Month: November 2020

CELEBRATING DIWALI

DIWALI is the Indian Festival of Lights. This year it was held on Saturday 14th November.

Click on ALL ABOUT DIWALI to read about Diwali to find the answers in your Diwali booklet.

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Then scroll down or click here to read THE STORY OF DIWALI to find out why it’s the festival of lights.  You have a printout in your booklet of one of the pictures.  You need to write the part of the story which goes with it on the lined paper with the picture.

At Diwali, Hindus draw bright Rangoli patterns to encourage the goddess Lakshmi to enter their homes.

After completing your booklet rangoli patterns, you can download and colour in one of these rangoli designs.

rangoli_colour_by_number_1

rangoli_colouring_page_3

This video shows a really clever way of drawing a lotus flower RANGOLI pattern.

You can read about rangoli at these websites which show the RANGOLI flower designs.

1. RANGOLI PICTURES

2. ALL ABOUT RANGOLI

CHINESE NEW YEAR – Lion and Dragon Dance

The Dragon Dance is the highlight of the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) celebrations.

In Chinese culture, dragons are thought to be friendly, helpful creatures.  The imperial dragon has 5 toes and carries a pearl in its mouth.  In the dragon dance the long body of the dragon chases after the pearl.  Watch this video from Melbourne Chinatown in 2016.

The Lion Dance is very acrobatic and there are 2 people in each lion body.  In Chinese culture the lion is thought to be lucky, helpful and protective, a bit like guard dogs.  Often pairs of lion statues (called “fu lions” are often placed at the entrance to Buddhist temples and other sacred places.  The lion in the dance is meant to be lucky and to chase away evil spirits.  These lions are not meant to look real because the lion did not originally live in China and people formed their idea of what lions would look like from stories heard from travellers.

 

CHAMPION ROSIE!

On Saturday it was my Development Basketball day. I was so pumped to start playing, but it was bad because we had to start our first game at 7:30 in the morning!

First we versed Bussselton. The score was amazing.  It was 2 – 34.  We won that game.  We had to wait three hours till the next game, which was boring.  We ate food and watched the other games till it was our turn.  When it was our turn, we versed Australind. We won that game too.  In game three we versed the hardest team that had never lost a game (just like us).  Sadly, we lost – but not by much.  The end score was 14 – 18.  We went into the pool and splashed around till our next game.

It was our semi-final.  We flogged them. The final score was 0 – 23!  We got into the grand final with Bunbury, the team we lost to in game three.  I stole the ball about three times and passed it to my team mates.  I was so excited because we won!!

That was the best day of my life.

Written by Rosie; Photos by Kelly family; Posted by Mrs Veary

Why Maths Matters!

Many of you might wonder why Maths is so important?  Why do you need it?  How will it help you later in life?  After all, isn’t that why we have computers and calculators and other technology?

Listen to what Eddie Woo (amazingly brilliant high school Maths teacher with his own WooTube channel dedicated to Maths) has to say about that.  I only want to show you part of this video interview, where he explains the importance of Maths. [Your Mum and Dad might want to watch this too. 🙂 ]

KURT FEARNLEY INTERVIEWS EDDIE WOO ON ONE-PLUS-ONE

All About Phar Lap

You are probably wondering just why Phar Lap (a horse) became so popular with Australians…

  • Who was Phar Lap?
  • What made him so special as a racehorse?
  • Try to explain just why Australians loved him so much? (It was more than just watching a racehorse?)

You can find some of that information in your booklet, but let’s also have a look at the information in THE MUSEUMS VICTORIA site.

or in this video clip PHAR LAP – A NATIONAL TREASURE.[see Phar Lap’s Hide clip]

Now, can you explain why Phar Lap was so important to the nation at that time?

Just as a treat, here is a video clip (from the movie, “Phar Lap”) of Phar Lap and Jimmy Pike winning the Melbourne Cup in 1930.  NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE AUSTRALIA 

The Melbourne Cup on BTN

We are going to learn about an Australian celebration which happens every year – The Melbourne Cup.  Next we will learn about a very special horse who won many of the early Melbourne Cup races – and who was loved and known by most Australians.  He was Phar Lap!

Click on the link to watch the BTN Video about the Melbourne Cup – how it started and why it is such an important celebration in Australia.

QUESTIONS to think about while you watch:

  1. What famous horse names did you hear?
  2. Why did people decide to start racing horses?
  3. What else besides the horses has become important at the Melbourne Cup?
  4. Where is this race held?
  5. Why is it called “the race that stops a nation”?
  6. In which state is this day a public holiday?
  7. How many people go to the racecourse for the race?
  8. How many people watch the race on television?

Let’s see how well you can listen and remember.  🙂

This links to a BTN Video talking about jockeys.  You will be doing some work on jockeys in your booklet, so listen carefully.