Specialists Bi-Weekly Update
May 27th, 2022
What is happening during WMS specials classes?
Art: 6th, 7th and 8th grade
Technology Education: 6th, 7th and 8th grade
Health: 6th, 7th and 8th grade
Music: 6th and 7th grade
Drama: 8th grade only
Physical Education: 6th, 7th and 8th grade
Orchestra, Band and Chorus: 6th, 7th and 8th grade by student choice
Specials classes meet for 1 term every other day with the exception of physical education; physical education meets every other day all year. There are 4 terms in the school year, so your child will have all four specials by the end of the school year.
Art Class
6th grade: This week students continued to wrap up our Musical Instruments; with most students finishing and moving on to the next project. This is the time in the term where because artists don’t all move at the same pace, many students are working on different phases of two different projects all in the same class.
I post the agenda steps for each project (and project stage) in Google Classroom, so students can pull up the agenda directions that they need and work their way through those steps.
For students that don’t finish their Musical Instruments in class, we will need to find time outside of class for them to finish those projects, so that they don’t fall too far behind on the next project.
Students had a choice of making their Musical Instruments in either Oil Pastels, Colored Pencil or Shaded Pencil on either 9x12 (small) or 12x18 (large) paper. Often once projects are finished, they are hung in displays around the school to show off our awesome work!
Once turned in, all projects receive comments as well as a grade of 0-5 (in Google Classroom) and students have the option to make changes and turn the assignment back in for a re-grade if they would like to. (Usually that would need to be done on their own time and not during class.)
Our next project is Drawing/Painting Animals. All students chose an Animal that they are excited to learn how to draw and got reference photograph print outs to work from. Students begin with Thumbnail Sketches for their Animals project. Students get to choose any animal they would like to learn how to draw and for this project we’re looking at photographs of those animals to help us break them up into simple shapes to draw. Once students finish their Thumbnail Sketches and have a favorite version to move forward with, students have a choice of making their Animals as either: Shaded Pencil, Colored Pencil, Watercolor, Oil Pastel or Collage. Each material will then have its own set of directions to follow.
Learning Targets: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
1. Artists draw what they see, not what they know.
I WILL take time to look at the object in front of me, SO I CAN draw “what I see,” not what “I think I know.”
2. Artists edit their work, they don’t expect the first thing they draw to look perfect right away.
I WILL take time to look at my paper, compare it to the object I’m looking at and be honest with myself about what looks good, and what needs fixing SO I CAN edit, refine and change what’s on my paper, to match what I’m seeing.
Learning Targets: ANIMALS
1. Artists draw realistically by breaking things down into simple shapes first.
I WILL take time to look at the animal image in front of me, SO I CAN identify the simple shapes that make it up, and start to draw my animal from those simple shapes.
2. Artists edit their work, they don’t expect the first thing they draw to look perfect right away.
I WILL take time to look at my paper, compare it to the animal image I’m looking at and be honest with myself about what looks good, and what needs fixing SO I CAN edit, refine and change what’s on my paper, to match what I’m seeing.
7th grade: This week students continued to work on their Painted Color Wheels.
Last week we started with the Primary Colors and White and learned how to mix the Secondary and Tertiary Colors as well as Tints (when we add white to a color to make it lighter.)
This week students continued to work on their Tints (lighter versions of the colors) and then moved on to mixing Shades (darker versions of those colors.) Although you could make shades by adding Black, our challenge was to mix these colors using only the Primary Colors and White, so students tried mixing 1 drop of the OPPOSITE color to mix their Shades (darker versions of the color.) This can be very tricky, as if you add too much of the opposite color you would end up with brown.
We are training ourselves to be EXPERT color mixers in this lesson!
When finished, students will have 36-48 colors in their Final Color Wheels. The 12 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colors form the first circle we paint, 2 circles of tints--lighter and lightest and then an outside circle of Shades. This is the trickiest part, so we save it for last!
Learning Target: COLOR WHEELS
1. I can mix any color I could ever imagine using only RED, BLUE, YELLOW & WHITE.
2. I will understand how to “read” a Color Wheel to know how to mix colors.
3. I will know how to mix SECONDARY and TERTIARY COLORS by changing the proportions of the paint colors I use.
4. I will understand how to mix TINTS & SHADES of all the 12 PRIMARY, SECONDARY & TERTIARY COLORS.
8th grade: We are now working on our Final Perspective Project. This project is broken down into 3 sections:
Thumbnail Sketches (trying out 3 different versions of the same idea to figure out the most interesting way to fill the rectangle of the page)
Rough Drafts (mapping out the idea lightly in pencil to make sure everything aligns with the Vanishing Point/s as it should to show things closer to us looking bigger and then getting smaller as they get further away)
Final Drafts (adding details, colors, shading, etc. to make this look like a finished drawing)
Students chose which version of perspective they enjoyed drawing the most from their sketchbook pages and will then chose final perspective inspiration images to look at to help them map out the details in their drawing. (Examples include: a 1-Point Perspective Inside a Kitchen or a 2-Point Perspective Building of a Foot Locker Store.)
