THE N3 “FAMILY HANDS” PROJECT

In Nursery 3, the students have been learning about themselves and their families. To explore some of the differences and similarities both inside our families, and between them, we asked each family to help with a weekend home project where the children had to trace, cut and decorate the hands of different family members.

Children enthusiastically completed the assigned ‘homework’ and brought their finished work to school for their peers and teachers to see. In class, we used the hands for a variety of purposes, such as sorting according to size (small for children, big for grownups), counting the fingers from 1-5, and much more. Soon we will place the hands on the display board right outside the N3 classroom for everyone to come and have a look.

Ms Adriana
N3 Teacher

REFLECTING ON RIGHTS

November 20^th was Universal Children’s Day, and to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of The Convention on the Rights of the Child UIS invited a special guest speaker.

Lawyer (and UIS Parent!) Federica Tosel came and dedicated her time to explain what rights children have, but also to make it clear that with these rights come responsibilities. “We are given an education but we have the responsibility to do our best every day.”

Grade One have been discussing and questioning what needs and wants are. They have been sorting statements into needs or wants. Needs are what we need to survive, to have a full life.  We all have basic needs, which we cannot live without. Then there are things that we want but don’t need to survive. Every child has rights to these basic needs, whatever their ethnic background, religion, gender, language or ability. Children must be informed of their rights so that they can speak up when their own, or someone else’s rights, are not being respected.

Mrs Tosel played some games with us to help us understand that not everything that makes us feel good is a need. As the children walked out of the assembly they reflected on how lucky they are to live in a country that supports their rights and also thought about the children living in other parts of the world who are not as fortunate.

We were given a bracelet and asked to write what we can do to help… there is so much we can do every day. Being kind to one another and being respectful of each other’s beliefs is a great place to start.

Ms Daniela
Grade 1 teacher

Daniela DiBiaggio
Grade 1 teacher

A tutta fiaba!

Quest’anno, tra i generi narrativi affrontati in antologia durante il primo trimestre, è stato proposto lo studio della fiaba. Abbiamo analizzato la struttura, i ruoli fissi dei personaggi, i modelli di riferimento e, per finire, ci siamo soffermati sul dietro le quinte, ovvero le funzioni di Propp.
Gli studenti si sono dimostrati fin dall’inizio interessati e coinvolti in una partecipazione attiva durante le lezioni, permettendo uno svolgimento del programma fluente e dal ritmo incalzante. Sull’onda di un clima così propositivo, è stato assegnato un progetto di approfondimento, legato alle fiabe più conosciute.
Gli allievi, lavorando a gruppi di tre, hanno provato a rivisitare le fiabe, proponendo una nuova stesura, da un punto di vista diverso da come le conosciamo. Ecco allora che per Cappuccetto Rosso è stata rielaborata una versione vista con gli occhi del lupo, mentre la fata Smemorina ha prestato la sua voce per raccontarci la storia di Cenerentola; ci siamo lasciati trasportare dal racconto della Bestia che ci ha illustrato nuovi e inaspettati scenari in La Bella e La Bestia.
Pur trattandosi di un argomento apparentemente semplice, il lavoro stabilito ha richiesto impegno, organizzazione precisa e rispetto delle caratteristiche del genere studiato, oltre ad un bilanciato gioco di squadra, indispensabile per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi.
Bravi tutti! Continuate così!

L’insegnante
Paola Bazan

AM I LIVING?

Am I living? Is a car living? How do I know? A car moves, it needs fuel, it lets out gas.  So is it living? The Grade One scientists have been investigating living and non-living things. We have been on nature walks observing living and non-living things in our garden, we have looked for pictures to identify things that are living, non-living and those that have never been alive, we have learned about life cycles, and we have even had a special visitor. Noodles the hedgehog came to class and we had so many questions. We observed Noodles closely and learned all about hibernation, how she moves, when hedgehogs have babies, along with many other things. This week some Grade Eight students are coming to teach us about plants. We are really becoming experts!

Rhiannon Thomas
Grade 1A Science and Social Studies teacher

THE EXPLOSION INTO WRITING

Maria Montessori called it ‘the explosion into writing’: a phenomenon we are witnessing at its fullest in the Nursery 4 class these days, as the children are showing such great enthusiasm in writing, which is now embedded in almost everything they do. Children are spontaneously engaging in mark-making activities during choosing time; from keeping scores during group games to writing messages during imaginative games, to labelling their creations when they draw. The weekly Phonics sessions are supporting the children’s ability to form letters correctly and their understanding of letter-sound correspondence, and they are beginning to incorporate these skills accurately in their writing.

Miss Valentina
Nursery 4 Teacher

AUTUMN ITALICA ART

Autumn gives us so many beautiful scenes of vibrant colours and textures! So to bring the outside into our classrooms for Autumn week, Grade 4 decided to take a moment to capture the season by creating a landscape which was decorated using the italica handwriting that we’ve been working on so far this term. The children loved working closely together, snuggled up on the floor making their mark collectively, which resulted in a stunning piece of art work. We thought that hanging it outside the dining room would be a good place to show it off to the rest of the school. We were delighted to discover that it had inspired some Grade 1 children to have a go at making their own pictures with letters, who took a trip upstairs to Grade 4 to show us their work.

Alison Horrobin
Grade 4A teacher

NETBALL KNOW-HOW

As our Netball module has begun so has the interest of our Middle School students. While there are many new rules and regulations to learn the students have taken to it like ducks to water. They have applied many of the concepts we used in the buildup games that have many similarities to the sport. While not typically played in Italy we are hoping to create some interest and awareness about this wonderful sport.

Mr Robuschi
PE Teacher

Singing Hearts in Grade 5

GRADE 5 MET HUMAN RIGHTS HEROES

Kicking off the year’s “hero” theme for elementary assemblies at UIS, the Grade 5 students presented a time travel adventure to meet Human Rights heroes like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Malala. Each spoke about their dreams, struggles, and hopes for the world. Even Batman and Spiderman, who turned up assuming they were the featured heroes to be celebrated, learned some important lessons about how each of us can contribute in our own homes, schools, and neighborhoods, to carry forth the strong ideas of these inspirational figures.
In the words of the actors themselves:

“Martin Luther King had a dream of black and white children playing together, with all families living in fair housing, with the freedom to follow their dreams.” (Riccardo)

“Nelson Mandela dreamed of a world with no racial segregation, no separation based on the color of skin.”  (Edoardo)

“Malala stands for education and rights for all girls and women.” (Ginevra)

Mara Tramontin
Grade 5 teacher

AUTUMN THROUGH THE SENSES

Research shows that sensory stimulation is critical in the first few years of life. Over the past few weeks, the Pre-Nursery children have participated in a range of Autumn inspired sensory experiences. The children have used their senses to explore pine cones, chestnuts and Autumn leaves. They explored different sized pumpkins; first, they had fun washing them, then they discovered the pulp and the seeds. The children experimented with ears of corn and paint to make interesting patterns and marks. They also observed pomegranate seeds and quickly learnt that by crushing them with our fingers we can make interesting red marks.

Ms Paola Perosa