The seventh-grade English program integrates the study of literature, writing, and grammar to teach students to communicate effectively. Students learn to appreciate a variety of literary genres and writing styles, including short stories, memoir, poetry, and drama. Throughout the course, students develop their skills in writing to become fluent and confident authors with a clear, concise, and vivid writing style. Writing samples in student portfolios include paragraphs, narratives, poetry, short stories, and expository essays. Basic grammar is reviewed and reinforced, while vocabulary skills are enhanced with a program emphasizing Greek and Latin roots. The course also includes creative writing, required outside reading, and oral presentations.

Students take two art classes and rotate on alternating days for the entire school year. Grades and comments are given for both classes.  Students choose in 7^th grade, and they choose again in 8^th grade. 

Choices for 7th grade include Band, Chorus, Strings, Visual Art, Theater, Photography/Tech Art Fusion, Creative Explorations, and Art Magazine.  Visit the Arts section of our website for details.

In seventh-grade, students bring history alive as they explore the origins of the United States, including its history, geography, culture, government, economics, and politics. Students learn the skills of a historian; sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading, to investigate historical questions. They will also explore the creation of and the structure of the American government and learn the importance of citizenship and how citizens participate in the government.

This course enables students to make connections between concrete experiences and abstract ideas within areas of mathematics. This pre-algebra program builds upon prior knowledge to dive deeper into expressions, equations, inequalities, linear functions, geometry, probability, and statistics as a foundation for Algebra I. Problem-solving is strongly emphasized as students learn to value mathematics in the world around them. Students learn to establish sequences of actions they can recall and apply to understanding concepts. Critical thinking and creative thinking are reinforced. The critical aspect of thinking is the focus in teaching students to analyze problems and to break problems down into specific components. Chromebooks, project-based learning, and mathematics competitions are used for enrichment.

Seventh-Grade Algebra I

This course is an accelerated program that challenges a select group of seventh- grade students to expand on the knowledge gained in Pre-Algebra. Relevant topics include linear equations, inequalities, polynomials, factoring, graphing linear equations, radicals, quadratics, and an introduction to trigonometry. A cornerstone of this class is that students continue to be strategic in their thinking through analyzing problems at the conceptual level. The content continuously applies and connects algebra principles with other areas of mathematics, other disciplines, and real-world applications, giving students a better understanding of how algebra is relevant to their future lives and careers. Multiple approaches to creative problem solving are valued and reinforced through communication and collaboration. Chromebooks, project-based learning, and mathematics competitions are used for enrichment.

Health Education

In grades five through eight, age-appropriate texts and resources are used to teach mental, physical, and social skills necessary to maintaining one's health. Units taught include human growth and development, evaluating health-related information, products and services, decision-making, family living, nutrition, safety and basic first aid, and environmental health.

Physical Education

The Middle School physical education program stresses physical fitness and a variety of athletic experiences. The program includes training and testing for the Cannon strength and conditioning program. Also included are units on soccer, flag football, volleyball, tennis, aerobics, cardiovascular fitness and conditioning, basketball, softball, baseball, and lacrosse. Participation is mandatory. However, students develop skills for performance at their individual levels.
 

Seventh-grade science students will observe the world around them and apply what they see to each chapter and unit that they learn throughout the year. They will be faced with questions about how the elements of the Periodic Chart and chemistry relate to the nature observed in the outdoor classroom. They will experiment with light and the electromagnetic spectrum, making connections between light is and how it impacts life on Earth. They will then take this knowledge to build their learning beyond our planet to the solar system and universe. Finally, students will study the inward workings of the human body and manipulate other animals and their anatomy during a unit on the animal kingdom and dissections. The purpose and take-away from this year in science is to see how science is not just many disciplines that are unique from each other, but a study of how everything works together, builds upon each other, and is only whole with each of these sections the students will experience.

Over the course of the seventh and eighth grades, students complete Spanish I, French I, or Mandarin I language courses that continue to meet daily and are conducted primarily in the target language. At the seventh- and eighth-grade levels, students deepen and further develop strong reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension skills.