Health & Wellness: Justin McNulty, Grades 6-8, [email protected]
6th Grade: Students are coming to the end of their Mental and Emotional Health Unit. The next several lessons students will be learning about what causes stress, how to manage stress in healthy ways and how to deal with troublesome feelings in healthy ways.
7th Grade: We have just wrapped up our nutrition unit and will be started our Social and Emotional Unit. Students will learn about what empathy is, how to work in groups together, and what makes a group work in a positive way.
8th Grade: We have finished our Media and Health Unit. We will be moving on to our Sexual Education Unit after Thanksgiving Break. The next couple weeks we will learn how to create a safe learning environment and what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like.
Art: Lucia Lee, Grades 6-8, [email protected]
6th graders are currently working on the final stages of their “stained-glass” project. They learned ways to apply tissue paper carefully and appropriately. Students are also encouraged to make creative color choices to enhance the quality of their artwork.
7th graders had their gallon water jugs cut into the beginnings of a mask form. Referencing their sketches, students will now use newspapers, cereal and food boxes, wire, along with various found objects to create the armature (framework or the “meat”) of their creature mask. Donations of newspapers, cereal boxes or other found objects such as corks, bottle caps, etc. are greatly appreciated!
8th graders are using the grid method and various drawing techniques to accurately enlarge a 4x6 image of their choice onto a 12x18 paper. This project is designed to help students build confidence in their drawing abilities by visually and physically breaking down a complex image into smaller parts. Students relearn how to draw what they actually see, not what they think they know.
French: Sarah Bilodeau, Grades 6-8, [email protected]
6th Grade: This month we are learning how to get to know a new friend and to accept and decline invitations. We are talking about how social activities and greetings reflect culture across different regions of the Francophone world. We will write and present dialogues about making new friends and inviting them to socialize.
7th Grade: This month we are learning about how to order food in a French café and learning about the history of café culture in France. We will write a present skits that are set in a historical French café. Your student may also choose to memorize a Jacques Prévert poem or to take on the role of a famous French philosopher and teach the class about his/her role in café/salon culture in France.
8th Grade: This month we wrap up our STAMP Test! RAUC students helped to pilot the test for the district and did an amazing job! Congratulations! This month students also begin their DELF (French language diploma program offered through the French Ministry of Education) and work on a unit about sharing food around the table and the role food in French culture. Students will write a favorite family recipe in French so they may ask for your help!
Spanish:
Message from Mr. Paras: I have been out sick for two weeks with an unexpected health complication. When I return, we will review the work that students did with the sub.
6th Grade Spanish: Ms. Angela Green [email protected]
Señora Green’s students continue to work on learning how to introduce themselves and exchange information on each other’s ages, birthdays, and talking about the weather. They have also begun to use numbers and tell time. Each student has created a “conversation card” with basic conversation starter questions that we will continue to add to throughout the year. These cards provide students with the opportunity to speak in Spanish and to introduce new topics and recycle previously learned material.
Theater Arts: Summar Elguindy, [email protected]
6th graders are working on having a strong healthy voice when speaking in front of an audience or performing. They worked on a short play and performed it as readers theater in front of their classmates. This month students will begin their final project for this unit which will use popular lyrics from songs as dialogue in a scene they will create.
String Orchestra Gr. 6-8: Brittany Phillips, [email protected]
6th grade orchestra students are mastering the D major scale. This has been a goal since the beginning of the year, and it is something that we will continue to expand upon throughout the school year. Students can now read, write, and perform the D major scale in unison, and as a round. Scales are so important because they make it easier to play difficult musical compositions. Our new challenging piece in 6th grade is a 3 part arrangement of “Can-Can” by J. Offenbach.
The 7th graders have mastered the D major scale, and have moved on to the relative minor, b minor. Students are learning the connections between major and minor, and are exploring b minor with our current music selection “Rosintown Rock.” The piece is fast, and challenging, but students are working diligently to make progress with each lesson. Additionally, select 7th graders recently participated in the performance of “Glorious” alongside the RAUC and Peabody choirs. Bravo on a great Veteran’s Day performance!
The 8th grade orchestra impressed me at the Veteran’s Day assembly. Students performed alongside the RAUC and Peabody choirs, and they did an exceptional job. As we prepare for our next performance in February, we are continuing to work through fitting the rap portion into our “RAUC Hip Hop Jam”. This is proving to be an out-of-the-box process for all of us, but I am thrilled with the enthusiasm that students are demonstrating. Additionally, we are preparing for a visit from the Rindge and Latin High School orchestra students along with their director, Ms. Laura Umbro on December 2nd. This will be an opportunity for students to ask questions about the ensemble, registration, and expectations at the high school level. Ms. Umbro will also have a chance to work with the 8th grade students on our current piece, “Beethoven’s Lullaby.”
RAUC Bands, Grades 5-8: Patrick Wroge, [email protected]
6th Grade: In 6th grade we continue to reinforce the basics such as, note identification, posture, breath control, play position, rest position, ensemble playing, and beginning of class procedures. By now, we are able to play “We’re On A Mission To Rock” with proficiency. We are making progress towards proficiency on our concert Bb major scale. We have moved into the world of improvisation using our tune “We’re On A Mission To Rock” as a platform. We have now started working on “Raiders March”, the theme from the motion picture Raiders Of the Lost Ark. Students are given the opportunity to create an improvised solo using the notes from this tune.
7th Grade: In 7th grade we continue to use scales as warm-ups before we begin rehearsing our ensemble pieces. We have a good understanding of “Raiders March” and will continue to refine each different section. Our tune “25 or 6 to 4” is progressing nicely. Our next step will be to start improvising using “25 or 6 to 4” as a platform.
8th Grade: In 8th grade we continue to use scales as warm-ups before we begin rehearsing our ensemble pieces. Some 8th graders are working on the Junior District audition music. Auditions for this ensemble will take place in early February. “Raiders March”, “Star Wars”, and “25 Or 6 To 4” are progressing nicely. Our tune, “Kashmir” is progressing very well.
General Music:
6th Grade, My Musical World: We are continuing to learn more about the countries we studied in Social Studies class and will be doing things like showing off some of those countries’ musical genres and teaching each other some of the dances from those cultures. We will also be getting small tastes of other countries, getting a feeling for traveling around the world.
7th Grade, Musical Diversity: We are delving into the world of heavy metal music. Through our purposeful listening of heavy metal music and looking at some of the album artwork and song titles, we are working toward creating our own heavy metal song using GarageBand. Students will put loops and their own melodies together as well as create artwork for their song and a title.
8th Grade, Music and Society: Students are looking at protest songs in this unit. We are looking at different tools writers use to get their message across to their audience like sarcasm, irony, and metaphors, as well as asking why someone might write a protest song. Our ultimate goal in this unit is for the students to write their own protest song.
Physical Education: Michael O’Connell [email protected]
6th Grade: Students have been learning and playing the game of pickleball. Played with a paddle and tennis ball (or wiffle ball), pickleball is an easy way for students to learn the fundamentals of groundstrokes. Students will learn and play badminton and modified-volleyball in the coming weeks.
7th Grade: Students have been playing pickleball and badminton with a focus on proper serving techniques. Students have also been playing recreational net-games, including nitro-ball, soccer-tennis and soccer-volleyball. In the coming weeks, students will be playing volleyball with a focus on serving techniques.
8th Grade: Students have been playing badminton and soccer volleyball in class. In the coming weeks, students will participate (play and officiate) in a badminton tournament and volleyball games.