Exploratories

Art

MISSION

Pre-K Art Curriculum: The Pre-K art curriculum is based on an introduction to art for small children. The course will help children learn about art's meaning in the world, give an understanding of other cultures, introduce art materials, encourage creativity and imagination, aid in small motor development, and improve memory. The curriculum will also be geared towards integrating the Imagine It! program topics, which is curriculum set for the Pre-K classrooms.

Curriculum for Grades K - 5: The goal of the art program at Oakdale Elementary School is to provide each child with an opportunity to express his/her individual creativity and to develop artistic skills while encouraging independent thinking and creative problem-solving. Students work with basic art media in a challenging program that develops confidence, self-esteem, fine motor skills, respect for others, and a love for the artistic process. The program provides a solid foundation for alignment to the National and State Art Standards. The curriculum will also be geared towards integrating the Imagine It! program topics, which is curriculum set for the K-5 classrooms.

PARENT INFORMATION

This website is designed to keep you up-to-date on all the exciting events in the art rooms. Students in Grades 1-5 have art once a week for 45 minutes in the the art rooms. Kindergarten students have 30 minutes of art per week while preschoolers have 20 minutes of art. *Please remind your child to wear old clothing on art day!"
Good questions to ask your child when they bring home an art project: How did you do that? Can you tell me about it? Where did you begin? Where did you get that idea? What was your favorite part? Have you ever done anything like this before? If you gave it a title, what would you call it?

BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS

In the art room, students are encouraged to embrace the artist mindset. They are supported in expressing themselves, thinking creatively, and most importantly, giving their best effort. Students are encouraged to view mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow through the creative process.

A - Always listen and follow directions

R - Raise my hand before speaking

T - Treat others & supplies with respect

I - Imagine my own ideas and be creative

S - Sit and stay in my seat

T - Take time to clean up my mess

MATERIAL WISHLIST

Oakdale greatly appreciates any donations you can provide for our students. The materials needed in the art classroom may change throughout the year, and we are grateful for any contributions you are able to make. Your support helps ensure our students have access to the necessary supplies to explore their creativity and develop their artistic skills.

Some items we are currently in need of include:

- - Paper plates
  - Kids gloves disposable - Latex and Powder Free (4-10 Years)
  - Ziploc bags- gallon, quart
  - Paper bags - small or large
  - Cotton balls
  - Q-tips
  - Watercolor paper
  - Saran wrap & tin foil
  - Sculpture material such as CDs, straws, misc. small toys
  - Craft supplies: beads, pipe cleaners, string
  - Egg cartons
  - Old Magazines

If you are able to donate any of these or other art materials, please send them to school with your child. Your generosity is greatly appreciated and will make a meaningful difference in our art program. Thank you for your support!

Music

Music making is a skill any human is capable of developing and it is an expression of the human soul that I believe all students have a right to learn. The most meaningful learning comes from students doing and exploring as they take the lead. As all children do, students learn best when they are able to get hands-on experience and there is no better way to teach music. As music teacher, I act as “guide-on-the-side” as often as possible and let my students discover and explore what wonders the music world has to offer. Whether they go on to be a concert pianist, the next Taylor Swift, or just want to play in the local community band, music has something to offer everyone. Through music education students learn to develop life-long skills that transfer across disciplines and content areas: cooperation, problem solving, dedication, perseverance, respect and responsibility.

General Music Classes

Oakdale students meet for music class once every five days. PreK students meet for 20 minutes and Kindergarten - 5th grade students meet for 45 minutes. We cover many aspects of music and incorporate performing, creating, responding and connecting to music throughout the year.

Grades PreK - 2nd explore music through a curriculum called, “First Steps in Music,” developed by John M. Feierabend. With this program students are taken through a “musical workout” during each class. These workouts include vocal warm-up, pitch exploration, call and response and echo songs, simple songs, as well as movement exploration and movement with the beat. Songs in this curriculum include folk songs from America and around the world, including some in foreign languages. Rhythm instruments and other props are incorporated into certain songs. We end every lesson with a song tale, a story in the form of a song. Through the musical workout of “First Steps in Music” students build a foundation of vocal and tonal abilities that carry through to the upper grade music lessons. Additional concepts covered include: our 4 voices, musical opposites, music contour, instrument families, use of iconic music notation, and musical stories such as “Peter and the Wolf” and “The Nutcracker.”

Grade 3 students focus mainly on learning their first instrument - the recorder. The recorder is a tool through which all students can easily learn an instrument as well as learn to read basic music notation while becoming more independent musicians. Students learn music together as a class and work towards a culminating performance at the end of the school year. The recorder is great starting point for any student interested in starting a band instrument in 4th grade. All the skills learned with the recorder transfer to any band instrument they may choose in the coming year. Recorders are ordered through the school every fall. Order forms and information are sent home at the beginning of each school year. All music is provided in class.

Grades 4 and 5 focus on performing as an ensemble in their music classes. This includes continued use of music notation as well as gaining a more sophisticated understanding of music vocabulary and music symbols. Concepts such as balance, blend, accompaniment, tempo and dynamics often come up in our lessons. To play as an ensemble, students use ukuleles, bucket drums and orff mallet instruments. Other topics and concepts covered in 4th and 5th grades include: notable composers and musicians (i.e. Copland, Vivaldi, Mozart, Stravinsky, Ellington, Yo-Yo Ma), improvisation, jazz history and jazz performance, composing music and understanding the use of music elements in musical expression.

