarus

I have told you before: you can write a poem if you want to.
Anyone who is capable of feeling, is capable of writing...

The Fall of Icarus

For more paintings, look here.

You are my Valentine!

Valentine’ s Day is not only about romantic love but also about a kind of love expressed through kindness. 

You know that your parents love you and show it by doing nice things for you. In the same way, you feel good about yourselves when you do something kind for another person. And while kindness towards friends and family may come naturally, Valentine’ s Day is also an opportunity to show kindness towards people you don't know very well. Keep in mind that Saint Valentine was a man who was thrown into prison a long time ago for helping people get married, but who was so kind that he healed the blind daughter of the man who was his jailer. 

Showing compassion is not as simple as giving someone a card or some candy. Sometimes you have to reach out to those who need it. True kindness requires paying attention to others and their feelings. Ask yourself: What can I do to help him/her feel better?

If you read books, ask yourselves what the characters in the story might be feeling, and if they are struggling with sadness, loneliness, frustration, or fear, what might make them feel better etc. This is a good place to start.

Fill your heart with love and feel love and compassion every day! 

Happy Valentine' s Day!

Love - John Lennon

This year we are more fun!

This one is for my 6th grader, G.K., who was feeling sick at school today but paid me the best of compliments: "Miss, this year you are more fun than last year...!"
This is the way we should all be: better and better as the years go by... And more fun, too!

We are all poets!

Did you know that nearly everybody can write a piece of poetry? The greater the inspiration, the better the poem. All you have to do is keep your eyes and your ears open and all your senses awake, but, most importantly, keep your heart pure and your mind enquiring.

At school, we read an acrostic poem in our course book. This time it was about monsters.

Here is the original poem:

M any of them are oversized
O ut in the dark, they look strange
N othing more vicious and ugly
S ometimes the most mysterious
T otally frightening
E xcept for the … friendly ones
R ather funny and good-hearted
S urely they can be our friends!

Here are the students' poems:

A promise is a promise

How lucky are we, teachers, when our students actually beg us to let them answer our questions in class!
This one is for sweet Aphrodite! As I  promised...

Vivaldi' s Four Seasons

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) was Italian.  
The most well-known piece of music he wrote was The Four Seasons.

Read the poem that goes with each part of The Four Seasons, and then listen to the part. Does the music resemble or portray the things in the poems? Does the music match the seasons?
You can also draw on paper what the music makes you "see" in your mind.