A Box of Bears - An Art Lesson

This week for our art lesson the students drew bears and toys. I brought in a box of bears and a few students brought in their own favourite toy to sketch. They are experinenting with different ways to draw fur. We also looked at a Steiff bear, the first company to make the teddy bear. The lesson will continue next Thursday after the Naplan testing is finished.

Barry's Visit

At the end of term one students were lucky enough to have Barry Geard to come in and talk to them about his grandfather Private Herbert Walter Chaffey who fought in World War I on the Western Front.  Barry had brought with his an original roll honour board and his grandfather's medals. He talked to the students about th e huge death toll of WWI and also showed them an excerpt from the film All Quiet on the Western Front.  Barry talked mainly about trench warfare and the conditions in the trenches. Barry focused on the heart wrenching social consequences on the home front as well.He is going to come back this second term to focus more specifically on the Gallipoli campaign. In class we will be doing a film study on the  groundbreaking Australian film Gallipoli made in 1981 with a focus on the main characters of Frank and Archie. The students really enjoyed the session and I was proud of them for the huge amount of respect they showed and for their good manners. 

Thalia from MKR visits the Class

A big thanks to Amanda who arranged for her daughter Thalia to come into the classroom to talk about her experience on My Kitchen Rules. The kids had lots of questions to ask and Thalia diplomatically addressed everyone of them. Students learnt about media bias and had a chance to talk individually to Thalia.I took a class shot and will get each student a copy. I was just excited as they were. Thalia we loved you and wish you all the best.

The Bayeux Tapestry: an ambitious art project

We have done reading on this in English and in French, thanks to our lovely student from Madagascar, as well as watched the above animation. We looked at the idea of visual narratives and this one is truly amazing. We are attempting to recreate the tapestry through pencils, water colours and mapping pens on cartridge paper. Each student will do two panels each over the next three weeks. I saw this magnificent 70 metre tapestry when I visited France some three years ago. It is the most famous tapestry in the world.

Photography wasn't permitted but we were lucky enough to see another amazing tapestry in Catle Pirou which created in more modern times but in the same style called Tapisseria de Pirou which was created by Therese Ozenne (from 1976-1992) which tells a part of this Norman history: the coming of the Vikings and Sicily's conquest.

Some students may enjoy this interactive site:
http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/interactive/BayeuxCreate.htm

Students are nearing the completion of this art experience and here a few of the finished products...more to come early term II. The Keys to Success which were promoted in this lessons were: organisation, confidence and perseverance. I am very proud of the work they are producing. It is a very high standard for students of this age. Well done everyone. It pieced together quite well and we shared it in a buddy assembly as a small narrative-driven play with a few interesting and comical actions. Who dropped the horse?  It is currently on display in our quiet room and will be available for viewing for a few weeks over the parent/teacher interview period. Lots of detail! The longer you look at it, the more you see.

Handwriting

This year handwriting will be a major throughline of literacy. The aim is to increase each student's fluency (speed) and legibility. The development of an individual style and flourished capitals will also be a focus later in the program. The initial and primary focus will be on correct letter formation, directionality (orientation) and uniform slope. Each student has received a ten to fifteen minute individualised assessment and instructional session with me to pinpoint their needs and their focii fo the term. The sheet below contains twenty-six basic lessons which students will be working through at their own speed. Each student has been given a handwriting book to work in.