FDES Specials "Dream Team"

Third Quarter Update

Welcome back to the art room! This quarter, we're diving into an exciting season of creativity and preparation for our much-anticipated Art Show. Students are hard at work on their "glow" pieces for our Glow Black Light Gallery, which promises to be a showstopper you won’t want to miss.

Save the Date for the Art Show!
Mark your calendars for March 12 from 5:30–7:00 PM. We are looking for volunteers to help set up the show—your help makes all the difference! If you’re interested, please contact me at westmanj@wps.k12.va.us.

Thank You for Supporting Square One Art!
A big thank-you to everyone who participated in the Square One Art fundraiser. Your support helps our art program thrive and gives students a chance to see their creativity come to life on fun products!

The third quarter is all about pushing our creativity to new heights. Get ready—this year's Art Show is going to be amazing! Let’s keep the momentum going and make some unforgettable art together.

Quarter 3 is here! "Time flies when you're having fun!"

In the FDES Music room, we explore the rich world of music through singing, listening, analyzing, understanding cultural influences, and building music literacy. To master pitch, we rely on the solfeggio system, while for rhythm, we sharpen our skills using the Ta-Ka-Di-Mi method. Our musical journey comes alive with the help of instruments like pianos, bells, boomwhackers, tablets, and, most importantly, our own voices!

Our curriculum focuses on the Elements of Music—melody, harmony, pitch, beat, rhythm, timbre, form, and texture. By creating, performing, responding, and connecting, we delve into the rhythms that drive our favorite songs, the harmonies that inspire us, and the dynamics, melodies, and more that make music so captivating!

📢Nine fourth graders will be representing FDES at the Bloom Children's Honor Choir in March! Congratulations to Liam, Virginia, Hazel, Aracely, Grace, Gemma, Gabriela, Winnie, and Katiana!

My classroom goal is to have my students experience the joy and power of music- 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

Quarter 3 update:

As we come back from break we are going to be starting our striking with long handed implements. We will start with baseball, then slide into hockey, and swing into mini golf. This is a great start to pick up after we ended our striking with short handed implements unit. January 19th we will hold an assembly in the gym for the kids heart challenge, and we will be ending the quarter with a gymnastics unit.

Third Quarter News!

From the desk of Mrs. Cusick

The first semester of STEAM included science experiments, technology, engineering challenges, and boundless creativity. Students used teamwork and collaboration skills to solve real-world problems. I observed students at all levels become stronger leaders, and more importantly, stronger listeners. The acronym STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. We will continue to follow the science standards to guide learning. We will explore the wonders of winter weather, its impact on the world around us, and how animals and plants adapt and survive in various climates and seasons. Through exciting experiments and hands-on activities, students will investigate these concepts while incorporating technology and engineering to deepen their understanding. Get ready for a season full of curiosity, creativity, and discovery!

The STEAM classroom aims to complement what students learn 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!

Quarter 3 Update

As we return from break we are going to be diving right back into our chapter books and exploration of storytelling. We will learn about how illustration can help communicate ideas, and how those ideas in stories can connect us. We will talk about different kinds of stories from Fables to Short Stories to Picture Books as well as how genre is used. Older grades will also be learning more skills to grow in their independence in navigating libraries, as well as exploring the elements of a story. Students will also be practicing their ability to communicate their ideas about literature.