Middle School Curriculum Guide 2024-2025 BRIDGES ACADEMY
CORE CURRICULUM
HUMANITIES HUMANITIES 7
Humanities is a blend of Social Studies and Language Arts. In the 7th grade, students will read novels, short stories, poetry, memoirs, articles, and other texts. With an emphasis on critical reading, students will improve their ability to infer main ideas and themes in readings and in history. Through creative projects, essays, and discussions, students will make wellreasoned claims supported by well-chosen evidence to demonstrate their learning.
HUMANITIES 8
In this 8th grade Humanities course, students will explore key events, ideas, and figures that have shaped U.S. history, from colonization to Reconstruction and beyond. The course will connect historical analysis with reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Students will engage with primary and secondary sources, participate in discussions, and complete creative and analytical writing assignments and projects. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of the historical foundations of the United States and how these events influence modern society.
MATH
STUDENTS PLACE INTO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH
Our Middle School Mathematics course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts needed for middle school-level math and a review of arithmetic algorithms. The course emphasizes the concepts necessary to be successful in their further mathematics studies (i.e. pre-algebra, algebra, and algebra II). The course helps students reinforce and further develop mathematical study skills, solidify learning strategies, and perform practical applications with those skills.
FOUNDATIONAL MATH
Our Foundational Math course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts needed for middle school-level math and a review of arithmetic algorithms. The course emphasizes the concepts necessary to be successful in their further mathematics studies (i.e. pre-algebra, algebra, and algebra II). The course helps students reinforce and further develop mathematical study skills, solidify learning strategies, and perform practical applications with those skills.
PREALGEBRA
Our Pre-Algebra course is an introduction to basic algebra concepts and a review of arithmetic algorithms. The course helps students develop mathematical study skills, practice new learning strategies, and emphasize the concepts necessary to be successful in Algebra I and II. Students will explore algebraic expressions and integers, solve one-step equations and inequalities, decimals and equations, factors, fractions, exponents, operations with fractions, ratios, proportions, percentages, linear functions and graphing, spatial thinking, area and volume, right triangles in Algebra, data analysis and probability, and nonlinear functions and polynomials.
ALGEBRA 1
Our Algebra 1 course is an introduction to basic algebra concepts and a review of arithmetic algorithms. The course emphasizes the concepts necessary to be successful in Algebra I and II. The course helps students develop good mathematical study skills and learning strategies. Students will explore algebraic expressions and integers, solve onestep equations and inequalities, decimals and equations,
factors, fractions, exponents, operations with fractions, ratios, proportions, percentages, linear functions and graphing, spatial thinking, area and volume, right triangles in Algebra, data analysis and probability, and nonlinear functions and polynomials.
GEOMETRY
The focus of Geometry is for students to understand the core mathematical concepts of the discipline by learning vocabulary, signs, expressions, and applications in preparation for advanced high school mathematics. Additionally, students will learn to ask appropriate and insightful questions; develop resourcefulness and problemsolving skills across the curriculum by using multiple methods; and become more comfortable with expressing their ideas through using the language of mathematics.
MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
MULTIMEDIA ART + DESIGN
Media Tech - Multimedia, Art, and Design provides students ways to explore creativity and artistic expression using a computer and several software packages. The main areas of focus include: image creation and manipulation using Photoshop; animated sequences using Adobe Animate; 3D modeling with Blender; video production and editing using iMovie; computer programming fundamentals with Scratch and Python, and website creation with HTML and CSS.
SCIENCE
SCIENCE 7
This course is designed to deepen students' understanding of key scientific concepts while enhancing their research and laboratory skills. The course structure integrates hands-on projects, experiments, lab reports, and interactive discussions to foster a comprehensive learning experience. In this course, students will learn how organisms and nonliving things are made of atoms, and how matter cycles and energy flows through ecosystems and the Earth. The course will also examine how natural processes and human activities shape Earth's resources and ecosystems. With an emphasis on phenomenon- and model-based learning, students will engage in hands-on experiments and collaborative projects to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Throughout the year, students will work on a long-term project, applying their skills to solve real-world challenges and present innovative solutions.
SCIENCE 8
This course is designed to deepen students' understanding of key scientific concepts while enhancing their research and laboratory skills. The course structure integrates hands-on projects, experiments, lab reports, and interactive discussions to foster a comprehensive learning experience. The first twelve weeks will focus on physical science, where students will engage in the engineering design process to explore topics such as astronomy, aerodynamics, and electricity and circuits. The subsequent twelve weeks will shift to life science, with a project-based approach to studying anatomy and chemical reactions.
Throughout the year, students will work on a long-term project, applying their skills to solve real-world challenges and present innovative solutions.
PERFORMING ARTS THEATRE
This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of theatre and performance. We will develop skills that promote self-confidence, problem solving, cooperation, empathy and a sense of responsibility. Students will begin with ensemble and improvisational basics which will lead to developing characters and multiple perspectives through role play, drawing attention to social issues to inspire change in attitude and behavior towards the self and others. We will then combine these lessons into scene work exploring relationships between partners, environment and culture to influence character and setting. We will introduce storytelling by classic playwrights, stage combat and the analytics of play production, and the unit will culminate in a final collaborative theatrical performance.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
MIDDLE SCHOOL FITNESS
Physical education is an integral part of the total education of every student. Physical activity helps develop health-related benefits such as fitness, physical competence, and cognitive understanding of body movement. Ultimately, students learn that they are extremely capable of adopting healthy and physically active lifestyles. Other benefits of physical activity in school include improved mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as it pertains to the development of physical skills. Being active improves self-confidence and self-esteem, reduces stress, improves judgment, and strengthens peer relationships. In addition, young people generally like physical activity because it is fun; they do it with friends; and it helps them develop skills, stay in shape, and look and feel better.
VISUAL ARTS ART
In this course students will explore various artistic techniques and mediums. Students will begin by mastering fundamentals of drawing, focusing on line, form, and composition. Next they will experiment with mixed media to experiment with texture. The painting section will cover color theory and brushwork. Finally students will engage in independent projects, where they will apply their learned skills to develop personal and creative works.
ENRICHMENT CLUSTER OPTIONS*
ARTIST’S STUDIO
BRIDGES BROADCAST NEWS
CARD + BOARD GAME CREATION
COOKING
DESIGN + MECHANICS
JAMMING, SONGWRITING, MUSIC TECH, + MORE SPORTS
*These change based on student interests
INTERSESSION
Intersession is a two week long, project-based learning experience designed around students’ interests and strengths. Students deeply explore topics while developing their skills in core academics like research, science, and writing as well as social emotional arenas like self awareness, social awareness, and conflict resolution.
Former intersession projects include “Castaway”, in which students had to figure out how to survive in specific environments such as a rain forest, Antarctica, or a tropical island by building shelters, securing food, and adapting to the ecosystem. Another experience was to produce a musical entirely written, composed, arranged, and performed by the students.
ADVISORY
Middle School advisories meet daily throughout the school year and give students the opportunity to engage in a variety of critical activities and discussions. Advisors are advocates for the students in their groups and host conferences with families, gather information about students’ strengths, and develop plans to support individual challenges. Members of the counseling team meet with advisories regularly for explicit social emotional instruction. These lessons include support with executive functioning skills, identity and friendship, understanding social cues, and health and wellness.
Middle school students work on Genius Hour projects in advisory, pursuing sustained inquiry based on their passions and interests. Once a week advisory is devoted to academic support when students can check in with teachers and get help with homework from the learning specialist. Each advisory also devotes time to reading and community announcements.