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I can’t think of a better way
to begin our spring
newsle t te r than the
exhibitions of student
learning that was showcased
with the 5th grade play fol-
lowed by the 4th grade
South American Museum!
The 5th grade play, “The
Quest for Courage” is a
demonstration of students’
hard work and commitment.
It was a huge success and
the students gave a
remarkable performance.
Congratulations to all who
con t r i bu t e d t o t h i s
wonderful experience!
The 4th grade “South
American Museum” was
another display of our
students knowledge and
skills. It involved a lot of
collaboration, organization,
information management
and public speaking skills to
put together such wonderful
work. Kudos go to all
involved in carrying out this
outstanding project!
Apart from these two
remarkable events, there is a
number of projects and
activities that are going on
in the Elementary School.
The Greek Independence
Day celebration is scheduled
on March 22nd at 9.15 a.m. in
the ACS Theater. Our Greek
classes have been preparing
hard for this very promising
performance. We are looking
forward to it!
Additionally, the Office of
Student Affairs has scheduled
a variety of wonderful events
that will take place during
Wellness Month (March 4th-
15th & April 1st-12th) this year
in the Elementary School. As
part of our holistic education,
the children in grades JK-2 will
receive information on
developing a healthy lifestyle
and making healthy life
choices. Proper oral hygiene
will be part of this process, as
well as information sessions on
alcohol, tobacco, legal & illegal
drugs. Students in grades 3-5
will be involved in large group
discussions on internet safety.
Moreover, our dedicated PTO
moms have organized their
traditional “Teacher and Staff
Appreciation Week” (March
19th — 22nd) with a series of
events to express their appre-
ciation. Your support is greatly
appreciated by each and every
one of us! We thank you for
your valuable assistance
throughout the year!
Grades will be posted on
Skyward on March 26th.
You can access your child’s
report card after 3.30 p.m. on
this date. At this point I
would like to remind you that
if your child is absent from
school for any reason it is
imperative that you notify
Ms. Xiggi in our main office
at 210-6070-229 or by email
[email protected]. Attendance is
recorded daily and absences
will be marked on the report
cards.
Parent Teacher Conferences
are scheduled on April 16th
from 4:00-6:30 p.m. and
April 26th from 9:30- 12:00
p.m. A letter will be sent
home to you with details in
the following week. Teachers
will be contacting you to
arrange appointments.
Spring Break begins April
29th—May 7th. This time is
an opportunity for all to
relax, enjoy family and
friends and escape from
daily routine.
Enjoy the Spring Break with
your loved ones.
Cathy Makropoulos
Principal
Message from the Principal
Volume 2, Issue 2
March 2013
ACS ATHENS
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
THE MUSE
Help your child make healthy
choices in their daily lives by
choosing healthy snacks,
regularly brushing their teeth,
staying productive, getting
plenty of exercise, etc. Discuss
these concepts at home with
your child so that you can
make a meaningful home-
school connection.
We would also like to take this
opportunity to thank all of our
room parents who have done
such a wonderful job
organizing our holiday parties
this year.
Kindergarten News
Backpack Bear and other
books in our classroom
library. We have also become
writers! Our monthly journals
now include lines that provide
space for writing about
directed themes related to
books that we have read, to
our unit topics and even
Wellness Month. We are
working on adding more
details to our drawings and
writing to describe events. We
use worm spacers so we can
write words on their own and
are aware of punctuation to
begin a sentence with a
capital letter and end it with a
period. Our interactive writing
sessions are fun when we get
to write on the board and
practice spelling, punctuation,
letter formation and thinking
process. One of our favorite
games is Wheel of Reading
and instead of the teacher
T h e
K i n d e r -
g a r tne r s
w e r e
swirling in
a c t i o n
during the second trimester.
