Media Arts Village
Newsletter Vol. 1
Starting the year "In the Groove"
How do you get in the ECS GROOVE?!
Getting GROOVE-y with Tie Dye!
Developing a Growth Mindset!
Check out more details about what's going on in the village below!
Upcoming Dates!
- September 3rd: Semester Project Proposals due!
- September 8th: Progress Reports distributed
- September 25th: 25% Checkpoint for Semester Projects
- October 13: Fall Advisory Board Dinner (Contact us if you, or someone you know, would be interested in serving on the Media Arts Village advisory board!)
- October 23rd: 50% Checkpoint for Semester Projects
- November 13th: 75% Checkpoint for Semester Projects
- November 23rd: SEMESTER PROJECTS DUE!
Tutoring Help
- There is a Media Arts Village teacher after school every Monday through Wednesday. If you need help, make an appointment to stay with one of us!
- The science department at ECS offers tutoring on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Ask your science teacher for more details!
- The National Honors Society offers peer tutoring at SCHS on Mondays and Thursdays from 4-5 pm in Room 173.
In the Classroom
Media Arts - Ms. Natasha Sams
Video Studio Fundamentals: Our study of graphic design has begun! We have covered the basics of Photoshop CS5. Students are working to master the interface of the program as well as basic features, such as: layers and the layer palette, the move tool, the gradient tool, the paint bucket tool, the magic wand tool, the erasure tool, brushes, color modes and schemes, layer blending styles, photo filters, downloading and installing brushes, fonts, and textures - and more! We will move into blending techniques within a week. Students will also focus on the basic Elements and Principles of Design during this unit, ensuring that students can analyze designs adequately using these concepts. Students must first master images and frames that are motionless before they can make them move. They are responding well and working very hard! I am so proud of the progress I have seen in such a short amount of time!
Studio Directing and Performance: We started the year with a short Film Study unit. We focused primarily on cinematic techniques, such as: Framing, Angles, and Camera Movement, Editing Choices and Length of Takes, Sound, Color and Lighting, Costume Choice, Acting Choice, and setting/set design. We have started a short Advanced Photoshop CS5 unit before heading into animation with Alice 3. Students are working on their blending skills with tools like the blur tool, layer masks and gradients, opacity, effect filters, and blurry erasure. Our next assignment will challenge students to colorize black and white photographs. They are really excited! I can't wait to see how they turn out - your child has been working VERY hard! Proud of what I have seen so far this year!
Semester projects are under way! Please talk with your child about their project. Ask them what they are doing! I am very impressed with the ideas I have heard. The passion surrounding their projects is inspiring! I know they will take it to the next level! Students must turn their project proposal in this Thursday, September 3rd for review. Students will be given Monday and Tuesday in class to work on their proposals.
Contact Ms. Sams
Phone: (502) 570-4920 ext. 4404
Latitude: 38.210028
Longitude: -84.600297
Other: Just come see me after school! :)
English Language Arts - Mrs. Erin McIver
AP Language and Composition:
During the first quarter students will focus on learning vocabulary and skills to help prepare them for the AP exam. They will have five Literary Terms quizzes before the end of the first nine weeks: each quiz is comprehensive, so they will be learning a great number of terms this nine weeks. Also, students have Writer's Notebooks due every Monday. This is meant to help students hone the vocabulary and skills they learn in class, and critically think about texts they read. All of this information is detailed on their Independent Reading calendar. If you would like a copy of their calendar please feel free to email me and ask for one. In class we will be focusing on the persuasive rhetoric skills of ethical, emotional, and logical appeals. Students will analyze contemporary speeches as well as classic American literature for these persuasive appeals.
Honors English III:
We are starting our unit on Arthur Miller's play The Crucible last week. This is a play based on the Salem Witch Trials. During this unit students will focus on the skills of characterization, tone, irony, and the persuasive appeals. For homework, students will be reading a survey of American literature texts. This nine weeks they will focus on Native American literature, Puritan literature, and will start to read the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. They will have weekly quizzes over their independent reading. Their reading schedule is detailed on their Independent Reading calendar. If you would like a copy of their calendar please feel free to email me and ask for one.
Pre-AP English II:
Students are finishing their study of Dystopian literature. They began with an analysis of their summer reading, The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In addition to this novel study, students will have read four additional short stories that represent this genre of literature. Skills taught during this unit include, theme, syntactical structure, foreshadowing, conflict, plot, imagery, and mood. Students have their final test over this unit this Friday! Next, we will start our unit on Greek theater where will will read the play Antigone. During this unit the independent reading novel will be A Separate Peace by John Knowles. Students will have weekly assignments and quizzes over this novel. They will receive an independent reading schedule that will detail all their due dates for this novel. If you would like a copy of their schedule please feel free to email me and ask for one.
English II:
Students are finishing their study of Dystopian literature. They are reading four short stories by Ray Bradbury that fit this genre including "The Sound of Thunder," "The Veldt," "The Pedestrian," and "All Summer in a Day." Skills taught during this unit include simile, metaphor, personification, foreshadowing, conflict, plot, imagery, mood, and theme. Students have their final test over this unit this Friday! After that we will start our unit on Greek theater where will will read the play Antigone.Contact Mrs. McIver
Science - Mrs. Kimberlee Zabilka Hayes
Biology
During the first term, students will learn how to categorize life in a variety of ways, thus setting the stage for all the other material they will learn this year. From there, we will transition into the introduction to cell biology. This week, students are applying their new-found classification skills to identify local trees. I encourage you to ask your child about the trees in your own yard!
Students have weekly vocabulary assignments and quizzes to help them prepare for the cumulative End of Course Assessment in May. That exam will be worth 20% of the students’ final grade for Biology. Additionally, students have weekly journal assignments that can be found on the Schoology.com. These assignments are designed to develop critical literacy skills and enhance in-class learning. Weekly assignments are posted on Sundays and have deadlines throughout the week. Assignments could be websites to explore, videos to watch, or articles to read. Feel free to email me if you would like instructions on how to access these assignments, or to sign up for text or email reminders for homework deadlines.
Chemistry
Students are wrapping up their study of unit conversions. The first exam will be during the week following Labor Day. Then we will begin to study atomic theory, its history, limitations, and its future in quantum mechanics. Don’t be surprised if students come home with wild facts about the matter all around us!
Chemistry, in the Media Arts Village, is taught as a hybrid course this year. This means that some of the class instruction comes from alternate sources and from outside the classroom. For MAV students, this means that they need to complete the weekly journal assignments that can be found on Schoology.com. These assignments are designed to develop critical literacy skills, bolster math proficiency, and enhance in-class learning. Assignments are posted every Sunday and have deadlines throughout the week. Assignments could be websites to explore, videos to watch, or articles to read. Feel free to email me if you would like instructions on how to access these assignments, or to sign up for text or email reminders for homework deadlines.
Contact Mrs. Hayes
Instagram: @mrs_zabilka_hayes