Specialist Programs 

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2020, and welcome your input:

Justin Scicluna (Health & Physical Education) Justin.Scicluna@education.vic.gov.au

Sensei Masae Uekusa (Japanese) uekusa.masae.m@edumail.vic.gov.au

Penelope Lang (Performing Arts) penelope.lang@education.vic.gov.au 

Samantha White (Visual Arts)  samantha.white@education.vic.gov.au

An Overview of our Learning

NEWS!!!!

Upwey South's Got Talent - Entries are now open for this year's USGT. All video entries must be handed in via Google Classroom no later than Monday 30th November. This is not a compulsory activity. There will be a junior (Foundation to Year 2) and a senior (Year 3 to Year 6) category and you can only enter ONCE. I cannot wait to see your TALENT. So get rehearsing and have fun.

This year the school Christmas concert will be sent home as a video link with students being filmed during their Performing Arts time. I am hoping our students can dress up in Christmas clothes. I will notify you in a few weeks about what will be required and when.

Our Learning

Foundation

Over the last two weeks the Foundation students have been working on their class item for the online Christmas concert. We have been doing lots of 'echo' singing to improve our pitch matching skills. This is when I sing each line of the song first and then the students echo back to me (preferably singing the same notes). We are singing a song to the very familiar tune, 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. I will be sending home a lyric sheet soon so you can rehearse together at home. We have also started to learn the 'Macarena' which has proven a little tricky as there is a lot to remember - hands, feet and then turning in different directions. We have had a lot of fun and laughter together. We did not meet on Melbourne Cup day.

Level 1 and 2

The students in Level 1 have done a fantastic job at learning their Christmas concert song, 'Pig the Pug Rap'. This is a brilliant collaboration between the talented Jessica Mauboy and Big W to encourage children to engage in literacy through song. We have been discussing beat and rhythm and musical phrasing. This song can be found online if you want to have some fun at home together. We will begin to add some dance moves (made up by the students) over the next few weeks.

The level 2 students began to learn their choreography to the 'Macarena'. We began by marching in time to 12 beats, then we added 3 quick hip rotations and finished with a clap and a turn. So much to remember ! We are not doing the 'traditional' dance so it was great to watch the students work as a team and adapt to different moves. They did not have a lesson on Melbourne Cup day.

Level 3 and 4

The students in levels 3 and 4 have been working in small groups to plan, rehearse and present a short 'Word Dance' using an alphabet table with choreography ideas assigned to each letter. We then played a game of 'Guess the Word' after each group performance. It was wonderful to see the students incorporate different dance elements including levels and dynamics. They performed in 'unison' and some groups added the choreographic device of 'contrast' to their dance. We have begun learning the lyrics to our Christmas song and the students will have the opportunity to devise their own dance steps.

Level 5 and 6

The students in levels 5 and 6 watched a short video on the 'Elements of Dance' to consolidate their learning from term 3. They used the acronym 'BEST.R' (Body, Energy, Space, Time, Relationship) to assist them when planning their small group unison dance. 

We have begun performing these for an audience and I have been very proud to hear respectful feed forward from most classes. The students have shown flexibility, responsibility and great collaboration skills (as they don't always get to pick who they work with!). We have started to learn some of the dance steps for one of our Christmas concert songs and some classes have begun writing new lyrics to a well known tune which we will sing together as a level.

Keep smiling,

Penelope Lang

Foundation: The Foundation students have predominately focused on developing their fundamental motor skills. This has been achieved through stationed exercises and mini games such as Rob the Nest, Shrink and Grow and Balloon Tap.

Next week students will commence a four week tennis program which will be run by professional tennis coaches from Extreme Tennis.

Toward the end of the term, the students will have the opportunity to identify different types of emotions and colour code them to further develop their understanding of how they may be feeling from time to time.

Level 1 & 2: As a 1/2 cohort we have had a big focus on the skill of striking. The two sports which I selected was cricket and T-Ball. Whilst we did not play a full game of these two sports, the games were modified to teach the students about the skills involved e.g. catching, throwing, hitting and teamwork. Within these skills, we incorporated what we had done in previous weeks with both the underarm and overarm throw.

Next week students will commence a four-week tennis program which will be run by professional tennis coaches from Extreme Tennis.

Towards the end of the term, students will be introduced to different types of food groups and understand how these foods can constitute a balanced diet.

Level 3 & 4: In the last two weeks, students have focused on invasion games which teach students about the importance of strategy in sport. The two sports which students have participated in were Skittles and T-Ball. These games also concentrated on gross motor skill development and cooperating with others. 

In the coming weeks, students will have the opportunity to create a daily timetable to promote the fact that structure can assist with living a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Level 5 & 6: In the last two weeks, students have focused on invasion games which teach students about the importance of strategy in sport. The two sports which students have participated in were Thunder Hockey and T-Ball. These games also concentrated on gross motor skill development and cooperating with others. 

As a part of the health curriculum, in the coming weeks, students will focus on the topic of mental health and energy systems.

Justin Scicluna

Physical Education & Health Teacher

Time really flies! It’s already half way through the term!

Let’s have a look at what Foundation students have been working on. They have been learning the famous story ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle in Japanese. The students have been practicing saying ‘The hungry caterpillar eats (food)’ and ‘I eat (food).’ in Japanese. They are also getting used to sitting on the ‘ZABUTON’ floor cushions and writing their Japan names in Katakana script.

Foundation

Over the last two weeks Foundation students have been creating flower collages to add to the painted backgrounds they made the previous week. This session focused on the cutting of rounded shapes, which they use to create their flowers. Students were encouraged to begin cutting from the same side they hold their scissors as this will allow them to have a good view of the line they are cutting. They are also encouraged to move the paper when they are cutting, rather than moving their scissors.  

Foundation students did not have Visual Arts this week due to the public holiday. 

Level 1 and 2

The Level 1 and 2 students worked hard last week to make bird collages. Students used the back ground paper and the collage paper they had painted in the previous session to design and create their own bird. Students were able to use their creativity to produce their bird, and added tail feathers to finish off their creation. Students also focused on presenting their work on a larger pieces of paper, and worked to ‘centre’ their work on their paper.

Students in Level 2 examined the works of Claude Monet and worked to create a number of pieces of paper which they will use to produce a ‘water lily’ inspired by Claude Monet’s painting. 

The Level 1 students did not have Visual Arts this week due to the public holiday. 

Level 3 and 4

The Level 3 and 4 students have been experimenting with using water soluble markers to create a picture of a rabbit. Students were able to choose whether they drew a rabbit free hand, or whether they copied their rabbit from a picture. They traced over their original lines with water soluble markers and then went over the markers with a small amount of water. This caused the marker to ‘bleed’ and dilute, allowing the colour to be spread. Students also used paper to create basic collages of flowers to add to their work. 

This week students looked at tone, and explored how to create different tints and shades using only two colours of paint. Students practiced mixing colours of different tones, which they will add to their piece of work in next week's session. 

Level 5 and 6

During their time in the Visual Arts room the Level 5 and 6 students have been busy creating posters depicting significant fauna and flora around Upwey, as well as the Aboriginal and European history of the area. Some of these posters will be used to create bollard protectors in the Upwey Village. Those students whose posters have been selected will be announced in the coming weeks. The bollards should be on display some time before Christmas. 

This week the Level 5 and 6 students focused on observational drawings. Students had to select four photos of animals eyes (which were up close) and scrutinize them for significant features, which they then included in their drawings.