Here are the Art, Music and PE trimester reports for your reading pleasure.
Unified Arts Report
Trimester One
Grade One
ART: Throughout history, the visual arts have served to connect our imaginations with that which make us human. Works of art reflect human feelings, values and the highest of ideals.
Art is a universal language. It has the power to transcend cultural variations, uniting us all. By cultivating an understanding and appreciation for artists’ works of the past and present, art education develops respect for diverse cultures and creative expressions.
Art is woven into every aspect of our lives, and learning about how and why artists, designers and advertisers use the elements of art will enable students to make intelligent informed decisions in the future.
We have spent the first three months of school together getting to know each other and exploring the world of color. As we become more aware of the color all around us, we learned about three special colors; the primary ones. We tried blending them in different ways to create new colors. We discussed rainbows and prisms. We made monoprints; a one of a kind crayon form of printing. We talked about trees and why trees are so important to us and created giant leaves with blended color using a new medium; water crayons. Our imaginations were stretched with leaf creatures, a drawing project. We have recently been studying the elements of geometric and organic shape. We are learning the differences between natural and manufactured shape. We continue to utilize the elements of color studied earlier. Projects will continue to build upon themselves throughout the school year, and all your child’s years here at Maple Ave.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
This year first grade has started off discovering our bodies and how they work. The students began the year with a variety of gross motor skilled activities. These activities are designed to get the students exploring and moving their bodies in a variety of ways. One of their favorite activities that we did during this unit was active reading. During this activity, I read them a few different books. While I was reading, they got to move around like the animals that were mentioned in the books, along with making the noises that the animals made. The students moved in a variety of styles (skipping, galloping, running, etc.). We worked on this unit for the month of September, each week changing the activities but keeping our focus on body control and awareness. After finishing up this unit, the students were introduced to soccer. Here they learned a little bit of the history of the game, while spending most of their time learning some of the basic skills needed to play. The students practiced dribbling under control, passing with the inside of their foot, as well as several different ways to trap and control the ball. They really enjoyed playing “sharks and minnows” during this unit! The classes recently finished off our basketball unit, in which we covered the history of the game, along with dribbling, passing, and shooting! One of the favorite activities was “Mario Brothers” which worked on dribbling and passing! We recently begun our bowling unit, which is one of the lifetime activity units we do during the year. The pinnacle of this unit tends to be the last day when we do disco bowling! I look forward to seeing those great dance moves they break into while bowling!
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. – Victor Hugo
It has been a great first trimester in first grade! Many students have sung their names for the class in our “hello song.” Students are also becoming very comfortable using hand signals when singing solfege (do re mi fa sol la ti do.) Ask your child to demonstrate the solfege hand signals for you! Students have also learned to understand and recognize basic music notation.
We sang a great song about Robot Boy and all of the things that he likes to do, we also re-wrote the words as a class to make our very own Robot Girl song!
A big focus lately has been on identifying the difference between pitch and volume. This concept can be very abstract for first graders, and the two can be confused easily. Students know this saying by heart now: “the bigger the instrument, the lower the sound.”
This trimester we have sung some really silly songs including “Ladybug in My Soda” and “Hip Hop Turkeys.”
In the coming trimester we will begin to shift our focus to musical expression and begin to look deeper into some musical notation.
Unified Arts Report
Trimester One
Grade Two
ART: Throughout history, the visual arts have served to connect our imaginations with that which make us human. Works of art reflect human feelings, values and the highest of ideals.
Art is a universal language. It has the power to transcend cultural variations, uniting us all. By cultivating an understanding and appreciation for artists’ works of the past and present, art education develops respect for diverse cultures and creative expressions.
Art is woven into every aspect of our lives, and learning about how and why artists, designers and advertisers use the elements of art will enable students to make intelligent informed decisions in the future.
