Specials Learning Previews - January 2020

Specials Learning Previews - January 2020
Posted on 01/28/2020
Library/Technology: Ms. Musher, [email protected]

7th grade: In Social Studies, students have begun their research paper: Stories of Persecution and Perseverance. Each student has chosen a person to research who was persecuted and persevered. They will learn strategies for effective internet research and scholarly note-taking. Ask your student what interests them about the person they’ve chosen!

Health: Mr. McNulty, [email protected]


6th grade: Students have a few more weeks about Vaping Prevention. They will create a PSA at the end of the unit. Then they will be engaging in lessons about Personal Hygiene.

7th grade: Students will be engaging in lessons about Homophobia, Gender Identity, Sexism and how to create a safe school culture. They will be discussing the impact hurtful words have on an individual and society and how to be an ally and support to a victim of discrimination.

8th grade: Students will be learning the anatomy of the reproductive system, their appropriate scientific names, protection methods that prevent unplanned pregnancies and STI transmission and most importantly how to make healthy goals for the future and how an unplanned pregnancy could affect their future.

P.E.: Chris Moore, [email protected]


Grade 6: Students have finished their net game unit by completing a performance based badminton assessment. Students will then be introduced to their creative movement unit, where students learn various rhythmic jumping patterns with coordinated counting sequences by utilizing “jumping bands” in small groups of 3-4 students. By the end of the unit, students will be working on choreographing small performances that will be presented.

Grade 7: 7th Grade: Students have completed their net game unit focused on skill-based performances for both Newcomb Ball, Volleyball, and Badminton. Students will begin their creative movement unit, where they will implement rhythmic counting into performing a created dance or movement sequence. Students (in groups of 2-4) will work on choreography throughout the unit and be assessed upon completion of the 60 second performance.

Grade 8: Students have cultivated their net game unit focused on dynamic skill-based activities. Students will now begin their creative movement unit where they will implement rhythmic counting into performing a created dance or movement sequence. Students (in groups of 2-4) will work on choreography throughout the unit, and then be instructed to present a 90 second routine at the end of the unit. Students have autonomy of choosing if the exact rhythmic routine that they want to create and perform cohesively as a group (I.E dance, Tik Tok, basketball or soccer dribbling, jump rope, jump bands, and gymnastics.

Art: Lucia Lee, [email protected]


Two 6th grade sections have finished their Op Art (short for optical art) project in which they create 3-D spheres on a 2-D surface. The optical illusion effect is achieved by using a checkerboard design and through blending/shading with charcoal. This will be their last art assignment in 6th grade before they switch to theater arts next semester. It was lovely working with this energetic and enthusiastic group. Looking forward to teaching you again in 7th grade! Two new section of 6th graders will start Art this week. We are beginning with some introductory activities such as the Exquisite Corpse drawing activity and creating 2-minute animals/cartoon characters sculptures using found objects. In the following week, students will work on a “police sketch artist” partner drawing exercise.

7th graders have finished with the papier-mâché process and created a cohesive “skin” and smooth surface for painting. After priming their sculptures with gesso, students will begin to paint the base color of their creatures and to design and refine their work with details, facial features, patterns, embellishments, etc. 8th graders are using the interaction between positive and negative space in creating their cut-paper Notan designs. Notan is a Japanese word that means light-dark. Positive space is the main object, focus or subject(s) whereas negative space is the space around and in between an object or the subject(s) of an image. Students are now in the drafting and experimental stage of their designs. Encourage your child to look at illustration examples of how negative space can also be used in clever and creative ways in advertising and logos. Independent Studies students are continuing to work on self-directed projects that include portrait drawings + paintings, altered books, miniature furnitures, soft sculptures, landscape paintings on canvas boards, and intricate cut-paper projects inspired by contemporary artists such as Nikki McClure and Peter Callesen. Projects also include designing and building a cardboard shoe sculpture as well as designing and painting on sneakers for sale in the future.

Theater Arts: Summar Elguindy, [email protected]


6th grade: With the start of semester two, the new classes are working on becoming a strong, supportive ensemble in theater arts. In this first unit they are focusing on developing strategies for working well as a team in order to take creative risks. They will identify and practice the qualities of a great audience, develop strategies for group work and begin to explore the idea of what it means to be a creative risk taker.

8th grade: The class continues to rehearse the stage blocking for their festival play, "10 Ways to Survive The End Of The World." They’ve been slowly memorizing the script week by week and will begin creating the props/set for the show. On January 31st they will be going to the Watertown Children's Theater to see "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare.

