Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School offers many opportunities to develop additional skills and talents through enrichment classes, and community service, field trips, musical productions, chapel services, and special events.
Band
Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School currently offers three band classes; fifth grade band, sixth grade band, and seventh-eighth grade band. Students may choose to join band in fifth or sixth grade to gain a foundation in musical performance and go on to more advanced pedagogy and instrumental pieces in the seventh and eighth grade.
Fifth Grade band consists of a drumline in the fall and drumline/percussion ensemble in the spring, to help develop a strong rhythmic understanding and build upon our already developed reading skills from choir. Drumline is also available to all Middle School Band members, which performs at various athletic events such as football games, basketball games, and also concerts and musicals with the choir.
The students have three major performances throughout the school year. These consist of a Christmas Concert, Mardi Gras Parade, and a Spring Concert. The students play a very diverse variety of music for all performances.
In the EDS band program the students not only learn how to play an instrument but they also learn responsibility, respect, humility, problem solving methodology and many other great character building traits. Students who are in band gain great insight into the workings of music and grow to have a greater appreciation for music.
Music
At Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School, music is an integral part of the over-all curriculum. Beginning with Pre-Kindergarten two-year-olds and continuing through 1st grade, music classes are taught once a week for thirty (30) minutes. In 2nd grade, music classes are extended to one, forty-five (45) minute class per week.
Classes are taught based on the music philosophy of Zoltan Kodaly. Students learn a wide variety of American Folk Songs and games. Through singing the folk-songs and playing the games, music literacy begins. Students learn tuneful singing, independent singing, keeping a steady beat, as well as readiness elements relating to changing tempo, dynamics, and tone. Socially, students learn cooperative play, build attention spans, follow directions, and take turns. Students develop gross motor skills through fun activities.
As the years progress, students learn to read and write music off staff and stick notation using solfa-syllables. Students learn to improvise melodies and rhythms based on known musical elements. Students learn an appreciation of the great art music and musical eras of music through listening activities designed to identify various elements in the music; rhythm, musical scale or ostinato, dynamics, etc.
The 3rd and 4th grades participate in the Soaring Eagles Chorus. 5th graders are able to choose between band or chorus. All students are a part of the chorus. The chorus, at the most basic level, is a practical application of music notation, sight-singing, vocal independence skills, and musical aesthetic values taught in previous years of classroom music. Repertoire is in unison/two-part harmony. Soaring Eagles Chorus leads the music at least once a month for Eucharist.
The Middle School choir students are responsible for leading the music for Thursday afternoon Eucharist. Repertoire is in two and three part harmony. Sight reading skills concentrate on reading in two part harmony.
Both choral groups have many performance opportunities throughout the year:
Soaring Eagles Chorus (3rd,4th, 5th grades)
1. Veteran’s Day Program
2. Audition opportunity for the Louisiana all-state choir
3. Epiphany Pageant
4. District/State Choral Festival
5. Lower School Musical – traded every other year with Middle School
6. Spring Concert – year opposite the musical year
Middle School Choir (6th, 7th, 8th grades)
1. Halloween Lights Out Concert
2. Audition opportunity for the Louisiana all-state choir
3. Solo or Ensemble Festival
4. Christmas Concert
5. District/State Choral Festival
6. Middle School Musical – traded every other year with Lower School
7. Spring Concert – year opposite the musical year
Although the Middle School Choir has the primary responsibility to lead music for Eucharist, the Lower School Choir will sing an anthem and lead the service at least once a month.
Physical Education
Physical Education at any level is conducive to growth and development and promotes an encouraging environment for play. Through playing with peers in a controlled environment, students learn to cooperate in a group setting respectively and begin to develop a sense of awareness. The PreK and Kindergarten level program focuses on gross motor skills, coordination, stretching exercises and health habits. Included within this realm is the importance of social and communication skills. The students use a wide variety of equipment including balls, balloons, bean bags, parachutes, hula hoops, and much more. We focus on following instructions, creating a fun learning environment, and growing the student's ability to catch, throw, move through traffic, kick, dribble, etc.
At the Lower School level we also work on coordination and cardio respiratory fitness. Seasonal sports are modified for this age group so students can participate in such games as basketball, soccer, track, bowling, kick ball, softball, and football. Physical fitness testing starts at second grade and continues through eighth grade. The students perform five tests trying to meet or exceed national standardized scores. These are performed in the fall semester and then again in the spring semester to see their level of improvement.
The Middle School level is a more structured Physical Education class where we follow most seasonal sports such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, track, football, softball and golf. Students take part in skills tests as well as written tests on which a portion of our quarterly grades are averaged. The other portion of the grade comes from exercise, behavior and test. Students in sixth through eighth grades also run a timed mile at the beginning of the school year. Each month the mile run is timed again.