We began the new school year together by discussing and reviewing the concepts of color in art and our everyday lives. We took advantage of harvest time and drew colorful fruit and veggies in color groups, trying to remember as many of each color as we could. We became reacquainted with the primary colors, and mixed them to make secondary colors. We talked about rainbows and their relationship to the color wheel and what creates a prism. We discovered the difference between hot and cold colors and how they effect our perception of certain objects. Autumn foliage was the perfect vehicle to create beautiful trees. We have been studying the element of shape recently. We know that shape is made of a line that is connected. Spirals were used to illustrate that a line becomes a shape. We constructed objects from geometric shapes. We talked about the difference between manufactured and natural shapes and discovered that every manufactured shape starts out as a natural one! We also continue to utilize the elements of color we learned earlier. Projects continue to build upon themselves throughout the school year.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
We are off to another fast start in second grade! We began the year with a variety of cooperative games. These are activities designed to get the classes working together toward a common goal, in turn, building a stronger sense of community amongst the students. During this unit the students really focused on using positive communication. They needed to verbalize their thoughts and listen to their peers. This was a great unit to watch unfold as well as experience with each class. The students made some great strides in working together and having a common goal be the big picture. The classes then moved into our soccer unit. Here they focused on dribbling, passing, and trapping. Watching the students begin to control their passes using the proper kicking technique was amazing. During first grade, they really struggle to use the inside of their foot when striking the ball, but this year they really did awesome! Following this unit, the classes moved into basketball. Here they had a brief lesson on the history related to the game and its local ties to New England. The activities we did were designed to get the maximum number of touches on the ball while working on the necessary skills (dribbling, passing, shooting) to play the sport. The classes’ favorite activity by far was “Mario Brothers”, which worked on dribbling and passing. We are currently involved in one of our lifetime skills units, bowling. This is a crowd pleaser, especially when we do disco bowling during the last class!
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. – Victor Hugo
We have had a great first trimester in second grade! The children are becoming more and more comfortable using hand signals when singing solfege (do re mi fa sol la ti do.) Ask your child to demonstrate the solfege hand signals for you! The children have also learned to understand and recognize basic music notation.
A big focus this trimester has been on musical timbres and the way different instruments sound. Timbre can also influence our mood as the students learned in our gentle sounding song about autumn. In our song “Whacky Ogre” we used boom whackers and other classroom instruments to help us sing a very fun song.
For Thanksgiving, students completed a really silly art project where they constructed turkeys out of music symbols.
Patriotic songs have been the focus of the last few weeks. Second grade students did a great job learning “Yankee Doodle” and were able to put all of the mixed up words together like a puzzle.
During the last week of the trimester, the students will be listening to the famous piece of music “Carmina Burana.” This will lead us into a deep listening unit that will begin the second trimester.
Unified Arts Report
Trimester One
Grade Three
ART: Throughout history, the visual arts have served to connect our imaginations with that which make us human. Works of art reflect human feelings, values and the highest of ideals.
Art is a universal language. It has the power to transcend cultural variations, uniting us all. By cultivating an understanding and appreciation for artists’ works of the past and present, art education develops respect for diverse cultures and creative expressions.
Art is woven into every aspect of our lives, and learning about how and why artists, designers and advertisers use the elements of art will enable students to make intelligent informed decisions in the future.
We began our third year together reviewing familiar concepts; primary and secondary color, hot and cold color, and the color wheel. We all made our own color wheel with a theme to keep and refer to. We looked at various landscape paintings, and then made one, emphasizing the horizon line, then added color with only primary colors; a challenge when you must have all the colors of the color wheel present! We created beautiful autumn impressionistic paintings entitled scattered leaves. We learned about the color scheme called complementary, and tried an eye/brain exercise to experience after-imaging. We then put the knowledge to use with an op art project using complements. Our most recent project is an abstract one, using geometric design and colored pencil. We continue to build upon the knowledge we have gained in our years together in art. It is a joy to see the students’ enthusiasm and love of learning.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
The third graders started the year off with a challenging unit this year, cooperative games. These activities are designed to get the students communicating and working together toward a common goal. The challenges placed before them are very tough, especially when a class is just getting to know each other early in the year. One of the new challenges that they had was working together to clean up a “toxic waste” spill in the gym. This challenge was amazing to watch! The students started off pretty rocky and really struggled. After a short time their communication skills really began to take over and their whole attitude changed. When we did the challenge a second time, they completed the task with ease because their communication skills and ability to stay positive had improve so much that working together was a breeze! These activities really help develop a sense of community in the classroom. The students moved into soccer after the cooperative games unit. Here they played several new games to work on their dribbling and passing skills. The growth between second and third grade is amazing and very noticeable when watching them work with the balls. Their favorite activity was “sharks and minnows”. This is a dribbling activity that really stresses making good decisions, while maintaining good ball control. The students then moved into their basketball unit, which not only taught the fundamentals, but the history of the sport. “Mario Brothers” was definitely one of the favorite activities during this unit. This fast paced game worked on dribbling as well as passing and allowed them to test their skills with their classmates. We are currently involved with our bowling unit. This year the third graders will be keeping their scores electronically, which they are very excited for! Should be fun seeing all those scores posted up on the wall just like at the bowling alley.
