enrichment
13 SEP
ART
As our P.E. program is customized for the students we serve, so is our visual arts program. The visual arts curriculum at North Bridge Academy serves gifted visual-spatial thinkers. How do we harness and challenge this strength? How do we nurture their artistic self-expression and expand their imaginations? We provide them with an art teacher, guest artists and a supportive environment to explore their artistic inclinations, to encourage risk taking and to discover alternative ways of knowing the world and relating to those in it. They will practice artistic reflection as they experiment with different art mediums and perspective: (e.g., Why does art make us feel a certain way?, What are the similarities and differences in different styles? What can I learn that will enhance my own artistic expression? The art program will be offered twice a week.
Maker/STEAM
Making Maker moments happen just seems like best practice, especially for dyslexic students: swap with: Maker moments provide powerful teaching opportunities for our dyslexic learners. In STEAM class, mistakes are celebrated and inventiveness, originality and creative-problem solving are rewarded. For the younger grades, students might be figuring out how to route a Mindstorm™ robot through an obstacle course, while at older grades (4th and higher), it will mean engaging in biomedical design of prostheses. We celebrate invention and interweave it with current environmental issues to encourage students to think globally and act locally.
Expressive arts
Expressive Arts at North Bridge Academy blends mindfulness and social-emotional learning with music, movement, digital arts, creative writing and theater arts. The year begins with a focus on self-awareness, -discovery, and -expression, as students explore who they are as individual artists. As the year progresses, students’ awareness turns from the inner process to the outer impact, as they begin to channel their creativity toward longer-term group projects with themes that include kindness, identity, belonging, and world citizenship, culminating in an end-of-year showcase for the larger NBA community.
Physical Education
Every day the students have a 20 minute break in the morning and a 45 minute lunch/recess break in the mid-day. P.E. classes are forty-five minutes each. Physical education instruction is provided by Sports For Learning, an agency that incorporates concepts developed by CASEL into all classes.
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Fundamental to our program are the following objectives:
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Teamwork
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Coordination
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Skill building
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Game playing
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Body awareness
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Good sportsmanship
