Spring Olympics

The next summer Olympics will take place in Rio de Janeiro from August 5th to August 21st of this year! However, Maestra Isabel Alvarez celebrated this past week with the opening of the Olympic games on Monday March 14th and the conclusion on Friday March 18th. The Olympics is a time where the entire world joins and unifies to watch different countries compete in several different sports.

All week in P.E. students were divided into teams: America (wooohoo!!! in blue) Europe (in black) Asia (in red) Oceania (in green) and Africa (in yellow). Different activities included long-distance jump, running laps and "lucha" or fighting.

Here are some pictures from the opening of the games.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from 4C

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and all around the world people dressed up in green and celebrated this now international holiday. Over the past week I had the pleasure to talk about the origins of why people celebrate and who really was St. Patrick?

Legend has it that Patrick was a priest who drove out all of the snakes in Ireland and thus today you can't find any on the "Emerald Isle." Originating from the capital of Dublin, and originally a religious holiday, today the town square has a big parade with different floats, marching bands, music, dancing and beer of course.

Some important symbols include the shamrock, considered to be lucky, and leprechauns. With 4C, 6A and 4B we learned how to draw one and write different things we were lucky for.

If you would like to use the presentation I showed the class here is the link:

St. Patrick's Day Powerpoint

We also saw this video which showed us world monuments lit up in green in celebration of the day such as the Great Wall of China, the pyramids in Egypt and the Chicago River which is dyed green every year.

St. Patrick's Day in Dublin and Around the World

Happy St. Patrick's Day from 4B

A trip to the Town Hall: Sounds like the title from a social science book.

In social science 5th and 6th graders have been studying the role of government in the European Union. They have learned that the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels to discuss, debate and vote on different issues that are going to effect Europe.

In a timely manner, last Wednesday 5th grade had the opportunity to visit Seville's town hall or ayuntamiento to learn a little about the history of the building and the responsibilities that the mayor, Juan Espadas Cejas and his team have to serve and improve the city of Seville. 

After taking the tram way with 5B and 5C which was an adventure in it of itself, the visit began with "El Salón Colón which contains a portrait of the current King Felipe VI as well as several others of past monarchies such as Juan Carlos I, Alfonso XII and Carlos III to name a few. 

Our tour guide, Sara then took us to la sala de Montpensier which was known as the dining hall for different galas and events and now serves as a meeting room. The windows look out unto Plaza Nueva as the room is in the exact center of the building. It also hosts some very famous artwork including portraits of Miguel de Cervantes, Murillo, Hernán Cortes, San Fernando and Cristóbal Colón.  

The visit concluded downstairs with an exhibition about Semana Santa which is finally here! I hope you enjoy some of the pictures I took of the experience. It was a great learning experience for both myself and the students. 

On our way to the town hall: but first, let me take a selfie!

Salón Colón 

Sala de Montpensier 

Happy Easter!!

In addition to learning about St. Patrick's Day this week, I also got to talk about the fun traditions the U.S. has in celebrating Easter.

Vocabulary with 4B and 4C included: Easter Eggs, Easter Basket, Easter Egg Hunts, Dying/Decorating Eggs, Tulips, White Lillies, Lamb, Chick, Chocolate Bunnies, Easter Bunny and Hiding Easter Eggs.

In addition 1st and 2nd grade made a box with an Easter Bunny that turned out very cute. They filled the box with cotton, hay or grass. Here is the result.

Keep Calm and go to the theatre

Last week I went to the theatre to watch the show Keep Calm through Recursos with grades 3 and 4. 

"Stay calm!! Stay in your seats and nobody will be left indifferent, because the maddest, craziest comedy of the season is about to begin. Anything can happen in the hands of these unfortunate characters. A show full of humour and entertaining situations, which will become a lifeline for your English classes." 

Completely in English the show had three main characters, Frank, Gina and Lucy. Lucy is Frank's friend that is supposed to help him fall in love with Gina. However, Lucy is secretly in love with Frank and wants to be with him so she ruins their first date.

Gina's dream job is to become a detective. 5 years after Frank's first date with her they meet again at detective school where Frank is also studying to be a detective. They must work together to catch a thief in order to graduate. Going to the British Museum they find Lucy who has become a thief trying to steal a painting. The play ends with them catching Lucy and falling in love with a kiss. 

Throughout the show they called volunteers to answer questions, participate and dance along to the song: Keep Calm, My Dear 

The song lyrics: 

Keep Calm My Dear (x3)

Listen to your heart beat (heart beat)

It will be stronger

Follow your emotions

Keep Calm My Dear (x3)

Leaf Experiment with 4A

After studying the process of photosynthesis in natural science we did an experiment to find out what makes leaves green. 

Materials:

Green Leaves - 2 or 3

Small Test Tube 

Test Tube Holder 

Filter paper (cut into strips) 

Pipettes 

Ethanol 

Method: 

1. First, you'll need to collect several green leaves from different trees: In this case we used spinach because it is a darker green. 

2. Tear each leaf into several small pieces and place them in the small glass tube. 

3. Use a different smaller tube to crush the leaves until they are as small as possible. 

4. Then add Ethanol using the pipettes (a few drops should be enough).

5. Place a strip of the filter paper inside the tube and watch as the different pigments separate. You'll see different shades of green and yellow because of xanthophyll and chlorophyl. 

The results!