Primary Specialists
Prep Art
The past two weeks in Prep Art have been fantastic! As part of the Prep team's fourth unit of inquiry around 'Understanding the needs and wants of living things,' and in celebration of 100 days of school, our students begun learning about Pop Art. They discussed living and non-living things and explored how lines, shapes, and colours feature in Pop Art. The students enjoyed analysing these elements and incorporating them into their own cupcake Pop Art creations. They also learned about the Pop Art artist Romero Britto and were inspired by his work to create their own vibrant Pop Art dogs.
Physical Education
Dear Students and Families,
Students from P-2 have continued to improve on the fundamental motor skill (FMS) two-handed strike. With an emphasis on their technique, students have been working towards following the success criteria, breaking down each part of the skill. The students have shown confidence and growth since the start of the Term and will now will be moving on and learning one-handed strike.
Students from 3-6 have also continued to consolidate the fundamental motor skill two-handed strike. The students were provided with the opportunity to work in small groups participating in a game situation. They were also practicing fielding by working as a team to throw and catch the ball to stop the bats person from getting a homerun. During the game, students were reminded on the importance of following rules, displaying resilience and communicating with their peers to encourage and provide constructive feedback.
Here are some photos of our Grade 6 students!
1 - 6 Visual Art
We are excited to share the incredible creativity and hard work of our students across all year levels. Each class has been engaged in unique and inspiring projects, showcasing their talents and learning new techniques. We look forward to seeing the amazing art pieces they will continue to create!
Grade 1 students are making connections between living and non-living things by sketching teddy bears. They are learning to use oil pastels, focusing on blending and smudging techniques.
Grade 2 students are exploring Māori culture and the significance of the koru design to inspire their own artwork. They are incorporating crayon, oil pastel, and paint to bring their pieces to life.
Grade 3 students are delving into the history of the printing press and learning techniques for bold lettering styles. This will prepare them for creating their own letter stamps.
Grade 4 students have been studying different pop art styles and the power of media and advertising. They are drafting their own print-based advertisements.
Grade 5 students are continuing their work on Paul Klee-inspired cityscapes. They are beginning to refine their pieces and add paint.
Grade 6 students are creating their own mechanica creatures, using wooden cogs. They are preparing their final copies for painting.
Media, with Mr. Brendan Howarth
As we progress towards the conclusion of our thirteen-week Media unit, classes are participating in various assessment pieces based on their prior learning.
Year One:
Having learned about several Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, and how those stories have survived over time, the Year One students are now branching out to explore creation stories from other cultures, including Chinese and Greek.
Year Two:
The Year Two students are beginning to learn about advertising and the role photography plays in it. Students will use the techniques they have learned to create print ads for a can of tomatoes.
Year Three:
Having extended their knowledge of framing shots for still-image photography, the Year Three students are beginning to explore basic shot types for filming. This includes camera movements, such as pan, tilt, dolly, etc.
Year Four:
Continuing their media analysis unit with the mentor text, “Thalu”, students have engaged in predictive writing and creating maps.
Year Five:
Year Five students have finished the filming portion of their short, short films. They will now break off from their groups and work individually to edit their footage into cohesive narratives.
Year Six:
In Year Six, students are progressing with their art assessment task. This involves students selecting either a personal, cultural or societal value, and representing it through an art medium of their choice.
Spanish Grade Prep to 2: Students learned birthday vocabulary in Spanish (torta, velas, fiesta, invitados, globos, tarjeta de saludo, bebidas, comida) and colored invitation cards. Last week, they learned emociones (alegría, ira, miedo, vergüenza, sorpresa, tristeza) and colored worksheets using rojo, verde, azul, naranjo, amarillo, and morado.
Grade 3 and 4: Grades 3 and 4 students learned about comidas, frutas y verduras. They also explored daily routines (rutinas diarias). Students engaged in various activities, enhancing their vocabulary and understanding.
Grade 5 and 6: students developed the skill to introduce themselves, practicing phrases like "¿Cómo te llamas?" and "¿Cómo estás?" They filled in the blanks and, last week, introduced themselves and a friend in Spanish.
Mandarin with Miss Xiong
The Mandarin curriculum combines Accelerative Integrated Methodology (AIM) with traditional teaching methods to help students explore the language and cultural aspects of China. The curriculum is carefully structured with specific focus areas:
Years 1-2
Students focus on the basics of family members, learning to describe family relationships using set phrases like "This is my... (family member)," supported by unique gestures for each member. Activities such as making finger puppets and drawing family members help deepen their understanding of family dynamics and improve their skills in writing Mandarin pinyin.
Years 3-4
Students advance to studying body and facial parts. Using engaging materials like the Mandarin version of the "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" song, they memorize body parts while improving pronunciation and character recognition. Additional activities, such as labeling exercises and pinyin word searches, help reinforce their knowledge of the vocabulary.
Years 5-6
The curriculum shifts towards expressing personal preferences, especially regarding colors. Students learn to express likes and dislikes using phrases like "I like" and "I don't like" in Mandarin. Activities include games like "Simon Says" and "Magic Word," which offer oral and written practice. Additionally, creating colorful bookmarks and Chinese character word searches enhances students' writing and recognition skills.
Music, with Mr Steve Saxton
Prep:
We began moving to music with the song "The Ants Go Marching One by One," marching in place or around our chairs. Next, we sang "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music, using lyrics and solfege hand signs. We watched a video titled "Beat is the Heart of Music" and then sang and clapped the rhythm for "Tingalayo," a song about a donkey with three verses sung in unison. I read through the lyrics and modelled how to sing and clap the rhythms for the children. We concluded with a Freeze Dance.
