Animation Club

After seeing the fantastic work students have been doing in class using animation, we have decided to start an Animation Club! This will run every Thursday at the start of lunch and will be held in the 3/4 neighbourhood. We have had a lot of students show interest so far and we look forward to sharing their creations in the near future. If you have an iPad at home, there is a free and easy app called 'imotion' otherwise the app we hope to be using is called 'stop motion studio'.

Science through Movement and Dance

Small groups of students are exploring the science concept of ‘energy’ through movement and dance this term. To begin the process students improvised movements to express different words that related to ‘energy’ such as fluid, push and pull, fusion. They worked in pairs and created a variety of interesting movements using various body parts and adding sound through body percussion.

In the second session the students’ movements became more experimental as music was introduced. In particular The Shouty Track by Lemon Jelly was not only a piece of music they enjoyed but it offered the opportunity for the students to add speed and clarity to their movements. From this session a sequence of movements was created focusing on one particular idea of energy. The students are excited and energetic and I am looking forward to seeing how they embody science through movement.

A little introduction:

Hi I’m Tash and I’m in my final year of Masters of Teaching at Melbourne University. I am lucky enough to be working with Kerri, Tomo, Mike and all the kids in the grade 3/4 Learning Neighbourhood 1. When I’m not studying I am baking copious amounts of biscuits, planning trips overseas and dancing around my living room. I have an undergraduate degree in contemporary dance and hope to include these skills in my teaching. I will be at the school every Monday and Tuesday for term 2 and 3, as well as a three week block at the end of term 2. If you have any questions feel free to come over and say hi. 

Science Workshops

On Monday in Neighbourhood One and Thursday in Neighbourhood Two, Aaron and Karen who are studying Science at Melbourne University are coming in to work with groups of students who have elected to join an investigation into aspects of our inquiry question. At the moment they are involved in experiments to look at potential and kinetic energy. They work as scientists, devising a hypothesis, following an experiment method, collecting and collating data and analysing the results. The children are really enjoying the hands-on nature of these workshops.

Aaron says of the children that he enjoys how they work collaboratively and how they explore in their own ways which can be very creative.

3-4 Neighbourhood Inquiry

We are investigating the following scientific concept We wanted a science concept that was a key principle of science and broad enough to be explored in every facet of science (physical, biological, chemical, technical); 

The total amount of energy in the universe is always the same but energy can be transformed when things change or are made to change.

The key skills and understandings that we are looking into as a starting point are

• Identifying, describing and measuring the transfer of energy or matter. 
• Explaining phenomena in terms of flow of matter or energy. 
• Focusing on direct experience and observation of phenomena and materials. 
• Introducing the way objects and living things change and beginning to recognize the role of energy and matter in these changes.

Book Talk

May 2nd will be our next Book Talk session.
If you are a parent helper attending these sessions, please email Sheryal at phps34@gmail.com by 3.00pm each Tuesday so that areas and groups can be allocated to teachers and parents. If you have any queries regarding Book Talk, please ask Sheryal directly, or email her using the address above.

1 to 1 Laptop Payments

A reminder that payments for the 1 to 1 MacBook program are due this Friday 19th of April as set out in the payment calendar in the 1 to 1 contract. Laptop payments can now be made by Bpay. The Bpay biller code can be found printed on the invoice. If payment is not recieved by the due date students will be unable to take their laptops home.

Thanks