The 6th Grade English class bases its curriculum on those precise ideals. The text we adopted, the Great Books’ to Be a Hero series, compiles numerous engaging, thought-provoking short stories and poems. These stories are first read aloud while your child annotates his or her responses. Then each student re-reads the story or poem independently, creating questions throughout. Finally, we embark on the shared inquiry journey, in which we discuss the students’ and teachers’ questions as they relate to our lives and to the world at large. All along we work on essential reading strategies, vocabulary, and analysis. Sixth grade students will also respond to these stories in writing, for as our philosophy states, as our students learn to speak and write with precision, they learn to think with correctness. Students will write a variety of styles and genres, including poetry, narratives, and persuasive paragraphs and essays.

The 7th grade English course explores the individual’s place in society and the world through the study of classical and modern literature. Much of the course focuses on the development of close reading and analysis skills. Students investigate a variety of texts, including works by Shakespeare, Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Munro, Shirley Jackson, William Saroyan, Doris Lessing, Ray Bradbury, and others. Clear and stylistic written expression in the form of essays, short stories, memoir, and poetry is another focal point. The work of the course is supplemented with weekly vocabulary and grammar study.

Seacrest Country Day School’s English Department believes that literature, at its best, is a social art. We read aloud, we read slowly and deeply, we read suspiciously. Then we reread and respond. We read to fuel intellectual engagement with the world at large.

In the 2020-2021 Eighth Grade English class, students will both read and write a variety of styles and genres, focusing on writing a novel during the first quarter of the school year. We will then begin our analytical reading section of the course, where we will encounter an iconic Middle School text, To Kill a Mockingbird, and a Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, along with a good deal of poetry, short stories, and other genres.

Geography is a cross curricular course of study and exploration. It is an explanation of the themes of Individual Identity, World Identity, and Culture. While investigating the Five Themes of Geography: Location, Place, Human/Environment Interaction, Region, and Movement, students incur historic and current events, make connections, and apply concepts to their studies and everyday lives.

Geography is the study of the Earth and everything on it. This course of study provides students opportunities to make self and world-discoveries, as they read, discuss, research, and share knowledge and ideas. The students respond to essential questions. How does geography influence the way people live?

The 7th Grade History course begins with the colonization of North America and works towards the Civil War. Class discussions, cause and effect, Constitutional overview, through research, essay writing and class presentations are the focus and manner in which material is shared and the subject engages the middle school historians.

The 8th Grade U.S. History picks up where Seventh Grade left off, beginning with a review of the Civil War and its outcomes. Students are then immersed in a study of asking whether or not the Civil War resolved the issues of slavery and race in the U.S., tracing the evolution of these issues up to the Civil Rights Movement. Students then study the growth of the United States into an industrial and global power while addressing the challenges of that growth. Frequent debates, research projects, writing, and primary source analysis are utilized to develop student's history skills.

The 6th grade Math course focuses on the final product of number sense enhancement and true understanding. This is an important culmination of the foundational learning that supports our students when they encounter algebra, geometry, trig, and calculus. We will focus on number classification, equivalencies, ratios, proportions, per cents, fractions, number connections to everyday life, stats, understanding probability and basic geometry.

The Algebra One course is intended to build a strong mathematical foundation for the students. We will begin with algebraic expressions, rational numbers, and mathematical properties. The study of equations, inequalities, and their graphs will lead us to exploring functions, exponents, quadratics, systems, radicals, polynomials and factoring, rationales and exponentials.

In this course, the 8th grade students are introduced to algebraic concepts which will provide them with a strong foundation and number sense in preparation for the pace and intensity of the upper school math courses. Problem solving, algebraic reasoning, estimation and precision, and connections between algebra and everyday applications will be emphasized throughout the course. Students will learn to utilize the graphing calculator in appropriate situations.

During this class, the students will learn fundamentals of the scientific process as well as the core concepts of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. Each student will develop research skills and learn proper lab procedures. Throughout this course, students will be exposed to the fundamentals of the science subjects that they will see throughout their education while affording them time to answer their questions about the world of science.

Students will learn fundamentals of the scientific process as well as the core concepts of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. Each student will develop research skills and learn proper lab procedures and practices. Throughout the course students will be asked to research and report on topics associated with the curriculum. At times the work will be in a collaborative format allowing team work to improve the understanding of the material.

Science will give students a better understanding of the world around them and how they interact with it. The 8th science program introduces students to a wide range of study including Chemistry, Biology, Ecology, Limnology, and Physics. Students will participate in projects and labs for each topic area including at least one coordinated lab in collaboration with another grade level.

In the 6th grade the students take a full year of Spanish with a focus on exposure, exercises in dialogue and vocabulary. Readings, presentations, music and games are all used to engage the students in Spanish.

In the 7th grade the students have an option to continue with Spanish or explore the French language. The Spanish and French classes offer an introductory program designed to teach a more effective way to communicate with relevant vocabulary and essential grammatical structures. Cultural projects are infused throughout the year and support the students with the four basic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), this course offers visual context and activities that the students can relate to their own language.

The 8th grade programs continue to prepare the students for a world in which foreign languages became a necessity, this course provides them with a new approach to learning. The students are encouraged to participate in a variety of authentic exercises and they engage in team activities, visual displays, role-playing and assignments that will prepare them to become advance learners.

Art is a form of visual communication; therefore, students will continually reflect their thoughts (both written and verbal) on the work of other artists, cultural art traditions, art criticism, and art history. Designed so that students will experiment with a variety of media to create visual art and reflect on the process. They will also explore a variety of tools, techniques, and media that provides them with the foundation necessary to expand into more specialized areas. Some examples of the specialized areas include but are not limited to: photography, 3D modeling, graphic design, creative writing, virtual reality, and creative film making. Students will explore the elements of art (line, shape, space, color, value, texture, and form) and are studied in two dimensional and three- dimensional work. Students will begin to apply the principles of design, (rhythm, pattern, balance, contrast, unity, proportion, and harmony) in their art making practices.

Middle School Physical Education/Health is a course in which the students meet one day a week for health and three days a week for Physical Education. In Physical Education, students are provided the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in individual as well as team-based sports and activities. The course consists of the following sports/activities, but is not limited to: Fitness Conditioning, Soccer, Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, Ultimate Football, Diamond Sports, Basketball, Volleyball as well a variety of other games and activities. Students are assessed throughout the year in fitness, skill and knowledge of rules of games. Class objectives focus on the Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor, domains.

In Health, students learn about exercise, nutrition, healthy social habits, quality relationships, stress management, environment, substance abuse, sustainability and community outreach. Knowledge in these areas is applied to management of a quality life. The learning environment is enhanced through projects, journals, group dialogs, guest speakers and audio-visual presentations.