|
EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAM
Welcome to seventh
grade! The seventh grade faculty and staff invite students and their
families to become part of our team! Our goal is for all of our
students to enjoy a successful school experience. We hold high
expectations for our students and we believe that the support of families
and community is important to school success. We encourage you to
become actively involved in your child's education, and welcome the
opportunity to work cooperatively with you.
The seventh grade educational program is organized into seven 45-minute
periods. Students are assigned to one of our four interdisciplinary teams
for their core academic subjects. At this grade-level, all students
take Language Arts, Life Science, Social Studies, and Physical
Education/Health. Currently, there are three different levels of Math
courses from which to choose, and students select from a variety of
electives to fill the remaining two periods.
In addition to their seven periods of classes, students begin each day
with a 15-minute advisory period. The advisory teacher is one of the core
teachers within the team who serves as an advisor and advocate to offer
assistance and support to students throughout the school year. The
advisory period also allows time to coordinate team activities.
The organizational structure of the seventh
grade will be two teams of two teachers and two teams of four
teachers. On the two-teacher teams, one teacher provides instruction
in Language Arts and Social Studies while the other teaches Math and
Science. On the four-teacher teams, each teacher teaches one of
the core academic subjects. This school year, all seventh grade
teachers will have time for personal planning during first period and time
for team planning during sixth period. Team teachers work together to
provide consistency and unity to the students assigned to their teams.
Teaming also facilitates collaboration, interdisciplinary cooperation,
closer monitoring of student behavior, and more efficient communication
with parents and guardians. Teams provide a "family"
environment for each student. We use this team approach to invite both
students and their families to work with the administrators, teachers, and
counselors in building a positive, stimulating learning environment that
ensures student success. Parent conferences with your child's team
may be scheduled during the team planning period by calling the counseling
office (951-5803).
TOP OF PAGE
CURRICULUM
Language Arts - The seventh-grade student will continue to
develop oral communication skills and will become more knowledgeable of the
effects of verbal and nonverbal behaviors in oral communication. The
student will continue to refine written composition skills, with special
attention to word choice, organization, style, and grammar. Written
explanations of math concepts and scientific ecosystems will utilize
technical writing skills. The student will continue vocabulary
development through a study of figurative language. Knowledge of the
impact of media on public opinion will be applied in the study of election
processes and policy making of American history of the 20th Century.
The student will increase his/her proficiency in the use of print and
electronic resources and will learn how to give credit to secondary
reference sources.
Science - A study of Life Science emphasizes an understanding of
change, cycles, patterns , and relationships in the living world.
Students build on basic principles related to these concepts by exploring
the cellular organization and classification of organisms; the dynamic
relationships among organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems;
and change as a result of the transmission of genetic information from
generation to generation. Inquiry skills at this level include
organization and mathematical analysis of data, manipulating variables in
experimentation, and identifying sources of experimental error. All
seventh-grade Life Science students participate in the Science Fair held
each June. Throughout the school-year, students complete an
individual or group project employing the scientific method in preparation
for the Science Fair.
Social Studies - A study of 20th Century U.S. History incorporates key concepts of
the geography and history of the United States from 1900 to the
present. Students will develop analytical skills and understand social
studies terms. Course work is designed to ensure that students will
understand the following: maps, globes and their symbols, geography's
impact on way of life, civilization, communities, economic principles,
government and its importance, historical figures and events, the
responsibilities and rights of citizenship, exploration and its impacts,
political and social movements, and the impact of technology.
Math 7 - As a General Math course, Math 7 emphasizes solving
problems involving consumer application and proportional reasoning.
The students will gain an understanding of the properties of real numbers,
solve linear equations and inequalities, and use data analysis techniques
to make inferences and predictions. Students will also identify real-life
applications of the mathematical principles they are learning that can be
applied to science and other disciplines they are studying.
Transitional Math - As a Pre-Algebra course, Transitional Math is
designed to review and extend concepts and skills learned in previous math
classes, and to present new content that prepares students for more
abstract concepts in Algebra.
