EAL - ISA MATTERS 4th issue

ISA MATTERS

Prepared by the ISA Primary School 4th, 5th and 6th Grade EAL Students

Volume 1 Issue 4

June 2011

Sports Day Ignites School Spirit

By Toshiki Yamada

Riccardo Falletti, the torch bearer, and the first graders get ready to start the procession.

The procession begins with the first graders proudly holding the ISA flag.

Marlon Magoutas shows great skill while performing the long jump.

The Primary School Sports Day was on May 10 at Zirinion Stadium.

It began at

10:00 and lasted until noon and all the grades took part in sports event. The weather was cloudy and a little rainy in the morning but it got better by midday.

First there was an opening ceremony.

All the students lined up and walked in.

The first and second graders held flags and third graders performed a dance. Then the

parents, teachers and students sat down and the events began.

The weather improved.

It stopped raining and was a little sunny.

The first events were the long jump for First Grade and the javelin for Fourth Grade.

Next, Second Grade did the long jump and Fifth Grade went to the javelin. The Third and Sixth Grades followed with the same events. After that, Fourth Grade did the long jump and First Grade tried the shot put. The Fifth Grade did the long jump next, while the Second Grade did the shot put.

Finally, Sixth Grade did the long jump and Third Grade the shot put. The weather was sunny but it rained a little at times and was cloudy again.

The track events/sprints were next. All the grades ran in groups of boys and girls. The sky was becoming cloudy again.

The First and Second Grades ran 30m, the Third Grade and Fourth Grade 40m, and the Fifth and Sixth Grades 50m.

When Sixth Grade ran, it started raining so there were no relay races and the event finished.

The presentation ceremony was in a closed area.

Everyone got a medal and the students who were in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for each event got a certificate of merit. Sports Day finished at 12:30. Everyone tried their best, so I think everyone was winner. Thank you to Ms Zoy and Mr. Leonidas for organizing this fun athletic event.

Congratulations to everyone!

Gustavo de la Rocha attempts the javelin.

The Third Grade girls near the finish line.

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June 2011

NEWS

ISA MATTERS

Is Athens More Progressive than Sparta?

By Tom Grunewald

Maria Nicolaou presents her speech with grace.

The fourth grade had a very special experience on April 13. It was the day of their debate to find out if Athens was more progressive than Sparta. They completed a lot of research and wrote wonderful speeches. Students wore togas and painted colorful scenes of Athens and Sparta for the background.

Parents and teachers were in the audience and everybody was sitting quietly waiting for the event to begin.

The class is both relieved and excited at the end of the event.

Billy Kapetanis, on the side of Athens, started with his strong introduction. Then Niklas Lang, who was on the side of Sparta, strongly disagreed that Athens is more progressive than Sparta. It was Alex Rentze’s turn to present the government of Athens. He was a good speaker with a strong voice. Anais Livadas, for the Spartans, went on with disagreeing with Athens.

Then Tom Grunewald gave his speech about military and schools. Chris Nicolaou spoke about the same subject but for Sparta. Two wise girls, Maria Nicolaou and Cosima Holland were next. Maria spoke about the position of women with a serious strong voice and then Cosima told some good facts. The team for Athens was shocked for a moment during the cross questioning when all the students took part but they had some good answers.

Then it was time for the rebuttal speeches and closing statements.

After the presentation, the audience voted for the group which was more progressive. The two teams were waiting nervously on their mats. After a ten minute wait, we knew the answer.

It was ATHENS!

Tibo Grunewald makes a persuasive ancient warrior.

Trip to Hellenic World

By Shadi Almousa

On Tuesday, May 14, the excited fourth graders visited The Hellenic Cosmos center for the virtual reality exhibition “Meeting at the Ancient Agora,” as a final activity of their Unit on Ancient Greece.

First, a tour guide came to show us the way. She told us what we were going to do and some facts to keep in mind on our way. We started playing and relaxing after the long trip on the bus.

After a while, we came to the exciting part, when we were going to enter the theatre and begin our trip through time. It was surprising, because it was like flying through every ancient place (houses, temples, hills). We went through three ancient time periods, the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods. When the program finished, the class went back to school after having a fantastic time!

