“Bees are nature’s magicians.”

Insects. This week, we looked at pictures of different critters and, depending on their anatomy, determined if the critters were, in fact, insects or not. Some critters seemed pretty weird, and others were very peculiar and had unique features, like the acorn weevil (a type of beetle with a snout) or the walking stick that looks precisely like that, a stick that walks. (If you have never seen any of these insects, we highly encourage you to look them up, we think they are the cutest!) Through observation and discussion, we concluded that Ants, the Acorn weevil, the Earwig, the Walking stick, the Praying mantis, the Silverfish, and the Cockroach are, in fact, insects, while the Centipede and Millipede are not. Our curiosity went beyond the classroom as we found critters in the playground, the sidewalk, and the hallways! This activity was not just about identifying critters; it was about developing critical thinking skills, understanding scientific classification, and appreciating the vast diversity of life forms on our planet. By engaging in hands-on exploration, our little ones learn to observe closely, analyze features, and draw informed conclusions.

Our mystery insects are thriving in their larval stage, growing larger and revealing their distinct features, particularly the spots on their backs. This detailed observation has allowed our students to gain a deeper understanding of the unique characteristics of these insects as they progress through their life cycle. While comparing the insects to the larva stage of the butterfly, students concluded that they are definitely not butterflies as the butterfly larva (caterpillar) looks very different. We look forward to sharing more updates as our mystery insects progress through their life cycle.

Service project. Our Bee Keepers sale was a huge success! Our effort paid off, and we reached our goal of one thousand dollars! We had our “Bee Kind” T-shirt raffle, and the lucky winner was Elektra from Ms. Anna’s class. Woohoo! We couldn’t be prouder of our little philanthropists; they were involved every step of the way. Some proudly welcomed our shoppers, offered raffle tickets, and gave them a note to remind them to plant flowers for bees. Thank you all for supporting this great cause.  

Bees. After reviewing the anatomy of Bees, each student made a bee using popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. It was tricky for some because it required a lot of twisting and bending. Students added a head, thorax, abdomen, six legs, five eyes, wings, stinger, and antennas to their bees. Once our bees were ready, we played a freeze-pollination game. We made big flowers full of pollen (chalk dust) that our bees visited while music played. When the music stopped, students were supposed to freeze and continue when the music started again. At the tune of the fun classical song, The Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov, students “flew” their bees around our pretend garden, making a buzzing sound and drinking nectar from each flower. Students noticed how the pollen stuck to the fibers of the pipe cleaners, just like natural pollen sticks on bees. At the end of the game, we checked our flowers and saw how the “pollen” had mixed up from one flower to another. We had so much fun pretending to be bees!

On Thursday, we went back to Centennial Park, our first trip there this Spring. We were surprised to find the park full of beautiful dandelions when we got there. As we returned to school, students noticed a stark contrast in the neighborhood lawns, which were mostly bare except for the occasional lonely dandelion. This observation led to a deeper conversation about why dandelions were abundant in the park but sparse in nearby lawns. Students deduced that chemical treatments on lawns might be responsible for the lack of these flowers, which are often dismissed as mere weeds. “We gotta tell them to stop spraying chemicals!” So now we are thinking of ways to tell our neighbors about the importance of dandelions in our garden. Together, we can foster a community that values and protects its natural resources.

Ms. Ela’s babies. We visited Ms. Ela’s class to check out their egg incubator. The experience left our students in awe as they observed the miracle of life inside the eggs, with baby chicks starting to move within their shells. How cool is that? Our students observed the egg incubator in action, which gently rotates the eggs every hour. This rotation is crucial for the development of the chicks inside the eggs. Ms. Ela explained that chickens naturally rotate their eggs three times a day to ensure even heat distribution, prevent the embryos from sticking to the eggshell, and promote healthy growth. We can’t wait to see the baby chicks! 

Secret project. As you already know, we are preparing a special day for our moms.  While we can’t reveal all the details yet, we assure you that you will love it. Stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya

 

“Anyone who thinks they’re too small to make a difference, has never met the honeybee”

Service Project. We launched our Service Project of the Year on Monday: Give Bees a Chance. We chose a good spot to hang our poster boards, and four volunteers decorated a donation jar to leave in the foyer. We then presented our plan to the whole school. Each student learned a line or two explaining the reason for our project to the classes on the lower level, while Ms. Anna’s class did it for the second-level classes. (Thank you for practicing with your child last weekend.) We explained how we plan to raise money to donate to Environment America: https://environmentamerica.org/feature/ame/save-bees.

 Together, we will set up a beekeeper shop next Tuesday, April 30th, where all the classes can shop for bee-themed items. Prices will range from $2 to $20. As a class, we’ve been busy bees setting up bracelet kits, bagging bee crayons, and writing labels and prices.We labeled and wrote prices for each item and decorated the shop room. Ms. Anna’s class handled the honey jars, chapsticks and gift baskets.

