Specialist News
WHERE CHILDREN LOVE TO BE
*Parents & Carers please note: When referencing external sites such as YouTube and use of the internet in general, the Specialist team advise parental consent and appropriate supervision.
PERFORMING ARTS
We've been having great fun this year with Music. Music is everywhere. We hear it when we choose to and when we don't. We hear what we like and what we don't.
Encourage your child to describe what they are hearing. What makes it music (as opposed to noise/sound)? What part do they like/dislike about it? How does it make them feel? What does all the music they like/dislike have in common (identifying elements)? What instruments can they hear within the music? What instruments makes the rhythm? If there are lyrics (words) what do they mean? If you took the music away from the lyrics, do to words make sense? Do they have a different mood than when they are with the music?
In Terms 3 & 4 we will focus on Dance and Drama. At the end of Term 3 we will have a Performing Arts Showcase Performance, when the whole school will sing and dance for you! More details coming soon. Some Dance and movement links:
- Just Dance Kids series, here are a few favourites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe_HDfdmnaM&t=3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziLHZeKbMUo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhfkYzUwYFk
- KIDZ BOP Kids Dance Along, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QObE0zvN_E
- The Learning Station, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=388Q44ReOWE&t=63s
- Go Noodle series (especially MooseTube, Blazer Fresh and Koo Koo Kanga Roo), here are a few favourites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bFPdr5xmII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTzXFPh6CPI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPCGfa44bF0&t=48s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ9q4U2P3ig&t=1s
Some Drama ideas at home:
- Take your favourite storybook and act it out
- Use toys and household objects and have them interact with each other like a puppet show
- While reading a story, pause at any time and discuss/act out how characters might be feeling inside, and what that makes their face/body look like/behave on the outside
- Drama is an excellent way of describing and understanding feelings, and preparing for or reflecting on difficult situations. If your child needs help with some feelings, doing some Drama might help
I can't wait to get stuck into Term 3!
Have a great holiday,
Lisa Paech, Performing Arts
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Our students have been having a blast playing various sports and developing their fundamental movement skills in physical education classes and through the Sport Australia’s Sporting Schools Program.
South Melbourne Park Primary School is a Sporting School. Sporting Schools is an Australian Government initiative designed to help schools increase children's participation in sport and connect them with community sport opportunities.
If your child has enjoyed any sport they have played at school you can help them take the next step and play club sport.
Sport helps children make friends, develop new skills, build confidence and improve their fitness. It can also help children learn about teamwork and how to win and lose gracefully. Most importantly, studies show that children who participate in sport are happier.
Sport Australia has partnered with over 35 national sporting organisations who offer quality sport programs for beginners and social players, right through to more structured competitions for children with a strong competitive spirit.
You can visit the new Find a Club https://www.sportaus.gov.au/schools/find-a-club page on the Sporting Schools website and find the right sport for your child.
Tokyo Olympics - SMPPS Mini Olympics
Next term we will be having a mini Olympics Event on Friday 30th July. Students will be involved in an opening ceremony followed by physical activity events that they will participate in. Please assist your children in exploring and learning about the Tokyo Olympics in the school holidays. This will be the first and last Olympic experience for our students in their Primary years.
Some focus points to explore are:
- The Olympic Flag and what it represents
- The Olympic Torch Relay
- The core values of Olympism
- The Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (“Faster, Higher, Stronger”)
- Athlete profiles
- Olympic History/ Timeline
- The 5 Olympic values: Joy of Effort, Fair Play, Respect for Others; Pursuit of Excellence; and Balance between Body, Will and Mind.
- Some suggested student friendly websites to explore are:
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/first-olympics
Jarn Osman, Physical Education
ART NEWS
What you can do at home over the holidays to develop your Art skills and curiosity:
PREPS: Continue growing your curiosity with colours; how they mix and where you can find them. Maybe you could try a colour scavenger hunt and see how many things around
the house or outside you can find using our 6 colour wheel colours. Next term we will be working on our paper skills including cutting and collage skills. To get a head start you may like to create a ‘vision board’ of all your favourite things by cutting and pasting them on some cardboard.
YEAR 1/2: Next term we will be focussing on creating art works using mixed media and developing our textile skills. Some of our lessons will have a focus on Australian Indigenous artworks. You may like to visit an exhibition named ‘Big weather’ at the NGV. This exhibition shows a collection of indigenous artworks in a variety of forms.
