Program Updates: Art and Music – January 2025
MUSIC
All students have been preparing for our upcoming Winter Arts Nights.
Call time for students is 6:30 on their performance date: January 21 (6th grade); January 22 (7th grade); January 23 (8th grade).
6th grade
Sixth graders have continued working on reading notes in their assigned clef and various rhythms in different time signatures.
With the introduction of their first piece of sheet music, students have been learning how to sight read and gaining the necessary skills to do so. Sight reading forces students to read music on the spot and play their part confidently, as they do not know what the music is supposed to sound like beforehand. This will increase their ability to read and play music, making it easier to play more challenging music as we continue to develop this skill.
7th Grade
Seventh grade students have continued working on the fundamentals of playing and singing. Right before winter break, they worked on their “Rewrite a Song” project, in which groups of 2-3 students picked a familiar song to rewrite the lyrics to. They wrote about their experiences in school and it has been really fun to see what they come up with.
8th Grade
Eight graders have continued working on the fundamentals of playing and singing. Right before winter break, 8th grade also worked on and finished their “Rewrite a Song” project. In this project, students worked in groups of 2-3 to rewrite the lyrics to a familiar song. They wrote about their experiences in school and then shared their song with their class.
Some students found AI to be useful in helping to share their project. They found a site where you could sing your lyrics, pick a famous musician, and then AI would perform it back to you in that musician’s voice. It was interesting (and quite hilarious) to see how students were incorporating this new technology into their projects.
ART
Students are busy wrapping up the first semester and preparing for Winter Arts Night!
6th grade
Sixth graders just completed large colorful and textural paintings created while playing an art game called “Pass the Paint.” The paints are set up around the tables in color wheel order. Students paint with a single color for several minutes and then pass the paint to the next artist. Eventually, the color wheel paints turn all the way around the tables.
The resulting and amazing paintings, as well as other projects that have been created during the first semester, will be going home in decorated portfolios on Arts Night.
7th grade
Seventh grade students are exploring Modern Art. This week they’ll continue working on their abstract tape paintings. We looked at a survey of Modern Art and in particular how Abstract Art developed in the 20th century. This is a very popular assignment and one where students are free to express their unique and original ideas. There is a wide variety of compositions utilizing many different painting techniques.
Portfolios containing these and other first semester projects will be going home on Arts Night.
8th grade
Eighth graders are wrapping up their Alter Book projects. The art room is positively humming with productivity. Some artists have also designed album covers which are then reduced on a color copier and put into CD cases for display. The variety of this year’s altered book creations is extremely vast and astounding.
These one-of-kind books – which no longer look like books – will be on display at Arts Night.
Art Club
Art club has covered a wide variety of projects this semester: Embroidery, shrinky dinks, button making, charm bracelets and other jewelry.
This past week, we learned about paper marbling. Called suminagashi (“floating ink”) in Japan, and popular throughout Europe, this ancient decorative technique starts with a vat of a suspension fluid onto which drops of paint are applied. They float and spread, and can be manipulated to create the marble patterns.
Here are some of our creations:
