Contraption Maker

In lab we have had a try at a learning activity called contraption maker. The games are directly linked to our UOI and focus on children using simple machines to perform tasks. Our first session last week proved challenging;  as children learnt to persevere and solve problems.

Now the children are starting to put their knowledge into practice. Our first groups began making their Rube Goldberg machines in class today. This required patience, teamwork and perseverance. Tomorrow they will test, record, and explain their findings.

Taking Learning Outdoors

This morning we had our math session in the shaded areas of our playground. We are learning mapping skills and have been learning about coordinates.  It was fabulous to be outdoors.

While we were there, we reflected on our school environment. Recently we walked around our school and noticed the sights, sounds, and smells. Then we wrote some wonderings about our discoveries. Today we took our ideas further, and identified an area in the school we felt could be modified in order to meet the need of our school community both now and in the future. They took a photo of the area they wanted to adapt and drew their changes on a piece of overlay paper.

Wadia - Pasta Frame

Artist Statement -Wadia

“My art is called ‘Silver imagination Pasta’. I was inspired by pictures on google of people who made art from pasta and glue. I did craft to make a picture frame. I tried to put the pasta in patterns and then sprayed it with silver paint”.

How We Express Ourselves

Last week we wrapped up our learning from this fabulous unit. Children are eager to share their inspiration boards and and completed art works with you this Thursday evening at Spotlight on the Arts. Here's a sneak preview of our fabulous creativity!

Pan De Sal Saves The Day

"I chose this book because it's connected to our unit. It has Pandu Sal likes to express herself by music and singing, In the story she sang a song for everyone in the class. When I had to read to the class I felt shy at first but then I started to feel happy, proud, and excited"

By Wadia

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'.

Geometry - 'Shape' in art

We have recently reviewed our understanding of 2d and 3d shapes and angles. The learning outcomes for this are to:

• Recognise and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angles or a given number of equal faces.
• Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.

Today we made connections between our current unit 'How We Express Ourselves' and this maths strand. We looked at how shape is used in art and how specific artists have created art in which objects and people are broken up into geometric forms.

We looked at cubism as an art form, identifying geometric form in Fernand Leger and Pablo Picasso's work. Then we used shape to create our own original designs...using our imaginations.

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'.

CSI - Ms Tatiana

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.

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?

Student Questions

As part of our unit of inquiry, students came up with their own questions for investigation. We looked at 'thick' and 'thin' questioning first, to ensure we came up with robust open ended questions, relevant to our inquiry.

As we delve deeper into what it means to be healthy, students are discovering that their is much more involved than just food and exercise. Some of their questions included;

How does sleep affect our health?
In what ways can friendships affect your health?
How can people make themselves happier?
How can you keep your brain healthy?

Explain Everything

Mr Matt spent some time in our class this week teaching us how to use the app 'Explain Everything'. This will be a fabulous tool to share our learning. We experimented with the tools today, so that we can use this app to successfully share our thinking with others.

Essential Agreement

Here is our class essential agreement. The children collaborated to come up with these ideas, then signed their hand-print, demonstrating their commitment to uphold them.

• Show respect to each other and value each other's ideas.
• Always be willing to learn and try your best.
• Take care of things and the environment
• Be kind and caring

The Shape of my Imagination

Discussions in our unit of inquiry 'Who We Are', highlighted the fact that we are all unique and have original perspectives of the world and how we think. We decided to illustrate this by drawing 'the shape of our imaginations'. They looked at how they could use designs and patterning to create an interesting and original artwork.

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.