MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM GUIDE
MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM GUIDE CONTENTS Mission of The Ethel Walker School
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English
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History and Social Science
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World Languages
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Mathematics
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Science
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Wellness
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Arts
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Faculty and Administration
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Content is subject to change.
The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
MISSION
MISSION OF THE ETHEL WALKER SCHOOL The Ethel Walker School is an independent, college preparatory, boarding and day school for girls in grades six through 12 plus a postgraduate year. Since 1911, The Ethel Walker School has excelled at preparing students to make a difference in the world. Members of this diverse community are dedicated to scholarship, the arts, athletics, wellness, and service. The satisfaction of achievement and joy of friendship are fundamental principles as the School empowers girls to lead with integrity, respect, confidence, courage, conviction, and love of learning.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
ENGLISH COURSES ENGLISH 6 Required course for Grade 6 At the sixth-grade level, students learn to read deeply, to love reading, and to begin learning how to analyze a literary work. The study of literature at our School draws upon many genres to focus largely on works about growing up and emerging into society. Texts may include: Anne of Green Gables, The Birchbark House, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Esperanza Rising, Kira-Kira, Number the Stars, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Habibi. Other texts, including poems, fables, fairy tales and essays are carefully selected to be appropriate to the age and developmental level of sixth grade girls. Teachers will challenge students to think in increasingly complex ways. Students will learn oral presentation and discussion skills in class. Each girl will begin to develop her authentic voice through a wide variety of writing assignments, including analysis, persuasive essay, fiction, poetry, and personal writing. A study of grammar complements the course, with a focus on punctuation, clarity, and word use. Art, music, and creative work of all kinds will be at the heart of the course.
ENGLISH 7 Required course for Grade 7 At the seventh-grade level, students maintain their momentum by continuing to explore the various genres of literature. We read a challenging collection of texts that has previously included To Kill A Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and The Outsiders. Other texts, including poems and essays, are carefully selected to be appropriate to the age and developmental level of seventh grade girls. Teachers strive to help girls truly love to read. Students will learn to present their work to an audience — aloud and in writing. Students continue to enhance their composition skills through a study of analytical writing, with an emphasis on the process of writing, not just the final product. In grammar, the girls explore sentence structure and mechanics to improve clarity in their own writing. Students will read beyond the curriculum in this course. They will also have many opportunities for creative writing in a wide variety of genres. 2
ENGLISH
ENGLISH 8 Required course for Grade 8 In English at the eighth grade level, independent thinking and writing play major roles, as every student is encouraged to further develop her creative and critical skills in response to literature and in preparation for secondary school. Through discussion and writing, which include analytical and personal essays designed to promote mastery of essay writing, each student is supported as she learns to express herself clearly, accurately, and fluently. In this way, student voice is at the heart of English 8. We read short fiction, novels, narrative nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Texts may include Macbeth, The House on Mango Street, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, among others.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSES HISTORY 6: ANCIENT CULTURES Required for Grade 6 Ancient Cultures emphasizes how anthropologists and historians study the past. Through discussions about prehistory, written documents, and material remains, students identify the sources that inform the study of history. This year-long course focuses on the study of ancient civilizations including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and China. In each unit, students gain an appreciation for the geography, government, art and architecture, religion, daily life, and major achievements of each civilization. With a combination of individual and group work, students learn analytical and critical thinking skills while also developing collaborative skills.
HISTORY 7: WORLD GEOGRAPHY Required for Grade 7 This course focuses on allowing our students to see how our world looks today. With the purpose of allowing our students to understand the way that geography impacts our lives, students will undertake a unit on reading and understanding maps, as well as a unit on important geography terms, including the study of geography itself, climate, and vegetation. They will then study various regions, focusing on themes of geography such as the concept of place, how trade affects an area, and the movement of people and ideas.
