Snapshot of P6B’s learning!
Where to begin, so much has happened over the course of the last few weeks!
In preparation for our China assembly we have been linking our language, art, social studies and P.E lessons to our topic. In writing we created information leaflets on China. This involved researching facts at home as part of our talk homework. Mrs Fry then taught us the purpose and features of a leaflet. We then used plans to organise our leaflets and we included some pictures to make them eye-catching.
Our tennis P.E sessions have been replaced by Chinese dancing which Mr Atkinson demonstrated to us… that was an interesting sight. We used a range of different props including fans to recreate some popular Chinese dances such as the Tiger and Lion Dances. Some pupils volunteered to create and perform a Chinese inspired dance using fans for our assembly.
To help build our reading skills and knowledge we have been investigating the differences between myths/legends and facts. We achieved this by learning about the Chinese interpretation of how the world formed. It was believed that Pan Gu, a giant, broke out of an egg and held one half up in the air to create the sky and pushed down the lower half to form the earth. He stood between the two pieces for many years but later died. His body then helped to create and populate the planet. We then discussed how this is a myth rather than fact as there is no concrete evidence as to whether this did or did not happen. We also recreated this story during our drama sessions in preparation for our assembly.
Art has been fantastic! We have now finished our famous Scottish artist paintings and have moved onto China specific artwork. Mr Atkinson, who studied some calligraphy with a master when he was in China, taught us about the special equipment required to do Chinese calligraphy. He also showed us the different styles and strokes people use when creating calligraphy. We learnt that some masters have stamps which they use to sign their work, similar to signatures. Mr Bickett helped the class to create our very own dragons as well as class dragon which are used in the Dragon Dance. We accomplished this by drawing around our hands and cutting out the sketches which were then used as the body of the dragons. Then we used a range of materials to create patterns that were lifelike scales. Next week we will start designing Chinese lanterns and fans.
In music we are continuing to listen to and comment on the different types of Chinese music. We have been rehearsing our assembly songs, All About China and Confucianism Rap, which required us to learn some Chinese words.
As mentioned in our last blog we performed our UNCRC fairytales to the nursery which everyone thoroughly enjoyed!
Earlier in the week we had a surprise visitor! Alex Nye, the author of our class novel Chill, came to visit P6. It was incredible! She told us about what inspired her to write the Chill series and how she became a writer. Alex also taught us about what makes an exciting and successful novel! A lot of us were able to buy some of her books and even got her signature on them.
Over the last few weeks all maths groups have been very busy! Some of the topics covered include; coordinates, BODMAS, area, perimeter, compass work, multiplying two digit numbers, sequences and patterns, algebra, greater than and less than equations and long multiplication.
Mr Atkinson’s Comment
Congratulations to all of P6B for an excellent assembly! You have worked so hard to create this amazing show and you should all be very proud. The Confucianism Rap was definitely my highlight! It was great to meet some of the parents/guardians after the assembly and again thank you to everyone who allowed their children to bring in props for the show.
