Performing Arts

6th Grade Performing Arts Classes

Participation in Performing Arts gives students a creative outlet where they can connect with their peers in a supportive environment, where they develop their talents and skills.  Performing Arts students develop cognitions and ways of learning that complement learning in other academic courses. 

General Music

Duration: 1 Semester. (1st or 2nd Semester)

All 6th Graders are required to take General Music. 

In general music, students reinforce music literacy skills through playing the ukulele and studying great composers. In class performances will include music by Tchaikovsky, ukulele standards, and original compositions.

Band

Duration: 2 Semesters. (Both Fall and Spring)

6th Grade Band students perform in two concerts per year.  In class they are introduced to playing in a large ensemble.  Material taught in rehearsals includes technical studies, scale and rhythm studies, and sight reading.  Concert repertoire that is age appropriate and which introduces students to a variety of musical styles.  Band meets 3 times per cycle.

Monday Jazz Band

Duration: 2 Semesters. (Meets MWF before school.)

Sixth graders may audition for Monday Jazz band, a Big Band Jazz ensemble comprised of advanced students who are also enrolled in band.  Students are introduced to a wide range of styles, including swing, Latin, bebop and jazz/rock.  Improvisation is introduced and class time is allotted to teaching the basics of jazz improvisation and chord theory.  The Monday Jazz band performs regularly in school and in Wellesley and Boston.  

Choir

Duration: 2 Semesters. (Both Fall and Spring)

Students in 6th grade may enroll in choir, and should continue in 7th grade.  8th Grade Choir Students enroll in either Brooks Brothers or Song Sisters.  The WMS choirs perform 2- to 3-part choral repertoire from a variety of genres and time periods.  

Students learn and practice good vocal technique and continue to improve their understanding of music theory through sequential ear training and sight reading activities in class.  They are actively engaged in the creative process as they work together to arrange choral music.  Singers learn both audience and performance etiquette and the music vocabulary used to evaluate a performing ensemble.  Choir meets 3 times per cycle.

Orchestra

Duration: 2 Semesters. (Both Fall and Spring)

WMS offers grade-specific orchestras for violin, viola, cello, bass in grades 6, 7, and 8.   The sixth grade orchestra rehearses and performs its own literature.  When possible, ensembles combine for larger works.  Literature studied from the greatest works written or arranged for youth string orchestra but also includes occasional folk, pop, and movie music.  Specific skills for orchestral playing are taught in areas such as tone, rhythm, pitch, expression, style, ensemble awareness and rehearsal etiquette.   Orchestra meets 3 times per cycle.

Combo Classes

Duration: 2 Semesters. (Both Fall and Spring)

Available to 6th graders only: Students who would like to perform with two ensembles (any combination of band, choir, or orchestra) may register for the Combo Class.  Ensembles meet 3 days per cycle.  Students would alternate days between two ensembles.

Drama

Duration: 1 Semester. (1st or 2nd Semester)

6th Grade Drama students learn to develop enthusiasm about Drama as an art form in general and to feel comfortable acting in front of their peers.  They learn basic theatre terminology and fundamental skills through group-based exercises and a variety of games and warm-ups.

After School Performing Arts Opportunities

Instrumental and Vocal Extension Program (IVEP): Students in our music ensembles may elect to take private lessons (voice or instruments) after school.  Lessons are tuition/fee based and are taught by private lesson teachers are professional musicians with performance degrees on their instrument.  Private Lessons are very beneficial to students, such as for developing their technique or preparing them for performances and auditions.  Small group, chamber music coaching is also available through the IVEP program.  Registration (15 lessons per semester) takes place before each semester, online on the Wellesley Public Schools website.  Fall registration will go online in April (www.wellesleyps.org, select “Fee Payment” at the top right corner, then scroll down).

FUSION/Junior Moving Company: Open to students interested in beginning or continuing experiences in various styles of dance.  They perform each spring in the “Footnotes” production at WHS.

Musical: 6th Graders may audition for the middle school spring musical; open to all grades. 

Sound and Light Crew: 6th Graders who are interested in learning more about technical theater can join the sound and light crew.  They gain practical experience and support school musicals, productions, and concerts.  This opportunity is open to all grades.

Tuesday Jazz Band:  This after-school jazz band is a club that meets on Tuesdays after school.  It is offered to instrumentalists who would like an extended opportunity to learn jazz performance.  They perform at least once per year.

Community Chorus: This after school choir meets on Mondays from October through December to prepare and perform holiday music at Assisted Living Communities and other Wellesley holiday events.  All grades are welcome to join.

SongLab: In SongLab, singers and instrumentalists work together to perform arrangements of songs chosen by the members, as well as compositions written by students and faculty members from Wellesley Middle School. Students will have the opportunity to learn beginner guitar, ukulele, and keyboard in an informal jam session setting. This music club starts in March and all WMS community members are welcome to join.

Why Perform?

Performing Arts shapes the way our students understand themselves and the world around them. It allows for deep engagement with learning.  It nurtures assets and skills that are critical to future success, including creativity, curiosity, determination, and motivation.  In other words, the performing arts help develop the student.

Emotional Awareness: Students learn to express themselves in multiple ways and become more sensitive to the preferences and feelings of others.

Reflective Learning: Students reflect on failures and successes through the creative process and derive a sense of their own competencies, interests, and challenges.

Process Orientation: Students develop the ability to consistently refine their thinking as part of the creative process, developing an ability to re-evaluate goals and objectives and, if needed, adjust their approach to the objective.

Decision-Making: Through both the creative and reflective learning process, students gain greater capacity to question, interpret, and influence their own lives.

Multiple Ways of Learning:  Studies in Performing Arts promote fluency in knowledge systems beyond the linguistic and mathematical, enabling a deeper and broader understanding of our world and of the human experience.

Adapted from www.broaderminded.com