1314 curriculum guide

Curriculum Guide 2013/2014

The LWGMS curriculum is designed to cultivate intellectual curiosity and a drive to social action in each LWGMS girl. In a safe and supportive environment that challenges each girl to reach her potential, experienced teachers guide our students to develop the self-confidence to meet the many social, emotional, physical, and academic changes of early adolescence. The program is designed to be hands-on and experiential, with collaborative learning, projects, oral presentations, and class discussions used to ensure that every girl strengthens her voice as she learns. At the heart of the curriculum is a commitment to social justice. Through social justice learning goals that thread through each subject and a focused, engaging service learning program, girls at LWGMS learn that each of them has the power to effect change in the world.

The curriculum at LWGMS is interdisciplinary where appropriate, and it focuses on each subject individually with teachers who are experts in their subject areas. The core academic curriculum includes humanities, math, science, and Spanish. The fine arts are considered a valuable essential; every LWGMS student takes at least 90 minutes of visual art per week all year and every LWGMS student performs in at least one full-scale drama production every year. Additionally, students cycle through three enrichment classes, which are creative writing, drama, and STEAM.

Beginning in sixth grade, students develop skills to identify and interpret information, organize data, produce research projects, and evaluate their own final product. Using a wide variety of print and electronic sources, students conduct research in all disciplines. Computers become tools that all students know how to use with ease and confidence. Students reinforce basic computer skills as they apply them to authentic core curriculum activities. Skills reinforced include keyboarding and word processing; creating spreadsheets, charts, and graphic organizers; using the Internet; creating digital media such as animation and film; graphic design, and working with robotics platforms.

Every student is a member of a small, multi-grade Respect and Responsibility Advisory Group. Lead by faculty and staff advisors, R&R groups comprise “big sisters” and “little sisters” who meet on a weekly basis.

All students are required to take physical education, in classes designed to teach girls about health, self-confidence, and positive body image. Additionally, a full range of athletic opportunities is offered after school (soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and field, and ultimate frisbee) and most LWGMS girls participate in at least one sport at school per year.

Many opportunities are also available to explore individual interests through extracurricular activities such as robotics, musical groups, drama, dance, and numerous other clubs.

Science

6 Life ScienceCaitlin Ronning

7 Systems and Global PerspectivesKirsten Rooks

8 Earth ScienceKirsten Rooks

Math

6 MathNisha Nathani P’16

7 Geometry and MeasurementNisha Nathani P’16

8 AlgebraCaitlin Ronning

Spanish

6 SpanishJacquie Tilden

7 SpanishJacquie Tilden

8 SpanishCharito Sotero P’08

Humanities

6 HumanitiesLindsey MutschlerChelsea McCollum

6 Writing WorkshopEva McGough P’16

7 HumanitiesLindsey MutschlerChelsea McCollum

8 Social StudiesJenny Zavatsky

8 Language ArtsEva McGough P’16

Visual Art

6 Visual ArtLindsey MutschlerChelsea McCollum

7 Visual ArtLindsey MutschlerChelsea McCollum

8 Visual ArtLindsey Mutschler

Performing Art

Fall Term PlayJenny Zavatsky, Jacquie Tilden

Winter Term PlayJenny Zavatsky, Jacquie Tilden

8th Grade PlayPatricia Hearn

Stage CrewJan Frederick P’09, ’14

Enrichment

Creative Writing Eva McGough P’16, Jacquie Tilden

STEAM Caitlin Ronning. Chelsea McCollum

DramaJenny Zavatsky

Physical Education

FitnessMeredith Mathews YMCA

DanceHeather Harris P’12, ’15

Martial ArtsQuantum Martial Arts

Yoga and Body ImageMary McGough

After School Programs

Academic Resource CenterCristina Parades

FuerzaBOTSKirsten Rooks, Cristina Parades

DanceHeather Harris P’12, ’15

Print Yearbook/Video YearbookCaitlin Ronning

Glee ClubJoe Orlando P’14, Anne Gienapp P’14

Overview

The academic program comprises:

Science Sixth GradeStudents will understand the fundamentals of science by observing, questioning, hypothesizing, and testing. Students will learn how each form and process of life is connected to and dependent on others around it. We will study how plants and animals play a part in the complex web in nature. They will learn about food webs and the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles–all examples of nature recycling the finite amount of matter in our world. This will lead into a discussion and service learning project focusing around natural resources and local pollution issues. In the spring, students will study the Earth’s structure and how it was formed.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• Why do biologists classify organisms?• What are the differences among

bacteria, viruses and protists?• What is a plant and how does it

reproduce?• What are the different types of animals

and how do they differ?• What is the role of muscles?• How do animals reproduce?• What are the types of animal behavior?

• How do living things affect one another?

• How do adaptations help an organism survive?

• How does energy move through an ecosystem?

• How do people use our natural resources?

• What causes outdoor and indoor pollution?

• How has energy use changed over time?

• What is the structure of the Earth?

• How do rocks form?• How do moving plates change

the Earth’s crust?• Why do earthquakes occur

more often in some places than in others?

• How does a volcano erupt?

Content • Classification• Plant structures• Animal body plans• Vertebrate diversity• Animal movement• Animals food cycles• Patterns of behavior

• Biomes• Ecosystems• Biotic and abiotic factors• Biogeography• Energy flow and food chains• Natural resources• Population growth• Waste disposal and recycling• Renewable sources of energy• Conservation

• Earth’s system• Convection• Mantel• Sedimentary rocks• Rock cycles• Forces in the Earth’s crust• Plate tectonics

Skills • Identifies and describes plant parts and their functions.

• Describes the major groups of vertebrates and invertebrates.

• Constructs and understands models, maps and diagrams, including a branching tree diagram and a taxonomic key.

• Understands the biotic and abiotic parts of the ecological system and how they influence each other and the whole system.

• Identifies and understands a food chain and food web.

• Describes the affects of humans and over population on natural resources.

• Understands the main parts of the Earth’s system.

• Identifies and labels types of rocks.

• Describes the Theory of Plate Tectonics.

• Describes the stages of volcanic activity.

Assessment • Basic microscope quiz• Vertebrate mobiles• Taxonomic key model• Daily homework• PowerPoint presentation• Quizzes and tests• Lab reflections

• Design thinking: solution to pollution

• Presentations of dioramas, skits, and design thinking prototypes

• Daily homework• Quizzes and tests• Lab reflections

• STEAM: Presentations of models and demonstrations

• PowerPoint presentations• Daily homework• Quizzes and tests• Lab reflections

Science

6

Activities • Microscope viewings• STEAM: Building vertebrate mobiles• STEAM: Student teaching PowerPoints• Alien taxonomic keys• Keep an interactive notebook

• Keep an interactive notebook• STEAM: Student teaching

PowerPoints• STEAM: Design and build a

diorama of a biome• Design Thinking: solution to

pollution• Create a skit to represent animal

interactions

• Keep an interactive notebook• STEAM: Student teaching

PowerPoints• Turn in and correct

homework daily• STEAM: Design and build a

model that can represent a natural disaster

• Create and present a peer-teaching PowerPoint

Social Justice Learning Strands

• Attribute Awareness: Interprets data about groups of things, of people, etc., using graphic mathematical representation.

• Sustainability and Stewardship: Develops deeper understanding of participation in systems (family, classroom, community, ecological); demonstrates strategies for re-using resources; suggests or “invents” devices/strategies that would make the world better and solve problems; largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.

• Self and Community Membership: Identifies community needs; volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects).

• Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support of classroom rules and procedures.


• Sustainability and Stewardship: Develops deeper understanding of participation in systems (family, classroom, community, ecological); largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.

• Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects); growing understanding of nature and of self as part of nature.


• Sustainability and Stewardship: Largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.

• Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects).


Science Seventh GradeThis course provides a strong foundation in science content and skills for the girls’ future science classes in high school and beyond. However, another equally important purpose of science at this level is to instill in the students an interest, and hopefully even a passion, for the subject. Students at LWGMS learn that they are scientists right now as long as they question the world around them and work to discover the answers to those questions.

The whole year of seventh grade science is connected to the study of the human body. The first unit is the chemistry of what makes up the human body as well as all matter. Students learn that the differences between materials are due to the make-up and arrangement of the molecules in those materials. They become familiar with the structure of the atom and the arrangement of the periodic table. The unit closes with lessons on the “chemicals of life” – proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and amino acids – to understand that the same chemicals that make up water, the chairs they are sitting on, and the sandwiches they eat for lunch also make up their own bodies.

In the second unit, students study the structure and function of our cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems as parts of a larger, more complex bodily system. Through experimentation and research, they study the structures and functions of the digestive, excretory, circulatory, and respiratory systems in order to understand how our cells receive nutrients and oxygen and get rid of waste and carbon dioxide. They study the nervous system and the sense organs to learn how our bodies receive and react to stimuli. The study of the endocrine system informs them of our bodies’ system to regulate long-term changes in our bodies including puberty and pregnancy.

The third unit focuses on the study and function of our genes. Students use some of their own physical characteristics to understand the laws that govern inheritance. They will also come to know what is called the “Central Dogma of Biology” which states that our unique strands of DNA are responsible for manufacturing specific proteins which, in turn, create our individual characteristics.

In genetics, students have learned the fundamentals of how our genes are responsible for creating the specific characteristics that make us who we are; in the fourth unit, evolution, students focus on how the forces of nature help select the specific genetic variations that most benefit each species. In this way, they see the how the interactions between the environment and the different species drove the 3.5 billion-year-old history of life - including human evolution.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• What are we made of? • What determines if something

sinks or floats? • Why do substances change

when heat is added or taken away?

• What is an atom? • Why are the elements arranged

the way they are on the periodic table?

• How is a chemical reaction different from a physical reaction?

• How do atoms combine to make new substances?

• Why do we use water to dissolve so many things?

• What kinds of molecules make living things?

• How are plants like chemical factories?

• What is happening in the world of science today?

• What careers are based on science?

• Where does a developing chick get the materials that become its tissues?

• What is the foundation of human biology?

• Which chemicals make up our cells? • How do the different organ systems

work to maintain human life? • How do our cells get the necessary

chemicals - nutrients, water and oxygen - they need to survive?

• How do we receive and react to information from the world around us?

• How does our body control its own development and reproduction?

• Why do we resemble our parents, and yet we are different from them and our siblings?

• What is DNA, and how is it able to control how we are?

• How do science labs use biotechnology to conduct experiments?

• How can we E coli bacteria glow in colors through genetic transformation?

• Who was Charles Darwin, and what events led to his ideas on evolution?

• What are the driving forces behind evolution?

• How has life evolved over the course of the earth’s history?

• How have humans evolved and migrated?

7

Content • Molecules in matter• Movement of molecules and

states of matter• Mass, volume, and density of

materials• Sub-atomic particles in atoms• Characteristics of elements

and the periodic table• Chemical and physical

reactions• Covalent and ionic bonding• The water molecule• Molecules of life• The chemistry of

photosynthesis• Current events

• The formation of an egg and the development of a chick

• Types of cells in the human body• Four basic types of tissue -

connective, epithelial, nervous, and muscle - and how they work together to make organs

• The structure and function of the organs in the digestive, excretory, circulatory, and respiratory systems

• How organ systems contribute to and rely on a greater system

• The structure and function of the nervous and endocrine systems and how they regulate the body

• The role of the endocrine system on puberty and reproduction.

• The relationship between chromosomes, DNA, genes and physical characteristics

• Heredity• Dominant and recessive genes• Structure of DNA and RNA• Transcription and Translation

(protein synthesis) • Biotechnology: Learning how to use

micropipettes, gel electrophoresis, and bacterial transformation

• Darwin and the development of his theory of evolution, survival of the fittest, and natural selection

• Time line of the history of the earth and of life

• The significance of species “fitting” their environment or face extinction

• Evolution of hominids• Environmental factors that drove

the evolution of particular hominid characteristics

Skills • Calculating the volume, mass and density of solids, liquids, and gasses. Using evidence to predict which substances float and sink

• Using evidence from labs to create a model that outlines what happens to solids, liquids, and gasses when heat is added or taken away

• Identifying and communicating the structure of an atom of different elements

• Studying the patterns of different families of elements and predicting how these elements will react with others.

• Constructing an explanation of simple chemical reactions based on the electron configuration of various elements

• Identifying the basic chemicals of life - proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and amino acids - and some of their roles in living creatures

• Conducting a lab to demonstrate the chemical changes that occur during photosynthesis

• Developing scientific literacy by reading and writing about current scientific events

• Researching the formation the egg and development of the chick

• Using a microscope to see different tissue samples

• Making drawings of samples in a microscope

• Creating an explanation for how the structure of an organ supports its function

• Developing a model that explains how food is rearranged into nutrients that can be used by the body

• Developing and carrying out an experiment that shows the connection between the respiratory and circulatory systems

• Researching a sense organ and communicating to the class how we receive information about our world through that sense

• Identifying the cause and effect nature of the endocrine system on puberty and reproduction

• Analyzing and creating Punnett Squares to predict heredity

• Creating imaginary beasts whose characteristics are based on their inheritance of dominant and recessive genes

• Recreating transcription and translation (protein synthesis) with models

• Biotechnology: Using a micropipette to measure minute amounts of liquids

• Using gel electrophoresis to separate dyes and DNA

• Conducting bacterial transformation

• Identifying environmental pressures, both beneficial and deleterious, and relating their cause and effect on the evolution of a species

• Analyzing certain physical characteristics of different hominids – brain cavity, hip, foot, hand, and jaw structure and explaining how these evolved to result in modern humans

Assessment • Lab report to find the mass, volume and density of various substances

• A model that explains what is happening at a molecular level to substances when heated and cooled

• Weekly review quizzes • Larger unit tests• Models of different atoms based

on the information provided in the periodic table

• The design and execution of an experiment to test whether chemical reactions release or absorb energy

• Evidence-supported prediction of how various elements will react based on their electron configurations

• Lab report: photosynthesis lab• Guided reflections on current

events• Participation in class discussions

on current events

• Explanation of the formation of the egg and development of the chick

• Microscope practical - identify different types of tissues in prepared microscope slide

• Weekly review quizzes• Test on structures and functions of

organs of the digestive, excretory, respiratory, and circulatory systems

• Model that explains how essential nutrients, water, and oxygen get to the cells that need them to survive

• Lab report on circulatory and respiratory system lab

• Test on parts of the nervous system• Presentation: sense organ• Written explanation of the effects of

the endocrine system on puberty and reproduction

• Test on inheritance with Punnett Squares and dominant and recessive genes

• Model of DNA• Weekly review quizzes• Carry out transcription and

translation using a paper model• Test on DNA and protein synthesis• Lab reports on gel electrophoresis

and bacterial transformation• Written explanation of Darwin’s

theory of natural selection• Evodots lab report• Quiz on evolutionary advantages of

different types of animals• Final evolution test• Model that shows the comparison

of different hominids and explanation of the environmental pressures that led to their changes

Activities • Group-based work• Density of liquids and solids lab

Demonstration • Create model with group

showing how heating and cooling substances affects them at a molecular level

• Create models of atoms with m&ms

• Activity to identify the atomic structures of the first 20 elements

• Design and carry out lab to determine endothermic and exothermic chemical reactions

• Demonstration to understand electron configuration of different families of elements

• “Bond with a classmate” activity to learn about covalent bonding

• Design and carry out labs on photosynthesis to determine what chemical reactions occur

• Group-based work• Research the formation of the egg

and the development of the chick• View different cells and tissue

samples through the microscope and draw and label these samples.

• Various labs – heart rate and blood pressure, reaction time, and lung capacity

• Conduct nutrient labs on various foods

• Dissect a beef heart• Watch Discovery Channel and PBS

videos on heart attacks• Dissect a sheep brain• Research and present information on

a sense organ• Watch Discovery Channel videos on

puberty and pregnancy

• Watch PBS/NOVA’s Secret of Photo 51 about Rosalind Franklin and the discovery of the DNA molecule

• Extract DNA from a banana• Create Punnett Squares to

determine the likelihood of inheriting certain characteristics

• Watch PBS/NOVA’s Cracking the Code of Life about the Human Genome Project

• Use biotechnology equipment from Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center to carry out gel electrophoresis and bacterial transformation

• Watch PBS Evolution series on the life and theories of Darwin

• Read portions of The Voyage of the Beagle by Darwin

• Utilize evodots computer simulation of natural selection and changing populations

• Create 46.5 meter-long timeline of the earth’s history with key evolutionary benchmarks;

• Make map of the evolution and migration of hominid species

• Measure life-size photos of hominid skulls to analyze how they changed over time


● Attribute Awareness: Develops ability to take greater responsibility for own learning. Understands that mastery of content is the greater goal. Retakes assessments or rewrites work until mastery is demonstrated.

● Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates comfortable, empathetic interaction with people of diverse learning styles, abilities and intelligence,

● Self and Community: Develops responsibility to group and practices methods to work efficiently and collegially.

● Stewardship: Develops deeper understanding of participation in systems (family, classroom, community ecological); largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.

● Attribute Awareness: Shows growing understanding of own body, anatomically, biologically, and spatially; Learns the processes in which our bodies receive and act on outside information.

● Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates consistent “manners” in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations.

● Sustainability and Stewardship: Largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.

● Point of View: Developing ability to describe and attribute different opinions/perspectives; identifies perspectives that have changed/held constant during history.

● Attribute Awareness: Can define self using some standard language; demonstrates ability to list ways she is “different from” as well as “the same as” peer group, society at large, parent(s)/guardian(s), etc.; understanding of variation within a group and among groups grows; can describe attributes of own learning style.

● Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates consistent “manners” in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations.

● Fairness and Justice: Begins to demonstrate philosophic thought, may talk/learn about creation, religion, death.

Science Eighth GradeMiddle school science at LWGMS provides a strong foundation in science content and skills for the girls’ future science classes in high school and beyond. However, another equally important purpose of science at this level is to instill in the students an interest, and hopefully even a passion, for the subject. LWGMS students learn that they are scientists right now as long as they question the world around them and work to discover the answers to those questions.

The study of Earth and Space Science in eighth grade uses local geologic, weather, and environmental issues to illustrate the effects of those topics on a global, or even universal, level. The students begin the year by analyzing the rocks and minerals that make up local geologic features to deduce how and when these features were made. They learn that Washington State’s physical geography, including its tendency toward earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, has been created by the greater structures and forces that dictate the Earth’s geology. They witness some of these geologic formations first hand through field trips and documentary films.

To study oceans, students focus on the issue of ocean acidification, a phenomenon born of the release of excessive carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Using inquiry methods and working in small groups, the students discover many elements of oceanography including the structure, chemistry, and ecology of the oceans and the effects these have on the rest of the planet.

In term two, students see that local weather patterns and global climate patterns clearly illustrate the interaction among many elements of a much larger system. Students not only learn about the factors that affect local Washington climate and weather, they learn about the factors that contribute to global warming and the projected effects of rising worldwide temperatures.

In the spring, eighth graders show the school community and guest mentors in the STEM fields that that they are scientists themselves--by researching, creating, conducting, analyzing, and presenting a long-term science fair project at the STEAM Fair. Concurrently, they also study sexual health. While discussing sexuality, pregnancy, STDs, and peer influences, students examine their own and their families’ views on such matters.

For the final unit, students learn that the Earth is part of the larger systems of the Earth, Sun and Moon; our Solar System; our Galaxy, and our Universe. As the focus of the material gets broader, the students examine their own conceptions of time and space in order to discuss and debate the origin and future of the Universe.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• How do geologists know the age and origin of landforms in Washington State?

• How are different types of rocks created and what do they tell you about how the land was formed?

• Why are there so many volcanoes and earthquakes in WA State?

• What forces within and outside the earth create the geologic features that we see?

• How are greenhouse gasses affecting the oceans?

• How do our oceans affect our climate?

• What is happening in the world of science today?

• What careers are based on science?

• Why is warm in Seattle in July and cold in January, yet in Chile, it is cold in July and warm in January?

• What causes our seasons and climate?

• What is causing global warming and how will it affect the earth?

• What scientific issue would I like to learn more about through research and experimentation?

• How can I create and implement an experiment to test my question?

• Sexual Health: What is happening to me physically, socially, and emotionally as I grow up?

• How can I analyze my science experiment results and present my findings to others?

• Sexual Health: How do I navigate the difficult world of adolescence and adulthood?

• How was our solar system made, and what is it like?

• Why don’t planets just fly away from or crash into the sun?

• How do humans explore the heavens?

• How did the ancient astronomers use simple observations to make conclusions or predictions about the earth and sky?

• What are stars and how are they created?

• What is the universe? How was it created and how will it end?

8April 10, 6pm

Fair

Content • Types of rocks and minerals and how and where they were formed

• Geologic landforms of Washington State especially the formation of the Columbia Plateau and the massive flooding during the Ice Age

• Field trip to see the geology of Eastern Washington

• The structure of the earth, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes

• The ocean environment, chemistry, and currents

• Current events that relate to any science subject

• The effect of the sun and moon on the earth

• The causes of climate – latitude, altitude, proximity to water, air currents

• The causes of global warming• The scientific process and co-

variant experiments• The parts and processes of creating

and carrying out a science fair experiment

• Writing a research paper/lab report for the experiment

• Analyzing the data from the experiment

• Sexual Health: physical elements of puberty and pregnancy

• Analyzing and presenting data from science fair project

• Creating a visual and oral presentation on their findings

• Sexual Health: the social and emotional elements of adolescence and adulthood

• The structure of the sun• The planets of the solar system• Kepler’s and Newton’s laws of

motion and how they apply to planetary motion

• The life cycle of stars• The Big Bang Theory• Theories of the structure and

evolution of the universe

Skills • Identifying rock based on physical characteristics

• Creating explanations of the origins of landforms based on their rocks

• Applying information about geologic processes from class and books to the real-life setting of the Columbia Plateau

• Creating a model that explains the how structure of the earth leads to plate tectonics, to subduction zones, volcanoes and earthquakes

• Mineral tests and specific gravity tests on rocks

• Developing scientific literacy by reading and writing about current scientific events

• Creating and carrying out an experiment to test the results of excess CO2 in the oceans

• Using maps and models, predicting where certain climate regions would exist

• Tracking sunrise, sunset, and height of sun data to correlate it to the seasonal weather

• Creating a model of the causes of climate based on experiments and research

• Researching and preparing for part in a mock town-hall style debate on the best response to global warming

• For STEAM Fair, carrying out research that incorporates primary, secondary and tertiary resources

• Creating a co-variant experiment with veracity by incorporating controlled variables, constants, and numerous trials

• Implementing the experiment with the required skills (ex. measuring, growing bacteria, creating a survey, dilutions, etc.)

• Sexual Health: understanding the physical changes of puberty and pregnancy

• Gathering, analyzing, and presenting data

• Critiquing an experiment to make necessary changes or repeat trials

• Writing a research paper and lab report

• Presenting an experiment, data and results both visually and orally

• Sexual Health: discussing and reflecting on social and emotional issues related to adolescence

• Conducting physics experiments about gravity and motion

• Presenting the steps in the evolution of stars

• Using evidence about red and blue shift of light to explain the explain the expansion of the universe

• Creating a model of the life cycle of stars based

• Researching theories of the creation and eventual destruction of the Universe

Assessment • Group project to research and create a video about a particular aspect of the creation of the Columbia Plateau

• Rock ID test• Lab reports on mineral tests

and the specific gravity of rocks• Lab report on ocean

acidification• Weekly quizzes• Chapter tests• Reading and writing about

current scientific events

• Model and written explanation of how latitude and proximity to a large body of water affects climate

• Weekly quizzes• Lab reports• Each step in the science fair process

– rationale for topic chosen, preliminary bibliography, drafts of background research, experimental plan including variables, materials and procedures, carrying out experiment, data chart and conclusion

• Sexual Health: completion of reflections and family homework

• Reflections on the novel Story of a Girl

• Final draft of science fair paper and STEAM Fair board

• Presentation to judges on STEAM Fair Night

• Lab report on physics experiments;• Astronomy test on the life cycle of

stars• Presentation on the origin and

destruction of the universe.• Weekly quizzes• Lab reports

Activities • Based on the rock evidence, suggest the origin of landforms in Washington

• Field trip to Eastern Washington to see Columbia Plateau and evidence of Great Missoula Flood

• Map local earthquakes and volcanoes

• Field trip to UW Seismology Lab

• Labs that demonstrate the movement of the earth’s tectonic plates and the resulting geologic formations

• Make candy sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks; conduct mineral tests

• Conduct specific gravity tests on rocks

• Reflections and discussions on current events

• Lab on the angle of the sun and its effect on temperature

• Lab on the temperature difference of earth and water under light

• Observing and recording the time and location of sunrise, noon, and sunset.

• Greenhouse gas effect lab• Town-hall type debate on the

causes and effects of global warming

• Carry out all aspects of a science fair project: choose a topic, research the topic, contact a primary resource, create initial experimental design, carry out a beta test on your experiment.

• Continue researching; write drafts of background research paper; meet with science fair mentor; complete experimental design; carry out experiment; compile and analyze data;

• Sexual Health: Discovery Channel videos on puberty and pregnancy

• Read and write reflections on the novel Story of a Girl

• Create STEAM fair board and paper• Present project during STEAM fair• Throughout spring term, record

sunrise and sunset times and locations

• Using a star chart, identify some of the key constellations

• Make daily and nightly observations of the sky to determine patterns of the sun and moon relative to the Earth

• Mile-long solar system walk to learn planets’ relative sizes and distances

• Experiments about gravity and motion

• Visit a planetarium or a large local telescope at night

• Use Google Space to view stars, galaxies, and nebulae

• Debate the origin and future of the universe


• Attribute Awareness: Develops ability to take greater responsibility for own learning. Understands that mastery of content is the greater goal. Retakes assessments or rewrites work until mastery is demonstrated.

• Sustainability and Stewardship: Develops deeper understanding of participation in systems (family, classroom, community, ecological); Explores the causes and ramifications of Global warming and sees self as an agent of positive change.

• Self and Community Membership: Learns to interview on field trips and with classroom visitors; Develops responsibility to group and practices methods to work efficiently and collegially.

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates comfortable, empathetic interaction with people of diverse learning styles, abilities and intelligence.

• Attribute Awareness: Interprets data about groups of things, of people, etc., using graphic mathematical representation; makes elementary statistical analyses.

• Emotional Intelligence: Shows growing understanding of own body, physically, emotionally, and socially. Sees self as able to plan and complete long-term and complex projects.

• Sustainability and Stewardship: Explores the causes and ramifications of Global warming and sees self as an agent of positive change.

• Self and Community Membership: Develops responsibility to group and practices methods to work efficiently and collegially.

• Point of View: Identifies perspectives that have changed/held constant during history

• Emotional Intelligence: Uses class discussion, reflection, and parental advice to explore and gain control of potentially challenging social scenarios.

• Self and Community Membership: Develops responsibility to group and practices methods to work efficiently and collegially. Learns to interview on field trips and with classroom visitors


Math Sixth GradeThe focus for the sixth grade is on developing their understanding of number patterns and ensuring that they all have strong calculation skills. Throughout the year, we’ll use patterns and sequences to help practice calculation and problem solving. To accomplish our goal, the girls will:• be introduced to new concepts through lectures and demonstrations,• work in small groups to investigate solutions,• play games and solve puzzles to explore and reinforce mathematical concepts,• write notes, descriptions, definitions, and sample solutions and keep these together in their math binder,• describe their problem-solving techniques in written Problem of the Week solutions,• investigate a mathematician or mathematical idea, write about their research, and present their research to the class,• create artwork that implements mathematical concepts, and• present their work and explain procedures to the entire class and, on occasion, to the entire school.The sixth grade class uses the Prentice-Hall Middle School Mathematics, Course 1, textbook. Portions of other texts and handouts will be used to supplement this traditional text. We also use the Problem of the Week library provided through the Math Forum project of Drexel University.

Throughout the school year, we will review calculating with integers, fractions, decimal fractions, ratios and proportions, and percentages. We’ll focus on problem-solving strategies, and connect their skills in math with humanities, Spanish, art, and science often (in units on the Fibonacci sequence in nature, for example).

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• Where do we see examples of the Fibonacci sequence in nature?

• Where do I see calculations and numbers in the world?

• How do pie charts and bar graphs help us understand data?

• What are some ways to categorize numbers?

• How long does it take to count to one million?

• How do numbers help us understand shapes in the world?

Content • Number theory: understanding sequences, and odd, even, and prime numbers

• Use ratio and rate to solve problems

• Problem-solving plans and techniques

• Number theory: understanding factors and multiples

• Comparing quantities• Estimating quantities• Develop understanding of statistics• Investigating data and using graphs

• Geometry vocabulary• Measuring quantities and shapes to

investigate geometric figures• Positive and negative integers—

extending the number system• Writing and interpreting

expressions and equationsSkills • Adding, subtracting, multiplying

and dividing whole numbers and decimals

• Using order of operations rules to evaluate expressions

• Describing and evaluating number patterns

• Connecting multiplication and division to ratio and rate

• Solving single-step equations in one variable

• Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, decimals, and fractions

• Using ratios and percents accurately

• Writing equations and solving single-step equations

• Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and positive and negative integers

• Naming and classifying geometric figures

• Converting metric units of length, mass, and capacity within the metric system

• Calculating area, perimeter, and volume

Assessment • Daily homework assignments• In-class participation• Written POW solutions• Quiz and test scores

• Daily homework assignments• In-class participation• Written POW solutions• Quiz and test scores


Math

6

Activities • Keep track of daily assignments• Hand in homework daily• Complete written quizzes and

tests in class• Solve and present solutions to

problems to whole class with a group

• Write narrative solutions to Problems of the Week

• Individually answer questions posed orally

• Keep track of daily assignments• Hand in homework daily• Complete written quizzes and tests

in class• Solve and present solutions to










• Point of View: Appreciates different perspectives on order and disorder.




• Attribute Awareness: Interprets data about groups of things, of people, etc., using graphic mathematical representation; reads charts and graphs with growing fluency, discerning information about opinion, income, and more abstract social attributes.




• Emotional Intelligence: Sees self as able to complete projects and can describe the stage of a project.




Math Seventh GradeThe focus for the seventh grade is on developing their understanding of shapes, both two- and three-dimensional, and on using variablesand formulas. Throughout the year, we’ll use geometry and measurement to help practice calculation and problem-solving skills and to develop algebra techniques. To accomplish our goals, the girls will:• be introduced to new concepts through lectures and demonstrations,• work in small groups to investigate solutions,• play games and solve puzzles to explore and reinforce mathematical concepts,• write notes, descriptions, definitions, and sample solutions and keep these together in their math binder,• describe their problem-solving techniques in written Problem of the Week solutions,• investigate a mathematician or mathematical idea, write about their research, and present their research to the class,• create artwork that implements mathematical concepts, and• present their work and explain procedures to the entire class and, on occasion, to the entire school.

The seventh grade class uses the McDougal Littell, Math Course 3, textbook. Portions of other texts and handouts will be used tosupplement this traditional text. We also use the Problem of the Week library provided through the Math Forum project of Drexel University and the IXL website to support skill building. Throughout the school year, we will review calculating with positive and negative integers, fractions, decimals, ratios and proportions, and percentages. We’ll focus on problem-solving strategies, and connect their skills in math with humanities, Spanish, art, and science often (in units on scale drawings, tessellations, three-dimensional shapes, and election math,for example).

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• How can I use numbers to describe the world around me?

• How do I compare and communicate number relationships?

• How are the rules for fractions and decimals different from those for whole numbers?

• How are the rules the same?• How are an equation and its graph

related?

• How are formulas helpful in describing shapes?

• What is the Pythagorean Theorem?• What can we learn about distance

and area using right triangles?

