Mrs Onion (Pani Cebula) and her vegetable friends were the stars of a Saturday lesson in which the pupils learnt a new sound and letter – C.
The lesson began with a short poem about Mrs Onion, who went to a concert and got stuck in the cloakroom – all because of her ‘row of little coats’. Together, the children ‘undressed’ Mrs Onion, taking off one ‘little coat’ after another, and so came to understand what it means to have layers and to dress ‘na cebulkę’ (‘onion-style’). The expression means putting on several layers of clothing that can be taken off when needed – a very practical habit in changeable British weather.
Next, the class watched an animation of Jan Brzechwa's poem ‘Na straganie’ (At the Market Stall). The poem, in which vegetables have a comical squabble on a market stall, is one of the best-known works by the author of ‘Akademia pana Kleksa’ (Mr Blot's Academy). The pupils sorted vegetables and fruit and learnt the names of the vegetables that appear in the poem. They raced through the worksheets and interactive games with the new letter. In Polish, the single letter ‘c’ stands for the sound heard at the beginning of the word ‘cebula’ (onion), whereas in English the same letter sounds like the ‘k’ in ‘cat’ or the ‘s’ in ‘city’ – an important difference for bilingual children.
At the end of the day, the class Onion Gang (Gang Cebulaków) was born. The pupils decorated onions, creating inventive little creatures with googly eyes and woolly hairstyles. Each creature was given a name, and then everyone played with them together. More photos from the vegetable lesson can be seen in the gallery.