Each student has been fully invested in each activity, and we got many high fives from other teachers and students. Our families can help too: (ask your child how you can help as a family) 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cBA8LWGrT42OEQEu9GyFb4IWlwzGNS5XOS5N_Ii0fWM/edit?usp=sharing 

• Planting flowers in your garden
• Stay away from garden chemicals 
• Donate money (due day April 30th)

Last year, we raised $975! Our goal for this year is $1000. We can’t wait to see how much money we can raise for this important project. 

Bees. As part of our Service project, we keep learning about bees and all they do. We talked about their life cycle (ask your child what cycle means) and learned how worker bees care for their babies (larvae). The life cycle of honeybees consists of four stages: eggs, larva, pupa, and adult. This entire process varies lengthwise amongst the different honey bees. It takes about 16 days for the queen, 18 to 22 days for the worker bees, and 24 days for the drones. We watched a short video that showed us how the whole cycle looks in real life! https://youtu.be/xD5tdykIJBI We could see the entire transformation, and it was mesmerizing.

Pollination. This week, we discussed pollination, which is transferring pollen from flower to flower. Insects and animals who help with pollination are called pollinators. Ask your child what other animals are pollinators besides bees (butterflies, bats, hummingbirds, small mice, etc.) While we heard about the pollination process, we learned why Bees are a crucial part of pollination (ask your child why bees are essential during the pollination process and what could happen if bees go extinct.) 

Science. As part of this scientific experiment, we used coffee filters and markers to create unique flowers and learn about chromatography. We watched the amazing process of chromatography in action by coloring the filters with markers and dipping the tip in water. Students could see the water “walking up” the filter as soon as the filter’s tip made contact with the water, separating the colors and creating beautiful patterns.

The science behind it: Chromatography, derived from the Greek words chroma meaning “color” and graph meaning “to write,” is the scientific method of separating mixtures. In our experiment, the water’s capillary action pulled the ink molecules up the filter, separating the different color compounds. The lighter molecules moved faster than the heavier ones, resulting in the distinct spread of colors along the filter.

Marker inks are made from many different colored dyes. We could see it more in dark colors; students who initially colored with dark colors like black and purple were surprised to see new colors, such as green and red, appearing on the edge of their filters. “I didn’t use green on mine!” “I see red!” When our flowers were ready, we could count many different colors on our final products. We will use our flowers for a pollination game next week.

Insects. We have mystery insects in our classroom! We got our detective eyes alert and started investigating these mysterious creatures. At first, we didn’t know if it was an insect, but we counted six legs, so we can assume it is. There are more than two, but they are so small and move so fast that it is still hard to count them. We learned that they are in the second stage of the cycle, in the larva stage. They have six legs; they are black with a few orange dots on their abdomen. It is hard to see the eyes.

We will provide more information as soon as we learn more about them, but that is all we have so far. We’ll keep monitoring their growth and hope to catch the next phase of their metamorphosis while we are in school. How exciting. Stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya

Insects. Talking about our favorite insects, we made a list of our favorite insects; ladybugs, butterflies, and bees are the top three in our list. On Tuesday, we grabbed our clipboards and went to each class to ask the students and teachers in our school if they were afraid of insects. We counted the heads and recorded the answers with tally marks. Once we were back in our classroom, we counted our tallies and marked them ten by ten. Then, we colored a graph to record our data. A graph helps us collect and organize data in a way that makes sense to them. (Students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity by learning to collect, analyze, and use data.) 

Finally, we got our answer: seventy-four students and teachers are not afraid of insects, and thirty-five are. Those were surprising results, as most of us had predicted that most would answer yes. 

Bees. We read the book “Give Bees a Chance” by Bethany Barton, and we learned that bees are very important, so we went on a search to learn more interesting facts about bees: 

• Bees are insects
• They have five eyes, four wings, antennae, and six legs.
• There are about 25 thousand different kinds of bees in the world! 
• Male bees don’t have a stinger.  
• There are three types of bees: Queen, Drones, and Workers, and each has a particular job(ask your child what their job is).
• Bees make honey
• They don’t want to attack us; they only sting when threatened.
• Bees are social, and they live in large groups called colonies.
• Honey bees harvest nectar and pollen from flowering plants.
• Bees are in charge of Pollination.

But what is Pollination? We watched a short video that explained the process:  https://youtu.be/UkjOeD47sTs?si=lGXYxfMAiRCHWMP3. While we heard about the Pollination process, we learned why Bees are a crucial part of it (ask your child why bees are essential during the pollination process and what could happen if bees went extinct).

We have so much to learn about bees and have so many questions! 

We learned that Honey bee colonies are disappearing in large numbers and are, in fact, in danger of extinction. But why? There are many reasons why bees are dying. Some reasons are unknown yet; others are climate change, cell phone chemicals we spray on flowers, pollution, habitat loss, and parasites. 

