Learning Previews – Specials – May 31, 2017

Learning Previews – Specials – May 31, 2017
Posted on 05/31/2017
Health & Wellness: Mr. Justin McNulty
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6th Grade: Students so far have learned about the 5 food groups and 6 essential nutrients they need to survive and live a healthy life. For the rest of the year we will be discussing processed vs. whole foods, what sugar does to the brain and body and how to create a weekly healthy menu using the 5 food groups.

7th Grade: Students have done a great job with their bullying unit. We will do a brief introduction to their Sexuality Unit. Students will learn anatomy and terminology, how to make healthy choices and analyze and filter the messages media gives us about males and female roles in society.

8th Grade: We are in the second half of our Substance Abuse Prevention Unit. Students will be learning about the Stages of Addiction and in addition to the lesson, students are invited to see Chris Herren speak at CRLS on Wednesday, May 31 from 7-8:30. CRLS STAR Peer Leaders will also be joining our Health class in the next several weeks to give 8th graders an introduction to High School and an opportunity to ask any questions.

Physical Education: Mr. Michael O’Conell
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6th Grade: Students have just begun their Individual and Dual Activities Unit. Students are learning tennis strokes (we are at the tennis courts when possible) and basic skateboarding skills. As the unit progresses, students will be allowed and expected to choose from a variety of individual and dual activities (e.g. tennis, badminton, skateboarding, 1 v 1 basketball, jump-rope…) offered each class.

7th Grade: Students have just begun their Individual and Dual Activities Unit. Students will learn rules for tennis, speedminton (a variation of badminton) and a variety of target games. As the unit progresses, students will be expected to choose an activity during class and demonstrate an understanding of rules, sportsmanship, appropriate use of equipment and game and class etiquette.

8th Grade: Students have just begun their Individual and Dual Activities Unit. Students are expected to identify and participate in an enjoyable activity or sport that prompts self-expression. Additionally, students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the skills, rules and etiquette that make up the activity or sport.

String Orchestra Gr. 6-8: Ms. Brittany Phillips
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The 6th grade orchestra had an awesome performance at the Night of Excellence on May 18th. They certainly demonstrated excellence in their understanding of the Blues style, and they rocked out on “Rhythm N’ Blues!” We will be wrapping up the school year by digging in and preparing for the advanced 7th grade ensemble. Students are learning the staccato bow stroke, which prepares them for hooked bows. Our study of hooked bows will lead us into playing with slurred bow strokes. We are also working on our sight-reading skills. Many students have expressed a desire to play their instruments over the summer months. Please reach out to me if you are interested in some summer music opportunities!

The 7th graders shined in their performed “Cannon Power” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl” at our Night of Excellence. They have grown immensely this semester, and are going to be an outstanding 8th grade string orchestra. The 7th grade ensemble will finish out the school year by looking ahead to next fall. We will be studying G major exercises, new, complex rhythmic patterns, and patriotic medleys in preparation for a Veteran’s Day performance in November, 2017. Many students have expressed a desire to play their instruments over the summer months. Please reach out to me if you are interested in finding some summer music opportunities!

The 8th grade students did an exceptional job performing in the Night of Excellence on May 18th. I was impressed by how they took on the responsibility of learning the challenging piece, “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and they really rose to the occasion. We are finishing out the school year by wrapping up our study of Bill Wither’s “Lean On Me.” Our goal is to perform this piece for the school community before the end of the school year. It provides many melodic and rhythmic challenges, but I am confident that students will be able to master it with continued practice. Students are focusing on improving their understanding of syncopation and accents, something that is very common in popular music. It has been a pleasure to teach this ensemble all year, and I am thrilled that most of them are going to continue with orchestra at CRLS. I am confident that they are ready for new challenges in their high school ensembles. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding signing up for the CRLS orchestra.

Band: Mr. Patrick Wroge 

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6th-8th Grade: We had a wonderful spring concert on the Night of Excellence. Thank you students for all your hard work and parents for your support of your children and our school community!! We will be working on an improvisation unit until the end of the year using our Bb Blues scale as a jumping off point.

Chorus: Mr. DeWitte

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6th Grade: Students performed well at the Night of Excellence. For the remainder of the school year, singers will learn music for the 8th grade graduation ceremony on June 21 at 1 pm. They are beginning to record their songs for the label project. They have created a Google Site for their label as well as a poster. 6th Graders will work on sight reading in a pentachord (d-r-m-f-s).

