Primary’s continent studies moved to Europe! We have been talking about France—the land of croissants, baguettes, famous art and artists, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Tour de France.
France has so many visually exciting aspects that the children dove right into exploring. They have been assembling puzzles of famous monuments and using a punch of the Eiffel Tower. One of our most popular works has been the bicycle that we mounted on blocks so that children could ride the Tour de France in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. They have been so excited to don a maillot jaune (or yellow jersey), helmet, and gloves and ride with all their might. We have had a child on the bike non-stop!
We have also been studying the children’s author/illustrator Hervé Tullet, who happens to be from France. Tullet’s books have fun interactive games that the children have come to adore. We made a collaborative sticker dot collage a la his most famous book, “Press Here.” We also learned basic color theory with the help of the book “Mix It Up.”
Last on our study of France was an Art History lesson about ballet. On Friday, we were thrilled to have a student from the Upper Unit, who happens to be a ballerina, visit our classroom. She talked about studying to be a ballerina for the last six years. She shared all of the different roles in the ballets that she has performed. So far, she has been on stage in The Nutcracker six times and has danced in other classic ballets like Coppélia and The Sleeping Beauty. We ended the visit by learning some of the positions of arms and feet used in ballet. The children all loved learning the movements and dancing around.
