NEWSBITES FOR KIDZ Feb. 7 2004
Don�t miss out: Click and find out!
This is what kids in EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AUSTALIA and
Students show a little love: Laurel Creek kids sing,
give Valentines at nursing home :USA
Students help flood victims : Malaysia
Foreign culture wows Pitsch kids : USA
Program aiming to make students bilingual :USA
Pupils set for extra time behind their desks: South
Africa
Chung Hua students visit Sheraton :Borneo
Spaced out Cape girl has a dream come true :South
Africa
THE BEST WAY TO TAKE A VACATION TRIP!
Students immersed in rain forest study :USA and Brazil
Students show a little love:
By Audrey Wong
�
The children entertained and gave gifts as
part of their school's "Acts of Special Kindness" program. For 11
years,
Residents at the nursing homes appreciate
these tokens, Bernhardt said.
"They don't have a lot of
visitors," he said. "What's so special is these kids brighten their
day. They remind them of their grandkids."
�
This year, Bernhardt's class crafted
Valentines out of lavender and red construction paper. They also sketched
crayon Valentine's drawings that were transferred to cloth panels, said Towana Young, 9. With the help of an adult, the children
sewed the illustrations together with pink and purple fabric squares, said
Samantha Koehne, 8. All students signed their names
on a panel in back of the quilt, Samantha said.
Before showing the quilt to nursing home
residents, the children crooned three songs including a ditty that asked the
audience, "Would you like to buy a Valentine?"
"We do this so they could feel good
and we did something nice for them," Towana
said.
"We do this to make them feel happy,"
Samantha said.
After
the students' performance, resident Sylvia Sharp said the class did a good job.
"I like them. I think they're
beautiful," Sharp said.
Bernhardt thought of the acts of kindness
program when his in-laws had to go into a convalescent home in 1992.
"We're doing these kind acts to our
community as outreach," he said. "We're doing this to encourage
students to care."
Two other
They are Karen Brust's
kindergartners and first-graders and Alicia Williams' second- and
third-graders.
An additional 240 students are creating
more Valentines for nursing home residents, Principal Kylene
Bailey said.
http://www.dailyrepublic.com/articles/2004/02/07/news/news3.txt
�
Students help flood victims
:
The Star
KUCHING,
They helped to collect a wide range of
foodstuff like canned food, milk powder and other daily essentials.
The items were handed over to state
Welfare Department officials at the school yesterday.
School principal Jennifer Chow said the
students of various nationalities had been involved in many charity and
fund-raising projects to help victims of natural disasters or the needy.
CARING CONTRIBUTION:
Welfare Department officer Norhayati Abdul Rahman (centre) receiving the foodstuff from Chow and the
students at the
She said the recent floods had affected
thousands of people, with some of them losing their homes and personal belongings.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/2/7/nation/7263031&sec=nation
Foreign culture wows Pitsch kids :
By DEB CLEWORTH
Daily Tribune Staff
Wisconsin, USA, Feb 7- Kenosha residents Sadarri Saskill and her
daughters, Amber, 20, and Misty, 18, shared stories and songs during "Cuentos - Bilingual Tales," an artist-in-residence
program on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Wisconsin Rapids school. The
three worked with the students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
The hands-on effort kept students
interested, said Sandy Smith, fifth-grade teacher.
"That's a key thing, to keep the kids
interactive," she said.
Saskill grew up with
storytelling in a multicultural household. Her ethnic background consists of
African, Russian Jewish, and American Indian heritage.
Her mother and father were foster parents, who also took in international
college students, so growing up, she heard stories in Spanish, French, Haitian
Creole, English and sign language, Saskill said.
"Each of these groups are known for passing their history and culture
orally," said Saskill, 44, who's a former
teacher. "So our house was like a storytelling house."
Hearing stories from other cultures is a
good teaching tool, she said.
"I think the storytelling is
important to preserve - these wonderful treasures that make the kids who they
are," she said.
The animation and enthusiasm of Saskill and her two daughters wasn't lost on the Pitsch students.
"I've really liked the fun activities
we got to do," said Amanda Smith, 11. The bilingual storytelling got her
interested in studying another language in junior high school.
Eleven-year-old Jalisa
Hickman knows some Spanish because of her Puerto Rican background, but even she
was impressed by the trio of visiting women as they told stories in both
English and Spanish.
