Cathal - Scratch Junior

Artist Statement - Cathal

“I decided to make a movie. I used characters that I cut out from the internet, and gave them interesting names. I used the ipad and an app called Explain Everything to make the movie. It is about two beasts who wanted to destroy the city, but a beast buster shows up and destroys them. I was inspired by great films in the cinema like goosebumps and the peanuts movie”.

Vanishing Cream

"I chose this book because I like magic and it is a magic key book. They are one of my favourite types of class books. The author is good at expressing themselves and the pictures help you understand the story. "

By Cathal

Unit Vocabulary

Today with Ms Tatiana, we reviewed some of our unit vocabulary. Understanding the language we are using will help children make more sense of what we are studying. We looked at pictures and tried to come up with our own synonyms to explain what they mean. Then we carefully matched the words and their definitions.

Puppetry

Today the form of art we looked at was Puppetry.

Puppetry is... the making and manipulation of puppets for use in some kind of theatrical show. A puppet is a figure—human, animal, or abstract in form—that is moved by human, and not mechanical, aid.



We had visiting performers come from the Sovanna Phum Art Association. They presented a one and a half hour show in the Black Box Theatre. It was a combination of small puppetry, storytelling, dance and traditional music. Wow! What a show! The children were really engaged by this traditional Khymer art form.

I have uploaded 3 short clips from todays performance. As part of your homework choose which is your favourite and explain why. What story do you think was being told? What art forms were being used?
                                                                           Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

Not a Box

On Friday we had the early years team visit us to look at our 'not a box' creations. It was wonderful to see the younger children interact with us, asking questions and studying our own creations. What innovative learners we have in grade two! The related concept to out unit of inquiry was 'imagination'.

How We Express Ourselves

Today we began a class rotation designed to unpack the central idea of our unit of inquiry. The central idea for this UOI is :

'How personal perspective influences how we create art'

Children engaged in several tasks. Some looked at the central idea, discussing what the vocabulary actually meant. Then they wrote their own central idea - putting what they thought it meant into their own words. Here are some of their attempts:

'All of us have different personalities and perspectives and that changes how we make art '- Lucas

'We all feel different when we see different things' -Sounavann

'The way that we think affects the way that we make and view art' - Samir

'How we make art makes us feel different ways' - Boramey

'Some people view things in different ways and how we feel isn't always the same so how we make art is different' - Hana

'We all have different ideas, and people are different, so our art will be different' - Sothearath

'How you make art shows how you feel about something' - Ngy Meng

'People are different, so their art is different' - Erika

In other rotations, learners engaged in art activities designed to spark their creativity and imagination. Here are children working on their 'Not a Box' creations motivated by the book by Antoinette Portis. They had drawn up plans as part of a home learning activity, and today some of them began bringing their drawings to life.

We also had a group looking at creating their own piece of original art using nothing but strips of paper and glue. Children were encouraged to reflect on their work through our key concepts.

What is it like? (Form)

Why is it like it is? (Causation)

What are the points of view (Perspective)

The imagination of children never ceases to amaze me. They wove, curled, folded, and cut the paper into unique and original pieces. They are learning to explain why they chose to create it how they did.

This stunning example by Sophia M, became the topic of hot conversation! Children all viewed it with completely different perspectives - linking us directly back to our central idea!

Sophia explained that her design represented 'friendship'. When others looked at it...these are the thoughts it evoked:

'It reminds me of a trampoline'

'I think it is a bunch of flowers'

'I think she was making a rocket ship'

'I think it's like a volcano'

'Maybe the artist was making it look like a jellyfish'

'I don't know what it is...but when I look at it, it reminds me of my grandmother as she loved sculpture'

Wow! Perhaps 'personal perspective influences the way we create art' after all. It clearly influences the way we view it!