Let’s help the bees! How can we help them? We joined Ms. Anna’s class and made a list of ideas: “Plant more flowers, take care of flowers, don’t kill bees, don’t destroy their beehives, make bee hotels.” We made poster board signs to set up around the school so other students know that bees need our help. We are little, but together, we are strong. We can help bees! 

We are learning our lines and practicing them for our presentation next week. We will go to the other classes on Monday to spread our message to the other students. Stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya

Pledge. Our daily pledge activity has been a source of joy and unity in our classroom. It’s been satisfying to see some students confidently recite it on the microphone. Some students have been able to say it twice by now, and we still have one more week. If you like your child to participate, make sure they arrive at school on time. 

Solar eclipse. We learned about solar eclipses and why they are such an important event in the sky. Our little learners were captivated by the wonder of this natural phenomenon and eagerly soaked up all the information shared with them. During our discussions, we explained to students that a solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on our planet and temporarily blocking the sun’s light. What a magical event! 

We encouraged the children to observe the solar eclipse safely, either through special glasses or by creating pinhole projectors. We emphasized the importance of protecting our eyes while witnessing this rare event and marveled at the wonders of the universe. We watched a short video from Mystery Science to inspire them to look up at the sky with a newfound sense of awe and appreciation. 

Pollock. We finished our collaborative painting, wrapping up our artist study of Jackson Pollock. We all had a blast during this exploration and are excited to dive into our next adventure.

Insects. We asked students to tell us everything they know about insects, and we made a list on the board. Things we know about insects:

Some are big, and some are small

Some hibernate

They eat people

They hide from the cold 

They hide in holes 

Some hide people’s houses and cars

Some jump

They go inside flowers

They go where it’s warm

Insects we have seen:

Ants

Butterflies

Bees

Ladybugs

Cicadas

“Spiders”

“Rolly Pollies”

“Worms”

Then we learned a few main characteristics of insects and compared them with the list that we’d made:

• They are small (compared to other animals)
• They are the largest groups of animals in the world
• They live everywhere in the world
• They don’t have any bones
• They have an outer shell called the exoskeleton
• They have six legs
• Most have wings and antennae
• They have compound eyes
• They like warm places
• They move quickly
• They have simple brains (they can’t think)
• To survive the cold, they hibernate (diapause)
• They hatch from eggs
• Some go through a change (metamorphosis)
• Some are harmful to humans
• All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs

After learning their main physical features, we classified a big basket of animals into two categories: insects and non-insects. It took a lot of thinking and reasoning, and we came to the surprising conclusion that some of the animals we thought were insects were not, like spiders, rolly pollies, and worms. 

Then we wondered if people appreciate insects like most of us. We counted how many disliked insects; surprisingly, half of our class did. Most of the other half likes some and dislikes others. Only a few students love them all. When asked why our classmates don’t like insects, the most popular answer was because they are scared of them. We went home with the assignment to ask members of our families if they are afraid of insects. We also want to find out how many students and teachers in our school are scared of insects. We are excited to see what we find. Stay tuned.

Efi and Soraya

“For each petal on the shamrock, this brings a wish your way: Good health, good luck, and happiness for today and every day.”

Traditions. Kiria Efi told us about a Greek tradition called Clean Monday (Kathara Deftera.) This day marks the end of the Greek carnival season, ‘Apokries,’ and the start of Lent. It is a period of spiritual purification in preparation for the solemnity of Orthodox Easter. One specific tradition during this period is the consumption of “lagana” bread on Clean Monday, which marks the end of Sarakosti, which translates to ’40 days’ and ends at the beginning of Easter. Lagana is a flatbread commonly served with olives, vegetables, and other vegetarian accompaniments. Also, on this day, kids go out and fly kites. Kite flying symbolizes the beginning of the Lenten period and the lifting of one’s spirits to heaven. The kites are typically homemade, made of brightly colored paper or cloth, and shaped like birds, animals, or mythical creatures. We gave paper bags and paper for students to decorate their kites, and we went out to fly them. Students were excited because most had never flown a kite before. It was a perfect windy day, and we loved it. 

Scavenger Hunt. On Monday, we were so excited to see if our trap had succeeded, but it didn’t. We only found a big mess that the Leprechaun left for us to clean. We could see his pathway of shenanigans that led to a message on the board that said, “Better luck next year!” While students cleaned all the mess, they found a letter. It was from Seamus, the Leprechaun. He told us how much he’d enjoyed the dandelion tea we left for him, and he left us a little treasure. But because he is a trickster, we had to solve the riddles first to find the treasure. Each card we found led us to another clue, but we had to solve the riddle, which would uncover another clue: 

“A Leprechaun can be as quick as a flash; go and look now where you put all the _____.” 

