Specials Learning Previews 3/12/19

Physical Education
Mr. Chris Moore | [email protected]
Grades 6-8: Students are about halfway through their invasion game unit. The unit is designed for students to develop and demonstrate competency in a variety of movement patterns, apply knowledge of concepts, principles, and tactics. Grade 6 has started to focus on the skill tactics that transfer from Soccer to the dynamic “Speedball” a combination of handball, soccer, and basketball. Grade 7 has started to take acquired basketball skills and participate in competitive dynamic Speedball matches to work on transferred skills, communication with teammates, and overall movement to get open. Grade 8 has began participating in a competitive speedball tournament where students have roles on assigned teams, and are expected to record and report scores, and participate respectfully.

Health and Wellness
Mr. Justin McNulty [email protected]
6th Grade: 6th Grade students will be learning about oral and personal hygiene the next few weeks. The oral hygiene lessons consist the importance of brushing and flossing, food choices and what causes plaque and cavities. The personal hygiene lessons consist of the importance of washing your hands, clothes, and body.

7th Grade: 7th grade students will finish their “Let’s Get Real” unit next week. Students will create a PSA about one of the lesson topics they are passionate about in class. Their next unit will be about the short and long term health effects of juuling and vaping. Students will understand the health risks and why it is so dangerous.

8th Grade: 8th grade students will be finishing up their Sexual Education Unit and have an assessment. Their next unit will also be be about the short and long term health effects of juuling and vaping.

Band
Mr. Patrick Wrote | [email protected]
6th Grade Band: We have begun working towards our May concert by starting new music. New tunes we have started are “Raiders March” from the Indiana Jones movies and “Jupiter” from Holst’s “The Planets”. Grade 6 will soon start the popular James Brown tune, “I Feel Good;” Grades 7 and 8 will start the James Brown music and the tune “My Shot” from the musical Hamilton.

Chorus, Gr. 6-8
Joshua DeWitte |  [email protected]
Grade 6: Students are performing their original scenes from a musical. My observations so far of their practice are inspiring and full of risk-taking. We will now begin to learn new repertoire. We will focus on sight singing for the remainder of the year. Students will also start a project that will last for the duration of the year. Working in groups, students will create and manage a record label. They are responsible for performing, recording, and producing at least one song by members of their group that is representative of the vision and story of their label. Students will choose jobs within their label; sound engineer, marketing, graphic design, artist, and CEO. Groups will market their label to other students and attempt to “sell” their recordings. Students will gain experience in music business, production, and singing and recording their voices.

Grade 7: Students have been working on planning their spring concert around the theme of growing up or “turning out.” Students worked in groups on designing visuals for the concert, planning a couple of songs, and recording students about their memories of growing up. They are also working in small groups to write lyrics that reflect important moments and relics of their lives. We will combine the lyrics to create a song modeled after a song, “!994,” by Alec Benjamin.

Grade 8: 8th graders performed solos and in small ensembles in an 8th Grade recital. We celebrated the progress they have made over the past 2 ½ years in chorus. I am so proud of their hard work. We are now beginning to learn new repertoire and prepare for the spring concert. Students will work in small groups to write lyrics that reflect important moments and relics of their lives. We will combine the lyrics to create a song modeled after a song, “!994,” by Alec Benjamin. In addition, students will continue to refine their musical performances of children books.

Orchestra
Ms. Brittany Phillips | [email protected]
The 6th grade orchestra is continuing to grow in their musicianship with each class. Students are confidently moving around their instruments and producing beautiful tones. They are comfortably performing a 2 octave G major scale & arpeggio and a 1 octave D major scale, and are connecting these patterns to our current repertoire. We are having fun with “Power Rock”, a tribute to Queen. The piece introduces some rhythmic challenges and fun chromatic finger patterns. Additionally, we are continuing our study of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” I am consistently impressed with the steady progress students are making with this challenging piece, and I am looking forward to giving them more to work on as we prepare for 7th grade orchestra.

The 7th grade orchestra & 8th grade orchestra are conquering the challenging “The Avengers” main theme. We have been practicing our music theory skills, specifically on keys and key signatures, while discovering the differences between major and minor keys. “The Avengers” has students submerged in both a minor and A major themes, and we are working through these passages slowly and diligently. I am impressed with students’ patience while we work through the process of unpacking complicated music

Music Studio
Mr. Fairbanks | [email protected]
6th/7th Grade: After working hard in learning the ukulele, 6th and 7th 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.

8th Grade: After completing our unit on ukulele, 8th grade is currently exploring how race, class, and economic status can influence the artistic taste of individuals. Is classical musical only for “smart people?” Is ballroom dancing only for the upper-class? We are figuring out where these beliefs come from and how we may be able to break them down.

