Bright Holiday Season, Shine Bright... Hillcrest Primary School : Sorrow

 

via TIF News

"Shine bright like a diamond. 

You're a shooting star I see"

As we end the trimester, moving through winter solstice toward the returning light, may the Holiday Spirit of the educational community help ease December’s chill.

I stand in sorrow & sympathy with the Hillcrest Primary School community. My heart and thoughts are with the families of those children who lost their lives on last 15 December or are still in hospital. 

What started as a joyful day of celebration ended with the entire Tasmanian community stunned & heartbroken.

credits: Twitter/NickMcCallum7

The deaths of six children after a jumping castle was lifted into the air from strong winds at a school end-of-year celebration as condolences flowed into the grieving small coastal city.

The sixth student has died last 19 December, after Hillcrest Primary School's end of year celebration event.

Four boys and two girls aged between 11 and 12 died in the accident which saw children fall 10 metres (33 feet) to the ground at a school in Devonport in the northwest of the island state of Tasmania. 

It was one of Australia's deadliest accidents involving an amusement ride.

credits: EPA

As a teacher, I believe that children, parents, teachers and families of Hillcrest Primary School must keep their privacy.

I have no words, I was devastated, absolutely devastated, still am. I had no words.

Holiday season is here. Christmas season is children's big dream. What can I say?

Tributes have begun pouring in online for the beloved students who are remembered as a 'beautiful, caring boy' and a 'precious' girl with a 'sweet, kind, old soul'.

credits: NCA Newswire / Grant

Rise of the Guardians, a lovely and original tale, came to my mind. Again. After Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The beautiful 3D animated film would be a sweet tribute in the memories of children.

Rise of the Guardians  also tells us to hold on to that child inside us as we go through life, and to believe in ourselves no matter what.

credits: EPA

The tragedy which occurred is beyond comprehension. It is devastating, heartbreaking. It is just simply incomprehensible.

Addison, 11, Zane, 12, Jye, 12, Jalailah Jayne-Maree, 12, Peter, 12 and Chace, 11.  How sad! Sorrow.

'Young children on a fun day out, together with their families and it turns to such horrific tragedy. At this time of year, it just breaks your heart," 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison

credits: via Facebook

The immediate priority is supporting the children, families and staff who had been impacted.

The tragedy which occurred is beyond comprehension. It is devastating, heartbreaking. It is just simply incomprehensible.

Let's raise our deepest thoughts with sorrow to their parents, families, young classmates and teachers. And let's sing "Shine bright like a diamond."

"It is our job to watch over the children of the world and keep them safe. For as long as they believe in us, we will guard them with our lives." 

North, Rise of the Guardians

Wishing everyone a Bright Holiday Season! Hug each other, hug your children, deeply and often.

G-Souto

24.12.2021

copyright © 2021G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com

Bright Holiday Season, Shine Bright... Hillcrest Primary School : Sorrow G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Happy Easter ! Let us have Hope !

 

via BigStock

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d,

And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,

I mourn’d, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,

Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,

And thought of him I love.(...)

Walt Whitman, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

Spring is back!  On a Easter morning it's a poem we can repeat that makes Spring seem more intensely itself.

Today is Easter, the most important Christian religious holiday and widely regarded as the second most popular holiday in general after Christmas.

Students and teachers got Easter school break in European countries where the schools are not closed.

But more or less all around the world, most of students are at home, on remote learning due the pandemic time that continues unfortunately.

It’s impossible to overstate what this crisis will mean for the pandemic generation.

There is no doubt that persistent lockdowns and school closings have affected children everywhere.

Extensive surveys conducted by Save the Children also found that nearly half of all children said they were “worried” and a third reported feeling “scared.”

The sudden closing of schools and elimination of educational summer activities in many communities might have lifelong consequences for children who already live with severe social and economic adversities, impairing even further their ability to read at grade level, graduate from high school on time and have equitable access to post-education opportunities generally. - wrote Irwin Redlener on The Washington Post.

However, we should acknowledge that some children have exhibited unexpectedly high levels of resiliency and independence while dealing with the restrictions and disruptions imposed by the pandemic. 

