Elwood Primary School and Peirce School

The Mascots from the USA

The Aussie Mascots

The Latest News! Our Daily Schedule 8:15 School begins 8:15-11:45 Reading - which includes Spelling, Phonics, Reading, and Writing, Math During this block we take a 15 minute snack. The order of our morning depends on what "Specialist" we have that day. Here are the Specialists that we have: Gym - twice a week Library - twice a week Music - once a week Spanish - twice a week Art - once every two weeks 11:45-12:15 Lunch and recess 12:15-2:15 Science, Social Studies or Health These depend on the day or unit in which we are working. So you see we have a 30 minute shorter day than you, but we have only a 15 minute play period during the entire day.   Dear Miss Hetherington and Boys and Girls, Good morning! We finally received your marvelous package on Friday.  It was so exciting - we felt like it was a big birthday party!!!! We absolutely LOVED everything - there were screams of delight as Ms. Jacoby took out each item and we passed them around the room. All the mascots - Olly, Syd, Millie, and Lizzie went off on Big Adventures for the weekend - Olly went to a birthday party, Syd went to New York (another US state), Millie went to a rehearsal for the Nutcracker (do you know this story and ballet?), and Lizzie went to the movies. We'll be sending details of their big adventures along soon. We all wore our kangaroo stick pins home and this week will investigate the map and decide how to best enjoy the vegemite, tea, and lamingtons. We thought the koalas were super yummy. They are already gone, but we did feel a bit guilty eating such cute little animals!! What a great surprise! Open House was lots of fun, but on Friday, after it, we were all a little tired and grouchy, but your package changed our moods! At Open House we showed our parents all the adventures of Ty and Uncle Sam and everyone loved the photo of them at the Olympic training pool! We will try to answer all your good questions in our next email. We're off for now. Thank you so very, very much for all our treasures! Your good friends in America, Ms. Jacoby and class G'day to all our good friends "down under", We're enjoying the Adventures of Ty and Uncle Sam! Some of your e-pals have responded:   Dear Jerome, I have some beanie babies myself. Their names are Rainbow, Lucy, and Canyon. Rainbow is a chameleon, Lucy is a monkey. Canyon is a mountain lion. I sleep with them. I have to go now. Bye-bye! From,Eddie Dear Nick, Happy Halloween, Nick! I saw your school on the computer. I like your school. Do you play sports? I play sports. I like Peirce School.From,Michael		Background Information Rannah Hetherington and her Grade 2 class live in Victoria, Australia. See our school web site. Hi, Ms. Hetherington, and boys and girls, We are sending you a special package on Monday. It will include: 1. A copy of Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie - a wonderful book based on the true story of Abbie Burgess and how she kept the lights on Matinicus Rock in Maine, USA burning during a terrible storm. We have just finished reading it as our class literature piece for our current theme of Heroic Deeds. We love this book, and will make replicas of the lighthouse. Do you have lighthouses? We would love to see pictures. 2. A map showing you where Matinicus Rock is located. 3. A little friend - Puffer - Abbie's family's boat was named Puffin - puffins were once plentiful, but were killed to eat and for their feathers. They also became extinct, but scientists used Matinicus Rock as a refuge and brought the numbers back. 4. Maple sugar candy - made from the sap of maple trees in the Northeast United States - There is a candy for each student and a package for Ms. Hetherington and a package for your principal. They are very sweet, but yummy. We will be on holiday from Wednesday (11/22-11/27) for our Thanksgiving. It is a family holiday and most people eat a big turkey dinner together. Do you celebrate any Thanksgiving in Australia? To help us understand the First Thanksgiving, we are putting on a play this week for other grades and our parents. We know your year is drawing to a close. We are going to miss our new Aussie friends, but we'll save our good-byes for a little while. Hope all is well, Your good friends in the US, Ms. Jacoby and the boys and girls of Frog and Toad Road Comments by the students Are you coming to Australia for the Olympics? I am not going. Yes it is fun here in Australia. I live near the beach and I like to swim so that is a lot of fun. I am looking forwards