SPECIALS CLASS CORNER

S.T.E.A.M., SPANISH & MUSIC

Welcome to the Specials Class Information page. Here you will find everything you need to know about what is happening in our classes. You will also be able to view any upcoming events that you will need to know about.

S.T.E.A.M.

Within the last few weeks Kindergarten through 2nd grade have talked about the importance of experimentation within STEAM projects, along with trial and error.  Students are beginning to understand and realize that if you have an idea or activity challenge it may not produce the results one may hope for; however, that doesn't mean a student should give up.  Sometimes in life or with school assignments you must try again. The first task was checking if water, oil and food coloring could make bubbles when mixed together with an Alka-Seltzer tablet.  We made bubbles!  Students could not believe that the household items could produce such a result!  In our second assignment we focused on having three cups of water, each one with a different color added to the cup.  We then placed a paper towel that stretched and dipped into each cup.  The hypothesis was we were going to get the colors to be absorbed into the paper towel and eventually travel up and into the other cups (mixing the colors for a rainbow effect).  Our classes learned this in the past week when our "Walking Colors" experiment did not go according to plan.  We tried our experiment four times changing a different part each time; however, it still did not give us our intended outcome or hypothesis.  Next the class will focus on building a small structure.  Can't wait to get the engineering creative juices flowing!

ART

The past five weeks have flown by in Art class!  This year Art has been blessed to use a Promethean Board within our daily instruction whether it be for drawing, as a task organizer, or a timer between tasks.  Thank you Mr. Schoenfuhs for this wonderful tool within our classroom!  Students have been working diligently on Watercolor projects focused on outside "Fall" scenes.  Many students enjoyed the realization that nature and trees don't always need to be green, but in fact our trees can use multiple colors within our paint palette.

Resources:

If you would like extra, fun S.T.E.A.M. activities for your child to do at home, check the different camps that Microsoft offers.

Choir

All Grades

We started learning songs from our All God’s People Sing hymnbook. Three down, many more to go! We also learned songs that we are using during chapel. It is very exciting to hear them sing every Wednesday morning!

3rd – 6th Grades

In addition to our All God’s People Sing learning journey and learning praise songs for chapel, our 3rd-6th graders are learning to harmonize. We have a great group of melody singers and another group of singers with a great harmonic ear. I am really proud of them!

Music

Kindergarten

We continue developing our rhythm skills, and we are now learning how to listen and reproduce rhythm in different percussion instruments.

1st & 2nd Grades

In our Ear Training unit, we are learning how to listen to rhythm and write it down (prenotation). Our class was introduced to the xylophone and very soon will be able to play short melodies.

3rd – 6th Grades

Our class is focusing in handbell music theory. We are learning the following specific symbols:

• Let vibrate - LV

• Dampen

• Shake

Ukulele and Guitar Club

We had our first Ukulele and Guitar Club class. Ukulele students learned the C chord and guitar students the G chord (simplified version). Make sure to have them practice at home! Little by little we will be building our bank of chords and will begin accompanying songs for chapel.

• Ukulele: C

• Guitar: G

As always, please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns you might have.

Mrs. Ramirez
mramirez@saintlukeitasca.org