Students in Seventh Grade develop a greater understanding and appreciation of Jesus Christ – His life, His teachings, and His continuing presence in the Church. Students will study Jesus in the Scriptures, the sacraments, the doctrines and traditions of the Church, and in their personal experience. They will be invited to make their relationship with Jesus and His Church a deeply rooted part of their lifelong journey toward God’s kingdom. Students continue to meet with the Faith Partners and share their faith journeys with the younger students. Students explore social justice issues. Students have use of personal iPads to support them in their studies.
Language Arts and Literature
While the foundational curriculum in Language Arts and Literature are the same throughout the middle school grades, the concepts become increasingly challenging at each grade level, this includes reading levels (Lexile ranges) and vocabulary words, among others.
The middle school Language Arts curriculum’s focus is on strengthening skills in a variety of areas. Specific attention is given to vocabulary acquisition through the usage of the Vocabulary Workshop textbook. Students master synonyms, antonyms, spelling, and new words in context. Grammar is also an important component of the course through the examination of parts of speech, sentence structure, punctuation, and diagramming. Emphasis is placed on writing as students integrate the new vocabulary and grammar skills learned. A variety of pieces are composed in the genres of creative, expository, research based, literary analysis, and persuasive writing.
Students in middle school study a variety of literary genres. These include short stories, poetry, nonfiction, drama, myths, and legends. Through studying these pieces, literary elements are introduced and reinforced. These elements are used as a main focus in class discussion and literary analysis writing. Novel study is an important component of the course as students read together as a class as well as independently. Through novel study, students apply a variety of critical thinking skills through analyzing the author’s message, historical context, social influences, and the effects of literary elements. Furthermore, general reading comprehension strategies are emphasized across all genres discussed in the course. Students also present a variety of projects with a focus on improving public speaking skills.
Seventh Grade students study mathematics through the Carnegie Math program, which they use through their digital textbooks their individually assigned iPads. This creates a hands-on environment that provides instant feedback. The students continue to develop and build on skills they learned in previous years. The goals of all junior high math classes are to build skills, confidence, and habits to enable success in high school math no matter the level. Every year students work toward mastery and retention of concepts.
Students in Seventh Grade build upon their knowledge, thinking, and critical thinking skills, basic and “higher-order” skills, such as analysis and interpretation, through their continued study of ancient history. They will be studying world civilizations from 500 A.D. to Early American Civilizations. Students will have extensive hands-on practice with maps, graphs, and tables. Students have use of personal iPads to support them in their studies.
Seventh Grade science focuses on the study of living things and how they interact with their environment. The students use the Holt Science and Technology textbook to learn about cells, heredity, evolution, plants processes, animals and behavior, Earth’s ecosystems, and the human body. Students continue to develop their science note-taking skills and their understanding of the scientific method through hands-on investigation that includes, but is not limited to, cell models, k'nex DNA, plant investigations, and DNA extraction. They also develop their skill in using the microscope through various labs.
In Seventh Grade, the emphasis is on working cooperatively to achieve a common goal, meeting challenges and making decisions, and working as a team to problem solve. At this level the focus is on individual and team sports. Students activities include volleyball, soccer, flag football, basketball, hockey, paddleball, tennis, frisbee, wiffleball, track and field, as well as, a variety of rhythm and dance and team building cooperation activities at a deeper level. Students participate in P.E. twice a week for 45 minutes. In addition, students may participate in our after-school sports program.
Students in Seventh Grade participate in Spanish class twice a week. Their classwork, including participation, and homework earn a letter grade.
Seventh Grade students are able to sight read, practice and perform on piano keyboards. They study more complicated rhythm patterns and time signatures, transpose music from treble to bass clef, study melodic and harmonic intervals and learn to construct major scales. Seventh grade students are eligible to join the school choir.
Students in Seventh Grade are each assigned an iPad that they may take home throughout the school year. They may use the iPads for their math texts, to explore a hypothesis in Science, or to use Google Classroom, among others. Technology is fully integrated into the classroom learning. In addition, we use a program that allows teachers to closely monitor each student’s iPad and internet use.