Students had to use their rhyming skills to find the next clue. Soon enough, we solved all the clues that led us to a hidden treasure, Yay! We were lucky, after all. We will try again next year! 

The Leprechaun left us a lot of golden coins. We counted them and tried to figure out how to divide them fairly. One student said it would be two gold coins for each, so we gave two to everyone, but then three students were left with no coins. Another student suggested one for each, so we gave everyone one, but many gold coins were left. Another student had the brilliant idea to give one coin to each teacher (yay) and give the rest to the best cleaners as a prize. We all agreed with that plan and cleaned up the room fast after that (lol.)  

 

Skits. On Tuesday, we presented the skit we’ve been practicing for the last weeks during theater class to Mr. Patrick and Ms. Beth’s classes and Ms. Bia and Mr. Ericks’s classes. We also enjoyed two skit presentations from two different classes. We were a little nervous, but we did as we practiced and got a big ovation from the older students. Yay! (Ask your child about the skit—hint: The three little pigs.)

Seuss. We celebrated the birthday of an all-time favorite author, Dr. Seuss. We chose one of his most famous works, Green Eggs and Ham, for this special occasion. But we didn’t just read the book; we sang it in a rap style! (lol). We noticed how the author uses a lot of rhyming, and we tried predicting the next line while following the rap beat. How fun!

Have you ever had green eggs? How do you make green eggs? In our last science experiment, we made green eggs without food coloring. We first got a purple cabbage leaf and asked students what would happen if we boiled it with water. We had a variety of answers:

• “It’s gonna turn white.”
• “It’s gonna turn pink.”
• “It’s gonna disappear”.
• “The water is gonna turn purple.”
• “The water is gonna turn pink.”

To everyone’s surprise, the water turned blue. The magic unfolded when we discussed what might occur if we mixed this blue cabbage water with eggs. Predictions ranged again, but a moment of brilliance came when a student connected the dots from our past color investigations: the yellow of the eggs mixed with the blue water should make green eggs. Upon mixing, the transformation was clear: we had made green eggs! We couldn’t taste it due to allergy considerations, but we smelled it and touched it. “It smells just like eggs!” they said. Try it at home; we promise it won’t taste like cabbage!

Pledge. March 11th was the first day for our class to say the morning pledge. Courageous students stepped forward and seized the opportunity to take the microphone and guide us through our daily pledge. It has been such a great opportunity to get out of our element and hear our voices on the speaker. Students who have yet to have a turn can still do it the week after the break.

Happy Spring break! Efi and Soraya

 “May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door.” Irish blessing

We had a super busy week. In gym class, we played limbo; it was so much fun trying to go under the stick without using our hands. We also danced like the Irish, danced the cha cha, and learned the “Wakka Wakka.” We rode the bus twice! Woohoo! We went on stage for our main rehearsal on Wednesday and enjoyed “The Pigeon Rides the Bus” on Thursday. We love going on stage, but we love being an audience too. We have received so much praise from other grownups on how respectful and attentive we are as an audience. We are so proud of ourselves!

We also practiced our Greek songs and dances a lot this week. We can’t wait to see our efforts pay off.

Leprechauns. St. Patrick’s Day is until Sunday, but we are fully prepared to welcome the Leprechauns. After reading “How to Trap a Leprechaun” by Adam Wallace, we were inspired to build a trap for the 200-year-old mischievous little man. We made a plan and wrote on the board a list of everything we knew about Leprechauns. We were surprised about how many details students remembered:

They give you three wishes

They’re shoemakers

They hide their treasure at the end of the rainbow

They’re two feet tall.

They are magical

They love dandelion tea and clovers

They play tricks

They wear green and big hats

They have beards but no mustaches

They’re from Ireland

They live in the forest

Their home is on trees

Their hair is the color of Caleb’s hair

Then we made a plan to lure him into a trap but realized dandelions are hard to find before spring. We still went for a dandelion and clover hunt outside. Since the weather has been great lately, we were lucky to find a few dandelion flowers and leaves, but we couldn’t find any clovers; we were hopeful because we heard that Ms. Lisa’s class had found some. 

We put our brains to work once we were back in the classroom. Leaders took charge immediately, offering ideas on how to start their trap. After choosing the material, we started building the trap and net. Students tried to make sure that the trap didn’t have any holes where the Leprechauns could escape. Our trap fell a few times, and students had to rebuild it again. They noticed that if the blocks were unstable, there was a big chance the rest would collapse. All students were actively involved in the trap building, and they all pitched in with their ideas. 

Fizzy rocks. On Wednesday, our little explorers stumbled upon some intriguing green rocks. They were very hard and cold to the touch, sparking the curiosity of our students. Eager to unravel the mystery, we equipped our students with pipettes and vinegar to conduct a simple experiment. Something magical began to happen as they added the small drops of vinegar onto the rocks. When the vinegar reacted with the baking soda of the mystery rocks, bubbles appeared. It’s a chemical reaction! Our budding scientists quickly recognized that the combination of vinegar (an acid) and baking soda (an alkali) produced a gas called carbon dioxide, which manifested as the bubbles they observed. Then, an unexpected twist occurred! A student made an astonishing discovery: a golden coin hidden inside one of the rocks! Moments like these truly highlight the wonder and excitement of learning.