to being key-pals with you too. The Package from Australia - What is in it? Look here for more details! Hi, Miss Hetherington and class, Thank you so much, Miss Hetherington, for your directions on brewing tea. My question, though, was not about how to brew, but whether you brew tea at your Morning Tea each day. In other words, do the children drink tea each morning at school? We LOVED your photos of Ty and Uncle Sam's car and friends. They are posted on our Class Connect page at our website. We were most interested in your daily schedule, so we thought we would pass ours along to you, as well. We still await hearing who our next President will be. This could take another week or more. This is most uncommon, almost unheard of, and there is much discussion about this on the news and among people in our country. Will get our BIG Adventures off to you next week. Here's hoping you all did well on your tests! Warmest regards from your US friends, Ms. Jacoby and class Later this year the children will have a project where they have to build a castle after we study fairy tales. So our trip to the castle will help us when that project comes along. What is your favorite class fairy tale? Well, bye for now. Can't wait to receive your package! Your US friends, Ms. Jacoby and the boys and girls at Frog and Toad Road		Background Information Lanise Jacoby and her 2nd Grade class live in Arlington, MA, USA. Check out their web site - Days at Frog and Toad Road Learn more about Australia What's the weather like in Australia? We have just moved into Spring and our weather is looking fantastic for the holidays. Finally I'm sure we can say goodbye to the cold grey days of Winter. Spring is one of the nicest months in Australia. The weather is usually very nice, not too cold, not too hot. About their school We go to school in a suburb of Melbourne called Elwood. It is an old suburb with much history, as yours is. We have some very fine architecture. The beach is about a 20 minute walk from our school. But we don't usually go there during school time, unless it is a special field-trip. My favourite colour is blue. I am not going to the Opening Ceremony. But I will watch it on TV. The games are being held in a different State. I am not going to the Olympics. My favourite animal is a Puma. My favourite mascot is Lizzie. Lizzie is a frilled neck lizard. Lizzie is the mascot for the Para Olympics. My favourite sport is swimming. Sometimes it is hot and sometimes cold in Australia. It is not a big desert. We live near the beach. There are lots of parks and things like that in Australia. Is it hot where you live? Dear Ms Jacoby and children, How lovely to visit a light house. Wow! To see a real castle too, how exciting. We studied fairytales last year and had a go at building a castle in the middle area of our building. It was a lot of fun. You can see our castle if you visit our web site Go to the Junior School LTC - that's where we live.   Dear Rafael, How is school? I like Pokemon, too. How are your folks? I like Massachusetts. I have all four Harry Potter books. From,Alex Dear Harry, Sounds like you and Ty had a pretty good time. What's the weather like in Australia? In Mass. it is fall. It is getting cold and the leaves change color. It's neat having an e-pal in Australia. Please write back. Love,Ben We just had a field trip to Gloucester, Massachusetts to see and climb a lighthouse and visit a castle. You can see pictures of where we went at our website under Class News (Reflecting Pool). We will be reading a book called Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie - it is a true story of a girl in Maine (another US state) who had to keep the lights in a lighthouse burning while her father was away for a month. Our trip will help us understand what Abbie had to go through everyday. Do you know the book? I can try to get a copy of it and send it to you if you think you would like it. Dear Bart, I'm getting a scooter for Christmas. Christmas is a very special holiday. What is it like in Australia? Did you like the Sydney games? I did .From, Stephen Hi, Joshua, Can I borrow your scooter, Ty? You are the best key pal. I made a paper popper and I am getting a scooter, too. I got the bronze medal for Peirce Pride. I am going for the silver. Then I am going for the gold medal. We are getting the medals for best coloring, best printing, and best thinking. From, Jose
Find Aussie Schools		Free Email Accounts		Great Ideas to get your Class motivated
Find US Schools		Sign up your Class NOW		Contact Gigglepotz.com for more information.