One of the highlights of the seventh grade curriculum is a general science class, The Way Things Work. This class consists of missions that are built around challenges from the real world. For instance, teams of students learn that they have been commissioned by a city in upstate New York to design a plan regarding which type of energy that city should use. They study actual data about this particular city and its needs, and then engage in a debate about what type of energy the city should generate: windmills, solar power, and so on.
Sample Classes for 7th Grade
Point of View
Integrated English Language Arts and Multimedia – 7th Grade
7th grade Point of View focuses on building students’ literacy skills through an exploration of literature and multimedia resources. Students read a range of texts, including fiction, non-fiction, drama, and poetry, and produce projects that build on their analytical and creative skills. They begin the year by analyzing memoirs and writing their own creative nonfiction, move on to investigating how communities and movements form through the lens of historical fiction and nonfiction in Trimester 2, and end the year with an exploration of drama and Shakespeare’s works.
Being, Space and Place
Integrated Social Studies and English Language Arts – 7th Grade
7th grade Being, Space and Place curriculum studies the geography, history, culture, political and economic development of the United States of America. Students begin the year by taking on the role of spies for the King of England, in which they will examine the events leading up to the American Revolution and finish the year by being museum curators that examine the factors that lead to the outcome of the Civil War.