They have completed all of
the alphabet letters! Two of
our final letters were K and
Q, so we decided to celebrate
by reading stories about
Kings and Queens, role
playing and eating King and
Queen of Heart tarts. We feel
especially regal after this
activity. Our Red Hot
Readers program is going
very well, we love to hear the
children read with such
confidence and interest. We
have been reading all kinds
of print, from a long list of
high frequency words to our
morning messages, calen-
dar words, short stories with
Junior Kindergarten News
In closing our
unit on Fairy
Tales and
N u r s e r y
Rhymes, we
have quickly moved into our
next unit on Health and Nu-
trition. During this month,
the children will learn to
make choices that promote a
healthy life style as they
build healthy habits into
their daily routines. Apply-
ing what the children are
learning to their every-
day life makes learning
meaningful.
We truly appreciate all your
help and look forward to
working with you through the
rest of the school year!
And remember… if you ever
have any questions or
concerns about your child’s
progress and achievements,
please do not hesitate to
contact us or make an
appointment to discuss your
concerns.
Thank You,
Ms. Alex, Ms. Vicki,
Ms. Korinna
leading this activity we are
learning to play it on our own.
The children are
impressive in
their math skills
by adding and
subtracting to find ways to
make different numbers up to
10. We use 10 frames,
Rekkenreks (like a small
abacus), unifix cubes and
other manipulatives to first
build a problem, then try and
draw from that and then write
about it in number and
sometimes word form. We are
sorting objects up to 10 in
each group and prove we can
sort more than this just by
cleaning up our toys after free
time! We continue to recognize
patterns and make graphs; we
even vote many times in our
class to find out what our
preferences are for foods,
activities, hobbies, and then
even graph our results. We
reached 100 days of school and
celebrated with activities galore!
We continue to practice count-
ing to 100 by ones and tens and
looking at place value up to 20
using ones and tens. Our happy
helper of the day is in charge of
this activity as well as the
weather graph and calendar.
We completed our Seasons unit
by reading many fiction and
non-fiction books about how
the weather changes. We
discovered how we dress in
each season, what happens to
nature as the weather changes,
and we even conducted
experiments such as making
a tornado in a bottle, rain in
a bag and winter planting to
help us learn about plants
that like cold weather such
as oak trees and sweet peas.
We have also planted our two
citrus trees in the school
yard and observe them as we
walk past them on our way to
specials every day.
O u r u n i t a b o u t
“Neiborhoods” has become
interactive through the
adding of artwork on our
bulletin board as we read
stories and discuss what
makes a neighborhood. So
far we have made houses,
the 100th Day of School
celebration, and lastly – a
celebration of learning with
our “Mad Scientist” Special
Sharing Investigations. With
all this said and done, we are
looking forward to our new
unit on plants, with our
noses to the ground and
green thumbs ready while we
reach for the sun and grow!
Please feel free to send in any
packets of seeds that need
planting as well as any potted
plants/flowers – as our
c l a s s r o o m s w i l l b e
transforming into Green-
houses before our very eyes!
Kindergarten News continued
shops, hospitals, fire and
police station, schools,
parks, and more to come.
We wi l l expand on
neighborhoods with our next
unit about Community Help-
ers.
Kindergartners have much
to be proud of, as we
definitely are proud of them!
Ms. Tracy and Ms. Stavi
1st Grade News
As you are all aware, Captain
Chip has helped make your
child’s first grade transition
and experience that much
more rewarding. We look
forward to the trimester ahead
and invite you to come to our
2nd session (Tuesday, March
12 from 3:45-4:15) with our
trainer Theo Koutsopoulos
where you will have a chance
to meet him, Captain Chip (if
you haven’t already), hear
about our work so far as well
as future plans and ask any
questions that you may have.
This has been a very special
month – from Valentine’s Day,
Look forward to our Bonus
Book Bag reading incentive.
These Super Effort Bonus
Books are to be read aloud
for enjoyment and fluency.
Please dedicate at least 5
minutes daily to having your
child read aloud to you from
this book. Depending on the
length of the book, your
child will exchange books
daily or as needed.
We are looking forward to
meeting with you during
Parent-Teacher conferences
preceding Spring Break…
Ms. Birbil, Ms. Lamprou,
Ms. Safaris
Transit ioning from first
trimester to second has been
filled with second graders
discovering their Community.