Content • Expressions, equations, and inequalities

• Comparing quantities• Estimating quantities• Understanding proportions• Graphing inequalities on a

number line• Problem-solving plans and

techniques

• Fractions, ratios, proportions, and percents

• Scale drawings and maps• Expressions and linear equations• Geometry—measurement, area,

and volume• Investigating data and using graphs

• Geometry vocabulary• Measuring quantities and shapes to

investigate geometric figures• Pythagorean Theorem• Positive and negative integers • Right triangle trigonometric ratios

Skills • Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, decimals, integers, and fractions

• Using order of operations rules and the distributive property to evaluate expressions

• Calculating using exponents and factors

• Solving single-step equations in one variable

• Solving two-step equations in one variable

• Solving and graphing inequalities in one variable

• Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, decimals, integers, and fractions

• Using ratios and percents accurately

• Writing equations and solving single-step equations

• Graphing linear equations


• Naming and classifying geometric figures

• Converting metric units of length, mass, and capacity within the metric system

• Calculating area, perimeter, and volume




7











•







• Attribute Awareness: Interprets data about groups of things, of people, etc., using graphic mathematical representation; can describe attributes of own learning style.

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates consistent “manners” in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations.


• Self and Community Membership: Sees oneself as able to help others problem-solve.

• Attribute Awareness: Can describe attributes of own learning style.






• Sustainability and Stewardship: Suggests or “invents” devices/strategies that would make the world better and solve problems; largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.


Pi DayMarch 14

Math Eighth GradeBy the end of her eighth grade year, an LWGMS graduate will be able to use her excellent math skills and her confidence in herproblem-solving strategies to analyze the world around her. In addition she will be well prepared for high-school level math. The focus for an eighth grader is on developing her skill using algebra to solve problems. To accomplish this, the girls will:• be introduced to new concepts through lectures and demonstrations,• work in small groups to investigate solutions,• play games and solve puzzles to explore and reinforce mathematical concepts,• write notes, descriptions, definitions, and sample solutions and keep these together in their math binder,• describe their problem-solving techniques in written Problem of the Week solutions,• investigate a mathematician or mathematical idea, write about their research, and present their research to the class,• create artwork that implements mathematical concepts, and• present their work and explain procedures to the entire class and, on occasion, to the entire school.

The eighth grade class uses the CME Project Algebra I textbook. Portions of other texts and handouts will be used to supplement thesetraditional textbooks. We also use the Problem of the Week library provided through the Math Forum project of Drexel University, and the IXL website to support skill building.

Throughout the school year, we will review calculating with positive and negative integers, fractions, decimals, ratios and proportions,and percentages. We’ll focus on problem-solving strategies, and connect their skills in math with humanities, Spanish, art, and science often (units on mapping, using scientific notation, trigonometry in astronomy, and election math, for example).

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• What patterns can I find in arithmetic and how can I extend those patterns?

• How are algebraic expressions and equations related to expressions using integers and rational numbers?

• How do graphs of equations help me understand the equation?

• How can I use what I know about fractions to help me work with rational expressions?

• How can I use what I know about factoring integers to help me simplify rational expressions?

• What real-world applications can I solve using rational expressions?

• What real-world applications can I model using a quadratic equation?

• What kinds of problems can I solve using simple trigonometric ratios?

Content • Integral and fractional exponents• Graphing linear equations and

related inequalities in two variables

• Factoring monomials and polynomials

• Solving systems of linear equations• Understanding functions• Factoring polynomial expressions

and equations• Simplifying polynomial expressions

and equations

• Applying the Pythagorean Theorem, analyzing figures in two and three dimensions

• Quadratic equations• Quadratic formula• Trig functions: sine, cosine, and

tangentSkills • Adding, subtracting, multiplying

and dividing positive and negative whole numbers, decimals, integers, and fractions

• Using the rules of exponents to calculate

• Finding opposites, roots, and reciprocals

• Solving equations and inequalities in a single variable

• Solving equations and inequalities with absolute values

• Simplifying expressions• Graphing linear equations and

related inequalities• Solving systems of linear

equations in two variables

• Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, decimals, integers, and fractions

• Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing monomials and polynomials

• Applying factoring to second- and third-degree polynomials.

• Simplifying fractions with polynomials in the numerator and denominator

• Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing rational expressions and functions.


• Finding roots of quadratic equations using the quadratic formula

• Graphing quadratic functions• Finding roots of quadratic

equations by factoring• Applying quadratic equations to

physical problems• Using simple trigonometric ratios

to solve physical problems




8

















• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates comfortable, empathetic interaction with people of diverse learning styles, abilities and intelligence, cultures and appearances; sees self as able to complete projects and can describe the stage of a project.


• Self and Community Membership: Values self in role of mentor to younger children.


• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates comfortable, empathetic interaction with people of diverse learning styles, abilities and intelligence, cultures and appearances.







Spanish Sixth GradeThe focus for sixth grade Spanish is to foster an appreciation for the relevance of the Spanish language in students’ lives and to develop an understanding of the diversity within the Spanish-speaking world.

Throughout the year students will...- master vocabulary and grammatical concepts that will enable them to conduct a basic conversation, describe themselves and others, and share their schedules and activities- know the countries and capitals of South and Central America as well as geography-related vocabulary in Spanish- prepare and present a comprehensive project on a Latin American Spanish-speaking country- learn about various cultures of Spanish-speaking communities - maintain discussion surrounding Spanish and bilingualism in today’s world.

Students use the textbook Avancemos 1 by Holt McDougal. The textbook is in hardcover as well as online. Students will be able to access their online book by signing into classzone.com. Instruction will include discussion, guided practice, partner and group activity, songs, games, skits and projects to vary practice and learning experiences and provide students with the opportunity to use creativity and problem solving skills in a different language. In order to check for and assess content mastery, the sixth grade will be asked to complete regular homework assignments and take weekly quizzes and chapter tests.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

● Why learn a foreign language?● What role does speaking a foreign

language/bilingualism play in global citizenship?

● How does geography mold the ethnic make up of our immigrant population?

● Why do Latinos immigrate to the U.S? What are their contributions and experience?

● How do I share information about myself with others in Spanish?

● How does appreciating other cultures impact my worldview?

● How are Latin American countries geographically and culturally similar and different to my country?

● How does sharing about myself help me create connections with others?

● How are the different cultures of Latin America reflected in the art, music and literature of each country?

● How are verbs, time, and numbers different and similar in Spanish and English?

Content ● Geography of Spanish-speaking countries● Basic conversational questions and

answers● Traditional songs

● Likes and dislikes● The verb ser● Characteristics and physical

descriptions● Comparison and contrast of

different cultures, foods, and traditions of Latin American countries

● The arts of the Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.

● Daily schedules, time, and numbers from 11 to 100

● Verb tener and use of tener que

● Expressing frequency● Present tense -ar verb

conjugation

Spanish

6

http://classzone.com/


Skills ● Locate and name Spanish-speaking countries and capitals on a world map

● Prepare a comprehensive country presentation

● Use and understand basic conversational Spanish and classroom related phrases

● Spell and count to 10 in Spanish● Recite days of the week in Spanish ● Describe the weather in Spanish ● Memorize and perform several traditional

songs in Spanish

● Understand personal pronouns and how to conjugate the verb ser

● Use gustar + infinitive to express likes and dislikes

● Describe self and others● Identify objects and use definite

and indefinite articles● Apply noun-adjective

agreement when writing and speaking in Spanish

● Research and prepare an instructional demonstration of an art form reflecting the culture of the previously assigned country.

● Read and follow a schedule in Spanish.

● Read a clock in and tell time in Spanish

● Share tasks and obligations using the verb tener

● Recite numbers from 0 – 100 in Spanish

● Conjugate -ar verbs in the present tense

Assessment ● Daily Entrada (entrance) activityNightly homework

● Quizzes and tests● Classroom participation ● Oral and written country presentation

● Daily Entrada (entrance) activity

● Nightly homework● Quizzes and tests● Classroom participation● Various small projects

● Daily Entrada (entrance) activity

● Nightly homework● Quizzes and tests● Classroom participation● Presentation of cultural

research projectActivities ● Textbook activities reinforcing target

grammar skill● Group skit writing and performance● Vocabulary games● Partner dialogue activities● Amigas Project ● World map labeling games● Map and flag drawings of Spanish-

speaking world● Song performance

● Textbook activities reinforcing target grammar skill

● Online listening and comprehension activities

● Group skit writing and performance

● Vocabulary games ● Partner dialogue activities● Song performance● Description Activity

● Textbook activities reinforcing target grammar skill

● Online listening and comprehension activities

● Group skit writing and performance

● Vocabulary games ● Partner dialogue activities● Song performance


● Point of View: Developing ability to describe and attribute different opinions/perspectives.Sustainability and Stewardship: Largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.

● Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects); learns to interview on field trips and with classroom visitors; explores ritual and cultural identity.

● Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support of classroom norms and procedures.

● Attribute Awareness: Understanding of variation within a group and among groups grows.


● Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects); explores ritual and cultural identity.


● Point of View: Demonstrates resistance to stereotyping through multiple classification and conservation of traits.


● Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects); explores ritual and cultural identity.


Spanish Seventh GradeThe focus for seventh grade is to deepen the understanding of the Spanish-speaking community at local and international levels, gain an appreciation for the traditions of students’ own families and culture as well as those of Latino families, and strengthen conversation by increasing vocabulary and grammatical skills.

Throughout the year students will...- master more sophisticated grammatical concepts such as the -er, -ir, stem-changing, and irregular verbs, direct object pronouns and possessive adjectives- expand their vocabulary to help them share and discuss family, traditions and culture- complete a variety of writing projects related to food, family, and traditions- learn songs, work on group presentations and performances, play games, and read a novel - maintain discussion surrounding bilingualism, Latino culture and global citizenship in today’s world.

In order to check for and assess content mastery, the seventh grade will continue to be asked to complete regular homework assignments and take weekly quizzes and chapter tests. Students continue to use the textbook Avancemos 1 by Holt McDougal, in hardcover and online.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• How can learning a foreign language benefit individuals?

• What is the significance of bilingualism? What role does bilingualism play in global citizenship?

• What role does food play in the Latino culture? How is the food different or similar to mine?

• How can I express my feelings in Spanish?

• How can I share about my family with others in Spanish?

• How do the traditions and roles differ in traditionally Latino families compared to mine? Do they?

• How do people in modern day Spanish-speaking countries spend their leisure time? Does it differ from the way I do?

• How can I describe my attire as well as someone else’s?

Content • Spanish as an advantage and benefit in daily life, careers and education

• Agriculture and food of Spanish-speaking countries

• Review of the verbs ser, tener and regular -ar verbs

• Introduce estar and ir• Asking questions• Food vocabulary• Verb gustar + nouns and verb

hacer• Present tense -er and -ir verb

conjugation• Spanish songs• Expressing feelings in Spanish

• Family vocabulary• Birthdays and ages• Making comparisons• Possessive adjectives• Giving dates• Numbers over 200

• Daily activities of people living in Spanish-speaking countries

• Articles of clothing• Colors• Seasons • Stem changing verbs e-ie, o-ue, and

e-i• Direct object pronouns• Describing places• Modes of transportation• Ordering from a menu• Verb ver• Giving directions to a location

7Festival de OtoñoOctober 22, 6pm

Skills • Identify and understand benefits of speaking Spanish in the future

• Conjugate and use the verbs ser, tener, estar and ir as well as, ar verbs

• Use interrogative words to formulate questions

• Name different meals in Spanish and acquire additional food vocabulary

• Express preferences using the verb gustar + nouns

• Conjugate -er and -ir verbs• Learn songs in Spanish

• Describe family members and their ages and relationship to one another using family vocabulary in Spanish

• Recite months of the year and dates in Spanish

• Use possessive adjectives as well as de to show possession in Spanish

• Recite numbers from 200 – 1,000,000 and months of the year

• Understand and appropriately use comparatives and discuss how they differ from one another

• Discuss leisure activities and hobbies in Spanish-speaking countries

• Describe and individuals attire, physical appearance and compare him/her to another individual in Spanish

• Understand stem-changing verbs e-ie, o-ue and e-i and apply them appropriately in dialogue

• Order from a menu and understand its content

• Understand and appropriately use direct object pronouns

• Give directions to a location Assessment • Daily Entrada (entrance) activity

• Nightly homework• Quizzes and tests• Class participation• Projects

• Daily Entrada (entrance) activity• Nightly homework• Quizzes and tests• Classroom participation• Oral and written project

presentations

• Daily Entrada (entrance) activity• Nightly homework• Quizzes and tests• Classroom participation• Presentation of cultural research

project• Scavenger Hunt

Activities • Textbook activities reinforcing target grammar skill

• Group skit writing and performance

• Vocabulary games • Partner dialogue activities• Diet project• Song performance• Postcard project• Verb pictures

• Textbook activities reinforcing target grammar skill

• Online listening and comprehension activities

• Group skit writing and performance• Vocabulary games • Partner dialogue activities• Song performance• Family Tree project• Calendar project• Canción de Si Misma poem and

project



• Writing and performing skits with a group

• Vocabulary games • Partner dialogue activities• Memorizing and performing songs• Scavenger hunt activity



• Emotional Intelligence: Describes own emotional and physical states with accuracy; demonstrates consistent “manners” in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations.


• Self and Community Membership: Explores ritual and cultural identity.

• Attribute Awareness: Reinforces comfort with differences; can describe attributes of own learning style.


• Sustainability and Stewardship: Develops deeper understanding of participation in systems (family, classroom, community, ecological); largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.


• Attribute Awareness: Uses increasingly precise language to describe self and others; can describe attributes of own learning style.

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates consistent “manners” in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations; sees self as able to complete projects and can describe the stage of project.



Spanish Eighth GradeIn eighth grade Spanish class focuses on developing the Spanish-speaking proficiency of students. This is accomplished by moving towards an immersion-style of classroom. The majority of class is taught in Spanish and students are expected to use Spanish when communicating with the teacher and each other.

Throughout the year students -work independently, as well as, in groups- master more challenging grammatical concepts such as: additional irregular and stem-changing verbs, saber vs. conocer, affirmative commands, -ar, -er, -ir verbs in the preterite tense, irregular verbs in the preterite tense, reflexive verbs-expand their vocabulary to include, the home, sports, technology, health, and the human body (external parts and internal organs)-write and perform an original "soap opera" in Spanish-write poetry and design and describe a fantasy room-write, illustrate, and construct a children's book in Spanish-comprehend instructions given in Spanish, ask questions in Spanish, and contribute to class activities and discussions in Spanish

Students use the textbook Avancemos 1b by Holt McDougal, in hardcover as well as, online. Students will once again be able to access their online book by going to classzone.com and inputting a username and password given to them. Accessing @HOMETUTOR, through classzone.com continues to be an excellent way to practice and reinforce what has been covered in class.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• What Spanish skills can I employ where I to find myself in a Spanish-speaking country right now?

• How do parties and celebrations differ in Spanish- speaking countries?

• How can I express what I need done and what I have accomplished in Spanish?

• What are the different sports played in the Spanish-speaking world? How are they similar or different from those in the US?

• How do people in modern day, Spanish-speaking countries take care of their health? Does it differ from the way I do?

• Technology is international. How can I share information about it in Spanish?

Content • Review• Talking about activities• Describing yourself and others• School related vocabulary and information• Food and drink related dialogues and

vocabulary• Family related information• Making comparisons • Expressing possession• Describing a house and household items• Indicating the order of things• Locating items or people

• Planning a party• Vocabulary related to chores

and responsibilities• Telling someone to do

something and relating what you have just done

• Talking about sports• Talking about whom you know

and what you know

• The human body in Spanish• Sharing information about

things you have done in the past

• Talking about technology• Talking about a sequence of

events over time• Expressing negative or

indefinite situations

Skills • Conjugate and use the verbs ser, tener, estar, and ir, as well as ar, er, and ir verbs

• Use interrogative words to formulate questions

• Name the different meals in Spanish and acquisition of additional food vocabulary

• Tell time and date • Describe and compare family member’s,

physical attributes, attire, relationships to one another.

• Understand direct object pronouns, and how and when to use them

• Master stem changing verbs e-ie, o-ue and e-i and apply them appropriately in dialogue

• Master irregular verbs: dar, decir, poner, salir, traer, and venir

• Use affirmative tú commands.• Memorize and use sports

related vocabulary• Conjugate and use the verb

jugar• Understand of saber and

conocer, how to use them, and how they differ from one another

• Memorize and apply household vocabulary

• Know ordinal numbers

• Memorize the parts of the human body in Spanish

• Talk about healthy habit in Spanish

• Conjugate regular ar, er, and ir verbs in the preterite tense

• Conjugate –car, -gar and –zar verbs in the preterite tense

• Memorize and apply vocabulary pertaining to technology

• Use affirmative words and negative words in a dialogue

• Conjugate ir, ser + hacer in the present tense

• Understand reflective verbs and how to use them

8





Assessment • Daily QSR (Quick Start Review) activity• Nightly homework• Quizzes and tests• Classroom participation• Project

• Daily QSR (Quick Start Review) activity

• Nightly homework• Quizzes and tests• Classroom participation• Oral and written project

presentations

• Daily QSR (Quick Start Review) activity

• Nightly homework• Quizzes and tests• Classroom participation• Presentation of cultural

research projectActivities • Textbook activities reinforcing target

grammar skill• Writing and performing skits with a group• Vocabulary games • Partner dialogue activities• Spanish soap opera project• Scrapbook project• Memorizing and performing songs




• Vocabulary and grammar Games

• Cuarto• Memorizing and performing

songs• Saber, conocer poem




• Vocabulary games • Partner dialogue activities• Memorizing and performing

songs• Children’s book project


• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates comfortable, empathetic interaction with people of diverse learning styles, abilities and intelligence, cultures and appearances; writes dialog expressing empathy and/or writes from a perspective not her own.


• Self and Community Membership: Values self in role of mentor to younger children; explores ritual and cultural identity.

• Attribute Awareness: Reinforces comfort with differences.








Humanities Sixth GradeLanguage Arts Objectives: Expand comprehension by analyzing, interpreting, and synthesizing information and ideas; think critically and analyze author’s use of language, style, purpose, and perspective; understand the writing process and conventions; master basic research skills; and communicate effectively in written and oral work.

A primary focus of instruction will be on the development of writing skills in various forms: research papers, short essays (expository, persuasive, research-based), personal narratives, poetry, and journal writing.Writer’s conferences, both teacher-to-student and student-to-student, will be used to emphasize writing as a process. Because research skills will be emphasized in all subjects, students will master navigating the Internet for research purposes. Spelling and grammar will be addressed in instruction as well as in the editing and conference process of student writing.Vocabulary instruction will focus on Latin and Greek roots and parsing words for comprehension. Students will read a wide selection of novels, short stories, and poetry in a program designed to enhance critical thinking and prepare them for the interpretation of more complex literature. Literature will, whenever possible, connect to concepts that students are concurrently exploring in social studies, Spanish, and science.

Social Studies Objectives: Understand cause and effect; analyze the historical development of events, people, places, and patterns of life in local, national, and world history; examine the influence of culture; use research skills, synthesize information and reflect on findings; and demonstrate understanding of geography and map skills.

Through a variety of discussions, reading, and projects, social studies will principally focus on how individuals and groups affect the greater community and the world.Topics covered include families, communities, Latin America, the Holocaust and utopia, The Civil Rights Movement, and American cultural diversity.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• What comprises our community?• What’s in a name?• What is our relationship with

Latin American countries?• How does the US citizenship

process affect immigrants?

• How do Utopian ideals create environments where genocide can be carried out?

• How can we prevent another genocide?

• What contemporary human rights issues are informed by our understanding of historical violations such as the Holocaust?

• Why were “unsung” US heroes prevented from obtaining social status?

• How does the historic struggle for equality in the U.S. inform our modern world?

• What is Shakespeare's influence on modern English and the literary canon?

Content • Latin and Greek Vocabulary• Multicultural poetry• Amigas Project• U.N. “Rights of a Child”• Viva La Causa film• Democratic process• Narrative arc (setting, plot,

conflict, rising and falling action, resolution)

• Novels: The Circuit, Voices From the Fields

• Latin and Greek Vocabulary• Utopia and Genocide• Political factors in Europe

preceding the Holocaust• Role of resistors and rescue during

the Holocaust• WA Holocaust Education

Resource Center “teaching trunk”• Novels: The Lottery and Animal

Farm• Book Groups: Night, The Devil's

Arithmetic, Diary of Anne Frank, All But My Life

• Latin and Greek Vocabulary• U.S. Civil Rights movement –

introduction • U.S. unsung heroes• U.S. states and capitals• Novels: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Humanities

6Grammar DayJanuary 22

Skills • Map reading• Organization• Memorization – vocabulary• Reading comprehension• Literary analysis• Note taking• Writing a five paragraph essay• Revising and editing• Persuasive writing• Group negotiation• Idea-generating strategies and

free-writing

• Map reading• Making inferences • Organization• Memorization – vocabulary• Reading comprehension• Literary analysis• Note taking• Writing a five paragraph essay• Revising and editing• Group negotiation• Creative writing

• Map reading• Organization• Reading comprehension• Literary analysis• Memorization – vocabulary• Note taking• Writing a five paragraph essay• Revising and editing• Research paper• Writing a bibliography

Assessment • Weekly vocabulary quizzes• Unit exams• Class participation• Persuasive essay• Oral presentation• Group presentation• Debates

• Weekly vocabulary quizzes• Unit exams• Class participation• Five paragraph literary analysis

essay• Oral presentation• Group presentation• Power point presentation• Debates

• Weekly vocabulary quizzes• Unit exams• Speech• Class participation• Research term paper• Five paragraph literary analysis

essay• Oral presentation• Group presentation• Debates• Power point presentation

Activities • Poetry writing• My Name vignette• I am From • I Was Raised By poem• The Circuit narrative arc map• United Farmworkers Movement

project• Human Rights posters• Amigas group projects

• The Lottery literary analysis expository essay

• Animal Farm project • Holocaust essay / art contest• Holocaust rescuer presentation • Contemporary human rights issue

project and presentation

• Civil Rights "unsung hero" biography and art component

• Roll of Thunder expository essay • Shakespeare research term paper

and presentation


• Point of View: Developing ability to describe and attribute different opinions/perspectives.

