Welcome back to a new ‘calendar’ year in the midst of our current ‘school’ year. We have six short months remaining together and a lot of great learning left to do.
We are currently exploring the sport of hockey – the floor variety. Students are learning correct hand positions on the sticks and the fundamentals of the game. A huge focus of ours is in safe play. We had a great class discussion yesterday on why we have to be more careful than the ice hockey players do. I was really impressed with how much the Grade 2’s shared about what they had learned last year!! Without all the padding and safety equipment (helmets, face guards, mouth guards, etc.) that ice hockey players have, we are more vulnerable to injury and therefore need to exercise more caution.
We have also begun the process for our artistic entries which will be included in a biennial art programme put on by the Burnaby Art Gallery called, Arts Alive. This event is a great opportunity for our students. Arts Alive happens every year but alternates between secondary and elementary schools – this year being ours. Completed art is adjudicated by a jury panel from the Burnaby Art Gallery who come out to the schools. Pieces of art which are chosen are taken to the BAG to be put on display for the duration of the art show – about one month in the Spring. All art pieces are photographed for the ‘digital display’ which can be viewed at the art gallery and is also available on-line.
Themes are chosen for each year and the theme for this year is ‘places of memory’. In preparation for our art production we are exploring the concept of ‘memory’. I read a picture book by Mem Fox called Wilfrid Gordon MacDonald Partridge. This story is about a young boy learning about and exploring the idea of what memory is through bits of advice he receives in his quest to help an elderly woman from the ‘old folk’s home’ next to his house regain her ‘lost’ memory.
Students have been thinking about their own family memories. We have had many discussions about the different kinds of memories – happy, sad, angry, worried, precious. We will be talking about ‘powerful’ memories later this week. Students will be choosing a special, powerful memory about a place they have been to or know well. The process of developing their final art pieces will be explored through drawings and writings and will then be melded into a final artistic piece in an unusual (surprise) medium for creating pictures. More information to come – stay tuned!