Comenius Weeks in Finland in Autumn 2012

Hi everyone! The Comenius project is alive and well in Töölö Primary School despite the lack of blog updates! Here's a summary of this school year's Comenius-related activities so far.

Summer Special Week in August 2012: Weather, Food, Activities and Clothing

The summer special week was held in Töölö in August 2012. Like before, we observed the weather and made posters about typical Finnish summer food. The school also had the annual "Töölö Olympics" event at Eläintarha sports field.



The weather was sunny, but the temperatures were quite low for this time of the year.



Finns love to bbq in the summer.



Summer soup is made of seasonal vegetables and milk.

Everyone's favourite!

The delicious Finnish "lettu".

Töölö Olympics 2012.

Throwing the turbo javelin.

 

Class 4A painted farm animals.



Autumn fashion: remember to wear reflectors! That's the best life insurance in the darkness!

Comenius Week in October 2012: Climate Change, Energy Conservation and Recycling

The second project year focuses on the consequences of climate change. The first special week around this theme was held at the end of October. Class 4A made posters about renewable and non-renewable energy resources. Younger pupils made soft fish in the crafts lesson to raise awareness about the protection of the seas. These were put on show in the Töölö Library. Classes 1C and 2C made unique pen holders from recycled materials, and class 6C hung small notes on the school walls to remind the pupils and teachers to turn off the lights and computer screens, use the stairs instead of the lift, and use less water. Classes 6A and 6B also wrote rap lyrics about energy conservation.

Energy Resources 

Biothermal energy.

Wind power.

Biomass.

Solar energy.

Hydroelectric power.



Nuclear power.

Oil.

Gas.

Coal.



Peat and biomass.

 Pen Holders from Recycled Materials

Pen holders from recycled materials.

The designers behind these awesome pen holders!

Very imaginative pen holders by 2C.

Lanterns by 1C.

Unique pen holders by 1C.

Rap Lyrics about Energy Conservation: "Energiansäästöräppi"

Grades 6A and 6B came up with rap lyrics about energy conservation. Here are two different versions.

Älä hissiä turhaan käytä,

äläkä taloa turhalla lämmöllä täytä.

Ei me turhaan sähköä päästetä,

vaan sitä päinvastoin säästetään.

Tääl me mennään taas

ja säästetään sähköä samal kans!

Me räpätään maailman puolesta,

ettei se kuole vuodessa!

Laita turhat sähkölaitteet pois,

ikään ku niitä ei ois.

Käytä energiansäästölamppuja,

ja turhat valot sammuta.

Tääl me mennään taas

ja säästetään sähköä samal kans!

Me räpätään maailman puolesta,

ettei se kuole vuodessa!

Tääl me mennään taas

ja säästetään sähköä samal kans!

Me räpätään maailman puolesta,

ettei se kuole vuodessa!

 

Muistathan säästää sähköä,

koska sil on aika paljon väliä.

TV, radio, tietsikka pois,

hissi portaisiin, siin se ois.

Vedä turhat töpselit seinästä pois,

koska ei siitä paljon haittaa ois.

Älä pidä pattereita täysillä,

vaikka energiataso ois kympissä.

Muista säästää sähköä,

koska sil on aika paljon väliä!

Vedä turhat töpselit seinästä pois,

koska ei siitä paljon haittaa ois.

Vedä turhat töpselit seinästä pois,

koska ei siitä paljon haittaa ois.

  

Cyprus Meeting in Autumn 2012

The Comenius team had a planning week in Cyprus in September 2012. Here are a few pictures from that trip.

Kapedes Primary School.

The notice board.

Comenius posters.



   

The Comenius team.

Spring Special Week and Arts & Crafts Workshops in Finland

The spring special week was held on 23.-27.4.2012. Here are some pictures the pupils have taken of the Finnish nature waking up after the long winter.


  

 


Arts & Crafts Workshops 24.-25.4.2012

On Tuesday 24.4. and Wednesday 25.4. we had different school days in Töölö: the pupils didn't have normal lessons but participated in two creative workshops instead. The options included mosaics, textile crafts, graffiti art, filming a documentary, woodcraft, electronics, miniatures... among many others! The pupils had suggested the themes themselves and could pick two workshops in total. It was a lot of work, but everyone had an enjoyable time and the outcome was an amazing array of beautiful, creative, original art- and craftwork! Below is a sample of the work we did.

Clay work.

 

"Roskismönkijä", "Rubbish Crawler", made of recycled material.



Making mosaics.

Making a documentary.



Practising graffitis.

An Angry Bird.

The Finnish teachers and pupils have only three school days left before the start of the summer holiday. So, wish you all a warm, happy summer! Finland will be back with new themes in the autumn!

Comenius Meeting in Finland 2.-5.5.2012

On May 2nd we were glad to welcome the Comenius team members to Finland for the second official meeting of this project. Below are pictures taken during their visit. Enjoy!

Welcoming our guests in the teachers' room.

Comenius gathering in the school hall on Thursday morning.

The pupils performed traditional Finnish songs with kantele.

Team members discussing the project and Finnish school system before going to observe lessons.

Visiting the Sibelius Monument.

Part of our group by the sea near our school.

The Finnish Comenius members performed traditional Finnish folk songs in the Welcome Party.

The German pupils got Töölö Primary School t-shirts.

The print says: "Watch out! Smart pupils on the road!"

The whole group on the last evening.

We had a great time in Finland and would like to thank everyone once again for this meeting. We hope to see as many members of the team as possible in Cyprus in September!

Winter Special Week in Finland

Greetings from Finland! Now that it's April, the snow has almost melted here in Helsinki. Anyway, let's look back at the snowy views from February and the winter special week held on 6.-10.2.2012.

Weather during the Winter Special Week

Here's a weather chart compiled by class 3A. Click on the chart to get a larger view. It was a typical February week - very chilly indeed!

Views from Helsinki and Töölö Primary School in February

Pupils on our school yard.

On our way to the ice skating rink.

5th and 1st graders.

 

Typical winter sports in the country of ice-hockey world champions...

 

The king of the hill!

Greetings from our first graders!

Snow-covered fields

An afternoon view from our school yard. The sun is already setting at 4pm.

Spruce trees covered in snow

"Northern Lights" by 1st graders

Food and Recipes

Below is a traditional "shrove bun" recipe for you to try out! We serve these yummy buns on a February day called "laskiainen", when families and friends traditionally go sledge-riding or downhill skiing. This delicious treat is basically a bun cut in half with either strawberry jam or almond paste in the middle. People usually prefer either style and humorously debate over which one is "more traditional": the jam bun or the almond bun... Well, delicious all the same!

Shrove bun recipe

 

A list of traditional Finnish food

Winter Clothing and Activities

In winter it's usually fairly cold in Finland (especially in the north) and we have to wear warm winter jackets, woollen hats, scarfs and gloves or mittens. Sturdy boots that have a good grip are also essential so that we don't slip and hurt ourselves. Typical winter activities are for example skating, playing ice hockey, skiing and snowboarding. When it's too cold to play or do sports outside, we stay indoors playing computer games, chatting online with friends, reading good books, writing stories or drawing.

(Compiled from texts written by 5th graders)

How to survive the Finnish winter!

The next post from Finland is going to look much warmer and sunnier, as it will be about the spring special week in May. 'Til then!