Students were able to make
c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n
communities students have
lived in before, other countries,
a n d t h e i r v e r y o w n
surroundings in Greece. They
h av e s t u d i e d c a rd i n a l
directions, learned map skills
and can differentiate between
places that are urban, rural or
suburban. During this unit,
students read plenty of fiction
stories (at their readability
levels) and non-fiction books,
listened to stories in the
computer lab - where they had
been given a wide range of
interactive e-books filled with
facts about community workers
- and read within small groups
too. Second graders worked in
teams to design a map of their
surrounding community (ACS)
in colorful community maps,
including some with 3D details!
Students were able to present
these uniquely designed maps
in class which they loved
s h a r i n g i d e a s a n d
interpretat ions! As a
culminating activity students
were given the chance to
explore their “home” community
and the places around it.
Students did a marvelous job
presenting Greece and the
places they love here. Our
classrooms transformed into a
“Greek Community Museum”
where students toured to
discover what the other
classrooms have done and to
see each other’s work!
This trimester embarks onto
a new unit study about
Africa. Our classrooms have
a l ready shown g reat
excitement about this
continent! Students will be
exposed to the various
fo lktales, geographical
regions, cultures, landforms,
languages, and of course
kid’s favorite, African
animals.
2nd Grade News
Our reading lessons will
continue to compliment
fictional stories about Africa
(at readability levels) while
sharing non-fiction texts and
African folktales in class.
Through these stories
students will learn how to
make connections between
African folktales and poetry
by identifying similes,
f i g u r a t i v e l a n g u a g e ,
alliteration, hearing music
or beats, listening to the
vowel patterns that rhyme,
etc. After establishing these
foundations students will
experiment and write poetry
of their own. These poems
will include, acrostic poems,
diamante poems, funny
poems and poems with
beats. In addition to
learning how to write like a
p o e t a n d m a k i n g
connections to different
genres (folktales and poetry)
students will present details
Two trimesters are in the
books… and so are we! In
reading we have been focusing a
lot on living inside of a book
and really taking a close look at
characters. Students have been
learning how to open up and let
stories really affect them.
The writing focus has shifted to
comple t ing e ssays . We
continue to use the skills we
learned in our last unit on
personal narratives to make our
essays stronger! In math we
have finished up a unit on ge-
ometry and are moving ahead
with fractions!
3rd Grade News
This is a big unit and can be
difficult for students to grasp
at first.
We are using lots of
manipulatives and hands on
activities to help increase
understanding. In Social
Studies we have taken a
closer look at the inner
workings of a community and
how different people can join
them.
We also talked about the
challenges, and benefits of
immigrating. We will con-
tinue to explore communities
and the people, geography,
and themes that make them
up.
Science has been different
for each class and our
rotation through the units
will continue. Mrs. Hapsis
is learning about sound, Ms.
Mukri is exploring rocks and
minerals, and Mr. Perroni is
investigating the human
body. Keep up the hard
work!
Ms. Hapsis, Ms. Mukri,
Mr Perroni
2nd Grade News continued
about Dr. Seuss for their
monthly author study.
Second grade math has
students continuing working
hard on becoming fluent in
mental math skills, for both fast
math addition and fast math
subtraction, covering facts from
1-20. Children are picking up
speed and some even have even
created personal challenges
they are aiming to beat!
Second grade math units have
included double digit addition
and subtraction, graphing and
place value. Having recently
successfully completed a unit
on Graphing, second graders
have graphed everything from
their favorite snacks, colors, eye
color, hair colors, food and
colors, food and much more.
They have all proven to
master the skill of identifying
the difference between a bar
graph and a line graph, and
how to use details from a
ta l ly chart to draw
i n f o r m a t i o n o n t o a
pictograph. We are very
p r o u d o f t h e i r
accomplishments in this unit
and look forward to moving
into the 1,000’s place in our
new Place Value Unit!
Students will be expected to
build an understanding of
how larger number concepts
will be constructed.
This trimester will be full of
poetically patterned adven-
tures that second graders
are eager to dive into.