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. – Victor Hugo
For the first part of the trimester we have learned a lot about musical expression. Students have drawn pictures while listening to music. Students have done a great job making connections between visual art and music.
Students are also becoming pros at using hand signals when singing solfege (do re mi fa sol la ti do.) The children have begun to learn about minor scales using solfege hand signals this trimester. Ask your child to demonstrate the solfege hand signals for you!
The children have begun the recorder unit! The children have been very excited and looking forward to playing! For the past few weeks we have been busy preparing for this unit. The students have actually been completing math exercises in music class! This will help us be able to read the notes and play more accurately. Ask your child to sing the song “Rhythm is Math” for you!
Unified Arts Report
Trimester One
Grade Four
ART: Throughout history, the visual arts have served to connect our imaginations with that which make us human. Works of art reflect human feelings, values and the highest of ideals.
Art is a universal language. It has the power to transcend cultural variations, uniting us all. By cultivating an understanding and appreciation for artists’ works of the past and present, art education develops respect for diverse cultures and creative expressions.
Art is woven into every aspect of our lives, and learning about how and why artists, designers and advertisers use the elements of art will enable students to make intelligent informed decisions in the future.
It is a treat to instruct fourth graders in art! We can be more in depth with our vocabulary of art and projects that we can create. We started our year with an interesting project called “Me and My Shadow”. Students learned a great technique to draw a human figure and then attached a cast shadow. The figures were in an action pose, and from the back! Ancient and living cultures are a wonderful way to learn about our world and appreciate the diversity surrounding us. We studied the art of the Abenaki people of NH and VT. The style, subject matter, and materials used were (and still are) determined by what the environment provided. Replicas of birch bark canoes were constructed after viewing a slide show where contemporary and centuries old techniques were shown. I am always happy to share my Abenaki heritage with the students. Next we began a complete review of what we have learned about color in art and our world. Work on a tree color sampler utilized all our color concepts and employed some useful art techniques. Students will self-assess on the knowledge they retained.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
Fourth graders are true explorers! There is nothing that they aren’t willing to try to conquer. During fourth grade the students are truly challenged not just mentally, but physically too! The classes started the year off with cooperative games that are designed to get the classes working together and building a strong community. The first couple of warm-up challenges were met with ease! However the challenges quickly got a lot more difficult! They were not as straight forward and really required good communication and complete cooperation to complete them. The cliffhanger challenge was a true test of their ability to work together and stay positive. Each class started off by standing together on one mat, and had to move across the room to get to another mat. The class was not allowed to touch the floor at all, and were given a couple “space age hovering discs” , that they were allowed to step on. However the challenge was communicating as a group to figure out how to use these discs correctly. Once this was done, they had to put their thoughts into actions and work together to complete the challenge. This was a blast to watch each class conquer this challenge. This unit was followed up by several weeks of soccer. Here they worked on honing in their skills of kicking, trapping, and dribbling. The classes also explored how the game has evolved over time along with changes in equipment. This was a great way to mix history in with physical education! We followed soccer up with basketball. The classes worked on the basic skills (dribbling, passing, shooting) by getting as many touches on the ball as possible. “Mario Brothers”, a game that works on dribbling and passing, was definitely a class favorite! We are currently working at Maple Lanes on our bowling skills. This game is a great lifetime skill that can be enjoyed throughout their life. We are going to try and keep our scores electronically this year, which the classes are very excited about!
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. – Victor Hugo
It has been a great first trimester in 4th grade music! For the first few weeks of school we looked really deep into the different parts of a song. The children also learned to sing the classic children’s song “Grandfather Clock.”
We have been hard at work on our winter musical! We are rehearsing as a middle school chorus would during class to prepare for next year! I think all families are going to be VERY impressed. I thank all of the children for their hard work on memorizing the words and the movements to all of the songs. I also thank students who have taken extra time during recess to audition for parts and help prepare for the concert! It’s going to be great!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Holidays and Unified Arts reports
Greetings!
The holiday season is upon us! Students are already becoming increasingly excited and the happiness is contagious.
The fourth grades will be making decorations and props for the holiday show, being held on the 20th.
Other classes will continue with the art curriculum. Shape and line are the basic topics currently. Holiday themed projects will come home the 2 weeks before our break, and will integrate into the visual art curriculum as well.
