Academics

This band consists of students who mostly have previous experience playing a brass, woodwind, or percussion instrument. In this course, a variety of musical literature will be studied and students will have multiple performance experiences throughout the year. The fundamentals of instrumental musicianship will be reviewed and emphasized throughout the course. Students will develop their note reading and rhythmic skills while focusing on tone production and instrument technique. Members of this class often will perform with the other bands in their concerts.

If students would like to take Band 6 and have not played a band instrument before, please connect with Mr. Pienaar by this summer (pienaar.roy@slpschools.org); Mr. Pienaar will work with each family to ensure students come in with some experience. 

Practice at home is required in order to be at performance level. Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Band 6 Year Overview

This band consists of students who have previous experience playing a brass, woodwind, or percussion instrument. In this course, a variety of music literature will be studied and all students will have multiple performance experiences each year. Assessments will include both formative and summative performance skill assessment, quarterly music playing exams and some written assessments.

Practice at home is required in order to be at performance level. Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day. 

If you are a student who was in band but you took a year off, please talk to Mr. Pienaar one-on-one before registering for this class. 

Band 7 Year overview

This band consists of students who have previous experience playing a brass, woodwind, or percussion instrument. Students will get a chance to sharpen their instrumental skills through challenging music and performances. Band 8 students may also be selected to represent the St. Louis Park School District at various community events and contests. Assessments will include both formative and summative performance assessments, quarterly music playing exams, and some written assessments. Practice at home is required in order to be at performance level. 

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day, including festivals and concerts.

If you are a student who was in band but you took a year off, please talk to Mr. Pienaar one-on-one before registering for this class. 

Band 8 Year Overview
 

This class is for students who would like to sing and continue to develop vocal skills. No previous experience is necessary. Choir is an upbeat course where students work together as a team to develop their singing skills. Choir members will work on vocal technique, rehearsal skills, and be given a well-rounded background in music fundamentals. Each student will develop independent singing and reading skills to attain a high level of musicianship and confidence.

There will be opportunities for performances throughout the year. Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Choir 6 Year Overview

This choir class experience will build on skills developed in 6th grade choir, and all students are welcome to join regardless of previous experience. Students will get the chance to improve their vocal skills while emphasizing the basics of proper techniques. Choir is an ensemble based course in which students work together as a team to develop their vocal skills.

Choir members will work on proper vocal technique in a variety of styles and musical genres, and will be given a well-rounded background in music fundamentals. Each student will develop independent singing and reading skills to attain a high level of musicianship and confidence. There will be several opportunities for performances each year. Participation requires a commitment to performing in class and outside of the school day. 

View the Choir 7 Year Overview

This choir class experience will build on skills developed in 7th grade choir, and all students are welcome to join regardless of previous experience. Students will get a chance to sharpen their vocal skills through challenging music and performances. Choir members will work on advanced vocal technique and rehearsal skills in a variety of styles and musical genres, and will be given a well-rounded background in music fundamentals. Each student will develop independent singing and reading skills to attain a high level of musicianship and confidence. There will be several opportunities for performances each year.

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Choir 8 Year Overview

Prerequisite: 2 or more years of string instructions.

In this course, students will continue to develop their foundational instrumental skills from elementary school or their private lessons while exploring what it means to be a musician. Students will be assessed daily on their ability to work independently. Students will also receive formative and summative playing and reflection assessments. Participating in this class requires commitment to playing in class as well as practicing at home. This class will have two major performances during the school year. 

Orchestra 6/7 Year Overview

Prerequisite: 3 or more years of string instructions.

This course is a continuation of Orchestra 6 with further emphasis on musicianship and intermediate level literature and instrumental techniques. Students will be assessed daily on their ability to work independently. Students will also receive formative and summative playing and reflection assessments. Participating in this class requires commitment to playing in class as well as practicing at home. This class will have two major performances during the school year.

