Christmas in Sweden!

God Jul !! 

Christmas time begins on St. Lucia Day—December 13th. St. Lucia was a brave lady who brought food to Christians who were in hiding every night. She wore candles on her head to light her way. Today, on St. Lucia Day, before sunrise, the oldest girl in the family dresses all in white. She puts a wreath of Evergreen with seven lighted candles on her head. She then carries coffee and buns to her family in their rooms. Because we are only 6 years old, coffee didn't sound appealing. Instead, St. Lucia (Ms. Brown) delivered hot chocolate and cinnamon buns to each of us in our class. (Thanks to our fantastic parents for supplying the hot chocolate and cinnamon buns!)

Because St. Lucia Day is Sweden's Christmas tradition we wanted to be apart of all the action as well! We made our own wreath with candles, where we got to wear them all day! (Of course, we were overdue for a class photo...)

Another Swedish Christmas tradition is the Tomte, or Christmas gnome. He delivers gifts and is pulled in a sled by goats. Instead of our Canadian tradition of setting out milk and cookies for Santa, people in Sweden set out a bowl of porridge for the little gnome.  

Of course, we had to try Porridge! Some of us LOVED it, others, not so much..



-- God Jul !!


Love, 

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Christmas in Italy

Buone Feste Natalize!

(This means “Merry Christmas” in Italian—the language people speak in Italy!)

Today we read, 'The Legend of La Befana', by Tomie DePaola. On the night between the 5th and 6th of January, three kings wanted to visit baby Jesus. They walked all night carrying presents with them. They became lost and knocked at a door of an old woman’s house, the house of La Befana. They asked Befana which way they would need to go to find the baby Jesus and if she could come with them to show them the way to Bethlehem. Befana gave them the right directions but she refused to go. She had many things to do at her house, like sweep! Later, Befana felt badly about saying no to the kings. She made a lot of cakes and walked outside her home. She offered cakes to all the children she met on her way, hoping one of them were Jesus. Since then, Befana brings gifts to all the children.

We also discussed the importance of Christmas Eve and Day dinner with the Italian families. The houses are always busy with extended family, and their meals are always large and exciting. We heard that a delicious, must-have breakfast is Zabaglione (egg yolk, sugar, and marsala), a piece of panettone, and espresso. Unfortunately, we are not able to test out their castagne (chestnuts). But apparently roasting chestnuts is big during Christmas in Italy! Of course, we wouldn't miss talking about pizza, spaghetti, or gelato! Ms. V and Ms. Brown surprised us with spaghetti for lunch! YUM! 

-- Buone Feste Natalize!

Love,

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Christmas Around The World (Part 1)

Sorry that we haven't had a new post recently-- We have been travelling around the world, learning about the Christmas traditions in different countries.

Last week we started in our very own country, Canada, where we discussed our own traditions and made sure our passports were ready to go for our next day of travel. Typically, most of us hang stockings above the fireplace, put up a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments, put lights around the outside of our house, have a wreath on our door, and open up presents from family, friends, and Santa on Christmas morning.

While we were there, we visited a local Public Library where we learned how much fun reading can be! We didn't just learn about the different items that we can find, we also learned how to dance with ribbon while listening to a story.

-- Merry Christmas!!

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The next day, we flew to Mexico on Christmas Airlines. Upon 'landing', we sang the song "Feliz Navidad". Many of us already knew the words but it was great to make a connection that 'Feliz Navidad' means 'Merry Christmas' in Mexico's language, spanish.

After that, we read the book, 'The Legend of the Poinsettia', which is a story about a little girl named Maria, who lived in a poor family in a house in a small village in Mexico. In Maria's village, it was a custom in the village to glorify the Christmas season with special events to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, Jesus. On Christmas Eve, all of the villagers lined up with something to give. Maria was very sad because she couldn't afford to buy anything. But a voice from above spoke to Maria: "The baby Jesus will love whatever you give because it comes from your heart. Love is what makes any gift special." Maria grabbed a few weeds and carried them over. Without even noticing, the weeds grew beautiful red flowers, shaped like stars. Maria's love had created a miracle!