Ms. Johnson, Ms. Moros,
Ms. Spiliot, Ms. Mantagos
Environmental Museum of
Stymphalia, Corinth in the
Peloponnese. This was the
culminating activity for the
two science units of Water
and Structures of Life.
Students were able to enjoy
the nature preserve on site,
investigate the animal
habitats, observe erosion and
the changes of the land from
water and the uses of the
land by local residents. It
was an engaging trip. We
thank all the chaperones for
their support.
In math we are working on
division. We are focusing on
Congratulations
4th grade on an
o u t s t a n d i n g
museum with
the theme of
South America!!
Your hard work
and effort shone
through!! This event stresses
the importance of collaboration,
organization, information
management and public
speaking. Students offered a
plethora of information for their
posters by using research skills
and improved their figurative
language by writing folk tales
for all to enjoy. They also
challenged us with their math
abilities, as they wrote problems
related to South America. This
unit will wrap up this trimester
with more reading and learn-
ing about the continent.
This trimester, the fourth grade
enjoyed a field study to the
4th Grade News
the concept of equal grouping
and not on the procedural
method of long division.
Our expectation of the fourth
graders at this time of the
year is that they must know
their multiplication tables.
Please make it a point to
review and learn them if your
child has not yet.
We see a lot of improvement
in the fourth grade so far and
we are proud of all the
students and the hard work
that they have been doing.
Please continue to support
your children at home. We
would like to emphasize the
importance of healthy eating
so remember to pack fruit
snacks and healthy lunches.
Ms. Koutsioukis, Ms. Soteres,
Mr. Perry
It has
been a
v e r y
exciting
time as
f i f t h
graders
prepared
for their original play
production, “The Quest for
Courage”. Students have
learned about the many tasks
that are necessary to create a
theater production. They have
helped make props, and design
scenery and sets. Each student
has become an actor or an
actress and has adopted the
role of a unique character on
stage. Fifth graders learned
songs and dances to accompany
their parts also. We thank our
colleagues, friends, and
parents who have generously
given their time to work with
our students in this special
project. We couldn't do it
without you!
Besides investigating the
theater, fifth graders are
reading Greek Mythology and
studying Ancient Greek History.
Students have written essays,
summaries, and literature
responses to enhance their
learning. Students have been
cons t ruc t ing o rgan i ze d ,
well-composed paragraphs
supported with important facts
and details. During writing
sessions students have been
reviewing grammar rules as well
as tips for writing correctly and
clearly.
5th Grade News
During writing sessions,
students have been reviewing
grammar rules as well as tips
for writing correctly and
clearly.
Students worked hard on the
previous Mixtures and
Solutions unit exploring how
to separate and combine
substances. They learned
experimental procedure, how
to work in collaborative
teams and write up lab
reports.
The 5th grade is beginning
Reading Workshop! The chief
difference with Reading
Workshop from a class novel
study is that students read
independently, developing
skills in selecting their own
books with guidance.
Emphasis is placed on
teaching children to select
books that are just right for
them. The rationale for this
program would be to invest
more time actually reading,
and differentiating reading
levels. The emphasis is on
allowing students individual
choice in the books that they
read, to have them behave
like readers, engage in
discussions like readers and
to be exposed to a wider
range of books. Once
independent reading is
established, then we will be
able to pull guided reading
groups to focus on specific
skills. We are already seeing
an increased excitement
about reading here in the
classroom, and many
students have told us this is
becoming their favorite time
of the day!
We have completed the
Fractions Unit in Math, and
have also completed a Unit
on Multiplying and Dividing
Decimals. We have moved
i n t o V a r i a b l e s a n d
Expressions, which is a Unit
on introducing the students
to Algebraic concepts and
thinking. Next, will be
Geometry.
We are all hard at work, as
Middle School will soon be
here!
Ms. Coklas and Ms. Kynigou
Students are working on their
goals and are meeting with
success. We are currently
c reat ing new hands -on
materials to extend student
learning and further develop
their skills. New iPad apps are
continuously being downloaded,
which provides fun and
engaging activities for all.
