Students of grade 6 and 7 experienced first hand the food making process in preparing mango pickle with the help of a local expert.

Prior to the pickling lesson, students learned the importance of food processing in boosting the shelf life of the product, preventing food-contamination, food storage and transportation and turning raw food materials into attractive, marketable products. They learned about food preservatives and various methods of preserving food and about the relationship between food processing and chemical engineering.

After waiting patiently for the pickles to mature, they then served everyone their pickles during lunch. We continue to enjoy their mango achaar. 

On the 3rd of May, Grade 6 and 7 went on a fieldtrip to meet Vulcan Art Gallery owner Manan Kholi and to visit Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Summer Palace in the city of Amritsar. It was an interdisciplinary fieldtrip combining Art with Science. The organizing teachers were Hanna Waite (ART) and Shalu Deora (STEM). 

Manan is an artist himself and is passionate about helping other artists showcase their work worldwide. He believes that art has the capacity to deeply connect people to reality and authenticity and wishes to inspire others and bring a positive change in society by organizing art workshops and vacations for both adults and children. 

We met Manan outside the Summer Palace at 10 am. He took us inside the palace for a visit before guiding us around the garden. Manan instructed the children to gather natural materials, such as leaves, bark, sticks and flowers to be used in a workshop he had planned for us. The children ran around the garden looking for materials whilst at the same time investigating how nature changes over time and how transformation occurs in organic materials. When we were done gathering materials Manan brought us to a local gallery and art space called “Timeless Amritsar Art Space” where he instructed the children to create an artwork from the natural materials they had collected.

Afterwards we visited the gallery and looked at the paintings on display. The children were instructed to choose a favourite painting on which they later wrote an analysis back in the classroom. We had a great morning and a wonderful experience, talking about science, creating art and visiting an art gallery for the first time! Well done everyone!

During week three through to week six, grades 8 and 9 researched and presented an artist each from the Pop Art movement. The artists ranged from a time period of 70 years from 1953 through to today. The students wrote a text about the artist and copied one of their artworks to make the presentation. The learning skills included understanding that artists make work that have a meaning, research skills, art history and drawing skills such as working with a grid and understanding proportions, and finally presentation skills such as eye contact, voice control and taking pauses. 

The result was five brilliant presentations, well done!

WELL DONE!

In week four, we started the learning unit about drawing in Grade 5. The first task was to imagine a picture and to transfer that image from the imagination to a piece of paper in the form of a drawing. Easier said than done! 

The unit started with the teacher reading aloud a short story about a mouse and a lion without showing the students any pictures. The students then had to draw a picture from their imagination depicting the mouse and the lion from the story. The result was that the imagined picture and the drawing did not always correspond. To transfer a picture from imagination to a 2D piece of paper is difficult.

The second task was to practice drawing a mouse using shapes. We had already learned about shapes in a previous lesson. The result was great! The mouse was now much closer to how a real mouse might look.

The third task was to draw the lion using shapes, again the results showed much improvement. Well done Grade 5 for being so patient with your drawing skills and for working hard!

Shalu Deora:  STEM Grade 6 & 7

To develop the scientific thinking in students, we at Miri Piri Academy promote learning by doing hands-on science activities and experiments. It helps students understand what they have learned and develops a deeper understanding of the subject. It also leads to skill development in goal setting, planning, analytical thinking and problem solving.

With this aim, students of Grade 6 & 7 participated in an experiment of melting of ice and burning dry leaves and paper to learn about physical and chemical changes in their surroundings and to understand the process of combustion.

During this experiment, the students recorded the experiments mentioning procedure, observation and conclusion. The students were curious and excited which made their learning more effective and enjoyable.

Manisha Bakshi:  Humanities Grade 6 & 7

At the start of the school year, students in grades 6 &7 were encouraged to develop comfort in speaking and giving verbal responses in English. This activity involved comparing pictures and giving verbal descriptions. It was a fun activity that enhanced students’ speaking skills. 

Grade 5 students played the role of journalist and they interviewed Ms. Japjeet Kaur Khalsa, Head of School, to know more about her journey of hard work, honesty and dedication. They learned the importance of Kirat Karo and got the inspiration to work hard on their skills, abilities, and talent for the benefit and improvement of themselves and society at large.

“It was great to have Grade 5 Crew visit as reporters and ask me some very challenging questions on the value of hard work. Hard work is one of the key Habits of Work and Learning (HoWLs) at MPA and the heart of everything that we do here. Whether we are engaging in meditation, practicing sports or applying our minds to STEM and Humanities, it is essential that we try our best and put our whole selves into the activity. 

Crew is a wonderful way to reinforce these key Habits of Work and Learning that we want all students and staff to adopt. Grade 5 Crew are beginning to learn what it means to meditate and self-reflect, work hard and share with others. They are very engaged and curious learners. I look forward to seeing them grow through their time here at MPA.” – Japjeet Kaur

Pop Art!

During week three grades 6 and 7 learned about the art movement “Pop Art”. The task was to create a Pop Art collage using shapes, colours and patterns that signify the style. In this picture the students are using coloured paper to cut out shapes and letters before gluing them onto a background. Each student was given the choice of four different colours to make the collage and black marker pens to decorate it with patterns. The class was initiated by the teacher showing the students a Powerpoint about the art movement and how it originated in England and in the US during the 1950s and 60s. The students were then given a quiz about the Powerpoint to check for understanding. The next step was the actual activity of creating the collage using paper, scissors, glue and marker pens. The students had already learned how to make block letters with marker pens which was applied in this task as each collage incorporated a word. The activity challenged the students to work hard (cutting out paper can be tiring), to have patience (waiting for glue to dry!) and to problem solve. The learning targets were:

• I can use colours, shapes and patterns effectively to make a Pop Art collage.
• I can demonstrate problem-solving skills and layering techniques.

The result was eight stunning pop art posters!

Sonali Handa: STEM Grade 8 & 9

In this activity, the students conducted  an experiment of static electricity to check the effect of distance between charged objects on the electric force between them. The students rubbed two balloons each with wool to get them charged and then calculated the distance between the balloons.

The students then recorded the observations and explored how distance affects the strength of electric force. They plotted a graph between these two variables to identify the relationship between the variables and then answered the guiding questions to reach conclusions from the graph.

While conducting this experiment, the students developed an understanding of how to conduct an experiment and developed their critical thinking skills.

Amanpreet Kaur:  Humanities Grade 8 & 9

Humanities Grade 8 & 9 is currently learning about the First World War. In this photo, the students were using videos and maps to understand and make geographical and historical connections to the practices of the First World War.

As the task, the students were to describe their ideas about the impact of war via pictures. This was an opportunity for them to work hard towards their learning target using  images and mind maps to depict their work.

During this activity, the students were able to draw their thoughts and explain the different aspects they were focussing on. The students were then able to apply the concepts and content they have learned to imagine a post war scenario and describe the same in their own words.