The Masks we Wear and "Waltzes"

First off, just to give you the heads up, we have no practice sheets or literacy logs for this week.  I am deep into assessment and report cards, so I want to keep things simple, and I still have not received more than 11 from last week.  Once they are all in I can paste in the next prompt and send them back.  Likely next Monday.

Today we looked at ideas related to messages in the media, and in society as a whole, and how these messages play a role in the way we interact with others.  Each student considered all of the expectations that are placed on them, and wrote down the phrases or words that they wear on their "mask" each day to show the world what they 'want' to show.  On the back of each mask students then recorded the way they really felt, and what they really try not to show others, but feel inside.  It was a powerful activity, and the discussion we did around it was very interesting.  We will be continuing to look at messaging, and its effect on the choices we make, in the days ahead.  Below is a link to the video we viewed in class.  It contains some tough language, but the power of the message is incredible, and the impact on the class was very easy to guage.  They all 'got it'.  One topic we connected was whether or not the message (which was aimed at males) applied to girls as well.  (we are looking at specific messages aimed at girls shortly).  Check it out and maybe ask some questions at home.  This is a trailer for a movie called The Mask You Live In, but the narrative of the trailer is very compelling.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1614541c258b53c7?projector=1

We continued to look at the elements of dance.  Ask your child about the elements of a Waltz.  We watched the following waltz video, and used these terms to help aid our discussion.  They are getting good at this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5AdFb4Beo

Body	body awareness, use of body parts, body shapes, locomotor and non-locomotor movements, body bases, symmetry versus asymmetry, geometric versus organic shape, curved versus angular shape
Space	pathways, directions, positive versus negative space, proximity of dancers to one another, various group formations, use of available area when moving, awareness of surroundings
Time	tempo, rhythm, pause, stillness, with music, without music, duration (e.g., short, long), acceleration/deceleration, in ‘sync’ with others,
Energy	Speed (fast/medium/slow), power, agility, effort, force, quality (e.g., flick, fold, stab, poke, flow freely, sharp, ‘flowful’)
Relationship	The way dancers interact with others, or to props/objects (e.g., in front of, inside, over, around), or with audiencs meet/part, follow/lead, emotional connections between dancers, groupings

Today for those who missed it....

Many students were away today, so I thought I’d take the time to share some of the activities we got involved with today. The language we did some word work, and some writing. The prompt for communication today asked students to come up with 10 outdoor activities they would love to get out and do after being cooped up inside.  In phys ed we worked on some basketball skills in a creative game his purpose was to teach teamwork passing and ball handling.  

We have been looking at dance and movement recently, below is a list of the elements of dance that we defined as a group yesterday in class. Today we use those elements to reflect on and critique some dance videos. Everyone in the class was able to draw on the elements of design to help shape the comments They made about the dances. Check out the dances in the links below.

1.  We started with this two person Tango.  The class had a lot to say about the types of movements and the relationships between dancers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPQskN0CvqE

2.  We then watched this for a comparison.  The class felt it was very different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfy0AG6tKOo

3.   We forwarded and only watched the dance portion of this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikcamEzEBFU

4.  We finished with this dance which the class felt combined aspects of all previous dances.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOYDEuvQz9A

In math we were exploring how to calculate volume of a rectangular prism. I’ve spent a while working on surface area of prisms, so this is a much easier concept. Today we used Rubiks cubes with side links of 3456 and seven,  And we calculated the volume of each cube. Students who were away will be able to take a look at this work and take it home to work on it if they were away today. We also explored how to draw 3-D forms, using grid paper, which will be an important skill as we work on volume in the coming weeks.

Literacy circles

We are halfway through the novels we started in our literacy circles last week.  The students start each session with a book talk about the reading they had done the previous time together, and then they read a section and finish up by taking various notes for the next meeting.  We are all reading stories about the life of young girls living under the influence of the Taliban.  Ask your child about what they are reading...

The big Art Project Reveal

The class asked me to wait until after the holidays to reveal the finished products of our big art project from before the break. I think many of them were considering giving them as gifts over the holidays. Here you can see the overall result of their hard work during those last days before the Christmas break. This was not an easy project, but they showed I love love patience and persistence to the very last student that was very respectable.

Starting the New Year Strong!

The snowfall that greeted us all this morning was perfect to start off the school year with.  It brought a level of excitement to the day that was already bubbling under the surface after two weeks away from school.  What better way to start off at 5:10 with a little bit of snowshoeing on that fresh powdery snow? With that in mind, we can at the school snowshoes, I’m headed out in the playground at the very beginning of the day. Lots of smiles and laughter, and a few challenges to head to head sprinting in the snow.

Wonder Poster Project

This art project was inspired by the novel, and movie, Wonder.  It was truly a collaborative effort.  Read the descriptions below to really understand how much effort and skill went into this (not to mention patience and teamwork).

Puzzling Questions for 2018!