Jack and the Beanstalk, 6th grade comic
The kids in this class did an amazing job with the comic of Jack and the Beanstalk, as you can see here! I am so, so proud of them, and they way they worked together, putting their talents to the task.
Άρθρα με ετικέτα art
Jack Smith, detective story 5th grade comics
My 5th graders are very imaginative. They were inspired by the Jack Smith detective story in our textbook, and they worked in groups to come up with their own comics. I really loved the process, even though they seemed to want more time. They did manage to finish according to schedule, however, which was lovely (apart from 5 students who were not able to cooperate fast or well enough, and so in the end they didn’t produce their own story). Here is a video I made with all their efforts.
“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss”: Our story book!
Have you ever felt that things somehow fall into place, and you suddenly see they are going to work out just fine? Well, it was the case this last week of May. I really felt we were left behind on the project, but in a mysterious way there was finally time for us to complete the process.
First all the students wrote a story (in Greek), for a new character of Mr. Men or Little Miss. Then, they all read it aloud and then they voted for their favourites. We ended up with Ο κύριος Σοβαρός, written by Katerina.
The next time, we put the scenes down and illustrated the story. The Art teacher had helped immensely by asking the students to create a character for Ο κύριος Σοβαρός.
But, we did run out of time, so I created the video myself… And here it is:
https://www.storyjumper.com/book/index/56462515/5b096dd11f562
“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss”: Mr. Messy and Mr. Busy
My 2nd grade students are beginning to feel comfortable with the English letters, recognise them and read a little. I am so happy they also enjoy the popular books by Roger Hargreaves. They loved Mr. Messy and Mr. Busy, and it was an opportunity to talk about different types of people.
“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss” – Mr. Tall and Little Miss Somersault (with a visit from Mr. Bounce)
For the past couple of lessons with my 2nd graders we’ve been discussing different body types, like Mr. Tall (also Mr. Tickle, Mr. Nosey, Mr. Greedy and Mr. Small, who appear in the book) and Little Miss Somersault (along with Mr. Bounce). Students were introduced to the idea that one’s obvious “drawback” may well indeed be a blessing, as is the case with Mr. Tall! And in the case of Little Miss Somersault, how delightful to see a girl character save the day like a super hero, only to discover that super heroes do sometimes need help themselves! Two lovely messages from Roger Hargeaves, worth the attention of younger learners.
The students drew Mr. Tall this time, easily following this wonderful video, which I only had to pause a little, and then there was also colouring and lots of “Jump! Bounce! Cartwheel!” singing! I think they carried on jumping for the next hour, as by the time we finished, it was time for their P.E. class.
These are the lyrics to the song, available here:
Bounce! (Bounce!)
Jump! (Jump!)
Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)
Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault
Stretch! (Stretch!)
Leap! (Leap!)
Tumble! (Tumble!)
Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!
She doesn’t walk around, but leaps over instead.
She can do anything, even stand on her head!
Jumping, tumbling, bouncing up and down, Little Miss Somersault never touches the ground!
Bounce! (Bounce!)
Jump! (Jump!)
Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)
Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault
Stretch! (Stretch!)
Leap! (Leap!)
Tumble! (Tumble!)
Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!
She’s so full of energy, there is no doubt.
Bouncing over and under, around and about!
Climb on a roof, or balance on a chair, she does it all with out a single care!
Bounce! (Bounce!)
Jump! (Jump!)
Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)
Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault
Stretch! (Stretch!)
Leap! (Leap!)
Tumble! (Tumble!)
Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!
(repeat this a few times)
See you next time!
“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss” – Little Miss Wise (with a visit from Little Miss Neat) and Little Miss Chatterbox
I am excited to see the children get more involved in our project. Little Miss Wise was next in line, and we got to discuss her behaviour. A student (girl) brought Little Miss Neat in class, too, so there she was, our little guest, and we also got to know her! Letter and phoneme correspondence was tackled during the lesson, in the following words:
After that, it was Little Miss Chatterbox, and while the boys were almost sure that talking too much is a female trait, they were surprised to find out that a Mr. Chatterbox also existed, and he was just as talkative as his sister!
There was a very nice video on Youtube that the students enjoyed. The following character will have to be a male one, though. Till next time!
Tales of Beatrix Potter in the EFL classroom presentation on September 7, 2017
In the hot summer month of July I was fortunate enough to have been invited by the School Advisor, Ms Marianthi Kotadaki, to present the work I did on Beatrix Potter during 2016-17 with my then 3rd grade students. The presentation took place at a seminar meeting on September 7, in Pyrgos. This is where you can have a look at it, if you are interested in obtaining a general picture, instead of reading all my blog posts about the project. Enjoy!
“Αίσωπε και Potter, παραμυθοβγαίνουμε;” – Είμαστε όλοι νικητές!
