Woodworking Is Rocking for Third Grade! This week, third graders adding the finishing touches on their rocking people. This unique and fun construction helps to introduce students to using coping saws for making curved cuts and demanded slightly more complexity in its building than previous projects. Students, of course, also
The Coolidge Art Studio has been abuzz this week as classes finish artworks and transition to new explorations and challenges with various media. First graders recently completed making paper by hand, and are now learning about architect Zaha Hadid, who will serve as inspiration for their upcoming 3D work. Third
After watching the fourth grade play, Imagine!, first graders were inspired to create their own ribbon dance performances. Emphasis was placed on both freestyle and synchronized segments. The students learned that fluidity and big arm motions helped create the most drama in their dance. This concept piggy-backed perfectly with their
This week was filled with many musical moments. Students thought about a song’s purpose in a songwriting class, played chord progressions on the keyboards, learned new songs from the school musical as an ensemble, and rehearsed (and performed) for our annual Winter Concert. Music served as a thread that connected
Seventh and eighth graders began their new trimester of arts classes last week. One of the new offerings is a soft sculpture class. Students are working with a variety of materials, including fabric and wool. For their first challenge, students designed a six-sided sculpture made from cloth. After creating a
This fall, a group of seventh and eighth grade students took a cappella as their music elective for the first trimester. While working together in a vocal ensemble, students practiced harmonizing, singing from chords, beatboxing, thinking about vocal arrangements, stage presence, projecting their voice as a soloist, and how to
First graders enter the woodworking studio in the fall, starting their journey as designers and creators. The students learn to use basic tools and develop their fine motor skills. Cutting a piece of wood with a hand saw is their first accomplishment proceeded by learning to hammer. This week first
Eighth Grade Math Tackles Spreadsheets We’ve been getting acquainted with spreadsheets (specifically, Google Sheets) in some of the eighth grade math classes this week. As we’ve been studying one-variable statistics, students have also had the chance to see how a spreadsheet can increase the efficiency and simplicity of data analysis
Seventh and eighth grade students in the song production arts elective have been working on their keyboard skills. After spending some time working on the basics of successfully recording and editing MIDI, students began to construct their own multi-layered songs. Some were creating airy dreamscapes, and others were working on
Seventh and eighth grade students in the “Be Handy” arts elective this term are working on their first major challenge: to tell a story using finger puppets. Working independently or in small groups, students decided on the story they wanted to tell and then created a storyboard and individual character
