Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Drawing Tessellations

The opportunity to combine Art and Mathematics came about while looking at Two dimensional shapes. This aspect of mathematics lends itself to some creative exploration, through repeating shapes in many different ways to create patterns. 

Two dimensional shapes can be reflected, rotated or translated so that a pattern is formed.

We created a grid consisting of 7cm squares. This took some time as we needed to be accurate so that the pattern would be effective. We then created a 7cm square grid. Shapes were drawn on two of the sides and then cut out. They were joined back to the grid. This formed our tesselating shapes. 


The shapes were then traced around on the grid. The shape was translated or moved forward to the next square and then traced around again. This was repeated until all of the grid was filled.


The students then used coloured markers or pencils to colour their tesselations in. The activity took a little longer than expected but the results have been worth it. 
The students have been able to see how a square can be turned into a tesselating shape. They also had the opportunity to know how to translate a shape in a hands on way. 
What do you know about tesselating shapes? Do you know of an artist that uses tessellations in their artwork? 

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Kung Fu Punctuation Assembly


Stage 3 2015 from Peter on Vimeo.

Learning Grammar and Punctuation is generally regarded as being somewhat of a boring task, but in Stage 3 we think we have overcome that issue by practicing "Kung Fu Punctuation".  Please watch our video for a demonstration.

Thank you to all of our students who showed their fantastic skills, with such wonderful enthusiasm.

Included below is the power point of "Kung Fu Punctuation", so if you wish to practice at home and show your Kung Fu Punctuation moves then its available!

What is the best thing about Kung Fu Punctuation? Are there any other Punctuation moves we could add? 


Saturday, 8 August 2015

Cows by Design

The next part of our Picasso Cow Project is designing how our cow is going to look. It needs to reflect the research and discussions that have been occurring through the previous weeks about the Dairy Industry. 




Picasso Cow Project - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


The students showed enthusiasm and came up with a lot of great ideas. They discussed and drew how milk moves from the paddock to the being on the supermarket shelf. A great idea was to create a milk powered Backpack...powered by Calcium. Another idea was a Milky way filled with Dairy products. It will be very hard to choose a design.






A key part of the project is to keep a journal of all that we are learning and doing about the dairy industry and our Picasso Cow project. We have a special blog that has been set up so that we can keep track of the great work that our students are doing. Please take time to visit and feel free to leave a comment on the blog. Please click the photo below to visit our Picasso Cow Project learning Journal. 






Mayor for A Day

A leader is someone who knows how to listen and serve those around them. Jesus Christ demonstrated this when he washed the feet of the disciples. Leadership and public speaking are skills that we can all acquire.

Last term, we focused on what makes a confident public speaker. When we are confident with our voice and make eye contact, then we know we are engaging our audience. These are skills that were developed last term, but came to the fore for one of our students.

Each year, Camden Council offers Year 6 students from around the area the opportunity to give their thoughts about why they would like to be "Mayor for the Day", The areas that they were being judged on were not just their presentation skills, but also their knowledge of local government and the issues that they face. Only one student is able to represent their school to speak and must be nominated by their principal or teacher.

Nikita Elliot was given this daunting task to represent our school and give her thoughts about why she should be chosen to be Mayor for the day. Nikita spoke about how each one of us can be make a difference, no matter how young or old they are. She also said that to be a good leader, is to be a good listener as well.

She was one of twelve students from many different schools who spoke. There were many different topics from environmental issues to raising awareness about bullying. Every student spoke with confidence and were to be commended for the thought that they gave about the topic. The Winner was a student from Cobbitty Public School and the Runner up was from Macarthur Anglican College.
Thank you Nikita for the way that you represented our school. It is true that we can all make a difference!





How would you serve the community, if you were made Mayor for the Day? Who inspires you to make a difference?  

Thursday, 30 July 2015

Netball and Soccer Gala Day

This morning was a great time, catching up and finding out how everyone went on Wednesday. Some of Stage 3 went to Bardon Ridge to represent MACC at a Christian Schools Gala Day. The students who stayed at school worked on some individual projects that we have been working on at school. All students were commended for their excellent behaviour and participation.

The students who participated in the Sporting events showed great teamwork and spirit. All persevered extremely well and despite a number of losses, showed resilience and cheerfulness. Great Job everyone!



What did you enjoy the most about the Gala Day or being at school? What do you think was your best achievement?