Specialty Classes Update – Alpine Elementary

Nov 01

Specialty Class Update 10/21/2024 – 11/08/2024

By alpineweb Specialty Classes Update

Rotation: 10/21/2024 – 11/08/2024

1st grade is learning about program music. We will listen to the music and story of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice and then create our own story and put it to music. We act out the story while the music is played so we create program music. We will learn Dem Bones and how our own skeleton is important to take care of. We can keep our body strong by eating healthy, exercising, and getting the rest we need. We will be singing fun Halloween songs as well.

2nd grade is learning the Glow songs and is going through the script and learning their parts in the musical. We will learn fun Halloween songs.

3rd grade is learning the Veteran’s Day songs and will be performing for you on Monday, Nov. 11 at 9:30 am. We will learn fun Halloween songs with rounds and circle games.

4th grade is learning how to play the recorder. We will review B, A, and G and then start playing fun songs. We will learn E and D as well. We will learn the Australian unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda and learn fun Australian words.

5th grade is learning to play the ukulele and are playing a few songs with C, C7, G7, and F. We are playing songs with strumming techniques and even singing while playing. WE are learning what a minstrel song is and what minstrel shows were in the 1800’s. They have been learning Camptown Races. We are learning about singing a melody and a descant together.

6th grade is continuing to learn fun songs for their pillow concert later this year. They are getting better at drum lines and bucket drumming with fun rhythms.

Each rotation has learned about these composers so far:

Beethoven, Mozart, Saint Saens, and this rotation is Bach. Ask your child about any of these composers and see if they can tell you something you don’t know!

Computer Lab – Mrs. Stonely [email protected]

Kindergarten – Digital Citizenship: Students learned about media balance and the importance of keeping our lives balanced.

Lesson: Students developed their coding skills by working on the website, “Kodable”. Kodable helps students develop fundamental coding skills, grow confident in their problem solving, and experience the joy of real coding and creation.

1st Grade – Digital Citizenship: We discussed what is private information and when not to share it online.

Lesson: Students got to experience Bee Bots, working with a partner they had to program their robot to follow the sequence of a nursery rhyme and code the Bee Bot through a maze.

2nd Grade – Digital Citizenship: Students discussed how they can help put a stop to online meanness and how being a good friend in the real world is the same when they are online.

Lesson: Students worked with Bee Bots. Students worked in pairs coding Bee Bots through several mazes. Students were also introduced to a grid treasure map where they had 3 levels to code their Bee Bot through.

3rd Grade – Digital Citizenship: We talked about the importance of media balance, students discussed the digital habits we form and how some can be good and others are not.

Lesson: Students coded a program in Scratch. Students had to create a program using animation (changing costumes), changing backdrops, adding speech and sound. It was a lot of fun to see the creativity of the 3rd graders.

4th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Students discussed what a “Super” Digital Citizen looks like and what superpowers a super digital citizen would have. The students decided that the best super power a person could have is kindness.
Lesson: Students got to experience AI. Students got to talk to a mountain man and learned about their impact on Utah history. Students also created a mountain man tall tale using AI and generated a mountain man picture. Ask your child about their amazing tall tale.

5th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Students learned about digital friendships, how they can be positive and negative. We discussed red flags to watch out for as they make friends online.

Lesson: Students coded maze games in Scratch. Students had to design the maze, code their sprite (character), incorporating “If / then” blocks. Some students created multiple levels to their maze games.

6th Grade – Digital Citizenship: We discussed their plans on how to be safe online. Students shared their plan of what they will do when they see an inappropriate picture, or receive a message from a stranger online.
Lesson: Students worked on reinforcing their typing skills by working on a Finger Family tutorial. Students experienced some dictation and had some fun race typing on Nitro Type.

Art – Mrs. Clarke [email protected]

Our art this last rotation was inspired by the artist Louise Bourgeois who is most famous for her spider sculpture called Maman that can be found all around the globe, including 2 in Washington DC. We also made spider webs for our tin foil sculptures to live.