The unified arts reports will be posted next week. All three, art, music, and PE will be available for viewing on each of our respective blogs/web sites.
Have a wonderful, peaceful holiday!
Mrs Plourde
The holiday season is upon us! Students are already becoming increasingly excited and the happiness is contagious.
The fourth grades will be making decorations and props for the holiday show, being held on the 20th.
Other classes will continue with the art curriculum. Shape and line are the basic topics currently. Holiday themed projects will come home the 2 weeks before our break, and will integrate into the visual art curriculum as well.
The unified arts reports will be posted next week. All three, art, music, and PE will be available for viewing on each of our respective blogs/web sites.
Have a wonderful, peaceful holiday!
Mrs Plourde
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Nature and Art
No matter where we live, we can encourage students to respond to the natural world around them through art. Historic and contemporary artists who express their own responses to nature can be shown as examples.
Art can show students how connected they are to nature's beauty and power through both scientific and fanciful investigations. They can explore, through art, their immediate surroundings and how they relate to the wild animals that live in the area, the natural habitats around them and the weather and climate. Students can also expand their investigations to global issues concerning nature, ecology, conservation and climate change.
Monday, September 12, 2011
A New School Year
Welcome everyone! Art classes are off to a smooth start, and I am enjoying meeting the new students, and getting updates on the lives my "old" students.
We dove right into projects about the use of color in art and in the world around us. Look for art projects to come home quite often, except for when I borrow them to display. Your child's art is very special, and in teaching about respect, I emphasize respect for piece of art that is created from the heart, as well as the hands. Kids tell me all the time that art gets hung on their bedroom walls, or the fridge. ( now I hang grandkids art on mine!)
Feel free to email me with questions etc at lplourde@goffstown.k12.nh.us.
I am at Maple Ave Monday through Thursday noon, and Bartlett THursday afternoon and Friday.
Remember...
The world without art is just "eh"!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Third Trimester Unified Arts Narratives
Well, here they are already! The end of the year Trimester Reports for Art, Music and PE.
Have a wonderful, peaceful, creative summer. Get outdoors!!!!
Unified Arts Report 2010-11
Grade One
Trimester Three
Maple Avenue/ Bartlett Elementary School
Art: The visual arts make contributions to the education of young people that extend beyond their intrinsic value. Not only do the arts enhance the learning environment in important ways, but research shows consistent and positive correlation between learning experiences in the arts and enhanced student achievement in other aspects of the curriculum (except from SAU 19 Visual Arts curriculum)
We have been working with shape, form, and texture during the last trimester. We have made clowns from big stars, learned about weaving, discovered how to identify spring peepers, and then constructed one in 3D. We studied robins; their colors, song and habitat, and made a puppet style one on her nest. We learned a lesson from the book Rainbow Fish, and recreated a page from the story. We also saw how sunflowers have been a favorite of artists (even young ones). Have a happy, healthy, creative summer!!
In May, we spent all of our time learning to sing “This is my Country.” This was the song that the children sang at the Memorial Day assembly. In class we focused on singing with good tone production, diction, and breath support. The students did a great job and they sounded wonderful.
Unified Arts Report 2010-11
Grade Two
Trimester Three
Maple Avenue/ Bartlett Elementary School
Art: The visual arts make contributions to the education of young people that extend beyond their intrinsic value. Not only do the arts enhance the learning environment in important ways, but research shows consistent and positive correlation between learning experiences in the arts and enhanced student achievement in other aspects of the curriculum (except from SAU 19 Visual Arts curriculum)
We have learned more about shape, positive and negative space, and color in our third trimester together. Projects have included: Fractional shapes; integrating math into art. We integrated science into weaving in the shape of wild NH animals. We reviewed hot and cold colors in a challenging graph paper flower shape, and enjoyed crayon resist in a sunny day project. Have a happy, healthy, creative summer!
