Middle School Arts Curriculum

6th Grade Clay

Sixth Grade Clay students work in a variety of ways to increase their finger awareness as well as their observations about the natural world. They mine and refine natural clay from the campus. During different times of the year the projects change to reflect the seasons. We cover the basics of connecting two pieces of clay together, forming with and without the use of tools, and following the laws of the medium as its life cycle offers different challenges and opportunities as the students work in an imaginative way (from a guided beginning) to transform the earth. The activity of bringing ideas into three-dimensional reality through the heart forces of the imagination is a balancing activity to the more abstract aspects of thinking and conceptual work.

7th Grade Art

Seventh Grade Art is a studio art course designed to give students exposure to issues, materials and processes related to two-dimensional and three-dimensional design. Students use memory and invention as sources for developing imagery in a two-dimensional format and direct observation of subject matter during the creation of a three-dimensional work. Students explore issues of compositional structure, the relationship between compositional structure and effective communication of content in a work, and the symbolic and visual impact of color and color relationships. The significance of pushing an idea beyond it's initial state of being is stressed in this course. Students are expected to build on their first solutions to a set of posed problems of two- and three- dimensional design, adding complexity, subtlety, and sophistication to these solutions through a process of critical analysis and change.

7th Grade Clay

Seventh Grade Clay works with the students emerging awareness of their inner and outer worlds. Animal sculpture exercises the student's powers of observation and reflection. Animal forms suggest certain functions and capacities that can easily be seen repeated in many ways throughout the physical world and the world of nature. The feeling that the students have for the animal world warms the cooler thinking process, thereby balancing and informing the will. The projects begin with the whole, defining the parts in the context of the whole. Construction and glazing techniques expand the students’ vocabulary of expression. Proportion and composition are taught by the subject and therefore explain the reason for apparent harmony or awkwardness.

8th Grade Art

In the Eight Grade Art course students work in drawing and two-dimensional design. The elements of drawing – line, value, and shape – are introduced in separate assignments. Color and composition are examined as part of the final work of the quarter. Students work from observation, with each set up related to the focus of each drawing. In addition to each of the art related skills that students will learn will be that they learn to think critically about their work through the process of developing a piece of a period of time. In that time, they will develop the ability to make changes and to refine their work. They will learn to work effectively, productively and respectfully in a group setting, often sharing materials, ideas and opinions. When assignments are introduced the tools and manner in which they will be working are explained and demonstrated. Examples of work completed in other classes, as well as images in books, are used to further explain approaches to making the image. While students are working they are constantly receiving feedback on their progress and suggestions are made as to how to continue to develop an idea or image. A final grade of Pass/Fail is recorded assessing the final piece. Assignments are designed to allow the strong or experienced student to tackle more complex images or methods of working while teaching the less experienced and less skilled student to learn how to build an image, slowly adding detail. In the subject matter that is presented to work from there is a range of complexity in the forms, allowing students to choose their level of difficulty.

8th Grade Clay

Eighth Grade Clay introduces the potter's wheel. Students learn to center clay through centering themselves. The process calls on them to observe subtleties in themselves and their effect on the clay as it spins, wanting guidance. The wheel was not invented to make pots round, people have the capacity to do that of themselves with coils or pinching, so the students also try to experience this part of themselves and find out the wheel is not just faster but engages a different aspect and degree of their attention to turn out a balanced pot. Glazing and forming bowls, plates, cups, vases, and "happy accidents," comprises the majority of their work in eighth grade.

Middle School Chorus

The Middle School Chorus meets three times a week either as a whole class, by gender groups or by smaller ensembles. The course is designed to expose students to singing in the choral tradition. Emphasis is placed on performance through learning musical notation, sight-reading, musical style and interpretation, and vocal and choral techniques. Increasing the students' interest and enjoyment in music is an important goal of the course. Performances include Grandparents' Day, the Winter Concert and the Spring Concert, in addition to performing at local retirement homes.

Middle School Orchestra

The middle school instrumental program consists of an orchestra that is divided into string instruments and band instruments. Musicians meet three times a week. The goal is to raise the level of the students' ability to perform, with expression and technical accuracy, a varied repertoire of instrumental music. Performances include Grandparents' Day, the Winter Concert and the Spring Concert, and in off-campus music festivals. Previous successful instrumental music lessons are required.

7th & 8th Grade General Music

This non-performance based music course introduces students to fundamentals of music in an experiential way. Students will participate in a variety of activities that will help deepen their understanding of music in relation to history and culture.

6th Grade Theater

The 6th grade theater class has three objectives. It is our hope to lead the students to discover how enjoyable the theater world can be, to learn to work in groups and to gain confidence in themselves and their voice. The course is comprised of a series of story-telling activities, highlighting that story telling is at the heart of all theater. When the students begin, they activities are pantomime, forcing the students to tell stories without using their voice. They begin by doing simple tasks like mowing the lawn and washing the car. As the course progresses, the students begin to develop more complex scenes, climaxing with a pantomime fairy tale. In the second half of course, the students work on developing a clear strong voice. They begin by reading Dr. Seuss poems aloud and learning how to shade their voice to tell a story and then they develop scenes with vocal improvisation. The class commences with the students developing short plays, using the poems of Shel Silverstein.

7th Grade Theater

The 7th grade student, full of exuberance and social awareness, can gain much from the more structured social interaction provided by a theater class. Through exercises, improvisations and scene work, students develop increased confidence performing in front of their peers, observing each other’s work and cooperating as a class. The course centers on building concentration skills, stretching the imagination, playing scenes truthfully, creating simple characters and working on scenes in pairs and in small groups. Towards the end of the quarter, students are able to work in larger groups, and take on improvisations that contain two, or even three points of concentration. The course culminates in each student’s performance of a simple scripted monologue from "Prayers from the Ark," by Rumer Godden in a stage adaptation by Hugh Cronister. The script gives students the opportunity to work on vocal and physical interpretation of a set text, using their carefully honed skills of concentration and imagination.

8th Grade Theater

The 8th grader gradually emerges as a young adult over the course of the year. The self-consciousness that accompanies that growth begins to wane, giving them a perfect opportunity to explore other characters and other ways of being in the world through theater arts. In the 8th grade theater class allows students to continue to develop their skills in acting and improvisation. Through cooperative games, pantomime, improvised scenes and script work, students review the basics of concentration, holding a point of focus while onstage, drawing on the imagination, developing a character, building a scene, working with other actors (ensemble), exploring their vocal and physical expression, and bringing a script to life. Improvisations and scenes grow in complexity as the quarter progresses, often involving multiple points of focus. The quarter concludes with students performing in small groups their own versions a classic fairy tales.

8th Grade Woodworking

Woodworking introduces the student to the nature and properties of wood, wood joinery, and wood finishing. Students will learn mastery of tools and safety techniques in the wood shop as well as applied artistry through the creation of a traditional Chester County mirror.

7th Grade Filmmaking

Students learn the basics of using a video camera and then work with partners to create several short films. Projects are designed to develop specific skills of filmmaking such as the use of camera angles, story telling, pacing, allowing room for the viewer’s imagination, and successful dialogue. In addition, this course is an exercise in two important skills: working as a creative part of a group, and organizing and planning so that an idea can come to fruition. The course culminates in each student’s production of a five-minute independent film.