"They can translate really
fast," Jalisa said.
Saskill drew some
groans from the fifth-graders when she shared a recipe for a worm and monkey
dish.
"I liked the part where you can learn
about the different countries and what they have and what they do," Xia Khang, 11, said, as she
finished working on her cinquain - a five-line poem.
School staff members were pleased with the
student reactions and the quality of the program. Tim Bruns,
principal of Pitsch, said he would like to hold a
similar program in the future.
"It opens up a world of culture; it's
not just
In addition to writing the cinquains, the students learned about dolls, toys and
clothing used in other countries. Hunting methods also were discussed. Instead
of just hearing about the topics, the students modeled clothing, held a blow
gun used for hunting and tried out some of the toys.
"The kids were involved in
everything," Smith said.
All the participating age groups took
something positive from the three-day program, Bruns
said.
"These three were very exceptional
people," he said.
http://www.wisinfo.com/dailytribune/wrdtlocal/292844917563803.shtml
Program aiming to make students bilingual
:
By J.J. HENSLEY, The
Garden City Telegraph
Friday, February 6, 2004
�
Garcia, originally from
"It's a challenge to be a good
kindergarten Spanish teacher," he said. "But I'm amazed with what
they say. Some students, it's the first time they've heard or learned
Spanish."
The program started three years ago in
kindergarten and has expanded each year to keep up with the progressing
students. This year, it is available through the second grade, and
administrators would like to see it extended to third grade next year.
The question is whether there will be a
next year. The program has operated on an annual grant of $148,000 from the
U.S. Department of Education, but so far, the department hasn't released the
grant applications. As a result, the school may need to secure alternative
funding.
Through the program, each classroom has
two teachers, a monolingual instructor who teaches students in English for half
the day, and a bilingual teacher who instructs the students almost exclusively
in Spanish the other half of the day. Some days, students are taught math in
English, for instance, the next day it could be phonics in Spanish.
Garcia said the students came up to him
daily asking how to say something in Spanish.
"They're not intimidated to try to
speak it," he said.
Wednesday, Garcia led a group of students
in reading a Spanish children's book. He had to stop occasionally to translate
a word into English, but stopped more often to have the children tell him what
a Spanish word means.
"Policia?" Garcia asks.
"Cops!" the crowd of
kindergarten students reply in unison.
The curriculum is the same in this
kindergarten class as it is in any other in the district, Garcia said. The
students have to learn their numbers and the alphabet. Those who don't, stay in
kindergarten. Those students who know those basics in English but not in
Spanish move on to first grade, but not as part of the Educating Future Leaders
program.
With 43 kindergarten students enrolled in
the program and just more than 20 spots available in the first-grade class,
only students who have a handle on both languages are allowed to move up.
Jennie Wilson Principal Maurine Kozol said the program was not an honors program, and that
the school worked hard to ensure the dual-language classes reflected the
ability level in the other classes.
�
http://www.gctelegram.com/news/2004/february/6/story3.html
TOGETHER MESS :
By BETHANY KANDEL, New York Times
�
Afterschool activities
abound, but they're usually for kids only, leaving parents to play spectator
and/or chauffeur.
Happily, there are alternatives -
parent/child classes that let you learn something new together. Grab your kid
and check out these:
GETTING CRAFTY
One blustery Saturday morning, Susan Getz
and her 6-year-old daughter, Annabel, sat in For Art's Sake's cozy
"At most classes, she does something
and I just come along and watch," Getz says. "I like the idea that we
can do this together and we're both learning something new."
Here, parents and children design
earrings, necklaces and bracelets to keep for themselves
or give as gifts.
�Using precious and semi-precious stones,
turquoise chips, freshwater pearls and
"I like doing stuff with my mom
because she helps me whenever I need it," says Annabel, showing off an
aquamarine charm bracelet.
"I'm going to wear this to school and
tell people I made it myself, and they're not going to believe me. But I'm
going to tell them I really did!"
Downtown, teens and parents can make
jewelry together at Earwings, a
For Art's Sake: www.forartssakeclass.com. Earwings: (212) 627-2756.
PINS AND NEEDLES
"It's hip to knit," says Leslie Axman, owner of The Lion and the Lamb, a needlepoint and
knitting shop. "Even Russell Crowe knits!"
