Primary Curriculum Enrichment Activities
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Year 5 trip to Hirshhorn Gallery - Monday 1st March, 2010
As part of their IPC topic, ‘Fit for life’, Year 5 visited the Hirshhorn Gallery for a docent led tour. Focusing on sculptures involving figures we looked at work by Henry Moore, Matisse, Picasso and many more. We saw the different materials that artists used and different ways of constructing sculptures, learning about how to cast a bronze and how difficult it is to get a figure to stand up on two legs because of the balance. In the coming weeks we will be creating our own sculptures based around sports.
The Nursery – Year 2 Talent Show a Sheer Delight! - Monday, 1st February, 2010
Who could believe that 23 young children from ages 3 – 6 years old could get up on a stage in front of a room full of peers, parents, and teachers and perform with such confidence and energy? Well, it happened on February 1 in a delightful hour and a half of pure entertainment. The acts spanned from Tae Kwondo demonstrations to comedy routines, dances, poetry readings, to piano, violin, and cello solos. The time passed quickly and the judges had a difficult task to pick out the overall winners. But, after much deliberation, the decisions were made and a big congratulations goes to those winners listed below and to all the children who had the courage to give it a go!
Overall Winners were:
- Overall Best “Wow Factor” Act went to Cece B. who recited “The Owl and the Pussycat” by Edward Lear. Her diction, memorisation, and delivery were outstanding in every way!
- Class Party Winners went to Mrs. Hinett’s Year 1 Glasgow Class who had the most entries in the Talent Show and whose acts were most creative and diverse.
- Best Costumes went to the “Can Can Girls”- Bethania, Natalie, Tancredi, Nadya Swensson, Iva...and Anthony too.
Special Commendations went to:
-Kentaro C and Singo I- Performing “Algorithm Exercise” a popular performance amongst Japanese children.
-“The Springboks”- Miamh C.,Molly T, Geordan T, Louise S who performed the South African National Anthem “Nkosi Sikel”
-Serena S. on her beautiful cello
-Sarah M. - Violin Solo “Long Long Ago”
Years 3 - 6 Talent Show A Great Success - Thursday, 28th January, 2010
The Primary School performers, who planned their own acts, costumes, and music played to a sold out crowd of parents, teachers, and friends on Thursday, January 28. The high expectations set last year were well exceeded this year to the delight of all viewers!
Congratulations to every last performer who bravely took the stage, and while we believe that everyone who shared their gifts was a winner, the primary performers who impressed the judges most were as follows:
Winner of the Most Outstanding Act - “The Troubadours"- Sofia, Grace, and Ava- Singing “The Dutchman's Tale
Winning Class - Themed Class party - Miss Carroll, Year 4
Best Costume: The Funky Scientists
Special Commendations:
Cary & Company 28 Band for performing Journeys "Don't Stop Believing"
Eva - A Karate Demonstration
Isabel for tap dancing to the "Pink Panther"
Cioli - Performing “Land of the Silver Moon “ on the Glockenspiel
And last but not least....Anthony & Oliver - Tae Kwon Do Demonstration
See Photo Gallery for more pictures of this event.
Year 4- Help for Haiti Bake Sale - Friday, 22nd January, 2010
On January 22nd, Year 4 Edinburgh had a bake sale to raise money for Haiti because the city had two major earthquakes. The earthquakes measured 7.1 and 6.1 on the Richter scale. Year 4 felt compelled to raise money for Haiti because during our last term, the class had learned about earthquakes and how devastating they are in our IPC Unit, The Active Planet: Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
It was a very exciting day! On the morning of the sale the whole class brought in baked goods and started unpacking their food. The smell of sugar hung in the air; it was so sweet it made us dizzy. The first class to come to the sale was Reception. They seemed overwhelmed with the cupcakes with lots of frosting but were not so interested in the ones without. They must have had a sugar high after their visit to the sale.
Nursery came in next and by the time they were done picking out their sweet, the cupcakes were more then half gone. It took a long time for the teachers to round them up and get them back to their classroom!
Even though the sweets and cakes were wonderful, everybody still remembered that the real focus was to help Haiti. Some people even brought in extra money to donate.
At the end of the day Year 4 Edinburgh had raised $500.73 for the people of Haiti.
By: Ava and Grace, Year 4 Edinburgh
Year 5 trip to the National Gallery of Art - Monday 11th January 2010
On Monday 11th January both Year 5 classes visited the National Gallery of Art as part of our IPC topic on Myths, Legends and Beliefs. They were given a docent led tour looking at myths and legends depicted in art; paintings and sculpture. The pupils displayed an excellent knowledge of many of the myths and learned how clever artists are with little clues and details added to a piece to tell the story and help the viewer understand what is going. We also discussed how clever it was for an artist to tell a whole story, or even a piece of one, with a snapshot picture. In one piece of work, the artist managed to tell a story in three parts depicting the same characters three times, somewhat like a cartoon.
