Art - Krista Geier and Marie Yarnell

Music - Amy Hiel and Rebekah Knitt

Physical Education - Jacob Breunig and Seth Kostroski

Email: contact@saukprairieschools.org
Website: www.saukprairieschools.org
Phone: (608) 643-1900

This newsletter is to help you stay connected to what is happening in the Grand Avenue Specials. The Specials are composed of Music, Art and Physical Education, each student has each specials class twice a week. We hope that you find the information useful and please feel free to contact your student's Specials teacher with questions or concerns.

Please mark your calendar for YOUTH ART MONTH ART SHOW

Thursday, March 13 from 3:30-6 pm at the River Arts Center

ART Spirit Week!

It’s that time of year again! Break out those colorful clothes for Art Spirit Week and
save the date for the opening of the K-12 Art Show at the River Arts Center!

Friday, March 7--Rainbow or ALL the COLORS!
Sport all the colors of the rainbow! Can you wear them in rainbow order?

Tuesday, March 11--Primary Colors
Red, yellow and blue are the primary colors. Try to incorporate all three of these colors in your outfit.

Wednesday, March 12--Secondary Colors
Orange, green and purple are the secondary colors. Try to incorporate all three of these colors in your outfit.

Thursday, March 13--Monochromatic Day
Choose one color and use it in your entire outfit. Make it your favorite!

Friday, March 14--PATTERNS!
Go crazy and see how many patterns you can wear! (i.e. plaid, camo, floral, etc.)

We have a lot of fun activities planned for Youth Art Month so check out our social media pages, newsletters and look for notes coming home for more announcements!

Fifth Grade: During January, fifth grade artists created their Square1Art project which is based on the artwork of Romero Britto, a Brazilian Pop Artist. The fifth graders were very excited to pick their own subject matter and create a colorful and fun piece. You will receive more information about this fundraiser from GSPIE In March.

Fourth Grade: In January, fourth grade artists continued to create a watercolor birch tree forest. This will be their artwork for the for the GSPIE Square1Art fundraiser. Through the process of creating this piece they learned a variety of watercolor techniques that include; masking, wash and dry brushing. They also learned to make a neutral color by mixing complementary colors. You will receive more information about this fundraiser from GSPIE In March.

Third Grade: Artists in third grade have been working on their project for the Square1ART fundraiser. For this project the third grade students created a tree drawing based on the artwork of Piet Mondrian. Students started the project by learning two methods of how to draw a realistic tree silhouette. Then they selected an analogous color scheme, and learned how to blend oil pastels to fill the sky behind the tree.

As always, if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Mrs. Geier: krista.geier@saukprairieschools.org

Mrs. Yarnell: marie.yarnell@saukprairieschools.org

Did you know the Sauk Prairie K-12 Art Department has a Facebook page? Like us to get announcements for upcoming events and pictures of what we are doing in class!

Thursday, March 13th @ 7:00 p.m.- District-Wide Choralpalooza Concert at the High School (5th Grade Chorus)

Tuesday May 6th @ 6:00 p.m.- 3rd Grade Concert at Grand Avenue

Thursday May 8th @ 7:00 p.m.- District-Wide Band Concert at the High School (5th Grade Band)

Thursday, May 15th- 4th Grade Field Trip to Overture Center for the Link Up Concert

Wednesday, May 21st- 5th Grade Chorus Field Trip to perform at Bridges Elementary

Thursday, May 22nd @ 7:00 p.m.- 5th Grade Chorus to sing at Middle School Spring Concert

In January, 3rd Grade musicians used the book The Deep Blue Sea to explore the concept of ostinatos (repeated music patterns). They created movements to accompany each ostinato, added instruments to the ostinatos, and were able to layer up to 5 ostinato patterns together as a class. That took a lot of teamwork and ability to maintain a steady beat!

In February, we will be focusing on learning how to play the recorder and reading the notes B, A, and G on the music staff!

The 4th Grade classes became songwriters this month! We worked on a month long project with the book I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. Students worked in groups to write a melody for a poem to accompany the story. They also created an ostinato pattern for an accompaniment. Then, they decided how they wanted to act out and bring the story to life through a readers theater performance. You can check out their final performances below!

In February we will be starting our recorder unit, and focus on expanding the number of notes we know how to play on the recorder. We will be preparing for our field trip to the Link Up Concert at the Overture Center in May.

The 5th Grade classes spent the month of January working hard on their concert songs. Congratulations 5th Graders on an awesome concert! In February, we will be beginning our ukulele unit, and focusing on reading some new rhythms.

We are finishing up our Gymnastics unit at Grand. We are so fortunate to have all the equipment we do from the High School team. The kids having the chance to work on a spring floor, vaults, balance beams, and bars is not something many kids get the opportunity to do in Elementary School.

February is Healthy Heart Month. We are celebrating our 22nd year of the Kids Heart Challenge, formally known as Jump Rope for Heart. This year we will run our Jump Rope for Heart event the week of March 3-March 7. Your child (ren) has an opportunity to raise money for the American Heart Association. Last year our school raised over $3000. This year if you would like your child to participate they can sign up using the link below.

heart.org/Schools

No child is required to raise money but all students will participate in the event that week. We will raise money until March 7, 2025.