Specialists Programs
Specialist Programs Term 2
Performing Arts
This term, there will be a strong focus on Music and Dance as we begin to prepare for our school production, which will be taking place at the end of Term 3 on Wednesday, 6 September. The students are showing lots of excitement and enthusiasm as they share ideas and contributions towards their class performances. In Years 3-6, students will use the production to build on their skills in rehearsing scripts and developing characters through their use of movement and voice changes.
Prep - Year 2
The Preps and Year 1/2 students will also be learning about the elements of music, focusing especially on pitch, rhythm and tempo. They will learn to sing new songs, adding body percussion and different musical instruments to be played along with them. Students will also begin to experiment with composition, creating and recording their own pieces of music.
Year 3-6
In Years 3-6, students are learning to listen to music and echo back the rhythm or pitch changes that they hear by singing and clapping. They will be given the opportunity to compose their own music using various instruments and technology and perform these pieces to their peers. Students will rehearse a number of songs, learning to sing them first and then each of the instrumental parts to finally perform ensembles together.
Amanda Hill
ahill@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Chinese
Chinese - Term Two Overviews
Prep Overview:
In Term Two, students will be learning family members, exploring differences between typical Chinese families and Australian families. They are learning to introduce family members in Chinese. Specifically, students will be exploring how to say family members in Chinese, to write names of family members in Chinese pinyin, and to use simple structured sentences to introduce family members. In terms of handwriting, students will start to learn strokes and follow basic strokes and its sequences to trace simple Chinese characters. Students will also dive into Chinese cultural experience, understanding the importance of the Dragon Boat Festival and how people celebrate the festival around the world.
Year 1/2 Overview:
In Term Two, students will be learning to introduce family members with details in Chinese. They are learning to say new words by using Chinese pinyin and write names of family members in pinyin and characters. Students will also explore word order in simple Chinese sentences and use structured sentences to introduce family members and what they like and dislike. They will be learning to create meaningful information with text and illustrations. Students will also dive into Chinese cultural experience, understanding the importance of the Dragon Boat Festival and how people celebrate the festival around the world.
Year 3/4 Overview:
In Chinese this term, students will be engaged in a Chinese invention program by exploring names, history, techniques, and cultural meanings of a range of ancient as well as modern Chinese inventions. Students will follow the inquiry approach to understand the great four Chinese inventions of paper-making, compass, printing, and gunpowder and how they affect our today’s world. In terms of the language system, students will be aware that each character is a meaningful unit (morpheme) that is used to make up words. They will recognise familiar word order in Chinese sentences. Students will also dive into Chinese cultural experience, understanding the importance of the Dragon Boat Festival and how people celebrate the festival around the world.
Year 5/6 Overview:
In Chinese this term, students will be engaged in a Chinese invention program by exploring names, history, techniques and cultural meanings of a range of ancient inventions as well as modern Chinese inventions. Students will follow the inquiry approach to understand the great four Chinese inventions of paper-making, compass, printing and gunpowder and how they affect our today’s world. In terms of the language system, students will practise using Chinese pinyin to transcribe spoken language. They will identify the features of familiar text types in Chinese and use these features to assist in interpreting meaning. Students will also dive into Chinese cultural experience, understanding the importance of the Dragon Boat Festival and how people celebrate the festival around the world.
Elina Li
LOTE Teacher
Email: eli@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Visual Arts
Visual Art Overviews Term 2
Welcome back to Term 2. It has been lovely to see the children return and enthusiastically start new projects. It is great to see most children with their own art smocks, if you are yet to send it along please do so soon.
Foundation
Students in Foundation will continue to work on developing their fine motor skills by using scissors and painting. We will continue to work with collage and various shapes to create art pieces inspired by contemporary artist Jeff Koons. Students will learn about value and how we can use white highlights and coloured shadows to create form. Line, colour and pattern will be used to produce pieces that combine tempra paint and oil pastels to create contrast.
Year 1 & 2
Students will experiment with ‘process' art, where the process of making the art is the focus. Emphasis is placed on the gathering, collecting and assembling of tools to make different marks. They will learn about texture so that they can use a variety of tools / materials to create different surface qualities. Students will investigate the works of contemporary artist Iris Scott. They will experiment with various painting techniques - brushes, splatter and finger paint to create the illusion of movement.
Year 3 & 4
Using the work of contemporary artist Frank Stella as inspiration, students learn how to choose colours that interact with each other in order to create moods - calm and energetic. Students will use line and shape to create a feeling of unity with repeating circles. Folk artist Mattie Lou O’Kelly will inspire the students to design a landscape that will create a sense of space and depth by adding large objects in the front and smaller objects towards the back. Students will use ‘analogous’ colours - colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, to paint their background.
Year 5 &6
Students will investigate how artists create value in their artwork and use colour to emphasise light. They will become familiar with the works of Claude Monet and the artists that were part of the Impressionist movement. Students will also become aware of the works and style of contemporary artists Damien Hirst and Janet Fish. Their works demonstrate the ability to draw from observation and the ability to use both light and dark values in painting to create the illusion of form. Students will use pastels and paint discovering that they can work together to create shadows and contrast.
Deirdre Cosgrave
dcosgrave@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Physical Education
After a fantastic start to the year the students are lucky enough to be involved in a number of whole school events, incursions, gala days and many more fun sporting activities throughout the term. It has been a pleasure watching them all develop their skills throughout the first term and I look forward to continuing the skill development this term.
Prep
Students in Prep will be learning the basics of both football and soccer skills throughout the term. This carries on from the skills learnt in term one where throwing and catching were a major focus. Students will be focusing on kicking both soccer and footballs whilst continuing to learn about the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship. The students will also be involved in the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser where they will learn about a variety of skipping skills and complete various challenges improving their balance and coordination.
Year 1/2
Students in Year 1/2 will be learning the basics of both football and soccer skills throughout the term. This carries on from the skills learnt in term one where throwing and catching were a major focus. Kicking, marking, intercepting and defending skills will be taught. Students will be focusing on kicking both soccer and footballs whilst continuing to learn about the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship. The students will also be involved in the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser where they will learn about a variety of skipping skills and complete various challenges pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and improving their fitness.
Year 3/4
The Year 3/4 students will be participating in their first Interschool Sports Gala Day on 6 June, and selected students will be chosen to represent the school at the district Cross Country event on 19 May. The Year 3/4 students will be active participants in soccer and football clinics, where they will develop their skills and continue to learn about the importance of team work and sportsmanship. The students will also participate in the Jump Rope For Heart program. The students will learn various skipping skills and will complete a variety of different challenges focusing on fitness and coordination.
Year 5/6
This term the Year 5/6 students will be participating in two Interschool Sports Gala Days on May 5 (rescheduled Term One) and 15 June, and selected students will be chosen to represent the school at the District Cross Country event on 19 May. The students will then be learning about the skills of soccer and football through tailored clinics to suit the needs of the students. There will be a focus on gameplay, skill development and teamwork to help develop the students overall understanding and successful participation in these sports. The Year 5/6 students will then participate in the Jump Rope For Heart program, learning various skipping skills and completing a variety of different challenges that focus on fitness and coordination. The Year 5/6 students will also have the opportunity to become leaders for the other year levels to assist them in improving their skipping skills.
Rhett Masters