2017-2018
GUIDE
Explorations are designed to ignite a passion for learning and foster creativity. Students in the 5th and 6th grade will begin each week with a 90-minute, interest-based course that will take place on Mondays for one quarter. All explorations are hands on, ungraded and focused on giving students the opportunity to learn more about a topic that intrigues them.
Each year, all students will participate in:
WELLNESS EXPLORATIONS Fitness • Strategy • Health
ARTS EXPLORATIONS Music • Art • Theater
LEARNING BEYOND EXPLORATIONS Technology • World Language • Digital Media
WELLNESS EXPLORATIONS Fitness • Strategy • Health Run for YOUR Life Running and fun go together in this exploration! Some many fun runs await – running on a track and off-road, geocaching, and participating in a splash and dash, great race, challenge course and scavenger hunt. You will find a life-long sport that you can integrate into your daily fitness pursuits.
Just Jump Is jumping rope a sport? It is now! We’ll explore all different types of jumping rope, including speed jumping, Double Dutch, performance jumping and more!
The Great Outdoors In this exploration, we will do all things outdoorsy – orienteering, hiking, identifying plants and trees, pitching a tent and much more. If you like adventure, this may be the Exploration for you!
Popular Sports This course will be packed with action, competition and energy. We’ll spend three weeks each on some of the most popular games in the world – basketball, soccer and Frisbee. We’ll mix things up quite a bit, taking part in small-sided and tournament-style games…and maybe even get a bit better at them!
WELLNESS EXPLORATIONS
ARTS EXPLORATIONS Music • Art • Theater Triple Threat This is an exciting opportunity to improve your skills in acting, singing and dancing. Become the ultimate performer as you sing, dance and act your way to stardom!.
Creative Soul Explore the kinds of music and music topics that YOU love! Love pop music? Rehearse for a final performance. Want to learn about how music can help cure disease? Explore music therapy! Want to be a professional musician? Learn how your favorite stars got their big break! In this class you will design your own music-based project and work each week toward your final goal! Dance Fever Are you interested in ballet? Tap? Hip Hop? Swing dancing? Folk dancing? Come and dance with your friends!
Be a Pop Star! Learn what it takes to write and produce your own song. Use music composition software, write your own lyrics and create chord progressions to become the next pop sensation. Who will be our next Taylor Swift or Shawn Mendes?
World Beats Music is a universal language that we all speak. Come experience the music of cultures from all over the world by singing, dancing and playing instruments!
Recorder Jam Session Did you have a blast playing the recorder in music class? Come and explore the recorder in a whole new way! Play your favorite pop songs on your favorite instrument.
ARTS EXPLORATIONS
Monster Book “INK” Reuse and reimagine a book into a custom cut, colorfully painted and personalized masterpiece! Based on techniques from Ed Emberley’s “Go Away, Big Green Monster,” this project will guide students through the process of creating a monster, based on layering and cutting pages in your book. Develop the character of your creature and the tone and design of your book, which you can share for years to come. Chihuly Chandelier Sculptures Design and build your own colorful and translucent sculpture based on the work of famous American glass artist Dale Chihuly. Work as a team to develop a color scheme and choose forms as you assemble a chandelier sculpture. Transform, paint and repurpose plastic into amazing crafted artworks. Groups will work together on these large-scale installation pieces and then each take home their portion as a stand-alone sculpture. Layered Landscape Collages Work with paper in a way you’ve never worked before – by creating, layering and collaging a variety of unique papers to create a scenic masterpiece. Design a triptych of landscapes based on the nature of a place you love and watch it come to life as you build up the surface. Inspired by the work of Atlanta artist Laura Adams, you will love the finished piece with its three-dimensional effect.
Mix it Up! (Print AND Clay!) Combine two of your favorite studio mediums – printmaking and ceramics – to make colorful, patterned clay vessels. Design the form and function of a three-dimensional piece, from sketching to the final product. We will use the slab technique to construct multi sided geometric pots which will then be embellished with patterns carved from soft print blocks. Chinese Card Art Come be a part of an exciting small business. Work on creating your own personal greeting cards with stamps created on a 3D printer. Design beautiful Chinese paintings using ink and stamps. You will learn 100 Chinese symbols and characters. All of these experiences will help you appreciate and learn about Chinese culture and language. You will be ready for your future trip to China!
ARTS EXPLORATIONS
LEARNING BEYOND EXPLORATIONS Technology • World Language • Digital Media Kung Fu Music Master Come to learn the introductory Kung Fu styles and sing Chinese songs. We will make a music video and give a performance.
Shark Tank Do you have a cool idea? Turn it into a business! Learn everything it takes to plan and create your own business, team up and pitch your plan to the sharks!
Hiking with Señor Wolf Let’s go on a nature walk…with a spin! Learn Spanish while hiking around the woods, the community and anywhere else we can think of!
Weird World Passport There are many strange and unique traditions all over the world. Eating bugs, tomato food fights and getting bitten by bullet ants are just some of the bizarre things that we will talk and learn about together while making our own odd crafts and traditions!
Breakout! Escape rooms are all over the country. Try out your escape skills using our Breakout Boxes. Solve puzzles using clues to unlock what is hidden inside. A new adventure every week!
Sign Language Discover the rich world of signing! Make a sign language music video and learn to communicate in a new way.
LEARNING BEYOND EXPLORATIONS
Sign Language Discover the rich world of signing! Make a sign language music video and learn to communicate in a new way.
Weekly News Update Want to produce, shoot, edit and distribute a weekly news broadcast? Be part of the team to create teacher features, upcoming events, commercials and news updates about your school and community. Your weekly news report will be student created, produced, edited and broadcasted for fellow students, community members and the world to learn about current news and events at your school. MakerSpace Interested in exploring the world of makers? Explore different interest areas as you make projects. The MakerSpace exploration is a hands-on experience, where you can create, explore, tinker, design and DIY. What can you make?
LEARNING BEYOND EXPLORATIONS
My Preferred Explorations for 2017-18
Student Name: 2017-18 Grade: You are encouraged to select the explorations that sound most interesting to you. Below is a worksheet for you to use as you think through which explorations you want to choose. Please read the options and complete the form below with your parents/guardians. Consider the following when selecting explorations: • Please rank your choices. The exploration that you are most interested in should be ranked number 1. • Explorations will be offered based on student interest. Selecting an exploration does not guarantee it will be offered. • High-demand explorations may be offered during more than one quarter to accommodate student interests. Please note that friends who sign up for the same exploration may be scheduled during different quarters. • This is a great opportunity to try something new for a few weeks. Consider choosing explorations from a variety of categories. Please list your top 8 choices here. You will be assigned to 4 explorations (1 per quarter). 1.
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Parent/Guardian Signature
Date
Ma ri e mont Elem en ta r y School 6750 Woost er Pike Ci nc innat i, O hio 45227 51 3- 2 7 2 -7400
Terrace Park Elementary School 7 2 3 Elm Avenue T errac e Par k, O hio 45174 51 3- 2 7 2 -7 7 00
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