Fulton Middle School Explo Classes
Team FMS: Together, We Can! - February 1, 2016
Welcome to the FMS EXPLO Newsletter!
Ms. Glynn and Ms. Neudecker
6th Grade Band is trying something a little bit new this month. Brass and Woodwinds are now together on a daily basis working through book one of the Essential Elements Series. Percussion is in sectionals working on rudiments that are specific to percussionists. Brass and woodwinds are really starting to dig in on learning how to breathe correctly when they play, dynamics and more advanced counting skills. This next week we are moving on from ban arrangements. The students accomplished a lot by being able to hold their own parts. This next week we are also working on learning about 16th notes. The students are doing great, but please remember to remind your child to bring their instrument to school. When a child forgets their instrument it does impact their grades.
7th Grade Band is also starting something new this semester. Everyone has started book two in the Essential Elements series and we are very excited! If you have not done so already, please send money with your child to purchase you book from us. The brass and woodwind books are $8.00 and the percussion books are $15.00. In 7th grade we are also going to start working on writing, recognizing and playing our major scales starting next week. In class this next week we are going to start working on chromatic passages, and reviewing musical terms that we have seen before. Students are also signing up for opportunities to play solos at Central Methodist University Music Festival on Friday March 4. We are so excited to see so many students wanting to be involved!
8th Grade Band is starting on our contest music for CMU Music Festival on March 4. I am very excited that the students have come back ready to work, and our ensemble sound is rockin'! Please talk to your students about taking a solo or ensemble to contest as well. This would require a lot of time commitment, but it is a great learning opportunity for the students. Students will also do tests for new chair placements next week on Thursday. This chair placement will be based on scales. The student have also started doing goal sheets that will determine their playing quizzes for that week. These are crucial, and all of the information they need to do so is on the Google Classroom for our class. I would also like to congratulate the following 8th grade students on achieving high honors at the recent NEMO Jr. High Honor Band. Emily Schweiss - 1st chair flute, Kelly Gillespie - 2nd chair alto saxophone, Madison Todahl - 4th chair clarinet and Braden Rosenstengel - 5th chair percussion! Great job guys!
Fulton Bands also kicked off their Spring fundraiser this week. The fundraiser consists of mostly frozen foods. This fundraiser contributes 45% of everything a student sells to their individual trip accounts (ITA) for when they go on their band trip in high school. The forms and money are to be turned in on Tuesday February 2. Pick up date for the items will be at the Parade of Bands concert on March 1. Please make sure that the items get delivered as soon as possible.
7th Grade and 8th Grade Wire Choir are finishing up learning chord progressions in our method book. We are also taking time to review over the next week what we learned last semester. Some students still need to pay for their Wire Choir shirts, please makes sure that we take care of the ASAP.
As always, if you ever have any questions please feel free to contact Ms. Glynn or Ms. Neudecker at sglynn@fulton58.org or kneudecker@fulton58.org. Thank you for your continued support!
Ms. Lehman and Dr. Moebes
The Hornet Singers are continuing to grow as musicians as we build our sight-reading skills and expand our vocabulary...in Latin! We've been learning a lot and are very excited for Central Methodist University's Music Festival coming up in March. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to time.
Solo and small ensemble lessons started last week and I can not wait for these kiddos to show off their talents! Such great things happening in Hornet Singers!
8th grade Arts Alive are moving through the instrumental families of the orchestra. The final countdown to...woodwinds! The students must always be on their toes as they never know what may await as they arrive to class...New adventures daily!
Harmony Hornets are back at it in full force as we had many new members attend this semesters rehearsals. Due to the cancellation of rehearsal on Tuesday, Jan. 19th, new members must bring their permission forms to our next rehearsal on Tuesday, Jan. 26th from 3:20-4:15 in the choir room (G07). This ensemble will be traveling to Columbia for a music festival at Battle High School in March. Dr. Moebes and Miss Lehman are both very proud of all their hard work!
If you ever have any questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact me at llehman@fulton58.org.
