Middle School Programs

EXPLORATORY PROGRAMS

ART Grades 6-8

Art Action
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Art education of the 21st century is not just creating art for art's sake. In other words, teaching art to students today is more than learning how to draw, paint, and make pottery. While children are acquiring these basic art skills, they are being engaged in activities that include additional learning. For example, a pottery lesson could include learning the history of a Native American tribe. A painting lesson could be centered on the art created by the indigenous Aborigine culture of Australia. These lessons are multicultural. Many times we study the art of world communities and also the people, culture, geography, animal life, and sometimes the music too.

Also taught are interdisciplinary lessons that incorporate art with all of the core subjects such as math, English or science. Students may create handmade books in which they will write their own Haiku from English class. They might also create a work of abstract art in which they may need to use a compass and careful measuring (math/art), or study the parts of a plant as they draw a close-up of it (science/art).

At the sixth grade level, students are exposed to a variety of materials, techniques and themes found through the cultural dimensions of art. Students learn about contemporary artists and many of the historical movements. Studies of ancient Egypt and Greece from the social studies curriculum are supported by work done in art class. Students are expected to keep a sketchbook for art homework assignments and planning out art projects during class. Students are encouraged to draw on their own expressing their own individual interests and ideas.

At the seventh and eighth grade levels, art history and computer research are incorporated into the program to expand upon the many skills started at the sixth grade level. ALL students are given the opportunity to use the computers in the art room to research facts about an artist that they choose to study. Students will be working in an array of art media during the school year, which includes watercolor, tempera and acrylic paint, oil pastel, clay, plaster, printmaking and possibly miscellaneous materials such as scratch art, pen and ink, and charcoal. Students are also given the opportunity to use the pottery wheel.

All art lessons in the middle school satisfy some or all of the New York State Standards for the Arts, which are:

1. Creating, performing and participating in the arts
2. Knowing and using art materials and resources
3. Responding to and analyzing works of art
4. Understanding the cultural contributions of the arts

An art show is held in May. This is strictly on a volunteer basis and is not a competition. The students can enter as many works of art as they wish. It is the student's responsibility to pick up his/her artwork when the show is taken down.

No student is ever graded on talent alone. Each student has been made aware that their grade is based on effort, neatness, and the specific criteria established for each activity/lesson. A final test is given in grades, seven and eight which includes questions relating to the projects created during the year. A thorough review class will be conducted prior to the test to alleviate extensive studying for the exam. ALL artwork is sent home with the students at the end of the course.

Technology Education: Grades 6 - 8

Technology
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The middle school technology program is designed around teaching students what technology is, how important it is and how it effects the everyday routines of their lives. It's important to show them that they can be the ones that will change or create the new technologies of the future. At Stissing Middle School, technology or "Tech Ed" as it is often called, is a three-year program. Students learn how to problem solve, brainstorm new ideas and how to put things together into an organized system.

• Sixth Grade
  In the sixth grade, students learn how technology started thousands of years ago. Beginning with pre-historic times, the cave man's use of hand tools is followed on a time line to modern day technologies such as the cell phone. Sixth graders learn the practical use of tools and machines in the shop area of the room by doing small projects. From this they work up to their major project of a marble maze. By using problem solving strategies and brainstorming ideas with others, they design and then build a marble maze that often times looks like a board game from years ago, Mouse Trap!

• Seventh Grade
  In seventh grade, students continue to build on the ideas of using resources, materials and information to meet our technology needs. The major project at this level is a hydraulic controlled machine. The idea of how simple machines work is taught through the use of syringes as hydraulic cylinders and pistons used to make a simple machine. Along with the construction of their machine, students must explain its use through the use of a power point presentation done on the computer. This skill is reinforced by work done in the Computer Applications class taken by all 7th graders.

• Eighth Grade
  By the time students have completed the first two parts of the Technology program, they are ready to draw upon many of their previous skills to create their final and most complex project. The 8th grade project combines many science, art, computer and technology concepts and skills into one very creative work of art! Students design their own CO2 powered racecars, which are raced at the end of each school year in the gym. Students learn about friction, aerodynamics, and Newton's third law of motion all while trying to create the fastest racecar in the 8th grade. As in the 7th grade, students are required to create a power point presentation explaining all of the technical facets of their car and project. Pictures and data are imported into the student's presentation to create a well-developed final project.

Agricultural Science: Grade 8

All 8th grade students take 10 weeks of agricultural science. One of the reasons for taking this course is to help students understand the changing role of agriculture in today's economy and society. Helping students to learn how food and fiber products ultimately get from the farm to them is reinforced by many of the other subjects taught in the middle school. Students will look at our natural resources and see how they impact agriculture. The changing role of agriculture is explored in the variety of career opportunities that exist today. Besides the obvious of farming (livestock and/or food), there exists numerous other agricultural careers for students to consider; nutritionist, florist, biological engineer, environmental scientist and veterinarian to name just some of the many
careers in agriculturally related fields. Students are also introduced to the many educational opportunities associated with FFA (Future Farmers of America) and the local chapter in Pine Plains. Members of this group are given the opportunity to travel, develop leadership skills, public speaking and community service. Hopefully, by the time students finish the course, they have learned that agriculture is much more than cows, plows and sows and is still the most important industry in the world.

C.H.O.I.C.E.S. :  Grades 6 & 7 (Choosing Healthy Options in Character, Employment & School)

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