Middle School Grades 6-8

Middle school students will be expected to assume responsibility for their own learning. This will include homework assignments and long-range projects, as well as developing time-management, organizational and study skills. Building a community of responsible, life-long learners ensures each student will reach their full potential.

Religion

As students enter middle school, service hours are expected for students to acknowledge their importance in our community. Students continue to recognize the importance of God in their daily lives and make choices that reflect the golden rule. As they prepare for the sacrament of Confirmation in 8th grade, students renew their faith, their values, and why they know they will continue to live in the way of the Lord.

Students take pride in mentoring our younger Crusaders! Our Buddies join us every Wednesday at mass. Other events throughout the school year are designed for buddies to get together and demonstrate what being a Crusader is all about. We are proud of showing them the way and we look forward to continuing to guide them as they will one day learn in our hallway too.

Math

Today more than ever, students need strong skills in reading, writing, and note taking in mathematics in order to become independent learners. Acquiring these skills in middle school will build an important foundation for more advanced courses and for their adult life. In sixth grade, the students are involved in active learning for strong concept development. They will learn and use strategies for solving problems in many different contexts. The seventh-grade curriculum covers pre-algebra. This is a research-based strategy of a balanced approach to instruction opening doors to abstract thinking, reasoning, and inquiring. The eighth-grade curriculum is Algebra 1. Students are introduced to all dimensions of the understanding of algebra: its skills, its properties, its uses, and its representations.

Social Studies

In middle school social studies, students work to understand the world around them and dive deeper into their journey of good citizenship in the US. Sixth grade is devoted to World Geography in which they will gain factual knowledge of the world and its regions through the lens of the 5 major themes of geography. Seventh graders explore through an inquiry-based approach the founding of our nation all the way through its split during the Civil BWar, developing a working understanding of our nation’s system of government which they will apply in eighth grade when they take the Constitution test. 8th graders pick up their studies during the reconstruction era and there is an increased focus on the Constitution/citizenship.

Science

Our middle school science curriculum through Project Lead The Way will provide students opportunities to apply the design process and solve problems creatively. The sixth grade will learn and utilize methods for communicating designs through sketches and models to simulate real world situations. The seventh grade will take on the role of engineers as the exciting world of aerospace and flight comes to life in the classroom. In the 8th grade curriculum, students become medical detectives to solve medical mysteries through hands-on projects and labs.

Language Arts

Writing skills are developed and expanded by use of the writing process. Students brainstorm, pre-write, rough draft, peer edit, and make revisions before moving onto their final draft. Narrative, informational, and persuasive writing are done during our Writing Workshop Wednesdays. Debate and speech are also incorporated into the curriculum as the year progresses. Journaling is an imperative part of allowing students to free write and reflect on their choices and how they can make connections to others, to characters, and to the outside world. Our faith reminds us that the choices we make are part of developing who we are and mistakes we make are there for us to learn from. Students are able to write thoroughly and effectively to get their point across and allow their missions to be made.

Literacy

Novel studies will guide our expansion of comprehension and character analysis skills. Students will also use short stories and readers theater to “become experts,” on the content of the story map. Dialectical journals will be utilized for character development and citing our evidence to back up our own opinions of the characters we work with.

Independent reading is expected and will be done during the school day as well as from home. The Accelerated Reading program will be utilized throughout the school year. Students are assessed on the attainment of points accumulated within the AR Program.