HISTORY 8: AMERICAN IDENTITY Required for Grade 8 The goal of this course is to identify and examine some of the people, ideas, and events that helped shape the American identity from its earliest peoples and colonial development through the Civil War. Students will explore the changing definitions of democracy, rights,
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HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
justice, and the “American Dream� in their examination of individuals and groups in early America. Using a combination of primary and secondary sources, students will strengthen their reading, note-taking, research, and writing skills. Students will be assessed on a combination of homework completion, writing assignments, unit tests, and projects.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
WORLD LANGUAGE COURSES The Middle School language program begins with a solid foundation in the fundamentals of language and a comparative study of English and Latin. In Seventh Grade, students are able to choose between French or Spanish and continue that language in Eighth Grade.
FOUNDATIONS OF LANGUAGE Required for Grade 6 Credit: 1 Foundations in Language is a sixth grade course designed to give students a strong understanding of English grammar, with an eye towards the foreign language study that will follow. The first semester sees students undertaking a rigorous survey of English grammar: parts of speech and their grammatical functions, followed by a study of phrases, clauses, and their syntactical functions in sentences. In the second semester, students learn the basics of Latin grammar, exploring the similarities and differences in English and Latin thought structures.
FRENCH 1A Open to Grade 7 Credit: 1 This course serves as an introduction to the French language through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. By the end of the year, learners will be able to talk about very familiar topics, including: themselves; the weather; their likes, dislikes, and preferences; their families and homes; and their favorite pastimes and hobbies. Learners will also discover the many places in the world where French is spoken through music, video, artifacts, and projects.
SPANISH 1A Open to Grade 7 Credit: 1 This course serves as an introduction to the Spanish language through
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WORLD LANGUAGES
reading, writing, speaking, and listening. By the end of the year, learners will be able to talk about very familiar topics: themselves; the weather; their likes, dislikes, and preferences; their families and homes; and their favorite pastimes and hobbies. Learners will also discover the many places in the world where Spanish is spoken through music, video, artifacts, and projects.
FRENCH 1B Open to Grade 8 Credit: 1 In French 1B, learners will continue to expand their vocabulary and build upon the structures they acquired in French 1A. By the end of the year, they will be able to talk about themselves and the familiar topics covered during the previous year with greater confidence and in greater complexity. They also will begin to develop narrative competency in multiple time frames as they talk about what they did in the past and what they will do in the future.
SPANISH 1B Open to Grade 8 Credit: 1 In Spanish 1B, learners will continue to expand their vocabulary and build upon the structures they acquired in Spanish 1A. By the end of the year, they will be able to talk about themselves and the familiar topics covered during the previous year with greater confidence and in greater complexity. They also will begin to develop narrative competency in multiple time frames as they talk about what they did in the past and what they will do in the future.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
MATHEMATICS COURSES FOUNDATIONS OF MATHEMATICS Students will explore practical as well as theoretical mathematics. Basic math and computational skills, problem solving, patterns, estimating, and mental math are emphasized. Topics include decimals, integers, fractions, exponents, ratios, rates, proportions, percents, measurement, graphing in the coordinate plane, and an introduction to variables, equations, inequalities, and geometry.
PRE-ALGEBRA This course is for students who have completed Foundations of Mathematics or an equivalent course. Topics include further exploration of decimals, factors, fractions, integers, exponents, ratios, proportions, and percents, as well as graphing on the coordinate plane, linear equations, algebraic expressions and integers, and solving equations and inequalities.
ALGEBRA 1 Students entering this class are expected to have studied positive and negative numbers, the basic properties of numbers, and simple equations. The course covers all topics of elementary algebra, including verbal problems, factoring, graphing of linear equations, radicals, solving linear and quadratic equations, and linear systems.