Algebra I - This high school credit course
is taught with the pacing and work-load of the same course taught at the
high school. This course is designed to include a greater emphasis on
conceptual understanding, on algebra as a means of representation, and on
algebraic methods as a problem-solving tool. Algebra is the language
through which most mathematics is communicated. It also provides a
means of operating with concepts at an abstract level and then applying
them-- a process that often fosters generalizations and insights beyond the
original context. This more sophisticated understanding of algebraic
representations is a prerequisite to further formal work in virtually all
mathematical subjects. When considering Algebra I in seventh grade,
consideration should be given to the student's cognitive level and readiness
for dealing with abstract concepts. Students taking Algebra I in
seventh grade this year will have Jamie McCall as a teacher regardless of
their team assignment.
TOP OF PAGE
ELECTIVES
Seventh-grade students may choose a combination
of semester and/or full-year courses from a list of Fine Arts and Related
Arts classes.
Full-Year Courses:
Intermediate Art
Intermediate Band
Intermediate Chorus
Semester
Courses:
2D Art
3D Art
AgriScience
Business
Business Communication
Computer Technology
Creative Writing
Journalism
Keyboarding (required by end of 8th grade)
Probability and Data Analysis
Technology Education
Theater Arts Exploration
Work and Family Studies
TOP OF PAGE
FACULTY & STAFF
Administration - As part of
their duties, each of the three administrators at BMS works closely with a
specific grade-level. Grade-level administrators' responsibilities
include curriculum issues, student discipline, parent/guardian contacts,
teachers evaluations, special education, and guidance.
Guidance & Counseling - To
facilitate communication and comfortable working relationships, students
are able to work with the same guidance counselor throughout their middle
school experience. Assistance is available in planning and scheduling
classes, working through problems and concerns, and arranging
parent/teacher conferences. Counselors offer crisis prevention and
intervention as well as make individual and group counseling available to
students. The guidance counselor assigned to work with seventh grade
for the coming school year is Tammy Heft.
Special Education -
BMS is an inclusive school; students with special needs are full members of
regular education classrooms. Special Education teachers and/or
instructional assistants collaborate with the regular classroom teachers in
working with heterogeneous groups of students. Special education
teachers are also members of the core teaching teams.
Faculty
- The seventh-grade faculty is rich in experience and
expertise. Teachers from each of the four teams in seventh
grade work together to provide consistency and unity in our
grade-level. There is collaboration among the teams to coordinate
grade-level field trips, activities, projects, interdisciplinary units,
themes, etc.
TOP OF PAGE
2007-2008 SUPPLY LISTS
TOP OF PAGE
FIELD TRIPS
Carefully planned field trips related to SOLs and units of study are an
invaluable complement to classroom study. Field trips allow us to
expand our classrooms and provide students with varied learning
opportunities. Through field trips, students are often able to
experience things to which they otherwise might never be exposed.
Teachers are encouraged to schedule field trips for their classes that are
both educational and enjoyable.
Field trips are an extension of our classrooms, and as such, they
reflect individual interests, strengths and style. They are as much a
part of our individuality as any other aspect of teaching philosophy and
practice. While seventh-grade teachers share the same basic philosophy of
field trips, the types of trips, the frequency of trips, and the way in
which they are conducted will differ according to the dynamics of each
unique team/class and circumstances of each trip. While field trips
often may be designed to relate to specific course goals and objectives for
a particular curriculum area, teachers are encouraged to seek opportunities
for cross-curricular and interdisciplinary activities.
Traditionally, two grade-level field trips are taken each school
year:
All seventh-grade teams have participated in field trips to the
Lyric Theater throughout the school years. Movies have been selected
by the seventh-grade teachers that correlate to the curriculum, correspond
to a recent holiday/significant event, and/or are considered
"classic" films. The Lyric Theater will accommodate the
entire grade-level at the same time.
All seventh-grade teams participate in a trip to Baltimore, Maryland
in April. The activities of this trip are planned to enhance primarily the
seventh-grade Life Science and Social Studies curricula.
|