Today the children were developing their ability to use different levels within a sequence.

They used their NUMBER SKILLS to work out the timing of their groups.

THINKING SKILLS and COMMUNICATION SKILLS were used to work out and tell each partner what they had to do to be successful.


I.C.T. SKILLS were used to enhance performance with the use of the digital camera to analyse the quality of the actions.

Partners gave each other targets for next week.

Can they achieve them?

After we finished our voting on our favourite landmarks in Paris we were set the NUMERACY challenge of putting them in order of preference of the whole class. We were given 15 mins to decide on a method by which to rate our choices. We considered tally charts, voting for our favourites and least favourites and several other methods. Eventually Molly's group and Daniel's group decided on the Eurovision Song Contest method of voting: 7 points for each favourite vote down to 1 for our least favourite. We then multiplied each score by the number of votes and added the final scores together. Click on our score card for a break down of our results.

Our favourite Parisian Landmarks in order were:

Euro Disney

The Eiffel Tower

The Louvre

Notre Dame

The Champs Elysees

The Sacre Coeur

The Arc de Triomphe

We were also set the challenge of finding a way in which to represent our results. Some thought that a table would be a good idea, while others suggested graphs. Find out tomorrow which method we have decided upon.

What would your choice be and why?

Today we looked at famous landmarks in Paris.

We were given some research materials, and in our TALKING PARTNERS we had to discuss the attractions and detractions of each landmark. We then had to rank them in order of preference, and give reasons for our decisions. This generated a lot of discussion. We also used a lot of COMMUNICATION SKILLS.

We thought that the Louvre would be an interesting destination as many of us would like to see the Mona Lisa. Some of us thought that we would not be very interested in such a big museum.


Lots of us were fascinated by the thought of climbing the Eiffel Tower.
Ioan wants to see if it really does sway in a strong wind!


We would like to visit the Champs Elysees as it is one of the most famous streets in the world. It has many cafes and restaurants and luxury shops.

We would love to visit Notre Dame as many of us have seen the film and would like to meet Quasimodo!

Sacre Coeur would interest us as it is at the highest point of the city and has wonderful views.

Euro Disney was a favourite! Almost everyone would like to visit this theme park.

The Arc De Triomphe honours people who have fought for France. Many of us liked the idea of seeing it illuminated by night in the middle of a huge roundabout!

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Paris vs. Pontyclun

Pontyclun or Paris?


Following our research using reference books, group discussions (Communication Skills) and the internet (I.T.Skills), we had a debate as to which was the better place to live, Paris or Pontyclun.



We began the debate in our groups. No one knew which city/village they would finally be representing in the class debate, so everyone had to listen to each other's arguments carefully.







Many issues were hotly contested.


For Pontyclun:

A quiet, peaceful village.

Lots of shops.

Plenty of clubs and activities.

Lovely countryside.

Lots of walks and public footpaths.

Not much crime.

A fantastic school!!!!

Good public transport.

Access to lots of places due to M4 and railway.

Not much pollution.

Paris:

Wonderful buildings.

Interesting history.

Fantastic shops.

Museams.

Great food.

Euro Disney.

Good weather.

Against Pontyclun:

Parking problems.

No cinemas, museams etc.

Litter and dog mess.

Teenagers making people feel threatened.

Awful weather.

Against Paris:

Crowds.

Traffic.

Pollution.

Crime.

Where would you rather live and what are your reasons?

Today we started our Music topic - Exploring Rounds.

We began by listening to Gnossienne No 3 by Satie.

Listen to Gnossienne No 3 here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_w_lckqz8A

Satie was a French composer who lived from 1866 to 1925.

Satie built his music using three different scales (sets of notes that we use to create melodies and chords).

We looked at the scales and then we made up chords (three or more notes played at the same time) from these scales.


In our groups we decided on different jobs for our task. One of us played the drone (a steady beat on the bottom note of the chord), while others in the group played the rest of the notes to build up the chord. One person became the conductor whose job it was to bring players in and out over the drone. We then rotated our jobs. We had to concentrate really hard, and use plenty of COMMUNICATION SKILLS.


Later, we added chords using different rhythms (timings).

Each group then performed their improvisations (compositions made up on the spot) to the rest of the class.

We discussed the sound of the chords and rhythms produced and their effectiveness.

Today we linked Geography and Number skills. We had to describe and compare sets of data about weather in Paris and Cardiff. This information will eventually feed into a debate about in which city we would rather live.

We had to use geographical data to back up a viewpoint.

After looking at the data about temperature and rainfall in both cities, we then had to draw two graphs comparing Paris and Cardiff.

Click on Lily's graph to compare the temperature in Cardiff and Paris.

Click on Ewan's graph to compare the rainfall in Paris and Cardiff.