Our art this last rotation was inspired by the artist Louise Bourgeois who is most famous for her spider sculpture called Maman that can be found all around the globe, including 2 in Washington DC. We also made spider webs for our tin foil sculptures to live.

Oct 03

Specialty Classes Update 09/30/24 -10/18/24

By alpineweb Specialty Classes Update

Rotation: Sept. 30 – 18, 2024

Music – Mrs. Hunt [email protected]

1st grade- We are learning about the instrument families in the orchestra. We are listening to the music and reading the story from Peter and the Wolf and how the instruments in the orchestra represent different characters in the story. We will be able to group the correct instruments into the correct families and know where the families sit in an orchestra. We will watch the movie, Peter and the Wolf. We will also learn the songs Buckle Up, There’s a hole in the bucket, and Skip to my Lou.

2nd grade- We will be choosing a first, second, and third choice in our Glow Musical. We will learn about the characters in the musical, how everyone in the musical is important, and how to share our talents with others. We will learn about crescendo (getting louder) and decrescendo (getting softer and using our voices to create those dynamics. We will learn the songs from the musical and learn Clementine.

3rd grade- We are working hard on learning our Veteran’s Day songs. This is the 3rd year we will have done this amazing program. We will be performing on the morning of Nov. 11, which is Veteran’s Day. Please put this on your calendar now and think about who would enjoy coming in your family who is a veteran or is still on active duty. We would love to honor them. We will continue learning our songs for the program while also learning the difference between a fanfare and a bugle because we are learning Taps, Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and Stars and Stripes Forever written by John Sousa.

4th grade- We are reviewing musical terms we learned in 3rd grade by playing bingo. We are also getting recorders and learning how to play the first 3 notes B, A, and G. If your child would like to purchase the one they use this year they are welcome to pay in the office in May.

5th grade- We are learning about the Magic Flute Opera. We will listen to the overture and then learn about the story. We will also introduce the ukulele and how to play 3 chords C, F, and G7.

We will learn how to strum different rhythms and play many songs. We will continue to learn our Hope of America songs for our program on May 6, 2025 at the Marriott Center in Provo. Please mark your calendars for this amazing event.

6th grade- We are learning about many tempos we can sing and play our hand drums to. We are learning how to play the different hand drums, rhythms, and layering different rhythms together. We will also be learning the pillow concert songs, I’ve Been Everywhere and The Museum song.

Alpine Eagles Choir- This is after school on Tuesdays from 3:30-4:30 and includes 4th-6th graders. We are learning some fun Christmas music and I’m very excited about the sound and quality these kids are already practicing with! I love working with your children!!!

Computer Lab – Mrs. Stonely [email protected]

Kindergarten – Digital Citizenship: Students were introduced to a concept called the Internet Traffic Light. Green means “go,” indicating a site you know is safe. Yellow means “go slow” and ask an adult if it’s safe. Red means “stop,” indicating a website that is not appropriate for you.

Lesson: Students worked on the “Teach Your Monster To Read” website, which helps reinforce phonics skills and develop computer mouse skills.

1st Grade – Digital Citizenship: We read the book, “Good Pictures, Bad Pictures,” by Kristen A. Jensen. We discussed what to do if they see a bad picture: “Turn, Run, Tell.”

Lesson: Students worked in Scratch Jr., learning how to edit backdrops and characters in their program. They coded an alien planet with dancing aliens.

2nd Grade – Digital Citizenship: The concept of digital trails was introduced; students learned that every time they go online, a record is kept of the sites they visit.

Lesson: Students coded a Scratch Jr. grid maze game, learning to create a maze and then code a sprite (character) to complete the maze.

3rd Grade – Digital Citizenship: We learned about our digital trails and discussed that the things we post, share, and create online are permanent. We emphasized our responsibility to be mindful of what we broadcast to others.

Lesson: Students were introduced to coding in Scratch; in previous years, they coded in Scratch Jr. They created an animated word program with letters changing colors, sizes, movements, and bouncing.

4th Grade – Digital Citizenship: We discussed personal vs. private information and what is okay to share online.

Lesson: Students worked in Scratch, developing code to make their sprite change costumes, speak, and change the backdrop.

