The Elbe River

Hi everyone! Today, April 23, we will be heading over to the part of the Elbe River that runs through Hamburg. I cannot believe that it is our last day of sightseeing. We have had so much fun learning all sorts of new and exciting things on this trip! I am really excited for our activity today because it is going to be extremely hands on and I am hoping it will help your child understand what it was like for settlers in the early civilizations to trade goods. We are going to be learning what trade is, why people trade, what people trade, and why the Elbe River was so important to settlers. The Elbe River is such a large waterway that it was great if people could settle along the river because it really helped to improve trade. For our activity, your child will be placed into a group of three. They are each going to get a brown paper bag filled with different goods that they will be able to trade. These goods will range from a box of raisins, free homework passes, pencils, etc. First, they are going to rank the importance of all of their items. For example, if they rank something as a one that means it is not too important to them. After this, they will have two minutes to trade their goods within their group of three, which is simulating trade within Germany. They are trading their goods for other things that they feel are more important. Once we do this, I will open the trading up to the entire class, which will show them what it is like to trade internationally. They will have five minutes to trade with all of their classmates. Following the trading, we will have a discussion about the differences between international trade and trade within a country. We will also discuss the importance of the Elbe River to trade. Finally, your child will work with their group of three to compose a blog post about how they felt while they were trading, what they traded, and why they traded certain items. I am really looking forward to this activity because it is allowing the students to actually experience trade. Even though we are all sad about leaving; I know we are all looking forward to seeing our families tomorrow!

-Miss Potter and Miss Lockcuff

Plants eat food just like us!

Hi there! Today, April 23, our first day in Hamburg is going to be fun but busy! In the morning we are going to check out Planten un Blomen, which is a very beautiful park. Since we will be surrounded by so many trees, plants, and flowers; your child will be learning about the amazing process of photosynthesis. Plants need to eat food to grow just like we do. We will be starting our day off with a nature walk. On this nature walk, your child will be completing a diagram, which describes photosynthesis. Since photosynthesis can be a complicated process, I made sure to introduce it in the classroom before we left the states. After we wander around the park, the students will be split up into two groups of ten. In these groups, they will be performing a play about photosynthesis. They are going to be physically acting out what takes place in this cycle. I can't wait to see what they do with this! I have done this in previous years and it is a great way to help the students remember this cycle. Each student will be assigned a different part of the cycle, including sunlight, energy, water, etc. They will work with their group to put together this skit and then they will act it out for the other group. Once we have completed this, I am going to be introducing a new form of technology, which we have not used in our classroom. Your child is going to help me create a class blog about photosynthesis. This will be an ongoing project once we get back to the states. We are going to blog about the growth of our very own plants. After a morning of learning, your child will get some well deserved play time. This park has an awesome adventure playground that I think your child will really enjoy. Until next time!

-Miss Potter and Miss Lockcuff

Alte Nationalgalerie

Hello again everyone! Today, April 21, we are going to be visiting the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin! The students are going to be learning about different types of artwork including Classical, Romantic, Biedermeier, Impressionist and early Modernist. Before the students actually go to the Alte Nationalgalerie, they will be researching to find one example of each of the types of artwork. This will help the students to get a better idea of what they will be seeing today. We will then go visit the Alte Nationalgalerie where the students will be able to look at all the different artwork in real life. After our visit there, the students will be asked to create their own artwork. They will pick on type of artwork and create their own art using specific techniques that were used in that particular type of artwork. The students will have an opportunity to share their artwork and explain the technique that they used. The students will also be writing in their journals about their favorite type of artwork and why. The students will have a very good understand of the different types of artwork and how they were created after completing this lesson!

Miss Lockcuff and Miss Potter

Charlottenburg Palace

Hello again! Today, April 20, we will also be completing our second lesson dealing with the Charlottenburg Palace. This lesson deals with concepts of geometry. The students will be learning about different geometric shapes and symmetry. The students will be show different shapes and they will learn what they are called. To learn about symmetry, the students will be doing a little art project. Each student will be given a square piece of paper. They will fold it in half. They will then paint on just half of the piece of paper. Then they will fold the paper in half and when they open it back up there will be a symmetrical design. After the students learn about shapes and symmetry, they will visit the Charlottenburg Palace. They will pay special attention to the garden which is located in the back of the palace. The garden is made up of geometrical shapes. After the students visit the palace they will be creating their own garden using Microsoft Excel. They will use geometric shapes when constructing their garden and they will also use symmetry. When the students are finished they will be asked to share their garden so that they students are able to see all the different ways that geometric shapes can be used!

Miss Lockcuff and Miss Potter

Charlottenburg Palace

Hello everyone! Today, April 20, we will be doing two different lessons with the students. Both of the lessons will be dealing with the Charlottenburg Palace which we will be visiting today. The students will be learning about the monarchy and how it works. In groups of three, the students will create a brochure using Microsoft Publisher that explains what a monarchy is and how it works. The brochure will also contain information about the royal family in Germany. Once the students have created their brochure they will be asked to share it with the rest of the class. The class can ask questions and also share interesting information they found while researching monarchy's. The students will also be able to go inside the palace and see how the royal family lived. The Charlottenburg Palace is actually the largest palace in Berlin. I think the students will have a very nice time here and hopefully they were learn a lot. If you want to learn more about the palace you can visit this website.

-Miss Lockcuff and Miss Potter

Who was Johann Sebastian Bach?

Hello again! Today, April 22, we will be heading to the Johann Sebastian Bach museum in Leipzig. This museum is located in the Bose House, which was once the home of Bach. We will be exploring the museum to learn all about Bach's life as a composer and organist. The exhibits will teach us about his early life, life as a composer, many of his famous works, and his later life. I hope that seeing this museum will help open your child's eyes to this wonderful composer and all he did for the music world. Your child will be completing a worksheet all about Bach as we walk around the museum together. They will learn about his early life, life as composer, and his later life. The information that they learn will help them when it is time to create their PowerPoint presentation. Once we have been through the entire museum, your child will be working with a partner to create a presentation. They will use the information that they gathered on their worksheet to put together about 5-6 slides about Bach's life. Also, I hope we will get to listen to many of Bach's phenomenal compositions. We will also have the opportunity to see the famous Bach monument, which is near the museum. I can't wait for this fantastic learning experience! I know we are all going to learn so many new things today!

-Miss Potter and Miss Lockcuff

Zoo Leipzig

Today, April, 22 we will be visiting Zoo Leipzig, which is one of the most well known zoos in Germany. This zoo has many awesome exhibits, ranging from ones about Africa to South America. There is even a whole exhibit on apes! While we are there we will be exploring the different animals that live on these continents. Your child will have the opportunity to see animals that they may have never seen before. They will be placed in groups of four and each group is going to explore a different continent. For example, if they have Africa, they will learn all about the climate and animals that live there. They will be learning about the food that certain animals eat, their lifestyle, habitat, etc. I want them to become very knowledgeable about different types of animals. Each group will be walking around with an adult, so they will be supervised at all times. As they go around they will be taking picture of animals which will be used on a collage that they will create at the end of the day. This is going to be such an exciting day for all of us and I cannot wait for your child to tell you all about it!

-Miss Potter and Miss Lockcuff