Rainbows. During one of our family meetings, we talked about rainbows, so we thought of looking for rainbows in our classroom. We only found two and felt we might attract Leprechauns if we had more. But how do we make a rainbow? We discussed how these primary colors are like the building blocks of all other colors. Like mixing ingredients in a recipe, these primary colors can be combined in various ways to create a spectrum of beautiful shades. We confirmed that rainbows have the primary colors: blue, red, and yellow. But then came an intriguing question: where do the rest of the colors in the rainbow come from?

We remembered the combination of colors that make green, then the ones that make purple, and finally the ones that make orange. As good scientists, we had to test it to make sure we were correct. We used six clear containers, water, and food coloring for the primary colors. We poured water into three containers and added one color to each. We asked them what would happen to a sheet of paper towel if we put it in water: “It’s gonna get wet.” And what if the water was colored water? “The paper towel is gonna have the color too.” We had to test it, and sure enough, the paper towel got wet, and we could see the water “walking” up the paper towel. We then tried the same with the other colors. We then added more paper towel sheets to the containers and connected them to the empty containers. Some students predicted correctly that the colors would mix if they “found” each other, and they did! By the end of the day, we could see the blue and yellow connecting, making a beautiful green, and the next day, we could see the orange and the purple, too. We now have an extra rainbow in our classroom to attract more Leprechauns. 

We can’t wait to see if a Leprechaun falls into our trap. Cross your fingers and stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” John Bunyan.

Another week just flew by, with so many activities out of our routine! The excitement started in our classroom with our early St Patrick’s Day celebration activities and ended on Friday with St. Baldrick’s Day, our school’s most significant service project. This year, St. Baldrick’s Day had 26 shavees, and together, they raised over 17 hundred dollars. Yay! Our class cheered up our courageous classmates: Cristiano shaved his head, and Keira, Katerina, and Melissa donated eight inches of hair. Woot Woot! We are so proud of them; they are so brave! In class, we discussed this great cause, why we raise money, and why people donate their hair. (ask your child where the hair goes and what they make with it.) 

This project is meaningful for our little ones because while they may not understand words like Cancer, they understand what it means to be sick. They know how it feels to be sick, and that’s why we want to support other children facing serious illnesses (Ask your child what this service project means). Together, we support childhood cancer research because “kids with cancer need cures now!”. 

Feggaraki. You’ve probably heard your child singing Fengaraki (moon in Greek,) but have you listened to the story behind the song? This song refers to secret schools boys attended in Greece during the Ottoman occupation between the 15th and the 19th centuries. They weren’t allowed to learn the Greek language and about Christianity – so they had to learn about them secretly at night. You can sing this song to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star “… https://youtu.be/8pFA41PQCg4?si=7KGKsLUrwrYFOHoc 

Φεγγαράκι μου λαμπρό

Φεγγαράκι μου λαμπρό

Φέγγε μου να περπατώ

Nα πηγαίνω στο σχολειό

Να μαθαίνω γράμματα

Γράμματα – σπουδάσματα

Του Θεού τα πράγματα

My little bright moon

Shine for me to walk

To go to school

To get educated

St. Patrick’s. We listened to many stories about Leprechauns this week. None of the students knew what Leprechauns were; some thought they had to be some insect or a wild animal. After listening to their guesses, we read The Story of the Leprechaun – By Katherine Tegen, where we learned that Leprechauns look like little men; they’re 2 feet tall and live under large trees. Their most outstanding feature is that they’re magical! They work hard with their hands, and most are shoemakers. They collect gold coins for their work but don’t like spending their gold coins. They hide their pot of gold in a very special place so nobody finds it. We also learned they could grant us three wishes if we were lucky enough to catch one. Who doesn’t want their wishes to come true? We shared what wishes we’d do if we ever saw a Leprechaun. Surprisingly, most of us would ask for toys (lol). 

We want those wishes and have heard that St. Patrick’s Day is the best chance to catch one. We don’t have much time next week, so we discussed how to trap a Leprechaun and wrote/dictated our ideas in our journals. (Ask your child how they plan to catch a Leprechaun.) Great answers involved making dandelion tea or leaf clovers (Leprechaun’s favorite snack) to entice a Leprechaun to our trap. We will also need a butterfly net, a lot of rope, and a magic button to trap him. We can’t wait to build our trap together as a class. We have only four more days. 

