Fine Arts Weekly Update
April 12, 2024
Band - Mahacek/Stevison/Tokos
Congratulations to All Band Students on their Amazing Perfomance Last Night!!
Upcoming Dates/Events
4/13 - Solo/Ensemble Festival (participating students only)
5/9 - Fine Arts Festival (Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band)
5/15 - Pops Concert - 6:00 PM
Click here to view the Handbook for 7th/8th Grade Band
Please email us if you have any questions or concerns,
Joe Stevison - stevison.joe@wgmail.org
Emily Tokos - tokos.emily@wgmail.org
Orchestra: Grubb
*Mrs. Grubb is on maternity leave for the rest of the school year. Please reach out to her long-term sub, Mrs. Susan Nelson, at nelson.susan@wgmail.org if you have any questions or concerns.*
IN CLASS: For the remainder of the school year, students are working in small groups (called ensembles) of 2-5 people. Each group has chosen 2 short songs to practice together, and will perform both songs for their class on Wednesday, May 15th and Thursday, May 16th. It is important that each individual person knows their own part very well in order for the group to sound good together and be successful. This requires students to practice and learn their part at home so when they come to class, the group can work on putting the song together with the different parts. If they can’t play their own part, the group will not be able to stay together and will not be successful. Students will receive participation points for this unit, depending on how well they use their class time and how well they work together as a group.
AT HOME PRACTICE (1 hour per week, minimum): Ensemble Songs
-Mrs. Grubb
INTERMEDIATE ORCHESTRA
*Mrs. Grubb is on maternity leave for the rest of the school year. Please reach out to her long-term sub, Mrs. Susan Nelson, at nelson.susan@wgmail.org if you have any questions or concerns.*
IN CLASS: For the remainder of the school year, students are working in small groups (called ensembles) of 2-5 people. Each group has chosen 2 short songs to practice together, and will perform both songs for their class on Wednesday, May 15th and Thursday, May 16th. It is important that each individual person knows their own part very well in order for the group to sound good together and be successful. This requires students to practice and learn their part at home so when they come to class, the group can work on putting the song together with the different parts. If they can’t play their own part, the group will not be able to stay together and will not be successful. Students will receive participation points for this unit, depending on how well they use their class time and how well they work together as a group.
AT HOME PRACTICE (1.5 hours per week, minimum): Ensemble Songs
-Mrs. Grubb
ADVANCED ORCHESTRA
*Mrs. Grubb is on maternity leave for the rest of the school year. Please reach out to her long-term sub, Mrs. Susan Nelson, at nelson.susan@wgmail.org if you have any questions or concerns.*
IN CLASS: For the remainder of the school year, students are working in small groups (called ensembles) of 2-5 people. Each group has chosen 2 short songs to practice together, and will perform both songs for their class on Wednesday, May 15th and Thursday, May 16th. It is important that each individual person knows their own part very well in order for the group to sound good together and be successful. This requires students to practice and learn their part at home so when they come to class, the group can work on putting the song together with the different parts. If they can’t play their own part, the group will not be able to stay together and will not be successful. Students will receive participation points for this unit, depending on how well they use their class time and how well they work together as a group.
AT HOME PRACTICE (2 hours per week, minimum): Ensemble Songs
-Mrs. Grubb
Choir: Mueller
6TH GRADE CHOIR
6th Grade Choir students have been hard at work preparing for our spring choir concert, which is coming up soon! For any students who need a refresher on their music, there are practice tracks uploaded to our Canvas page.
Below are the details about the choir concert (which is the same information that was emailed last week):
Date of performance: Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024
Location of performance: Hixson Middle School auditorium
Time for students to arrive at school: 6:00-6:10 pm (meeting in the choir room):
Mr. Mueller will be here at 5:30 – students should not arrive any earlier than that.
Start time of performance: 6:30 pm
Concert attire for choir students: Concert black (same as 7th/8th Grade’s large ensemble contest, see emailed handout for more information) – Students should arrive in their concert black clothes.
