Level: Form II (4th–6th grades)
Subject(s): Art/Art Appreciation, Citizenship, History, Literature, Music/Music Appreciation, Panorama
Description:
In the Artist & Composer Study portion of this class, students encounter works by master artists and composers in this multi-sensory class. Over the course of the year, students learn about the lives of 4 artists and 4 composers and study multiple works from each. Students gain a listening repertoire of over a dozen classical scores and receive over a dozen full-color art prints, which they study in class through group discussion, written narration, and notebook drawings.
In the Plutarch & Shakespeare portion of this class, the class will read, narrate, and discuss passages from Plutarch’s Lives and Shakespeare’s plays. Over the year, students will read two of Shakespeare plays and two of Plutarch’s lives, studying one of each per semester. Students will have the opportunity to dramatically read selected passages, to reenact key scenes, and to prepare and recite optional memory work.
Form 2 classes follow a 3-year cycle for the reading selections as well as a rotating selection of artists and composers:
Plutarch’s Lives
- Cycle 1 (2025–26): Theseus / Romulus
- Cycle 2 (2026–27): Alexander / Julius Caesar
- Cycle 3 (2027–28): Pyrrhus / Marius
Shakespeare’s Plays
- Cycle 1 (2025–26): The Tempest / Henry V
- Cycle 2 (2026–27): Twelfth Night / Julius Caesar
- Cycle 3 (2027–28): Midsummer Night’s Dream / King Lear
2025–26 Artist Study
- Camille Pissarro
- Albert Bierstadt
- Grandma Moses
- Alma Thomas
2025–26 Composer Study
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn
- Frederick Delius
- George Gershwin
Materials:
Required (all Forms):
- Dual Notebook with blank and lined paper (Link is to an optional brand.)
- Three-ring binder with lined paper, pencils, colored pencils, and erasers in a pencil pouch
Form 2 Required Resources:
- The Tempest (Folger Shakespeare Library) ISBN: 1501130013
- Henry V (Folger Shakespeare Library) ISBN: 1982109416
- Our Young Folk’s Plutarch (used multiple years)