HONORS ALGEBRA 1 This course is for students who have a strong background in arithmetic facts and skills, and in elementary algebra, including positive and negative numbers, the basic properties of numbers, and simple equations. They must have demonstrated a good aptitude for mathematical reasoning. The course covers all topics of elementary algebra, including verbal problems, factoring, algebraic fractions, graphing of linear functions, radicals, solving linear and quadratic equations, systems of equations, variations, and the quadratic formula.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
SCIENCE COURSES ECOLOGY Required for Grade 6 This course is designed to introduce students to the natural world around them. Students begin the year by studying the role honeybees play in their ecosystem. Students visit the apiary on campus, build their own hive box to add to the apiary, and extract honey. Students also compete in National Geographic’s GeoChallenge, a project-based competition that challenges students to design an innovative solution to a unique environmental problem. For the remainder of the year, students explore field, forest and aquatic ecosystems inside and outside of the classroom, and the human impacts on these ecosystems.
HUMAN BIOLOGY Required for Grade 7 This course allows students to explore the structural organization of the human body from cells to organ systems. Students are introduced to the scientific method, cell theory, cell reproduction, genetics, and the human body systems. The emphasis of this course will focus on how to be healthy and how the body keeps itself healthy. Students learn how to work both collaboratively and individually. Laboratory work emphasizes making careful observations, learning correct measuring and data collection techniques, analyzing data, and discussing errors. Lab work, dissections, study skills, and current events will be integral parts of this course.
EARTH SCIENCE Required for Grade 8 This course introduces students to the many major topics of Earth Science, including weathering and erosion, plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes and geologic history. In addition, students will explore the solar system, stellar evolution, galaxies, and the origin of the universe. Through numerous inquiry-based labs students will become proficient
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SCIENCE
with the scientific method and gain valuable laboratory skills that include data collection and display, analysis, and interpretation. Students also will engage in many student-driven projects and develop essential research and communication skills as they explore topics that pique their interest.
STEAM IN ACTION 6 Required for Grade 6 This course introduces the basic concepts of coding, robotics, and engineering in an interactive environment fostering collaboration, creativity, and communication. Students will develop coding skills through the Scratch programming language, focusing on sequences, loops, and conditionals as well as exploring through their own projects. Students will further apply their programming skills through challenges utilizing Dash robot. Students also will engage in hands-on projects to gain an understanding of fundamental concepts in civil engineering, such as tension and compression, and how these forces are at work in various structures. Finally, students will explore environmental engineering through projects on environmental cleanup, water contamination, waste disposal, air pollution, and alternative energy sources.
STEAM IN ACTION 7 Required for Grade 7 This course builds on the skills in coding, robotics, and engineering developed in STEAM in Action 6. Through this hands-on, projectbased course, students will continue to develop coding skills through the Scratch programming language, focusing on functions, variables, and “for loops� as well as exploring their own project in animation. Students will further apply their programming skills through challenges utilizing Sphero robot. Students also will engage in projects to gain an understanding of fundamental concepts in mechanical engineering, such as mechanical advantage, and what that means for simple machines.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
STEAM IN ACTION 8 Required for Grade 8 This course builds on the skills in coding, robotics, and engineering developed in STEAM in Action 6 and 7. Students will apply their knowledge of sequences, loops, conditionals, functions, variables, and “for loops� by developing their own game apps in the Scratch programming language. Students will also build coding skills in HTML and CSS, culminating in a project on website design. Students will further apply their programming skills through challenges utilizing LEGO Mindstorms. Students also will develop projects to gain an understanding of fundamental concepts in electrical engineering, such as circuits and electric power.
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SCIENCE
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
WELLNESS COURSES Middle School Wellness is comprised of four units: Study Skills, Social Emotional Learning, Library and Information Studies, and Girl Talk. Each grade will rotate through these units during the academic year.
GIRL TALK The Girl Talk program is part of the Middle School Wellness Program and meets once a week for eight weeks with girls from our Upper School. Girl Talk is part of a national program with a very simple premise: high school girls mentor middle school girls to help deal with the triumphs and trials of the early teenage years.
STUDY SKILLS The Middle School Study Skills Seminar meets once a week for eight weeks. The curriculum is designed to improve study skills and testtaking strategies within the context of the class curriculum. Students participate in skill-building activities designed by SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum.
