Specials Classes

Students in Kindergarten through Eighth grade have art twice a week. The elements of art and composition are emphasized in a “studio art” environment. The state standards for visual arts are the basis for lessons that include the strengthening of fine motor skills, exposure to many techniques and media, art history, essay writing, and cross-curricular assignments.

The Music curriculum at St. Malachy School is based on the Indiana standards for music, and incorporates the Orff-Schulwerk and Kodaly methods of teaching. These methods provide a multi-dimensional approach to teaching the whole child – helping the students to develop basic skills in music, while engaging them in creative activities of discovery, performance, improvisation and composition. Our students are given opportunities to explore and express music through speech, singing, movement, listening, and playing instruments. St. Malachy students learn to play a variety of instruments including, various un-pitched percussion, xylophones, glockenspiels, soprano recorder, and hand chimes. Students are also introduced to famous composers and their music, as well as to the names and sounds of instruments.

The St. Malachy School library strives to support the mission of our school by coaching students to effectively locate, evaluate, and use information resources and by fostering their love of reading. Students in grades K–5 come to the library and computer lab for a joint class period each week where they learn computer and library skills and research strategies. Students also have an opportunity to check out library books each week. Middle School students do not come to the library or computer lab for a class period, but they do have a designated time to check out books each week and are encouraged to use both the library and the computer lab for research and study. We also use the Accelerated Reader program to encourage and monitor students’ independent reading practice for grades 1–8. In this program, students take short comprehension quizzes on books they have read to earn points toward their individual goal.

Spanish is taught to students in kindergarten through 8th grades. Kindergarten through 2nd grade students enjoy Spanish once a week and third grade through 6th grade students participate in Spanish class twice a week. Finally, 7th and 8th grade students have Spanish three times a week.  Students in the early grades are taught through a whole language approach. Older students analyze Spanish in order to comprehend, speak, read, and write in Spanish.  The final semester of 8th grade is taught all in Spanish.  All grades do activities to learn about Hispanic culture as well.  If needed, students transferring into St. Malachy can receive extra help during the school day or after school in order to assist with transitioning into Spanish class.