NGV are also hosting a free kids art club workshop that explores historical Chinese fashion by learning how to make your own wearable art pieces!
YEAR 3/4: Next term we are focussing on developing our printing skills. We are using the 2021 Olympics as our inspiration to explore art works from various cultures. I wonder if
you can find anything out about Japanese art, as they are hosting this years’ Olympics in Tokyo. Or maybe join artist, Scotty So for a free online kids workshop through the NGV and explore historical Chinese fashion by learning how to make your own wearable art pieces!
YEAR 5/6: Next term we will be looking into how art can change the world with a focus on street art. These holidays keep your eyes out for any art that catches your eye or has some meaning behind it. Think about why it may be eye catching and what is the purpose or message behind the art? If you’d like to, take some pictures and upload it to seesaw – I’d love to see what you find. You may like to search up ‘Street art Melbourne' on google or even better – go check some out! Here’s a link for all the best spots in the CBD to catch some:
To all the wonderful parents and carers that have donated items to the art room. You have all been so generous we are now full and DO NOT need any further donations at this time!
Kaila Michael, Art
STEM
What you can do at home to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M) learning:
In S.T.E.M we are constantly putting on our investigative hats and becoming Scientists, Technologists, Engineers and Mathematicians. The children are in wonderment about the world around us and there are many ways to support STEM learning at home.
1 Read to/with our STEMgineers books relating to STEM. Here are some suggested books but there are LOTS out there
PREP to YEAR 3
- Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
- Once Upon a Star by James Carter and Mar Hernandez
- Tomie dePaola’s The Quicksand book by Tomie dePaola
- Count on Me by Miguel Tanco
- Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub
- Choose your own!
YEAR 3 - 6
- Kate the Chemist by Kate Biderdorf
- How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson
- Super Cool Tech by DK
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Read;s Edition) by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
- Calling All Minds by Temple Gradin
- Choose your own!
2 Cook together at home! **Scan the QR code to get some recipes*
3 Start a Curiosity Jar
“What is a Curiosity Jar?”, you may ask. A family curiosity jar is a jar that holds all of the questions you come up with about the world. To start a curiosity jar you will need a jar, and slips of paper. Any member of the family can add to the jar, all we need to do is write the question we have about the world on the slip of paper and put it in the jar. Then, set aside a time each week to go through some of the questions (1-2 questions) and research together to find an answer.
4 Use recycled materials at home to build something or improve an object that we have made in class using the Engineering Design Process.
5 Have fun coding at home and have a look at the coding the children are doing on Codespark, Code.org and Scratch.
6 Upload one thing that was done over the holidays to Seesaw!
Have a fantastic break STEMgineers.
Miss Vu - STEM
SPAINISH
What you can do at home to support Spanish learning:
If you or your child is interested in some extra home or holiday Spanish, here are some great resources to check out!
This site contains some awesome stories and activities if you have a printer available – or you can read the books online.
https://spanishmama.com/spanish-for-kids-starter-kit/
Virtual tour of the Amazon rainforest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEsV5rqbVNQ
Good Apps:
Gus on the Go Spanish – free but pay extra for stories
Duo Lingo Kids - free
Free printables to go with the Gus app:https://www.gusonthego.com/free-spanish-language-printables/
Watch and listen to Maestra’s Spanish Fun for Juniors youtube channel!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW4bMmnj6cH6_2dZX4WdPHQ/videos
If you have a subscription to Spotify, search for and listen to my playlist: Maestra’s Cool Spanish Songs for Kids
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SDrkzFF4tE7y2ctcdz9X3
Señor Wooly - great for Years 5 and 6! They love crazy Señor Wooly! The Year 5/6s now have access to the Señor Wooly website with activities – books, games, videos, etc. They can complete nuggets and earn coins. Your child has a unique password to use the site at: senorwooly.com
Please feel free to contact me if your Year 5/6 child was absent and needs the special code to access the site.
Here is a link to my Spotify playlist of ‘Billy la Bufanda’
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Ei7cQcE6i09u9ShqG23wg
Below is some more information about Señor Wooly for interested parents of Year 5/6 students.