Julie Desnick's
12-year-old son, Jonathan, got the bug and re-inspired his mom (an architect
and former needlepointer) after they took a class
together.
"It's something that we can sit and
do together and see the tangible evidence," says his mom.
Jonathan, who likes to talk or watch TV
while he works, says he likes needlepoint even more than video games.
"In Xbox, you beat a game, whoopdedoo!" he says. But with needlepoint, "you
get something that you can keep the rest of your life."
The Lion and the Lamb,www.lionandlambshop.com
BOOK IT!
Ilene Merenstein
and son, Kyle Greenberg, 13, have their hands full - of pictures.
Since taking a class with Lynda Rovine of Creative Memories, they're making scrapbooks of
their vacations to Disney World and Universal Studios, and a separate book of
Kyle's sports activities.
"It's a great way to spend time with
a teenager," says Merenstein, who lives on the
She says that seeing Kyle design the pages
and lay out photos and memorabilia "lets me in on what he's
thinking."
Another plus: "It's a good way to get
my photos out of the closet where nobody ever sees them. Now they can be
appreciated and enjoyed."
Creative Memories offers classes in your
home or out;�
www.creativememories.com
PAPER MAKING
Families can get a jump-start on
Valentine's Day at Dieu Donne - a working paper mill
that offers monthly family classes on techniques like stenciling and
marbleizing.
"This is something kids can't really
do at home . . . because it's really messy," says Dieu
Donne's Erin O'Rourke.
Wear old clothes and shoes, or even boots;
the paper mill staff will provide the plastic aprons. And definitely check out
the art gallery to see what the professionals do with their handmade paper.
www.Dieudonne.org.
WHAT A DOLL
Who needs an American Girl doll when you
can make one yourself? At Annie's Dollies, kids ages 10 and older and their
parents choose porcelain in one of six skin tones to create the head and arms;
stuff the fabric body, attach the joints, paint the hands and face, and attach
eyelashes and a wig.
At the end of the three-session course,
they've made themselves a 20-inch doll.
And if they want to learn to sew their
dolls' outfits, owner Annie Arroyo teaches that, too.
STRIKE A POSE
Uptight and anxious? What about
your kids? Learn to calm down together at a family yoga class at Karma Kids
Yoga Studio.
Amid flower murals and grass-green floors,
adults strike "bridge" poses while their tots do a snake-like wiggle
underneath. They also dance, hula-hoop and mellow out to soft music and foot
rubs.
"The focus here is giving children a
positive way to release energy, calm themselves and learn about their
bodies," says co-director Jeannene Levinson.
"Family classes teach teamwork and let parent and child bond in the
process."
But it isn't all fun and games:
"Those who don't think they'll get a workout are always surprised,"
Levinson says. "We are very energetic here."
http://www.nypost.com/living/15459.htm
Pupils set for extra time behind their desks:
By Lynnette Johns, Independent Online
February 04 2004 at 11:10AM
South Africa- Children at most schools
will have to spend an extra half-hour a day at their desks, a move principals
say is going to mean reworking timetables midway through the year.
Although most schools will be expected to
provide teaching for a similar number of hours a day, starting times vary and
so will finishing times.
High school pupils will have to be taught
for 27� hours a week, or 5� hours a day, excluding breaks.
Grades 1 and 2 must have 4� hours of
classes every day, Grade 3 five hours and Grades 4 to
7 five hours and 18 minutes.
The new times had been set by the national
department of education, Gaum said.
Schools with large Muslim enrolments will
have to tag extra minutes on to their Monday to Thursday timetable to allow
pupils time off to go to mosque on a Friday.
Gaum met members
of the Muslim Judicial Council late last year after
He has given his assurance that the
pupils' right to attend mosque on Friday afternoons will not be affected and no
regulation infringes on religious rights.
"Just as we would protect the
religious rights of for instance the Christian community, we should protect the
rights of the Muslim community. We will be tested as to how we deal with the
most vulnerable minority group, not as to how we please the majority," he
said.
Many schools in Mitchell's Plain, for
example, close at 12.30pm on Friday, to allow Muslim pupils to go to mosque.
The schools work longer hours during the
rest of the week to allow for early closing on Friday.
