Middle School Course Offerings

Students focus on the development of cross-curricular reading comprehension. They learn to visualize, ask higher-level thinking questions, make inferences, determine main ideas, summarize, synthesize, and make text-to-text, Biblical, and real-life connections. Reading activities include “read-alouds,” which expose students to high-level text and new vocabulary and explicitly teach comprehension strategies, independent daily reading, teacher/student conferencing, partner and small group discussions, graphic organizers, interactive journals, “Think Trix” questioning, and projects.

The class will include elements from Collaborative Classroom, Shurley Grammar and Jane Schaffer writing program, which is designed as a scaffolding technique to foster and enhance the clarity and organization of student writing. Students often struggle with the “blank page” and the Schaffer structure offers them a tangible and straightforward basis for clear, concise and insightful writing. The Schaffer format also provides for a common language to be shared across the curriculum and is meant to be used in every subject where writing is required. In middle school and high school, this common language is especially beneficial for students and teachers. Grammar skills are enhanced in a separate class.

This course is an overview of scripture and will survey the Old Testament in the fall and the New Testament in the spring. Students will read and interact daily with God’s Word, learning to identify and understand main characters, concepts, and themes. They will learn to dive in and examine details (what exactly is going on here?) as well as step back to consider the overarching significance of each passage (what does this say about God and his plan?). The narrative format of the class builds from creation and the chosen people of Israel to the grand climax of Christ’s coming to die and resurrect in order to save humanity. The course will conclude with practical application of how to live in light of this good news until Jesus returns. Throughout the course, students will have opportunities to consider and apply the truth of scripture to their own lives as they develop a faith walk of their own.

Ancient world history provides students with a global perspective that evaluates connections and changes over time. The course examines the geographical, cultural, political, and socio-economic connections among the peoples of the ancient world. Moreover, the course emphasizes critical thinking, analytical skill development and a Christian worldview to help students contemplate complex concepts with a grounding in Christian faith and values.

History class will also include student's writing prompts for nonfiction readings.

Fifth-grade science is a general science course where students will investigate Earth, Life, and Physical science concepts. The course is designed to provide an engaging discovery experience as students explore the various aspects of these content strands. Students will be empowered to think critically and creatively while being encouraged to act with courage and compassion -- all for the purpose of equipping them to have a positive impact in our ever-changing world. The enduring understandings will be connected to God, Biblical Truths, and/or a larger Christian worldview. Students will have opportunities to discover these concepts through hands-on, inquiry-based activities.

Science also includes our Coding with Color curriculum as part of the school's STEAM initiative.

Sixth Grade Reading and Writing is an interactive process that involves thinking, questioning, discussing, rereading, and responding to texts. In Making Meaning lessons, carefully selected nonfiction and fiction read-aloud texts provide a platform for rich discussions as students encounter increasingly complex texts and build vocabulary. Lessons intentionally integrate academics with social skill development, creating an environment where students learn to collaborate, agree, and disagree respectfully and take responsibility for their own learning.

We use the Jane Schaffer writing program, which is designed as a scaffolding technique to foster and enhance the clarity and organization of student writing. Students often struggle with the “blank page” and the Schaffer structure offers them a tangible and straightforward basis for clear, concise and insightful writing. The Schaffer format also provides for a common language to be shared across the curriculum and is meant to be used in every subject where writing is required. In middle school and high school, this common language is especially beneficial for students and teachers. Grammar skills are enhanced in a separate class.

This course weaves the study of biblical worldview together with the study of Christian leadership. The course will be an ongoing examination of various worldviews alongside a survey of godly leadership traits, with the goal of learning how to identify biblical truth and lead others toward it.

Students will use John Maxwell’s 21 Qualities of Leaders in the Bible to analyze biblical figures who demonstrated leadership, to discuss how to stand for truth in an ever-changing world, and to be challenged on how to grow personally in a student’s area of influence. Students will learn about historical Christian leaders and watch films related to the leadership traits being studied.

Units will conclude with a project that analyzes the implementation of those traits in a real-life setting. Throughout the course, students will build a portfolio of profile pages highlighting known or historical leaders. As a means of practical application, students will be given the opportunity to implement leadership skills through an ongoing mentor partnership with the children of the Murray Academy (PreK3-4) on campus.

In the second half of first-year Latin, we will continue to hone skills related to Latin nouns and verbs, but add some aspects of adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. There will be a variety of cultural lessons as well, ranging from Roman politics to religion to dining practices. The students will continue to augment their knowledge of English by careful examination of Latin and Greek roots daily. This course covers lessons 11-20 in the textbook Jenney’s First Year Latin.

Students who successfully complete Latin 1B will be promoted to Latin 2 as ninth graders.