ART

K: Scissor Driving (practice folding and cutting paper)

1: Ceramic Luminary

2: Community Butterfly Collagraph

3: Cultural Symmetrical Tapestry

4: Monoprint with Feeling

5: Global Hero Mask Background

6: Begin Identity Coil Baskets

 

CHINESE

 

Welcome to FLES Chinese with Mrs. Lee and Ms. Kwon!

 

  We are really happy to see all returning WTES students and new students to the 2019-2020 school year. Past month, we have reviewed what we had learned last school year and introduced a new unit. I definitely believe it was a good experience to learn Chinese to new students too!!

   This year 4^th,5^th and 6^th grade students will join my Google Classroom and they may be asked to do some of Chinese practice at home. Please encourage them to do their best, this is very important tool for their learning a foreign language out of school.

   I will update often my students’ project and learning in Chinese blackboard. Also there are number of extra learning resources available. Please feel free use it!!

 

Our students will learn following this month:

 

1st grade: Calendar, Seasons, Weather Conditions, Body parts

              (Mrs. Lee’s class: Date & Month)

 

2nd grade: Shapes (Color, sides and vertices), Changes and school supplies

 

3rd grade: Lady Bug

4th grade: Natural Water (Water cycle, bodies, and watersheds in China & USA)

5th grade: Earthquake (Seven continents, buildings)

6th grade: Solar System

 

Best,

Cathy Lee and Eun Kwon

 

 

 

Eun Kwon

Wolftrap Elementary School

FLES/LTC Chinese Teacher

703-319-7372

 

LIBRARY

In October, our kindergarten students will listen to stories about the growing cycle of apples, pumpkins, autumn and Halloween.  First grade lessons will relate to their study of deciduous and evergreen trees, but there will also be lessons related to the famous Americans they are learning about in their classroom.  Topics for second grade lessons include world geography, magnets and how a story begins and ends.  Third grade lessons will focus on map skills, ladybugs, adaptation and food chains.

 

Differentiating the five geographic regions in Virginia will provide a focus for fourth grade lessons.  This will be followed by lessons related to Woodland Indians and Jamestown.  In 5th grade, topics include archaeology and Mesopotamia.  Sixth grade lessons will relate to the social studies topics of U.S. geography, American Indians or explorers.

 

Parent volunteers in the library are a great asset to our library program.  Ashley Binkowski, the library volunteer coordinator, contacted all of the parents who signed up to help and we are grateful for their assistance with checking out and shelving books.  It is never too late to become a library volunteer!

 

 

 

Shannon Stubbs

Wolftrap ES Librarian

 

GENERAL MUSIC

Welcome back to another great year that will be filled with learning, creativity, and exciting times in music class!  In October, we will continue to focus on rhythm and steady beat activities.  We will also learn some fun songs that will get our singing voices back in shape.  In addition, upper grades will review notes, rhythms, and playing the recorder.   Lower grades will explore rhythmic concepts, perform movement activities, and play classroom instruments. All grades will learn patriotic songs to sing at a Veteran’s Day assembly in November.   Chorus (fifth and sixth graders) will be rehearsing a program of entertaining new songs for the Holliday Stroll.

 

 

STRINGS

Now that our first month of school is underway, students in Strings classes are finally beginning a routine and playing their instruments!

Sixth Grade has been sight-reading and working on some new music in class. Our upcoming goals are to be able to know music well enough to confidently play while others are playing something different. We will be exploring music that is separated into more parts, meaning students will be relying less on the group as a whole and more on themselves as individuals.

Fifth Grade has been brushing off the summer cobwebs and reviewing some old skills from the end of lasts year. They will be working on new skills such as new notes on a different string, longer values of notes, slurs, and F and C natural. Students are in a mixed instrumentation group of violins, violas, and cellos, meaning they will be hearing the orchestra as a whole and getting used to those sounds.

Fourth Grade has been learning the basics about their instruments: how to unpack, parts of the instrument, holding the instrument, and plucking their instrument. Students will be learning how to read music and how to play more notes with their fingers on the D and A strings this coming month. The new songs they will be learning will be very common “first songs” and will only be plucked. “Bow Day” will not happen until later.

Students have received a Strings Handbook with information about different policies, tips, grading, and the like. Please fill out and have your child turn in the last sheet. If you have any questions about the Strings Handbook, please feel free to email me. Concert dates are being scheduled in the coming weeks. Please be on the lookout later in October for a “Save the Date” regarding concert info.

 

BAND

October

 

The Wolftrap Band is off to another great start this year! Please encourage your student to practice daily. A little bit of improvement every day is the goal. Now is the time to build a reliable practice routine so your child sees constant improvement in their musicianship.

 

Students are required to practice at least sixty minutes a week to earn an effort grade of "3" (out of 4). To earn a grade of "4" the student must practice at least 100 minutes a week. The practice record makes up the bulk of each student's "Effort" grade, along with coming prepared to class (with their instrument and music).

 

Please make sure your band student completes their practice record each week (list total minutes, name, date, and a parent signature) and returns it to band class the following week. You should see one of these each week!

 

Printable practice records are available here.

 

Important Band Dates
December 18 (Wednesday) 7:00PM – Winter Band Concert

December 19 (Thursday) 9:00AM – Winter Band and Chorus Assembly

January (After school Mondays) – Kilmer-Thoreau Area Band (open to 6th grade)

April (Saturday, TBA) – Solo & Ensemble Festival (recommended for 6th grade)

May 5 (Tuesday) 7:00PM – Spring Band and Chorus Concert

May 6 (Wednesday) 9:00AM – Spring Band and Chorus Assembly

Joe McClure
Band Director, Wolftrap ES

 

 

 

 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

We have had a great start to the year in P.E., for the 4^th through 6^th Grades Flag Football is in full swing and in K through 3^rd we are playing numerous under and overhand throwing games such as Oscar’s Garbage Can, Scooter Ball, and Turkey Trouble.  In October, we will continue to focus on under and overhand throwing activities.  4^th through 6^th Grade will play Ultimate Frisbee and K through 3^rd will play Frisbee Relays as well as other under and overhand throwing games.