The Cat's Tail

Don't worry peeps, it's a pun not an error!

Cats in the city... that was never the intention when I was told to pick a theme/artist for our Visual Arts week... in fact, I very earnestly wrote down that we would study Piet Mondrian (Abstract) and then later on changed my focus to art inspired by James Rizzi (who does colourful cityscapes).  Mrs Fowler, however, had other ideas.  

              In a serendipitous moment, and because she was in rascal mode, she changed my theme to Cats (when I had Mondrian) and then later to Cats in the City (when I had decided on Rizzi).  I did change it back (numerous times, believe me!) but, in the end I accepted that I could no longer prevail against her determined effort.

          I relented and I'm pleased I did!

          In poetry (Term 1) we spent a lot of time exploring juxtaposition - that's the placing of unlike things together to provide contrast - and so this project provided the perfect platform to revisit those ideas but in a visual art context. 

            The juxtaposition is happening in multiple ways:  in the city that is monochrome, while the cat pops in colour, but also in the subject: the city is a symbol of man containing, controlling and altering the environment, while cats, although domesticated, can never been contained despite ongoing human effort.  (For arguments against cats see Gareth Morgan! :-))

           The kids are pretty stoked with their efforts, and I reckon they deserve to be.  Guess this just adds to the mounting evidence that Room 2 really is the very best class at Sunnyhills School.

By Fiona
The colourful motifs were borrowed from the artwork of  Heather Galler

By Karthiga

By Jasmine

ANZAC Day - unlocking the secrets of my family history

I learned a lot today, so a huge thank you to all the kids in Room 2.  

             The memorial plaque my great great grandmother received is colloquially known as the 'death penny', and was sent out after World War I. It was given to the next of kin of deceased servicemen and women.   Thanks for providing that interesting information, Fiona, Carol and Nadia.

 BaiLin, Jake, Jacob and Nicholas explained some of the symbolism. I thought the most interesting part was that there is a lion (the symbol of England), tearing apart an eagle (the symbol of Germany).  The anger the allies felt must've run deep after the war.  I also learned the design was chosen after a competition, and that the winning designer was named Carter Preston.  Thank you boys for your thorough research.

My great grandfather's hat caused great excitement.  Lots of my boys wanted to have their photo taken wearing it.  Naturally, I obliged.  The hat is known as a 'lemon squeezer'.  This was news to me.

Courtesy of Tandia, Jasmine and Ruby, I learned my great grandfather, David Honore was a rifleman and trained in Wellington

David's brother Fritz was killed in action on 26 October, 1918.  He was also a rifleman, was in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, and fought in the 4th Battalion.  Thank you to Ruby, Jasmine and Tandia for researching this.  It was sad to consider he was so young when he died, and also that the war ended only weeks after he had made the ultimate sacrifice. 

Which 5 items should Room 2 take to a deserted island?

There were 4 points of position set up around the room (at north, south, east and west).  The four positions were Agree, Disagree, Maybe agree and Maybe disagree. Mrs Wallace explained the rules of the debate (not debate in the purist sense of the word), and the kids moved to that position that reflected their point of view.  The kids changed position as their views were shifted as a consequence of compelling arguments.

   

Jacob asserted that water purifying tablets were a must.

Jake refuted the claim, explaining that water could be boiled, but the class sided with Jacob.

Cailan was certain that a fishing net was an essential item; eating is essential in your bid to stay alive he explained.  Nadia agreed that a fishing net was important but also felt that it didn't deserve a top five position.  In the end, the fishing net didn't make the grade. 

A steel bucket was an absolute must.  As Jake pointed out, it has multiple uses; like carrying things, boiling water, cooking food and, that fact upped its value.  Who could argue with such strong reasoning? The whole class agreed.

Samuel wanted to bring medical bandages, but Ruby pointed out that there were natural alternatives for bandages, and that many plants also had additional medicinal purposes. The bandages didn't make the cut. (The cut. Get it?)

Karthiga wanted to see insect repellent take the final place on the top five list. Brayden didn't believe that insect repellent deserved such a high ranking.  He argued that Bear Grylls didn't use it, instead preferring to opt for long sleeves and tramping pants.  Fiona retorted that you were likely to end up with heat stroke if you wore that in the tropics.   Kees added that mosquitoes were mostly likely to feast on you at night, and that the smoke from the fire (you'd started using your steel and flint) would keep them away.  The kids who didn't believe insect repellent was essential put up a strong fight, but in the end it was decided by the majority that repellent had to be there.  

Top debaters in Room 2?

Jacob, Fiona and Jake - all passionate, logical and articulate.

Well done!

Items in our Top 5 (as decided by members of Room 2)

Machete

Metal bucket

Flint and steel

Water purifying tablets

Insect repellent