Fine Arts
What Are Children Learning When They Make Art?
- Organizing, ordering and exploring materials and techniques
- Creating and inventing
- Learning to observe carefully
- Increasing perceptual awareness
- Solving problems, making choices and decisions
- Developing ability to self direct
- Increasing cognition-the ability to think, understand, make connections and figure things out
- Developing confidence and self esteem
The Paradise Valley Unified School District has adopted Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music as our new digital resource. The Quaver Music K-6 curriculum presents music concepts through entertaining videos, engaging music activities, and interactive whiteboard games. Quaver is a tool to be used by the instructor to facilitate learning. Students in grades 2-6 will be registered at school. All students may access quavermusic.com at home. In music class students will experience music from a variety of sources and musical styles, and many cultures. To create deeper understanding and develop music skills, we will further apply music concepts to various speech, song, movement, listening, and instrument activities. Music instruction is often integrated with other subject areas to enhance understanding and retention of grade level curriculum.
What Are Children Learning When They Are Making Music?
Children learn to:
- Identify, analyze, and create patterns.
- Collaborate and problem solve in small groups.
- Increase listening and memory skills, improve large and small motor skills, observe a director’s cues.
- Critique their own music and the compositions of others.
- Express their feelings and be sensitive to the feelings of others.
- Strive for excellence and gain self confidence through classroom and public performance.
Liberty Chorus and Musical Theater, or LCMT, is an extracurricular program for boys and girls in 4th through 6th grades. Members of LCMT perform for our Liberty community and represent Liberty at District Festivals and performances. They learn good singing technique and basic theater skills. We prepare several choral selections each semester from a variety of styles. Examples include patriotic, folk, spirituals, jazz, and classical. Some selections are performed with choreography or movement, others may be accompanied by students on the Orff instruments. We also audition, rehearse, and perform a Broadway Junior musical. There is an option for those students who wish to be in the Liberty Chorus and not participate in the annual musical production.
Strings are available to students in 4th, 5th and 6th grade. The classes are structured according to the students' ability and experience in their own grade level. Strings class gives these students the opportunity to play the Violin, Viola, Cello or Bass. In the beginning, the students will learn the basics of how to play their instrument, then will gradually add their note reading skills as they progress, and eventually learn to express their own advanced musicality through their instrument.
Concerts are offered twice a year with other activities such as "Fiddle Festival" and a performance at the Paradise Valley Mall Arts Festival. These opportunities in class and outside of class are meant to create fun, rewarding, and memorable experiences for the students as they progress through their exciting musical journey. All are welcome!!
Students in grades 4, 5 & 6 have the option of playing a band instrument. Classes meet two days a week and every other Friday during the special area time slot. The instruments your child can learn are FLUTE, CLARINET, TRUMPET , SAXOPHONE and PERCUSSION. Students perform at two evening concerts and at school assemblies during the school year in addition to special district events. Advanced students can perform at the mall (Paradise Valley Fine Arts Festival), 6th grade High School Football Night and Elementary Honor Band. Join the Band and let the music begin!