Middle School (6-8)

 

Explore Multiple Dimensions of Their Identity and the World

Students’ Evergreen experience culminates in this division. Here, they continue to strengthen connections with their class and school-wide communities. They also widen their circle, studying and participating in global citizenry and culturally responsive conversation and collaboration. In 8th grade, eager to expand these essential skills even further, they embark on a month-long trip to a non-Western country—the pinnacle of the Evergreen education, and the start of a new phase in their life’s journey.

 

In 8th grade, students spend Advisor time composing an essay about their core values, with the optional challenge of using an overarching metaphor to illustrate their ideas. Students then create an art or media project as an artistic expression of those values, making their thinking visible.

Understanding their individual beliefs and morals supports students’ intentional engagement in practical preparations for high school: composing a resume, practicing interview skills, and honing their writing in alignment with typical high school essay structures, all of which we practice during Advisor time.

Signature Programs

Middle Arts

Our Middle Arts program is designed to offer middle school students an introduction—and if desired, a deeper dive—into visual arts, theater, music and dance. Over the course of their middle school years, students take two classes in theater arts, two in visual arts, two in music, and one in dance & movement. Students select two classes per semester, and each meets once during the school week for 90 minutes. Popular offerings have included Fundamentals of Acting, Hand Building and Wheel-throwing Ceramics, Art Inspires Art, Calligraphy, Board Game Theory and Design, Junk Orchestra, Hip Hop Dance, and musical productions.

Adventure Days

During Adventure Days, Middle Schoolers propose, design, and construct a hands-on project that encourages innovation and transforms their imagination into reality. Testing, reflecting, and iterating, they learn from mistakes and celebrate unexpected breakthroughs. Students might build a Samurai armor or a detailed model of a black hole, begin a novel, or launch an environmental justice initiative. Blending creativity, collaboration, and self-management, Adventure Days expands students’ confidence and competence—and their sense of what’s possible.

Global Studies

To prepare for their trip, 8th grade students participate in a yearlong Global Studies course. During the first semester, they explore global citizenry, human rights, social justice, and structures of power and government. In the second semester, leading up to their time abroad, they study the geography, history, politics, dominant language, and religion of the country to which they will travel. The course includes six major projects and papers that encourage students’ deep thinking and processing, including a month-long NGO project in which students research important social and environmental issues in the country and pick one to address in their project. They study third party evidence, expository writing, design, and presentation skills, producing five central products:

  • An NGO proposal booklet
  • An NGO design plan
  • A business plan
  • A marketing pamphlet
  • A marketing poster or website

Students present their projects at a grade-wide NGO fair, where they compete for virtual donors and volunteers. All of this work prepares them to synthesize and integrate their learning abroad into similar reflective and action-oriented projects that educate the Evergreen community upon their return. 

6th-8th Grade Subjects:

  • Advisor
  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Math
  • Science
  • Social Studies/Global Studies
  • World Language
  • Dance Arts
  • Music Arts
  • Visual Arts
  • PE
  • Technology

A Look Inside Our Middle School

The middle school years are critical in forming young people’s adult selves. In this division, we deepen discussions of human development and identity. We support students’ increasingly complex, nuanced understandings of themselves, their peers and communities, as well as the world around them, through content-based curricula and community-based conversation. At the same time, we preserve and hold space for the levity and fun of childhood as our oldest learners navigate the passage between childhood and their next steps towards maturity.

Examples of our programming framework include:

6th Grade - Reading and Writing

KNOW

Elements of a short story

What a literary discussion is and how to participate in one

Factual, evaluative, and interpretive questions

Elements of a formal paragraph

What a thesis statement is

Structure of a five-paragraph essay

How to contribute to a supportive learning environment

UNDERSTAND

High quality stories contain certain elements

Literary discussions provide a method to deepen understandings

A reading habit enriches lives

Steps in the writing process lead to more thoughtful and clear writing

How essay structure helps you argue your point

DO

Discern elements of a story when reading complex texts

Prepare for and participate in literary discussions

Follow a process to produce formal written work

Use textual evidence and essay structure to prove a thesis

Craft a claim and support it with textual evidence

Write well-developed characters, use precise details/descriptions, and use effective structure when writing in the narrative style

Use proper conventions and grammar to produce clear written work

Correctly punctuate written work

Listen to and work with others on reading and writing tasks in a productive way

Manage time regarding assignments

Contribute to learning environments in constructive ways

7th Grade - Algebra

KNOW

Definition(s) of slope, intercepts, vertex, coefficient, variable, expression, equation, proportions, solutions, inequality

Slopes of parallel lines are equal, and slopes of perpendicular lines are negative reciprocals

Quadratic Formula

Absolute value of an expression can be thought of as a distance

Proportional reasoning can be used to describe and solve problems relating to rate

Exponents are repeated multiplication, and multiplication is repeated addition

UNDERSTAND

Algebra is a systematic approach to abstract problem solving, and algebraic techniques can be used to efficiently solve word problems and applications

Students grow by analyzing mistakes and making appropriate adjustments

An equal sign implies an equivalence relation: the rules and properties of algebra are based on a deep understanding of equivalence

An inequality is fundamentally a comparison of two quantities

Understanding mathematics gives us the tools to recognize patterns

Exploring and identifying patterns gives us the tools to define relationships.

DO

Solve a system of linear equations using graphing, substitution, and elimination methods

Solve systems of equations within the context of word problems

Graph linear equations in slope-intercept and standard forms

Factor quadratic polynomials

Solve quadratic equations by factoring and using the quadratic formula

Graph quadratic functions

Simplify expressions with exponents

8th Grade - Science

KNOW

Energy is a fundamental descriptor of the universe

Energy appears in many forms, has units and associated vocabulary and definitions

Units, vocabulary, and definitions related to the fundamental forces/properties, Newton's laws, Kinetic Energy, motion in one direction, and Gravitational Potential Energy

Vocabulary and definitions related to atomic structure, chemical bonds, chemical  reactions, physical/chemical properties, temperature, thermal energy, and periodic properties

Units, vocabulary, and definitions related to waves and the electromagnetic spectrum

Fields are a very useful model for force/energy

Mass causes gravity

Force is an interaction that causes acceleration

Work is the transfer of energy

Matter and energy are conserved

Chemical equations are balanced, and describe overall changes in bonding relationships between atoms involved in a chemical reaction

Waves are repeating patterns that transfer energy

Ray, wave, and particle models are appropriate for describing different behaviors of light

The temperature of an object is the result of a net energy balance

UNDERSTAND

The universe, our planet, and life plays out through the transfer of energy

Energy's eternal quest for a lower state manifests as force

The universe is explained by a handful of forces acting at a distance

Units are essential to precise communication

Mathematical models have predictive ability

Elements and compounds are characterized by their physical and chemical properties.

Chemical bonds store energy through electrostatic force

Reactions require activation energy, and have a net absorption or release of energy

Scientific study and engineering design are iterative and empirical processes that increase or improve the quality of knowledge about physical phenomena

DO

Apply the scientific method and principles of engineering design to approach unknowns, problems, and challenges

Phrase outcomes as hypotheses

Design controlled experiments and meticulously collect data with precision

Make measurements of relevant physical quantities

Create and interpret graphical representations of data

Make predictions and solve numerical problems from data and/or mathematical  models

Draw actionable conclusions from results

Argue persuasively from evidence in an audience appropriate fashion