Social Studies

Readathon Results

A big shout out to the Grade 7’s for doing the most amazing job organizing and running the school Readathon. From presenting the idea to Mrs. Green, writing the letter to the parents in English and Italian, explaining to the rest of the school about the project, to making reading logs and sponsorship forms the Grade 7’s took full responsibility for everything. I am incredibly proud to announce that we raised over €2000!!! This week we have prepared the books to send to Samos and any money we don’t use for postage will be sent to the school in Samos and Still I Rise. Thank you to all the students who participated in the Read-a-thon you have been part of something wonderful!

Ms. Rhi

Language Arts Teacher

Caro amico ti scrivo …

Le classi quarte hanno appena concluso un interessante unità didattica dedicata alla scrittura di lettere confidenziali e formali. Insieme abbiamo scoperto come lo scambio epistolare sia  stato pian piano superato dalle più pratiche e veloci mail, ma abbiamo  anche riflettuto sul fatto che una lettera scritta a mano, ad una persona cara, riesce a conservare ancora il suo fascino e portare con sé tutta la magia della trepidante attesa. 

Ciò che  più mi ha colpito è stato il compito  assegnato alla fine dell’attività, che consisteva nello  scrivere una lettera al Presidente della Repubblica Italiana Sergio Mattarella: ognuno, mettendoci il massimo impegno,ha  formulato delle richieste che hanno evidenziato grande maturità e sensibilità in vari aspetti. I ragazzi stanno dimostrando di essere cresciuti e pronti quindi per affrontare l’ultimo anno delle elementari.

Maestra Francesca

Insegnante di Italiano Grade 4

Mini-Architects in Grade 4 

In their flurry of room and floor designs, the Grade 4’s discovered that perimeter and area can be very useful! After exploring these concepts by measuring various objects using square units, they embarked on a group project to design a floor map of a room, including the measurements of area and perimeter. The students’ designs displayed creativity and imagination. Engaged, curious and excited about their learning, they’re rapidly becoming area and perimeter experts. Not only! The students’ designs displayed creativity and imagination. If anyone wants to renovate a room, you know where to find the budding architects! 

Grade 4K Teacher

Kiki Stergiou

Meet our Classroom Helpers!

Every classroom is like a family, with each person playing an important role.  Everyone should be involved in caring for the classroom and its members, thus the need for creating meaningful classroom jobs and having a classroom helper to carry them out.  Here are a few more good reasons this role is important: 

• it gives students ownership of their school day.
• it  gives children of all ages a real sense of accomplishment, building self-esteem in a meaningful way.
• it helps children to develop self control.
• children become more responsible for themselves and their environment 
• it’s a great way for children to practice teamwork and to see that we are all in this together. 
• the change of role every day and the anticipation of his/her turn teaches the child patience and taking turns.

Every morning the students show great interest in knowing who the Classroom Helper is for the day and agree with the teacher on which jobs need to be done throughout the day. Lately they’ve been doing some gardening, among other things!

Ms. Adriana

Nursery 3 Teacher

Eat like a Rainbow!

After learning about the importance of ‘Eating like a rainbow’, the Nursery 4 children were challenged to find one piece of fruit for each colour of the rainbow, and use it creatively in cooking. Who would have thought that the fruit could be turned into a lion, a man, a sword or even a rocket?

CREATING CHARACTERS IN GRADE 5

This week, Grade 5T would like to introduce you to the newest UIS student, a porcupine they have named “Ricci Junior”. Now, Ricci isn’t just any porcupine. Ricci reads, writes, solves Math problems and even participates in Guided Reading groups. Two students in particular, Stella and Giorgia, have supplied him with everything he needs to feel right at home: a UIS school cap, a personal diary, a computer, and writing supplies. They have even offered him help with challenging concepts. The students have been brainstorming how Ricci could become a character for a series of children’s books, imagining all the adventures their friendly rodent could experience. Stay tuned for Ricci’s future escapades! 

Mara Tramontin 

Grade 5 Teacher

Cos’è un albero genealogico? 

Gli studenti di seconda questa settimana si sono messi sulle tracce dei loro antenati. La curiosità dei bambini per il loro passato è stata tanta e tante sono state le loro domande. Si sono chiesti chi fossero i loro bisnonni e i trisavoli, chi avesse scelto il loro cognome, dove vivesse una volta la loro famiglia. Conoscere le proprie radici, il nucleo o il posto dal quale proveniamo è importante per scoprire chi siamo, capirci meglio. La memoria è così diventata uno scrigno prezioso e pieno di sorprese che i bambini sono stati molto felici di aprire! 

Maestra Elisa

GRADE 3’s ALONG THE BANKS OF THE NILE

Grade 3 has been exploring Ancient Egypt this term, learning about what an important feature the Nile river was to Ancient Egyptian society. Even in our read-aloud stories, we have encountered characters from that far away time. The latest story was “The Little Hippo”, by Anja Klauss. This enchanting story begins on the banks of the river Nile where the hippos bask in the sun, letting the beautiful designs of water plants decorate their bodies and ends, with little Hippo finding his family again centuries later and miles away, in the Louvre Museum. Here, his family can still be visited in the form of lovely little turquoise-colored statues, along with the incredible wealth of archaeological artifacts that still guide our learning through this ancient civilization. The children drew and painted their own blue hippos, paying close attention to faithfully adding the shapes and designs of reeds, lilies and flowers that grew along the Nile. 

Paola Gandrus 

Grade 3 teacher

Life in the Scriptorium

After writing letters to oblates from the point of view of medieval monks, the grade 5’s try to “age” their manuscripts to make them look like antique parchments.

TIME TRAVELING IN GRADE 4

Walking by the Grade 4 class may make you feel like you’ve time traveled and landed in Ancient Greece! The students have been delving into this ancient civilization engaging in numerous cross curricular activities in their exploration. They’ve deciphered the letters of the Greek alphabet, trying to decode words and even writing their names in Greek! Focusing on Homer’s Iliad and the Trojan War, these budding historians created a script and expressed their learning through an active performance. They’re currently busy at work drawing Trojan horses, even using geometrical knowledge to create 3-D versions, and writing an historical essay on the war. Some are expressing their creativity and imagination by writing a historical fiction about the Trojan War, adding their own original ideas to what may have happened during the time. 

Kiriaki Stergiou 

Gr 4K Teacher