Wrapping Up Our Travels

At the last session of "Go Geography" the students recapped all of their travels!

Read this message about the last class from head of "Go Geography", Julia Benz.

Dear All,

At our last class, once we completed Argentina, we divided the children into three groups, each one representing one of the countries we covered during the Go Geography Fall program: Australia, Ukraine & Argentina.  The children had a friendly competition answering who remembered the most about their countries (customs, language, animals, endangered animals, food, etc).  We had so much fun!

Near the end of the class, we "returned" to South America to learn more about rain forest monkeys.  The HAMC girl scouts (Stacey Kellar's team) prepared an especially wonderful presentation about monkeys and the rain forest.  The children were divided into 4 groups and enjoyed story telling, games, coloring, and Q&A.  Each of them also received a special monkey tail!

The children snacked on organic strawberries and raisins.

At the end of the class, each child received a country-specific toy animal to take home.

Special thanks to Lorena Burga, Liz Fenton, our 8th and 6th grade assistants, Stacey Kellar, and HAMC girl scouts.   

Warm wishes,

Julia Benz

Go Geography travels to the Ukraine!

What excitement we had to share with each other on our trip to the  Ukraine. The children learned how to map their way on the globe from US to the Ukraine, how to say hello in both Ukrainian and Russian (both languages are widely spoken in Ukraine), and even how seals have become an endangered animal because of the water pollution in the Ukraine.  They answered questions about how to improve the quality of our Eco-system so the seals can survive. The children also learned about horses, cows, foxes, bears.

The children loved the Ukrainian costumes and toys like the stacking dolls (matreshka), beautifully painted boxes, and scarves.  They also played with the wooden animal toys that Ukrainian children would play with and listened to children's folk music.

Sports in the Ukraine are much like sports in  the United States, e.g. soccer and tennis. Badminton is also popular. As a hands on experience, boys practiced badminton in the gym while the girls created friendship cards to send to the children in the Ukraine. We have amazing artists who even decorated the envelopes!  

The 8th graders prepared a special space program for children to learn about the first man in space, Ukrainian (at that time Former Soviet Union), Yuri Gagarin. The students filled out Space Travel Cards and buckled up for a trip to outer space. The kids were treated to an actual space launch with the help of technology –smartBoard. Each student drew their favorite planet and received a space medal for being such a wonderful space traveler.

All the kids snacked on organic treats and talked about their exciting travels into space and beyond!

It was wonderful to see children's faces being so excited about learning.

Special thanks to HAMC students, Charlotte Schreiber, Sarah Bacharach and Josh Trif for their help with Go Geography. Thank you also to Liz Fenton and Lorena Sperber who helped Julia Benz with the class.

An Adventure Down Under

What a great kickoff "Go Geography" had last Friday! The students marched to the maraca beat throughout the hallways as onlookers happily heard them say we were traveling to Australia. We found Australia on the globe and mapped our travel from New Jersey to Australia. We had a mystery box in filled with animals that the students picked, including whales, camels (who would have thought they live in the land down under) crocodiles and dolphins, everyone loved learning about the animals.

The students had their waists measured and compared them to the size of a whale's length. It was a 30ish-inch difference! Then they dipped their fingers in warm water to see what tropical temperatures whales prefer to swim in. During these activities, we told the students whale facts to reinforce all that we'd discussed.

After a brief four-minute movie in which they saw Australian coral reef, manta rays swimming, clams and sharks on the smart board, the boys played soccer (aka football!) in the gym much as boys in Australia would do (or rugby and tennis), while the girls made a collage of Australian sea and land life animals.

Many thanks to eighth-graders Charlotte S. and Sarah B. for graciously volunteering their time to assist in the learning experience.

G'day mate! And be sure to check out our other Go Geography adventures. 

Go! Geography Stops by South Africa!

On our most recent adventures in Go! Geography, our After-School Enrichment Class, students visited the African continent and South Africa! Our seventh-, fifth-, and first-grade assistants did a great job with the students as they learned so much.

