In year 3 we have been doing lots of art work this term. We began researching about an artist called Edgar Degas who uses charcoal to create drawings. We have been exploring different ways to use charcoal including using different pressure, smudging and using the edge of a charcoal pencil. This week we used the knowledge that we have gained to dance in charcoal. This was very exciting for the children in year 3. We wanted it to feel like a performance so children put their chairs in a circle around the paper and we changed the background music to see if this made a difference to the children’s mood when creating their piece of artwork. It was a super messy but very fun afternoon enjoyed by all!

Year 3 and 4 children were lucky enough to meet Andy Craven-Griffiths, a poet who has performed on live stages and has had his work broadcasted and printed, for a performance workshop with children from other local schools. They spent the day creating their own poem with similes, alliteration and rhyming words. 

The children began the day choosing an animal in groups that they were familiar with. The children then wrote down as many things they knew about their animal, some of our children discussed that fish cannot blink as they do not have eyelids. They then were instructed to pretend they were their animal and think of a reason why they would like to be the animal, for example: fish cannot blink so they would be able to win in a staring competition. 

Next the children had to create some rhyming words for their poem, it wasn’t important that the poem would rhyme as long as it had clear stanzas. Many of our children came up with some incredible rhyming and half rhyme words.  

Then the children created a chorus for their poem which was repeated at the beginning and end of their poem. Children were instructed that this didn’t need to rhyme and didn’t have to have similes but it must describe their animal. 

Finally, the children had a chance to perform their poems to the group. They spent lots of time practicing their delivery of the poem and decided who would say parts and when they children would all perform together.