Band: Mr. Wroge, [email protected]

6th, 7th, 8th grade Band: We are diligently preparing for our Unity Concert, which is Thursday, January 30th at 6:00pm. A free community dinner starts at 5:15 in the cafeteria. All performers need to report to me by 5:30 with their instrument and music. Concert starts at 6:00 in the gym. Performers should wear dark bottoms and their new RAUC Music t-shirt.

Orchestra: Brittany Phillips, [email protected]

The 6th grade orchestra is gearing up for their premier performance at the Unity Concert on January 30th! They will be performing our newest piece, “Appalachian Hymn.” While learning this piece, students grapples with cut time signatures, new bowing patterns, playing on the lower registers of our instruments and alternating between arco and pizzicato. In addition to this, students have been working on our challenging combined piece, “Where is the Love,” that will feature all RAUC music groups at the Unity Concert. Students are enthusiastic and eager to showcase what they have been working on this winter!

The 7th grade orchestra has made great strides with our challenging arrangement of, “We Shall Overcome.” This piece has pushed cello students to learn extended position on the G and C string, along with challenging bowing patterns for all students. Additionally, our newest piece, “Appalachian Hymn,” encourages students to utilize their ever-increasing vibrato skills to enhance the tone they produce. Students are excited to perform in our upcoming Unity Concert on January 30th, and are looking ahead to new and challenging music for the spring semester.

The 8th grade orchestra continues to impress me with each passing class. All students are pushing themselves to reach new heights with note reading, transposing, playing independently and showcasing their advanced technical skills on their instruments. In addition to “Appalachian Hymn,” “We Shall Overcome,” and “Where is the Love,” the 8th grade orchestra will showcase “Rhythms of Africa,” an energetic and rhythmically challenging piece that was influenced by the landscape and traditional folk songs from central and south Africa.

Chorus: Joshua DeWitte, [email protected]


6th Grade: Singers are polishing their music for our performance Thursday, Jan. 30 at 6:00 pm. All chorus students should arrive at 5:30 pm. After the concert, singers will continue working on group projects to create a musical scene from a musical based on a book. Students are acting, directing, and choreographing their scenes. Groups are using a mix of existing songs and original work. While working on projects, we will begin working on the concept and music for our May concert.

7th Grade: Singers are polishing their music for our performance Thursday, Jan. 30 at 6:00 pm. All chorus students should arrive at 5:30 pm. After the concert, students will begin a project to explore their musical roots. While working on projects, we will begin working on the concept and music for our May concert. We will also focus on music literacy.

8th Grade: Singers are polishing their music for our performance Thursday, Jan. 30 at 6:00 pm. All chorus students should arrive at 5:30 pm. After the concert, singers will work on their 8th grade recital pieces. In the tradition of vocal studios in high school and college, students will perform a solo or small ensemble piece. The recital will be held over 2 class periods in early March. This is an opportunity for all singers to demonstrate the progress they have made over the past 3 years.

Percussion: Joshua DeWitte, [email protected]


7th and 8th Grade: Students are practicing their music for our performance Thursday, Jan. 20 at 6:00 pm. All percussion students should arrive at 5:30 pm. After the concert, they will continue learning new music and rudiments. Students will also work in small groups to compose their own cadences.

Music Studio: Jamal Fairbanks, [email protected]


6th Grade: In 6th grade we have started our journey into Soundtrap, a music making website that allows students to create songs, sound effects, and music tracks using thousands of different sounds and loops provided on the site. We are currently exploring different instrument loops, such as piano, synths, drums, and bass.

7th Grade: 7th grade is continue their journey into Soundtrap, a music making website that allows students to create songs, sound effects, and music tracks using thousands of different sounds and loops provided on the site. Some students were introduced to this website last year, so these students are diving into the more intricate details of creating sounds and loops, while new students are learning basic music production techniques.

8th Grade: 8th grade has been engaged in their ukulele playing the last few weeks, learning how to strum, produce clear sounds, read chord charts and read tablature. We are building our library of basic chords that allow us to play most popular songs, with the intention of students going off on their own and learning the songs of their choice.

Ukulele: Jamal Fairbanks, [email protected]

Grade 7th/8th: The ukulele classes have been working incredibly hard in preparing for our Unity concert. We are accompanying the band, chorus, and orchestra in their pieces that are being performed. After the concert and with their knowledge of ukulele, students will go off and find songs that they wish to learn!