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
We started the trimester off finishing our dance unit. Here the students explored a variety of movements with their bodies to a number of different styles of movements. One of their favorite activities was to visit “Club Maple” and free dance. After dancing, we moved into rock climbing. The students really began to challenge themselves on the wall this year. The Eagle’s nest challenge was a favorite of theirs. We followed rock climbing up with learning more about Frisbees. The second grade spent time during this unit working on their throwing skills, but focused more on catching. More and more of the students began to grab the disc with one hand, rather than trying to do the “pancake” catch. We followed Frisbees up with another summertime favorite, Jai-lai. This is a great activity that works a lot with hand-eye-coordination. The students have made tremendous growth in their skills and ability to catch and throw with the Hi-Li scoops. This is a fun summertime activity that they would love to play with family and friends. After this unit we moved into volleyball, which is another team sport where the students learn the basic skills and rules to play. Our main focus in this unit is communication, and they did a great job working in teams and talking with each other. When we used our “Dinosaur Ball” the students had a blast! We finished the year off with our Frisbee unit. Here the students learned the proper technique to throw and catch a disc with a partner. It has been a pleasure working with your students and I hope you have a safe and active summer. Now “get out and play!”
Music: “Music is an essential part of everything we do. Like puppetry, music has an abstract quality which speaks to a worldwide audience in a wonderful way that nourishes the soul.” –Jim Henson
This trimester has been great in the second grade. A main focus this part of the year has been on dynamics. Students got to sing a great song called Piano Forte. Through singing and moving to the song, the children were able to learn all of the Italian words for sound that is loud, medium, soft, etc.
In May, we spent all of our time learning to sing “Thankful for the U.S.A.” This was the song that the students sang at the Memorial Day assembly. In class we focused on singing with good tone production, diction, and breath support. The students did a great job and they sounded wonderful.
For the last few weeks of school students have been singing and moving to various silly songs. It has been a great year in second grade music class, I look forward to seeing all of the children again next year in third grade!
Unified Arts Report 2010-11
Grade Three
Trimester Three
Maple Avenue/ Bartlett Elementary School
Art: The visual arts make contributions to the education of young people that extend beyond their intrinsic value. Not only do the arts enhance the learning environment in important ways, but research shows consistent and positive correlation between learning experiences in the arts and enhanced student achievement in other aspects of the curriculum (except from SAU 19 Visual Arts curriculum)
We have spent the third trimester together studying the way shape is used in art.
First on the agenda, however, was the drawing of figures, half-sized and dressed in the Colonial period to coincide with Goffstown’s 250th Anniversary celebration. They were displayed, along with a piece of writing at our Night of Literacy and the Arts. We learned about the artist Henri Matisse who used paper cut into shapes in much of his later work. We created an underwater scene in his style. We revisited the concept of negative space, and created an interesting tangled vine picture. With the project, students were able to apply what they have been learning in math class about division. We then worked with the math inspired art of MC Escher, especially his puzzle-like tessellations. What an impressive job the kids did on this project! Have a happy, healthy, creative summer!
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
The third grade started the trimester off finishing up their dance unit. During this time, they learned a variety of line dances and got to express themselves through free dance. Rock climbing was the unit the classes worked on. This individual activity is a great activity for students to be active in a non-competitive way. The students were really beginning to understand what it means to challenge their selves, without worrying about what their peers were doing. We followed this up with introducing lacrosse for the first time. Here the students learned about the rich history of the game and the local ties it has to New England. The students learned all about how the game is played today as well. They worked on throwing, catching, and cradling with the lacrosse sticks. This activity requires a lot of hand-eye-coordination and the students really did a good job with it. They especially liked the shooting activity and competing against their classmates. We are finishing off the year with volleyball. This is a great summertime activity that the whole family can get out and play. The students can show you how to properly bump, set, and spike the ball as well as give you the history of how the game came about. It has been a great year that went by in a blink of an eye. Enjoy your summer and remember to “get out and play!”
Music: “Music is an essential part of everything we do. Like puppetry, music has an abstract quality which speaks to a worldwide audience in a wonderful way that nourishes the soul.” –Jim Henson
This trimester has been great in the third grade. At the beginning of the trimester we finished our recorder for the year. The students have come very far in learning to read music using the recorder. Students should make sure they keep recorders and books because we have another recorder unit in the 4th grade.
In May, we spent all of our time learning to sing “American Every Day.” This was the song that the students sang at the Memorial Day assembly. In class we focused on singing with good tone production, diction, and breath support. The children did a great job and they sounded wonderful.For the last few weeks of school the children have been singing and moving to various silly songs.
It has been a great year in third grade music class, I look forward to seeing all of the children again next year in fourth grade!
Unified Arts Report 2010-11
Grade Four
Trimester Three
Maple Avenue and Bartlett
Elementary Schools
Art: The visual arts make contributions to the education of young people that extend beyond their intrinsic value. Not only do the arts enhance the learning environment in important ways, but research shows consistent and positive correlation between learning experiences in the arts and enhanced student achievement in other aspects of the curriculum (except from SAU 19 Visual Arts curriculum)
We have been studying shape, balance, and movement in art this trimester together.