In the meantime, we made Leprechaun snow by mixing three ingredients: baking soda, hair conditioner, and green food coloring. We asked students to mix until they felt the snow-like texture and consistency. What would you add if it’s too crumbly and dried? What if it feels too wet? We reflected on the ingredients that we had and which ingredients were dry or wet. They concluded that if it was too dry, we needed to add more conditioner and baking soda if it was too wet. We made two bowls, and we kept touching it to make sure. “It’s cold like snow!” The combination gives the texture and temperature of real snow. 

Art. The color green has taken over our school – it’s on the walls, ceiling, and even our shirts! But how do we create green paint? With no green paint on hand, some clever students suggested mixing blue and yellow together. To put their theory to the test, we used pipettes as a tool to combine the colors, allowing us to explore the Jackson Pollock technique. Practicing with the pipettes, we squeezed and suctioned the paint onto foil, creating a unique canvas. Once we had the right mix of blue and yellow, we pressed our white canvas onto the foil and gently tapped it. As we removed the foil, a stunning painting emerged on the canvas, showcasing beautiful shades of green – some darker and some lighter. But how did we make different greens if we mixed the same paint? That is a mystery for next week. Stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya

“Despite the forecast, live like it’s Spring!” Lilly Pulitzer

Happy March! Spring is (almost) in the air, and we began preparing to welcome the new season by celebrating an ancient annual custom. According to the Greek tradition of “Martis” (March in Greek), a bracelet is woven with red and white string and worn on the first day of March, marking the first day of Spring in Greece. The purpose of this bracelet is to protect whoever wears it from the first sunshine of the season. Usually, the bracelet is taken off on the last day of March or left on until it rips and falls apart. Some people leave the bracelet on roses so that the first swallow of the Spring will use it to build its nest. It is an ancient tradition that dates back to Ancient Greece and, more specifically, to the Eleusinian Mysteries, where mystic priests tied a string called Kroki on their right hand and left leg. Apart from Greece, other Balkan countries have adopted this tradition as well, “Bulgaria (Martenitsa), Romania (Mărțișor), North Macedonia (Martinka), Albania (Verore), Moldova (Mărțișor), and Cyprus (Martoui or Martis).”  

Dance. In addition to our joyful Greek dances, we explored new movements and rhythms with a traditional Rumanian song called Alunelul. Students selected a partner, and together, with the help of musical sticks, they practiced coordination and synchronization as they followed the beat of the music. Together, we are learning a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity, love for music and dance, collaboration, and communication through movement. Ask your child to teach you this dance: https://youtu.be/aW9LM_zGqKM?si=-HSetSQkFNdfZH5j 

Dentist. On Wednesday, a local dentist came to our school and gave great recommendations on how to care for our teeth better. He gave us a goody bag with kid-friendly floss and a timer to encourage us to brush our teeth for three minutes. 

Aesop. This week, we read two fables: The Eagle and the Tortoise” and “The Dog, the cock and the Jackal.” In the first story, we learned that tortoises are from the family of reptiles and that although they look just like turtles, they have some attributes that make them different: we just pointed out the most obvious and significant: 

 

Tortoises Live on land Shell looks like a dome and is heavy Have long claws Herbivores (eat veggies)

Turtles Live on water most of their life Shell is flat and light Have webbed feet or flippers Omnivores (eat veggies and animals)

 

In our second story, we learned that cock is the French word for a rooster and that jackals are animals that look like wolves and are from the dog family. We are learning so much about animals with these stories!

Cornflake. This week, we had a fantastic experience; Ms. Maria invited us to witness Cornflake’s unique feeding routine. Cornflake is a school pet living in a cage in the foyer. (Ask your child what type of pet is Cornflake.) We learned that he eats small dead mice (ask your child why he eats a dead animal). Ms. Maria showed us Corflake’s meal, which was packed in a small bag (mouse). Brave students touched the mouse through the bag, describing it as “squishy and yucky.” We observed in awe as we learned fascinating facts that set Cornflake apart from his wild counterparts. i.e., he lives with a friend, “Cornfake,” the toy snake (haha!), and he’s been our school pet for many years. We also learned that Cornflake enjoys his meals every two weeks and has a remarkable ability to detect his food from afar. We watched him open his mouth wide and slowly swallow his meal without chewing! The encounter with Cornflake sparked a flurry of questions: How do you know he’s a boy? How come he doesn’t chew? Why didn’t he choke? Does he have teeth? How many? How do snakes like Cornflake catch their prey when the prey is alive? There are many questions that we need to investigate, and we can’t wait to learn more. 

But what about “Cornflake,” the toy snake? Does he eat? Why not? These inquiries sparked a whole other conversation about living and non-living things. We know that our pet snake needs to eat, but why does the toy snake doesn’t? 

We pondered these questions and talked about our toy animals and dolls. Do they eat? They have a mouth, but they don’t eat. “It’s because they are not real!” “They are not alive?” But what does it mean that they’re not alive? We continued with more questions: They have a nose, but do they breathe? Then we looked at our fish tank, “Are our fish alive? Why? Students had many answers: “Because they are moving!” “They eat food!” “They are babies.” “They grow!” Can the toy doll do all of these things? They gave all the great answers, and we couldn’t be prouder. We then looked at pictures of objects and classified them together in two categories: living and non-living things. Students needed to think if the items in the photographs did those things: Do they eat? Do they grow? Do they breathe? Do they move? If the answer to these questions was Yes, then they are living things. If the answer was No, then they are non-living things. There was some confusion with some of the pictures, as we sometimes don’t see them move or breathe, like plants, fire, water, or clouds. We will continue with our investigation next week and find out more. Stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya

Today is a great day to learn something new

Such a short but fun week we’ve had. We are doing our best during the Greek dance class and will be stage-ready in three weeks! Also, we were beyond excited to listen to Ms. Lisa’s class give a presentation on Native Americans, more specifically about the Navajo, Apaches, Iroquois, and Cherokee tribes. We learned about what they used to do to find food and clothe themselves (hunting and fishing.) We also learned about the way they traveled and what they used for making their jewelry. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to expand their knowledge and appreciation for different cultures and traditions. The presentation sparked curiosity and inspired meaningful discussions among the students, fostering a deeper understanding of the lives of some Native American tribes.

Math. Students have been actively practicing their pattern-solving skills through playtime activities on a daily basis. This week, we did pattern stamping in our journals, which allowed students to explore a new and different way of creating patterns. They experimented with different combinations and arrangements to create visually appealing designs. Some students made simple AB patterns, while others challenged themselves with more complex AABB, AAB, or ABC patterns. They were pleasantly surprised by the creative possibilities. Pattern practice is fun, interactive, and crucial for cognitive development as it sharpens critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

Aesop. We continued with our exploration of Aesop, the renowned Greek storyteller. Did you know that he wrote over seven hundred stories? We read the story of The Old Lion, which had three captivating characters: the lion, a zebra, and a jackal. Students played their roles with a lot of enthusiasm, as they always do, and the rest of us watched them perform. Students become more confident and eager to participate each week, making this part of our day a joyful and enriching experience. Yay! (Ask your child what character they played in this story.)

About Jackson. We read the books Action Jackson by Greenberg and Jordan and The Life and Work of Jackson Pollock by Leonie Benett, which helped us learn more about this artist. Students could see pictures of him as a child and an adult. We learned some details about his life like he was born on a farm and had special shoes for painting. A fact that made us laugh the most was that Jackson would often paint over objects that fell on the canvas while he was painting, like nails, sticks, and even bugs! They could also see pictures of Jackson’s most famous paintings. We read that music inspired him, and we wondered how.

To understand this concept, we did a little exercise. We asked students to close their eyes and imagine they had a brush in their hands and a blank canvas in front of them. We asked them to move their brush at the sound of the music they heard. We then played happy and upbeat classical music, followed by melancholic music. We watched their imaginary brushes move at the rhythm, sometimes fast and others slow. Sometimes, brushes went upside down, and others in circles. How did the music make you feel? “I felt that I needed to go super fast!” “I felt happy”. We then tried with our whole body. With our eyes closed, we moved our bodies at the sound of the music. “This music makes me wanna dance and jump!” “I wanted to run!” We switched our imaginary brushes to real brushes and paint, but this time we did it with our eyes open (hehe.) Students used primary colors and white to mix their colors and make pastels. Then they began painting at the tone of the Fight of the Bumblebee; then we switched to Czardas by V. Monti. With this exploration, we have learned so much vocabulary: blank canvas, pastel colors, abstract paintings, action painting, portrait and self-portrait, gallery, murals.

Gravity. After the success of painting with golf balls a few weeks back, it seemed as if revisiting the experience would be an interesting next step. Repeating and revisiting familiar experiences is an important step in deepening learning and understanding. This time, instead of golf balls, we used cars on a cardboard ramp. “Ramps are a simple thing but provide so many opportunities for discovery and pre-science thinking (gravity, force, friction, inclines, trial and error, hypothesis, and more).” By watching the children experiment with a different object on the ramp, we watch their thinking and learning in action.

We wondered how the children would respond or engage differently since the toy cars were slightly different than the balls. They would travel down unpredictably, ending sometimes on the floor. Students had to figure out how to position and direct the car to avoid this. We have the feeling we will be asked to do this activity sometime in the near future. Stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides” David Viscott

Pajamas. Happy Valentine’s week! We had our huge Valentine’s Day celebration on Wednesday. Just dressing in our pajamas makes the day so fun. We listened to the story “The Biggest Valentine Ever” by Steven Kroll. We then discussed why we celebrate this day and why it is so special. We concluded that it was an excellent day to show our love for everyone around us: Mom, Dad, siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, papers, and friends. We discussed ways to show our love other than giving gifts. Here’s what they said:

• By giving hugs
• By giving kisses
• By being nice
• By helping
• By being kind
• By caring
• By giving valentines
• By sharing

We were busy decorating our Valentine’s bags and paper dollies for our windows. We did yoga, ate pizza, and watched some of the movie “Elemental” with Ms. Demetra’s and Ms. Anna’s classes. We ended our day by exchanging our Valentine’s and dancing our hearts out. It was such a busy day!

