Reading
The objective of our junior high reading curriculum is to make students into passionate, critical readers. As a class, we discuss thematic units, literary genres, and reading strategies, which students can use as they approach new reading texts. Students are also given regular independent reading time, and they are allowed to choose their own texts.
Language Arts
Our students are working to create writing portfolios. As a class, we discuss writing and grammar conventions and concerns, and then students use their knowledge to create a body of work. We cover poetry, memoirs, book reviews, short stories, letters, scripts, children’s books, and various types of essays. The curriculum is designed to give students numerous and varied writing experiences and to teach them that writing is an ongoing process. Students learn to revise their work critically and thoughtfully.
Speech and Drama
Junior high classes meet once a week for Speech and Drama. In this course, students learn public speaking skills. They study elements of theater, rehearse monologues and dialogues, practice improvisation and pantomime techniques, give a variety of speeches, learn about body language, etc.
Regular Math
The sixth grade math course
continues to build on concepts and skills learned in the previous grades.
Basic number operations for fractions/mixed numbers, decimals and integers are
covered. Ratios, rates, proportions and percents are introduced.
Patterns in math are explored. Word problems are emphasized throughout
the book. This class sets a good foundation for middle school math.
Following this year in math, the students will either stay in regular math
classes or advance to accelerated math classes. This decision will be
made at the end of the sixth grade year and will be based on grades, classroom
performance, and achievement test scores in math.
Science
It is our intent that one third of the year is spent studying in each
of these broad areas: Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical
Science. Ideally this would mean that over a three year period, each
student will have had exposure to three different mini-courses in Life,
Earth, and Physical science; a total of nine different courses.
Currently these courses are as follows:
Human Biology and Health—A life science course designed to study
ten different human body systems. This will also include good health
practices and how to avoid or fight human diseases.
Weather and Climate—An earth science course designed to help
students learn about our Earth's weather and climate. This unit will
study earth's atmosphere and weather patterns. Factors that cause and
influence our weather, as well as climate and climate change, are also
studied
Electricity and Magnetism—A physical science course that
investigates magnetism and electricity and how each can be used to
produce the other. Electric charges, current, series and parallel
circuits, and electromagnets are the main topics covered.
Following is a listing of the science units for sixth through eighth grade. All textbooks are from Prentice-Hall publishers. The school year is divided into thirds with a different textbook used in each grade for each different third of the year.
Science
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EARTH
|
PHYSICAL
|
LIFE
|
6TH Grade
|
Weather and Climate
|
Electricity and Magnetism |
Human Biology and Health
|
7TH Grade
|
Earth’s Changing Surface
|
Motion, Forces, & Energy |
Environmental Science
|
8TH Grade
|
Inside Earth
|
Matter: Building Blocks of the Universe
|
Cells and Heredity
|
World History
Sixth Grade
World History has a focus on ancient cultures and incorporates world
geography. We start with a quick
overview of maps and geography terms and then move into the first cultures,
with a focus on Ancient Egypt, China
and Medieval times. We then continue to
work our way to the present time. At the
end of the year the sixth graders put on a “Parade of Nations.” Each student researches a country and presents
information about his/her country through a parade float and other means. Families are invited to attend this Parade of
Nations.
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