Dove Mountain CTEM K-8 Middle School Electives

    • IMAGE: Band students playing guitar, horns and clarinet. Art - This is a semester-long course designed to develop student’s abilities to understand, appreciate, and create art. A variety of media will be used to build skills focused on the elements and principles of art. Students will work with pencil, watercolor, acrylic, colored pencils, and clay. (6th – 8th grades)
    • Band - This is a full year ensemble course for wind and percussion players who have been playing for one year or more. This ensemble will perform REQUIRED concerts for the public and for festival. Music selections will be standard intermediate level band literature and will be used to develop and build musical skills. (6th – 8th grades)
    • Choir - This is a semester-long class for all students who wish to learn to sing and to perform with a vocal ensemble. This ensemble will have REQUIRED concerts and perform in concerts in the school and community. (6th – 8th grades)
    • Code to the Future - This is a semester elective class where students will focus on the basics of computer coding through the use of Scratch, Lego Mindstorms, and other software and hardware applications. Students that are successful in this class may be eligible to take AP Computer Science at the high school level. (6th – 8th grades)
    • Creative Writing - Students will be inspired to write and publish short stories, poetry, songs, graphic stories, advertisements, journaling, etc. Students will work to develop stories that develop characters, plot, and setting as they participate in a variety of writing activities. (6th – 8th grades)
    • IMAGE: Overhead view of students problem-solving through collaboration with mobile devices and paper notes. Drama/Theatre Arts - This is a semester-long introductory drama course. Students will work on their confidence through various skits and theatre games while learning basics about drama and the theatre. True teamwork will be a major focus and students will have many opportunities to be creative with many different aspects of drama. (6th – 8th grades)
    • Environmental Sciences – The Natural World Around Me - This course is designed to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. Topics may include: environmental stewardship, ecosystems, human population and development, water/soil/atmosphere/climate and climate change. (6th – 8th grades)
    • GEM -This semester-long course will nurture, challenge, and enhance the characteristics that gifted students already possess. Students will focus on a variety of interdisciplinary projects and topics designed to promote critical thinking, creativity, leadership, and 21st-century skills. This class is open to students in the GEM program. (6th - 8th grades)
    • Maker Lab - This class will include units of study that focus on the completion of projects and provide opportunities for open-ended, self- initiated work. Students will learn to use a variety of tools as students engage in authentic problem-solving learning activities while learning to make the most of the resources available in a makerspace environment. (6th – 8th grades)
    • Multimedia Technology - Multimedia Technology is a semester-long digital elective class, designed to empower students to create and responsibly utilize our digital resources. Students will increase their technological literacy and productivity through experiences in the areas of text and graphic design, digital multimedia presentations, and video editing & animation. (6th – 8th grades)
    • IMAGE: Female student at mobile device with images of problem-solving in the background. Odyssey of the Mind - “Odyssey of the Mind is an international creative problem-solving program that engages students in their learning by allowing their knowledge and ideas to come to life in an exciting, productive environment. Participants build self-confidence, develop life skills, create new friendships, and are able to recognize and explore their true potential.” This full-year course will help students work through the creative problem-solving process – identifying the problem, evaluating ideas, choosing and implementing a solution as well as evaluating and refining the answer. This course will also help students understand the importance of diverse ideas, and to convey that understanding to others. Students participating in this class will participate in competition(s) in the spring. (6th – 8th grades)
    • Orchestra - This is a full year course. Interested students should have at least one full year of experience playing the violin, viola, cello or bass. Emphasis is on the enjoyment of playing a string instrument while learning group orchestral skills with individual development in bow techniques, intonation, tuning, positions, shifting, and vibrato. Several concerts and music festival performances are REQUIRED each semester. (6th – 8th grades)
    • IMAGE: Basketball going through basketball hoop. Physical Education - This is a semester-long elective. Students in P.E. will participate in a wide variety of physical activities and sports with the goal of increasing physical fitness and overall health. Students will learn new games and sports while also developing teamwork skills. (6th – 8th grades)
    • STEM - Shark Tank – This is a semester-long class. Take the opportunity to explore your ideas and be an inventor in this class. Students will come up with an invention concept, engineer a prototype that can then be built with a 3D printer, and develop a sales pitch around their design. The final project will be presented to a special Shark Tank panel to receive feedback. Challenge your creative thinking skills! (6th – 8th grades)
    • Yearbook - This class is a creative yearlong elective for students who want to help design and create the school yearbook. Yearbook students must be highly responsible, attentive to details, and be able to work independently to take assigned photographs during and after school to complete assigned pages by the publisher’s deadlines. Students in yearbook must have the recommendation of their current teacher in order to participate in this elective. (6th-8th grades)
    • Teaching Assistant - Students in this class must have the recommendation of their current teacher in order to participate in this elective. (7th – 8th grades)