The International Day of the Book

April twenty-third (the festival is on the nearest Sunday) is a symbolic day in world literature. Declared as International Day of the Book by UNESCO in 1995, this celebration of books and literature draws its inspiration from a Catalan tradition, the Festival of the Rose.



Legend has it that Saint George, Patron Saint of Catalonia (Spain) and international knight-errant, slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful Catalan princess. From the dragon's blood sprouted a rosebush, from which the hero plucked the prettiest rose for the princess. Hence the traditional Rose Festival celebrated in Barcelona since the Middle Ages to honor chivalry and love. In 1923, this lover's "festa" became even more poetic when it merged with "el dia del llibre", or The Day of the Book, to mark the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, the two giants of literary history, on April 23, 1616.

Happy Easter !

EASTER

                              The Story of Easter


Easter is a time of springtime festivals. In Christian countries Easter is celebrated as the religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God. But the celebrations of Easter have many customs and legends that are pagan in origin and have nothing to do with Christianity.

Scholars, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe the name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian "Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre," both Goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox.

Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally The Christian celebration of Easter embodies a number of converging traditions with emphasis on the relation of Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach, from which is derived Pasch, another name used by Europeans for Easter. Passover is an important feast in the Jewish calendar which is celebrated for 8 days and commemorates the flight and freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

The early Christians, many of whom were of Jewish origin, were brought up in the Hebrew tradition and regarded Easter as a new feature of the Passover festival, a commemoration of the advent of the Messiah as foretold by the prophets.

Easter is observed by the churches of the West on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox (March 21). So Easter became a "movable" feast which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.

Christian churches in the East which were closer to the birthplace of the new religion and in which old traditions were strong, observe Easter according to the date of the Passover festival.
Easter is at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a forty-six-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. The Lenten season itself comprises forty days, as the six Sundays in Lent are not actually a part of Lent. Sundays are considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday and have always been excluded from the Lenten fast. The Lenten season is a period of penitence in preparation for the highest festival of the church year, Easter.

Holy Week, the last week of Lent, begins with the observance of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the Crucifixion. Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crucifixion, the day that Christ was crucified and died on the cross.

Holy week and the Lenten season end with Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Colour your easter eggs - have fun!

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF POETRY

     

 http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/

The Trees  by Philip Larkin             

                       
The trees are coming into leaf

Like something almost being said;

The recent buds relax and spread,

Their greenness is a kind of grief.

                                                                                                 
Is it that they are born again                                                                   

And we grow old? No, they die too,                                                                           

Their yearly trick of looking new

Is written down in rings of grain.


Yet still the unresting castles thresh

In fullgrown thickness every May.

Last year is dead, they seem to say,

Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

British Black Humor

Have a laugh!

Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day

International Women's Day

                   A Cyber Day in a Woman's Life!

          

http://www.maxine.com/

English Dictionary On Line

PROFESSORES . . . ELOGIO LEGÍTIMO!!!!

Elogio, inocente, aos professores....

Viva a honestidade e a inocência. Os miúdos ainda são o que há de melhor!...

Vejam como tudo é tão subjectivo em educação, muitos outros,
a maioria (?) ficaria ofendida.

Aconteceu na Escola Básica Integrada de Rabo de Peixe (Ilha de S.Miguel - Açores), desconhecendo-se qual a nota atribuída ao referido aluno.

A professora pediu aos alunos para fazerem uma composição sobre a escola.

Um deles escreveu:

'A minha escola é pequena, mas muito bem arranjada. A minha escola é
como se fosse um jardim.
Nós, os alunos, somos as flores e a senhora professora é como se fosse
um monte de estrume que nos faz crescer belos e fortes.'

FATHER'S DAY

Father's Day Cards

       Sailboat Card for Father's Day        

Poem to write on the bottom of the boat:

"I'd sail the seven seas for you, Daddy!"
or
"I'd sail the seven seas for you, Grandpa!"


You can glue this to the front of a construction paper card or as a "gift tag" on a wrapped present. The bottom of the boat unfolds to reveal a hidden message

INSTRUCTIONS:
Have the child trace a small plate (dessert plate) on a piece of construction paper.
Cut out the circle (adult assistance may be required).
Fold the circle in half.
A message can be written inside.
On the outside, write, "I'd sail the seven seas for you, Daddy!"
Have the child cut a long strip of black construction paper (or use a popsicle stick) for the mast.


Make the sails one of two ways:
Make a two fingerpaint handprints on contrasting colored construction paper. Cut out a rough triangle shape around the handprints
OR
Trace two hands onto a piece of construction paper. Cut out and glue to a contrasting triangle of construction paper.
 
DLTK's Holiday Activities for Kids

Father's Day activities

                  Father's Day Paperweight

Every dad needs a paperweight on their desk...right!

Here are a couple of simple designs that we made. Feel free to get creative with a design of your own.

The first step is to find a suitable rock. We had some smooth, flat, decorative rocks that we used for our project but you could head outdoors to find the perfect stone for your project.

Be sure to cover the kids in some old clothes too because the acrylic paint does not wash out. Give yourself some time to paint and decorate the rock. It took two or three coats for our rocks which is not too bad since the paint only takes a few minutes to dry.

Materials:

rock

acrylic paints                                                                              
fine black marker
paint brush
OPTIONAL: glitter glue, wiggly eyes...

Directions:
Paint the rock as you like. Be creative. It may take a couple of coats to cover the rock but acrylic paint dries pretty fast so it should not be a problem.

Once the paint is dry you can decorate further with glitter glue, wiggly eyes of whatever you can dream up.
Print the words on the rock with a fine black marker.
 
 
DLTK's Holiday Activities for Kids

Father's Day Poem

The Perfect Dinner Table

by Edgar A. Guest

A tablecloth that's slightly soiled           
Where greasy little hands have toiled;
The napkins kept in silver rings,
And only ordinary things
From which to eat, a simple fare,
And just the wife and kiddies there,
And while I serve, the clatter glad
Of little girl and little lad
Who have so very much to say
About the happenings of the day.


Four big round eyes that dance with glee,
Forever flashing joys at me,
Two little tongues that race and run
To tell of troubles and of fun;
The mother with a patient smile
Who knows that she must wait awhile
Before she'll get a chance to say
What she's discovered through the day.
She steps aside for girl and lad
Who have so much to tell their dad.


Our manners may not be the best;
Perhaps our elbows often rest
Upon the table, and at times
That very worst of dinner crimes,
That very shameful act and rude
Of speaking ere you've downed your food,
Too frequently, I fear, is done,
So fast the little voices run.
Yet why should table manners stay
Those tongues that have so much to say?


At many a table I have been
Where wealth and luxury were seen,
And I have dined in halls of pride
Where all the guests were dignified;
But when it comes to pleasure rare
The perfect dinner table's where
No stranger's face is ever known:
The dinner hour we spend alone,
When little girl and little lad
Run riot telling things to dad.

DLTK's Holiday Activities

English The New Disease