Orchestra 6/7 Year Overview

Prerequisite: 4 or more years of string instructions. (Combined 7/8)

This is an intermediate orchestra focused on developing students into advanced instrumentalists. This orchestra will continue to build on fundamental skills students learned their first few years of playing through the use of exercises not limited to scales, arpeggios, intervals, as well as through ear training. The repertoire selected will help students develop their understanding and interpretation of music. Students will be given several formatives and one summative assessment each quarter to help them keep track of their progress as a musician. While in 8th grade orchestra, students may have opportunities to perform with the St. Louis Park High School orchestra.

Through the rigorous training in 8th grade orchestra, students may have opportunities to perform with the St. Louis Park High School orchestra. Through the rigorous training in 8th grade orchestra, students should be ready to enter into any high school orchestra should they choose. Practice is required in this course. All concerts are required.

Orchestra 7/8 Year Overview

In this Music Studio course, students will be introduced to many different musical pathways. Quarter one will include instruction and exploration in drumming from different cultural perspectives, using hand drums and other percussion instruments. Quarter two will be an introduction to guitar, learning how to play melodies and chords. In Quarter three, students will learn about music production using Soundtrap, a web-based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Quarter four will include a piano lab unit, and a unit on creating your own podcast. 

Music Studio 6 Year Overview

Guitar Class provides students an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of guitar performance; reading traditional notation, understanding the musical concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm and form. Students will learn the application of the music alphabet to the entire fretboard, learn to read music notation, and memorize basic chord fingerings and chord progressions. They will learn several strumming and finger techniques for accompanying songs.

World Drumming students will be learning basic percussion techniques including proper playing position, music notation, music theory, and performance skills as they learn excerpts and songs through curriculum such as World Music Drumming and a Drum Circle Handbook.

Guitar/World Drumming 7 Year Overview
 

This class provides students an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of guitar performance; reading traditional notation, understanding the musical concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm, and form. Students will learn the application of the music alphabet to the entire fret board; learn to read music notation, and memorize basic chord fingerings and chord progressions. They will learn several strumming and finger techniques for accompanying songs. 

World Drumming is designed to introduce students to an intermediate understanding of elements of music and rhythm while exploring ways to create music on ordinary household items, as well as the roles of music in society and culture through performance on African, Latin, Native American percussion instruments. 

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Guitar/World Drumming 8 Year Overview

Bienvenidos! This is a continuation of the Park Spanish Immersion (PSI) Extended Spanish Program (ESP). Welcome back to Spanish Immersion Language Arts. This class continues the development of Spanish language skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Students will read two novels in the class along with many short stories and nonfiction worlds. Spanish is the only language used for communication between both teachers and students. Students will work on refining their grammar in daily usage and augmenting their considerable vocabulary through various activities. During the school year students are expected to show mastery in IB phases 2-3.

ESP Spanish 6 Year Overview
 

This is a continuation of the Park Spanish Immersion (PSI) Extended Spanish Program (ESP). These classes are taught exclusively in Spanish and are for students who are enrolled in the ESP program. Students will communicate about familiar topics and basic opinions using paragraphs. They will comprehend main ideas of written and spoken language and use appropriate cultural and idiomatic expressions in the correct contexts. The class also includes advanced study of grammar, as well as spelling and punctuation.

The curriculum is set in thematic units: Stories, Poetry, Healthy Living, and Drama. Students are expected to read one book per quarter and to write down one summary per week. During the school year students are expected to show mastery in IB phases 3-4.

ESP Spanish 7 Year Overview

This is a continuation of the Park Spanish Immersion (PSI) Extended Spanish Program (ESP). These classes are taught exclusively in Spanish and are for students who are enrolled in the ESP program. Students will communicate about familiar topics and basic opinions using paragraphs. They will comprehend main ideas of written and spoken language and use appropriate cultural and idiomatic expressions in the correct contexts. The class also includes advanced study of grammar as well as spelling and punctuation. The curriculum is set in thematic units: Stories, Anatomy, Newscast, and Travel. Students are expected to read one book per quarter and present it in the style of various Hispanic Icons. The ESP-8th grade students will take the National Spanish Exam. During the school year students are expected to show mastery in IB phase 4-5. 