ISA MATTERS Volume 1 Number 4 June 2011 Staff Shadi Almousa Gustavo de la Rocha Riccardo Falletti Marta Garcia Bieke Grunewald Tom Grunewald Despoina Kassiou Limberis Lymberopoulos Erymantheia Platanitis Angelos Rocos Laura Schmidt Kaloyan Vladimirov Toshiki Yamada Ms Ellie Demopoulos – EAL Teacher

June 2011

NEWS

ISA MATTERS

Efforts to Help Japan

By Marta Garcia

3

Super Science Fair

By Riccardo Falleti

The Sixth Grade had an important event on May 20, the

Science Fair. The students carried out experiments by themselves or

with a partner and showed them to other classes and parents. The

Chris and Valentini Nicolaou and Ekaterini Student Council members serve experiments were on different Dellaroka proudly sell their goods. their schoolmates with a smile. topics, such as electricity, plants,

lasted three days!

A Nearly states of matter, gravity and global On March 11, a very New Sale was organized by warming.

The students displayed powerful earthquake hit

Grade 5 on April 12 and a their experiment results and had a Japan causing a huge General Sale by Grade 3 on poster with the aim of the tsunami. The Primary School March 23.

There was a lot of experiment, the hypothesis, the decided to take action to help excitement and both events results and some pictures about those in need. Many of the went well.

The Primary the topic. Everyone tried hard and primary classes planned some School also participated in a most of the students enjoyed activities to help. helping hands display started sharing their projects with other The Student Council, by Melina’s Junior and people. under Mrs. Tagas’ Kindergarten.

Finally, there I hope the students who supervision, organized a Bake was a Tags Day in April that visited the Science Fair learned a Sale with Grades 4, 5 and 6 was very successful too. lot of new information and enjoyed on March 17. There were so Thank you to everyone who the event.

We surely learned many donations that the sale helped this cause! about our topics and in that way, all our work made more sense.

Although it was exhausting for the Visit to Japanese Embassy students, it was a pleasant

By Erymantheia Platanitis experience.

Exciting Exhibition

By Marta Garcia

Mr. Toda, the Japanese Ambassador, welcomes the group.

On Thursday, May 19, the Student Council members together with Mrs. Bear, Mrs. Tagas and Ms Bardis visited the Japanese embassy to give the money that was raised in the Spring for those in need.

We entered a large auditorium that was decorated beautifully and the Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Hiroshi Toda, welcomed us.

We all stood up and bowed.

He spoke about the children losing their parents and other effects of the earthquake.

The student delegation and their chaperones before the event.

But there was some good news too. He said that the schools were going to open very soon which is hopeful.

We presented the money we had gathered from various activities and events.

We raised €2,135!

The Ambassador thanked us and he bowed. Then we signed a book for helping. It was a memorable day not only because we met the Ambassador but because it was the final event after all the hard work students and teachers did to help Japan.

The fifth graders worked really hard during the third trimester to prepare their exhibition which took place on June 8. They had to research a topic of their choice, prepare a presentation and make visuals like posters, models, charts or booklets.

Parents and students visited the exhibition and learned a lot about various topics such as: sugar in your diet, climate change, solar power, and others. This was a hard unit because the students had to learn how to put together a presentation.

Everyone was relieved that it went well!

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June 2011

NEWS

ISA MATTERS

Drama Show is a Hit

By Bieke Grunewald

Tibo Grunewald, the Emperor, imagines the suit Billy Kapetanis and Tom Grunewald, the tailors, will create for him.

Riccardo Falletti plays a very creative Leonardo da Vinci.

This year’s Drama Show was a hit! It started off with fairy tales pantomimed by the First Grade and narrated by Mr. Burk, the Drama teacher and director of the show.

The students performed the following traditional tales: “The Three Little Pigs,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” They were very entertaining and also taught a lesson.

The Second Grade was next and they presented a lively song from the musical “Annie” called “You are Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.”

They did very well and this performance was followed by two more songs from “Annie.” The Third Grade sang “Maybe” and “It’s a HardKnock Life” which was enjoyed by the audience.

It couldn’t have been better!