Learning Target: PERSPECTIVE DRAWINGS
I can apply what I learned about One-Point Perspective and Two-Point Perspective to draw buildings, rooms, city blocks, etc. in Perspective, which shows things that are closer to us looking bigger, and things that are further away getting smaller.
Advanced Art 7th grade:
This course focuses on independent projects based on student interest; examples being realistic drawing, color rendering, painting, printmaking and sculpture. We will work through the artistic process and examine and critique our work as we develop complex and refined final projects.
Students are hard at work on either Mandala Stone Painting or Mandala Flower Pot Painting.
They are expanding on the Mandala concepts we learned in General 7th Grade Art and transferring those radial pattern design skills onto 3-D objects. Students choose to paint their object either black or another solid color, mapped out a radial design and color scheme and then carefully painted it onto their object. Many are in the final stages of these, now and they are quite impressive!
Advanced Art 8th grade:
This course focuses on independent projects based on student interest; examples being realistic drawing, color rendering, painting, printmaking and sculpture. We will work through the artistic process and examine and critique our work as we develop complex and refined final projects.
We are currently focused on our Printmaking Projects. Students had a choice between a painted Monoprint Landscape or a Carved Linoleum Print. Students then found reference images to work from and worked through the Artistic Process of doing Thumbnail Sketches to try out different compositions, sketching out a larger rough draft of the image and then transferring it onto their Printing Plate where they can then make multiple versions of their final image. We are using a printing press to transfer these images which is the first time most of these students have gotten to use a press.
Example of a Monoprint Landscape, as we keep printing the prints getting lighter and lighter as less ink is let on the plate. We can go back in and “hand-color” those to make a new version of the image.
Music/Drama
6th Grade: All 6th grade general music is taught by Mr. Rick Saunders. For an update on what they’re up to, reach out to richard.saunders@watertown.k12.ma.us!
7th Grade: Our young musicians have jumped into their second unit on the Blues! They’ve started learning some music history, getting to know Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, and Huddy “Leadbelly” Ledbetter. Additionally, they’ve been honing their piano skills on iPads through GarageBand, composing their own blues pieces bit by bit. In the coming weeks, they will compose full-fledged blues songs!
8th Grade: Students are just finishing up their Contentless Scenes unit, performing and presenting their projects to the class. Next week, we will be moving on to Theater Tech, spending most of our classes in the auditorium and working with lighting equipment.
Technology Education
Health
6th grade: This week we finished discussing puberty. Students did an awesome job being mature with this topic, and were truly interested in learning about what everyone goes through. Students identified physical, mental and social changes that occur during puberty. They recognized the similarities and differences that occur with females and males throughout puberty, and were extremely respectful of one another’s questions during class time. Looking forward to beginning our next unit, Self-Image.
7th grade: This week the topic of alcohol was introduced. Students began stations and worked in with a partner to learn about the short and long term effects of alcohol. There were several questions on students' minds that we will continue to answer. Next week, students will be identifying different parts of the brain, what they do, and how they are affected by alcohol. In small groups students will brainstorm reasons why/why not teens choose to drink alcohol.
8th grade: This week the Song Evaluation Project was introduced. Students will choose a song of their choice and evaluate the lyrics. They will identify characteristics of the relationship described in the song and determine the overall message of the song. They will be presenting their project to the class, and explaining if their song was healthy or unhealthy with lyrics to explain why!
Physical Education
Orchestra
Chorus
The choruses at WMS are deep in rehearsal mode in preparation for their concert next week! Both ensembles will have the chance to perform as one at the upcoming Spring concert as an ensemble of over 50 singers!
Congrats to our 8th graders for their amazing performance at the high school last week!
WMS SPRING ORCH/CHORUS CONCERT IS ON WEDNESDAY, 6/1 @ 6:30
WMS Chorus T-Shirts are in! Students will be tie-dying their shirts on 6/2 and 6/3, and they will be sent home with them on 6/3. Each student will get a pair of gloves to wear, but it might be a good idea to send them to school in clothing that they wouldn’t mind staining!
Band
Library
Contact the Specialists
Art: karen.stern@watertown.k12.ma.us
Technology Education: matthew.loughran@watertown.k12.ma.us
Health: nicole.lewis@watertown.k12.ma.us
Music, Drama and Chorus: abigail.varsos@watertown.k12.ma.us
Physical Education: thomas.johnson@watertown.k12.ma.us and/or shannon.mclaughlin@watertown.k12.ma.us
Orchestra: macullen.byham@watertown.k12.ma.us
Band: maxwell.thew@watertown.k12.ma.us
Library: breana.cole@watertown.k1.ma.us