Art
Ms. Lucia Lee | [email protected]
The 6th grade groups that have art yearlong are finishing up their optical illusion assignment by learning how to create shadows with charcoal. Their next project will be a Leluja-style cut-paper project. Leluja is a form of Polish art that involves the use of symmetry, nature, and a central tree-like form. Students also 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.
The new group of 6th graders are working on a 3-D collage that demonstrates their knowledge of space and depth. In their image, objects that are further away will be flat whereas objects closer to the viewer will protrude a bit more from the surface.

7th graders are starting a metal art project using copper repoussé techniques. They are in the process of designing their names in bubble letters, transforming objects into their names and arranging letters in a creative and personal way. Students will then use wooden tools and metal tooling repoussé techniques to create raised and indented surfaces on their copper sheets.

8th graders are wrapping their grid-method drawings and have moved onto their self-portrait paintings. 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
Summar Elguindy | [email protected]
6th grade: In two sections of 6th grade we are starting to explore how to use our voice to develop characters and tell interesting stories on stage. Students will have the chance to do a staged reading of comedic one act play. They will then begin writing their own scripts.
One section of 6th grade is beginning their second unit in theater arts and will be exploring facial expression and body language 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 finishing blocking the show and we are beginning to find costumes and props.

Spanish
Mr. Nick Paras | [email protected]
Grade 6: Grade 6 will be working on a few things in the following weeks. The first is the verb gustar with infinitive verbs. Students will be learning various forms of gustar and they will ask and answer questions using the verb. The questions will focus on what students like or do not like to do. In order to do this, students will learn about the infinitives of verbs. Later on, the class will be working on asking and answering questions about likes and dislikes. They will do mini interviews in order to complete this. Next, students will be working on the conjugations of “AR” verbs. In order to do this, students will learn subject pronouns and verb endings. Students will practice the conjugations by playing games and filling in blanks. Lastly, students will be given a verb bank and with a partner, they will write simple sentences using verbs. Students will then create verb books using AR verbs.

Grade 7: Students will work with conjugating ER and IR verbs. They will learn about new verb endings and compare them with AR verbs. Students will write about foods and then create and ER and IR verb book. Students will then learn breakfast and lunch vocabulary. Students will say what foods they like or don’t like to eat for breakfast and lunch. They will create a grocery store flyer with the prices of their foods. Students will get a recipe from a family member and then write it in Spanish. Students will then ask and answer questions about what foods they eat or drink using the verbs comer and beber. Students will be able to recognize foods and say what time of the day the eat these foods. Lastly, we will introduce me encanta and see what foods or drink students love. Students can make a collage saying what foods they love.

Grade 8: We will be reviewing the verbs ser and the verbs estar. Students will write sentences using these verbs and then compare the uses of ser and estar. We will then move onto the different uses of ser and estar. Students will write about various topics using ser and estar as well as other verbs. Using the verb ser, students will create a person/cartoon character/superhero, pet, etc and then write a description of the person using the verb ser. They will also write the location that the person can be found using the verb estar. We will then move onto the affirmative tú commands. In class, we will have students tell other students what to do and the other students will have to act out what the presenter says. We will also play simon says using affirmative tú commands. We will then move onto the present progressive tense. Students will learn what a present participle is and then work on conjugating verbs using the verb estar and the present participle. Students will say what they are doing at certain times of the day. Each student will create a project saying what they are doing at certain times of the day.

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 get students to use the verb “aimer” (1) ask what someone likes to do (for sports and musical instruments) and (2) say what one likes to do. Students will learn new vocabulary involving sports/activities using verbal expression of “jouer à,” “jouer de,” and “faire de,” along with words as infinitive verbs (e.g. “J’aime faire du vélo.” This coming month also has students reviewing and taking proficiency tests, and we will identify what is needed for a learner to level up in proficiency.

7th, French: Students advanced faster than expected since the previous month and were able to additionally complete a project where they composed a postcard to a host family and state likes, dislikes, and preferences for sports, leisure, and music, using “aimer,” “adorer,” “ne...pas,” “détester,” and “préférer.” They qualified those statements with the adverbs “bien,” and “beaucoup” while also using connectors like “et,” “mais,” and “aussi.” This coming month also has students reviewing and taking proficiency tests, and we will identify what is needed for a learner to level up in proficiency.

8th, 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’).” This coming month also has students reviewing and taking proficiency tests, and we will identify what is needed for a learner to level up in proficiency.

8th, Spanish: Students will continue to practice conjugating verbs in the present simple tense while also practicing the conditional form “gustaría” to express where one “would like” to go. Students will also be able to: (1) talk about activities outside of school; (2) extend, accept, and decline invitations; and (3) tell when an event happens. We have also already begun what will be an ongoing activity: learning to identify the 8-beat cycle in Afro-Cuban and related music (e.g. salsa), which will then allow us to learn to play percussion instruments and maybe dance salsa (anyone??) as an optional extension (later in the year). Last, we will do some proficiency testing and understand what is need to level up in proficiency.
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