Hornet Pride Choir (7th grade) is doing great work in preparation for our upcoming contest! Our contest repertoire: "Gloria Deo!", and " Drinking Gourd", is challenging, but we are making excellent progress. Singers are working hard, and having a great time!
6th grade Arts Alive is wrapping up our practice of pitch identification. We will have our test over this material in 1 week. We are also beginning the transition to the Musical Artist Project. Students will select a musician or group to research for this project. Guidelines have been handed out, and are available on Google Classroom. I can't wait to see what our creative students come up with!
7th grade Arts Alive has begun Moebes' School of Rock!!! We are splitting our class periods into two segments. In the early portion of class, I am presenting information about various types of popular music. This week we discussed Elvis. Next week we will discuss the British Invasion! The second segment of class is research time for our Music Genre projects. Students have selected a genre of popular music, as well as two subgenres. They will research musicians and groups from each subgenres, and create a Google Slides presentation to share with their class. These projects will be due on Monday, February 8th. Guidelines have been handed out, and are also available on our Google Classroom.
Please feel free to contact me any time! bmoebes@fulton58.org.
Coach Youse and Coach Windmiller
6th Graders - Coach Windmiller's classes are finished with health on January 29 and will return to P.E. Feb. 1. Don't forget your P.E. clothes! Coach Youse's 6th graders will begin Health on Monday, Feb. 1 and go until March 11. Those students are receiving their health informational forms to take home on Jan. 28/29. The form is attached below as well.
Click here for more 6th Grade Health Information
Please feel free to email me at awindmiller@fulton58.org if you have any questions or concerns.
8th Grade will finish an online project over HIV/AIDS then start a unit over contraception with an emphasis on a teen's choice to practice abstinence.
Please feel free to contact me at myouse@fulton58.org if you have any questions or concerns. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @healthyfms and sign up for text reminders by texting @youse(child's grade) to 81010.
Coach Masek, Coach Windmiller, Coach Youse
@fmspe
Mrs. Bailey
The 8th grade students enrolled in Computer Applications continued with their goal setting along with choosing strategies to help them reach their goals. They took their January end of the month assessment on Thursday. Next week is February and our benchmark goal will be 31 wpm with 90% accuracy for the month.
Along with working on their keyboarding skills, 6th Graders took their spreadsheet assessments on Wednesday and were introduced to Word skills through a Kahoots competition on Friday. Word desktop publishing skills will continue next week for them.
7th & 8th graders started their "Fulton" brochure about our town and community by brainstorming all of the places to dine out in Fulton. They they completed the location and contact information on a shared Google document. We will continue work on the brochure this coming week. Also, Mystery Skypes are in the plans soon for these students!
All computer students took the Sun to Earth coding challenge on Thursday and a few students in each class completed the entire challenge! (see pictures below) Coding is a STEM activity that always engages all computer students.
Please feel free to contact me at jbailey@fulton58.org if you have any questions or concerns.
Practice at Home!
Mr. Chapman
This Week in Art Class
8th Grade Working on a personal Coat of Arms. Students apply a wash to water color to make the paper look aged, then draw and add detail and color to their Coat of Arms, to make it pop.
7th Grade is working on abstracting animals by drawing from real images of animals and breaking lines down to show an abstraction of the same animal.
6th Graders are in the middle of a water color unit, and learning basic watercolor techniques on a mixed media project. They are working on a color blending/wash background, and then adding their own representation of one of their favorite cartoon characters.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at cchapman@fulton58.org
Mrs. Schenewerk
6th grade- Read to Succeed forms are due February 19th. Log 6 hours (360 minutes) of recreational reading time to earn a free ticket to Six Flags!
6th, 7th and 8th grade- To qualify to attend the Readers Award party, students must have read four Mark Twain or four Truman nominated books from the 2015-2016 list, and passed a Reading Counts test with 70% or higher by February 29th. Reading Counts progress sheet listing the appropriate books should be turned in to the library.
As always, feel free to contact me at tschenewerk@fulton58.org with any questions or concerns.