Arts
Middle School Arts Program
We create learning opportunities that alternate between structured activity and free exploration, between concrete activities and flights of creativity and imagination.
Visual Arts
6th Grade
In drawing, students continue the exploration of lines, lights and darks, proportions, and the use of space begun in Lower School. In clay sculpture they work with geometric form and use composition and decomposition to create a sculpture. They learn elements of design through print making, and use of positive and negative spaces with printing. In painting they develop fundamental skills with watercolors.
7th Grade
Students continue to build upon skills and vocabulary learned previously. In drawing they learn about the object and the object in relation to another object. They use the same concepts in three-dimensional work with clay. In printmaking they explore composition and color. Expression is encouraged through the use of soft pastels and charcoals.
8th Grade
The students continue to develop their artistic skills. They work in drawing and use acrylics for painting. In printmaking they learn problem-solving techniques through the use of soft linoleum and inks. In sculpture they learn to take risks and explore their creativity as they make a chair with material they have collected.
Drama
6th Grade
Students explore the fundamentals of acting through movement, vocal work, sensory exploration, and imagination exercises. Theater games and exercises highlight ensemble building, creative problem-solving, and risk-taking. Students are also introduced to important theater terminology.
7th Grade
The focus in seventh-grade drama is to create believable characters through improvisation, acting exercises, and beginning scene work. More extensive theater terminology and concepts are introduced.
8th Grade
Through improvisation, contemporary/classical scenes, and group exercises, students work on developing better listening skills, moment-to-moment work, and risk taking.
Music and Chorus
6th Grade
Students are introduced to a variety of skills, including basic theory, rhythmic dictation, and simple compositions as a way of enhancing and supplementing a class-wide Chorus experience.
7th Grade
The main focus is on music form and analysis, using primarily modern genres. The choral component continues to build, using more sophisticated material.
8th Grade
After an overview of American music, students analyze and research musical/cultural topics related to their own developing musical identity as well as those of the '60's.
