• Special Areas

    Special areas classes supplement student learning, and are a fundamental part of a quality education. Students receive instruction in art, music, physical education, and library on a regular basis. Special area subjects help students express themselves while developing skills that promote self-expression and creativity. Students participate in special area classes each cycle. 

    Library

    The library is the nucleus of our schools. We encourage children to become lifelong readers. Books may be checked out for a one or two-week period of time depending on the student's grade. Fines are not charged for late items, but we do send home reminder notices on a regular basis. Children of all grade levels come to the library to enjoy rich literature and to receive direct instruction in the workings of the library and technological resources. Research has demonstrated that students who are exposed to a print-rich environment engage in voluntary reading, and those who read at home tend to develop the habit of reading. We encourage families to take advantage of the resources of our library and share the joys of reading together. We strongly encourage all parents to spend time reading with their child each day.

    For more information, click here to visit our library's website.

    Art

    Students have a regularly scheduled art class with an art teacher once a week. The classes range from forty to fifty minutes in length. All levels of the program include experiences designed to exercise and strengthen the pupil's ability to perceive, appreciate, perform and criticize. Provisions have been made for each student to be involved with a variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional materials and to gain understanding of our visual arts heritage. The activities are planned to promote the development of independent thinking and self-evaluation while introducing or reinforcing a media skill and an art concept. The art curriculum follows a developmental scope and sequence, and is discipline-based approach to art education. Lessons are designed with an integrative focus.

    Kindergarten artists will explore who they are within the context of their communities and discover what art means to them. Students will begin to use higher order thinking skills while they perceive, evaluate, describe, and talk about art. Students will experiment with textures, mixing colors, cutting, gluing, and drawing through a variety of materials. We study artists like Marc Chagall, Van Gogh, Joan Miro, Paul Klee, Picasso, Kandinsky, and many more!

    First grade artists will be introduced to art from around the world. They will be asked to perceive, interpret, evaluate and analyze art from their own perspectives. The children will be introduced to art works inspired by nature, cultural patterns, and artworks from around the world. We also look at how artists are inspired by each other. Students will see how Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh and many other Impressionist artists who were inspired by Japanese art. We will study Japanese artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige and traditions like Ikebana and the tea ceremony. Later in the year we will see how Pablo Picasso, Henri Rousseau, and other modern artists used African masks and designs in their artwork. We will study African traditions like Adinkra printing, mask making, and compare bold patterns in villages to our murals in Philadelphia .

    In second grade, art students discover the origins of art. They study the art of the primitive artists through the age of exploration. Students will learn that art from the past and their own art work communicates messages. Children perceive, evaluate, analyze, interpret and criticize art of the past, as well as reflect upon their own art. Children are challenged to identify works of art with a time period, and identify the period in which the art was created. We look at art from Prehistoric, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Italy and Europe and compare them to modern time periods and artists. We also talk about artists like Henri Matisse, Patricia Renwick, Keith Haring, and Andy Goldsworthy, and Architecture. A highlight of the year is when second grade visits the Philadelphia Art Museum .

    In third grade, art students compare Renaissance art with art that is occurring simultaneously in America . This extends their yearlong study of Native Americans and Pennsylvania history. Children learn that art communicates ideas, reflects the environment, beliefs and adaptations of the artist and his/her time period. Third graders investigate, perceive, evaluate, interpret, and explore issues of "change" in art. We practice perspective while drawing room interiors and covered bridges. We learn about artists like Leonardo Da Vinci, Andrew Wyeth, Helen Cordero, Jaune Quick-to-see Smith, and many more!

    In fourth grade, art students have an understanding that events shape our lives. They observe the theme of change in society and how change is reflected in art. Students see change starting with the western expansion to modern times through the eyes of the art world. The art of 18th century Europe , post war art, and modern art will be observed simultaneously. Students will be challenged with the question "How does art reflect our society?" We will study American artists like Gilbert Stuart, Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollack, Faith Ringgold, Romare Bearden, and Andy Warhol, just to name a few! We will practice figure drawing, sculpture, printmaking, still life, self-portraits and even get to throw on the pottery wheel!

    Classroom Music Program

    At New Eagle Elementary we sing, dance, play instruments, and play games, creating music at all grade levels. Our goal is that students are prepared to be lifelong learners of music and have an appreciation for music of all varieties. We anticipate that music will continue to be a very important part of our students’ social lives and well-being into adulthood. For example, singing “Happy Birthday” at family parties, dancing at weddings and even listening to music for relaxation. Music class is offered once per cycle for 45 minutes in second through fourth grades and 30 minutes per cycle in Kindergarten. First grade visits twice a cycle for 45 minutes.

    Instrumental Music

    In third and fourth grades, students are eligible to participate in the instrumental music program. Small group instruction takes place 30 minutes once per six-day cycle. 

    Orchestra 

    Third grade students may choose to play violin, viola, or cello and participate in the orchestra for the spring concert. Fourth grade students may choose to play violin, viola, or cello and participate in the orchestra for both the Winter and Spring Concerts. Orchestra rehearses on Day 4 mornings from 8:15-9:00AM. 

    Band

    Fourth grade students may choose to play flute, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, baritone, or percussion. Students participate in lessons year-round and in the second half of the year begin attending morning band rehearsals to prepare for the Spring Concert. Band will rehearse once a week in the morning from 8:15-9:00AM.

    Choral Music

    The New Eagle Fourth Grade Chorus is comprised of interested fourth grade students who enjoy singing and performing. We sing various styles and genres of music and cultivate proper vocal technique. The chorus rehearses once a week in the morning from 8:15-9:00AM throughout the school year and perform at both the Winter and Spring Concerts.

    Physical Education

    Physical education contributes to the well being of students through participation in activities designed to meet their physical, social, emotional and intellectual needs. It is a tool used to develop individual values of good citizenship and sportsmanship for real-life situations. As students move through the elementary grades, there is an increased degree of difficulty in skills and a greater emphasis on team play. The program is designed to provide equal opportunities for all students to participate in physical activities that promote self-confidence and the ability to work in coeducational groups. Our physical education program includes:

    Kindergarten and Grade 1

    • Locomotive skills
    • Eye hand coordination
    • Ball handling skills
    • Stunts
    • Game type activities
    • Movement and posture education

    Grades 2, 3 and 4

    • Physical fitness, testing
    • Start of formal exercise
    • Stunts, tumbling, apparatus
    • Rhythmics and dance
    • Game program
    • Sports program
    • Individual/dual activities
    • Citizenship/sportsmanship