Swimming!

News brought to class by Joe:

Watercolour Painting

Here are some of the watercolour techniques I needed to think about in order to produce this amazing painting:

Choose a broad brush and use it to wash the paper with water
Switch to a finer brush; wet it and then dab it dry on a paper towel
Select a colour, starting with the palest
Look closely at the colours and shapes you see
Add a bit of detail to show flowers or leaves
Try not to leave any of the paper blank
Dab the last of the water off with the paper towel
Leave it in the sun to dry

Why not come to the classroom and take a closer look at my painting? I would love to know what you think of it.

Sketching at Chateau de Penthes

Yesterday we took our clipboards, some stiff white cartridge paper and a 3B drawing pencil to Chateau de Penthes. We were going to do some sketching.

I decided to draw the view towards the lake and the mountains. Take a look at my sketch.



How do you think it compares with the real thing?

Where in the world? continues.....

"What's black and white and warm all over? A penguin in a wetsuit; a wetsuit is what divers wear to keep them warm in the water. Anyway, Pierre the penguin is 25 years old who lives in California (North America). He is losing his feathers which means he can't swim - it's too cold. So they made him a wetsuit."



Rekik wondered why he could swim in cold water without feathers, but that a penguin couldn't.
"Penguins' feathers are waterproof; that's what keeps the cold water out and so keeps them warm. They don't have fat like we do."

Cave Painting (or drawing on the white chalk with a blackboard)

During our Unit of Inquiry on Materials, we started reading the book, 'Stig of the Dump' by Clive King. Stig is a caveman who lives at the bottom of an old quarry close to Barney's grandmother's house. Barney finds Stig one day when he falls through the roof of Stig's den. They become friends, even though they cannot talk to each other.

Since the quarry is no longer in use, people throw all their rubbish away down there; Stig is good at finding new ways in which to use old things.

On the same day that they cut down an enormous tree (getting warm once in the process) and then use it to start a fire (getting warm for the second time) Stig picks up a piece of charred wood and uses it to draw an amazing hunting scene on the chalk wall of the den.

Then we had a go at using charcoal and chalks to make our own hunting scene. We dusted the paper with charcoal powder and smudged it to give it a greyish background. Then we used charcoal and chalk to make our scene.



"I like yours becasue of the people," said Giulia.

Mapping the school

We asked ourselves; how can we show what our school looks like? After taking a walk around the school, we had a go at trying to make a record of everything; from the classrooms to the kitchen, the music room to the French rooms and the library.

Take a look at mine. "I ran out of space. I had to use three pieces of paper. I drew the upstairs first and then behind the stairs and then in front of the stairs. The pages fit together pretty easily. I think I know the school quite well; that made it easy. I could see a picture in my head. Someone else would be able to use my map."



How does it compare with the real thing?

Memory of Feelings

Invented by Patricia, Joe and Isabella

· Lay the cards face up on the table
· Put the blindfold on



· Then you have to feel two
· If they are the same you keep them and you keep going
· But if you get the wrong one, it’s the other person’s turn
· The one that has the most cards is the winner