Spanish: Nick Paras, [email protected]


Grade 6: We will continue our work expressing our likes and dislikes. Students will create questions to interview a classmate. They will practice their interviews with their partners. Each student will ask the questions they created and then students will reverse roles. At the end, students will either present this to the class or film their interviews and share it with the teacher. Students will then go learn more activities that they like to do or do not like to do. Students will also learn what an infinitive of a verb is. We will learn about the three types of verbs in Spanish. In class, we will talk about what a cognate is and go over a few examples. We will then move onto body parts in Spanish. Each student will create a character and then label the body parts on the character that they create. Finally, we will play simon says. This activity will be student led so that each student can orally practice vocabulary words.

Grade 7: Students will continue to work on learning breakfast and lunch foods. They will create a google slide writing about what they like or don’t like to eat for breakfast and lunch. This will end with a paragraph that they write about what they eat or would like to eat and drink for breakfast and lunch. Students will then move onto creating bingo boards that include food and drink vocabulary words. We will then play the bingo games that the students created. They will play these in small groups and each student will lead their bingo games. Er and Ir verbs will be reviewed as a whole group activity. Student will create sentences with er and ir verbs that are given by the teacher. They will then create a cartoon using verbs and food vocabulary words. This will be done by hand or on the computer. The decision will be up to each student.

Grade 8: Students will continue to work with vocabulary about their bedrooms and the color of objects in their bedrooms. They will then find a picture and make comparisons of their bedroom and the ones in the picture that they found. Students will then review stem-changing verbs. We will practice different forms of stem changing verbs. For example, e-ie verbs, o-ue verbs, etc. In class we will create a cartoon and then write our sentences using different stem-changing verbs. Once this is completed, we will create questions using stem-changing verbs. Student will then interview a classmate asking the questions that were created. We will then read paragraphs about other people’s bedrooms and answer questions about the paragraphs. This will be a way to check for understanding. We will then move onto rooms in the house and chores that people do around the house. At the beginning of this unit, we will be working on what is in each room, what they like or don’t like about their house or houses that are shared with them via google drive and chores that they have to do.

French: Neil Pischner, [email protected]


6th grade: Students should now be able to: (1) greet others; (2) ask how a person is doing and say how oneself is doing (Using “Je suis….” and “Je me sens….”); (3) say one’s name and ask the same of other people (using “Je m’appelle…,” “Je suis…,” and “Moi, c’est.....” ; (4) distinguish between first (prénom) and last names (nom de famille); (5) recite the alphabet; (6) recognize and write five accent marks (aigu, grave, tréma, circonflexe, cédille); (7) count 1-20; (8) say one’s age and ask the same of other people; (9) says one’s nationalité; (10); write one’s birthday; (11) say goodbye; (12) say thank you; (13) use titles: Monsieur, Mademoiselle, Madame; (14) ask to go to the bathroom; and (15) use full sentences (“J’ai besoin de….”) to state needs for common classroom objects. Now it is time to do a proficiency assessment. Students will be presented with a scenario where they travel to France and: (A) fill out an arrival form with basic personal information (presentational communication), and (B) answer basic questions from a French airport agent, responding with politeness and accuracy (interpersonal communication). Success on this assessment will mark the half-way point to achieving Novice Low proficiency (which is the goal for the end of the year). We will follow up with learning to describe the weather and making a week’s forecast poster (Novice low presentational communication) and presenting that information (Novice Low-Mid presentational communication).

7th grade: Students will be starting a new unit on ordering food at a café. Students will: (1) expand their food vocabulary; (2) reinforce/clarify formal expressions of politeness (e.g. “Je voudrais,” “S’il vous plaît,” and “Je vous en prie”; (3) express physical states such as hunger (“J’ai faim”), thirst (“J’ai soif”), and discomfort “J’ai mal au ventre” and “J’ai envie de vomir”; (3) tell where you and others go (with the irregular verb aller), and (4) order food or a beverage (using the verb prendre). For presentational communication, students will create an ideal lunch menu (Novice Low-Mid level) and a dialogue between two or more people at a French café (Novice High); for interpersonal communication, students will role play ordering food at a Parisien bistrot (Novice Mid-High).

8th grade: Students will start a new unit on food shopping (faire les courses) at a supermarket (supermarché), an outdoor market (marché), and other specialized vendors such as a boulangérie, pâtisserie, crémerie, and boucherie. For presentational communication, students will decide on a recipe and make a shopping list (Novice Low) and then write out a sequence of actions to buy those ingredients at different stores (conjugating verbs such as acheter, prendre, vouloir, vendre, avoir, chercher, aller, and trouver) and using transition words (d’abord, après, puis, ensuite) to link ideas and create more complex sentences (Novice High). For interpersonal communication, students will do information-gathering tasks by interviewing each other about their respective shopping lists and activities (Novice Mid-High). 
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