The holidays are upon us and what better way to celebrate the season, then to watch our primary children perform their “December Gifts” program?  This year, Ms. Dian was excited to teach a multicultural, upbeat program to our youngest students.

She selected this program because she felt that it did a good job in representing the major holidays celebrated in our country, and it got the children singing and dancing enthusiastically.

Not only did the students learn six songs with multiple verses, but every kindergarten student helped weave the story of the songs by speaking a part of the narrative.

For some of our youngest students, this was their very first public performance at FMS. Despite some butterflies in their stomachs, it was a real chance for them to feel the excitement of performing in front of their families.

Not only did the children perform for their families on the FMS stage, but last week both kindergarten classes walked to a local senior living facility, Sunrise of Henderson, and delivered the whole show to the residents.

It was truly a gift for the residents to be serenaded so sweetly by our students. The finale, “The Best Gift of All,”  really summed up the spirit of the performance by emphasizing the truth…“the best gift of all doesn’t come wrapped up in paper, the best gift of all comes from the heart.”  Just for a brief moment, our students helped spread joy and love to an audience that clearly appreciated their gifts.

Ms. Dian was very pleased with all of the primary performances and was very grateful for the parents in P2 who provided the beautiful decorations that dressed our stage.

Ms. Dian also wishes all of the students a safe and restful winter break, and may the time with their families be happy and joyful.

Performing Arts classes are in full swing for all students on campus.  Ms. Dian is delivering Montessori experiences to her students as she weaves the cultural curriculum covered in the classroom into the her own lessons. Lower Elementary students are immersed in the study of Ancient Egypt, its culture and dominant contributions to society, as well as its overall influence on modern day people.

During a recent Performing Arts class, Lower Elementary students created a physical, circle thinking map where Ancient Egypt was the point of interest and everyone was asked to brainstorm about their current knowledge of Ancient Egypt.

Many interesting points of view came out of the discussion, including exploring the movement of Ancient Egyptian people and the power of their Gods and Goddesses to influence those around them.  Images of those Gods and Goddesses were reviewed and students were encouraged to look at the postures and the poses of those ancient people.  

After breaking into small groups, they chose the image of the Gods and Goddesses that had the most interesting pose.  One person in the group modeled the stance and the others produced an image of the pose.  Each rendition was hung on the curtains of the stage and the students picked their favorite pose by standing in front of it.

Ms. Dian played the “Song of the Pharaohs” and she conducted the student’s movement from the front.  Students were also immersed in the movements of ancient Egyptians and explored moves like “The Tut,” “The Box Tut” and the “Egyptian Tut.”  

To further test their knowledge of Ancient Egypt, students played a human tic tac toe, where each group was asked key questions about Ancient Egypt and also basic questions about music, dance and drama.

Students also had a lot of fun with creating a sound story called “The Prophet”, which told about a young Egyptian boy and a variety of different characters we were introduced to along the way.  Ms Dian gave them an assortment of actions, like a donkey braying, footsteps, and asked them to choose the instruments to represent these sounds.  

Ms Dian then read the story and the students waited for their cue to play their instruments.

Singing is a key component of the class, so the “Nile Song” was explored and practiced, all in preparation for a Lower Elementary performance to be held later this year.  Finally, what modern day Performing Arts class that is focused on Ancient Egypt would be complete without a rousing performance of “Walk like an Egyptian”?

On an ongoing basis, Ms Dian allows students to showcase their musical, singing and movement talents to the class.  Recently, a few boys created and performed a dance to “Uptown Funk”, and another student played a piano piece by Beethoven. This drive to share and shine with each other is so exciting to Ms. Dian and inspiring to the students.  

The performing arts class for the primary aged student (3-6 years old) is focused on the rudiment concepts of music, singing, rhythm, and listening closely to directions given by Ms. Dian.  

Once instruments have been laid out and the use of them is demonstrated by Ms. Dian, she cleverly will call out instructions for “only the boys to play” and then contrast that with “now girls only play.”  It is remarkable how quickly the young students have acclimated to listening carefully to her specific directions.  

Ms. Dian is a strong proponent for individual creative expression by the students, once she has carefully described the expectations of the particular exercise or singing of a song.

The students are now waiting patiently for her to clearly express her expectations to them, before they launch into an outward expression of singing and playing instruments.

All of this practice in listening and follow directions will serve the primary students well as they prepare for their school performance in December.  This year the show is called “December Gifts” and is an eclectic group of songs expressing the joy and delight of the holidays including Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Ms. Dian is already presenting and teaching the songs to the students as they meet with her on a weekly basis.  Kindergartners actually get two lessons a week from Ms. Dian.  This helps to support the overall production of the show as the kindergartners bring their song knowledge to the younger students when the whole class meets.

Stay tuned for specific dates in December when the primary show of “December Gifts“ is performed for their family and friends.

Welcome back to the 2016-2017 school year!  Performing arts class, formally known as “music,“ now encompasses music, acting and dancing.

 Ms. Dian is broadening the range of the class to include all of the arts which will enable the students to explore their self expression, confidence, team building, and problem solving.  She will weave in cultural themes from the classroom curriculum’s into the key themes taught in her performing arts lessons.

During the music component, students will be learning about their voices, singing, playing instruments, and understanding pitch, pulse, melody and genres.

Dance will make them aware of balance, coordination, core strength, respecting their own space, and improvisation.  Developing a good character, creating stories, role playing and understanding the stage will be covered as part of the acting piece.

In addition to this, there are life lessons to be learned in the performing arts class, as the students learn to tune into their own breaths and develop skills for calming their bodies and their minds.  It is also an opportunity for each student to bring their individual expressions of performing arts to the whole group and work together to create a united creative product.   

Ms. Dian will be directing and producing two large performances this year.  In December, she will lead the primary-aged students in a wonderfully touching show called “December Gifts.”

 In March, she will be working in collaboration with Ms Arlene and Ms Erica in Middle School to deliver an in depth performance of “Macbeth.

The regular cultural curriculum will also be woven into classes delivered to Primary, Elementary and Middle School students as they study themes such as Safety and Community Building, Anatomy, Martin Luther King Jr, Ancient Egypt, Asia, Africa, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, Middle Ages, American Revolution, Westward Expansion, and Elements and the Periodic Table.

Ms. Dian hopes to infuse her performing arts classes with her love of music, dance and acting while creating memorable experiences for her students.

Hi, my name is Dian and I am a teacher of Performing Arts. I’ve been teaching for the last 12 years in the UK, Africa and now in the USA. Performing Arts is a mixture of Music, Acting and Dancing. And I am so looking forward to creating with all of the students here at Foothills Montessori.

Over the next year – my main goal is for all of the students to feel like when they come to my lessons, they enter a magical place. It is safe for them to express themselves, and learn what they enjoy and don’t enjoy. My biggest wish is for all of the students to have a new found confidence in who they are.

As well as learning Acting, Singing/Music and Dance Techniques.