The Sixth Grade continued with five funny skits they had written based on historical figures and events. This part of the show started

off in Italy with a skit about the Tower of Pisa and then the audience travelled to ancient times and found out about the Trojan Horse.

Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment was explained and a funny skit on the sinking of the Titanic was presented.

Isaac Newton’s gravitational theory was shown and, lastly, how the famous painting Mona Lisa was created. They all did a fine job!

After the Sixth Grade, the Fourth Grade presented “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

All the students did a good job presenting this funny play. The Fifth Grade ended the show with “The Twelve Angry Pigs.” They also did a great job using their voices to show expression.

Mr. Burk did an amazing job putting all of this together with the help of the teachers.

The Fifth Graders debate on the wolf’s innocence.

The Recorder Club students give a precise performance.

Jason Mandilaris concentrates on his music.

Karina Korovkina sleeps soundly as Goldilocks.

The Third Graders give a spirited performance.

Enjoyable Music Recitals

By Laura Schmidt The Musical Recital on Wednesday, June 1, was a lovely way to start the month! Grades 13 presented at 14.00 and Grades 4-6 at 19.00. There was singing and some students played musical instruments.

The lower grades sang fun songs, like “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” and “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain.”

The students who take piano lessons with Ms. Maria and study other instruments also performed.

Everyone was very happy and the parents took many photos.

The evening performance was also very nice. The students sang serious songs, like “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and lively songs like “Eye of the Tiger.”

Again, students performed solos on the piano and on other instruments. The Recorder Club also presented their work. There were many parents and they liked this special event.

I was in the evening performance and I felt very happy.

We were all really happy that Ms. Maria organized this event and we showed our talent!

ISA MATTERS

NEWS Sixth Grade Field Trip to Athens

By Despoina Kassiou

On Friday, June 3, the sixth grade went on a field trip to downtown Athens. When we first arrived,

we visited Hadrian’s Library. A few students gave us some information on the Library. It was built by

Hadrian, a Roman Emperor in 132 AD. It was used as a library with adjoining halls used as reading rooms.

We visited The Gate of Athena next. Here

we learned that the gate was the main entrance to the Agora called the Roman Forum. There was only

one passageway in the middle for the chariots and two on the sides for people to go through.

Our next stop was the Roman Forum. The Forum was used for doing business, court trials, meetings and presenting speeches. It was built in 46

BC by Julius Caesar. At the Roman Baths we learned that this was a very popular and busy meeting place.

Roman citizens would bathe, have their hair cut, exercise, read and grab a snack. Lastly, we visited Tower of the Winds. Its purpose was to tell the the time. The carvings on every side represent the eight winds.

Overall, we learned a lot about the Romans in Athens. We are so lucky we have all of these

ancient ruins in Athens and we can visit them whenever we want to.

The class comes together amid the ruins.

Tristan de Suys presents his piece as his group members look on.

Successful Spring Fair

By Shadi Almousa

On Saturday, June 4, ISA had a fantastic spring fair at school.

There was a lot of excitement on the playground and football courts. There

were people selling products at good prices and people were playing sports like football and basketball. There

were food stalls with many different dishes from all over the world and we

could have anything with the tickets we bought at the office.

In the primary area there

were parents and students who had

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June 2011

organized activities that were also fun. The best activity was the waterbottle war.

Many children played there for a few hours. Later in the day, some professional tennis players came to play tennis with the children.

There was Greek and Arabic dancing during lunch and then most of the children continued to play until the end of the event. We had a great time at the Spring Fair! Thank you to the parents and teachers who made it such a fun day!

Everyone enjoys their lunch on the court.

Easter Egg Hunt

By Kaloyan Vladimirov

Third and Fourth Grade girls present the Greek dances.

There was a fun adventure

organized by the parents for the Primary School students on April 14 -

the Easter Egg Hunt! The participants

went in the green area and tried to find the hidden chocolate eggs.

Everybody did a fine job finding the eggs.

Afterwards, the students enjoyed eating them. Some students shared the eggs with those who hadn’t found many. All the students were happy. If you liked it and had a good time, join in next year too. Have fun because in Middle and High School they don’t organize Easter Egg Hunts!

Revati Iyengar shows determination during the race.