Working alongside Homeroom
teachers also allows students to
find consistency in their
studies; we have worked
extensively on many curriculum
concepts. In addition we are
greatly looking forward to the
8th Annual Conference on
Learning Differences –
“Innovative Teaching and
Inclusive Learning” which will
take place on April 18-20. The
Conference Institutes and
Workshops will focus on
successful practices and
innovative approaches to:
Autism, ELL, ESL, EFL,
Creating a Student-Centered
Classroom and enhanced
learning for all students.
Choose to attend a two-day
Institute on April 18th & April
19t and Multiple two-hour
workshop sessions on April
20th. Registration began in
January.
Sarah Kaldelli
Greetings from the Art Room!
We have been working with a
variety of media and
elements of design this year.
To name just a few of the
many projects:
In Kindergarten we have used
collage, paint, and other
materials to learn about and
reinforce our primary and
secondary colors. Students
completed “Feeling Books”
using four different media
and most recently created
texture rubbings in warm
and cool colors followed by
texture clay tiles. Currently
on display are fish made from
recycled cardboard tubes.
Students learned about
overlapping and how to mix
the secondary colors.
Our 1st graders have worked
with line and pattern using a
variety of techniques. The
four seasons were made into
a book using four different
media. Our last 3D project
was to paint recycled juice
boxes as buildings and plant
them on a cardboard plot of
“land”. Students created
imaginative details about the
use of these buildings (some
also became spaceships or
alien hospitals)!
Our 2nd graders learned
about the foreground, middle
ground, and background in
landscape paintings and
developed this concept in
printmaking. Books were
also made using their prints
and a short story describing
their land was inserted on
News from the Art Room
the last page. Currently we
are finishing Gustav Klimt-
inspired collaborative mixed-
media artworks.
3rd graders started the
2nd trimester with a recycled
weaving installation on the
Elementary building. We then
moved to another 3D project
involving recycled boxes
which we covered papier
mache and made into Haitian
Tap Taps (colorful buses)
which are hanging in the
cafeteria.
4th graders focused on clay
projects relating to their
South American museum.
Clay masks, plants, and fish
of the Amazon are now on
display in the lobby of the
Theater at ACS.
Students are also learning
about the printmaking
process creating imaginary
creatures and writing stories
describing the life and
personality of their creature.
In 5th grade the set design
and a few props were
designed in the art room. We
have been learning a variety
of painting techniques
(washes, tints, shades, and
mixing from the primary
colors) to create landscapes
using color and weather to
convey mood.
Classes will continue to
experiment with a variety of
both 2D and 3D materials, as
well as collaborative projects
in the coming trimester.
Ms. Stauffer
News from the OL
The pace is picking up as we
move into our last trimester! As
this second trimester is coming
to a close, I am noticing marked
improvement in the students’
c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d
comprehension!
In the first grade, we continue
to focus on phonics but we are
also picking up quite a few sight
words! We are beginning initial
work on writing sentences and
using expressive language when
speaking and writing. They are
really learning to work together
and showing more confidence in
their English skills.
With the second, third, and
fourth grade students, the focus
has been on developing
vocabulary based on specific
content. Most of our work and
lessons come from Language
Central materials from which we
study vocabulary, grammar,
and reading strategies within a
given lesson. Interwoven in
these content-based lessons, we
a re fu r the r ing re ad ing
comprehension by focusing on
skills needed to break down the
meaning of text: identifying
main idea and details, asking
and answering questions, and
summarizing. Also, third—fifth
grade students have been
learning new, challenging
vocabulary words each week
that will help them expand their
vocabulary and liven up their
writing. Try asking them what
the Word of the Week is and if
they can tell you what it means!
ESL News
P l e a s e c o n t i n u e
encouraging your child to
practice their English
outside of school! Reading
a book in English together
is a great way to familiarize
your child with old and new
words while also working
on comprehension. The
internet has some fantastic
resources and fun activities
that can provide additional
English support! Here are
several of my favorite web-
sites to use with the kids
ranging from basic to more
a d v a n c e d l e v e l s :
w w w . s t a r f a l l . c o m ,
www.pbskids.org, and
http://reading.ecb.org/.
http://reading.ecb.org/.
