SMLS » Junior School » Programming » Arts
Arts
Music
The Junior School Music program is based on principals of the Kodaly and Orff methods of musical instruction and incorporates singing, playing instruments, listening, moving and creating.
Students are immersed in experiences that introduce and reinforce the basic building blocks of music literacy: beat, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, tempo, form and texture. As the girls' understanding of these elements grows, they are able to read music notation, compose, and interpret music they hear with increasing complexity. Girls in the early grades are introduced to pitched and unpitched percussion instruments including xylophones and metalophones, and in Grades 3 and 4 they begin to read music on the staff independently and play recorders.
Performance Opportunities
All students in Junior School perform at Christmas and in the spring to showcase their musical, dramatic, and artistic talents. The students in Grades 3 to 6 also perform with Orff instruments, recorders, and Boomwhackers©. During these performances the girls' artwork is displayed on the walls and in electronic format.
In the spring, Grade 5 and 6 students perform a musical, with opportunities for acting, singing, and dancing. They also create sets, backdrops, props, and programs. These students learn the chorus songs in their music classes, so they can all participate in the performance.
The French program incorporates opportunities for the girls to perform in a second language. Many grades also use skits and drama as a learning tool in other areas of the curriculum.
Visual Arts
The Junior School Visual Arts program is designed to foster early artistic skills. The curriculum enables students to explore art history and visual art practices so that they develop confidence and their own creative styles. Their ideas are expressed using a variety of traditional and new media solutions. The program prepares young artists for the progressive Senior School arts curriculum and strengthens each student's understanding of the potential and significance of visual expression.
Students are engaged in meaningful art activities that enable them to develop the skills to use art tools, materials and techniques in a sequential and cumulative manner. The elements and principles of design are explored and demonstrated with an emphasis being placed on individual creativity and personal accomplishment.
Contemporary and classic works of art are introduced through SMART Board technology to stimulate and expand visual expression and appreciation.