The Physical Education Program also includes “Jump Rope for Heart”. This is held every two years in the spring for first through fifth grade. Jump Rope for Heart is an EDS fundraiser for the American Heart Association. The students learn about the functions of the heart and the importance of keeping our bodies strong and healthy. By jumping and raising money for the American Heart Association, we are helping fund research for those with heart disease as well as strengthening our own hearts.
Sex education is taught to 5th-8th grade students through a school/physician approved lesson appropriate for each age group.
Spanish
Kindergarten - This is mostly an oral program at this level with conversation/coloring, puppets and song to motivate students to enjoy the Spanish language. They learn to count from 1-20. They learn basic greetings. They identify colors, numbers, shapes and farm animals and Holiday words (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). Students have Spanish once a week for 30 minutes.
First Grade - Oral communication and participation are highly encouraged. Through an inductive approach, students gain an intuitive understanding of how language is acquired and how it is spoken. The various methodologies employed take into consideration different learning styles and incorporate the Natural Approach and the Total Physical Response. They are able to ask and answer questions for greetings, garden vocabulary, colors, numbers to 50, zoo animals, days of the week, months of the year, transportation and Holiday words (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). Students have Spanish once a week for 45 minutes.
Second Grade - Oral communication and participation are the most important aspects at this level. Through essentially an inductive approach, students gain an intuitive understanding of how language is acquired and how it is spoken. The various methodologies employed take into consideration different learning styles and incorporate the Natural Approach and Total Physical Response. They review vocabulary and continue learning about their food, family, weather, feeling, age, hobbies, objects in the kitchen and Holiday words (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). At this level, they are able to understand the different question words in Spanish and respond appropriately. They are able to count to 100. Students have Spanish once a week for 45 minutes.
Third Grade - Oral communication and participation are highly emphasized at this level. Through essentially an inductive approach, students gain an intuitive understanding of how language is acquired and how it is spoken. The various methodologies employed take into consideration different learning styles and incorporate the Natural Approach and Total Physical Response. They continue to build their vocabulary and continue to advance to a new level. They are able to begin reading basic Spanish sentences, add, and subtract in Spanish and count to 500. They learn about family, objects in the classroom, clothing, describing personal characteristics, how to ask and answer with regard to location, and Holiday words (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). Students have Spanish once a week for 45 minutes.
Fourth Grade - Oral communication and participation are the most important aspects at this level. They are able to ask and answer questions is the target language. They continue to build their vocabulary while learning about the Hispanic culture. They continue to read basic Spanish sentences, add, and subtract in Spanish and count to 1000. They learn about opposites, telling time, writing the date, learning travel vocabulary, and Holiday words (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). Students have Spanish twice a week for 45 minutes.
Fifth Grade - Following a Comprehensible Input (CI) approach, students are introduced to the SUPER 7 verbs to express the seven basic concepts needed to tell a story: location, existence, possession, identity, preference, motion, and desire. Students will learn about many Hispanic countries and their culture, cuisine, traditions, flora and fauna, geography, and much more while engaging with the SUPER 7 verbs to discuss them. The emphasis is primarily devoted to listening and speaking rather than to grammar in order to promote an organic approach to second language acquisition, the same way they learned their first language. At this level, students create a safe classroom culture for themselves to build confidence as they develop their speaking skills. Students meet twice a week for 45 minutes. Sixth Grade - Following a Comprehensible Input (CI) approach, students become increasingly exposed to high frequency structures in an environment where culture and language collide. Students at this level read their first Spanish novel and carry out basic discussions based on comprehensible information given to them.
Sixth grade - Spanish serves as the foundation for Spanish 1, therefor priority is given to strengthening verbal and listening language skills, all while working towards reading and writing. This level provides a more rounded understanding of the collaboration between culture and language using the SUPER 7 verbs as tools for communication in a basic, yet through, program. Students meet four times a week for 50 minutes.
Seventh Grade - Students begin the first part of their Spanish 1 study. Following a Comprehensible Input (CI) approach, students focus on new high frequency structures, the SWEET 16+. They become more proficient in the language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students at this level read their next two Spanish novels and engage in meaningful discussions to follow-up each chapter. Students become increasingly more comfortable with class discussions based on higher order thinking questions in a student-led classroom environment. Students work with the SOMOS Curriculum and many other CI resources that encourage a natural approach to second language learning. Students meet four times a week for 50 minutes.
Eighth Grade - Students complete the second part of their Spanish 1 study at the end of their 8th grade. This opportunity allows students to earn high school credit for Spanish 1 and makes them eligible to continue with Spanish 2 at the high school level. Even though this level continues to focus in the present tense primarily, students are not sheltered from other tenses, but general vocabulary is sheltered to keep the comprehensible factor always a priority. Students continue to focus on the SWEET 16+ verbs, allowing them to quickly build fluency, laying down a foundation of the most often used words in the Spanish language. Students at this level read at least 2 more books. Students present a much higher level of proficiency in the many areas of second language acquisition. Students work with the SOMOS Curriculum and many other CI resources that encourage a natural approach to second language learning, as well as Yabla. Students meet five times a week for 50 minutes.