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Walk to the south-east corner of DeMotte Christian School and you'll find a lot of musical activity. Students are singing, exploring, playing instruments, and moving to the beat. What a wonderful gift music is!
But why do we teach music at a Christian school?
Music was part of God’s creation in the beginning when it was "very good," but when Adam and Eve sinned, creation also suffered. As Christians, we are to work as God’s hands to bring the fine arts back to God’s created intent. Through music as God intended it, we will be able to communicate truth, experience beauty and pain, and share emotion with God and our fellow humans.
I'd love to discuss this more in-depth with you. Feel free to give me a call or visit me at school. I'd love to chat!
~Madra Funderburg
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DeMotte Christian School
School Music and Art Learning Outcomes
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Revelation
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Response
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How this might look in the classroom…
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Christians are made in the image of the creator therefore…
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We all have the God-given ability to create.
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It’s the responsibility of the teacher and the fellow students to create a safe environment for taking risks and thinking “out of the box.”
Music students will create and arrange music and movement pieces. Art students will go beyond the directions for an art assignment and will personalize it or “make it theirs.”
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Christians are called to subdue the earth therefore…
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We need to be involved in music and art in the world.
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We will study both sacred and secular music and art.
We will try to find opportunities to use our artistic and music skills both in the church setting and in the broader community.
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Music and art are powerful forms of communication, therefore…
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We need to be able to discern how others are using them to communicate with us.
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We will study techniques in music, art, movies and other popular art forms, identifying what makes them “moving.”
We will ask the question, “Does the content glorify God?” and the often more difficult question, “Does the creative and artistic care taken glorify the Creator God?”
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As Christians, we have an amazing message to share, therefore…
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We need to understand how to use all available forms of communication to share it.
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We will work on extremely varied performance, composition, and craft skills, such as:
giving the focus to someone else in a performance, using dynamics to affect emotions, using color and value to affect mood, using framing and implied line to create emphasis, etc.
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God calls us to contribute to the Body of Believers and to the world as a whole, therefore…
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We should strive to learn, to develop our skills, and to work hard to the glory of God.
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Students will often be asked to refine a project, to rewrite, and to rehearse.
The teachers will give the students the educational tools to move forward into excellence.
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As Christians, we all have various gifts and natural skills, therefore…
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Whether we find a subject very easy or very challenging, we should work to develop our skills and knowledge.
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Students of all ability levels will be asked to push themselves to move along the path of learning. Those who struggle should be taught carefully and then encouraged to “move forward” as much as they can. Those students who are more advanced should care for the struggling students while, at the same time, looking for opportunities to challenge themselves.
The teacher should provide a variety of options so students can choose a level which stretches their abilities, but does not discourage them.
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