Year One:
As a warm-up and precursor to our exploration of pitch, we sang “Doe a Deer.” We then created simple four-bar rhythmic pieces using formal notation. These were based on notes we had been reading and playing with claves and maracas in simple songs we had already sung. This built on our previous experiences using shapes to describe patterns of hand claps, stomps, etc. We began exploring pitched notes with Boomwhackers, which are simple one-pitch instruments that the children really enjoy playing.
Year Two:
We continued to explore writing music using the notes we know well and placing them on the treble clef staff. This week, we attempted to perform these melodies using Boomwhackers and glockenspiels. When reflecting on and reviewing their pieces, I asked the students to articulate the note names by pitch using “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” and to clap the rhythm of the pieces they created.
Year Three:
We continued to explore the recorder and added singing a simple song, using the pitch of the recorder to guide our voices to a consistent note. This use of the recorder to guide our understanding and exploration supported us as we attempted to perform songs like “Frère Jacques” as a round.
Year Four:
We continued our music creation on Noteflight, extending our melodies to a minimum of eight bars. This week, the focus was on reviewing the pieces as a class, using appropriate musical terminology to provide feedback to students about their compositions. For example, we discussed the duration of notes and how changes in duration can affect the melody, the leaps between notes known as intervals, and how we perceive these intervals.
Year Five:
We continued the task of creating music on GarageBand for a soundtrack to a short video clip. This week, we focused on integrating loops to create a cohesive and seamless soundtrack. The students explored the functionality of GarageBand, such as automating the volume of different instruments to create dynamic changes within their compositions. We emphasized being aware of musical elements like tempo, rhythm, and melody, and how these can be manipulated to enhance the narrative of the video. Additionally, the students were encouraged to find creative ways that adding sound could enhance the video, such as using sound effects to highlight specific actions or emotions in the clip.
Year Six:
We continued the task of creating music on GarageBand for a soundtrack to a short video clip. Building on our previous work, we delved deeper into integrating loops and ensuring they worked harmoniously within the soundtrack. Students investigated more advanced functionalities of GarageBand, such as automating volume and panning to create more polished and professional-sounding pieces. We revisited key musical elements, emphasizing their importance in shaping the mood and storytelling of the video. Students were tasked with finding innovative ways to enhance the video through sound, using musical cues to accentuate pivotal moments and evoke specific emotions in the audience.
DANCE.
In dance with the Year Three classes we have been working on various elements such as range and contrast of movement, levels and angles, and identifying parallel positions and definitions. We have also worked on maximum and minimum movements through range, speed, power, and intensity, and discussing and working on the difference between these elements mentioned. Team work, communications skills, problem solving and time management, are also weekly factors built into the tasks and exercises set out. This is to help students understand the other important life building skills needed that surround the initial duty or task presented, and to create a deeper insight to other important factors that help reach the goal or task set out.
The Year One students have begun their dance journey with important base foundations from our essential agreements in class, to body control and awareness through warm ups and exercises. This is to help students identify different body parts, to learn and acknowledge their left and right sides, and to gain more isolated and focussed control through movement. Following this we worked on different steps and combinations showcasing various shapes for students to identify, and then mixed up the order of these shapes to help exercise and build up their memory, as well as create awareness to changing patterns.
WAKAKIRRI...(Dance)
Last Friday night on the 2nd of August, 47 Saltwater dance extension students took took to the stage for our very first Wakakirri competition and performance. These amazing students shone so brightly up on stage and absolutely captivated the whole audience from beginning to end. The theme and motif for Wakakirri this year was “Belonging”, and the audience was taken on an uplifting journey of Australian multiculturalism and diversity under our performance title of “Under The Australian Sun”.
This was showcased by the arrival of a tourist to our country and the journey she embarks on meeting and making friends from different cultures as the story progresses, only to finally show that no matter what our background in this country we are all united as ONE.Our students were absolutely amazing both onstage and off as they epitomised the true essence of unity, teamwork and commitment, through their hard work, dedication and consistency over the weeks and weeks of intense rehearsals. Congratulations also to our Saltwater student Melody Sun from 5C, who auditioned against students from other schools and won the privilege and honour to represent all schools in attendance to open the whole show for the night announcing our Welcome To Country.
Our Saltwater performance for the night won the following Wakakirri awards for:
-Ensemble award for Dance Performance
-Production award for Overall Staging
-Production award for Soundtrack
-Stage Managers award for teamwork (on stage and off)
-Best Public Speaking Award
Congratulations again to this amazing cast and crew, and a huge thank you to all teachers and helpers involved in bringing this to life. Now we await the announcement to see if Saltwater have been invited to perform at the Wakakirri Awards night on September 12th and 13th. Fingers crossed and we’ll update you again soon! :)
VSSS...(Dance)
Our Victorian State School Spectacular Dancers experienced their 4th combined schools dance Hub rehearsal last week at the Keilor Basketball Stadium. They worked hard and set the bar high as they pushed through a long but fun day of dance and dress rehearsals with hundreds of students from other schools. All costumes were finalised and handed out to all schools giving them a deeper visual insight of how the big show will start to look on September 14th at John Cain Arena. Dress rehearsals went well and looked amazing as the costumes were so bright and vibrant adding to the already energised performances of the students. Our Saltwater team is getting stronger with every rehearsal that goes by, and we can’t wait to see them shine bright on the big stage and tv come mid September! :)
