Distorting images

Have you ever seen drawings that look so real that they appear to come out of the page? 

They are the result of using grids that distort them. Using what we know about perspective, we can create the illusion that objects are three dimensional. This is the basis of anamorphic art. 

We used a straight grid first to create a design. The lines were numbered to help transfer the design to the next distorted grid. 

The same design was then used for the curved grid. This proved to be more tricky but very effective when viewed in a reflective surface. 

The next step is to create drawings without grids. 

What do you know about anamorphic drawing? What have you found interesting about Art this term? 

Week 5 Award Winners

Our Primary School Assembly was washed out this week- it was a very wet! 

In Stage 3 we decided to have our own Assembly instead. Our award winners all did an amazing job this week. Mathematics was quite challenging and a number of our award winners showed diligence and perseverance to complete their work. Writing was also a feature, particularly in their choice of words. A big thank you also, to those that helped with the Paper plane Competition. 

Cuboid Challenge

Mathematics can be something of a challenge! We are focusing on the problem of Volume and Capacity. Volume is the amount of space that an object takes up. This is generally measured in cubic centimetres or metres. The capacity of an object, is the amount it can hold. This is is usually measured in grams and kilograms.

The challenge that Year 6 were given was the Cuboid Challenge, which come from a website called Nrich. The challenge was this:

It was first given to a group of students who had finished another Mathematics activity. They had the task of working out the problem and finding out what they needed to to. These students then had the task of teaching the other students what to do. 

The first task was to create a 20cm square out of a piece of paper. Then squares were cut out of the corners. Each student had to estimate the volume of their cube. We also had to estimate if the volume of the cubes would be the same regardless of the size of the squares that were cut out of the corners. We also needed to use the formula of length x width x height = Volume.

Our results were as follows:

We discovered there was a pattern with the numbers... Can you see what the pattern is? 

Paper Plane Competition

Lots of entrants in today's Paper Plane Competition #lovemacc

A photo posted by @maccprimary on May 20, 2015 at 8:37pm PDT

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Some great designs amongst some of today's paper planes! Distance comp complete....next round is longest hang time #lovemacc #lovemrstodd

A video posted by @maccprimary on May 20, 2015 at 8:38pm PD

Paper Planes are so much fun!

MACC primary had the best of times as we created and flew our paper planes to see who could get them the furthest. There were some great results. 

Stay tuned to find out who got the best distance out of their paper aeroplanes. The winners will be announced once the Most Airtime Competition is run!

Busy working on Science presentations

Assembly: Week 5

The Assembly featured two of our younger primary classes, 1H and KF. They both danced some very cute dances, which Stage 3 couldn't help but join in.
We also need to congratulate the students who received a Science Award. The Science Award is given out to students who have shown a good understanding and effort of a scientific concept. It also is an encouragement award for those students who have shown an improvement in this area. Well done Peter, Nikita, Naomi, Noah, Jessiah and Grace for their effort and interest.

The first group of Silver Awards were handed out. Teachers conference with students to set behaviour goals. Students receive their awards after having discussed the criteria of the behaviour awards. 

Mrs Pope also announced that the Primary School would be having another Reachmeet for Parents. This is an opportunity for parents to find out about what we do in Primary school, and how some things have changed too. We hope that as many people can make it as possible!

We are holding our Parent ReachMeet on Tuesday 2nd June from 5.45 to 8pm. We have some amazing workshops planned for the night to share with you in a number of areas, including curriculum, child development and how you can help your child's learning at home. To see more details and register your attendance click the link in the bio above. #lovemacc

A photo posted by @maccprimary on May 18, 2015 at 4:35pm PDT

What's On This Week

Falling or Flying

Art is a great opportunity to explore many different ways to be creative but also to learn new skills. We are focusing on Optical illusions and how different two dimensional effects can create movement or look three dimensional.

On our Art page, there is a slideshow that explains Op Art, which was an art movement in the first part of the 20th Century. It explored the effects that line and colour had on people's vision.

The practical part of the lesson we created our own version of Op Art. This was inspired by looking at how different artists used line and shading to create a three dimensional effect. We discussed perspective, which is the illusion of using diagonal lines meeting at one point that give an illusion of depth and space.

We created a dot in the middle of a page, with lines radiating out from the middle. These formed the structure of the picture. Lines were added to created the illusion of waves. The resulting bands were coloured in using no more than four colours.

We looked at how to shade with coloured pencils focusing on creating layers of colour to give a smooth effect. To add to the effect, we took photos of each student to look like they were either falling or flying.

These were then cut out and placed onto the optical illusion. There were some great results. What do you think?

Honour Awards

Celebrating student's achievement is a key part of building a positive school community. The students who tend to go unnoticed because they may be quieter or because their abilities are more academic or community minded, are the ones that can be recognised through our monthly Honour Awards. 

Students are nominated by Staff members when they notice the often selfless ways that these students go about their tasks. It is often the helpful hand, kind smile or word for which these students are recognised. 

Well done to Jemimah in Stage 3, as well as to the other Honour Award recipients. It helps make our wonderful school a special place when we have students who contribute so much time, effort and leadership. 

Kung Fu Punctuation

Kung fu punctuation from Vissy Profson

One of the writing strategies that we have been working on this week is to be more aware and improve on using punctuation. Kung Fu punctuation is the martial arts of grammar and punctuation. It involves learning the hand actions and sounds to indicate each punctuation mark. 

At the end of each learning session we have been conducting tournaments. A referee nominates three punctuation marks that the combatants have to complete both accurately and in order. Once a tournament is complete, the students then take turns to be referee.

It has been a lot of fun but also encouraging to see students use Kung Fu in their reading, They use the moves and sounds as they are reading their books, The strategy that this uses is "Using Punctuation to enhance prosody and phrasing". Using Kung Fu Punctuation has helped students to become more aware of punctuation when they are reading.

What have you learned about Punctuation? Do you enjoy Kung Fu punctuation? Can you think of some other moves to add to Kung Fu Punctuation?

MACC Sports Carnival 2015

The Annual Athletics Carnival is a nice break from the usual school routine. It was very pleasant weather, particularly after all the recent rain that we have had. It was very encouraging to see the level of participation and enthusiasm, regardless of their place in the competition. 

The high level of sportsmanship and encouragement was to be commended, with all students cheering on a classmate to get across the line or to try that little bit harder. 

A special mention must go to Peter, who gave everything a go at the carnival. Fantastic effort!

What did you enjoy most at the carnival? What was your best race? What do you think that you need to work on for next year? 

Stage 3 Class Awards

It has been rather rainy for a Friday, so our usual morning Assembly was cancelled. Stage 3 had their own award ceremony. 

The awards were in recognition of the hard work, diligence & participation this week. Well done to all of our Award recipients!