At YCIS we encourage the participation of parents and the wider school community in the learning journey of our students. This involvement is seen in many different ways, including events such as Open Morning, Sports Days & Field Trips. An excellent example of this interaction happened in Year 4 recently, with students getting to know all about some of the talented musicians that are hiding amongst our community.
As part of the Year 4 curriculum, the students are currently studying a Science Unit on Sound. The unit focuses around discussion questions such as; What is sound? Where does sound come from? How do I hear things? How does sound travel? How/why can the pitch of a sound change?
Last week we were fortunate to have 3 performers from the YCIS community come and share their knowledge and talent with us. Ms. Tang Sai the mother of Isabella in 4D and a violinist with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Steven Gange (Year 2 teacher at YCIS) who is also the base guitarist of Cult Shanghai rock band Grindhouse and Tammy Reddinger (YCIS Music teacher) who plays the flute and other various wind instruments. All 3 performers discussed the history of their instrument, how the instrument makes sound and how the various parts of their instruments move/work in order to create difference in pitch. Students were encouraged to be involved and play the instruments and asked questions of each of the performers.
Interactions with the YCIS community bolster our curriculum here at YCIS. Students can see learning in real life as well as gather information from a variety of sources to help deepen their understanding of a topic. We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has come in to share in the learning journey of the Year 4 children throughout our academic year.
Y4E Class Teacher and Team Leader – Natalie GRAY