5th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Students learned about their digital presence and discussed how future colleges and employers look at it.

Lesson: This week, students practiced typing, reinforcing correct finger placement and learning finger families. They also had the opportunity to try dictation and enjoyed it.

6th Grade – Digital Citizenship: We discussed how people use social media to promote themselves and how it doesn’t always portray true reality.

Lesson: Students worked in Google Sheets, learning how to add basic functions and conditionals.

Art – Mrs. Clarke [email protected]

We have been working on a school-wide Mood Meter. Thanks to our school counselor, Tyrene Hartsell, our school is implementing the nationwide RULERS program. This is an evidenced based approach to social and emotional learning. As part of this program students are increasing their emotional vocabulary through The Mood Meter.

Using the Mood Meter each student in art chose an emotion to create a monochromatic (one color) collage self-portrait. We spent some time studying our facial expressions in a mirror and the things that change when we feel different emotions. The students noticed that most of the emotion in our faces is shown in our eyes, mouth, and eyebrows. After studying some of Romaire Bearden’s collage work we sketched a plan and set to work creating our own collage.

Watch for our school Mood Meter in the hallway by the library.

Apr 18

Specialty Class Update 04/08 – 04/26/2024

By alpineweb Specialty Classes Update

Rotation: April 8 – April 26

Music – Mrs. Hunt [email protected]
Kindergarten- Circle games- Old Brass Wagon, Farmer in the Dell and other farm animal songs with learning dynamics and tempos.
1st grade- Composer Louis Armstrong and Jazz music, Learning songs about plants and gardens
2nd- Practicing for our Glow musical May 1-3rd.
3rd- Meter, Dynamics, Rests, and singing folk music
4th- Musicals and learning to play the recorder
5th- Hope of America May 6th and Ukulele chords- We’ve learned C, C7, G7, F, and our new chord is Dm
6th- Pillow Concert music, drum lines, and bucket drumming

Computer Lab – Mrs. Stonely [email protected]
Kindergarten – Lesson: Introduced to Scratch Jr. and coded a dance party program.

1st Grade- Digital Citizenship: We learned about the internet and how it works.
Lesson – Coded a moving target game. Students created a launch pad and when clicked it would send a laser up trying to hit a moving target. The students used many coding skills they have learned over the past year.

2nd Grade – Digital Citizenship: We learned about the internet and how it works.
Lesson – Coded a fish hook game. Students designed a game where one sprite had to get past other sprites without touching them. If the racing sprite was caught the game stopped. The students used many of the coding skills they have learned this year.

3rd Grade – Digital Citizenship: We learned about the internet and how it works. We learned about modems, routers and packages. We also discovered how emails are sent over the internet.
Lesson – Students created a CS First program about 3 animals. The students used the “When Sprite is Clicked” block and speaking block to share a fact about the animals they researched.,

4th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Learned about creators rights and responsibilities. We learned what copyright, fair use and different types of license are and how to use them correctly.
Lesson – Students programmed Ozobots to draw different geometric shapes. The students had to use geometry to figure out what angles the Ozobots had to turn at to make the correct shape.

5th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Learned about HTTP and HTML and how they are basic building blocks of the internet.
Lesson – Coded Virtual Museum programs in CS First. Students had to research 3-5 events in US history and create an interactive program highlighting their events.

6th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Discussed who is responsible for their education. We watched a news report of a student failing in Baltimore and what could have been done to change this situation. The students started doing research finding articles and studies for an essay they will be writing in their classes about who is responsible for their education.
Lesson – Students worked on finding sources for their essay and also coded a short program in CS First called 10 Square.

Art – Mrs. Clarke [email protected]

We’ve had a fun rotation in art. The glazing and firing is all complete so celebrate your students sculptures and pottery when it finally makes it home! Also in the studio this week:

Kindergarten: sculpted clay mice

1st-6th grade: Using the logo, colors, design, and font from their favorite candy artist created a sneaker. I won’t be surprised if Nike wants to collaborate with your artist! They’re turning out great!

