Group 5 Curriculum -  Seventh and Eighth Grade

The Assignment Book: The assignment books were created in response to parents’ concerns about being able to help their students keep on top of the work, and they proved to be very successful. The assignment book is brought to school daily and is used in each subject. At the end of each class, the student will write in an assignment and the teacher will stamp or initial it as being recorded. We ask that you sign off on completion of the homework after you have inspected it. There is a space for notes to/from the teacher, which you may use for clarifying or communicating necessary information. Please remember that it is your student’s responsibility — not yours — to use the assignment book to keep track of short- and long-term assignments. If the student forgets the assignment book, a bright yellow sheet will be sent home with the assignments hand-written. The sheet must be stapled into the assignment book and delivered the next day. Our goal is to teach students how to organize themselves so that they have discrete time for work and, just as importantly, a discrete time for play! Please share your own ideas about how you organize your work/family/other activities with your child, so that s/he gets the idea that organization is a life-long activity — not just for school.

Math: There is 30 minutes of math homework, five nights/week. Sometimes the workbook provides enough space for a student to show all steps and the answer. More often, however, the space is not sufficient. Math class work and homework must be done in a spiral bound or neatbook-style graph paper notebook. Students copy the problem and show the steps to the solution in a sequential fashion on the left hand side of the page. The right side of the page is used for calculations. All pages must be numbered and all problems must be numbered.

One morning a week we work with word problems, logic problems or hands-on activities for enrichment. There may be specific homework for this class. Otherwise, students work in their math workbook. A record of problem solving is kept in their math spiral notebook about a particular topic or about what they learned from a particular lesson. This math log is evaluated on content, not mechanics, on consistent effort and on organization.

Students are graded on their Unit Reviews, their math notebooks, effective use of class time, their ability to work independently as well as in a group, and their participation and openness in class.

Writing: We cover certain topics that are seen as ‘soft’ spots for many students, like grammar, writing a research paper with bibliography, the five-paragraph essay, and keeping a writing journal. We also deconstruct novels, short stories, poetry and plays. We start the year with Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, and explore the metaphor of disability and its use in literature, film and our own lives.

Reading: This class covers a variety of literature from the short story to the novella to full-length novels. Students sharpen their skills as active readers as they annotate and take copious notes about what is read. Class discussions and projects are also integral parts of the class. Students are expected to read for a minimum of 30 minutes each night. Students are graded on quizzes, tests, projects, essays and class participation.

Reading (Thursday): During the first semester, students learn testing strategies and take actual tests in preparation for the SSATs and other types of timed tests required for high school entrance. Students also work on admission essays and completing applications for schools. Interviewing tips and strategies are discussed and we practice role play for school interviews. The goal is to have students be as comfortable as possible with the testing and interviewing process.

Science: Expect 50 minutes of homework every week. There are quizzes and a chapter test on the material. In addition, students maintain a lab skills notebook for their weekly experiments. Earth Science in the News articles are presented periodically. Science Fair topics are finalized by mid-December, and students have the subsequent months to prepare their four-minute presentation and a tri-fold board. All students also hand in a research paper with bibliography on their chosen topic. This is discussed in greater detail in class. Parents, family and friends are invited to view the Science Fair projects in the spring and to hear presentations.

History: We use the Global Studies text that covers prehistoric time through the middle ages. Students also participate in the annual essay contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution as well as the National History Day competition.

Shakespeare: Using media, contemporary films and stage productions, we compare and contrast Shakespeare’s influence on modern storytelling. We write modern retellings of Shakespeare’s works and act them out.

Spanish: We use the En Sus Marcas B text book. Students work on mastering the –ar, –er, –ir verb conjugations in the present tense before beginning work on past tense conjugations. Students role-play different scenarios to improve their conversation skills. They discuss current events that occur in Spanish-speaking countries by reading excerpts from Spanish newspapers.

Art: Students work in different media (watercolors, charcoal, pencil, cray-pas, acrylic paint). We study various artists and the way their art mirrored the history of the time in which they lived. Students have a chance to experiment with these styles in their own work. There may be homework with specific instructions, or they may do two detailed free sketches (30 minutes/week) that show complete pictures with composition, perspective, light and shadow and three dimensionality.