Scratch Jnr

Today Mr Matt came and worked with us on an app called 'Scratch Junior'. This is a very early introduction to computer programming. It will be a useful tool when we come to present our narrative writing, as it allows us to present our information in a new and imaginative way. Today we experimented with the tools on this app and then worked collaboratively with a partner to programme our own imaginative scene. This week we may use it to further explain our thinking of one of our unit vocabulary words 'perspective'.

Loving Library!

On our Wednesday library session, we began looking for examples of our new UOI- 'How We Express Ourselves' in the books that we are reading. Wadia shared a great picture book she found about a photographer and an artist...and their different perspectives. It is wonderful to see the students beginning to 'make connections' so early in this unit.

Wet Recess

It doesn't happen often...but on the odd occasion we get rain at break times. Last week it poured down right on bell time and today the sky darkened so much we thought there'd been an eclipse! Then it bucketed down. Here are some pictures of what the class gets up to during wet recess.

Guided Reading Rotation

In reading, we participate in a variety of tasks to build our reading fluency and comprehension. Tasks vary depending on our needs, our current unit of inquiry, and the specific skills we need to acquire.
These pictures were taken during today's reading session.


Collage 1: Guided reading sessions with a focus on building comprehension and being able to make meaning form the story.

Collage 2: Using online tools (in this case Raz kids) to listen to, read, and engage in questions about the story.

 Collage 3: Building vocabulary. Here children are using the magnetic letters to create word lists related to our unit of inquiry.

Collage 4: In these pictures, learners are investigating their own unit of inquiry questions...seeking answers using unit books, and online websites and videos.

Practising 'Calm'

Part of our UOI has focussed on ways to keep our body healthy, but we have also been looking at factors that contribute to our mental wellbeing. Children are identifying ways in which they relax, and activities that lead to their own positive feelings. This week we spent time talking about ways that we relax, and listened to some meditative music to wind down after a busy day. Luckily nobody fell asleep!

Emotions - Colour Symbol Image

We have been introducing a visible thinking routine called Colour / Symbol / Image into our unit of inquiry. Last week we explored how colour can evoke mood, and have been having plenty of discussions about feelings and how to stay calm. Today they had their first attempt at a Colour / Symbol /Image around an emotion of their choice. 

The short film below is called "Just Breathe" by Julie Bayer Salzman & Josh Salzman  of Wavecrest Films.
It demonstrates a group of children discussing how they feel when they are angry, and how they can calm down. We will be discussing this and other 'calming' techniques during the week.

Guest Speaker / Eating Rainbows

Today we had Nurse Alison come and talk with the class about being healthy. She talked about the 5 essential elements to keep our body healthy. Who can remember what they were and post their answer as a comment?

At lunchtime, Mrs Karyn went around with her camera and tried to see who was 'eating rainbows'. We wanted to see if children were eating a balanced lunch with a lot of different coloured foods.

Why Do You Come to School?

Mind Maps

We have been creating individual mind maps on 'What makes us Healthy'. We will review these at the end of our unit to see how much our thinking has changed.

Essential Aggreements

In a PYP school, every class, every team, even the whole school has an essential agreement which sets the tone for collaboration and teamwork. This is to ensure we all understand the shared expectations. On Friday, we began creating our class essential agreement. First, we needed to know what the words 'essential' and 'agreement' actually meant. Then the students brainstormed what 'helps them learn' and what 'hinders their learning'. Their ideas were fabulous and really demonstrated their understanding of how social, emotional, and physical factors can impact the way in which they learn. We will look at the common elements of these ideas on Monday, and come to our final agreement...watch this space!

Friday Photos

It was wonderful to see the children out and about at break times, enjoying the playground and facilities. 

We finished our name tags to label our cubby holes. 

 We enjoyed our free lunch by Epicure at the cafeteria. These free sample lunches will also be available on Monday and Tuesday. From Wednesday, children who have not signed up for the epicure lunches will need to bring their lunch from home, or have it delivered to the baskets at school by 11.30. Children still need a healthy snack for recess.