Grade 3 has started their new unit entitled ‘Paint Me A Picture’. For the tension engagement the students chose a number and from this we decided the order the class would paint. They were simply instructed to work as a whole group to paint me a picture without any discussion amongst themselves. The students were each given three to five minutes to paint. The idea was that they would look at what the previous students painted and add to it to make a pleasing composition. However, they kept to their own space at first, but in the end they managed to tie it all together. Everyone was very creative in the way they approached the blank canvas and made use of the various tools that was provided. The painting is quite interesting and they are very happy with the result. They have titled the painting ‘The Magic Dream’.



Half way there! Everyone does their part!



'The Magic Dream' 80 x 80 cm-Acrylic on Canvas-The Grade 3 Class of 2012

 

Painting Shirts Required!!!



Students need to have a painting shirt for this unit as we will be working with acrylic paint a lot and it is difficult to remove if they get it on their clothes. If you have any old shirts we can use for this purpose, we would be very happy to have them! Thank you in advance for your support.

Students were asked to choose 3 colored rectangles of paper. They were directed to use pastels, markers, crayons, colored pencils or pencils to show how they see color, shape and spirit in art. Each piece of paper represented one of these three elements.  The students demonstrated great creativity and freely drew their representations of these elements.

Using Color to Create

Harmony and Tension

The students were asked to choose four colored squares. In groups of four, they were asked to arrange the colors to make a composition that shows harmony. They repeated this process a second time, this time creating tension in their composition. This led to much discussion and collaboration to reach the end result. Take a look and see if you feel harmony or tension in the artworks.

Tension:

A feeling of worry, nervousness, or suspense.

Harmony:

Agreement; a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity.

Communities Assembly

On Thursday, February 9^th the grade three class hosted an assembly for the primary classes of Early Years through to Grade 5. The assembly represented a culmination of the activities and projects completed during our communities unit of inquiry. The students presented English and German poetry, drawings of the countryside, the pros and cons of living in a village, their community projects, a map, a drama reenactment of the story ‘City Mouse and the Country Mouse’ and their 3-D models of rural, suburban and urban communities. The students planned and organized the assembly and are to be commended on a wonderful job! They presented with confidence, clarity and great cooperation! It was a fantastic display of all their hard work during the unit.

                                     The two MC's!                               Poem: Sounds of the City

 Presenting 'My Community' Projects

                                             Countryside Drawings and Country Child Poems

Pros and Cons of Living in a Village

                                                Dramatization of Country Mouse City Mouse

     Presenting their 3-D Community Models 



Model Communities

This week the students were provided with the materials to design and create models of the three types of communities, rural, suburban, and urban, that we have been studying. This was the summative assessment project where the students had to demonstrate their understanding of these communities and the types of infrastructures, systems and services they provide for their inhabitants. The level of enthusiasm and knowledge shared during this process was phenomenal! The students engaged in the activity with much excitement and energy as they presented, shared and discussed their ideas to come up with the plan for their community.  Just as in a real life situation, there was much debate and explanation of reasoning to get to the final product. The students are to be commended on a job well done! They rose to the occasion and everyone demonstrated a vast level of knowledge showing that they now have a wonderful understanding of the three types of communities. It proved to be a very successful project!

The models will be on display after school today and for the day on Friday, February 10^th until after lunch, when we will have to dismantle the projects and organize the materials for storage in order to make room for the new unit after the ski break. If you get a chance, please drop by and see the creative models the students have designed.

 A Rural Community

A Suburban Community

An Urban Community



Sounds of the City

The students of grade 3 have been working with Mrs. Taylor, the music teacher to create a sound poem. They have learned to rhythmically read the poem following the beat and have brainstormed how they can add sounds using the musical instruments. The students were very creative in choosing the instruments that best represent the sounds described in the poem and using them. They then chorally read the poem adding the sounds in the appropriate places. They were very quick to catch on to the pattern and have done a great job with the sound poem.

My Community Presentations

The students have done a wonderful job on their community poster projects. They have been presenting with confidence and clarity and have been quite competent at answering their classmates’ questions regarding the presentation. We have learned a great deal about each other’s communities and Switzerland in general. Well done everyone!