As your student moves into jr. high school, he or she will start to be more responsible for work outside of the classroom. He/she will begin to hone the skill of forming their own opinions and defending them. By asking questions, discussing instead of just reporting, and sharing what they have learned, jr. high students will learn how to come up with their own thoughts and theories by doing their own research, and bring them to the round table of the classroom to share and discuss. This paves the way for the mind to move fully from the grammar stage into the logic stage.
Social Studies:The Modern World (1900 to 2000)
Where was the Crystal Palace? Who was the Sick Man of Europe? And how did cow fat start a revolution? Year four, the final year in our first cycle, covers the major historical events of the years 1850 to the late 1990s, from the reign of England’s Queen Victoria to the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
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Topics Include:
Britains Empire West Against East British Invasions Resurrections and Rebellion The American Civil War Two Tries for Freedom Two Empires, Three Republics, and One Empire Becoming Modern Two More Empires, Two Rebellions A Canal to the East and a Very Dry Desert The Far Parts of the World Unhappy Unions The Old Fashioned Emperor and the Red Sultan Two Czars and Two Emperors Small Countries with Large Invaders The Expanding United States China's Troubles Europe and the Countries Just East China, Vietnam - and France Revolution In the Americas A Revolution Begins, and the Great War Ends |
National Uprisings
'Peace' and a Man of War The King and Il Duce Armies In China The Great Crash, and What Came of It Civil War and Invasion The Second World War The End of World War II Partitioned Countries Western Bullies and American Money Africa and China After World War II Communism in Asia Dictators in South America and Africa The Cold War Struggles and Assassinations Two Short Wars and One Long One Two Ways of Fighting The 1980s in the East and the Mideast The 1980s in the USSR Communism Crumbles--but Survives The End of the Twentieth Century |
Language Arts and Grammar
This year your student can confidently navigate through writing and grammar using a systematic approach that will build upon itself. Utilizing the Saxon Grammar and Writing as our curriculum, we believe your student will not only retain a thorough knowledge of the English language, but will also develop excellent writing skills.
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Some Topics Included:
The Paragraph Developing an Outline Brainstorming The Parts of a Complete Essay Self-Evaluation of Essays The Persuasive (Argument or Opinion) Essay The Expository (Informative) Essay The Personal Narrative The Descriptive Essay The Research Paper The Imaginative Story Writing in Response to Literature Writing in Response to Informational Text The Chapter Summary The Short Story Summary Writing a Traditional Poem Writing a Free-Verse Poem Diagraming Usage Spelling Rules |
The Period
The Comma, Quotation Marks Italics or Underline, Titles The Exclamation Mark, The Question Mark The Dash, The Hyphen The Semicolon. The Colon The Apostrophe, Ellipses Parentheses, Brackets Proper Nouns, First Word of a Sentence The Pronoun I, First Word in a Line of Poetry Titles, Outlines Direct Quotations, People Titles Family Words, School Subjects Areas of the Country, Religions, Bible, Deity Greeting and Closing of a Letter No Capital Letter The Eight Parts of Speech Sentence Structure including gerunds, infinitives, particles, and parallel structure Vocabulary Development |
Some Books That May be Covered in Literature This Year*:
*Book lists are subject to change
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Short Story Unit and Poetry Study
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Because of Win Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Short Story Unit and Poetry Study
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Because of Win Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Science
General Science is specifically designed to walk with your middle school student transitioning them from elementary courses as her or she rises up to meet their greater abilities and developing maturity. This course is taken after sixth grade and offers a broad range of scientific principles stretching from its ancient beginnings to modern day scientists. Students will learn what science is and, in a detailed and engaging way, how to utilize the proper scientific method. This course has many hands-on science experiments showing how to build upon a solid foundation by thinking more methodically, recording scientific data, and looking beyond what is already known. Earth sciences, chemistry, physics, life sciences, and environmental sciences are among the topics covered.
Topics That Are Covered:
Topics That Are Covered:
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The History of Science
Scientific Inquiry Documenting and Interpreting Experimental Results Scientific Analysis and History Earth Science--Astronomy Earth Science—Geology and Paleontology Earth Science—Meteorology and Oceanography |
General Chemistry
General Physics Life Science General Biology Marine Science Environmental Science Science and Creation |
A word about Saxon's Scope and Sequence:
Saxon 8/7 and Alg 1/2 are both considered Pre-Algebra. Algebra 1/2 was written by John Saxon for students who hadn’t previously taken pre-algebra or who had scored poorly. It moves at a faster pace than 8/7, but the material is the same. Saxon 8/7 was written by Stephen Hake. Since our school follows Joh Saxon's teaching, we teach Algebra 1/2 and not Saxon 8/7.
***Saxon also offers Geometry. This is new and not part of the original sequence written by John Saxon. This is because geometry is covered adequately by Jon Saxon in the Algebra 1 and 2 books that we use. We teach all students as if they are college bound in the area of math or science. Therefore, we teach Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Advanced Math, and Calculus and your geometry is then covered by the content found in these texts.
Saxon 8/7 and Alg 1/2 are both considered Pre-Algebra. Algebra 1/2 was written by John Saxon for students who hadn’t previously taken pre-algebra or who had scored poorly. It moves at a faster pace than 8/7, but the material is the same. Saxon 8/7 was written by Stephen Hake. Since our school follows Joh Saxon's teaching, we teach Algebra 1/2 and not Saxon 8/7.
***Saxon also offers Geometry. This is new and not part of the original sequence written by John Saxon. This is because geometry is covered adequately by Jon Saxon in the Algebra 1 and 2 books that we use. We teach all students as if they are college bound in the area of math or science. Therefore, we teach Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Advanced Math, and Calculus and your geometry is then covered by the content found in these texts.