Έφτασε λοιπόν και η εποχή εκείνη του χρόνου που κάνουμε τον απολογισμό μας, την αποτίμηση των προγραμμάτων που υλοποιήσαμε, συμπληρώνουμε φόρμες κ.ο.κ. Βαρετό. Ας μας πούνε καλύτερα τα παιδιά τι αποκόμισαν από το πρόγραμμα. Με τα δικά τους λόγια. Για την ακρίβεια, ας δούμε τι ιστορίες δημιούργησαν, με την καθοδήγηση της ακούραστης δασκάλας τους, Πετρούλας Κουρτέση, και το δικό μου, δυσανάλογα μικρό, λιθαράκι:
Πρώτη ιστορία: Κυνηγητό στο δάσος.
Δεύτερη ιστορία: Ο Αίσωπος και η Beatrix Potter στο Παρίσι!
Η Πετρούλα δημιούργησε εξάλλου και αυτήν την παρουσίαση, όπου μπορείτε να δείτε πολλές λεπτομέρειες σχετικά με το πρόγραμμα φιλαναγνωσίας που υλοποιήσαμε.
Πώς σας φαίνεται; Εμείς πάντως το διασκεδάσαμε πραγματικά!
Healthy and unhealthy food – an enjoyable activity with 3rd grade
Easel the weasel and Cole the mole have done it again! The 3rd grade students were thrilled to talk about healthy and unhealthy food, intrigued by the characters of Magic Book 2. I gave each student a food word, they illustrated it and then put it on the whiteboard with some tape, on the left (healthy) or the right (unhealthy) side. What a nice way to revise vocabulary!
After that, I was surprised to see them take turns showing their classmates what was in their schoolbag for lunch, saying it in English and also labelling it “healthy” or “unhealthy”. Needless to say, home-made cake was “healthy”, but at least the whole activity made a student with diabetes feel very at ease and it helped put an “I-told-you-so” smile on her face 😉
“Αίσωπε και Potter, παραμυθοβγαίνουμε;» – Η Ιστορία της Τζεμάιμα Παντλ-Ντακ II
Τι ωραία να εξάπτεις τη φαντασία των παιδιών! Να την καλλιεργείς… Ναι, τα παιδιά έχουν φαντασία, αλλά χρειάζονται και ερεθίσματα διαρκώς. Την προηγούμενη εβδομάδα τους αφηγήθηκα την ιστορία της Τζεμάιμα, αλλά σταμάτησα στο σημείο που “ο κύριος με τα πορτοκαλί μουστάκια” αναποδογύριζε τα αυγά πάνω στα πούπουλα. Μέχρι εκείνη την ώρα τα παιδιά παρακολουθούσαν με αγωνία, και τα έβλεπα ότι μίλαγαν στη Τζεμάιμα, με σχόλια όπως “Ναι, καλά, του αρέσουν τα αυγά!”, “Φύγε, τώρα που προλαβαίνεις!”. Έκανα λοιπόν μια ερώτηση: Εσείς τι πιστεύετε ότι έγινε;
Κάποια παιδιά απάντησαν ότι έφαγε και τα αυγά και τη Τζεμάιμα, άλλα ότι έφαγε μόνο τα αυγά και ότι η Τζεμάιμα πρόλαβε να φύγει, κανένα παιδί δεν είπε ότι τα αυγά γλίτωσαν… Όταν τους είπα τη συνέχεια είδα ότι ανακουφίστηκαν: Ευτυχώς, υπήρχε ο Κεπ! Ένας παράγοντας που κανένα παιδί δεν είχε προβλέψει… Δέχτηκαν με λύπη το γεγονός ότι τα κουτάβια έφαγαν τα αυγά, αλλά χάρηκαν πολύ που τελικά η Τζεμάιμα απέκτησε παπάκια.
Ετούτη τη βδομάδα ήταν ώρα για λίγο εικαστικά: Φτιάξαμε μάσκες πάπιας και μάσκες αλεπούς, ζωγραφίζοντας, κόβοντας και πλαστικοποιώντας, αλλά όχι μόνο! Γράψαμε και διάλογο, τον εξής:
Fox: Hello! Where are you going?
Duck: I’m going to the forest.
Fox: Why? Why are you going to the forest?
Duck: I want to make my nest. I want to lay eggs and hatch them.
Fox: I can help you. I like eggs.
Duck: Really? Thank you!
Η γλώσσα που χρησιμοποιήσαμε είναι τέτοια που τα παιδιά μπορούν να καταλάβουν, βασισμένη στο βιβλίο της Γ’ Δημοτικού, το Magic Book 2, επομένως κάνουμε και επανάληψη κάποια πράγματα στη γραμματική και στο λεξιλόγιο. Πώς σας φαίνεται;
Σκεφτόμαστε να κάνουμε ένα σκετσάκι πριν το Πάσχα ή… θα δούμε. Οι μάσκες είναι 3 για τον αλεπούδο και 3 για την πάπια, διότι 3 αγόρια και 3 κορίτσια θα μοιραστούν τους ρόλους αντίστοιχα, λέγοντας και από ένα στίχο. Έτσι, θα ντρέπονται λιγότερο, και ταυτόχρονα θα έχουν το κίνητρο περισσότερα παιδάκια ότι θα συμμετέχουν!