I am thrilled with the progress
students have made and am
excited to see continued
growth in their abilities to
more fully understand and
communicate their ideas in
English.
Way to go!
Ms. Schulz
program. The students used
Raz-Kids, an online guided
reading program which
helps them improve their
reading skills by listening for
modeling fluency, reading
for practice and checking for
comprehension. They have
been using Microsoft Word
and Publisher for various
writings and Microsoft
PowerPo int to make
presentations. In addition
they conducted research on
a country with some selected
web sites. Our third grad-
ers also worked on two dif-
ferent types of animation/
programming programs,
2Animate and Scratch which
has stirred a lot of enthusi-
asm.
Fourth grade students
worked extensively on re-
search skills. They used
www.choosito.com to look
up information, take notes,
and write a report on a
country in South America..
Kindergarteners have been
using the computer lab to
reinforce their learning of the
alphabet, counting and simple
addition/subtraction and
beginning reading skills with
Back Pack Bears.
First grade students are
working on their math including
addition/subtraction up to 20,
place value and beginning
geometry. They also used a
template in Microsoft Publisher
to make a greeting card and
type in a poem!
Our second graders have been
working on their word
processing skills using a variety
of tools. Some wrote letters
with Microsoft Word and other
students are participating in an
exchange with a school in the
United States using a classroom
Blog. The blog has been
wonderful for practicing their
writing skills, learning to ask
and answer questions and for
learning digital citizenship.
Third graders have been using
various programs for learning
reinforcement such as TCI, an
online interactive Social Studies
News from the Computer Lab!
The students just began
learning Scratch programming
language which is used to
create interactive stories,
music, or art. Watch
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Gjc6Ux-BFks. Scratch
programming is included in
this video.
Fifth grade students worked
on their research skills for
their Elements project. This
project also included a
bibliography. The students
have also been practicing their
keyboarding skills with
www.typingweb.com. In
addition they began using
Google Sketchup 8. Sketchup
is a 3D modeling program
which is for architectural
drawing, where students
learn to demonstrate their
knowledge on basic geometry
terms in a fun way and get to
understand how it’s used in
real life.
News from the Music Room
Music is a way of expressing
oneself and applies to all ages!
During lessons. students are
guided through the learning of
the basic ideas of music. They
listen, learn, compose and
perform music from different
parts of the world and of
different styles. They are
encouraged to use a number
of tuned and untuned
instruments.
Kindergarten students have
been focusing on the basic
elements of music. They explore
and learn music through a
number of games and activities.
Kinesthetic learning is largely
used in music lessons.
Students are encouraged to
utilize the music vocabulary
they learn. Their presentation
during the Winter Concert
where they acted, sung, and
used trays, spoons, and body
percussion to perform different
rhythms was met with great
success. Well done Kindergar-
ten!
First grade students have been
exploring ways of reading and
writing music. They have
learned how to read and create
graphic scores. They have
composed, notated, and
performed their own music with
awareness of the different parts
and instruments involved. They
have also learned about the
different families of instruments
and have created their own
instruments through row
material. First grade should be
p r o u d o f t h e i r
a c h i e v e m e n t s t h i s
trimester. They should also
be very proud of their
performance during the
Winter Concert where they
acted, sung, and used
t u n e d p e r c u s s i o n
instruments during their
lovely performance on
stage. Well done First
grade!
Second grade students
were introduced to the
worlds of Prokofiev's 'Peter
and the Wolf' and to
Orchestral Music. They
learned a lot of facts about
the orchestra, its setting,
the instruments involved,
about how music and
specific instruments can
express moods, emotions,
and the action of a story
itself. Second grade were
a lso introduced to
xylophones, metal lo-
phones, and glockenspiels.
They learned to recognize
and follow the direction of
pitch in music and use
t h i s k n o w l e d g e
acco rd ing ly . Second
graders gave a wonderful
performance during the
Winter Concert where they
acted, sung, and played
body percussion and
African drums. Well done
Second grade!