• Attribute Awareness: Reads charts and graphs with growing fluency, discerning information about opinion, income, and more abstract social attributes.


• Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects); explores ritual and cultural identity.

• Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support of classroom rules and procedures; shows growing vocabulary of justice.


• Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects); extends study of history, looking at effect of pivotal event on different groups.

• Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support of classroom rules and procedures; introduced to the concept of oppression (as distinct from exclusion); demonstrates “moral compass” and sense of right and wrong.


• Self and Community Membership: Volunteers with increasing frequency, has opportunities to volunteer as a member of a group (class projects); understanding of status as a societal element; analyzes relationships among groups of people recognizing power dynamics, goals and outcomes pertaining to economic, racial and gender issues among others.

• Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support of classroom rules and procedures; reads a variety of genres concerning discrimination, civics, history, and legislation; makes informed, considerate evaluations about race, class, religion, gender, sexuality, ability, and culture.

Writing Workshop Sixth GradeThis class teaches the conventions of written language within a meaningful context: students’ own writing. Through a combination of inquiry and direct instruction, students learn grammatical and mechanical rules and apply them to the writing they do in a writer’s notebook. Students generate meaningful topics to write about; then they take them through the writing process and publish for an audience.

Fall Winter SpringEssential Questions

• Where do writers get ideas?• What are writing conventions and

why do they matter?

• How do writers create and convey meaning?

• What are writing conventions and why do they matter?

• How does one read as a writer?• What are writing conventions and

why do they matter?

Content • Using a Writer's Notebook• Conventions of writing: grammar

and mechanics• Writing process

• Using a Writer's Notebook• Conventions of writing: grammar

and mechanics• Writing process• Grammar text: Woe is I Jr.

• Using a Writer's Notebook• Conventions of writing: grammar

and mechanics• Writing process• Grammar text: Woe is I Jr.

Skills • Idea-generating strategies and free-writing

• Applying lessons of grammar and mechanics (including but not limited to sentence fragments, serial comma, rules of capitalization, subject/verb agreement, and key homophones)

• Writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing

• Collaboration: writing partnerships

• Writer's craft: elaboration strategies, show-not-tell, “so what” factor







Assessment • Writer's notebook• GEMs (short published pieces)• Weekly quizzes

• Writer's notebook• GEMs (short published pieces)• Weekly quizzes

• Writer's notebook• GEMs (short published pieces)• Weekly quizzes

Activities • Portrait of a writer : embellishing the writer's notebook

• Publishing GEMs

• Publishing GEMs • Publishing GEMs













6

Humanities Seventh GradeThis course integrates Language Arts with Social Studies and offers students a chance to see the connections among history, literature, art, and culture. Additionally, the course covers skills in writing, oral presentations, study techniques, and research assignments. The subject matter of this course is World History and Literature. Additionally, this course looks closely at different cultures’ rites of passage as the LWGMS seventh graders develop, design, and implement their own ritual, a culminating event in the Spring term.

Throughout the year, students will have weekly vocabulary based on the literature assignments, Latin and Greek roots, and high school preparation lists. Additionally, grammar and writing are emphasized in all units with specific skills covered with each written assignment. Oral presentations skills are highlighted on a daily basis in informal class participation as well as in formal presentations throughout the year. Finally, geography skills such as map reading are covered with each unit and include historical and current maps.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• How do religious beliefs influence cultures and civilizations?

• How does a rite of passage reflect cultural values?

• How do modern nations deal with cultural differences?

• How does a writer use language to convey meaning?

• How does democracy influence culture and civilization?

• Why does the study of history inform our modern world?

• How do the world’s cultures differ in beliefs and values?

• How do politics and power affect the environment?

• How can individuals affect change in the world?

Content • World religions• Rites of Passage• Persepolis• Things Fall Apart• Personal Essays (Writing

Workshop)• Short Stories/Mythology from

Asia, Latin America, and India

• Waiting for Odysseus• Homer’s Odyssey & Greek

Mythology• Ancient Greek Democracy• Ancient Roman Republic• Democracies around the world

• Asia: China• Global resources• Global Economies• Book Groups: Little Chinese

Seamstress, Red Scarf Girl, Snow Falling in Spring

• Term Paper: World Cultures• Vocabulary: High School Freshmen

ListSkills • Map reading

• Analyzing drama, poetry, literature, and non-fiction

• Writing persuasive essay• Writing Personal Essay• Outlining• Memorization – vocabulary• Revising and editing • Presentation: oral skills• Research • Bibliography• Web-page assessment• Applying lessons of grammar &

mechanics (including but not limited to key homophones, apostrophe use, pronoun agreement, subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, comma splice, run-on sentences, and sentence fragment)

• Map reading• Analyzing drama, poetry, literature,

and non-fiction• Writing persuasive essay• Outlining• Memorization – vocabulary• Revising and editing • Presentation: oral skills• Applying lessons of grammar &


• 3-D design


and non-fiction• Writing persuasive essay• Research for term paper• Memorization – vocabulary• Revising and editing • Presentation: oral skills• Research • Bibliography• Group work• Self-assessment• Applying lessons of grammar &


Assessment • Group project• Group presentation• Research paper• Weekly vocabulary quiz• Mythology quiz• Reading quiz• Unit exam

• PowerPoint presentation• Oral presentation• Persuasive essays• Weekly Vocabulary quiz• Mythology quiz• Reading quiz• Unit exam• Artist statement

• Visual presentation• Oral presentation• Group presentation• Persuasive essays• Weekly vocabulary quiz• Mythology quiz• Reading quiz• Unit exam• Artist statement

7

Activities • Art project: book cover• Presentations• Writing: research paper, poetry,

essay, creative writing• Debate• Create personal rite of passage• Begin planning group rites of

passage

• Scene performance• Art project: Odyssey/mythology• Presentations• Writing: essay, poetry• Debate• 3-D design and printing of Greek

and Roman architecture

• Art project: propaganda poster• Rites of passage• Writing• Debate• Research world culture topic • PowerPoint presentation on term

paper













Festival of LightsNovember 26

Social Studies Eighth GradeThe eighth grade Social Studies class is a combination of Washington State History and American Studies. Throughout the year, students write persuasive essays, make presentations, read primary and secondary sources, and take a variety of tests and quizzes. The first half of the year is spent on Washington State History and History Day Projects: students will study the geography of Washington, the history of Native Americans, explores, traders, settlers, and the formation of the state government. Further, the course covers the diverse people of Washington by looking at the various immigration movements. Finally, students conduct an in-depth look at Washington's Civil Rights Movement. As part of the Washington State History curriculum, all eighth graders prepare a History Day project based on the National History Day annual theme and will participate in History Film Festival at LWGMS in February and the Regional History Day competition in March 2013. Mid-year, eighth graders turn their attention to the United States, with a strong focus on the US Constitution and Civics. Additionally, the course focuses on American culture by exploring some of the elements of United States history that traditionally receive less attention; specifically, we look at the role of women, African-Americans, and labor unions in the formation of American society. Finally, all eighth graders will participate in a Constitutional Mock Trial project scheduled for Spring 2014.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• How does Washington State fit into American history?

• What perspectives are included in American history?

• How does American Government function?

• How does change occur in America?

• How does a culture or civilization change?

• What is the relationship between Native American history and European American history?

• How did the end of slavery affect change in America?

• What is the “American Canon” in literature?

• How does literature reflect American culture?

• What are major themes in American literature and history?

• How does Washington State play a role in American history and politics?

Content • U.S. History overview• Washington State History Day

projects• Washington State’s Civil Rights

Movement• MLK Essay Contest• Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience• Wash State: Counties

• The Crucible• Native American history• Wash State: Native tribes• Civil rights and music• Jazz and blues in America• Seattle’s Black writers and artists• Wash State History – political

process

• The Great Gatsby• Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass• American Short Stories• Final term paper on American

history• High school vocabulary

Skills • Map reading • Analyze drama, poetry, literature,

and non-fiction• Write persuasive essay• Outlining/note taking• Memorization – vocabulary• Revising and editing• Presentation: oral skills• Using digital media technology

• Analyze drama, poetry, literature, and non-fiction

• Write persuasive essay• Outlining• Memorization – vocabulary• Revising and editing • Presentation: oral skills• Research • Write a bibliography• Web-page assessment


and non-fiction• Writing persuasive essay• Outlining• Memorization – vocabulary• Revising and editing • Presentation: oral skills• Research • Write a bibliography • Group work• Self-assessment

Assessment • PowerPoint presentation• Oral presentation• Persuasive essays• Weekly vocabulary quiz• Philosophy quiz• Reading quiz• Unit exam• Artist statement • Washington State documentary

film

• Group project• Group presentation• Research paper• Weekly vocabulary quiz• In-class essay/timed writing• Reading quiz• Unit exam

• Visual presentation• Oral presentation• Group presentation• Persuasive essays• Weekly vocabulary quiz• Reading quiz• Unit exam• Artist statement

Activities • History Film Festival documentary projects

• Presentations• Writing: essay, poetry, short story• Debate• Research paper on Washington

State counties

• Art project: book cover• Presentations• Writing: research paper, poetry,

essay, creative writing• Debate• Research paper on Washington

State Native tribes

• Art project: colors• Presentation on term paper and

color project• Writing: essays, artist statement,

poetry• Debate and persuasive speaking• Research American History topic• Graduation speech

8













History Day Film FestivalFebruary 12, 6pm

Language Arts Eighth GradeA primary focus of instruction in this course is the development of students’ writing voices and skills. Students make extensive use of the writing process and learn to become their own editors. Grammar and mechanics instruction is contextualized in a way that allows students to apply it to their own writing.

While students engage in some traditional novel study and literary analysis, most of the reading in the class is genre-aligned with the writing: when they are reading short fiction, they are writing it; when they are reading poetry, they are writing it, etc. When students are reading novels, they are engaging in regular Socratic seminars to explore the themes and issues raised in the text through thoughtful discourse.

Fall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• What does it mean to live a “writer’s life” and how does one live it?

• How do writers engage in the writing process?

• How does narrative perspective shape the way we read and understand a text?

• What are conventions and why do they matter?

