6th - 8th Grade Curriculum
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Language Arts: The English language should be a tool with which people can express themselves skillfully and comfortably, and with which they may apply in a variety of ways. In compliance with the Common Core Standards, the Little Silver middle school curriculum enhances students’ ability to be prepared for college and career. The 6-8 grade Language Arts curriculum guide provides a resource that guides instruction through:
- Reading: Text complexity and the growth of comprehension
- Writing: Text types, responding to reading, and research
- Speaking and Listening:
- Flexible communication and collaboration
- Language: Conventions, effective use, and vocabulary
For more specific information please visit the teacher web pages.
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In September of 2013, the Little Silver Math Curriculum was adopted and aligned to the Common Core Standards. These standards, based on high quality standards from across the country, provide clarity and specify to what should be taught rather than broad general statements. The Math standards not only stress conceptual understanding of key ideas, but continually return to organizing principles such as place value and the laws of arithmetic. Additionally, the sequence of topics and the learning progression of the Common Core Standards takes into account how students’ develop mathematical thinking, skill and understanding through grades K-8. The vision of the mathematics standards is focused on achieving one crucial goal: To enable all students to acquire the mathematical skills, understandings and attitudes that they will need to be successful in college, in their careers and in daily life.
Some important key shifts in the Common Core standards include:
Greater focus on fewer topics this mean focusing deeply on the major work of each grade as follows:
- In grade 6: Ratios and proportional relationships, and early algebraic expressions and equations
- In grade 7: Ratios and proportional relationships, and arithmetic of rational numbers
- In grade 8: Linear algebra and linear functions
This focus will help students gain strong foundations in procedural skill and fluency and the ability to solve real world problems.
Coherence: Linking topics and thinking across grades
The standards provide a coherent progression from grade to grade in which new learning is built upon learning from previous years. Coherence is built into the standards to reinforce supporting and major content.
Rigor: Pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and application equally
To help students meet the rigor of the standards educators actively integrate these components into lesson planning and instruction to achieve the greatest student achievement outcomes.
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Grade 6:During the process of this course, students will be engaged in a review of ancient culture, history and geography of many civilizations. The civilizations include those of Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Students will then journey into Medieval Europe and explore the Renaissance and Reformation and will end their year with the exploration expeditions of Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa. During the course of the year, students will gain a better understanding of the cultures and regions that influence our understanding of the world today.
Grade 7: The seventh grade social studies curriculum is a one-year survey of United States history. The curriculum covers our nation’s history from the American colonies through the conclusion of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Specific units of study include the American Revolution, a study of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Federalist Era, Jeffersonian Democracy, the Jackson Era, Westward Expansion, Manifest Destiny, the Civil War and Reconstruction. In addition, we will cover the foundation and formation of American government.
Grade 8: The social studies curriculum for the Eighth Grade is a one year survey of American history from post-Reconstruction American history to the present. Specific units of study include: the settlement of the frontier west in the late 19th century, the American industrial revolution in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and the impact of immigration in the late 1800s. Other units include a look at progressive reforms (including political and social reforms), the development of the United States as a world power at the turn of the 20th century, and a study of the United States’ role in World War I and the failure of the Versailles Treaty to prevent a future world war. The prosperity of the United States in the 1920s will be contrasted with the economic depression of the 1930s. Particular attention will be given to political developments, the changing lifestyle of Americans, the role of the automobile, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and the causes and effects of the Great Depression. Next, World War II will be reviewed, including the causes, major events and results of the war. Following World War II will be a look at the Cold War, including: post war Europe, the Korean War, Vietnam War and the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. This will culminate with be an examination of the decades of the 1950s and 1960s with the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Particular emphasis will be placed on the changing American lifestyle and the Civil Rights movement. Finally, a look at the conservative revolt of the 1970s and 1980s will be studied with an emphasis on America’s leadership role in the world and the concept of the global economy. A study of the new challenges facing our nation will be covered and attention will be given to developing our students as the future leaders of America.
For more specific information please visit the teacher web pages.
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Science Education in the 21st Century "Today more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation" (Obama, 2008). With that being said, the Curriculum Department at the Little Silver Public School District has worked diligently to align the existing science curriculum to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for adoption and implementation for the start of the 2016-2017 school year. The Next Generation Science Standards will improve science education within the district and the conceptual shifts within the NGSS will ultimately increase student achievement.
The updated district curriculum reflects the shift to the NGSS Framework in which learners engage in the 3 dimensions of science education:
- Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Disciplinary Core Ideas.
Utilizing this integrated approach, student performance expectations will include a student’s ability to apply a practice to content knowledge. Focussing on the understanding and application of content in the real world opposed to the memorization of facts devoid of content.
The vision of the Framework for K-12 science education and the NGSS will include more of following:
- Facts and Terminology are learned to support arguments and reasoning just reasoning
- Systems thinking and modeling to explain phenomena
- Teachers provides guidance to facilitate student problem solving
- Student discuss open ended questions and use evidence to support claims
- Student synthesize understanding through reading multiple sources
- Students develop questions to be answered through scientific investigation
- Students written work includes journaling, reports, posters and presenting arguments
- Provisions to support all learners
For further details and information about the Next Generation Science Standards follow see the resources below.
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For information about the Encore Subjects please visit the teacher web pages.
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Little Silver School district believes in providing differentiated instruction and enrichment for all learners. During ninth period each day students rotate through eight courses of study where they are all given an opportunity to explore a variety of interests and talents. For more specific information please visit the teacher web pages.