7th Grade: Students performed well at the Night of Excellence. For the remainder of the school year, singers will learn music for the 8th grade graduation ceremony on June 21 at 1 pm. They are beginning to record their songs for the label project. They have created a Google Site for their label as well as a poster. 7th Graders will work on singing in an acapella setting, focusing on singing offbeats.

8th Grade: Students performed well at the Night of Excellence. For the remainder of the school year, singers will learn music for their graduation ceremony on June 21 at 1 pm. 8th Graders voted on the two songs they will sing. They are beginning to record their songs for the label project. They have created a Google Site for their label as well as a poster.

General Music: Ms. Kristi Campbell Giannini
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6th graders will compose and perform in the style of Medieval music, and explore historical connections between music, art, architecture, and dance.

7th graders will use music software to create compositions using chord progressions, lyrics, and present song history projects.

8th graders will finish a unit of what to listen for in music, research a selected music genre, and analyze the effects of music in film.

Art: Grades 6-8 - Ms. Lucia Lee

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6th graders are wrapping up the year with a printmaking unit, in which they design and experiment with creating an image on foam printing plates. Students will also learn ways to manage a printmaking station--appropriate ways to roll out ink, to create prints, to handle supplies and materials, to clean up, etc. Ask your child what subject matter they are designing for their prints!

7th graders are preparing for next year by experiencing ways to enlarge an image using a grid. They are given a few choices of 2x2 images, from which they will pick one and enlarge onto a 4x4 square. Students are learning strategies to make/break down a grid, to sketch with more accuracy, and to draw what they see, not what they know.

8th graders: Two sections of 8th grade are working with Kyle Browne, the director of Cambridge Creativity Commons, to create paper art with circuitry. Students will incorporate their circuitry knowledge from Science class into their designs to create interactive paper sculptures, drawings or collages. The artwork is interactive in the sense that when a “button” or an area is pressed, another area of the artwork will be lit up by LEDs. The other two sections of 8th graders will review repoussé metal tooling skills and design a logo or their names onto aluminum or copper for ornamental purposes.

Theater Arts: Ms. Summar Elguindy
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6th graders have been observing and reflecting on storytelling performances with an emphasis on character objective and obstacle. The students will wrap up the year with an original storytelling performance using song, dance, rhythm and rhyme, narration and more. The project will use many of the performance skills they’ve been working on all semester.

Spanish: Mr. Nick Paras 

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6th Grade: Students will review conjugations of “AR” verbs. Students will play verb games such as tic tac toe and dice verb conjugations games. Students will also review weather terms, the numbers 0-100, days and months and definite articles. To go along with definite articles, we will learn about how nouns in Spanish can be masculine or feminine as well as singular and plural. Students will then work on matching the correct noun to the correct definite article.

7th Grade: Students will continue their work with the verbs ir- to go and hacer- to do. Students will write about where they usually go in the summer and what they do at the places they go to. We will end up reviewing conjugations of all types of verbs in the present tense. These will include both irregular and regular verbs. Lastly, we will go over how to form the future tense using ir+a+infinitive.

8th Grade students will be learning how to conjugate regular and irregular verbs in the past tense. Some of the irregular verbs we will learn are ser- to be, ir- to go, hacer- to do/to make, dar- to give, pedir- to ask for and servir- to serve. Once we complete the past tense of certain verbs, we will learn some new stem-changing verbs and learn the differences between the verbs saber and conocer. Both verbs mean to know but have specific uses.

French: Ms. Bilodeau 

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6th Grade: Students will finish their promotional video about RAUC for potential French exchange students and do a film festival of their group films. They will develop and design their ideal school day and build a school cafeteria that meets standards for health and student taste. They will then work in teams to create a café menu and play skits about ordering food in a French café.

7th Grade: Students will do a read aloud of their origin myths. They will practice asking questions, giving compliments and making conversation based on their peers presentations. They will then build a store window for a fashion boutique in Paris that specializes in clothing and personal items that reflect their own street style. They will create skits as they window shop in their classmate’s boutiques.

8th Grade: Students will create a poster for a study abroad fair where they are agents that represent RAUC. They will conduct mock interviews of each other about why it is great to study at RAUC. They will also design a flyer for a large French department store that includes prices, items and sale information based on vocabulary themes like food, clothing, sports and technology from 6th and 7th grade French. In this way, we will conclude a comprehensive review unit of RAUC’s middle school French program to help students leave with as much functional memory of the French they have learned through the upper school years.
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