August 2017
ENCORE NewsLetter
Learning Spanish Fundamentals... Mr. C. is busy teaching the kids the fundamentals of the Spanish language, so that they can move forward with the utmost confidence in their abilities! The Spanish IPad application [Duolingo] is making learning Spanish fun and interactive! Duolingo is the world’s largest online language learning platform. It uses science and adaptive learning techniques to make the language learning experience more fun RS!
OUR D MAY Y
S BE REAM
TER T GREA
EA OUR F HAN Y
and effective. If you hear the song “La Bamba” coming from a classroom, there’s a good chance it’s Mr. C. playing guitar and singing with his class. Music is central to many cultures, and students jump at the opportunity to bust out a tune!
ART... Art began the year with a collaborative project. We created two mosaics recreating the work of Vincent van Gogh. Students will begin creating designs using different types of symmetry. The elements of Line, Color, and Shape are the main focus for this project. Upcoming projects will include perspective drawing so students can create 3D spaces on 2D surfaces.
MUSIC... In the general music classes for both 5th and 6th grade, the students will be learning how to read music notation, which includes staffs, note names, and note values.
Students will have an opportunity to play several instruments throughout the year, such as recorders, drums, shakers, and Orff instruments. We will start the first unit with recorders.
There will be plenty of individual
and
interaction
group activities
planned for the students, which will include giving peer
feedback,
playing
assessments, and creating their own compositions to share with the class.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION... “Fitness is not about being better than someone else - It’s about being better than you used to be” During physical education the students will be training their muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory endurance while trying to improve their body composition. The first half of classes will be exercise based with the last half being centered around activities that they can enjoy for a lifetime of physical activity. Looking forward we will be getting a baseline assessment of the students’ fitness levels in the PACER (Progressive Aerobic Capacity Endurance Run), curl up test, and push up test.
TECHNOLOGY... 5th and 6th grade students will start the year with learning
about how to be responsible [Digital Citizens]. They will learn the differences between media and digital media and explore their digital lives. Students will learn how important it is to act responsible when when carrying out any thing over digital media. The beginning of each day in class, students will spend 10 minutes on laptops at [typingclub.com] to increase their typing words per minute. Each student’s scores will be confidentially stored and only the student and I will be able to see them. There will be a friendly competition between 5th and 6th grade to see who can reach the highest score of words per minute. 5th and 6th grade students will also be introduced to Google and Google Docs. This is a great way for students to easily create homework documents and submit them to their teachers.
Contact:
(708) 758-5350
Brookwood Middle School Mrs. Pierce | Principal
200 E Glenwood-Lansing Road Glenwood,IL 60425
www.brookwood167.org/schools/brookwood-middle-school/