Year 4 Visit Local Movie Theater to Watch Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" - a Novel They Have Been Reading. Friday, 11th December 2009
Year 4 Edinburgh Class had a fantastic morning on Wednesday, December 9 when they visited Loews Movie Theatre in Georgetown to see the movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. Fox".
The class had read the novel and play script together as part of their Literacy programme and took the opportunity to see the movie version to compare how the film makers adapted the story for the big screen.
The pupils expressed mixed reviews about the movie. Some felt it was too different from the book whilst others said they loved the changes and additional scenes that were added.
‘They bought the Tree House in the movie but they didn't do that in the book-I liked it.' Emily
‘I thought the movie was animated really good.' Nicholas
I liked when the rabid dog chased Boggis, Bunce and Bean. It was really funny!' Eliot
‘Rat died which was really sad.' Ava
‘I thought it was completely different because most parts that were at the end of the book were at the beginning of the movie.' Mario
Overall they had a great experience and felt like super stars as they had the movie theatre to themselves just like a private viewing!
Sinterklass visit to Years 4 and 5 - Tuesday December 8th 2009
Sinterklaas visited Year 4 and 5 on Wednesday afternoon December 9 to share with them how children in the Netherlands and Belgium celebrate the Winter Holidays. He explained to the pupils that he is Santa Claus' brother but he was born in Turkey and lives in Spain unlike his brother who lives in the North Pole.
With the help of Jonah and Stella Raes, Sinterklaas explained the special traditions of celebrating Sinterklaas Day on December 5th, how children leave out a shoe or boot so that he can place candy in it for treats, and that he leaves behind a large chocolate initial of the name of each child he visits before he rides off again on his white horse. Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Raes for helping Sinterklaas find his way to the school!
Years 3-6 Pantomime - Cinders -
Monday, 23rd and Tuesday, 24th November 2009
On Tuesday 24th of November KS2 performed a play called "Cinders". I was one of the main characters - the fairy godmother. The other characters where Leila as the evil stepmother, Ijaz as Buttons, Alejandro and Charlie as the ugly sisters, Louis as the prince "Not-so-charming" and last but not least, Evelyn as Cinders! There were also a couple of mice, orphans and poor people...some fantastic narrators, a king, a page and many more! I very much enjoyed it - especially when I got to make everyone join in and when people laughed at me. We had very many busy rehearsals in which we sometimes performed in front of the rest of the school. I also had a funny solo to sing. What was also very cool in our play was that in the ball scene the people who had no speaking part got to dance the "Thriller" dance! It was very awesome to watch and perform. At the end everyone clapped and said that we were very good. I really enjoyed our performance and can't wait to see it all over again on a DVD. And we all lived happily ever after.
by Karolina, Year 6 New York
See more pictures of "Cinders" in the Photo Gallery.
Year 1 Children Study "Celebrations" and Create Their Own Historical Thanksgiving Feast Monday, 23 November - Wednesday, 25th November 2009
What a wonderful end to a busy few days. As part of the IPC topic 'Celebrations', Year 1 have spent November 23-25 planning, organizing and making decorations for a Thanksgiving Feast. Glasgow and Boston pilgrims welcomed their parents and quickly transformed them in to traditional Native Americans from the 17th century by adorning them with feathered headdresses which were handcrafted by the pilgrims very own, fair hands.
After the pilgrims shared with their parents all the wonderful things they were thankful for, (which brought a tear the eye) they sat down together to share in the feast. The end of the day arrived within a blink of the eye and the Native Americans led the pilgrims off to greener pastures.
Children in Reception Learn about China's Terra Cotta Warriors - Tuesday, 24th November 2009
The Reception (Pre-Kindergarten) children visited the National Geographic Museum on the 24th of November to take a close look at what are considered to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in recent times - China's terra cotta warriors. Armed with individual postcards of the exhibits the children used keen observational skills to match the real artefacts with their photographic images, commenting on features such as position, colour, shape, texture and condition of what they saw.
The following day, in class the children enjoyed making their own terra cotta warriors, developing their fine motor skills from rolling and shaping clay. They also carefully excavated shards of pottery from the sand tray, followed by a process of reconstruction to determine the original appearance of their discoveries. See more pictures in the Curriculum Enrichment Activities Gallery.
Through their IPC studies this term, Reception children are gaining a greater understanding of what treasure is, having earlier plundered and ransacked as pirates they have since had the opportunity to role play being archaeologists and historians.