Students mapped their way from New Jersey to South Africa, explored the African Continent, and discussed endangered species like elephants and rhinoceroses. Greetings were learned in Zulu and Afrikaans, and the shortage of fresh clean water in Africa was discussed. There was unique South African foods, sports -- like rugby -- and even a South African beading activity.

Most importantly, students focused their attention on the environment. At the end of the class, the students will decide on an environmental charity where we will send a small donation and a story written by the students, assistants, and teachers about what they've learned and are planning to learn!




Stay tuned for our next adventure! And, if you missed our other adventures, you can find them here.

Go Geography: Brazil!

This is the newest installment in our After-School Enrichment Class Go Geography! This trip has taken our students to Brazil and Peru! Did you see our posts on Russia and Canada?

During the Go Geography! program, our students take imaginary trips where -- during two classes on each country -- they learn from native speakers, participate in class discussions, art projects, and songs. We'll be spending time on weather, the landscape, interesting or unusual native animals, history, customs, music, and food.

Guest speaker Lorena Sperber, who grew up in South America, gave a great presentation covering the rain forest, animals, weather, ocean life, birds, and a little bit of history. Then, students were separated into two teams: Brazilian Turtles and Rain Forest Frogs, and each team was given a series of questions about Brazilian animals that they had to answer. In the end, there were two winners -- Turtles and Frogs tied, and everyone celebrated with animal cookies!

Our student travelers received fish stickers and a small homework assignment: We asked them to be prepared for the ice hockey discussion -- and possibly a game of hockey -- for the next class as they travel to Canada.

The Go Geography! experience will end with the students decorating a large stuffed toy with flags of the countries we visited in the class, and the toys will be presented as a gift to the Children's Hospital.

O Canada!

While "visiting Canada," our students colored pictures of some animals native to Canada.

The newest installment in our After-School Enrichment Class: Go Geography has taken our students to Canada! So far, we've visited Russia, Israel, Brazil, and Canada. Did you see our post on Russia?

During the Go Geography! program, our students take imaginary trips where -- during two classes on each country -- they learn from native speakers, participate in class discussions, art projects, and songs. We'll be spending time on weather, the landscape, interesting or unusual native animals, history, customs, music, and food.

So far, the pre-K students have learned an Israeli dance from the eighth graders, they have played with Russian matroyshka (nesting) dolls, gone fishing, and explored caves in Russia. They also learned how to sing a french folk song "Frère Jacques," and there are still two weeks left to go!

On the Road to Russia

We're happy to announce that we're taking our students on an interesting adventure that will take them from Russia to Israel, Canada, and even Brazil! Don't worry, we're not globe-trotting, it's our new After-School Enrichment Class: Go Geography!

On Fridays, our students will take imaginary trips where -- during two classes on each country -- they'll learn from native speakers, participate in class discussions, art projects, and songs. We'll be spending time on weather, the landscape, interesting or unusual native animals, history, customs, music, and food.

Our first destination? Russia!

We're busy decorating our travel hats.

Before venturing out, our students learned how to say Privet, Ja ...  ("Hello, I am ...), and then we took a look at the globe, pinpointing New Jersey in the United States and Russia. Finally, ready to travel, our students took a short train ride, followed by a trip by plane to Russia where they encountered brown bears and horses, Siberian tigers, the soup borscht, lakes and forests, and Russian children's games!

In two groups, students took on projects. One group colored their travel hats, writing Privet, and put handmade country-specific pins on them, while another group went "fishing" in Russia's Lake Baikal, which is the biggest fresh water supply lake in the world. The students also "visited" the caves of South Russia and got to play with some of the Russian toys, including matroyshka (nesting) dolls, and fishing bears. Next week, our groups will swap activities so everyone gets a chance to explore the fun of Russia.

We read a Russian story called "Repka," a folktale about The Great Turnip, and we also read a letter from Vladimir, a Russian boy, who wrote to greet the class and share interesting facts about the weather, animals, food, and flora of his native country.

After a busy class, we wrapped up with circle time, which gave the students a chance to practice some Russian, and we sent everyone home with a small plastic horse to remind them of what they learned.

We're excited to travel on to Israel, Canada, and Brazil! Until then, Poka! (That's "goodbye" in Russian!)