Our final excursion, with the other 5/6 classes, was heaps good! The kids had a great time at Inflatable World, and at the fortress playground in Port Noarlunga afterward. Here are some photos of their antics at Inflatable World, including their attempts to knock Em Carter, our education student volunteer this year, off her position as jousting champion...but she remains undefeated! (Though I'm sure I could have beaten her if not for my sore ankle...that's my story and I'm sticking to it, anyway.)
0 Comments
The final presentations of the year were by book club groups. Some, like these two groups that combined because they read the same novel, created presentations about what they had read (using whatever format they wished). Others, like the group in the post below, were assigned longer novels that they didn't finish reading. So, they summarized what they had read so far, and then presented on one of the novels that I read aloud earlier in the year. The group below (with some other classmates they enlisted to join the cast) were tasked with presenting the science fantasy classic "A Wrinkle in Time"...I was surprised to learn, after I'd finished reading it to the class, that a major motion picture has just been produced of this story, which I've always thought of as unfilmable. Apparently I was wrong...and those kids did wonders with green screen technology to depict that interplanetary adventure! And this video is a terrific take on historical fiction (despite the intrusion of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" during concert rehearsals). And yet another group produced a film, a stop-motion claymation depiction of "The Little Prince", that I will upload if I receive a copy! Happy viewing. :) With just one more week left in the year, I am pleased to report that everyone has now been chosen by their peers as "star citizen" of the week, and showered with compliments. A couple of adults even found our way into the hot seat, and one student was unanimously selected to be honoured a second time! The kids (and the adults!) learned a lot about the history of SA on our excursion to Adelaide Gaol. Below are some photos of the day, and of some of the students' journaling pages...since then, they have also written some terrific poetry about the gaol, which will be included in their anthologies, soon to be sent home. Many thanks to Cheryl, Kelly, and Suzi for coming along. Please enjoy the dress rehearsal of our Gruffalo play, as well as the "making of" documentary that shows our creative process. There is also a rehearsal video of the Thriller dance, and some photos of the eerily familiar looking zombies who performed it at our assembly. What a perfect day we had for Sports Day last term! Here are some photos of our sports clinics (badminton and hockey), and some of the other activities (Earth Ball and the Firemen's Mat). I was far too busy trying to get the class through our Athletics events on time to take any photos during the track and field portion (many thanks to Alison for her help!). There are also a few photos of my son Charlie, whose placement in Jackson inspired my own decision to go red this year...and we were both very excited to win in our first ever Australian Sports Day, so I couldn't resist having him hoist the trophy after school. :) On September 7, we joined 8 other classes from the greater Adelaide area at Belair National Park to celebrate Outdoor Classroom Day with members of Nature Play SA. Despite a little rain in the morning, we had a terrific time learning and exploring in the park. We played a couple team-building games when we arrived: Finding Nemo (new to me) and Canadian Rock Paper Scissors (not new to me, though I've always just thought of it as "Camp Rock Paper Scissors"!). Then the kids built some small cubbies as prototypes, before building large ones big enough to crawl into (when they weren't clamouring for the attention of the Channel 9 videographer). One of the cubbies even seemed to be attracting the attention of a koala, who came shimmying down its tree partway toward it. After lunch, our class did some geocaching, though a couple injuries led to some time being spent in "sick bay" with staff from St John's Ambulance...and then some lonesome whittlin'. Still, we all made it back to school in one piece, and then had a bit more play outside with brand new hats, thanks to the fine folks at Nature Play SA (who also sponsored the excursion). And many thanks to our parent volunteers for joining us! The Year 5/6 students each spent a day in the Unley High School maker space to contribute to the UHS Middle School Biennale Project, "Transient." The children used cardboard, hot glue, masking tape, and wooden skewers to create houses that represented a sense of belonging--while at the same time evoking a sense of displacement and migration, as the fragile structures are wedged in among each other like elements of a shanty-town, created from the very boxes that are made to transport things from place to place. The kids were inspired by the work already on display, created by Unley Art students in Years 8 and 9. Their designs that day exceeded my expectations, and we're greatly hoping that you'll venture to Unley for the opening night of the exhibition: Wednesday, August 30, at 6pm (in the South Gallery of the high school). Thanks, as always, to our volunteers for coming with! Some highlights from our time at camp, including photos and video clips of: canoeing, low ropes, bouldering, archery, bridge-building, the talent show, raft-making in the pool, the giant swing, and the flying fox (the longest zipline in South Australia)...we had a fantastic time in Mylor! |
|