Other options include prayers at school. Westerford High in Rondebosch had
arranged for an an imam to
lead prayers every Friday, said principal Alan Clarke.
But Clarke said the new times meant they,
and many other schools, would have to factor in an extra half-hour each day to
follow the new directive. The school would await further instructions from the
department.
Plumstead High
principal Simon Winter said the school was still concerned about the
regulation, as it was clear that there was no flexibility in how the 27� hours
were divided up so that Friday could be a shorter day.
"Muslim teachers have permission to
leave for 1� hours, but they have to come back. Normal lessons have to proceed
in the meantime and there is no provision for pupils to go to mosque.
"We used to close school early on a
Friday," he said.
A primary school in Kenwyn
anticipates adding about half-an-hour to its timetable, but this would only
begin in the new term, the principal told parents.
Garlandale High pupils
were already spending more time behind their desks than required by the
department, said principal Basil Snyers.
However, Snyers
said, the governing body would have to apply to the department for permission
to close early on Fridays so that Muslim pupils and staff could attend mosque.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=105&art_id=vn20040204111041228C578499&set_id=1
Chung Hua
students visit Sheraton :
By Cedrina Clark,
The Form 5 Science students of
The familiarisation
visit had enabled the students to gain a first-hand
knowledge on the working conditions in the hospitality industry and they also
learned how a top rated property is operated.
The visitors were welcomed by Irene Shim,
Human Resources Manager of Sheraton Utama Hotel and
Christina Yan, its Sales and Public Relations
Executive.
During the tour, the students were shown
the different types of accommoda-tions and food and
beverage outlets available at the hotel before proceeding to the heart of house
operations such as the different sections of the kitchens.
While in the housekeeping and laundry
areas, several students enthusiastically stepped into the role of a laundry
attendant and proceeded to launder linen.
http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Feb04/070204/bb26.htm
Spaced out Cape girl has a dream come true :
By Elize Jacobs,
Independent Online�
February 06 2004
�South
Africa- Fifteen-year-old pupil Nomathemba Kontyo from Khayelitsha,
Last year, the Planetary Society - the
largest space interest group on Earth - held an international contest to select
a team of pupils to participate in the Mars Exploration Rover Mission Team at
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Out of 500 applications from around the
world, 63 finalists from 23 countries were selected. Kontyo
was the only pupil from
The competition, called "Red Rover
Goes to Mars", entailed pupils submitting essays about life and
experiments in space.
'Women can achieve anything that they put
their minds to'
On Thursday, Kontyo
visited the Satellite Applications Centre at Hartbeeshoek
to get a taste of what's in store for her in
She was given a presentation on what to
expect.
Kontyo, a grade 10
pupil at
"My favourite
subjects are maths and science, and my other subjects
are English, Afrikaans, Xhosa and biology," she said.
In the essay that won her the opportunity
to participate, she said she loved everything about space.
"I am anxious to learn about past
life and present conditions on Mars. As a young learner, I feel it is important
to take an interest in the world and universe around us.
'The time for a woman just being a
housewife and cooking for her husband is over'
"Therefore being a part of the
Student Astronaut Programme would enable me to be a part of something great
which incorporates all of my favourite subjects.
"I am a female and live in an
impoverished community. Being part of the mission would show other young women
that women can achieve anything that they put their minds to, and show learners
from similar environments that, through dedication and hard
work, everything and anything is possible.
"I would like to prove to all women,
especially here in
"I would also like to promote the
importance of maths and science as they are subjects
that so many in my community do not see the importance and relevance of,"
she said.
Kontyo's parents - her
mother Nomathamsanqa, who works in a
butchery, and her father Zandisile, who does
casual work - said they were proud of their daughter.
Further information on the project can be
found at www.redrovergoestomars.org.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=105&art_id=vn20040206134132481C416728&set_id=1
THE
Students immersed in rain forest study :
By Nancy Kimball, The
Daily Inter
Now, for a group of six Lakeside
Elementary students, that land isn't just an outline
on a map of
< img src="0207photos/brazil.jpg" alt=brazil>
Michelle Ahern leads a discussion about
the Brazilian tropical rain forest recently at
Robin Loznak/
Daily Inter
It's all a run-up to March, when two of
them will leave for a month's stay in
From there, Megan and Kian
Ahern, ages 6 and 8 respectively, will visit such diverse locales as the
ecologically rich Pantanal region and
The two plan to take Mom and Dad, Michelle
and Todd Ahern, along with them for the adventure.