Mar 20

Specialty Class Update 03/11 – 3/29/24

By alpineweb Specialty Classes Update

Rotation: March 11 – March 29
Music – Mrs. Hunt [email protected]

Kinder- We will be learning Bingo, Five Green and Speckled Frogs, and The Little Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly and/or Shell.

1st grade- Clapping, using patterns, and partner songs like Tideo

2nd grade- Preparing for Glow musical

3rd grade- Reviewing songs we’ve learned this year and notation

4th grade- Reviewing music words learned and playing Bingo with words and definitions

5th grade- Working hard on our Hope of America songs

6th grade- Drum lines and learning about the eras in music

Computer Lab – Mrs. Stonely [email protected]

Kindergarten – Digital Citizenship: We discussed ways to be kind online and in real life..
Lesson- Learned how computers work and practiced mouse moving skills

1st Grade- Digital Citizenship: We learned about our online community and the effect we can have on it.
Lesson – Coded a tag game in Scratch Jr., learning new block functions: “When bumped”, “repeat” and how to set character speeds. We did have a small competition to see who’s tag game would go on the longest, we had some still going after 15 min. That’s amazing.

2nd Grade – Digital Citizenship: We learned about our online community and our responsibility to ourselves, our community and the world.
Lesson – Coded a control game in Scratch Jr. The students learned how one sprite (character) can send a message to another sprite causing it to follow code. The students’ control game consisted of creating directional arrows, when clicked would send a message to another sprite telling it to move in a certain direction.

3rd Grade – Digital Citizenship: Discussed their rings of responsibility online, first starting with them, what they share and say online, to their online community and how they are affected and finally to the world.
Lesson – Practice top row typing. The third graders worked on learning which finger is responsible for top row keys and keeping other fingers anchored to the home row.

4th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Discussed our online impact and our responsibility to be a good citizen online. We learned about our rings of responsibility: ourself, our community, and the world.
Lesson – Practiced top row typing, focusing the correct fingering and keeping our other fingers anchored to the home row.

5th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Discussed online friendships, what the benefit of having them are and red flags to watch out for when online.
Lesson – Created stop motion conversion tables in Canva

6th Grade – Digital Citizenship: We learned about plagiarism, taking someone else’s words or ideas and using them as their own. We discussed different types of plagiarism and how to avoid it. We briefly discussed how to cite other’s work, and we will have another lesson on how to properly cite people’s work and ideas.
Lesson – Learned how to organize their Google Drives and Gmail. The students learned how to create folders and subfolders to organize their work and emails. We also had a little fun in Adobe learning the feature, “Animate Your Voice” by telling St. Patrick’s Day jokes and knock knock jokes.

Art – Mrs. Clarke [email protected]

Kindergarten artists learned about primary and secondary colors in this rotation. They mixed the paints of the primary colors and made their own green, yellow, and purple. They will use their mixed paints to create their own color wheel next time they come.

Artists in first grade created a colorful cat inspired by the work of the artist Laurel Burch. They got to blend with chalk pastels then highlighted the cats facial features and patterns using black oil pastel.

Second through sixth grade artists have finished their sculpting and have moved on to glazing. They’re all excited about how their pieces are turning out and can’t wait to take them home. They have to be fired in the kiln one more time so they won’t get them until their next rotation in art.

Mar 01

Specialty Classes 02/19/24 – 03/08/24

By alpineweb Specialty Classes Update

Rotation: Feb. 19 – March 8

Music – Mrs. Hunt
During this music rotation we will be learning:

KA- The 4 Seasons by Vivaldi, making weather sounds with percussion instruments, circle dancing with left and right, and in and out with the song The Old Brass Wagon

1st- Morning by Edvard Grieg- moving our bodies to the feeling we get when we listen, Learning the song Down by the banks- clap the beat while singing and playing a circle game.

2nd- Working on our Glow program that is coming up the 1st week in May. Please have your child work on their speaking parts if they have one. All the children have a part whether it’s singing, speaking, or dancing. Reyes’ class performs on May 1st at 1 pm, Clement’s class on May 2nd at 10 am, and Fu’s class is on May 3rd at 10 am.

