Touch

One of the last songs we learned this year helped my 7-year-olds learn and later revise the parts of the head. They loved the movements, touching their eyes, ears, nose, mouth and hair, and the fun 'woo' sound.

Hop, hop, hop

One of the first songs my Class 1 pupils learn is a fun one that gets them moving and smiling. They hop, jump, count to five, and play the air guitar. It's a great way to take a break, recharge, and get ready for the next activity.

Poetry Contest

 This spring, I've challenged my Class 5 pupils to write a poem and express their creativity. Three girls accepted the challenge, but only two completed their poems during our lesson, so I sent both to the poetry contest organised by Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Primary School in Novi Kneževac.

I'm thrilled that Hristina's poem won first prize in the contest! She's received some amazing prizes, and we're all proud of her.

Likes

Class 1 pupils had a creative day! One group made their favourite animals from playdough—bears, ducks, frogs, monkeys, pandas, snakes and others. Another group shaped their favourite foods—apples, ice cream, carrots, plums, tomatoes, watermelons, and others.

Then, they turned their creations into fun singing dialogues:

Several pupils later performed their version of the Chicken Banana song:

Our Animals

Inspired by the Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? book, a group of my Class 1 pupils used colourful playdough to make their favourite animals. 

In just a few moments, they shaped bears, ducks, dogs, penguins, sheep, fish, foxes, butterflies, and other animals. 

When they finished, they proudly introduced their animals in a song:

Sustainable Schools

 In our latest lesson on sustainability, Class 7 pupils explored what makes a sustainable school.

As Eco Agents and Eco Avengers, some joined forum discussions exchanging ideas on how schools can become more eco-friendly:

• In schools we can use drainage to collect rain water for plants because that water is better for plants than tap water.
• In schools, students and teachers use paper and a lot of it goes to trash. We can renew old paper and use it many times.
• The teachers can organise the class where students will learn how they can contribute the eco schools and the sustainable future of the schools.
• The technologies will be eco and use electricity. There will be solar panels which collect energy for all electricity in school for better future.
• For every tree cut down, we should plant a new one. We should replace normal trash bins with recycling ones. We should encourage others to recycle and care for plants.
• I think the perfect green school would be if pupils followed a few rules.

Number one: instead of throwing away the paper bags from their lunches they would recycle them.
Number two: pupils would receive a back-to-school kit from recycled bottles, plastic bags etc.
Pupils and Teachers would certainly not be turning on the lights when its daytime, when the sun sets, they can turn on their power-saving LED lights.
In every classroom will be open windows for natural sunlight and a plant for more oxygen.

and how we can set composting stations in our school gardens: 

• We can find a place in the shadow and put some compost bins there. Then, we can put our leftovers and orange and banana peels in the bins. 
• Younger children have lunch at school, so we can ask the woman who works in the kitchen to put stale bread or leftovers in the bins too and help us make compost for our school garden. 

They also shared their ideas of small actions to help the environment:

• First step to help the environment is when we cut trees, for each tree we cut down we plant a new one. Also, every school should add a recycling bin instead of normal bins and encourage students to throw their trash into those bins. These changes could help increase the number of trees and there will be less trash on the ground in school yards. I think politicians should start encouraging ppl to start throwing their trash into recycling bins. These small changes could really help the environment and clean up school yards.
• I personally think that if we stopped cutting trees and instead planted more would help the environment. At home I could turn the lights off when not needed, close the tap water when I'm not using it, so I can save water. A new habit I could start today is to start a charity work, many people would gather up and clean the streets, lakes, rivers, cleaning the whole city and planting plants like trees, flowers etc. I would personally call it the Plantvengers.

Others imagined themselves in a sustainable school, described classrooms and wrote diary entries describing a day in such an eco-friendly environment. They also designed accompanying images using AI.

Hopefully, these activities, inspired by our Sustainable Future: Our Actions, Our Impact eTwinning project, helped pupils think critically about their role in creating a better, greener tomorrow.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

 My Class 1 pupils have recently enjoyed the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

We started our lesson with a fun guessing game about food. Then, I asked them if they had ever seen a caterpillar - Was it big or small? What colour was it? What superpower has it got? 