• How does poetry engage a reader?

• How can we use our personal and collective experience to enhance our understanding of texts we read and write?

• What techniques and devices do writers use to create stories and convey themes?

• How is the concept of “passing” relevant in contemporary society? Who passes? How and why?

• How is the reading and writing of memoir a transformative, even political act?

• How do writers use authors as mentors?

• What is “voice” in writing and how do writers develop it?

• How does audience and purpose inform different kinds of writing?

• How does one read as a writer?

Content • Using a Writer’s Notebook• Writing process• Reading of Julie Otsuka’s When

the Emperor Was Divine• Literary devices• Conventions of writing: grammar

and mechanics• Reading and writing poetry: free

verse and forms

• Reading of Nella Larsen’s Passing• Reading and writing short realistic

fiction (Authors include Toni Cade Bambara, Gary Soto, Alice Walker, Gish Jen, Richard Peck, and others)

• Conventions of writing: grammar and mechanics

• High school vocabulary

• Reading and writing memoir (Authors include Sheman Alexie, Sandra Cisneros, Jamaica Kincaid, Kyoko Mori, and others)

• Graduation speeches• Poetry: Odes• Conventions of writing: grammar

and mechanics• High school vocabulary

Skills • Strategies for generating and developing ideas


• Literary analysis and personal response

• Applying lessons of grammar and mechanics (including but not limited to punctuation and formatting of dialogue, colon and semicolon use, pronoun case and order, and key homophones)

• Memorization – vocabulary• Poetry criticism and poetry

writing• Active reading strategies• Presentation: oral communication

• Writing literary essays• Analyzing short stories• Writing short stories• Applying lessons of grammar and

mechanics (including but not limited to punctuation and formatting of dialogue, colon and semicolon use, pronoun case and order, and key homophones)

• Memorization – vocabulary• Writing process: prewriting,

drafting, revising, editing, publishing• Presentation: oral communication • Collaboration: reading and writing

partnerships

• Analyzing memoir• Writing memoir• Applying lessons of grammar and

mechanics (including but not limited to punctuation and formatting of dialogue, colon and semicolon use, pronoun case and order, and key homophones)

• Memorization – vocabulary• Writing process: prewriting,

drafting, revising, editing, publishing• Presentation: oral skills• Collaboration: reading and writing

partnerships• Goal-setting

Assessment • Writer’s notebook• Weekly vocabulary quiz• Writer’s handbook PowerPoint

presentation• Emperor projects and

presentations• GEMs (short published pieces)• Socratic seminars• Reading responses

• Writer’s notebook• Literary essay• Socratic seminar• Weekly vocabulary quiz• Reading responses • Published short story• GEMs (short published pieces)

• Writer’s notebook• Weekly vocabulary quiz• Published memoir• Reading responses• Independent writing piece• GEMs (short published pieces)• Graduation speech

8

Activities • Portrait of a Writer : embellishing the writer’s notebook

• Field trip to International District (novel and social studies connections to Japanese internment)

• Presentations• Socratic Seminars• Publishing

• Presentations• Creation of a Writer’s Handbook• Writing: essays, short stories

(realistic fiction)• Socratic Seminar• Scene dramatizations• Poetry Night• Hugo House visit

• Writing: memoirs, genre of choice, graduation speech

• Author visits and readings• Scene dramatizations• Writing celebration• GRADUATION













Recognizing that art cannot be separated from the study of history, language, culture, and other academic disciplines, a DBAE (Discipline-Based Art Education) approach will be used throughout all of art classes. This is a conceptual framework that encompasses the following:Production: creating or performingHistory: encountering the historical and cultural background of works of artAesthetics: discovering the nature and philosophy of the artsCriticism: making informed judgments about the arts

Students will be exposed to a diverse selection of artists and develop a vocabulary to discuss and critically examine works of art. Furthermore, students will use the Elements of Art (line, shape, color, texture, form, space) and Principles of Design (repetition, variety, harmony, contrast, unity, balance, emphasis) to create works of art that emphasize process and not product.

Art Sixth GradeFall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• What makes a work of art visually appealing?

• How does simplifying an image into its basic form create a sense of balance?

• How does art communicate ideas?

• How can you communicate a message, or feeling, through art?

• How do we use measuring and proportion to create representations of human face/form?

• How do artists use color to convey mood?

• How do artists use symbols to communicate larger themes?

• How do artists use different media to support their content?

Content • Watercolor• Scratchboard• Dia de los Muertos• Contour drawing• Abstract self-portraiture• Latin American art

• Proportion • Portraiture• Figure drawing• Stamping• 3-D Mixed media sculpture

• Kara Walker• Printmaking• Oil pastels• Acrylic paint

Skills • Elements of art• Principles of design• Production• Aesthetics• Criticism

• Elements of art• Principles of design• Production• Aesthetics• Criticism

• Elements of art• Principles of design• Production• Aesthetics• Criticism

Assessment • Class participation• Motivation• Effort• Final product• Artistic curiosity

• Class participation• Motivation• Effort• Final product• Artistic curiosity

• Class participation• Motivation• Effort• Final product• Artistic curiosity

Activities • Shoe contour drawings• Scratchboard animals• Dia de los Muertos papel picado• Silhouette self-portrait collage• Diego Rivera fresco tiles

• Locker lady portrait• Jacob Friedman Holocaust Art

Contest• Figure drawing and stamping• Louise Nevelson Installations

• Kara Walker silhouette installation• Personal/family mandalas• Master grid replicas• Introductory printmaking

6

Visual Art



• Attribute Awareness: Expanding emotional and social vocabulary.



• Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support or classroom rules and procedures.

• Emotional Intelligence: Uses increasingly precise language to describe feelings and moods; further develops ability to harness constructive criticism.



• Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support or classroom rules and procedures; begins to demonstrate philosophic thought, may talk/learn about creation, religion, death.

• Emotional Intelligence: Begins to offer constructive criticism in classroom situations when appropriate.



• Fairness and Justice: Contributes to identification and support or classroom rules and procedures; makes informed, considerate evaluations about race, class, religion, gender, sexuality, ability and culture.

2013/2014 Art ShowJune 5, 6pm

Art Seventh GradeFall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• How do artists use line and movement to create energy?

• How do artists use color to convey mood?

• How is art used to tell a story? What stories are told?

• What is your personal “chi”?• What visual elements comprise

your “chi”? • How is an object simplified into an

abstract form?

• What are advanced ways of using materials?

• How can we experiment in new ways with familiar art tools?

• What is a Cubist form?

Content • Elements of Art: line, shape, form, space, color, value, texture

• Principles of Design: pattern, proportion

Art history:• Van Gogh and Impressionism• Dia de los Muertos calaveras• Andy Warhol and Pop Art

Art production:• color theory: primary, secondary,

and tertiary colors; shade, tint, hue; complementary and monochromatic color schemes

• acrylic painting landscape • scratchboard: creating value

• Elements of Art: shape, form, color, texture

• Principles of design: emphasis, variety, unity, balance, rhythm

Art history:• Georgia O'Keeffe• Betye Saar • Joseph CornellArt production:• abstraction of an object• found objects sculptures • drawing and mixed media

portraiture• acrylic painting

• Elements of Art: shape, color, form, value, texture

• Principles of Design: emphasis, unity, balance, rhythm

Art history:• Franz Marc and Cubism• Andy Goldsworthy• Kathe KollwitzArt production:• printmaking• oil / chalk pastel• acrylic paint

Skills • Describes and evaluates the media, processes, and meaning of a work of art, making comparative judgments

• Employs elements of a landscape (foreground, middle-ground, background, linear perspective horizon line, vanishing point)

• Mixes and blends colors• Adds black and white to create

tints and shades• Uses hatching, cross-hatching and

stippling to create value• Primary, secondary, tertiary

colors; warm, and cool colors

• Describes and evaluates the media, processes, and meaning of a work of art, making comparative judgments

• Mixes and blending colors• Selects and arranges found objects

into a balanced, meaningful work of art

• Abstraction of an object into its basic form using simplification


• Mixes and blends colors• Adds white to colors to create

tints; adding black to create shades• Uses relief printmaking techniques• Uses a variety of line types and

thicknesses to create rhythm and movement in a blockprint

Assessment • Class participation• Motivation• Effort• Final product• Artist statements

• Class participation• Motivation• Effort• Final product• Artist statements


Activities • Van Gogh-style landscapes• Andy Warhol "Pop Art" paintings• Dia de los Muertos calaveras• Color wheels• Art History research

presentations and emulations

• Expressionist self-portraits• Chi Box (with Rites of Passage

curriculum)• Georgie O'Keeffe pastel flowers/

fruit

• Reductive linoleum block printing• Cubist animal paintings• Natural object sculptures

7


• Attribute Awareness: Can describe attributes of own learning style; reinforces comfort with differences.

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates consistent manners in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations.



• Point of View: Identifies personal perspectives that have changed since elementary school.

• Attribute Awareness: Can describe attributes of own learning style; can define self using some standard language; demonstrates ability to list ways in which she is “different from” as well as “the same as” peer group, society at large, parent(s)/ guardian(s), etc.

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates consistent manners in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations.


• Fairness and Justice: Can make statements about spiritual beliefs and learns about beliefs of others in class.

• Attribute Awareness: Can describe attributes of own learning style; expanding emotional and social vocabulary.

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates consistent manners in discourse and behavior, meeting school expectations; sees self as able to complete projects and can describe the stage of a project.


Art Eighth GradeFall Winter Spring

Essential Questions

• How do modern and historical artists shape our visual world?

• How are classifications of art used to understand the time and place in which it was made?

• How can we use the ideas of other artists to inform our own art?

• How do we communicate ideas through art?

• What are the cultural implications of colors, and how do they differ across the world?

• How do various cultures use art to communicate ideas?

• How do the arts connect to the humanities?

• How can we express a sense of self through self-portraiture?

• How can we be environmentally conscious artists?

