FDES Specials "Dream Team"
2024-2025 School Year
Quarter 2 Newsletter 2024
Mrs. Westman, Ms. Wygal, Mr. Divico, Mrs. Cusick, Ms. Davis
Art with Mrs. Westman
Second Quarter Update
Welcome back to the art room! This quarter, all students have had the opportunity to experiment with a variety of painting media, sparking new ways to explore and express their creativity. Our upper-grade students have been diligently working in their self-made sketchbooks, capturing their artistic processes and growth. Meanwhile, our younger artists continue to explore their identities through engaging, hands-on experiences with exciting new materials.
Save the Date for the Art Show!
Mark your calendars for our upcoming Art Show on March 8 from 5:30–7:00 PM. We are looking for volunteers to help set up the show, so if you're interested, please contact me at westmanj@wps.k12.va.us.
Square One Art Fundraiser
Students are also hard at work creating artwork for our Square One Art fundraiser! After their artwork is sent off and returned as stickers, you’ll have the option to order a variety of items featuring your child’s artwork. Keep an eye out for fundraising materials after November 25. Orders are due by December 6.
Let’s continue this art-filled journey and make more fantastic memories together!
Music with Ms. Wygal
Quarter 2 is here!
In the FDES Music room, we dive into various aspects of music, including singing, listening, analysis, cultural influences, and music literacy! To help us understand pitch, we use the solfeggio system, and for rhythm, we practice with the Ta-Ka-Di-Mi method. We bring music to life with tools like pianos, bells, boomwhackers, tablets, and, most importantly, our voices!
Our studies cover the Elements of Music—melody, harmony, pitch, beat, rhythm, timbre, form, and texture. Through creating, performing, responding, and connecting, we’ll explore the rhythm that fuels our favorite tunes and the harmonies that lift our spirits, diving deep into dynamics, melody, and more! Current repertoire includes songs about fall and winter!
**Opportunity for fourth graders: Ms. Wygal has distributed information out to interested students concerning an auditioned singing opportunity in March: Bloom Children's Choir Festival. Permission to audition is due back to Ms. Wygal by November 8th, 2024.
My classroom goal is to have my students experience the joy and power of music. In addition, my goal would to encourage my students to become informed, lifelong appreciators of music!
View the WPS Elementary Music Curriculum for grades PreK through 4th:
https://pub.lucidpress.com/WPSElementaryMusicCurriculum/
View a document on Empowered Learning in music classrooms created by the WPS K-12 music educators.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns: connect through TalkingPoints!
Meet Ms. Wygal:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r_hDTMdQIORL5uuSlbmbrqtOO9yhMRB5GbGlpZ9Pmts/edit?usp=sharing
For students: WINTER PRACTICE TRACKS!!!!!
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/105WEJw2UtAN4Pxot75jJKIvqKs5-01nS?usp=sharing
Physical Education with Mr. Divico
Quarter 2 update:
Last month we jumped, and jumped, and jumped! Students are becoming familiar with jump ropes and some are progressing their skills from where they left off. Did you know that jumping rope is one of the healthiest full body exercises you can do? It can even be more effective at burning calories than running if you jump at a medium or high intensity. We also hosted a student teacher from Shenandoah University. Mrs. McKibbin is a student who is currently studying to become a physical education teacher and plays on the girls field hockey team. We have finished October with Spooky Fall themed games, playground games; kickball, 4-square, switch, learning to run the bases, cup stacking, a basketball app called homecourt and one called virtual arcade where they can interact with the iPad and stay engaged physically all class. We are currently doing the personal and team challenges, and finish with Thanksgiving themed games. We are rolling into November by starting off with bowling. After bowling, we will work on our juggling unit which has yoga skills taking over warm-ups for the week. Next will be badminton and tennis skills as we do our striking with short handed implements. We end right before the break with building snowmen out of all of our P.E. equipment during a relay race.
STEAM WITH MRS. CUSICK
Second Quarter News!
From the desk of Mrs. Cusick
What an amazing first quarter we had in STEAM! The enthusiasm for learning and the creativity I have seen this year are amazing. As you know, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. Students across all grade levels have had opportunities to experiment, use technology, and engage in engineering challenges in various hands-on ways. We will continue to follow the science standards to guide learning and explore more interactive learning experiences. The STEAM classroom aims to complement what students are learning in other subjects while fostering creativity, originality, curiosity, and the confidence to take risks and learn from mistakes. It is a space for makers and thinkers!
Please contact me with any questions you may have at cusickj@wps.k12.va.us . I look forward to an incredible 2nd quarter of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math!
Library with Ms. Davis
Quarter 2 update coming soon!
This school year we are going to be diving into books exploring themes, elements of stories, and different types of books. In upper grades we will also be learning how to navigate the library space, distinguish genre, and how to become more independent explorers, or even writers, of stories.
One of my primary goals this year in classes is to help students learn how to love stories. The love of literature begins early, and I aim to help students on that journey.