Kindergarten and First Grade

• Playing and recognizing classroom instruments by name
• Movement activities
• Songs that support the curriculum throughout the year
• Learning how to read? write rhythm patterns using vocabulary
• Recognizing steady beat through movement/playing instruments
• Playing upward/downward melodic patterns using barred instruments
• Recognizing opposite concepts in music
• Songs in AB and ABA form
  
  

Second and Third Grade

• Playing barred and percussion instruments in two-part ensembles
• Learning about the music staff and vocabulary
• Learning about the instruments of the orchestra using websites such as Carnegie Hall Listening Adventures, SFS kids and games; Instrument bingo, Partner, line and circle dances,
• Reviewing rhythm values/adding new ones
• Songs that support the curriculum throughout the year
• AB/ABA form songs
• Identifying different genres of music and discussing composers
  
  

Fourth and Fifth Grade

• Rhythm and notation games to review/extend learned concepts
• Recorder Unit: Recorder Connections method book/ learning notes on the recorder/ playing songs in treble clef
• Drum Unit: percussion ensembles in up to four parts
• Ensembles using barred instruments and percussion
• Songs that support the curriculum throughout the year
• Identifying different genres of music and discussing composers

Our Philosophy

• We believe that physical education is an integral part of a child’s total education.
• We believe that we can provide a learning environment where students are guided to take responsibility for their learning.
• We believe that learning experiences should be planned which are appropriate to the developmental needs of each child.
• We believe that students should demonstrate competencies in basic fundamental motor skills.
• We believe that sequential, skill-based instruction provides a foundation enabling one to engage in physical activity for a lifetime.
  
  

Fitness Testing

Fitness Testing is a state mandated assessment that allows schools to gauge the improvement of physical fitness in students. The assessments consist of upper-body strength and endurance (90 degree push-ups), abdominal strength and endurance (curl-up cadence), flexibility (shoulder stretch), aerobic capacity (PACER), trunk strength (trunk lift). The administration and PTO community have decided that the skin fold test and BMI measurements will no longer be performed. The fitness test are administered twice a year, once in the fall, and a second time in the spring. The fall testing creates a baseline of data that allows a comparison to the spring testing. These tests are not graded. Any scores achieved remain confidential and will not appear on the students’ school record or PE grade. The goal of the testing is to show improvement through the school year. It helps the state decide priorities within physical education, and for administration to assess the performance of their teachers.

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade attend STEAM class once a week for 45 minutes. STEAM is an exploratory learning environment that incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math to engage students in dialogue, inquiring, creativity, and critical thinking. Students collaborate while using PBL strategies to provide engaging and authentic learning experiences.

Kindergarten Visual Arts

Kindergarten visual arts serves as a building block for further visual arts instruction. The curriculum places an emphasis on cognitive, affective, sensory and motor development using a problem-solving approach. Students learn that art is a personal expression, has value, teaches about other times and places, and connects to other areas of learning. Students grow to understand that their works of art are unique and valuable.

First-Grade Visual Arts

The first-grade visual arts curriculum serves as a continuation of visual arts instruction. The standards continue to emphasize that the visual arts are about ideas. Development continues in cognitive, sensory, affective, and motor domains. Standards will continue to emphasize the language of art. Art production will focus on increased communication, self-expression, and the depiction of stories and events. Students will learn that people have different responses to the visual arts.

Second-Grade Visual Arts

In science the students will become scientific investigators as we study matter, Earth and sun relationships, seasonal changes, natural resources, force, energy and motion, and basic needs of plants and animals.

Third-Grade Visual Arts

Third-grade visual arts emphasize learning through inquiry. Students will examine aspects of the artistic process: idea generation, problem solving and self-assessment. Students will investigate the integral role of art and architecture within ancient cultures; and they will combine knowledge of ancient art and architecture, effective artistic processes and skills and a variety of ideas to produce works of art.

Fourth-Grade Visual Arts

Fourth-grade visual arts continue to emphasize the elements of art and the principles of design as the basic building blocks for art appreciation and production. Students will explore a range of materials and subject matter. Art historical emphasis is on the artists, events and environment in Virginia from colonial times to the present. Students will examine the influence of the past on contemporary culture.

Fifth-Grade Visual Arts

In fifth-grade visual arts, students use their knowledge and skills to synthesize information, thus allowing them to produce and respond to works of art. Emphasis is on communication of personal values and beliefs in art appreciation and production. Study relates to art produced by cultures from Pre-Columbian times to 1877. Students will gain fluency in using and understanding the elements of art and the principles of design as they relate to artistic expression and communication.