Approximate run time of concert: One hour (6:30-7:30 pm)
7/8TH GRADE CHOIR
The 7th and 8th Grade choir students have been preparing for our spring choir concert, which is just around the corner! For any students who need a refresher on their music, there are practice tracks uploaded to our Canvas page.
Below are the details about the choir concert (which is the same information that was emailed last week):
Date of performance: Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024
Location of performance: Hixson Middle School auditorium
Time for students to arrive at school: 6:00-6:10 pm (meeting in the choir room):
Mr. Mueller will be here at 5:30 – students should not arrive any earlier than that.
Start time of performance: 6:30 pm
Concert attire for choir students: Concert black (same as 7th/8th Grade’s large ensemble contest, see emailed handout for more information) – Students should arrive in their concert black clothes.
Approximate run time of concert: One hour (6:30-7:30 pm)
Music Discovery - Mueller
In Fifth Period Music Discovery, we have been focusing on rhythm and percussion, and the students have been learning a three-part drum ensemble piece that we played together as a group. Students also have been working on their first Music Discovery project, which is about one of their favorite singers, musicians, or composers. They researched that person and then created a slideshow about that particular musician.
Art: Hannel
VISUAL ART 6
This week students have been working on a digital portrait using Kleki.com. We did a practice drawing to get familiar with the tools last week. Students are learning about using layers and how to change drawing tools with opacity and size. It’s a lot of great foundational skills that can be applied to any digital drawing program. We will finish the portraits next week and start a new unit of study…. CLAY! This is the one many students have been waiting for!
See the class syllabus HERE. Contact Mrs. Hannel HERE.
ART 1
The banks are going in the kiln and students are working on glazing candlesticks this week. As they finish they’ll paint their banks and take turns at one of my three pottery wheels. Krueger Pottery Supply kindly donated 3 table top wheels to our class so we can explore working in clay in a brand new way! It’s a challenge but fun. Next week we will try to finish up the clay unit and start printmaking.
See the class syllabus HERE. Contact Mrs. Hannel HERE.
ART 2
This week students have been working on developing their clay series. We started it last week and students were challenged to come up with a set or series of things they could make in clay. As students are finishing their clay series, they are going back to the lidded vessels that have been fired to add glaze or paint to them. We will try to finish all glazing and painting next week so that we can get into our printmaking unit.
Drama: Conners
6th Grade Drama Discovery - Drama Discovery students recently completed their final drama discovery unit which was our Readers Theater unit. In this final unit, students collaborated in small groups to practice and rehearse readers theater performance skills such as projection, articulation, vocal variety, reading with expression, concentration, facial expressions and gestures. Students presented their final assessment on Thursday and did an awesome job of applying the skills that they learned. It’s been a great term with a great group of students. Happy Spring Break!!!
Drama I - Students in Drama I are in the memorization phase of their Original Monologue Unit. In this unit students were tasked with creating and writing an original monologue by applying specific monologue writing skills. Students were then asked to memorize/rehearse their monologue in preparation for their final assessment.
Assignments due: Please continue to memorize and rehearse monologue.
Drama II - Students in Drama II recently started their scene study unit. In this unit students are working with a partner on a scripted scene with the focus being on character development, character objective and tactics. Students are in the memorization phase of this unit as well as working with the teacher on staging and blocking.
Homework: Please continue to memorize your scene.
FYI- For all drama classes I allow students plenty of time to practice/rehearsal during class. I am reminding students to please use that time wisely during class and any work not completed in class should be worked on at home.
For any questions or concerns please contact Mr. Conners at conners.eric@wgmail.org
Click: 2021/2022 Theater SyllabusContact Us
Mrs. Grubb- grubb.stephanie@wgmail.org
Mrs. Hannel- hannel.jenny@wgmail.org
Mr. Stevison- stevison.joe@wgmail.org
Mrs. Tokos- tokos.emily@wgmail.org
Mr. Mahacek- mahacek.drew@wgmail.org
Mrs. Dickens (Drama Discovery) - dickens.alexandria@wgmail.org
Mr. Davis (Music Discovery) - davis.jaylen@wgmail.org