SOCIAL JUSTICE Middle School Social Justice is rooted in building communities of belonging, as students work to understand identity and stereotypes through introspection and perspective. Students explore the many ways identity is formed by reflecting on their own identities, assumptions, stereotypes, prejudice, and bias in the world.
DIGITAL LIFE In the Middle School “Digital Life” Seminar, we explore how mobile digital devices, the Internet, and social media impact the ways that we live and learn. Regardless of one’s individual technology use, we are all citizens of a digital era, and we feel the effects of the devices around us and the ways that information spreads. Through class discussions and activities, we reflect on the ways that we are both more connected
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and also disconnected because of technology. We also discuss the ways that social media impacts our identity, relationships, and future opportunities. By giving these topics careful thought now, our middle schoolers will be able to manage their digital lives well in the years ahead.
LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES In the Library and Information Studies class, students will expand their knowledge of literary forms and describe their characteristics as they read and interpret works of literature for curricular and leisure reading. Students will also identify the criteria of literary genres and award winning books with a focus on diversity and cross-cultural literature. In terms of research, students will learn to identify, evaluate, refine, and ethically integrate a variety of research media into curricular projects. With emphasis on the creation of bibliographic citations, students will also begin to develop an understanding of citation formatting and development.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
ARTS OFFERINGS MIDDLE SCHOOL DANCE Required for Grades 6-8 The Middle School Dance program concentrates on the development of technical skills, and the appreciation of the art form. An annual dance performance is included in the yearly activities.
PERFORMANCE FUNDAMENTALS Required for Grades 6-8 The Middle School theatre classes focuses on the fundamentals of dramatic performance. The classes build the necessary skills for character development, scene work, and theatre history.
MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSIC CLASSES & CHORISTERS Required for Grades 6-8 Middle School Music classes meet once per week within grade levels, and once per week as a full Middle School. The grade level class includes singing and choral activities, folk dancing, rhythm training, music theory, musical theatre/theatre exercises, sight singing, and audition preparation. There is continued emphasis on listening and skill development, as well as music appreciation. The full Middle School music meeting is called Choristers. All Middle School students participate in this choral group, which performs in the Holiday and Spring Concerts, as well as all-School Chapels.
PHOTOGRAPHY - DIGITAL IMAGE Open to Grade 7 This course is designed for 7th graders as an introduction to manipulating digital images in creative projects. The course includes collage making, photomosaics, stop motion animation, macro photography, and photo sculptures.
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PHOTOGRAPHY - DIGITAL MEDIA Open to Grade 8 This 8th Grade course is designed to follow on from the 7th Grade Digital Image course and is an introduction to aspects of digital photography, web-page construction, portfolio compilation, digital design, story-board creation, slide-show production and video production.
STUDIO ART Open to Grades 6, 8 This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of art for the 6th grade and a reinforcement of these skills for our 8th grade, in order to prepare them to advance to the next level in the upper school. Middle School Art students are guided through a variety of media, art processes and concepts. They learn how to organize their thoughts and ideas into cohesive visual expressions.