I would like to share with you a message of hope. 

Life can toss us down and make us fall out of the blue, but the hope inside us will pick us up again and again!

We do not lose heart when we fail in life, as it is only the start of our journey. In the end, we will be the one to achieve our goals.

“Happy Easter

May the renewal of life

At Easter bring new

Blessings of love, hope,

Peace, good health &

Happiness to you and

Your loved ones..

Embrace the renewal of life.” 

unknown 

Happy Easter ! Be safe !

G-Souto

04.04.2021

Copyright © 2021G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Happy Easter ! Let us have Hope ! by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

'Tis de Season : Apps, books, films, music & other resources !

Google Doodle Winter Solstice Northern Hemisphere

https://www.google.com/doodles/

As 2017 slowly is closing, we have noticed the sun beginning to set earlier and earlier! As the seasons begin to change, so too does the earth’s allocation of daylight.

To celebrate the astronomical phenomenon of the solstices Google has created two of its famous Doodles: Northern solstice and Southern solstice.

But Google is beginning the countdown to Christmas with a festive series of Doodles, since December 18. Interactive, animated images feature penguins and parrots arranging to spend the big day together? Oh! Well!

Interactive, animated images feature penguins and parrots arranging to spend the big day together.

As we end the trimester, moving through winter solstice toward the returning light, may the Holiday Spirit of the educational community help ease December’s chill but so bright! The sun continues to shine in my country.

Here some cute digital resources that will cheer kids around the world now that they are enjoying the holiday season.

Ho Ho Ho ! Santa's fans have again this Christmas a choice between two Santa trackers: Santa Tracker (Google) and NORAD Santa Tracker (Microsoft). It's so funny to follow the interactive Santa's travel around the world.

Children and educators can explore some of the very best holiday light displays from around the world on Google Maps.

screenshot Google Santa Tracker app

https://play.google.com/store/apps/

👉Apps:

And yes, following Santa Tracker Apps: Google Santa Tracker and NORAD Santa Tracker. 

Google Santa Tracker: games with elves in jetpacks, rolling gumballs, sleighs powered by rockets and many more. 

Once the 24th arrives, follow Santa in his journey around the world. Educators have special resources: Games for the classroom.

screenshot NORAD Tracks Santa

https://play.google.com/store/apps/

NORAD Tracks Santa App: watching the days countdown to the start of Santa's Yuletide journey around the worl, playing games, reading stories and more!

The Man Who Invented Christmas

Bharat Nalluri,2017

https://m.imdb.com/

🎥Films & Books:

And now the last beautiful surprises. Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens on the theater. The Man Who Invented Christmas directed by Bharat Nalluri is based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

"It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, God bless Us, Every One!"

Tiny Tim

A Christimas Carol

Charles Dickens

illustrations: P.J. Lynch

https://www.amazon.com/

When Charles Dickens passed away in 1870, a young girl in London asked a question that demonstrated just how strongly Dickens' writings were associated with the holiday season and modern Christmas traditions. She asked, "Mr. Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die, too?"

The book resonates with the true spirit of Christmas, detailed and atmospheric artwork bringing Dickensian London and its inhabitants to life with breathtaking immediacy.

The movie tells the story of how Charles Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol. The journey that led to Charles Dickens' creation of A Christmas Carol, a timeless tale that would redefine the holiday. 

The movie is "very soft-centred but succeeds in casting new light on an episode in its subject’s much scrutinised life that hasn’t been quite as exhaustively examined as one might have expected."

The Man Who Invented Christmas offers the familiar pleasures you would expect in a costume drama about Dickens.

 

👧👦A Christmas Carol for kids:

💓Wonder: special kids

Wonder

Stephen Chbosky, 2017

https://www.imdb.com/

“

"Remarkable ... It has the power to move hearts and change minds."

The Guardian

Wonder is a lovely film based on the New York Times bestseller, WONDER. It tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

Wonder

R.J. Palacio

https://www.amazon.com/

👀Synopsis:

The unforgettable and life-affirming story of August Pullman - a boy who's desperate to blend in, but is destined to stand out. ‘My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.' Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. 

But ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids aren't stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school. All he wants is to be accepted. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Wonder

R.J. Palacio

https://www.amazon.com/

R.J. Palacio has called her debut novel “a meditation on kindness”. Every reader/student will come away with a greater appreciation for the simple courage of friendship. Auggie is a hero to root for, a diamond in the rough who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out. 

This special edition is complete with exclusive bbehind-the-scenes content.

Wonder

Stephen Chbosky, 2017

https://www.imdb.com/

It's not the real world at schools, we know it. Bullying among young people is epidemic at school. But it's a refreshing new narrative full of heart and hope that will be a must read in the classroom, if we want to help banish or decrease bullying acts among your students at school and helping 'different' kids to be accepted by the class and by the entire school. 

After the festive season go to the movies with your students before reading the book. And then, yes, explore the theme in the classroom followed by activities and a good cross-curricular project.  WONDER is a book and movie you and your students will never forget. That will change some behaviour at school among young people.

📕Livres & musique:

Alice et merveilles

Stéphane Michaka

musique: Didier Benetti

https://www.didier-jeunesse.com/

Alice et merveilles aux Editions Radio France et Didier Jeunesse est une réinterprétation de Stéphane Michaka d'Alice au pays des merveilles, fameux classique de Lewis Caroll. 

Un univers envoûtant et surprenant mis en musique par Didier Benetti, timbalier de l'Orchestre national de France. 

Un film sonore à dérouler en famille ou en classe après les vacances noël. Un merveilleux voyage pour les oreilles et l'imagination des enfants.

👉Âge: à partir de Primaire.

Histoire de la musique en bandes dessinées

 Michael Sadler, Denys Lemery & Bernard Deyries 

Les éditions Vandevelde

https://www.henry-lemoine.com/fr/

Impossible de synthétise l'histoire de la musique depuis la préhistoire jusqu'aujourd'hui. Histoire de la musique en bandes dessinées par Michael Sadler, Denys Lemery et Bernard Deyries a parfaitement réussi! Parue pour la première fois en 1984, elle est rééditée dans une version réactualisée par Les éditions Vandevelde. 

"Ici, la musique ne s'écoute pas, mais se découvre au fil des siècles et des anecdotes, à travers des dates et des personnages emblématiques, croqués avec humour et malice qui ouvrent la porte d'une époque juste assez pour éveiller la curiosité du lecteur."

A lire en famille ou au collège en faisant écouter des compositeurs et genres de musique. Ça aidera les ados à comprendre la musique et les incitera à l'étude de la musique.

Un merveilleux voyage pour les oreilles et le goût de la musique.

👉Âge: Adolescents/ collégiens

A lire avec vos ados/ étudiants en piochant dans vos discothèques pour leur ouvrir les oreilles aussi.

Un amour de tortue

Roald Dahl

musique: Isabelle Aboulker

https://www.gallimard-jeunesse.fr/

Un amour de tortue de Roald Dahl est un des deux projets de mise en musique de cet auteur classique de la littérature jeunesse que Gallimard Jeunesse a confié à la compositrice pour enfant par excellence, Isabelle Aboulker. 

"Isabelle Aboulker signe un mini-opéra rythmé, drôle et plein de légèreté, autour du texte lu par François Morel et illustré par Quentin Blake." 

Une musique inspirée et une belle interprétation des solistes vocaux et de l'Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.

Un autre livre à lire et écouter en famille. En classe, après les vacances noël. 

Les enfants aiment beaucoup lire Roald Dahl et écouter l'histoire en mini-opéra drôle leur offrira un merveilleux voyage pour les oreilles et l'imagination.

👉Âge: A partir de 10 ans.

Have yourself a Very Merry Christmas Season, brightly colored with love, peace and light.

Wishing everyone a Bright Holiday Season! And a special hug to all the children in the world.

I'm off to continue celebrating Christmas at home with my family.

G-Souto

23.12.2017

update 02.09.2026

Copyright © 2017G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

'Tis the Season : Apps, books, films, music & other resources by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.