Year 5 and 6 visit Politics and Prose Bookshop to Listen to Author Anthony Horowitz - Tuesday, 24th November 2009
On the 24th of November, Year 5 and Year 6 went to the bookshop Politics and Prose to listen to the author Anthony Horowitz. Before Anthony Horowitz started speaking about his books he said that if he didn't know the answer to a question he might lie a few times. He was very funny and very clever with his words. He told us that his grandmother was really mean to him, so he wrote the book Granny all about her. Anthony Horowitz also said "if you want to become a writer you most sit down and write every day, but you must play outside and go and have adventures to get ideas." Anthony Horowitz told us that the Alex Rider Series was only going to be 10 books long because he didn't want it to be to long otherwise people would probably start to think it is getting boring and he didn't want that. The next time I have a literacy lesson I am going to actually pay attention. By Jemma and Ijaz, Year 6 New York
Year 5 (and Year 11) - Space stories - Wednesday, November 11th 2009
As part of their IPC work and in conjunction with both Year 11 and The National Air and Space Museum, Year 5 wrote their own stories about the stars, planets and space in general. Working with a sound recordist and Mrs Elizabeth Wallace, they performed their stories to be recorded. A sound track will be added to the stories and hopefully they will be played back in the planetarium of the Air and Space Museum for us to sit and listen to as the stars appear over head.
Year 3 Trip to the Baltimore Dental Museum - Wednesday, 4th November 2009
As part of our IPC topic in Year 3 we have been learning about teeth. The children in Y3 have been discussing, writing about and building models of teeth. They have learned the associated vocabulary and sound like a group of amateur dentists when explaining each tooth's purpose. The trip to Baltimore's Dental Museum was to consolidate the children's learning as well as providing them with some History about teeth and the changes in dentistry over the years. The interactive areas certainly proved popular and the children left with a lasting impression!
Article written by Lottie F - Year 3
Today I went on the most amazing trip I've been on so far: The Baltimore Dental Museum. First we climbed onto the school bus and I sat next to one of my friends. The journey was great fun and went by on a flash. After about an hour we arrived at the museum. Soon a lady appeared to take us around the museum. First we saw the pretty lady holding the weight with her strong teeth. Next, she showed us the face masks and the one with the pointed teeth was very scary. After that we saw the dentist who pulled out teeth! Finally we got back on the bus to go back to school. It was a day I will never forget.
The Annual Pumpkin Patch Field Trip - Tuesday, 20th October 2009
A fun and enriching day out recounted by Karen Pena, Reception Class Teacher
October 20 was a cold Autumnal day as 175 Nursery, Year 1 and 2 children and chaperones left Washington behind. Five buses transported us to Butler's Orchard, Germantown in search of the ultimate pumpkin patch experience! By the time we arrived, summer weather seemed to have arrived and we started to strip off our many layers and hats and gloves! Still it didn't put us off celebrating the fall in true American style.
We loved the hay ride through the spooky Halloween woods to the most abundant pumpkin patch we had ever seen! We were all spoilt for choice, but had to remember the rule... ‘If you can't lift it, you can't take it home'. As well as the patch, we all enjoyed the mini animal farm, the hay maze / barn and the amazing slippery slides were certainly a highlight.
It was a truly fantastic day, and once again we were indebted to our parental helpers. Everyone went home tired and happy, looking forward to carving their pumpkins, and I am sure many DC front steps were better decorated after that!
Year 5 trip to the Newseum - Thursday, 15th October 2009
As the exit point for their IPC topic on ‘Making the News', both Year 5 classes spent Thursday exploring the Newseum. We looked at the newspaper headlines from around the country before going inside the Newseum. We looked at exhibits on the Berlin Wall and how the FBI and the press work together before going to work with a member of the Newseum team. We got to work in groups reading Morse code, drawing cave paintings, printing using letter blocks and even shouting out the news.
After our workshop we spent time walking around the Newseum and checked out the very old newspapers, dating back before the time of the Spanish Armada and the Gun Powder Plot, up to the present day. We looked at a giant map showing where people in the world do not have freedom of the press, we also found out what a dangerous job being a journalist can be. We had a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Year 2 Newcastle Learn About Buildings and Structures - Wednesday, 14th October 2009
Early Wednesday morning, 14th October, Year 2 went to the Building Museum. One sunny day a man named Mr. Ryan from Roche Construction came and showed us the material they use for the new Safeway. It was cool! We made building books and we loved our writing. Our teacher Miss Sargeant taught us about buildings, we love watching the building site out of the window. They're building a new Safeway. Some field trips we went on were to the cathedral and the Building Museum. At the Building Museum we made houses from rubbish, I made an apartment. By Bethania, Year 2 Newcastle