The celebration of Goffstown’s 250th anniversary was first on the agenda. We created tradesmen’s signs, depicting the crafts of early Goffstown. Writing was displayed with the signs, to coincide with the Night of Literacy and the Arts. Circles and fractions were the catalyst for pictures that were comprised of the circle parts we made, a nice integration with math. Framing a piece of art and the use of “close ups” gave us an interesting abstract of a butterfly wing in watercolor. We rounded out the trimester with a fun stick figure and negative space project reminiscent of Paul Klee’s art. Have a happy, healthy, creative summer! I will miss all my art students, and I know they will enjoy art at the middle school.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
This trimester started off with the students finishing off their dance unit. During this time the classes learned a number of line dances as well as moved around the room during free dance. This unit is always one of the most popular of the year. The classes went from dancing at “Club Maple” to another favorite, our lacrosse unit. This unit improved their skills on throwing, catching, and cradling the ball with the lacrosse sticks. We followed lacrosse up with a couple different activities that teach the importance of nutrition. Their favorite activity during this time was “food fat attack”. This fast paced game teaches the direct relation between nutrition and physical activity. Through this activity, the students learned how to read and understand the nutritional value labels found on food packaging. Currently we are finishing the year up with our volleyball unit. The students got to play some small-sided games as well as get to use our “dinosaur” ball, which is bigger than them! I have had a great time working with your children over the last four years. It went by all too quickly. I wish each of them the best of luck at MVMS. Enjoy your summer and remember to “get out and play!”
Music: “Music is an essential part of everything we do. Like puppetry, music has an abstract quality which speaks to a worldwide audience in a wonderful way that nourishes the soul.” –Jim Henson
This trimester has been great in Music Class. We began the trimester by learning a song called “This Way we Pull Away.” For this activity the children were required to work as a team to create an ensemble. At times children were singing, playing xylophones, and dancing all at once.
Also during the trimester, children learned all of the different words that we use to classify the number of people performing at once... solo, duet, trio, quartet, etc. Ask your child if they can name all of the different sized performing groups up to ten people.
In May, we spent all of our time learning to sing “One Nation.” This was the song that the students sang at the Memorial Day assembly. In class we focused on singing with good tone production, diction, and breath support. The students did a great job and they sounded wonderful.
During the last few weeks of school, the children learned about how the larynx (voice box) works and how to classify different types of voices.
It has been a great year in fourth grade. I wish all of the fourth graders the best of luck in Middle School and I really hope many Maple Avenue students will consider joining the band, orchestra, or chorus in the Middle School.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Night of LIteracy and the Arts
Tonight, May 24th, from 6:30-8 PM Maple Ave will be open to the public for displays of literacy and art. A special display of Goffstown's 250th anniversary Colonial themed art and writing will be included.
Stop by and see all the fantastic work our students have been hard at work on!
I am proud of my students and their artwork!!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Unified Arts Reports
Below are the Art, Music and PE reports for Trimester Two at Maple Ave School.
Please note that the Art segments are also for Bartlett School.
Trimester Two Unified Arts Reports 2011
Unified Arts Report
Grade One
Trimester Two
Maple Avenue Elementary School
Art: Art was the first language.
I have seen tremendous growth in our first grade students since the first trimester report was written. Routines have become well established for art class.
Since the beginning of December, we have been working with concepts in line and shape. When a line bends, a shape begins. We worked with pipe cleaners to create a three dimensional work of art and we drew an abstract geometric design, after learning what those terms meant. The holiday season was then upon us, and we put together some cute thematic projects. Hexagons and triangles, along with winter symbols were the subject for a picture in January. Natural and man-made shapes were compared, and we created a winter bird project that also reminded us to be stewards of our earth. A star became a colorful clown! Circles are everywhere, so we had some fun with snowmen that were dressed any way a student could imagine! At Maple Ave., the PFT fundraiser “Originalworks” was introduced during art time to be completed at home.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
This trimester has been a blast working and playing in PE. The first graders are growing, not just physically, but mentally too. They are grasping more and more concepts related to moving and controlling their bodies. Their increased coordination is allowing them more success at the activities that we are doing. This trimester, we introduced the basic concepts of basketball, juggling, and bowling, along with a few “fun days” mixed in. During these units, the students participated physically while also learning the history related to the appropriate activity. In basketball, we covered basic dribbling, shooting, and passing skills through a variety of activities and challenges. Through bowling, the students learned how to roll the ball correctly, keep score, and set the pins up. In juggling, the classes worked on a variety of balancing activities like balancing feathers, spinning plates, and juggling scarves. We are currently involved in a perennial favorite, dance! Ask your students about “Club Maple” our very own dance club here at the school!