Next, I asked them to draw a big, happy caterpillar in the middle of their page. We started watching and listening to the animated story. Whenever the pupils spotted the food the caterpillar ate, they drew it in their notebooks. Soon, their pages were filled with colourful fruit and treats, and they weren't able to hide their surprise at how much food that tiny creature could eat!

Helena, I1

Aron, I1

Mirna, I1

Ivan, I1

Iskra, I1

Tea, I1

They all wowed when the caterpillar transformed into a beautiful butterfly. Inspired by that moment, they created their own butterflies. They were proud to present their work to their classmates.

As a follow-up, I asked them to explain the caterpillar's journey and name the food they had drawn. We finished the lesson with the well-known Do you like bananas? song but mentioning the food the caterpillar ate.

HIPPO 2025 National Finals

 This year's National Finals for pupils from local schools were held at Đura Jakšić Primary School on 11 April. Just like last year, the contestants did their exams online.

Both my pupils did their best on the more challenging tests and, once again, made it to the orange list. 

Hippo 1: Nina Stijelja, V2 (Reading: 37/40, Writing 24/37.5 - compared to the first on the list),

Hippo 3: Nikola Tomić, VII2 (Reading: 33/34, Writing: 24/40.5 - compared to the first on the list).

SDG 15

 In our lessons about extinct and endangered animals, we usually discuss those living in other countries. This time, I asked my Class 7 pupils to turn their focus closer to home. 

Working in teams, pupils researched and designed infographics and posters showcasing Serbia's endangered animals, including the griffon vulture, brown bear, and otter. 

Some enjoyed working on our collaborative acrostic poem. They added three lines (Earth is our home, let's keep it clean! Inspire each other, every day; Create a world where every new day looks bright), created accompanying images using Canva, and recorded their messages using Chatterpix Kids. 

Later, we used AIMusicGen.AI to transform the acrostic lyrics into a catchy pop tune.

Finally, as members of an international team, they imagined themselves as animals facing various challenges and expressed their feelings. They also suggested solutions to solve certain problems. You can find their ideas in the collaborative e-book Saving Our Earth: Problems and Solutions.

saving our Earth e-book

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

read.bookcreator.com

These engaging activities were inspired by our Sustainable Future: Our Actions, Our Impact eTwinning project.

Amazing Creatures

 Talking about animals is always fun for my pupils. Each year, I try to introduce fresh activities to keep them engaged and help them learn and use new words.

As a warm-up, I asked the pupils to look at the poster on the board and guess which animal I was describing. We recalled our last year's lessons, where they worked in groups to create animal habitats. We mentioned where different animals live and what they eat.

Next, two volunteers read a short text from our book about turtles. We discussed their size, colour, habitat, and what makes them special.

Then, I drew a large mind map on the board and asked the pupils to do the same in their notebooks. We brainstormed what to include in their writing, and agreed on: name, size, colour, habitat, food, abilities, and fun fact. To support weaker pupils, I wrote sentence starters as well: My favourite wild animal is ... . It lives in ... . It can ... . One interesting fact about it is ... . The pupils used the information from their mind maps to write a short paragraph about their favourite wild animal. 

To wrap-up, a few volunteers read their paragraphs and received feedback. 

In the next lesson, pupils designed infographics showcasing their favourite wild animals, using the information from their mind maps.

Fish Song

 To pracise using 'was' and 'were' while revising colours, my Class 4 pupils learned a lively song about fish which appear in some unusual places. This catchy tune made grammar learning enjoyable, and the pupils loved singing it.

There was a blue fish in the pool,
Mum was scared, but I was cool.
There were green fish in my bed,
There was one on my mum's head.

Fish, fish, everywhere,
On the sofa, on the chair.
Quick, quick, Sue and Frank,
Get the fish back in the tank!

There was a pink fish on the mat,
It was really big and fat.
There were red fish on the floor,
Five or six, or maybe more.

Fish, fish, everywhere, ...

Easter 2025

With Easter round the corner, my Class 4 pupils got very busy making creative cards which we later sent to our friends in Lithuania, Spain, Taiwan and the USA.

SDGs 6 & 14

 My Class 7 pupils got very inspired by the topics of clean water and its importance, as well as the animals living in the water. 

