Saturday's lessons were all about the letter Ó. The pupils listened to the legend of King Popiel and then, together with their teacher, analysed what happened in the story, where it took place and why.
The tale of Popiel and of the rise to power of the dynasty of Piast the Wheelwright (Piast Kołodziej) was recorded as early as the beginning of the 12th century by Gallus Anonymus (Gall Anonim); according to the legend, the cruel ruler was eaten by mice. Tradition links this story with Kruszwica on Lake Gopło, where the so-called Mouse Tower (Mysia Wieża) stands.
The words ‘król’ (king), ‘królowa’ (queen), ‘królewna’ (princess) and ‘królestwo’ (kingdom) appeared on the screen, and the pupils practised neatly writing capital and lower-case Ó in their exercise books. In pronunciation, ó sounds exactly the same as u, so the choice of letter is often decided by the change to o in other forms of the same word, e.g. ‘stół – stoły’ (table – tables) or ‘mróz – mrozy’ (frost – frosts).
The pupils also practised the names of the months and talked about autumn: when it begins, what changes in nature and the weather at that time, and what autumn's treasures are. In the northern hemisphere, astronomical autumn begins on the day of the autumn equinox, around 22–23 September, when day and night are almost exactly the same length.
Finally, the class played autumn games and read the first chapter of the set book ‘Karolcia’ by Maria Krüger – the story of a girl who finds a magic blue bead that grants wishes. The three hours of lessons proved exceptionally busy. More photos can be seen in the gallery.