Music: Music education opens doors that helps children pass from school into the world around them –a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. –Gerald Ford
This trimester in music we spent a lot of time on listening to “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns. The children drew pictures of what each animal sounded like it was doing at the carnival. The children were very imaginative and did a great job with this project.
Students have also been learning how to read simple rhythms in music this trimester. The children all sang a song called “Partner, Partner” that they all really enjoyed. Students were given the actual sheet music to this song to analyze! The students also got to participate in a fun “Partner, Partner” dance.
The last unit in the second trimester is a series of songs to welcome spring. The students sang a song called “Rain Sings a Song.” Students were given the opportunity to play rain sound effects with a variety of different instruments including rain sticks and the thunder tube!
Grade Two
Trimester Two
Maple Avenue Elementary School
Art: Art was the first language.
We have been focusing on line and shape in this trimester. We revisited the concept of geometric shape in art and brainstormed objects that were comprised of those shapes. Students created their own geometric shape compositions and added color with colored pencil. A lesson on the use of colored pencil taught them to use short strokes, in one direction. The holiday season was then upon us, and we made some fun thematic projects. The size and placement of objects in a drawing or painting creates the illusion of depth in art, and we tried that out in a watercolor/drawing artwork with animals as the subject matter. The concept of natural shape and manufactured shape was discussed. We talked about the career of the designer and discovered that almost everything we see and use started out in the mind of an artist/designer of some sort. To put the information to use, students became ice skate designers. Wild and crazy ideas were encouraged. At Maple Ave., the PFT fundraiser “Originalworks’ was worked introduced in art class, to be completed at home. Next on the agenda was positive and negative space, a tricky but important concept in art, and in everyday living. Included in this project is symmetry, which is studied in math, also.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
Second graders are having a blast in PE this year. They are not just being introduced to the activities and touching on them, but they are fully involved with them! During this second trimester, we started off with our basketball unit. Here the students worked on their dribbling, passing, and shooting skills through a variety of basketball-based activities. The students really did well with these activities and had a lot more success, especially with shooting. During our juggling unit, we had tremendous growth in their coordination. They are beginning to show the ability to keep something balanced by moving it on a much larger scale. Instead of just scarves, a majority of the students could keep two balls moving in a toss/toss/catch/catch pattern. A number of students were able to get the plates spinning on the stick themselves this year too. We followed juggling up with bowling and worked on our one-handed rolling technique. The students also learned how to keep a running score when they are bowling without the use of a computer! Currently, we are in our dance unit, which is one of the favorite units of the year!
Music: Music education opens doors that helps children pass from school into the world around them –a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. –Gerald Ford
This trimester in music we spent a lot of time looking deeper into what musical notation looks like. The children sat around a giant staff floor mat and used small stuffed critters to help them learn the letter names of all of the lines and spaces in treble clef (not to be confused with terrible cliff.) Students learned lots of funny memory tricks to remember the names of spaces and lines on the staff. One of the favorite tricks for remembering the names of the line was: Elephants Go Bouncing Down Freeways! The students also got a chance to write a little bit of music on their own, which I played for them on the piano.
The second part of the trimester, we explored my favorite musical topic-opera! To avoid much confusion, we had a long discussion on what the difference was between opera and Oprah. We spent many weeks listening to “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Initially, the students listened to the opera entirely in German and created comic books to illustrate what they imagined was happening. It was amazing to see how many students came very close to the actual plot of the opera with their pictures. To conclude this unit, we watched a video of an actual staged version of the opera. Students were glued to the video while it played. I even had students ask me if we could watch more operas! The children did a great job with this unit! Bravo! Brava! Bravissimo!
Grade Three
Trimester Two
Maple Avenue Elementary School
Art: Art was the first language.