The students take part in fun games.

The Tug-of-War is intense.

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June 2011

FEATURES

Views and Reviews

ISA MATTERS

The Prince of Persia

By Erymantheia Platanitis

New Pirates of the Caribbean Movie

By Angelos Rocos

“The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger

Tides” is a fun movie for the summer.

It’s the fourth

movie of the series with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack

Sparrow and Penélope Cruz as Blackbeard’s daughter.

It’s an adventure movie with a lot of action. It has funny and scary parts.

The adventure begins when Jack Sparrow is caught

by Blackbeard and they start their trip. They are looking

for the fountain of youth.

They meet many different

creatures like mermaids who sing to the pirates and pull

them into the water and strange jungle people. Their is dangerous and some trip pirates die.

This mystery novel, written

by Rick Riordan in 2005,

includes great imagination but also a very good plot. It is about Percy Jackson, a twelve year old boy, who has a very normal life until he

In my opinion, the second and third movies were better. They had more action and excitement. “The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is a fun movie you can enjoy with delicious nachos!

“The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is an action movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan and Gemma Atherton as Princess Tamina. It is based on the popular video game of the same name.

The movie is set in mystical Persia and shows the adventures of Prince Dastan and Princess Tamina.

They have to stop a villain who threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger.

The story begins with two brothers, Dastan and Garsiv. One of the boys is athletic and the other one is good at fighting in different ways. One day, Dastan stole two apples. When the king found out, he sent his slaves to kill him. The king saw him jumping from house to house to escape and he was amazed. He decided to take Dastan and be his father so Dastan becomes a prince. Prince Dastan and Princess Tamina go on many adventures as they try to find the special dagger.

I like this movie because it has a lot of adventures. I would recommend this movie because it’s scary and funny. Enjoy!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

By Limberis Lymberopoulos visits a Greek museum.

After that, Percy finds out that he is a half-blood son of the Greek god, Poseidon, and that his teacher can turn into a flying monster.

Throughout his novel, we find that Minotaurs and gods chase Percy because they think he stole Zeus’ lighting bolt.

The story takes the readers all over the world, from places in America, like Los Angeles and the Empire State Building, to Mount Olympus and even the Underworld! Percy also faces some of the gods’ children, some as enemies and some as friends.

There are many other characters in the story. There is

Grover, his best friend, a satyr and the son of Dionysus, Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, Luke, the son of Hermes, his teacher, Mr. Brunner who is really Chiron, the centaur trainer of Hercules, and his mother, a human who Percy has to save throughout the story.

The descriptions of the characters are so real that you fall into their world as you read.

I would really recommend this book for sixth-graders because it has mystery, suspense and imagination that makes the reader feel like his is looking at pictures. I think that this book will make you read the other Percy Jackson novels, as well!

June 2011

FEATURES

ISA MATTERS

7

Summer Advice

By Tom Grunewald

Hooray! The school year is over! But, be careful, it is starting to get hot outside. Make sure that you put on sunscreen every day.

When you go to the beach, you must put sunscreen on and then wait half an hour. If you jump directly in the sea, the sunscreen will run off you very easily.

Swimming is a nice and relaxing sport, especially at the beach where you can play too. you do sports you will be very hot so When make sure you have enough water with you and

be sure to drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Swimming is always healthy. If you go swimming every week, like I do, you will be

very strong after a while. I swim at an indoor pool and it is a 45 minute lesson, actually 30 minutes swimming and 15 minutes of games.

Now that it is hot and nice weather, don’t stay inside. Go outside and have some fun with water games or go for a picnic in a park. If you do so, you should have enough water and food with you. If visit other places, you should have a map with you so you don’t get lost.

Make sure you watch out for mosquitoes because you can be bitten very often in the summer. If a mosquito bite is very itchy, you can put some toothpaste on and it makes it less itchy. If you don’t want mosquitoes to even get in your room, you should always open your window in the morning but don’t turn any lights on at night because they are attracted to light.

Have a nice summer!

