Civil War presentation

Graycen asked question after question after Jim Otis made a Civil War presentation to Grades 5 and 6.  “This is just so awesome!” Graycen said.

Jim, a Civil War expert and whose great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, brought many artifacts to share with the class from the 1800’s.

“I can’t believe this is real!” Alev said as she looked at a bible that had a bullet hole in it.  Jim’s great-grandfather, John J. Railey, was a sharpshooter from New Hampshire.  In the Battle of Antietam, he was shot in the back.  Thankfully, his bible took the bullet and saved his life.  Private Railey continued to fight in many battles during the Civil War, including the Battle of Gettysburg.

Jim shared many artifacts from the 1800’s including pictures, letters, and the lifesaving bible. 

In 6th Grade English class, students have been studying the Civil War.  They have been learning about key events and battles from the war, reading the novel Bull Run, and are also researching an important figure from this war.  Students will then write a biography and make class presentations.

5th grade students have already asked if they could write a paper on John J. Railey next year!

Music and Art from Down Under

This past week, the students were introduced to the music of Australia. Joëlle brought a didgeridoo to school and showed short videos on traditional music of Indigenous Australian peoples.

We also learned a fun song called the “Native Animal Song” by Mereki. The 5th and 6th grade class even learned to play it on the Ukulele, much to the pleasure of our preschoolers!

In art, Dasha created traditional Aboriginal art using acrylic paints and wooden sticks. We learned the meanings of several symbols used in aboriginal dot paintings. 

We also created an Aboriginal Dreamtime art mosaics using Orb Factory Magnetic Dreaming kits.

Please, come check out our work on display in the hallways or visit our on-line museum at http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=944982

Accordion book

In English class, 2nd Grade students have been researching an animal of their choice.  Students then used their research to create an accordion book.  This week, 2nd Grade students shared their non-fiction animal books with the preschool class. Do you have any questions about Penguins, Sea Turtles, Spiders, Hamsters, Pandas, Lizards, Tigers, Wolves, or Kaolas? Ask our 2nd Grade Animal Experts!

 

La Semaine de la Francophonie

Beth and Willy attended a fundraiser for Maine French Language Heritage Program at the Club Calumet in Augusta during "la Semaine de la Francophonie"- Francophone Week, which is celebrated each year all over the world.

In this photo: from left to right Emmanuelle Marchand: Cultural Attaché at the French Consulate in Boston; Karen Foust: teacher for the Maine French Language Heritage Program, Willy and Beth LeBihan: Founders of L'Ecole Française du Maine: Fabien Fieschi: Consul General of France; Benoit Le Devedec general manager of French Heritage Language Programs in North America.

La Maison du Vieux Léon: Video clips from the children's opera performance at the Franco Center in Lewiston

In case you missed the performance, or if you were there and would like to review it, we are happy to share a few video clips with you.


The School put on a wonderful show for the parents, grandparents, friends and community members. What a delight to see it all come together after so much preparation and anticipation.
Bravo à tous !

Vieux Leon Children's Opera: March 12, 2015 at the Franco Center in Lewiston

The Opera! The opera was a component of the 2015 "Francophonie" celebrations of French language and culture, which are organized annually by the consulates of France and Canada. Planning began in 2013 with a 3-day workshop, led by Nicholas Saddier, Music Curriculum Coordinator for the city of Paris. Starting in January, 2014, students worked on choral singing techniques, theatre skills, stage blocking and dance choreography, guided by Elodie Le Nezet, Joëlle Morris and Céline Fournier. This past fall, EFDM invited Emmanuelle Varo, Pedagogical Coordinator of MLF, to lead a training session for the teaching staff in preparation of the opera production. Finally starting in January, 2015, creation of of costumes and set began along with student rehearsals.   The final product was a wonderful performance, which the entire student body participated in, older students playing more significant roles, but younger students fully participating and adding to the magic. Thank you to our staff and partners who made this production happen!

Fish Presentation: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife / State of Maine

On Wednesday 03/21/15 the children enjoyed an interactive presentation featuring live brook trout and brown trout, along with some rainbow trout eggs/sac fry (juvenile fish that have just hatched), which were displayed in the school hallway in several tanks. The fish were brought in by Greg Bell (parent of Jeffrey in preschool) who is a fish culture supervisor at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Students learned all about fish anatomy and their life cycle and were even able to handle the fish. 

The students loved this activity. Merci, Greg !

Swinging in snow

The snow was so deep under the swing set that our little feet had to hollow out trenches so the swinging could continue! We love when the big kids give us pushes during aftercare!!!

And when feet tucker out, we can always pick up a shovel!