View the ESP Spanish 8 overview
 

Bienvenidos! Spanish 6 is an introductory course in the Spanish language and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. It is appropriate for students new to Spanish as well as those who have taken elementary Spanish. The goal of Spanish 6 is for students to communicate on a limited range of topics both orally and in writing. Spanish 6 students will focus on listening and speaking in Spanish during class.

Spanish 6 Year Overview

This course is an introduction for beginning language students. The course starts from the beginning with French, using a variety of techniques to learn a fun language that is spoken around the world. Students will learn about a variety of French cultures and histories, in addition to learning how to speak and understand in French. Students will enjoy activities that involve physical action to learn the foundations of the French language while working with all four modalities of language acquisition (speaking, reading, writing, listening).

French 6 Year Overview

Herzlich Willkommen! This class starts students’ language acquisition with the foundations of German language and culture. At this level students will learn basic phrases, sentence structures, and vocabulary to help communicate in German. Classes are intended to be conducted mostly in German to accelerate proficiency.

Learning activities will include music, physical activities, role playing, and games. Although speaking and listening are emphasized at this level, there will be a good balance of writing and reading as well.

German 6 Year Overview

¡Aprende mas! Language acquisition continues as students use the language in meaningful and authentic ways. Students will communicate about themselves using personal adjectives and verbs, express opinions, and share about daily routines. Students will also begin learning the nuances of verb conjugations and sentence building by seeing and using the language in a variety of texts and mediums of communication. 

Spanish 7 Year Overview

Students will continue with their French language development by expanding on their ability to communicate with others. Students will continue to learn about a variety of French cultures and practices. Students will communicate about themselves and others using adjectives, verbs, and nouns. They will learn about how our schools are different from those in France, by learning vocabulary and culture. Students will work with all four modalities of language acquisition (speaking, reading, writing, listening) during the class. Successful completion of this course will prepare students for French 8.

View the French 7 overview

Students will continue to develop language skills by exploring how to talk about daily lives. Communicating primarily in German, the teacher and students will ask and answer questions, discuss topics of everyday life, and do more comparing and contrasting of different cultures. Students should anticipate explaining their proficiency by working with all four modalities of language acquisition (speaking, listening, reading, and writing).

German 7 Year Overview

Students will identify messages, facts, opinions, feelings, and ideas presented in oral, visual, and written language and demonstrate their comprehension in short oral and written form. Students will work towards mastery of basic language skills. The goal at the end of eighth grade is for students to be prepared for Spanish II at the High School.

Spanish 8 Year Overview

Students will build upon the materials they learn in French 7 to move from scripted conversations into conversations they create on their own. Understanding will be enhanced by the ability to work with verbs, adjectives, and nouns in context in French. Students will work towards comfortably speaking, reading, and writing in French. Students will be able to ask and answer a variety of questions about their daily lives and the activities of others. Successful completion of French 8 will prepare students for French 2 at the high school.

French 8 Year Overview

Students will build language skills based on what they have learned in the previous grades, demonstrating proficiency and ownership of the language. Students will become more comfortable expressing themselves through text and dialogue using the functions of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions correctly. More complex sentences and word order will give the language a more authentic dimension.

German 8 Year Overview

This course is for students who are in their first years learning English as a new language. In this class, students grow their skills in English reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students learn and practice social and instructional language to help them find success in all classes and parts of their school day. We emphasize vocabulary, grammar, and academic language while building the knowledge and understanding of how to participate fully in their school experience. Multilingual Learner teachers make placement decisions for this course on an individual student basis.

English Language Development Year Overview