CERAMICS Open to Grades 6-7 This course is an introduction to ceramics for students in the 6th and 7th grade. Students will develop and refine their skills in the area of hand-building and wheel-throwing. They will explore a variety of decorative techniques on the clay surface as well as with the finished surface of their pottery. To increase their understanding of ceramics, students will become familiar with a working vocabulary of clay terminology.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
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FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION
FACULTY AND ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION Corina Alvarezdelugo Arts, Gallery Director Albertus Magnus College, B.F.A. Benjamin Barker Arts University of East Anglia, England, B.Sc. Clarissa Basch Director of College Counseling Bates College, B.A., Harvard University, M.Ed. Melissa Bernardo Science Eastern Connecticut State University, B.A., Wesleyan University, Ph.D. Elisa Del Valle Cardona Director of Social Justice and Inclusion Smith College, B.A., University of Massachusetts, M.A. Darrell Carrington Chair, Mathematics Washington College, B.A., Wesleyan University, M.A. Isabel Ceballos Head of the Middle School, Executive Director of Horizons Central Connecticut State University, B.A., M.A. Carol Clark-Flanagan Director of Faculty Development, History and English Cornell University, B.A.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
Mary Beth Conley Academic Support Coordinator College of the Holy Cross, B.A., Pepperdine University, M.A. Todd D’Alessandro Director of Summer Programs, Spanish University of Connecticut, B.A., Mount Holyoke College, M.A. Jade Dennett Assistant Director of College Counseling Colgate University, B.A. Mary (Mimi) Duran Associate Director of Athletics University of Maine, B.S Sarah Edson Dean of Academic Technology and Innovation Middlebury College, B.A., Harvard University, M.E. Kati Eggert Athletic Director Drew University, B.A., Southern New Hampshire University, M.S. Marissa Forde Arts Jacksonville University, B.A., University of Hartford, M.Ed. Scott Frey English Gordon College, B.A., Simmons College, M.S. Mark Fuller Director of Technology University of Rhode Island, B.A.
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FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION
Alexandra (NoĂŤl) Grisanti Latin Amherst College, B.A. Julie Greshin Science, Mathematics Tufts University, B.S., Duke University, M.S. Lee-Ann Harris Mathematics Trinity College, B.A., University of Hartford, M.Ed. Shannen Hofheimer Director of Theater University of Hartford, B.M. Nishette Isaac Dean of Digital and Library Services/Assistant Dean of Students Hofstra University, B.A., Pratt Institute, M.S., Fordham University, M.S. Edward (Nathaniel) Johnson History Furman University, B.A., Old Dominion University, M.Ed. Laurie MacAlpine Chair, Music Ladycliff College, B.S., The Hartt School, M.M. Joyce McIntyre Director of Health Services University of Massachusetts, B.S. Kathleen Minahan Chair, History Indiana University, B.A., Yale University, M.A.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
Emily (Emma) Mitchell Science Vassar College, B.A., University of Virginia, Ph.D. John Monagan Dean of Studies, History Johns Hopkins University, B.A., Drexel University, M.S. Daniele Ness Mathematics, Science University of Texas, Austin, B.S. Kristin Nicolle Head Athletic Trainer Springfield College, B.S., Keene State College, M.E. Brendan O’Dwyer History SUNY Purchase, B.A., Wesleyan University, M.A. Mallory Pasquariello History Roger Williams University, B.A., University of Leicester, M.A. Kathleen McNary Pillsbury Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life University of Connecticut, B.S., University of Pennsylvania M.S.E.d Megan Mulhern English Brown University, B.A., Middlebury College, M.A. Suzanne Piela Chair, Science University of Notre Dame, B.S., University of Minnesota, D.V.M.
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FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION
Sandra Quinlan Science SUNY, B.A., Syracuse University, M.A. Catherine Reed Chair, English American University-Paris, B.A., Brown University, M.A. Susan Riggles Registrar Bridgewater State University, B.A. Rebecca Rojano Spanish Keene State College, B.A. Chris Semk Chair, Language, French University of Pittsburgh, B.A., Indiana University, M.A., Ph.D. Julia Sheldon Science University of California at San Diego, B.S., Yale University, Ph.D. Joan Skelley Director of Counseling and Wellness Wesleyan University, B.A., Smith College, M.S., University of St. Joseph, M.A. Cheri Soule Chair, Visual and Performing Arts and Director of Dance SUNY, B.S., Eastern Connecticut State University, B.A., Smith College, M.F.A.
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The Ethel Walker School Curriculum Guide
David Thacker English Weber State University, B.A., The University of Idaho, M.F.A., Florida State University, Ph.D. Meera Viswanathan Head of School Stanford University, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Jennifer Wall Mathematics The College of New Jersey, B.A., New York Institute of Technology, M.A.
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230 Bushy Hill Road Simsbury, CT 06070 www.ethelwalker.org
