Specials Learning Previews 4/9/2019

Physical Education
Mr. Chris Moore, [email protected]

Grade 6: Students are in the early stage of their fitness and healthy body unit. This unit is designed for students to be able to display knowledge and skills related to maintaining and enhancing physical fitness outside of physical education class. Specifically, Grade 6 has began by focusing on various ways to participate in aerobic exercise. Next they will focus on muscular strength, muscular endurance, the difference between the two areas of health related fitness, and fitnessgram assessments.

Grade 7: Students are in the early stage of their fitness and healthy body unit. This unit is designed for students to be able to display knowledge and skills related to maintaining and enhancing physical fitness outside of physical education class. Specifically, Grade 7 has began by focusing on developing their health and skill related fitness by working at various stations. Next they will focus on muscular strength, muscular endurance, dynamic/ static stretching, and fitnessgram assessments.

Grade 8: Students are finishing up their Invasion Games Unit, by participating in a grade-wide Speedball Tournament. Next, 8th grade will begin their fitness and healthy body unit. They will work on workout design, areas of strength and weakness, and also partake in the fitnessgram assessments (pacer test, curl-up test, push-up, and sit and reach).

Health
Mr. McNulty, [email protected]

6th: Students are finishing up their E-cigarette and Vaping Prevention Unit. They created some awesome “warning labels” that are on display in the hallway. Our next unit will be Nutrition. Students will be assessing their food intake, sugar consumption and ways to eat a well balanced diet.
7th: Students did a great job creating PSA’s about an “ism” they wanted to bring awareness to. Their work is displayed in the hallway for viewing. Their next unit will be E-cigarette and Vaping Prevention. They will be learning about E-cigarette advertising appeals, the dangers of E-cigs, Vaping and Juuling and the harmful physical and mental effects of the ingredients in those products.

8th: Students began their E-cigarette and Vaping Prevention Unit last week. They have two more lessons in that unit and then will focus on other harmful substances such as alcohol, prescription medication and marijuana.

Band
Mr. Wroge, [email protected]

6th - 8th grade Band: We are currently preparing for our May 7th concert. Music we are playing for the concert includes “Raiders March” and “Jupiter”. As always, we continue to work on proper playing position, correct embouchure, breath support, music literacy, and ensemble playing.

Music Studio
Mr. Fairbanks, [email protected]

6th/7th Grade: Both 6th and 7th grade were introduced to Soundtrap, a music program that gives students access to thousands of sounds, allowing them to create and compose their own music. This program will be a tool to understanding the sections of a song and how to “arrange” a song that already exists.

8th Grade: 8th grade have begun their journey in learning about how music, an important aspect of everyday life all over the world, plays a part in different parts of the world. They are currently involved in a project where they choose a country they are interested in and explore the musical culture that exists there.

Chorus, Gr. 6-8
Joshua DeWitte, [email protected]

6th: 6th grade chorus students have begun working on sight singing. Each week, we practice reading short exercises within a limited toneset. After several exercises, we learn a short piece of music that builds on the sight singing skills practiced. Students have the option to sing the exercises in front of the class. All students will perform certain exercises either in front of the class or through a recording. In addition, we are preparing for our concert on May 9. The theme of this concert is growing up. Students are exploring what it

7th: Chorus students continue to work on the next phase of their recording label project. Each group is creating a Google site which will advertise their label and present their music. Students will begin recording their projects after our concert on May 18th. We are working on 3 songs for the concert; The Rose, Shake It Out, and The Ship Song. This concert will feature numerous solos for which singers will audition over the next week.

8th: 8th graders recently chose the songs they wish to sing to represent their class at their graduation. After the concert on May 18, we will begin working on their graduation pieces. Students continue to work on the next phase of their recording label project. Each group is creating a Google site which will advertise their label and present their music. Students will begin recording their projects after our concert. We are working on 3 songs for the concert; The Rose, Shake It Out, and The Ship Song. This concert will feature numerous solos for which singers will audition over the next week.

Orchestra
Ms. Brittany Phillips, [email protected]

The 6th Grade Orchestra is eagerly preparing for our 2nd annual String Night on May 8th. Students have been diligently practicing the challenging swing-style rhythms from “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” while putting the final touches on “Power Rock.” Additionally, students are learning the challenging new B minor tune, “Dragonhunter.” This exciting lyrical piece will be played by all 6-8th grade students in the concert.

The 7th grade orchestra & 8th grade orchestra are putting final touches on theme from “The Avengers.” Studying this challenging piece has become exceptionally exciting as of late because of the new Avengers movie that will be in theatres this month. Many students have identified the theme we are playing in the previews that have come out. In addition to this piece, students are having fun with our “Power Rock” anthem which will be the grand finale of our String Night. Lastly, students are partnering with the 6th grade ensemble for the dramatic tune, “Dragonhunter.” We hope you can join us for the 2nd annual String Night on May 8th!

Spanish
Mr. Paras, [email protected]

Grade 6: In grade six, we will complete our gustar unit. We will then begin to talk about infinitives. We have used these before but now we will begin to better understand what an infinitive is and how we use them. We will then move onto what a cognate is and practice some of these in Spanish. Do we know any and if we do, we will start making a list of the ones we know. Students will keep a list of our cognates. In class we will discuss how to express agreement and disagreement to agree with a statement that someone says. Students will make up sentences and then their partner will express agreement or disagreement with them. We will then move onto another student and do it again. Students will then write short paragraphs about what they do or don’t do. We will then move onto describing how a person is using the verb ser and other vocabulary words.