Summer Reading Recommendations

By Mrs. Julie Demopoulos, Librarian

Teachers and literacy

experts agree that children of all ages need to be read to or to read by themselves and to talk about books over the summer. When you or talk to young children about read books, they develop important language skills, understanding about

books and print, and knowledge about how stories are constructed that will help them to become strong readers and writers. Schoolage children’s summer reading and book discussions will help them maintain reading skills, improve reading fluency and learn new

vocabulary and concepts. Most importantly, when parents and

children enjoy summer reading together, children develop a love of books and reading that lasts a

lifetime.

Luckily, summer’s more flexible schedule and wide array of

activities lend themselves to literacy opportunities. Try some of these suggestions for making your school age child’s summer full of literacy fun.

Be a reader and writer yourself.

When you spend time reading books on the beach, using recipes in the kitchen or even directions for how to put something together, you demonstrate for your child that reading is both fun and useful.

Set aside a consistent time each day for reading. Depending on your family’s schedule, reading time might be in the morning, afternoon, or before bed. Whatever time you

choose, stick to it, but also remember that flexibility around trips and special family events is OK. Read aloud to your reader. As school-age children become better readers, parents often stop reading aloud to them. However, by reading more difficult books aloud to your reader, you help her learn new vocabulary words, concepts and ways of telling stories or presenting information. You also enjoy the closeness of sharing a book with your child.

Take books along on outings.

Pack books in your beach bag or picnic basket and bring a stack on long car rides. You and your child can enjoy books together anywhere you go this summer.

Encourage your child to write this summer, too. From writing postcards to friends and relatives to keeping a journal while on a trip, summer presents unique ways for children to write about their own experiences. Take photos on vacations and day trips and help your child create a book of experiences.

Happy Reading!

SPORTS

ISA MATTERS

Special Olympics in Athens

By Limberis Lymberopoulos

The Special Olympics are sports for people who have intellectual differences.

That means people who think or do things a bit differently than the average person. The Special Olympics take place every two years, during summer and every two years during winter.

The Special Olympics were founded and promoted by Eunice

Kennedy Shriver.

In 1968, the first International Special Olympics games were held in Chicago in the United States.

There are 3.1 million people with intellectual disabilities who are involved in the Special Olympics, from 185 different countries, in more than 200 programs.

People who get involved believe that the

power of sports brings all people together and in sports all people are equal.

Through the Special Olympics, some intellectually disabled people have

become active and useful members of their community. The mission of the Special Olympics is for all of us to understand and live in a united world where everyone is respected and included.

There are 23 individual and team sports during the Special Olympics. Not all of the sports are chosen to be played every time. Special Olympics athletes have to take the athletes’ oath which is “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Around the world, millions of people volunteer to be part of the “giving” and “taking” of excitement, joy and personal fulfillments found in the Special Olympics. All volunteers are welcome and every person offers what they can. In 1996, the program Healthy Athletes was started by volunteer doctors and nurses and provided free testing and health care

to the athletes.

This year, the Special Olympics will be held in Athens. People from all over the world will come for the opening

ceremony on June 25. Most events will take place at the Olympic Stadium and the closing ceremony is on July 5.

competitions

Sports in the Spotlight

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June 2011

See you there!

Shot-put

By Gustavo de la Rocha During the ancient times in Greece, they invented the sport shot-put.

Men would see how far they could throw a heavy stone. Now, they use a metal ball of at least 4 kg and both men and women take part. Men throw a ball of 7.5 kg and women a ball of 4 kg. In sports competitions, the athletes stand in a circle with a 2.135 m diameter and take their shot.

During the era between the Mycenaean and the Roman Empire, the javelin was commonly used as a weapon.

Being lighter than the spear, the javelin would be thrown rather than thrust and so allowed long distance attacks against one’s enemy. Athletes, however, used javelins during the ancient Olympic Games that were much lighter than military ones because the idea of the event was to show distance rather than penetration.

The javelin was first introduced into the Modern Olympics in 1908 in London. In international competition, men throw a javelin 2.6-2.7 m in length and at least 800 gr in weight, and women throw a javelin 2.2-2.3 m in length and at least 600 gr in weight.

Ariadne Chairetaki attempts the shot-put.

Maro Kapetanis takes off for the javelin event.

The Javelin

By Limberis Lymberopoulos