While one group focused on different aspects of the water cycle, others suggested tips for saving water, shared slogans discouraging water waste and designed posters with slogans shared by other partners. 

Later, I asked my pupils to imagine themselves as animals living in the water, so they explored their lives and explained their choices to their international friends in a joint presentation. 

Some wrote poems about the sea and the ocean and left comments on the Underwater Poetry Wall.

The activities were suggested by the partners of our Sustainable Future: Our Actions, Our Impact eTwinning project.

The Little Red Hen

 My Class 1 pupils have lately enjoyed the story The Little Red Hen. It turned out that only few of them had heard it before.

We started the lesson by meeting the characters of the story. Then, we watched the parts of the animated story, and, after each part, we discussed what they saw and what they thought would happen next.

After watching the last part, I asked them about the message of the story, and they agreed that it is important to help others and work together.

We also listened to accompanying songs, including the one about the hen finding another seed the following year.

As a follow-up, I asked the pupils to illustrate their favourite scenes. They did it while listening and humming along to the songs. Then, they proudly presented their colourful drawings to their classmates.

Dunja, I1

Iskra, I1

HIPPO 2025 Preliminary

 Here are the results of this year's Contest which took place on 10 March in Đura Jakšić Primary School:

HIPPO 1:
Nina Stijelja V2 (Reading: 29/30, Use of English: 24/30 = 53/60 points), national finalist,
Mila Petrović V1 (Reading: 29/30, Use of English: 22.5/30 = 51.5/60 points),
Anastasija Đomparin V3 (Reading: 28/30, Use of English: 22.5/30 = 50.5/60 points),
Marija Đurin (Reading: 29/30, Use of English: 21/30 = 50/60 points),
Anđela Mijandžić (Reading: 29/30, Use of English: 10.5/30 = 39.5/60 points)

HIPPO 3:
Nikola Tomić VII2 (Reading: 33/34, Use of English: 25.5/30 = 58.5/64 points), national finalist,
Nataša Đurin VII2 (Reading: 33/34, Use of English: 19.5/30 = 52.5/64 points),
Luka Baba VII2 (Reading: 33/34, Use of English: 18/30 = 51/64 points).

eSafety

Due to the suspension of lessons, we weren't able to mark this year's Safer Internet Day with our international friends as planned. However, we managed to catch up with them soon after.

My Class 4 pupils took part in an activity which focused on eSafety problems. Our partners from Lithuania and Taiwan shared their problems, and we tried to give them advice. 

 

My Class 7 pupils collaborated on an online dictionary. Each school selected a letter and, with the help of AI, listed eSafety-related words and wrote their definitions. Another school chose one of the words and created an image using AI. 

Read this book made on StoryJumper

SDG 5

 Gender equality was the next topic for our Sustainable Future: Our Actions, Our Impact eTwinning project. 

As part of my Class 7 research, we brainstormed different jobs and looked at how many women and men do them. In our school, for example, there are more female teachers than male. The situation is more or less the same in other schools, but also in health care, shops, banks and other services. However, there are still more male employees in agriculture, industry and construction.

We also talked about famous Serbian women and why their work is important. In teams, the pupils created infographics and posters introducing these successful women.

Later, the pupils thought carefully what to include in their prompts and used Canva's AI to create images of boy and girl characters for our collaborative books. They voted for the best designs and added paragraphs to complete the books: Leo's Family Team: A Chore Adventure and Breaking Barriers: Lily's Journey in STEM.

HIPPO 2025

 Two groups of my pupils took part in this year's preliminary round of the Contest organised on 10 March in Đura Jakšić Primary School.

Most pupils found the tests easy, especially the reading part, though some felt the use of English was too challenging. 

This year, the application process and the Contest were organised under unusual circumstances, with fewer pupils participating than before. A lot of schools in our country, including ours, have suspended classes since 20 January due to widespread protests and teacher strikes. A few of my pupils who felt prepared, followed my advice and applied individually.

New Year Wishes for 2025

 We've received creative cards with warm wishes from our friends, pupils and their teachers Vita from Lithuania, Heng-Ting from Taiwan, Alison and Araceli from Spain, Mioara from Romania, Elçin from Türkiye and Janina from the USA, which made our days before and after the winter break fantastic.