"It's expensive, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Michelle Ahern said.
"We just can't pass it up."
Michelle Ahern hatched the idea for the
school enrichment study after she and Todd Ahren
firmed up plans to visit one of his old college buddies.
Jim Roper, an ornithologist who has spent
20 years researching and teaching for a Brazilian university in the jungles
near
Knowing how they grew from their
"I just thought for my kids it would
be good to know more before we go to
Megan's second-grade teacher, Kathy
Pierce, and Kian's third-grade teacher, Ansley Ford, cooperated with Ahern in designing a two-month
study that would incorporate a couple other students each.
Participating in the study, in addition to
the Aherns, are third-graders Kaleb
Cannaday and Layne Massie, and second-graders Jordan Lundsford and Caleb Buxton.
"These are the kind of kids who
thrive on extra work," Ford said of the enrichment group. "When their
regular class work is done, they come to me and ask what more they can
do."
In late January, Ahern started coming to
the school for 45 minutes every Tuesday afternoon to lead the study of
Together they expanded on the Kid Pix
computer program already used in the school, combining the children's selected
pictures and original text into their self-narrated slide shows that add
animation and jungle sound effects.
"You can do a lot of fun
things," Kian Ahren
said as he worked on his slide show.
In the end, they will download them for
printed books.
"I want it to be like
After the Tuesday sessions, the youngsters
go home to dive into encyclopedias, go online and search out pictures
throughout the week on their own.
"I think it's pretty impressive for
second-graders and third-graders to do what they're doing," Michelle Ahern
said.
"I wanted it to be fun but
educational. They've got ownership, too, because with the books, they can
choose whether to have, say, an anaconda be the narrator or tell it in the
first person."
It's working.
As the students finished their study of
rain forest animals Tuesday and prepared a chapter on the animal each one had
chosen to research, they thought about their favorite part of the study.
"Learning about my animal," said
Buxton, who studied the ocelot.
His classmate Lundsford
agreed, but sang the praises of the golden lion tamarin
he had chosen.
"I really like monkeys," he explained
his pick. "But mostly the spider monkey."
"It would be great to live there, to
take some pictures," Cannaday said. "I
would rather be in the rain forest than in the jungle."
"I like animals," Massie said as
he finished his chapter on the squirrel monkey. "And I'd like to live
there, too."
Megan Ahern studied the endangered ocelot,
too.
"I picked out the ocelot because it's
in the cat family, and I love cats," she said. "I don't know if
jaguars are in
"When I was 3 years old, I knew about
the ocelot and I thought it was just another word for jaguar. But when I
started studying for
At the beginning of the study, the
students mapped
A tropical rain forest can be a jungle,
they discovered, but a jungle is not necessarily a rain forest. And they
learned that only seven percent remains of the original territory covered by
the
The study continues until the whole school
joins in a carnival-like celebration on March 12.
That day, the researchers will show their
slide shows and read a chapter from their books. They'll all share some
Brazilian food and music, then don the masks they will
have made the week before for a parade through the school.
Once they're traveling, Megan and Kian Ahren plan to e-mail their
classmates about the new things they learn and do in
In those tropical lands, their yellow
fever immunizations and long hair should act as some protection from the
mosquitoes, Kian Ahren
figured.
"I'm excited that I'm going to see a
lot of animals," he said. He talked of the python, the boa constrictor and
"lots of bats," such as the Brazilian free-tailed bat.
"It looks like a pterodactyl with
that diamond shape at the end of the tail," he said.
He can't wait to get there and "find
something cool � a snake or something dead."
His sister, on the other hand, is
"excited to see an ocelot or jaguar or anything in the rain forest that I
see," she said. She's also anxious to see the toucans, parrots and other
birds their ornithologist friend Roper will show them.
"Maybe I'll pull out a camera and see
what interesting plants or animals there are," Megan Ahren
said. "I'll see what interesting facts I can send back to tell
(classmates).
"If I'm lucky, maybe I'll seen an ocelot up in a tree."
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsEngine/SelectStory_AD.tpl?command=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=84-817160-80
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