We continued with our work involving shape and line, completing an abstract geometric composition in colored pencil. Neat, professional colored pencil work was stressed. The holiday season was then upon us, and we made some fun thematic projects. A multi-week project began with the life of Wilson Bentley, an artist/scientist/farmer from Vermont who discovered much of what we know about snowflakes. We took what we had learned and created large multi-layered snowflake designs, which featured symmetry and fractions, concepts used in math. Science in art was a focus of our discovery of the Aurora Borealis, where students created beautiful “ribbons of light in the sky”. At Maple Ave., the PFT fundraiser “Originalworks” art project was introduced in art class, to be completed at home.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
This trimester flew by in PE. We started it off with a unit on basketball that was all new activities for the students. The Mario Brothers activity was one of the favorites. This activity worked on dribbling and passing while trying to make it through one of our Mario Worlds. Following basketball, we got into our juggling unit where the students worked on their hand-eye-coordination while trying to balance something by keeping it moving. We worked with Diablo’s, Devil Sticks, spinning plates, balancing feathers, stilts, rings, scarves, yo-yo’s, and juggling balls. Many of these challenges were new to the students, but they did a great job. A couple of them were able to move up the juggling ladder and achieve three balls! Following juggling, the classes worked on a lifetime activity, bowling. Here they worked in teams honing in on their bowling skills along with scorekeeping abilities. Currently, we are involved in another lifetime activity, dance. This is one of the perennial favorites, especially when we free dance in “Club Maple”!
Music: Music education opens doors that helps children pass from school into the world around them –a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. –Gerald Ford
Third graders are deep into learning how to play the recorders! We have already made it about half way through the book! So far, students have learned to play 4 notes-B,A,G, and C. The children are doing a great job learning to read music. It is great to see the students’ eyes actually following the music and that they are not just learning the music by rote! This skill will really come in handy if they choose to take strings, play a band instrument, or sing in a chorus. Learning to read music also helps the brain grow and develop because students are forced to make the left side and right side of the brain connect.
The last few weeks, we took a small break from the recorders to sing some fun songs to go along with the outer space unit students are studying in science. Students did a great job singing “Is There Life on Mars” and “Poor Little Pluto.” Ask your child why Pluto has been feeling so sad lately!
Grade Four
Trimester Two
Maple Avenue Elementary School
Art: Art was the first language.
Fourth graders began the second trimester with a multi-week piece of art in the style of Van Gogh. You may be familiar with the painting “Starry Night” or even the song written by Don McLean. Students used oil pastel, a watercolor technique called crayon resist, and silhouette cutting to create their own starry night. A frame of words describing the painting was added. We shifted gears to a wild and crazy project reminiscent to Picasso’s mixed up portraits, wait until you see these! At Maple Ave., the PFT fundraiser “Originalworks” was introduced in art classes, to be completed at home.
Physical Education: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”-Unknown
As I sit here typing up the trimester reports looking back to what each grade has done over the last trimester, I am amazed how much children grow over 4 years. Instead of being introduced to an activity, they are masters of these activities! With basketball, they were not just participating in activities, but competing and challenging each other. Through juggling, they were not just being introduced to the different pieces of equipment, they were picking and choosing what they wanted to work with. Once they found their niche, they really became focused on trying to improve their abilities with that skill. During our bowling unit, we saw more and more spares and strikes. Their bowling scores were incredible! Currently, we are involved with our dance unit, which is an annual favorite. After introducing a line dance to the class, I have the class break off into groups and have peer leaders lead the dance. It is great watching them teach and learn from each other. We will be moving into rock climbing next, with a couple of new challenges!
Music: Music education opens doors that helps children pass from school into the world around them –a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. –Gerald Ford
Fourth graders started out the trimester with a review of recorders. The children flew through this unit and did a great job remembering many of the musical concepts from third grade! The climax of the unit was when the students played a piece called “E-lectricity.” In this music, the students had lots of fun making their recorders sound like an electrical current!
The second part of the trimester, the children learned all about the notes on a piano. Students were then taught how to construct major scales by using a piano and a formula.
To go along with the 4th grade New Hampshire History curriculum, we have been singing the New Hampshire official state song “Old New Hampshire.” Ask your child if they can sing the refrain of the song for you!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Reading, Writing and Art
"Children who have not learned how to see and mentally explore the various forms of arts and science will not be able to write, not because they cannot spell, but because they have nothing to say, nothing to reconstruct from sensory exploration of the environment."
- Elliot Eisner, Stanford University
Analyze, synthesize, identify, compare/contrast/ observe, describe, critique- these are all words that are present in both the art curriculum and in the language arts curriculum.
I assist classroom teachers in teaching reading and writing skills on a daily basis!
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