Content • Elements of art: line, shape, color, form, space, texture, value

• Principles of design: pattern, emphasis, variety, unity, balance, rhythm, proportion

Art history:• Louise Nevelson• Various art history movements• Classifications of art• Dia de los Muertos

Art production: • sand paintings• watercolor landscapes• cardboard sculptures

• Elements of art: line, shape, color, form, space, texture, value


Art history:• Harlem Renaissance art• Portraits of American poets• Coastal Salish art

Art production:• advanced still life drawings• advanced printmaking• portraiture• ceramic mask-making

• Elements of Art: line, shape, color, form, space, texture, value


Art history:• Jan Von Holleban "Dreams of

Flying" photographs• Nicki McClure • Various self-portrait artists

Art production:• self-portrait painting• showing negative and positive

space with black and white paper• six-word memoir illustrations• surrealist photography

Skills • Describes and evaluates the media, processes, and meaning of a work of art, making comparative judgments

• Employs elements of a landscape (foreground, middle-ground, background, horizon line, vanishing point)

• Mixes watercolors to create light and dark values

• Creates a repeating pattern by using cardboard in a variety of geometric shapes and sizes


• Face proportions• Mixing and blending colors• Relief printmaking techniques• Basic ceramic hand building skills

(slab, coil, hatching, joining slabs)• Advanced linoleum printmaking

skills: uses a variety of line types and thicknesses

• Adding value to a drawing• Blending pencil with a blending

stump to create value


• Face proportions• Mixing and blending colors • Uses different line types and colors

to convey mood or energy in a portrait

• Stages a photograph that inverts perspective in order to create a surrealist scene

Assessment • Class participation• Motivation• Effort• Final product• Artist statements



Activities • Art History research project • Watercolor landscapes (with

Geology field trip)• Sandpaintings – Dia de los

Muertos• Louise Nevelson cardboard

sculptures

• Still life drawing• Langston Hughes poem illustration

– printmaking• Native American clay masks• Paintings of American poets

• Self-portrait• Nicki McClure-style postcards• Six-Word Memoir illustrations• "Dreams of Flying" photographs

8






• Point of View: Expression of point of view is supported by information and consideration of listener or audience.





• Point of View: Discerns humans as a group and self as responsible for the destiny and future health of the earth.

• Attribute Awareness: Demonstrates ability to list ways in which she is “different from” and “the same as” peer group, society at large, parent(s)/guardian(s), etc.


• Sustainability and Stewardship: Identifies conservation measures in school and at home; largely responsible for classroom stewardship; participates in class recycling.


Performing ArtsThrough the Performing Arts program at LWGMS, students build strong voices, strong minds, and strong bodies. Through literary and historical analysis and interpretation and memorization of the script and songs, students develop strong minds; by learning to perform with strong voices, students develop confidence; and finally, through learning to use physical movements and dance to express emotion and meaning, students develop strong bodies.

The Performing Arts program also provides opportunities for students to practice teamwork and leadership skills. As members of a cast and crew, the students must learn to work together and be responsible on both an individual level as well as for the entire group. In addition to performing as actors and musicians, students take on leadership roles in stage management, lighting, sound, and set design, assisting the director, and choreographing musical numbers. Each year’s production is an event that relies on teamwork and peer support for success; consequently, with every show the girls learn to work cohesively and collaboratively. The process of creating a show is filled with opportunities for social and emotional learning and the personal growth that results from meeting challenges and taking appropriate risks. It is an all-school, cross-curricular lesson that involves every member of the student body.

The progression of the program from sixth grade to eighth grade reflects the idea that as girls become more confident in their performance skills, the role size and responsibility increases. In the Fall and Winter all school musical productions, sixth graders generally have smaller roles and seventh graders have larger roles and leads; every sixth and seventh grader has a speaking role. Eighth graders work as the crew, and perform as musicians and as members of the ensemble. During the Spring term, seventh graders may apply to work as the stage crew for the eighth grade play. The eighth grade play reflects a culminating event for the drama program in that every girl has a larger role, takes more creative control, and has more responsibility in this production.

Performing Arts

PETER PANmusic, book, and lyrics by Piers Chater Robinson directed by Jenny Zavatsky

Lake Washington Girls Middle School presents...

location & time Broadway Performance Hall1625 Broadway, Seattle, WADecember 13 at 7p & 14 at 2p$10 - Suggested Donation

location & time Broadway Performance Hall1625 Broadway, Seattle, WAMarch 7 at 7p & 8 at 2p$10 - Suggested Donation

MULAN music and lyrics by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel, Stephen Schwartz, Jeanine Tesori, and Alexa Junge book adapted and additional lyrics by Patricia Cotterbased on the 1998 Disney film Mulan and the story Fa Mulan by Robert D. San Soucidirected by Jenny Zavatsky

MULAN

Lake Washington Girls Middle School presents...

EnrichmentThe Enrichment program’s goal and objectives are to provide students with skills and opportunities beyond the regular academic program, in keeping with the school’s philosophy of teaching the “whole girl.” The design of the Enrichment program reflects the belief that students should be well-rounded and have opportunities to engage in activities that address multiple learning styles. Additionally, the Enrichment program is designed to give students opportunities to explore their individual interests. The Enrichment classes are generally project-based, and they therefore allow students to create a product to publish, perform, or display at the end of the term. LWGMS values the arts, and many of the Enrichment classes incorporate the arts, both visual and performing.

The Enrichment program gives students opportunities to work in groups, to work on project or performance based assignments, and to work on subject matter that relates to real-world experiences. As with any class at LWGMS, diversity of perspectives and materials is incorporated into the design of the class. The content design of each course takes into consideration multiple and diverse perspectives on its subject.

Creative WritingInstructors: Ms. McGough P’16, Jacquie TildenCreative writing provides opportunities for students to express themselves through written means as they play with the art and craft of writing. They explore their lives and their imaginations through different genres: Students may write poetry, short stories, editorials; they may publish personal zines or student magazines or enter their work in literary contests. They read and become familiar with a diverse selection of writers, using those authors as mentors to their own writing process. Students develop writing communities among their peers and practice giving and receiving feedback, effectively strengthening their writing and also enriching their relationships. The publication of their work is always an integral part of the work they do, whether it takes the form of a stage performance in front of a large audience at Festival of Lights or an intimate reading to peers.

STEAM Instructor: Caitlin Ronning, Chelsea McCollumSTEAM Studio is an opportunity for students to work on projects specifically designed to target science, technology, engineering, art and math all at once. By combining these subjects into one class, the students are intentionally exposed to challenging curriculum in a fun and meaningful way. By incorporating the design thinking process, students will learn how to be resilient in the face of failure and to think outside the box. Some of the projects the students will be working on include writing and developing claymation stop-motion films, fabricating mouse traps, inventing egg drop devices and building 3D models through Autodesk 123 Design and Cube 3D printers.

Drama In Drama classes at LWGMS, students collaborate with others while they learn the vocabulary of theater and the process involved in what it takes to put on a complete show in a working theater. The Drama Program at LWGMS is a three year curriculum that focuses on theatrical skills, ensemble building, script analysis, and artistic discipline.

In the Fall and Winter Terms, sixth and seventh graders perform in a large musical, while eighth graders serve as crew members and production team, who are responsible for set design and building, costume design and construction, stage management, lighting and sound design and tech. Sixth graders participate as part of a large ensemble, singing and dancing in groups and performing a few lines, and seventh graders participate in larger roles and take on leadership in the production process. In the Spring Term, eighth graders perform in their own theatrical production, with a few seventh graders serving as the crew and production team. The eighth grade class chooses the play, collaborates to design the concept, and performs in the show, which serves as a culmination of their three year drama curriculum.

Enrichment

Service Learning Service Learning is an integral and rewarding part of the LWGMS experience. The goal of the Service Learning program is for students to recognize their own abilities to improve their communities and nurture a sense of responsibility and pride as students take action to improve their local and global communities.

In the 2013/2014 school year, each student will take part in a grade-level service project. The sixth grade service project connects to their study of pollution and the environment. As part of the Rites of Passage curriculum, seventh graders create service learning capstone projects, and the eighth grade project is connected to our Central District community. Additionally, each student participates in an off campus experience during their "FLEx Week," as a means of extending the academic curriculum and as a way to facilitate connections for the students. In addition to these grade level service projects, we encourage our students to participate in two all school service projects. For the 2013/2014 school year, LWGMS is fostering relationships with the St. Cloud’s Cooking for the Homeless program, Centerstone (formerly the Central Area Motivation Project), and Common River.

Past service learning projects include: reading with students from Bailey Gatzert Elementary, Water 1st International’s Carry 5 Walk for Water, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance’s Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day, YWCA’s Thanksgiving Basket Drive, United Nations Foundation’s GirlUp Rally, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Beat the Bridge, American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, Country Doctor Community Health Center’s Spa Day Drive for domestic violence shelters, and fundraising for the Maasai Girls Education Fund.

Service Learning

The goals and objectives of the LWGMS Physical Education program are to help develop strong, self-confident, well-balanced young women. Students participate in a variety of physical education activities in order to provide them with a well-rounded experience.

Each student takes three terms of Physical Education each year: one term of martial arts, one term of health and fitness, and one term of boxing and dance movement.

EALR 1: The student acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain an active life: movement, physical fitness, and nutritionComponent 1.1: Develops motor skills and movement concepts as developmentally appropriate.

Martial ArtsThe Martial Arts program is taught by experienced instructors from Quantum Martial Arts. Throughout their martial arts training, girls are required to express their strength through a “kihap” or “spirit yell” when they perform their forms and techniques – a literal exercise in strengthening their voices. Students perform techniques alone, in partner drills, and with targets. Students are encouraged to explore and discuss body mechanics as they learn. The girls regularly engage in discussions regarding the tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. Each term culminates in a “test” where students perform what they have learned and advance to the next rank. These tests are not linked to technical proficiency, but rather are a celebration of the strengths gained by each individual.

Health and FitnessThe LWGMS Health and Fitness class, taught by instructors from the Meredith Matthews East Madison YMCA, focuses on the four components of fitness: Cardiovascular endurance, Muscular strength, Muscular endurance and Flexibility. Discussion around each component of fitness, the FITT principle, as well as instruction on specific exercises are incorporated throughout each class. Fitness assessments are conducted for each student at the beginning of the term and individual fitness goals are established. The students are introduced to cardio equipment (treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike, cross trainer and AMT), Life Fitness resistance equipment as well as plate loaded machines. YMCA instructor(s) lead the students through safe practices in the fitness center. Group Exercise classes focusing on strength training with free weights and flexibility with yoga are included, as well as an introduction to team sports, such as volleyball and indoor soccer.

Dance MovementDance Movement, taught by Heather Harris P’12, ’15, will give the girls an opportunity to explore various dance styles, learn and participate in choreography, learn holistic stretches and warm-ups, all the while enjoying movement and music. Dance class will consist of Holistic Stretches, improv, and group choreography. We will use a variety of world music as well as explore many different styles of dance. During each session the girls will have two guest artists teach class. Brazilian Samba, Break dance, Afro Cuban, and Contemporary Jazz will be some of the guest classes offered. Each term the girls will write a short summary of their experience with our guest artist as well as having performed choreography at a school event.

Yoga and Body ImageYoga and Body Image, taught by Mary McGough, is a gentle class to develop a connection to the physical and energetic body while cultivating strength, balance, and relaxation. By focusing on yoga fundamentals the girls will work to develop body awareness, learn basic postures, focus on proper alignment, and practice coordinating the breath and movements gracefully together.

Physical Education

1314 curriculum guide

Documents

lwgms curriculum

lwgms student

lwgms girls

curriculum guide

core academic curriculum

social justice

social action

collaborative learning