Our field trip to the National Hellenic Museum got off to a cozy start as we loaded up the bus and got a great send off message from Ms. Maria.
When we arrived, we had a great conversation about stories and where we hear them; Niki reminded the group about hearing bedtime stories. Ms Maggie, our docent, told us how some stories are ‘histories’, some are ‘myths’, and stories that are a mix of those are called ‘legends’, then we got to act out one of each. Everyone got to act out the story of Jim Londos, a Greek philanthropist and wrestler, which was a history. Then, we acted out the story of Herakles, which was a myth. Sokrates acted out the role of the snake sent to attack baby Herakles, while Anja was the Nemean lion the evil king sent Herakles to kill. After the myth of Herakles, we got to act out the legend of Troy, which was a mix of history and myth. Bisola acted as the goddess Athena, and Tove and Timo were the soldiers of Troy, and Timo really enjoyed being in that role. I was very glad we got experience acting in a play, because we’re going to start up our own little theater in the class pretty soon, so look forward to that.
After our theatrical experience, we all got to make our own shields. It was cool seeing everyone coloring, cutting, and gluing to make their own shield. Yianni wanted his shield to be very strong, after remembering the battle scene in the play. Bisola wanted to put a hero on her shield, to help her be brave and strong too. Tove put jewels on her shield, but then realized that it was hard to color where she had put down glue. Paolo also realized something along the same lines, which is why he thought it was easier to color his picture first and THEN cut it out to glue it down. Rebecca thought about it and decided not to use a coloring sheet, since she wanted to use her own designs. Jerome liked coloring in his lightning bolt, while Teddy enjoyed using orange and green to color in his designs. Niki put a heart jewel on her shield and explained it was her favorite part. Gia was coloring her owl for her shield and decided to color the eyes orange: “That makes it scary,” she explained, “and shields should be scary.” Anja was sharing her feathers with her neighbor and counted to see that, if she got one more feather, they would both have 3 feathers and then it would be fair. She also enjoyed making a pattern out of the feathers.
After we made our shields, we got to explore the museum and see rocks and explore the play area. Timo noticed white crystals inside a petrified tree and wondered where those came from. Bisola noticed ‘worms’ (ammonites) in one of the rocks and thought about how they got stuck inside the rock as it formed. Paolo realized that a display case with white rocks and chalk was showing that the ROCK was made out of CHALK! Yianni enjoyed using a picture of Greek ruins to make his own building out of the blocks. Sokrates pointed out how much easier it was to build big with the HUGE blocks they had than the little blocks we have at school.
As part of our student interviews, I talked with Teddy to find out his favorite part of the field trip and this is what he said. “I really like the play area. I liked measuring my foot there. My mom’s foot was bigger than mine. I also liked the Hercules play.”
We had a blast at the National Hellenic Museum and learned a lot about Greece and the Greek culture.
Two quick housekeeping announcements. First, we are going to the bank tomorrow, so make sure to send in any deposits your child would like to make. Second, book orders went home today. The due date is a little sooner, December 7th, in the hope that it will arrive before winter break. If you would like to see the book order online, you can see the flyer here or order here. I have three recommendations this time. First, since I love a good story and I know some of the class loves penguins, I think One Cool Friend might be a perfect book for some students. Billions of Bricks is perfect for students that love counting and building. I always believe that kids can use more role models, and I Am Rosa Parks is sure to inspire us to be better people. If you have any questions or concerns about the bank or book orders, please feel free to contact me.
