In Primary Art, students become aware that all of their talents and creativity are a gift from God. They learn to use the art room, its equipment, and supplies safely. They are introduced to the elements of art in a simple context and start building upon that knowledge. This is done through the use of many different mediums and hands-on projects. Art projects are often inspired by famous artists or artistic movements so as to give a historical context and greater appreciation for art in our world.
Intermediate art classes continue to build on the elements and principles of design. Students are challenged to build on their creativity by improving in the areas of craftsmanship and using mixed mediums. Hand building is introduced in Ceramics. Student artwork is displayed so that the talent of our students may be appreciated. Artist both past and present are studied by all grade levels.
Students in middle school art class continue to build their skills while incorporating the elements and principles of design in their work. Craftsmanship is improved upon and multiple mediums are used. Students work is exhibited and sometimes sold. Artist both past and present are studied.
Our music classes are based on the philosophy set forth by the Kodály Method, an approach to music education developed by the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodály. These practices recognize the many ways in which children learn: aurally, visually, and kinesthetically. The Kodály Methodology thus empowers students with the ability to read music.
Students learn the various sounds (rhythmic and pitch) through folk songs of their culture first, and then expand to folk songs of other cultures before learning and attaching the music symbol (notation) to the sound. Just as one learns to speak before they read, the same process is applied in learning to read music. As students progress in their literacy skills, they build fluency and a broader depth of musical vocabulary to employ.
The ability to hear music without the aid of an instrument is paramount. The voice is the child’s first instrument and needs to be developed as such. From this natural progression of child-centered learning, students continue their learning to more advanced steps including transcribing (dictating) and composing (writing) their own music.
Here at Christ the King School, we understand the importance of introducing your child to music at an early age, so students begin their music education in pre-school. They explore the world around them through music and learn early childhood developmental concepts through play. As students continue their educational path, they embark upon expressing themselves through a wide array of musical activities to ensure a holistic music education, as set forth by the National Standards for Music Education. PreK classes meet once a week; Kindergarten through Fourth grade meet twice a week.
Students in Choir expand their sight reading, aural dictation, and improvisation skills through games and activities. We develop part-work (harmony) skills as well as concert and performance etiquette. In class, we sing repertoire from multiple time periods and styles, play instruments, and dance.
CKS Choir performs for school assemblies and concerts throughout the school year. Students interested in increasing their musicianship skills (voice, performance, music reading) will feel at home in Choir!
The Christ the King band program begins in 5th grade and includes four ensembles grouped by grade level - 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. The middle school bands have four performance opportunities each year; the Halloween school assembly, Christmas Concert, Area Band Concert, and Arts Festival. The 5th grade band performs three times each year, at the Christmas and Area Band Concerts and again at the Arts Festival.
Students in the band program are learning the skills necessary to play and perform on their chosen instruments. Students are also learning ensemble skills and the importance of working together to create a performance. Students are being introduced to a wide variety of musical styles and genres through the varied music literature studied and performed in class. Band students also are pursuing musical opportunities outside of the classroom, including district and collegiate honor bands and the annual KMEA Solo and Ensemble festival.
Music Exploration is a three tier course with an emphasis on Music History. Each class is one trimester (12 weeks). Music Exploration I (6th grade) begins an in-depth study of music of Ancient Greece, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance; Music Exploration II (7th grade) continues with the Baroque and Classical periods; and Music Exploration III (8th grade) completes the timeline with music of the Romantic and Twentieth Century.
The study of each time-period is linked to significant historical events that correspond to our musical studies. Using guided questions and notes, students use inference skills to aid them in their understanding of the progression of music throughout history. Literacy skills are expanded through rhythmic and melodic reading. A wealth of hands-on activities are employed to re-create the environment of each time-period, such as period dancing, composing, letter-writing, portrait drawing, instrument playing, etc.
Students begin their year with new passwords. All students are taught how to logon to the virtual desktop, open and use a program, manipulate a mouse, double-click on a mouse, and logoff the virtual desktop. Students are also introduced to the iPad and its various uses as an educational tool. The graphics program MS Paint is also introduced and used as a learning tool.
Students review the fundamentals of the graphics program, MS Paint, and are introduced to MS Word Processing, throughout the year. Using MS Word, students become more familiar with the keyboard so that they can quickly find all letters and numbers.
Students will continue working with MS Word, entering and editing text, and will learn a variety of technology terms. In this year, students are taught and expected to master the Internet basics: opening a web browser, going to a website, minimizing, maximizing, and closing a web browser.
Third grade students will begin keyboarding. They will learn the home row of keys and progress steadily through all the letters of the alphabet. MS Word will be an important part of the curriculum as the students work on formatting and projects. File management becomes a valuable tool so that saved files can be easily found for editing and printing. Students will also be introduced to search engines and proper Internet etiquette/safety.
Throughout this year, keyboard skills learned in 3rd grade will be reviewed and reinforced – proper posture, location of the home row of keys, correct finger placement, etc. Students will also spend a great deal of time fine tuning MS Word formatting skills and begin learning the basics of MS PowerPoint. Students will also be introduced to film making using iMovie on the computer lab’s iPads.
Fifth grade students will review all technology skills learned throughout elementary (MS Word, PowerPoint, Internet etiquette/safety, keyboarding, etc.) and are expected to show mastery by the end of the year. Students will be introduced to MS Excel during their fifth grade year. Filmmaking and editing with an iPad will also be a focus throughout the year.
This curriculum aims to develop positive attitudes and excitement toward learning the Spanish language. Learning a foreign language helps students understand different cultures and creates awareness of God’s children's diversity.
Current research on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) informs the Elementary Spanish program. Specifically, students devote their time to learning Spanish through storytelling, listening to music, and connecting the language to their experiences. This approach prepares them to transition seamlessly into the middle school Spanish program.
The middle school Spanish program at CKS aims to facilitate each student’s acquisition of the Spanish language to prepare them to become well-rounded, 21st-century citizens. Students in Christ the King’s middle school Spanish program are prepared to enter Spanish II at the high school level. The Spanish I content is broken down into a three-year program.
In the middle school program, students acquire the Spanish language through exposure to “comprehensible input.” This model, popularized by the research of Dr. Stephen Krashen, posits that languages are learned through contact with them in meaningful, contextualized, and compelling ways. Grammar is learned through exposure to the language instead of traditional grammar charts and textbook activities. Students do not use a textbook but follow a curriculum that engages them in storytelling (a methodology known as Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling - TPRS). This curriculum engages students and provides them with the repetitions they need to acquire vocabulary and grammar within the context of engaging stories.
The physical education curriculum for grades K - 8th focuses on age appropriate activities that meet the National and State Standards of Physical Education Instruction, meet the NASPE content standards, and follow Christ the King’s FAITH guidelines.