Band

4th and 5th grade students have the option of choosing an instrument to learn in lessons and performing in band. Those who choose to join receive a group lesson once a week in addition to their general music class. Lessons are grouped according to instrument type when possible (i.e. all flutes together, all brass together).

4th grade band students focus on instrument care and proper holding of instruments, producing a clear tone, and basic music reading. 4th grade band students perform at the Spring Concert.

5th grade band students focus on more advanced music reading and playing as well as developing their tone and playing abilities. 5th grade band meets for an additional rehearsal with all instruments. Here students work to perform as an ensemble, learning to play with different instruments playing different parts. 5th grade band students perform at both the Winter and Spring Concerts.

Band is an excellent opportunity for students to learn musicianship, cooperation, and dedication - skills that benefit all aspects of life. For more information about band lessons and instruments, please contact Ms. Scott.

Montville Honor Band

Montville Honor Band was started in 2017 by Vanessa Wudyka - Tyl Middle School, Roxanne Buck - Mohegan Elementary, Donna Lozupone - Murphy Elementary, and Claire Scott - Oakdale Elementary. Honor Band is an audition only, week-long festival open to band students from grades 5th through 8th. Every year, interested students audition in February and are selected to participate in the festival in April. Songs are selected to perform as a full band and opportunities for solo performances are given. The festival and concert takes place at Tyl Middle School. Students meet after school to rehearse in sectionals and as a band.

Details and audition information is sent home to 5th grade band students in February.

Physical Education

Mission

We believe the purpose of the physical education program is to encourage children to develop a positive attitude about themselves and physical activity so that they choose to be physically active throughout their lives. Children need a variety of movement experiences to develop a healthy mind and body that is capable of learning. The involvement of young children in daily physical activity during school hours is critical for their current and future health.

Parent Information: Students in Grades K - 5 have physical education once a week for forty-five minutes. Preschool has twenty minutes of physical education per week. Please remind your child to wear sneakers on PE day! Thank you.

We:

Teach developmentally appropriate physical education lessons
Build each child's self-esteem
Differentiate lessons so each child can be successful
Make physical education a fun, positive learning experience
Instill positive social behaviors
Make each lesson safe, physically and emotionally
Make connections to every day life through the lessons we teach
Teach children the importance of living a healthy lifestyle

HOW AND WHY PHYSICAL EDUCATION IMPACTS LEARNING

Movement is still young children's preferred mode of learning (Pica)
Children are active, concrete, experiential learners who acquire information and knowledge with all their senses.
The integration of body systems allows for optimal learning to take place.
Lessons that are physically experienced have a more immediate and longer lasting impact.
Reading requires eye muscle strength. Tracking a ball and navigating the environment in physical education class strengthen eye muscles necessary for reading.

Physical Education Impacts Learning

We learn

10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we both see and hear
70% of what we hear, see, and say
80% of what we experience personally
90% of what we teach to someone else

What I hear, I forget. What I see I remember. What I do I know.

"Intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong." [JFK}

The Greeks knew it thousands of years ago; the spirit, the mind, and the body are all connected.

STATE AND NATIONAL PHYSICAL EDUCATION OUTCOMES

Demonstrates competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities.
Demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activity.
Participates regularly in physical activity.
Incorporate fitness and wellness concepts to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.
Exhibit responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity settings.
Choose physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and/or social interaction to sustain a physical active lifestyle.

Physical Education is more than just playing games. Students learn in each and every class. We learn to move and move to learn. Following is a list of what students learn in P.E. Lines that being with an * directly relate to academic learning

Travel using fundamental locomotor movements. Run, jump, hop, skip, gallop, leap, slide, gravevine

Use non-locomotor movements. Bend, twist, stretch, sawy swing

Apply locomotor and non-locomotor movements in physical activities

Move safely while avoiding others and practice stopping in a balanced position on signal

Learn what personal space is

Identify different body parts using beanbags and carpet squares and understand the relationship to the object and our body

Practice static and dynamic balances: Maintain balance while traveling on obstacles; Use different bases of support to balance; Understand principles and concepts of balancing different objects

Make shapes with our body, round, wide, narrow, twisted, symmetrical, and unsymmetrical

Use our imagination to practice faking and dodging ie., move around the gym and when you hear the drum beat jump back as if scared by a ghost

Travel at high, medium, and low levels

*Learn about force: We make body shapes that illustrate strong and light force. Travel with strong and light movements. Use levers to produce force. Explore force on different objects.

*Learn about time: We practice moving our bodies slow and fast ie., slowly melt like the wicked witch, pretend you are a lion stalking its prey and pounce.

*Travel in different partner relationships: side by side, leader/follower, face to face

*Travel along different pathways and patterns; curved, straight, and zigzag

Sing a song that teaches the names of our muscles

Sing a song that teaches the names of the bones in our body; tarsal, tibia, fibula, patella, femur, pelvis, ribs and sternum, carpal, ulna, radius, and humerus, hey my cranium

Volley and strike balloons and other objects with our hands and paddles; learn where to strike a ball so it travels up and forward

Learn what part of our hands to use to dribble a ball

Practice juggling with scarves

Move rhythmically to music. Learn the following dances: Purple People Eater, Wooly Bully, Laraspa

Sara Knudsen Art Teacher

Email Sara Knudsen
Claire Scott Music & Band Teacher

Email Claire Scott
Corey Wilcox Physical Education Teacher

Email Corey Wilcox