Grade 7: In grade 7, we will start using the verb encantar to express how much we love certain foods. We will then create bingo boards with food questions and find a classmate who fits the description in the questions. Students will then find a supermarket in a Spanish speaking country and write the names of the foods they find along with the prices. Moving on, we will talk about healthy eating and lifestyle habits. We will talk about the food plate and what should be on it. Students will then keep a 3 day food and drink journal to see if they follow healthy eating habits. We will then make a healthy eating menu with a partner and then talk to another group about it. Do they think it is healthy or not. Our next goal will be to review articles and then work on making adjectives plural. The last thing for this will be to learn the verb ser. We will work on the conjugations of the verb and see how it is used with adjectives to describe food.

Grade 8: Students will finish working on ser and estar and also spend some time on the present progressive tense. Next, we will introduce how to make affirmative tú commands and then talk about when to use them. Students will write 5-7 commands and the there partners will have to act out the commands given. They will then move onto another partner who will act out the commands. Next, we will review stem changing verbs and how they are conjugated. We will then move onto clothing. We will discuss what verbs go with clothing and introduce demonstrative adjectives to talk about clothing. In class, we will then review numbers to 1,000 and then put a price on certain articles of clothing. Lastly, we will introduce the preterite forms of regular “AR” verbs and practice using the preterite tense of the verbs.

French & Spanish
Mr. Pischner, [email protected]

6th, French: Students will continue working with our T’es Branché textbook by navigating our “Métro” stations circuit, where students rotate through a series of tasks involving listening, reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary games, and reflection/culture. Our new learning targets have students to using the verb “adorer” and “détester” as well as adverbs like “un peu,” “bien,” and “beaucoup,” to expand on the ability to (1) ask what someone likes to do (for sports and musical instruments) and (2) say what one likes to do.

7th, French: Students will continue working with our T’es Branché textbook by navigating our “Métro” stations circuit, where students rotate through a series of tasks involving listening, reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary games, and reflection/culture. Our new learning targets get students (1) saying what I and others need, and give prices; (2) using indefinite articles, the plural forms of nouns and articles, the irregular verb “avoir,” and the expression “avoir besoin de (d’).”

8th, French: Our new learning targets have students: (1) telling the time by using numbers and conjugation of the verb “être”,” and (2) saying where I am going by using new vocabulary of places and conjugation of the irregular verb “aller.” Students will work closely with “I can” statements to promote a learning culture of continual self-assessment focussed on proficiency.

8th, Spanish: Our new learning targets have students: (1) talking about what I like to and do not like to do; (2) describing myself and other people; (3) talking about classes I have; (4) describing my classroom; and (5) asking and telling who is doing an action. At this point in the year, we will start to differentiate instruction more in order to better guide students toward what will be expected of them starting next year in high school according to the language level they each will be taking.

Art
Lucia Lee, [email protected]

6th graders who are currently in art are now starting on a Leluja-style cut-paper project. Leluja is a form of paper art that originated in 19th-century Poland involves the use of symmetry, nature, and a central tree-like form. Each spring, Polish people would white-wash the walls of their homes and decorate them with colorful Leluja cutouts. Students in their projects have the flexibility of incorporating inanimate vs. natural objects into their designs. The 6th graders are now sketching out their Leluja imagery and later developing their patience and paper-cutting skills in cutting out the first draft. They will then use the draft to trace their designs onto colored paper and cut out the final draft

7th graders have been continuing with their copper art project using metal tooling techniques. Metal tooling is a process in which a soft (malleable) metal is worked with a rounded tool on the back side to form a raised design on the front. This art form is called embossing or repoussé metalwork because of the repeated working and reworking on the metal. The opposite technique is engraving or chasing in which definition and details are added to the front of the metal. Students are currently using wooden tools and metal tooling repoussé techniques to create raised and indented surfaces on their copper sheets. The designs on their work is mostly based on transforming objects into a bubble letter-style for their names, arranging letters and objects in a creative and personal way and incorporating an overall theme.

8th graders have moved onto their self-portrait painting unit. Students have a choice of continuing to use the grid method and techniques to create a two-toned high contrast self-portrait. They first used the grid method to draw and enlarge the shapes of their facial features onto a canvas panel, which is a laborious process. When the outline and shapes are accurate, they will then turn their drawings into paintings. Students who choose to work on a symbolic self-portrait instead are brainstorming ideas/objects that best represent themselves. They will then sketch out and paint a cohesive imagery on canvas board.

Theater Arts
Ms. Elguindy, [email protected]

6th grade: In two sections of 6th grade we have been creating characters voices and creating interesting dialogue. Students were given slips of dialogue and are in the process of writing their own original short scenes to be rehearsed and performed for the class.
One section of 6th grade is finishing their second unit in theater arts and are creating a playlet performance of a fairy tale using tableau and pantomime.

8th grade: This class is deep into the work on A Midsummer Nights Dream that will be performed at the METG festival in April. Students are working on exaggerating character choices and running through the show.
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