Third grade students have been developing their recorder skills and their u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f
traditional notation. They also
learned about Structure in
music and have implemented
their knowledge through
c o m p o s i t i o n s a n d
performances of their and
other peoples' music. Group
work has been at the core of
music lessons with students
learning how to work success-
fully in teams and how to
solve problems. Their presen-
tation during the Winter con-
cert was met with great suc-
cess. During this show they
acted, sung, and played body
percussion as well as record-
ers, hoola-hoops, and
basketballs! Well done to all
involved!
Fourth grade students have
been deve loping the ir
recorder, music notation, and
team work skills. They learned
the very important musical
device in music called ground
bass and performed music in
two part harmony. They
l e a r n e d b a c k g r o u n d
information on the music of
the Americas, and danced and
performed music from this
part of the world. A handful of
students also gave a beautiful
demonstration of salsa music
during the museum event
which was a commendable
thing to do! Fourth grade as a
whole also developed their
rhythmic skills and gave an
excellent performance during
our Winter Concert. During
this show they sang, acted,
and used sticks, chairs, and
Music continued
In the month of March Greek
classes have been learning
about “Apokries” Greek Car-
nival) and the customs that
take place during this time.
They have also started pre-
paring for the Greek Inde-
pendence Day celebration.
The Elementary School
performance will take place
on March 22nd at the Thea-
ter at ACS. Please mark your
calendars. All grades (JK-5)
will perform on stage.
In the months of January
and February:
Greek Language A classes
(Greek native and near-
native speakers): Students
in grades 3-5 started to work
on their history books: 3rd
grade “Odyssey”, “Stone Age”,
“Cycladic Civilization”. 4th
grade “Persian Wars” and
“Ancient Athens (Golden
Age)” and 5th grade Byzantine
history. They have also been
working hard on various
writing activities and
grammar units (i.e. 10 parts
of speech, verb-endings,
conjugation of nouns and
tenses).
Our JK students have
worked on the units:
“Numbers”, “Fairy Tales” and
learned fun songs. KG
students have completed
their second alphabet book.
They are now working on
their final alphabet
workbook.
the floor of the stage of the Arts
Theater at ACS to perform music
of a high standard for this stage of
their music education. A very well
done to all involved!
Fifth grade students worked hard
on preparing the songs for the 5th
grade play. They also listened to
and learned Classical Music, the
periods involved and the basic
characteristics of every era, about
the work and music of different
composers, and about some of the
i n s t r u m e n t s a n d t h e i r
development. Fifth grade students
gave a fantastic performance of
many challenges during the
Winter Concert. They sung music
and performed rhythms using
brooms, and dust pans and dust
brooms. Their performance was of
a very high level for this stage of
their development and music edu-
cation. A very well done job to all
involved!
Ms. Apostolou
News from the Greek Classes
Our JK students have
worked on the units:
“Numbers”, “Fairy Tales”
and learned fun songs. KG
students have completed
their second alphabet
book. They are now
working on their final
alphabet workbook.
In grade 1, students are
progressing in reading and
writing.
In grade 2, students have
been working hard on
Greek grammar, especially
with articles and nouns.
They have also read many
interesting stories and
poems.
Greek Language B classes
(non-native speakers)
KG students are doing a
wonderful job practicing
songs connected to various
units of study! After the
winter break we have been
working on fall and winter,
the weather, the clothes;
also we have talked about
feelings and body parts.
With our 1st grade students
we have completed the first
part of the book that refers
to the recognition, the
sound and the writing of
the letters of the Greek
alphabet. We are reviewing
all the vocabulary taught so
far through speaking
(recognizing / labeling
objects in pictures) and
singing.
News from the Arabic Classes
The Arabic classes have been busy working on their curriculum and doing their best in
every level.
In the current month, KG
students have already completed
the alphabet in Arabic and will
start reviewing the letters in their
new alphabet book. In first grade
students are excited working in
their new textbook and have
started to read paragraphs and to
fill in sentences correctly.
Our second graders are reading short stories and answer reading comprehension questions in writing.