With that, we made our own Poinsettias to add to our 'Christmas Around The World' Scrapbook. Here is a couple of pictures:

We also learned about Las Posadas. Las Posadas is a Christmas celebration in Mexico. It lasts 9 nights and goes up to Nochebuena (Christmas Eve). People dress up like shepherd or angels and walk in a parade, carrying candles. They pretend to be looking for a place to stay (like Joseph and Mary). They knock on doors and ask to come inside. We made a connection here-- we have Christmas Carolers that walk the streets, knock on doors, and sing carols to friendly neighbours.

Last, but definitely not least, thanks to a few of our wonderful parents, we were able to participate in Mexico's best traditional activity: the Piñata!

-- FELIZ NAVIDAD! 

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Next stop-- FRANCE! Although we seemed to stay in Paris a lot longer than we thought, we covered enough of France to understand a few of their very important Christmas traditions. First, did you know children leave their shoes by the fireplace and on Christmas morning their shoes are filled with toys and treats!? Well, it's true-- Ms. V's class witnessed it first hand! Another Christmas tradition (that we got to experience) is something called a 'Yule Log'. A Yule Log is a very large, hard piece of wood, where in France the old tradition is to light the log. People would place decorations and food offerings upon it. As time passed, and many of the fireplaces in France began to disappear, the French created Yule Log cakes-- called the "Buche de Noel". These are part of many of the Christmas feasts in France! If you don't know what a Yule Log looks like, here is a picture (not our actual Yule Log that we ate):

Last, but not least in France, we drew the Eiffel Tower. No, it's not to-scale... The Eiffel Tower is way too tall in real life! Although, two of our students started to build the Eiffel Tower from blocks. They realized it would take a lot of blocks to build the real thing, but here is a small start:

-- Joyeux Noel!!


Please stay tuned for our next travels!


Love,

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Deck the Halls

Today was our busiest day yet!

When we walked in the door this morning we discovered an Elf on the shelf! He was holding a letter from Santa that thanked us for sending him letters. We were so excited to name him! After brainstorming ideas and voting for our favourite name, as a class, we came up with 'Hidey'. So... Introducing... HIDEY:

Then, it was time for Show & Tell. Our VIP has an elf at home as well. His elf brought him a present from the North Pole: Elf Pets-- A Reindeer Tradition. "When Santa's sleigh is unable to lift off the ground, he must call on his Elf Pets Reindeer to come to the rescue. Thanks to a magic heart charm worn around its neck, each reindeer can help store the Christmas spirit necessary to make Santa's sleigh soar." Unlike our elf, you can touch the reindeer. It is best to cuddle him close to send him Christmas spirit for when he becomes a real reindeer on Christmas Eve, he will be big and strong to help Santa lead the way! 

Next we made Christmas lights, wrote a bucket-filling note to a friend, and made stockings and elves to decorate our classroom. 

Last, we had special helpers come into our class to help us make a present for someone in our family. Without giving it away, here is a sneak peak:

What a day! Time flies when you are having fun! 

Happy December! 

Love,

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Present from Santa

Today we got a present from Santa!! It was The Elf's Story DVD that sent us through the roof! We are now at the end of November and Christmas is really coming! 

Thank-you Santa for the gift. We hope you like our letters! 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Love, 

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Places in our Community-- The Fire Hall

Today was an exciting day! We couldn't wait to get to the fire hall and explore the ins and outs of the fire hall, firefighters, and the fire trucks. 

We definitely learned a lot! Rather than us writing, here are several photos for you to get an idea of what we did and saw! 

Thank-you to the Surrey Firefighters for showing us around! 

We loved learning about the different fire trucks, how to put on proper gear, and how there are many different ends to a hose! 

Then we got to look in the inside of a fire truck! 

Even the front seat!!

AND we even got to test out the fire hose!!

Thanks again Surrey Firefighters! We had a BLAST!! :) 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Love, 

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BC Dairy Mobile Classroom

Today we had a couple of local farmers bring their Dairy Mobile Classroom to our school. We made many connections to our Nutrition unit, as we were able to see where our Dairy comes from. 

Milk contains water and many other nutrients that help us to have a healthy and well-balanced diet. 

BC cows can produce as much as 30 litres of milk a day. 

Did you know that fresh milk is warm, not cold..!? Here is one of our students testing (touching) the container of milk. Yep, it's warm!

Last but not least, here is a picture of a calf (baby cow) drinking milk. She is so cute! 

Of course, we always need to have a class photo! Say 'Milk'!! 

Love, 

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