January 2011 - Mini Gryphon.indd - Meadowridge School

Meadowridge School
A R O U N D M E A D O W R I D G E
Page 16 | JANUARY 2012
Our Grade 2 and 3 classes have been enjoying Karate instruction on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings. Master Fraser and Ms. Wolf
have been delivering outstanding classes for our students. The children are active and engaged. The focus of the class has been
on developing good discipline (listening, following instructions, and trying their best!) The students are learning basic self-defence
movements and are demonstrating that they are principled, open-minded and are risk-takers! Way to go!
Our Junior Kindergar ten, Kindergar ten, Grade 1 and Grade 4 students have begun their Gymnastics Unit. The students are learning
and practicing many different movement skills: locomotion, suppor ts and balances, rotations, springs and landings and routine
building. The focus of the unit is to help our students acquire the fundamental movement skills which are the basis for all spor ts and
physical activities. Our students have been asked to focus on being a Thinker, Inquirer and def initely a Risk Taker!
At the end of the unit, all PYP students will have the oppor tunity to take par t in a f ield trip to Celestina Popa Gymnastics Club.
- Ms. Michelle Brookshaw, PYP Teacher
In November, the Grade 10 Visual Ar ts students had the oppor tunity to visit the Vancouver Aquarium and to view the animals within
that environment from a purely ar tistic viewpoint. Developing good observations skills when working from still life can be diff icult
enough, but what if the object you are trying to draw is moving all over the place?
Students quickly found that new approaches were needed to capture objects in constant motion and incorporate the multiple senses
activated during this experience. Some animals were hastily sketched, while others allowed for more detailed observation to take
place. Although the trip was only four hours long, it required sustained intense concentration and engagement of the right side of the
brain. Students were surprised how tired they were by the end of the trip!
Back in the studio, students worked from their sketches and photos to develop compositions that conveyed what they found most
interesting about our trip. The ar twork produced clearly shows the inf inite variety of perspectives, possibilities and individual
experiences gathered from life to use as sources of inspiration.
- Ms. Rhonda Laurie, MYP Teacher