“Art is something that makes you happy and shows how you feel. You should keep the art you make. I chose to make puppets because I like to perform and make shows. I was inspired by the Sovanna Phum puppet group that came to school. My puppets are Minions because they are funny and I thought they would make a funny show. My puppet show will be called ‘Dispicable Story”.
We have been reviewing our understanding of time during the past week. The learning focus has been on understanding and reading analogue and digital clocks, and the calendar. We are practicing reading time to 5 minute intervals.
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:
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'.
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!
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'.
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.
To conclude our unit of inquiry, we had our shared 'healthy snack morning' on Friday. Children had planned and prepared their snack and confidently explained to the class why it was a healthy choice. Even the 'not so healthy' snacks, were presented by the children as 'occasional' foods. They explained how you need to be eaten in moderation along with a balanced diet.
Then we got a chance to tuck in!
The classroom still smells like sweetcorn!
Children throughout this unit have been 'taking action' to lead to healthier life choices. During Friday's team time, children shared some of the small steps they have taken. These included:
Going to bed earlier to ensure they have enough sleep and are well rested for the following day.
Choosing a more 'colourful' plate at the cafeteria each lunchtime.
Trying to drink more water, in order for feel less sluggish and improve concentration.
Washing their hands more regularly (and more thoroughly).
Practicing ways to calm down when they are upset or frustrated (listening to the Mind Master - Not the head Hassler).
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.
We love our swimming sessions every Tuesday afternoon. We apologise if we are sometimes a little slow to get changed! If we don't turn up on time to our usual pick up location, you may like to meet us by the pool gate.
Ms Tatiana has been spending time in the grade two classrooms. She has been helping learners fine-tune their understanding of concepts relating to out unit, through the use of the visible thinking tool 'Colour / Symbol / Image'.
Today they worked in small groups around our units themes and related concepts of balance, choice, responsibility, lifestyle, and health.
It was wonderful to hear the student's share their paper plate profiles this week. They were all so unique! These colourful discs identified their cultural influences, interests, and told us a little about their family. Well done everyone...they have certainly brightened up our classroom and have given us an insight into each others lives.
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.
The central idea in our unit of inquiry is 'Learning about balanced lifestyles helps us understand how the choices we make can affect our health.'
Last week, we formed opinions around provoking statements, selected to encourage our thinking about this. First we did this as a class...placing ourselves on a continuum from 'Strongly agree, to Strongly Disagree', and giving reasons for our choices. Then we moved around the class and placed our initials on each of the statements, showing whether we agreed of disagreed with them. There was some fantastic discussion!
In a PYP school, every class, every team, even the whole school has an essential agreementwhich 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!
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.
Learning together, growing together, each making a difference.
The vision statement above was created a couple of years ago with ISPP students. It reflects the school's philosophy and is an important guiding statement for all faculty and students. Today we unpacked this vision statement as a class, and asked students what this vision 'looks like' in action. The children had to draw a picture that demonstrated one or more aspect of the vision and explain their thinking. I was really impressed with their creativity and explanations.
![Guignol [Credit: Brücke-Osteuropa]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vh-klHnReiM9721-RoVAsUWtIk4MNa8q61mHxDe98bz8bY4zrdQFuVOiXxKzWCQ8FYFiPrG7rR_IuN0eNci-f9ZSygyLMP9MNjWDWGwgiXrZCQG8sxZH_nzi5_m7xqcaYhb6VMmgZK=s0-d)
