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7th Grade Information

Welcome to Seventh Grade at BMS

     Educational Program * Curriculum * Electives *Faculty and Staff* Field Trips

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

Welcome to seventh grade!  The seventh grade faculty and staff invite students and their families to become part of our team!  Our goal is for all of our students to enjoy a successful school experience.  We hold high expectations for our students and we believe that the support of families and community is important to school success.  We encourage you to become actively involved in your child's education, and welcome the opportunity to work cooperatively with you. 

The seventh grade educational program is organized into six 54-minute academic periods. Students are assigned to one of our three interdisciplinary teams for their core academic subjects.  At this grade-level, all students take Language Arts, Life Science, Social Studies, and Physical Education/Health. Currently, there are three different levels of Math courses from which your child is assigned, and students select from a variety of electives to fill the remaining two periods. 

In addition to their six academic periods of classes, students participate in a 40-minute Titan/Enrichment period.  Students meet daily in their Enrichment Sessions (M/T/Th/F) and weekly (Wednesdays) in their Titan classes.   Students are assigned to a Titan teacher who serves as an advisor and advocate.  Titan  teachers offer assistance and support throughout the school year and help to organize team and grade level activities. Students are assigned to enrichment sessions for approximately three weeks in cycles beginning on the fourth day of school.   Enrichment session topics vary. Some sessions offer students opportunities to receive targeted instruction in math or English,  while academic lab sessions provide students with extra help in which they may complete assignments, projects, or assessment. Other enrichment sessions offer students opportunities to engage in engaging physical and/or exploratory activities. 

Seventh grade is organized four-teacher teams.  Team teachers work together to provide consistency and unity to the students assigned to their teams.  Teaming also facilitates collaboration, interdisciplinary cooperation, closer monitoring of student behavior, and more efficient communication with parents and guardians.  Teams provide a "family" environment for each student.  We use this team approach to invite both students and their families to work with the administrators, teachers, and counselors in building a positive, stimulating learning environment that ensures student success.  Parent conferences with your child's team may be scheduled during the team planning period by calling the counseling office (951-5803).


CURRICULUM

Language Arts - The seventh-grade student will continue to develop oral communication skills and will become more knowledgeable of the effects of verbal and nonverbal behaviors in oral communication. The student will continue to refine written composition skills, with special attention to word choice, organization, style, and grammar.  Written explanations of math concepts and scientific ecosystems will utilize technical writing skills.  The student will continue vocabulary development through a study of figurative language.  Knowledge of the impact of media on public opinion will be applied in the study of election processes and policy making of American history of the 20th Century.  The student will increase his/her proficiency in the use of print and electronic resources and will learn how to give credit to secondary reference sources. 

Science - A study of Life Science emphasizes an understanding of change, cycles, patterns , and relationships in the living world.  Students build on basic principles related to these concepts by exploring the cellular organization and classification of organisms; the dynamic relationships among organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems; and change as a result of the transmission of genetic information from generation to generation.  Inquiry skills at this level include organization and mathematical analysis of data, manipulating variables in experimentation, and identifying sources of experimental error.  Throughout the school-year, students complete an individual or group project employing the scientific method. 

Social Studies - A study of 20th Century U.S. History incorporates key concepts of the geography and history of the United States from 1900 to the present.  Students will develop analytical skills and understand social studies terms.  Course work is designed to ensure that students will understand the following: maps, globes and their symbols, geography's impact on way of life, civilization, communities, economic principles, government and its importance, historical figures and events, the responsibilities and rights of citizenship, exploration and its impacts, political and social movements, and the impact of technology. 

Math 7 - As a General Math course, Math 7 emphasizes solving problems involving consumer application and proportional reasoning.  The students will gain an understanding of the properties of real numbers, solve linear equations and inequalities, and use data analysis techniques to make inferences and predictions.  Students will also identify real-life applications of the mathematical principles they are learning that can be applied to science and other disciplines they are studying. 

Advanced Math 7 - As a Pre-Algebra course, Advanced Math 7 is designed to review and extend concepts and skills learned in previous math classes, and to present new content that prepares students for more abstract concepts in Algebra. 

Algebra I - This high school credit course is taught with the pacing and work-load of the same course taught at the high school.  This course is designed to include a greater emphasis on conceptual understanding, on algebra as a means of representation, and on algebraic methods as a problem-solving tool.  Algebra is the language through which most mathematics is communicated.  It also provides a means of operating with concepts at an abstract level and then applying them-- a process that often fosters generalizations and insights beyond the original context.  This more sophisticated understanding of algebraic representations is a prerequisite to further formal work in virtually all mathematical subjects.  When considering Algebra I in seventh grade, consideration should be given to the student's cognitive level and readiness for dealing with abstract concepts. 

Health and PE - Health classes provide the foundation for developing skills, attitudes, and behaviors that will assist students in establishing healthy lifestyles. Physical education provides experiences that will enable students to become healthy, active and productive citizens. Conditioning, active participation, knowledge of rules, and development of skills are emphasized. Activities include traditional team sports, individual sports and leisure-time activities.

   ELECTIVES

     Seventh-grade students may choose a combination of semester and/or full-year courses from a list of Fine Arts and Related Arts classes. 

Full-Year Courses:   

 Intermediate Art    

Intermediate Band    

Intermediate Chorus   

Semester Courses:

AgriScience   

Digital Input Technologies (required by end of 8th grade)    

 Technology Education

 2D Art

 Music Elective 

  FACULTY & STAFF

Administration - As part of their duties, each of the three administrators at BMS works closely with a specific grade-level.  Grade-level administrators' responsibilities include curriculum issues, student discipline, parent/guardian contacts, teachers evaluations, special education, and guidance. 

Guidance & Counseling - To facilitate communication and comfortable working relationships, students are able to work with the same guidance counselor throughout their middle school experience. Assistance is available in planning and scheduling classes, working through problems and concerns, and arranging parent/teacher conferences.  Counselors offer crisis prevention and intervention as well as make individual and group counseling available to students. 

Special Education - BMS is an inclusive school; students with special needs are full members of regular  education classrooms.  Special Education teachers and/or instructional assistants collaborate with the regular classroom teachers in working with heterogeneous groups of students.  Special education teachers are also members of the core teaching teams. 

Faculty - The seventh-grade faculty is rich in experience and expertise.   Teachers from each of the four teams in seventh grade work together to provide consistency and unity in our grade-level.  There is collaboration among the teams to coordinate grade-level field trips, activities, projects, interdisciplinary units, themes, etc.  

FIELD TRIPS

Carefully planned field trips related to SOLs and units of study are an invaluable complement to classroom study.  Field trips allow us to expand our classrooms and provide students with varied learning opportunities.  Through field trips, students are often able to experience things to which they otherwise might never be exposed.  Teachers are encouraged to schedule field trips for their classes that are both educational and enjoyable. 

Field trips are an extension of our classrooms, and as such, they reflect individual interests, strengths and style.  They are as much a part of our individuality as any other aspect of teaching philosophy and practice. While seventh-grade teachers share the same basic philosophy of field trips, the types of trips, the frequency of trips, and the way in which they are conducted will differ according to the dynamics of each unique team/class and circumstances of each trip.  While field trips often may be designed to relate to specific course goals and objectives for a particular curriculum area, teachers are encouraged to seek opportunities for cross-curricular and interdisciplinary activities.