Art_The Baltimore Museum of Industry Field Trip

The girls had a very successful trip to the museum! The girls participated in two workshops engaging in the design process to make board games and roller coasters. They exhibited and developed their communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity skills. This field trip is an integral part of an integrated unit in art and technology - a gaming and design unit that investigates gaming elements, game design, and parts to a whole.  

Art_Leaf Paintings

The girls just finished a unit where they put their new R-Mode skills to work. They painted leaves by painting the space around the leaves - the negative space. It was a challenge for sure! 

They learned a trick that helped them "see" better. They gridded the paper that the leaf was on and they gridded the painting paper. This technique allowed them to more accurately see the space and thus see the leaf itself.  When they painted the positive space (the leaf itself), they adjusted the lines to get it "just right". 

Check out the work in process! Some of the finished leaves are hanging in the entrance gallery to the Lower School administration building. 

 

Gaming and the BMI

The year 5th grade students began the year with a gaming unit.  The culminating event for this unit will be designing your own game, using the Thinking and Learning Design Process.  The first step in the process is exploration.  The girls reviewed various types of games like home made video games, arcade games, and board games. 

As part of the gaming exploration we also visited the Baltimore Museum of Industry.  While there, the students participated in two exhibits:  

Design It: Balls & Tracks which is a STEAM related program where the students get into small groups to build and test roller coasters.  We will focus on collaborative work and parts to a whole.

Video Game Wizards:  Playing games is fun, but the real fun lies in making them. In this interactive, hands-on program, students race against the clock to design their own board game, determining rules, sequencing, and special powers. Using critical thinking skills, the think creatively as a group in order to develop an innovative and enjoyable game -- just like the real life game developers featured in the Video Game Wizards exhibition.    

Art_Baseline Self-Portraits

The girls drew a baseline self-portrait showing what they see in the mirror. Observation skills will be a major theme this year in 5th grade art. They will learn ways to switch to R-Mode (the right side of the brain) and develop their observational skills using different drawing strategies.  

We are off to a great start!!

What is the Most Boring Landform?

PLAIN!

Sorry, just a little geography humor to brighten up this rainy Monday.  All horrible puns aside, the girls are hard at work thoughtfully brainstorming ideas for their History Landform Project.  Each group (collaboration opportunity, woohoo!!!) will design and create a three dimensional map that illustrates some of the landforms that we have studied in class. 

Music: Hand Clapping Game and Rhythm Review

The girls learned a complicated hand-clapping song and game from Jamaica.  They loved this challenge!

Next, they created 16 beat rhythms based on the words of various types and breeds of horses,




And played them on a drum!

Summer Reading for Rising Fifth Graders

Here is a link to summer reading information:

http://www.brynmawrschool.org/Page/Academics/Lower-School/Peggy-Bessent-Library/Fifth-Grade-Summer-Reading

Happy Summer!