Poetry Week!

This week was Poetry Week at school!

Ennio learned all about different types of poems: Cinquain, Diamante, Haiku and Limerick

A Cinquain is structured as follows:

Line 1: 1 word (title: a noun, the subject of the poem)

Line 2: 2 words (adjectives that describe the title)

Line 3: 3 words (verbs/actions relating to the title and ending in -ing)

Line 4: 4 words (a phrase that describes feelings about the title)

Line 5: 1 word (synonym of the title or a word that sums it up)

Here is Ennio's poem:

SOUP

TOMATO-CARROT, GROSS

NOODLE SOUP, NOT BAD, OK

DISGUSTING, GROSS, BAD, YUCKY

VEGETABLES

(Line 3 could have been better, but I thought it was funny how it shows how much he hates soup and vegetables - Did you notice he even used the word GROSS twice!!)

A Diamante Poem is a 7-line poem that makes the shape of a diamond. The poem can be used in two ways, either comparing and contrasting two different subjects, or naming synonyms at the beginning of the poem and then antonyms for the second half of the poem. In the poem, the subject is named in the first line (one word) and the poem also ends with one word. Each line has 1 more or 1 less word than the last line. The longest line only has 4 words in it, and none of the lines in a diamante are complete sentences.

Ennio wrote:

ROLLERCOASTERS

THRILLING, EXCITING, SOARING, AMAZING

BUTTERFLIES, ARMS, HILLS

FUN, SCARY, AIRTIME, FLOATING LOOP

EXCITEMENT, FEAR

AGAIN

(Line 2 should only have had 2 words and he forgot Line 5 - I guess he got too excited describing his rollercoasters!)

A Haiku has a 5-7-5 structure. The entire poem consists of just three lines with 17 syllables in total. The first line is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables, the third line is 5 syllables like the first.

Ennio's Haiku:

Line 1 - 5 syllables: Rollercoaster Ride

Line 2 - 7 syllables: I can't wait for 20 hours

Line 3 - 5 syllables: Royalty hand shake

I couldn't find back a Limerick in his notebook... Maybe that was setting the bar a bit too high for him. But I definitely enjoyed the other forms of poetry!

Back to school for Lily!

On Wednesday, April 28, it was Lily's turn to go back to school! Lily's in 6th grade - Middle School in the US - and her return was not the same as it was for Ennio, who's in Elementary School (4th grade). She only gets to go back 2 or 3 days a week (Mondays are alternating) and she doesn't get live instruction, but is Zooming from the classroom. What's the point then? you may think... Well, we decided to send her back for the social-emotional aspect of being "in-school". Lily missed seeing her classmates and teachers in person, so I hope this will help ease her social anxiety which I believe she developed from being at home all this time! Her first day went well: all her teachers came to her classroom to say hi, she met the 3 other students (the rest of the class opted to continue to stay home for online learning) and her homeroom teacher, Mr. Purdy, is really nice. She goes on Mondays (every 2 weeks), Wednesdays and Fridays, and her school days are from 9:00 AM until 2:30 PM. We hope for Lily as well that she'll be able to enjoy this hybrid model until the end of the school year!

When I picked up Lily, we stopped by Sweet Lily Bakery to have a treat!

The rewards for going back to school!

Daily Pass to be allowed entry into school

Online school in the hybrid model

This is what Ennio's mornings look like in the hybrid model:

In the afternoon he goes to school in person.

Happy 10th Birthday, Ennio!

Happy 10th Birthday to my one and only Ennio Bennio Jalapeño 😂. 

We love you to the moon and back. 

Double digits, where has the time gone ?!? 

Please, don't grow up too fast and stay your quirky, funny self forever! 

😘🎉🥳

The Money Run!

One of Lily's classes is PE (Physical Education). As you can imagine, it must have been a real challenge for the teachers to organize this as an online class for the students to do at home! 

During the first semester, Lily's teacher, Ms. Zhong, focused on teaching the principles of fitness (FITT: Frequency - Intensity - Time - Type), warm-ups, cool-downs, Fitnessgram Healthy Fitness Zone standards, cardio, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, body composition, skeletal muscles, the Food Pyramid and nutritional facts. After a daily 30 minute lecture during which she was mostly taking notes, there was also a video work-out. At the end of the week, there was a quiz. 

This second semester was more about different types of exercise: she learned how to juggle, line dance, play volley ball, badminton, and golf! For the initiation into the golf sport, she had to build a mini-golf course with a certain theme and present it to the class in a homemade video. Lily came up with "The Money Run". Her video presentation is below. Enjoy!

The kids watched each other's presentations and got to vote on which one they liked best. Lily got 2nd place! Ms. Zhong emailed her a $10 Starbucks Gift Card as a prize. How cool is that?

Back to school for Ennio!

Today was a very special day for Ennio: the first day back to in-person school since March 13, 2020! It's still not back to normal (as in: as it was before the pandemic) because he's only going 3 hours a day, and the rest of the day is independent work at home, but it is a big step forward in the right direction! Classes are split in two in this hybrid model: half of the class goes to school in the mornings (from 8:30 until 11:30 AM) and the other half goes in the afternoons (from 12:30 until 3:30 PM). Ennio is in the PM cohort. This means he stays home in the morning to do asynchronous work,  and gets to go to school in the afternoon. There are about 13 students in his group and he has live instruction from his teacher, Ms. Thompson. The school district takes very strict precautionary measures: masks are mandatory for every student (even the little ones), there are daily health screenings and temperature checks,  the kids are tested weekly for Covid-19, and they need a Daily Pass with QR-code, or they are not allowed onto school grounds. We're all crossing our fingers that this model will be successful and the kids can continue to go to school until the end of the school year!

Easter Weekend!

After our lake cruise, we headed over to Marilyn and Rolla's place for some serious easter egg painting! Marilyn had set up the backyard table with tons of supplies and 2 dozen boiled eggs, so the kids (and we!!!) knew what to do! I had also brought some decorative crafts which Oma Eva had mailed to us in the past, and which we hadn't used up yet. We would be busy for a while!!! 

The next morning, Easter Sunday, we had to check out of the condo but our plane didn't leave until 3:30 PM, so we had plenty of time for an Easter Brunch at the Ogle chalet. Surprise, surprise, the Easter Bunny had come! Ennio could hardly contain himself! After collecting all the eggs, we enjoyed our last meal together, a delicious brunch with lots of eggs, ham, waffles, and chocolates! My contribution was mainly bringing the Belgian chocolate of course! Mmm!

We said goodbye to my dear host parents, whom the kids truly consider as their California grandparents, and drove away to the airport in Reno. Returning our rental pick-up truck was super easy, so we still had a lot of time before boarding the plane. 

One last view over Lake Tahoe... it was truly a wonderful holiday, I'm so grateful we were able to do this!

EGG PAINTING AND EASTER BUNNY CRAFTS

 

EASTER EGG HUNT AND BRUNCH!

Yes, I ate it all! So yummy!

Goodbye Rolla and Marilyn!

Goodbye Diamond Peak!

Goodbye Lake Tahoe!