3rd- Singing Hey, Ho, Nobody’s Home in a Round. Singing The Man on the Flying Trapeze and moving to the feel of the music. Learning about George Gershwin and listening to Rhapsody in Blue. Keeping a steady beat while moving around playing Beat Monster.

4th- Working on our Utah songs for the performance on March 1st. Introducing recorders and how to play them.

5th- Working on Hope of America songs. Please sign up your child under hopeofamerica.org We are scheduled to perform the night of Tuesday, May 7th. This is an amazing event so please encourage your child to participate.

6th- Working on our Pillow Concert songs and drum lines. The Pillow concert is on May 17th.
As always, please email me with any questions at [email protected]

Computer Lab – Mrs. Stonely
Kindergarten – Learning to log in and off the lab computers by themselves. They are also working on learning about the keyboard and where the letters are located.

1st Grade- Digital Citizenship: Learned skills of pausing and thinking when they are online, using their head, gut and heart to help keep them safe.
Lesson: Worked on sequence coding in Scratch Jr. creating a story inspired by “Dragons Love Tacos”.

2nd Grade – Digital Citizenship: Learned the importance of pausing when they are on a screen to listen to people, take a breath and finish up when it’s time to get off.
Lesson: Introduced top row typing. The second graders worked on learning which finger is responsible for top row keys and keeping other fingers anchored to the home row.

3rd Grade – Digital Citizenship: Discussed the power of our words online and how we can show empathy to others.
Lesson: Coded a Hide and Seek game in CS First, learning about variables by adding in a scoreboard.

4th Grade – Digital Citizenship: Discussed online personal information vs. private information. Personal information are things we like, hobbies, interests. Private information is identifying information such as name, address, phone number, school name and parents’ names.
Lesson: Created energy transfer stop motion movies in Canva.

5th Grade- Digital Citizenship: Learned about clickbait and its purpose.
Lesson: Bottom row typing practice, working on keeping fingers on home row, acting as anchors. We also did a Rotating Story activity to encourage touch typing practice, ask your child about their story.

6th Grade- Digital Citizenship: Learned about fake vs. real websites and strategies on how to tell the difference.
Lesson: Started 7th Grade Boot Camp designed to help the sixth graders be ready for middle school by learning formatting skills in Google docs. We will be doing other 7th Grade Boot Camp activities like organizing Google Drive, Gmail and working in Canvas.

Art – Mrs. Clarke
It is an exciting time for Alpine Artists right now because we are working with clay that will be fired and glazed in the school kiln! Before we started, we looked at the work of “Master Potter” Juan Quezada whose pieces can be found in museums throughout the world. His curiosity as a young boy led to his discovery of some ancient pottery while exploring a cave one day. Fascinated by the pieces he found but without any previous experience with pottery Juan worked to create pots using only local materials like the ancient Paquime Indians would have. Today, the village of Mata Ortiz is alive only because of Juan’s ceramic artistry and his willingness to generously share all he knew with many locals. As a college student I was able to visit Mata Ortiz and see Juan Quezada as he worked on a pot. I didn’t understand at the time the legend that was in front of me but it has been fun to revisit and share his story with your students. His example of curiosity, willingness to experiment and fail, and desire to share all he learned is the inspiration for us as we try this new art medium. Your artist will soon bring home their ceramic creation and we can’t wait to see how they turn out! We have practiced the score and slip method used to attach two pieces of clay as well as the coil, slab, and pinch techniques. After they finish their project it requires an entire week of air drying before it can be loaded in the kiln and fired for two days. Students’ next art rotation will be spent glazing their piece with non-toxic and dishwasher safe glaze. After firing them a second time they will finally be able to bring them home and share with you their masterpiece. It will be a few weeks before you get to see them but we are working hard, getting messy, and practicing some patience through the process.

Specialty Class Update 10/21/2024 – 11/08/2024

Specialty Classes Update 09/30/24 -10/18/24

Specialty Class Update 04/08 – 04/26/2024

Specialty Class Update 03/11 – 3/29/24

Specialty Classes 02/19/24 – 03/08/24

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