Zarafa

Source: IMDB

Today, as part of our Black History Month celebrations, we visited Dulwich Picture House Cinema to watch a wonderful film.

Source: wikipedia

First, we had a fascinating talk about the history of Africa, then we began to watch the beautiful animated film, 'Zarafa'.

 Source: homemcr

Can you remember where the main settings of the film were?

 Source: wikipedia

 

Source: The Guardian

What can you tell me about the true story that the film was based on?

A Visit from Monsieur Davi

This half term we have been enjoying learning about Togo, so we were absolutely delighted when we were able to welcome a special Togolese visitor to our classroom. Monsieur Davi was a fantastic guest, who taught us lots about life in Togo and about the many languages spoken there. As a linguist and former teacher, he was able to share lots of knowledge about Africa with us.

Monsieur Davi also brought some Togolese foods to show us and even set us the challenge of designing some posters to advertise Togolese food such as cassava, cocoa beans, coffee beans, palm nuts, okra and corn.

He was very impressed by the children's knowledge and interest in Togo. Thank you for coming to visit us, Mr. Davi!

Togo Art

Last week, we learned about Adinkra cloth- a beautiful textile art from West Africa. We looked at some of the symbols and their meanings, then designed some of our own. We then carved our own stamps from potatoes and printed some Adinkra cloth. What do you think?

We also experimented with watercolour paints last week, and made some lovely reverse silhouettes with a Togolese theme. We designed our stencil and cut it out carefully, then held it in place on the paper while we painted the background around it using watercolours. Then, when we removed the stencil, we were left with these stunning pictures:

A Look Around Our Classroom This Week

This week in St. George's Class, we are continuing our One World focus on Togo. Here is a quick tour of some of the new work on display in our room.

Our One World Pledges- what will we do to protect our planet and all of those who live on it?

Our fantastic information posters about Togo. Our mad scientist was very impressed by them! Can you tell?!

Our beautiful artwork, in the style of Togolese artist Joseph Amedokpo:

Our story maps. We retold the story of 'Akimbo and the Elephants', without any words!

Our focus table for Togo- we are collecting lots of models and books about elephants, as we learn more about elephant conservation and welfare:

The Fire Children

Source: Amazon.co.uk

As we continue to learn about Togo, we have enjoyed a West African story this week. We all enjoyed the simple and positive story of 'The Fire Children' and we particularly loved the beautiful illustrations.

We read about how the sky god Nyame hung a basket in the sky, which he filled with earth and nature and animals. Then he made a trapdoor and holes in the sky to let the light through.

We drew what we imagined this would look like:

Then, we learned about fronted adverbials and how they can be added to the beginning of a sentence to make our writing more interesting. Here are some great examples of using fronted adverbials to write interesting sentences about 'The Fire Children':

Yesterday afternoon, we made our own Fire Children from clay.
Here we are making our sculptures:

 Here are the finished masterpieces:

Beautiful Lantern Art

When we visited the Horniman Museum, we were blown away by the beauty of the painted lanterns hanging in the main lobby. We decided to make some of our own, but with a Togolese twist!

Source: tripadvisor

Each group designed their lantern, to include images or symbols of Togo.

Then we carefully and gently painted the lanterns, using watercolour paints and very thin brushes. The lanterns are very fragile so we had to be gentle to avoid tearing the paper.

The completed lanterns will be illuminated and on display at the School Art Exhibition in the hall tomorrow (Friday). Do come and see them!

Ewe Weaving

Last week, Mrs Herrera taught St. George's Class about a textile art form made by the Ewe people of Togo. These beautiful fabrics are made by weaving, often in colourful stripes.

Take a look at some of the wonderful weaving created in St. George's Class:

Fun Map of Africa Games!

Have a try at these fun map games. The first game is to learn where all of the countries in the continent of Africa are. When you have completed that, try the challenge game. The challenge game asks you to click on certain countries in each region of Africa. Let me know how you get on!

Learning Game:

 http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Africa/Africa_GL_1024_768.html

Challenge Game:

 http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Africa/Africa_G0_1024_768.html

Our African Adventure!

Yesterday, we had a wonderful day at the Horniman Museum.

Firstly, before the rain set in, we made the most of the outdoor space and tried out the fantastic instruments in the park.

Then we visited the 'African Worlds' exhibition and saw many fascinating items from around Africa. Some of the items were very old and some were much more modern. What was the most interesting object you saw in the exhibition?

Finally, we had a great session with Christine, one of the teachers from the museum.

She showed us some instruments, from Zimbabwe and Ghana.

We saw some beautiful fabrics from Morocco, Nigeria and Ghana. She showed us how people from some communities in Africa might wear these fabrics for traditional events or special occasions.

Christine showed us some masks from Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. We were able to try them on very carefully.

 We also saw and played with some toys and objects from various countries in Africa.

Although we did not see anything from Togo, we did see lots of items from their neighbouring West African countries.

What was your highlight of the day?