St. Michael School 7th Grade

 

In seventh grade, faith is first, but it followed in short order by academics, athletics, and fun. Seventh grade at St. Michael School is a challenging year that prepares us for the leadership role we'll be assuming in eighth grade. We move from classtoom to classroom and, depending on our individual schedules, can have as many as seven different teachers each day!

The Curriculum:

Religion: We use the "Creed and Prayer" segment of the Faith First religion series, augmenting the text in many different ways -- such as studying the lives of the saints, learning about the liturgical seasons, working together on school and classroom service projects, memorizing prayers, viewing and then discussing Maryknoll mission films, preparing the Stations of the Cross for the entire school on Good Friday -- and more.

Math: We prepare for the algebra we'll be taking in eighth grade.

Language Arts: A spelling/vocabulary text, Writers Choice, is used along with Daily Oral Language. Six-Trait writing and "Step Up to Writing" teach us to be increasingly better writers.

Social Studies: Our focus is on African Kingdoms, Islam, Meso-America, Japan, Medieval Europe and the Renaissaince. A trimester of Washington State History is also included in our studies.

Literature: We continue to improve our skills through use of the Accelerated Reader program and an anthology , Elements of Literature. Both novel study and a study of poetry are incorporated into our literature curriculum.

Science: We are focusing on life science -- cells, heredity, classification, plants and animals, ecology, and the systems of the human body. Labs are an important part of our science classes. This year we are each keeping a science journal/lab notebook. The seventh grade is a science fair year.

Physical Education: We have PE three periods a week, all year long, and can play on school teams -- flag football, volleyball, basketball, and track.

Electives: Seventh graders can choose between two year-long electives, advanced band or journalism. There are also three options for trimester-long electives: music history, computers, and PLAN, a study skills class.

Seventh graders have access to the Internet, to two Gates Foundation classroom computer labs, and to an automated school library with a growing collection of books.