GRADE LEVEL COURSE OFFERINGS

8th Grade Electives

Eighth grade students will select two of the following courses.

Course Description

Studio Art

The arts in the classroom are always striving to develop and enhance a student’s creativity through art production and through solving design problems. Students will learn to understand and apply the elements and principles of the visual arts. Students will create and maintain a digital portfolio that displays images of all their work and can be accessed and updated through each year of Middle School into Upper School.

Arts classes will introduce the student to techniques and skills required for creating Art in 2-D and 3-D mediums. Students will learn art techniques through the study of Art History.

Music

Recording and Technology

Music Recording and Technology introduces students to the art of contemporary recording techniques using Logic Pro X. The students are required to learn and develop the skills and creativity necessary for song composition and recording. Through exploration of different genres of music, students will have the opportunity to establish their own unique ‘sound’ and produce a professional sounding final composition.

Spanish II

Spanish II offers students an opportunity to develop authentic Spanish language communication skills that they can use in everyday situations. This course will deepen and broaden the student’s foundation in Spanish grammar and vocabulary, as well as the skills and strategies necessary for communication in authentic contexts at the novice high to intermediate level.

Media

Production Students will learn about and develop the skills associated with the design, creation, distribution, and analysis of digital media. Through a focus on marketing and communication, students will identify content worthy of publication, determine the appropriate media (audio, video, etc) to connect with the desired population, and use the appropriate technical processes to create digital communication, deliver it, and measure the impact on the community.

Students will select guided project pathways that will allow them to learn and create simultaneously. Projects may focus on them physically, such as robots or automated devices, or live completely in the digital world, like video games or web applications. Students will have access to curated resources, including tools and materials such as 3D printers, RGB lighting/LED displays, Raspberry Pi/Arduinos, and assorted electronics. Upon completion of the course, students will have developed computational thinking skills and will have a completed project that demonstrates what they can do with those skills.