Art - Mrs. Rozycki and Mrs. Bank

PAC – painting large butterflies and exploring colors

EAC - Cutting, gluing, drawing, and coloring. “Snakes in the grass” (introduction to weaving) and “happy rainbow clouds” revisiting types of line and colors of the rainbow. Coming up are Children’s Day fish flags and texture exploration.

Kindergarten – Learning to mix primary colors to create secondary colors – “mouse color wheels” and designing t-shirts for Earth Day. Exploring what they want to be when they grow up with career self-portraits, The Big Umbrella rainbow and watercolor painting, and Mexican paper rug creation.

1^st grade – Creating paper bag and texture drawing dream houses, bleeding tissue paper flower gardens and exploring spring flower Styrofoam print making.

2^nd grade – Creating Ocean collages with plants and fish, overlapping farm friends drawings, and introduction to stitching with animal head projects. Big mouth monsters are being glazed and fired.

3^rd grade – Completing cultural self-portraits, beginning weaving with yarn, and glazing of their pinch pot animals.

4^th grade – Beginning weaving with yarn, stitching a monogram, symmetrical Polish flower paper collage, and glazing coil pots.

5^th grade – Medieval illuminated letters repoussé technique, glazing ceramic gargoyles and tapestry weaving.

6^th grade – Weaving with yarn, identity portrait drawing, and glazing figural ceramic projects.

Music - Ms. Laird and Ms. Tien

We are wrapping up new content in the music room and will be putting our knowledge into practice in the month of May. Students will take the melodic and rhythmic concepts they have learned to create short music compositions in our classroom. We will also be working on folk dances and free movement.

Physical Education - Ms. Barber and Mr. Magagnoli

Students in grades Kindergarten through 2nd grade have started the 4th quarter playing various fitness games! We have been learning about why water is important, where we get energy, and naming fitness activities they can do outside of school. The classes have also had the chance to participate in fitness stations. 

Students in grade 3rd through 6th grade have been completing the second round of functional fitness tests. We ran the pacer, completed the shoulder stretch, hamstring stretch, plank challenge, and the step challenge. All students displayed great effort in all these required tests. The classes also had a chance to participate in fitness stations at the end of the unit. 

We will be starting our dribbling and foot skills unit in a few weeks and then our outdoor recreation unit. We are looking forward to field day towards the end of the year and other fun fitness activities we have planned for the students.

Band and Strings - Mrs. Hicks and Ms. Creque

***CONCERT INFORMATION***:

The Spring BAND Concert will be held here at Island Creek Gym on Wednesday, May 24^th @ 6:30pm!

The Spring STRINGS concert will be held at Island Creek on Thursday, June 1^st, at 6:30 pm!

Concert Attire:  Dressy white on top, dressy black/dark colors on bottom (including shoes)

*Students were given a copy of the concert information in class last week.  This information is also posted on the Band and Strings’ respective Schoology pages.  Please help your child remember their instruments and music on the FULL REHEARSAL dates happening later this month (listed below):

Band Full Rehearsals (All 5^th and 6^th graders in Band):

-Thursday, May 18 from 2:00-3:15 in cafeteria

-Friday, May 19 from 2:00-3:15 in cafeteria

-Tuesday, May 23 from 2:00-3:15 in cafeteria

Strings Rehearsals:

-Tuesday, May 30 from 2:00-3:15 in the cafeteria (5^th/6^th only)

-Wednesday, May 31 from 2:00-3:15 in the cafeteria (5^th/6^th only)

-Thursday, June 1 from 9:00am – 10:00 am in the cafeteria (5^th/6^th)

-Thursday, June 1 at 1:00 pm in the gym (4^th grade)

Band News

Classes continue to go well and has been exciting to see all the band students make progress on their instrument!

CONGRATULATIONS to the District X Solo and Ensemble Festival participants who all received TOP SCORES for their performances! I’m very proud of their performances!!

Band Classes at Island Creek

ALL Band classes are continuously working on their concert music and learning how to make sure they all know their entrances, notes, rhythms and are all putting together all their skills they have learned this year into the music. They are doing a great job.

Not all students are playing the same pieces, but all students know what pieces they are playing and what they should be practicing throughout the week. 

Band Schoology: I’ve added concert information to Schoology and any other announcements that are important as we look towards the end of the year. Students should be looking at the Band Schoology if they are absent from class or just want to look at what I have posted. I have posted Assignment Sheets of what took place in class for students to see what they have missed. I have also put recordings of concert music for all band students to play along with and listen to. There is also useful information on how to work more on reading notes on the staff.

Strings News

Congratulations to the District X Solo and Ensemble Festival participants who all received TOP SCORES for their performances!  I am so proud of them and their hard work! 

4^th grade:  We are working to refine our concert music and learning how to follow a conductor, while also listening and following the ensemble.  Students should be practicing these concert pieces 5-10 minutes on 3-5 days each week to prepare for the concert.  Piano accompaniment is available on Schoology and students are encouraged to practice along with that to help them understand speed. 

5^th and 6^th grade:  We are working to refine our concert music, focusing and dynamics, intonation, and articulations.  Please encourage your child to practice regularly so they can learn the music along with the rest of the class so they don’t fall behind.  Have them check out Schoology for the recordings of their pieces so they can play along with the other instruments when they practice. 

Band/Strings Homework 

Students are sent home each week with a list of assignments they should be improving upon in their at-home practice.  We expect students to show that they have worked on the material at home so they can be a contributing member to the Band or Strings team!  Please encourage your child to practice 10-15 minutes each day on the assignments that are given.