Specialists Updates and Celebrations
Semester 1 Celebration Summary
Music
Over the past few weeks in the Year 3 and 4 music programs, we have continued our work on the “Rock!... Trough the Ages!” unit of work. We have looked at each decade from the 1940’s – 1990’s at pivotal moments in the evolution of rock music.
Our priority has been for students to gain skills on instruments. We have learnt riffs and played chord progressions to rock songs on guitar, as well as study rock riffs and melodies on the kalimba.
This week we began our work on bucket drums, learning a variety of rock feel rhythms.
Students have also completed two composition tasks to demonstrate their ability to apply their newly acquired skills to making their own musical works.
Performing Arts
In Performing Arts, students focused on the Elements of Drama to expand their knowledge when creating a performance. Throughout the term, students learnt how to read scripts, create their own script writing performances and learn about the importance of improvisation in various ways. All students did various warm-up activities to enhance these Elements of Drama, such as charades, character development games and group activities. Overall their confidence has grown so much and it has been a pleasure teaching them various skills to enhance their growth for the future.
Physical Education
Another exciting Term in PE for all of our students. Prep - Year 2 focussed on throwing, catching and balancing. Years 3 - 6 practised Handball and Australian Rules Football. Years 5 and 6 got to put their skills into practice at a Gala Day competing against other schools. Years 3 and 4 will begin their Gala Days next term. Here are some photos from our most recent AFL Gala Day.
Mandarin
In this term, the focus of Mandarin is on "numbers" and the level of difficulty varies according to the grade. Students in the upper year levels study numbers in greater depth and engage in more difficult activities, such as doing maths problems with Mandarin numbers and converting Mandarin and English numbers flexibly. Mandarin lessons incorporate simple maths knowledge in a way that is familiar to students, which enhances their confidence and motivation in learning Chinese.
Speaking is one of the main learning focuses for students in the lower year levels. This term we focused on how to increase students' motivation to talk through some daily life topics. At the end of the term, most of the students can say "Hello", "How are you?" , "I'm good/I'm not good", "What's your name", "My name is ......", "Thank you", "You're welcome", "I'm sorry", "That's okay", "You're beautiful" in Mandarin.
Visual Arts
Another spectacular term for the wonderful students at South Melbourne Primary School. Seeing the students thrive and grow their skills every term is always such a pleasure. Term 2 is a split term where we have two units of work. Aboriginal Australian Art Studies and Threads and Textiles.
Aboriginal Australian Art Studies is such a great way for young students to learn and appreciate all the beautiful aspects of Aboriginal Australian cultures. We ensure to have a deep understanding of Aboriginal Australian cultures before we create artworks inspired by the history and current day art styles. We also have an artist study where we learn about a specific Aboriginal Australian artist and zoom in on one of their art pieces.
Threads and Textiles has students working outside of their comfort zones, working with needle and thread, different types of fabric, wool, and much more. The Preps enjoyed making their crazy hair characters using wool, the Year 1 and 2's loved making fabric collage trees, the Year 3 and 4 students worked hard making their own cushions and the Year 5 and 6's had so much fun using French knitting to make headbands, bracelets and necklaces.
Library
Last week SMPS celebrated NAIDOC Week to recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In our library we have a growing collection of books to celebrate the diversity of First Nations Cultures.
