There is a new course offering for 6th graders this year.  Based on informal student and parent feedback that students don't have enough opportunity to practice writing and media literacy, as well as input from the middle school teachers, administration decided to move away from Academic Extensions to a supplemental English/Language Arts (ELA) class that would focus on the State Standards that were difficult to cover in-depth in the existing ELA class.  The teacher for this course will be Natalie Peterson who previously worked at Northeast Middle School.  The other "core" courses will be 6th grade ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies.  Because this is a new course, the exact curriculum is a work in progress, however, here is a brief outline:

Title: Read, Write, Create

Course Length: 53 minutes daily, entire school year

Course Description:  In terms of writing, students will write informative/explanatory texts to examine topic and convey ideas.  Students will also conduct short research projects and gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources.  In terms of media literacy, students will interpret information presented in diverse media formats.  Students will also recognize ethical standards and safe practices in social media, and students will use digital multimedia formats and publishing for a specific purpose. Teacher will collaborate with both ELA and SS team.

ELA Standards covered: 6.7.2.2, 6.7.7.7, 6.7.8.8, 6.9.2.2, 6.9.7.7(c),

Syllabus / Scope and Sequence

Quarter 1: Examining topics and learn how to convey ideas.  Then write informative and explanatory texts to convey these topics and ideas.  Keyboarding basics.

Quarter 2: Conduct a short research project or two.  Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources.  Learn how to conduct valid online research.  Learn how to create a bibliography. Continued keyboarding skills.

Quarter 3: Interpret information in diverse media formats.  Advanced keyboarding.

Quarter 4: Recognize ethical standards and safe practices in social media.  Introduce blogs and other social media writing opportunities.

Assessments

Quarter 1: Informative and/or explanatory article (response to multiple texts).

Quarter 2: Research project with sources and bibliography

Quarter 3: Keyboarding test (words per minute)

Quarter 4: Online blog, web site, or presentation (including peer evaluations of work)

We are very excited about the new course and the new teacher.  Students increasingly need to know how to access, filter, and synthesize information from media sources and this course will help develop those skills.  If you have any questions about the new course, please contact the school.