SEVENTH GRADE
As students move into adolescence, they need increased opportunity to feel the strength of their own initiative. The grade seven curriculum serves to ground the students, to inspire them to venture out toward the unknown, and to offer an introduction to their quest in life. Through their own engagement and striving in the world, students are able to develop strong feelings of sympathy and antipathy in relation to their surroundings. These feelings help shape their own perceptions and allow them to stand on their own with increased confidence.
Through the exploration of an unknown world, the seventh grade curriculum challenges the thought process of the young adolescent, leading them to discovery, understanding, and discernment. They learn, as the explorers did, that going one’s own way means leaving behind the security and stability of familiar territory.
Language Arts:
Historical novels and biographies
Tales of adventure and discovery
Stories about tribal life
Ballads, legends, and folktales
Dictation and debate
Sentence structure, clauses, and phrases
Creative writing
Contrasting moods of “wish”, “wonder”, and “surprise”
Note taking and summarizing
Longer essays and comparisons
Mathematics:
Introduction to Algebra: Equations and Integers
Graphing
Exponents and roots
Estimation and situation problems
Basic geometric theorems
Area, perimeter, and volume
Fibonacci sequence
Social Studies:
Late Middle Ages: rise of cities, nationhood, rivalry between church and state
Renaissance to 1700: rise of the merchant class
The Age of Discovery and Exploration from 1400
Biographies may include: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Francis of Assisi, Dante, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama, Columbus, Magellan, Cortez, Sir Walter Raleigh, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Lorenzo de Medici, Shakespeare, and Elizabeth I
Geography and resources of Africa and Europe
Research project comparing landscapes, resources, and cultures within Europe
Science:
Inorganic chemistry: combustion, oxidation, formation of gases, metals and nonmetals, chemical transformation, acids, bases, salts
Human physiology: the nine systems, nutrition, hygiene, and first aid
Physics: static electricity, direct and indirect current, circuits, generators, electric fields, mechanics (lever, gear, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw)
Artistic Work:
Geometric drawing
Painting: copying a Renaissance “master,” wet and dry techniques
Perspective drawing
Modeling the human hand and foot in clay
Specialty Subjects:
Gardening
Art
Games & Movement
Fiber Arts
Choir
Spanish
Orchestra/Recorder/Flute
Manual Arts
Guidance