Two wonderful musicians from Vietnam visited our school today. They brought with them all sorts of instruments primarily made from bamboo. Some of our favourite instruments were the dan bau (a one-stringed zither), the dan trung (a hanging bamboo xylophone), a two-string violin, and a flute that was so long it could be played by two or three people at the same time. We also loved the instruments they invented themselves!
This morning, The Fung-Chiu Duo visited our school and put on a wonderful show. Janelle and Philip play one piano with four hands. It is pretty amazing to watch!
They taught us all about classical music and many of us even got a chance to go up and participate in the show.
See if you can recognize any of the songs they payed for us in this video:
Here are some of our comments and questions after watching the show:
Koa-Where did you find all that music?
Brooklynn-My favourite song was the Simpsons.
Jorja-It was really fun to watch!
Kezra-How did you learn to play the Simpsons?
Linden-I liked the Peer Gynt song when Jorja was Peer.
Jacob-I liked the stomping and clapping when we were seeing what 4/4 felt like.
Solomon-My step dad has a set of drums.
Lily-I’m glad that they could come to the assembly this morning.
Taegan-My dad used to be in a band.
We hope Philip and Janelle have a wonderful time visiting the other schools on their tour!
Last week we were very fortunate to have MIchael Crumback visit our class. He is going to school to become an animator.
Michael showed us the cool pencil and paper animating that they started with in his first year. He brought along a few of the flip books he created and also showed us what they looked like once they were scanned into the computer. We thought the flour sack was very funny!
Next, Michael showed us the amazing computer animation they moved on to. We loved seeing all of the projects he worked on in his class. The animations of the sheep were hilarious. We also got to see how to animate people using a special computer program. Michael let us make decisions about what to have the character do. Having the character do the splits and then have his teeth fly out of his mouth were very popular with the students.
Michael also shared the short film his class made together and showed us that parts he was responsible for. We loved the hippo!
Finally, Michael led us in some directed drawing. He showed us step by step how to draw a fun cartoon rabbit and then a snake. We also got a chance to try out the drawing pad and stylus that he using when animating.
Our Turn to Draw on PhotoPeach
We can’t thank Michael enough for coming all the way from Vancouver to share with us. He is definitely going to have one of the coolest jobs around!
On Friday our whole school went to Fort Rupert to take part in an Aboriginal Day celebration.
When we arrived we went into the big house for the opening ceremonies. There were a few speeches and then we got to see two special dances. We especially liked the dance where the dancers spread eagle down from their headdresses as they danced.
After the opening ceremonies we left the big house and went to try all the different activities that were set up in the community centre. We made hide bracelets, tried our hands at cedar weaving, and even got our faces painted if we wanted to. There were different stations set up all around the hall as well as some great food.
After eating lunch we went down to the beach and almost everyone went for a paddle in one of the traditional canoes. We had to take off our shoes and socks to get into the canoe. It was so much fun!
Finally, we returned to the big house and sampled some of the foods in the traditional feast before the closing ceremonies. There was salmon, crab, seaweed, oysters, ooligans, herring eggs, and even sea urchin. Once everyone had a chance to have a taste we returned to our seats for the closing dance. We all got invited to the floor to join in. It was a great way to end a fantastic day!
We would like to say Gilakas’la (thank you) to Mr. Child and his daughters for visiting our school last week. We have fond memories of their last visit and were very excited to welcome them to our school again.
Mr. Child and his daughters came to teach us about button blankets and to share the many beautiful blankets that belong to his family. Mr. Child taught as about the different symbols on the blankets, how they are made, and the special stories and traditions that are attached to them.
What an amazing day! Here are a few of our favourite parts:
Bradley-I like the button blankets and the masks.
Lily-I liked it when we were dancing around in the circle.
Sharon-When we were talking about carving it reminded me of my dad doing frog carvings.
Karin-I got to be partners with one of Caleb’s daughters, named Mariah.
Kennedy-At lunch, Natalya and Kiara told me about the dance we did.
Ana-At lunch I was showing the girls around the forest.
Jacob-I loved the button blankets. They were so cool. The button blanket with the eagle done in sequins was my favourite.
Solomon-I liked the story that Mr. Child told about the Tsonokwa (Dzoo-noo-kwa), the Wild Woman of the Woods.
Gwen-I liked how the blankets were all designed with the buttons and I liked the masks.
Sophie-I am part aboriginal, but I didn’t understand most of the kwakwala.
Quang-I liked the rattles because they have nice pictures on them.
We hope that Mr. Child, Mariah, Natalya, and Kiara will come back again soon!
On Thursday we went on a field trip to Sunset School to see Vancouver Opera in School’s production of Hansel and Gretel.
Normally we take the ferry when we want to leave the island, but for this trip we got to travel on the NAIAD Explorer. It is a very fast boat. The trip to Port McNeill usually takes about 30 minutes, but on the NIAD you are there in less than 10!
We were asked not to take any photos or videos of the performance and so we decided to make our own retellings of the opera using Little Bird Tales. With our groups we planned out which scenes to include, drew our illustrations, wrote the narration, and then added text. Here is a short peek at the wonderful collaborations that were happening in our classroom:
We had all heard the story of Hansel and Gretel before, but the story the opera told was quite different. Can you spot all the differences?
(This group isn’t quite finished yet. They still need to add their text)
This morning we were treated to an incredible performance by Infinitus, an amazing string trio. Group members Alex, Anthony, and John put on a wonderful show that had the students excited and engaged the entire hour. They entertained us with theme songs, modern hits, and classical pieces. They also shared information with the students about their instruments, music vocabulary, and the different techniques they use. The students loved that they could recognize each song and some even sang along! They were invited to make song requests and there wasn’t a song the trio couldn’t play. Alex, Anthony, and John have definitely given the students a new appreciation for classical music and other genres that they might not have been familiar with. We were humming and singing all day!
See how many of the songs you can recognize in these clips from this morning’s performance!
http://www.infinitusmusic.com
