Άρθρα ανά μήνα: Δεκέμβριος 2019

If our environment could speak…

If our environment could speak, it would definitely make complaints about the way we treat it!

Factories are polluting me the most! They release chemicals which are poisonous for me and dangerous for your life and nature!

These substances cause a greenhouse effect. Harmful pollutants create a layer of clouds and the solar radiation can’t escape into space. It reflects on the ground and the temperature of the atmosphere rises.

Today there is too much traffic and you often use your cars for no reason! Cars and motorbikes need petrol to move, which releases gases that pollute the atmosphere.

It is so nice to see families walking in the countryside but I feel really sad when they drop their litter. Do you know that even if they take it to the rubbish bins, they don’t remain there? They go to the rubbish dumps where you can see mountains of rubbish. But I’m not a dump yard!

Do you know that rainwater washes the dirt from the waste? All the dirt is then absorbed by the ground and destroys the water of the underground lakes.

How nice is the summer! Everyone enjoys the sea! Sometimes though, you can’t swim because the sea is so dirty and even fish can’t survive and float dead in the surface!

The sea is polluted by the chemical waste of the factories. Even boats empty their waste in the sea and when accidents happen, oil leaks into the water. Thus, the water is polluted and the fish die because they swallow dirty food or because there is no food because of the pollution.

Do you want to save me, yourself and the people around you?

Protect me from the enemies!! Don’t wait for the others to make a start and follow my advice!

Coal is a big enemy! When it is burnt, it releases dangerous substances into the air. Factories could use other natural sources of energy, such as the power of wind or the power of the sun rays!

It would also be good to place filters in the chimneys of the factories to limit the release of chemical substances.

You can go to school on foot or use a bicycle. Find the nearest bus stop to your house! Avoid using your car if it’s not necessary. It’s good to keep the atmosphere clean.

Carry a rubbish bag with you to collect your litter and take it to the rubbish bin. But the best thing you can do is to recycle them.  Buy glass bottles and not plastic, because plastic cannot be recycled!

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

A Quick Summary for Kids

The story takes place in Athens, Greece. The play starts in the courtroom of Duke Theseus. A man named Egeus is having trouble with his daughter so he brings her to the duke for help. Egeus’s daughter, Hermia, doesn’t want to marry Demetrius ‐ the man her father has promised to her. Instead, Hermia wants to marry a poet called Lysander. Duke Theseus reminds Hermia that the law allows fathers to make their daughters do anything. He tells her that her only other choice is to become a nun and never marry anyone.
Since the duke gives them little choice, Lysander and Hermia decide to run away from Athens. They
run into the woods to make plans. While they are in the woods, they run into Helena. Helena is
Hermia’s best friend. She is sad because she loves Demetrius. Hermia wishes Demetrius would love
Helena back ‐ then Hermia could marry Lysander and their problem would be solved!
The fairies that live in the woods are also having problems. Oberon, the king of fairies, is angry at his
queen, Titania. She is taking care of a little human boy and Oberon is jealous. He wants to take the boy
to be his servant. Titania won’t let him so Oberon decides to play a trick on her. He asks his helper,
Puck, to find a magical flower. The flower’s juices are supposed to make someone fall in love with the
first thing they see. Oberon wants Puck to use the flower on Titania.
As night begins to fall, the lovers from Athens are all lost in the woods. Lysander and Hermia are still
trying to run away. Demetrius chases them while Helena follows, begging him to love her back.
Demetrius is mean to Helena and swears he will never love her. Oberon sees this and feels sorry for
Helena. He decides to help her by using the magic flower on Demetrius too.
In another part of the woods, a group of actors are practising a play to perform for Duke Theseus on his wedding day. They are very funny and silly characters. Nick Bottom is the loudest and funniest of them all. He is also very bossy and wants to play all the play’s parts. Puck sees Nick Bottom and thinks it would be funny to make Queen Titania fall in love with him. While Titania is sleeping, Puck drops the magic juices into her eyes. Then Puck makes the joke even funnier by turning Nick Bottom’s head into a donkey head. All of the mechanicals are scared when they see Nick Bottom with a donkey head. They run away screaming and wake up Titania. She instantly falls in love with Nick Bottom.
On his way back to King Oberon, Puck finds Lysander and Hermia sleeping. Puck thinks that Lysander is
the man who needs the love drops. He is wrong! Puck accidentally makes Lysander fall in love with
Helena. Helena is very confused, and Hermia is very mad. She thinks her best friend has stolen her
boyfriend. Puck tries to fix things by putting the drops into Demetrius’s eyes. Now Demetrius loves
Helena too! Helena is angry and thinks the men are teasing her. Hermia tries to fight Helena. Oberon is
mad at Puck for making so many mistakes. He makes Puck stay up all night and fix the mess.
When the lovers wake up in the morning, Lysander loves Hermia and Demetrius loves Helena. Everyone
is happy and they go back to Athens to tell Egeus and Duke Theseus. Everything is better in the fairy
kingdom too. Oberon reverses the spell on Titania and Nick Bottom. Oberon and Titania stop fighting
and Puck apologizes for all his mistakes.

 

Diversity through kids’ literature

Through a joy of reading programme, titled “Diversity through kids’ literature”, we familiarised with terms such as cooperation, acceptance, empathy, volunteerism, unity,  self-esteem,  honesty, equality and solidarity. We decided to make a friendship tree and include all the previously mentioned terms since they all support a good friendship.

This programme also helped us realise the value of a book and the way it contributes to a better understanding of the previous terms as well as the acceptance of diversity. Our tree became a tree of friendship and knowledge.

We talked about friendship and did the following activities:

Let’s talk about friendship

 

Some of the books we read throughout the year were the following:

Bullying or an accident?

What is bullying?

It’s an unwanted, aggressive behaviour among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying is:

  1. One-sided
  2. Intentional
  3. Repeated
  4. Hurtful

What isn’t bullying?

  1. A two-sided argument
  2. An accidental behaviour

How are people bullied?

  1. Physically (pushing, kicking, fighting etc)
  2. Verbally (mean words, spread rumours)
  3. Socially (someone is left out on purpose with no reason)
  4. Relationship bullying (when someone uses friendship to hurt someone else)

Who is a bully?

  1. A boy
  2. A girl
  3. A group of kids
  4. Some kids who watch others being bullied or laugh

What can we do to prevent bullying?

  1. Agree not to bully others.
  2. Help someone who needs it by calling for adult help.
  3. Include those who are excluded.
  4. Use “I” statements (e.g. “I feel bad when you call me names.”)
  5. Use warnings, then tell an adult.
  6. Compromise and walk away.
  7. Team up

For further information, read the following: https://www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/