In grade three, along with reading, students are focusing on grammar, writing sentences and spelling.
Our fourth and fifth graders
have done a great job
reading stories, spelling new
vocabulary and working on
cha l l eng ing g rammar
activities.
News from the Greek Classes continued
In 2nd grade, students are still
working on thematically based
vocabulary through rhyming.
They have finished books 2 and 3
from the textbooks and have just
started with the 4th, through
which they are familiarized with
the combination sounds, like γγ,
ου, τσ etc.
3rd grade students are still
trying to help Zoggo, their
textbook hero, learn Greek
and teach him some
grammar!
After having worked hard
on all units of study from
the book so far and having
mastered the grammar that
refers to plurals, adjectives,
present tense and personal
pronouns, 4th grade stu-
dents have started working
on a project about the rain-
forest ….in Greek!
In 5th grade, students are
still learning the Greek
language using all skills
(reading , writing, speaking
and listening) through
e v e r y d a y s i t u a t i o n
dialogues.
Last but not least, we
would like to congratulate
all students who took a
placement test in January
and succeeded in joining
the advanced level of Greek!
Well done to all our hard-
working students!
Ms. Gaki, Ms. Papageorgiou
Ms. Rovoli
Well done for all the effort
and progress.
Ms Lamia Accari
“A VARIETY OF CHALLENGES IN P.E.”
Are you ready to be chalenged?
Are you ready to be stopped?
We’re the mighty ACS Athens
Elementary students
And we’re reaching for the top!
Many units have been taught
in P.E. since December. All
students, K-5, were introduced
and challenged in the units of
soccer, and vol leybal l .
Students learned about each
sport’s history, rules and
regulations, and all the skills
involved in executing each task
successfully. Students were
also assessed on each unit’s
content standards and
benchmarks, and they got the
opportunity to see what
assessment in P.E. is like
through mini and fun
tournaments.
Students in Kindergarten and
1st grade also learned all about
the fast and furious game of
broomball. Broomball was first
played in Canada in the early
1900’s by street car workers
using a ball and corn brooms!
The sport evolved and was
brought down to the U.S. It
was reportedly played in
Minnesota, which is considered
the birthplace of U.S.A.
broomball. Broomball is very
similar to ice hockey, and it
contains most of the same
rules and regulations. The sport of broomball helps students to acquire many skills, some of which include: hand-eye coo rd ina t i on , shielding, trapping, throwing, and dodging. It also teaches students social skills, some of which include: teamwork, sportsmanship, guidance, cooperation, motivation.
While broomball was being
played, grades 2-5 were
acquiring the necessary
knowledge and skills needed to
play street hockey, and they
have begun to see the
connection between eye and
hand coordination. They have
had loads of fun learning and
mastering the skills involved in
playing street hockey, as well
as the rules and regulations,
and what it takes to be a
united team.
Currently, all students, grades
K-5, are learning and acquiring
skills in the sport of softball.
Each grade level is obtaining
the skills that are relevant to
the i r ag e g roup and
capabilities. We are having fun
learning all about the
vocabulary included in softball,
its history, the rules, and all
the equipment needed to be
worn for s a f e t y
reasons.
Overall, all students are realizing even more the necessary value of teamwork. Character education is an essential part of sports, and students are shaping their sportsmanship attitude and behavior by noting that it takes more than one person to make a team. Students, through each and every physi-cal education unit, are being exposed to and taught about the six components of
cha rac te r educa t i on : fairness, responsib il i ty , citizenship, trustworthiness, caring, and respectfulness. They are learning to display these traits not only in P.E. class, but in their entire world.
Still to come….. our mini golf unit is up next, followed by our swimming unit which will begin on April 1st.
The students are continuously being challenged to open up their horizon and see how many different and unique sports are played all around the world. They are so enthusiastic to learn, and I enjoy watching them mature into fantastic athletes and
citizens. So let’s all celebrate our healthy minds, bodies, and souls, and remind students that:
How you play shows some of
your character.
How you win or lose
Shows ALL of it!
Mrs. Stavroula Salouros