Math. We had a blast with a fun challenge that involved building the tallest tower using only candy hearts. The task was more challenging than it sounds! Students had to make sure that the candy hearts were perfectly balanced and not leaning in any direction. Otherwise, their towers would come tumbling down. It was a great exercise in problem-solving and fine motor skills.

After multiple attempts, we recorded the results of each student’s tallest tower. Some towers reached a height of five candy hearts, while others impressively reached up to seventeen hearts! (Ask your child about the height of their tower.) In addition to the tower challenge, we incorporated counting and graphing skills. We counted the candy hearts in our cups, recording the numbers using tally marks and then writing the corresponding numerals. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to practice number recognition and counting skills.

We then created a graph for the first time. The graph visually represented the different colors of candy hearts in our cups. Through this activity, students understand the concept of grouping and comparing quantities. Finally, they could see the most common color in their cups. 

Science. We did our final observations on last week’s experiment. We asked students to use their senses to describe the yarn strings, fabric, water, outside and bottom of the jars. What do you feel? What does it smell like? Is it cold? Is it hot? Is it dried? Is it wet? They dictated their answers:

Red jar-(baking soda) 

   It feels hard

The yarn feels bumpy

   It feels dry

   The bottom feels squishy

Yellow jar-(borax)

It looks sparkly

It looks bubbly 

It feels hard

It looks like frost

It’s wet 

It’s warm

Blue jar-(salt)

It looks like ice, but it feels warm

It looks like snow

It looks like frozen water

It has crystals!

Our experiment did not work as expected, but it was a learning experience for students and teachers. We did get some amazing results: we could see crystals forming at the bottom of the blue and yellow jars. We saw the water “walking” through the yarn and the fabric. We could see and feel the different outcomes. We learned what not to do and, most importantly, never to give up when everything fails. 

We could not pass such an important day without putting on our scientists’ goggles. It was a great excuse to make LOVE POTIONS. Our ingredients were baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, and glitter. Each student prepared their potion by adding each ingredient and the color of their choice. We said the magic words, and voila! Chemical reaction! Students remembered that when we mix vinegar (liquid) with baking soda (solid), it creates a chemical reaction in the form of gas(carbon dioxide), and that is where the bubbles come from. We never get tired of watching those bubbles.

Art. We revisited a technique we had tried before, ball painting, but with a twist. This time, we did it in teams to promote collaboration and teamwork skills among our students. Instead of using a golf ball, we used marbles for a different painting experience. Students were thrilled to work in pairs and explore this new activity variation. They chose the colors they wanted to use in their painting, and with the help of their partner, they placed the marbles in the tray and moved the tray in the direction they wanted the marbles to go. By tilting the tray, they let gravity do its job and watched the marbles move across the paper, leaving paint trails behind. Students realized that they needed to communicate with their partner. Otherwise, the marbles would come flying out of the tray. They had to coordinate their movements and make decisions together to achieve their desired painting outcome. We loved our Jackson Pollock-like paintings.

Habitats.  We read the book “I live in a tree trunk” by Meg Fleming. In this story, we explore some animals’ different habitats, especially those around us. Some live in dens, some live in caves and burrows, others live in hives, and some live on tree trunks. We looked at some pictures of trees and wondered what type of animals lived in trees. Other questions came up: Who lives in the hole? Who made the holes? We watched a short video of an interesting animal that finds its food behind tree bark. But how do they get them out? They peck and peck and then peck some more until they find the insects. No wonder its name is Woodpecker! We heard the sound they made, and we watched them make holes that went from small to big. We learned that other animals take advantage of the Woodpecker’s hard work and move inside the holes. Small animals find a home in the smaller holes, and big animals move in the big holes. (Ask your child what animals live on tree trunks.) We talked about the nests we see on top of the branches. It had to be animals who could climb up easily. It was an easy guess: squirrels! We can’t wait for spring so we can see them around more. 

Stories. We made our first attempt at building a story together as a class. We introduced the basic elements of a story, such as characters, settings (location), and a problem. To make the activity more engaging, we provided cards with different characters, settings, and problems for the students to choose from. Working collaboratively, the students selected the cards and built a short story. This activity aimed to enhance their creativity, imagination, and critical thinking skills.

Most students are still in the process of mastering the skill of building a story. We will continue practicing this skill every week to foster their storytelling abilities. We wonder what next week’s story will be all about. Stay tuned!

Efi and Soraya