Middle School Arts

In Grade 6 Performing Arts, students strive to demonstrate an understanding of the core elements of public speaking. Key areas include projection, diction, expression, body language, and interpretation. Students focus on strengthening their skills through explorations of storytelling, demonstration speeches, announcements, advertisements, impromptu speaking, and poetry. They challenge themselves in all activities and projects to grow as creative thinkers, active listeners, and increasingly confident speakers. In addition, students hone their writing skills as they craft and present several original performance pieces.

In Grade 7 Performing Arts, each student chooses a short text to adapt for performance. These individual scripted adaptations serve as a thread throughout our explorations in this course. Students gain exposure to core elements of the production process through opportunities to take on various roles related to their individual projects. They create a comprehensive production portfolio through the lenses of directors, designers, and publicists. As a culminating project, students present their theatrical adaptations through a staged reading and share their portfolios.

In Grade 8 Performing Arts, students strengthen their skills as performers, playwrights, and creative thinkers. The course begins with improvisation exercises designed to increase spontaneity and support students in building connections as an ensemble. Moving forward, students focus specifically on the process of generating and exploring original performance material. As writers and actors, students aim to deepen their understanding of dramatic tension, narrative structure, and character development. Throughout the quarter, students engage with various creative techniques and sources of inspiration as they craft and present their original works.

Grade 6 Visual Arts provides students in their first year in the Middle School with the opportunity to work on specific techniques with a variety of materials that pave the way for their improving artistry. Students work in three fundamental areas of art: drawing, painting, and sculpture, exploring these areas using graphite, watercolor, and clay.

Grade 7 Visual Arts continues the middle school visual arts progression with lessened strictness in material usage and heightened opportunities for students to take ownership of their artwork. As students continue to work on their skills in making art, they also work on talking about their artwork to others. Students focus on three fundamental areas of art: drawing, painting, and sculpture. They utilize markers, acrylic paint, and clay to explore these areas.

Grade 8 Visual Arts is the final installment of visual art for Milton Academy middle schoolers. Students continue to experiment with materials and ways of making art while also having the opportunity to hone in on their learned favorites. Students work in at least three areas of art, including sculpture and painting. They utilize graphite, watercolor, and clay to explore these areas.

Students begin their three-year general music curriculum with an introduction to music technology, mainly using Soundtrap. They then segue into ukulele performance, learning basic skills on the instrument while learning its history and importance in Hawaiian culture. The third and final unit briefly explores music history, focusing on music related to social justice and calls to action.

Students continue to explore music technology, review basic ukulele techniques, and dive into basic keyboard skills while learning relevant music theory concepts. They end the course learning best practices for podcast production as they create their own podcast on a topic of their choice.

Students apply skills and knowledge from the last two years of general music, diving deeper into songwriting, harmony, and music theory to write original songs and perform covers of pre-existing songs in various instrumentations. Students will end the year with mini band performances, where students can combine their skills and expertise (whether it be Soundtrap, voice, ukulele, piano, or other instruments) to produce and perform a polished final project.

During this course, students learn about the meanings behind the videos and films we see, get some hands-on experience with filmmaking techniques and tools, and explore how they, as producers, can best use the language of film to express themselves and their ideas to the world.

During this course, students learn about the meanings behind the videos and films we see, get hands-on experience with filmmaking techniques and tools, and explore how they, as producers, can best use the language of film to express themselves and their ideas to the world.

The Grade 8 Film and Digital Media course brings together all of the moviemaking skills students have developed in middle school. Students move through the different stages of film production, from planning and scripting to shooting and editing, and finally presenting their finished product to their peers. This is an opportunity to express an idea or share a story they are passionate about and bring it to the wider community.