SOMONAUK MIDDLE SCHOOL COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
5th GRADE
REQUIRED CLASSES
ART Class Fee Required Rotation
Introduction to basic concepts in Art. Students will be involved in lab experiences and projects as well as classroom work. This class will alternate with a study hall and keyboarding class.
KEYBOARDING Class Fee Required Pass/Fail Rotation
This course will introduce students to the computer. Emphasis will
be on learning basic keyboarding skills. This class will alternate with
a study hall and an art class.
MATH All Year
Fifth grade is the big year for multiplication of three digits, long division, and fractions. Daily lessons are followed by periodic tests. Students practice their math skills and correct mistakes before taking the tests.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION All year
Physical Education focuses on increasing the knowledge affecting attitudes and behavior related to physical activity including exercise, sports, small games, and dance. Emphasis of study is placed on basic fundamentals, form, and rules. All students will change for PE.
SCIENCE All Year
We are teaching from Discovery Works from Houghton Mifflin. Units included in the six books are Systems in Living Things, The Solar System and Beyond, Matter and Energy, Populations and Ecosystems, The Solid Earth, and Light and Sound.
SOCIAL STUDIES All Year
American History is taught in 5th grade. We cover from the earliest people in North America up to the 20th century. Important units include Early American Explorers, Revolutionary War, The Building of a New Country, Expansion, Civil War, Reconstruction, World War I, and World War II (if we get that far).
ELECTIVE CLASSES
BAND Class Fee Required All Year
Being a part of the 5th grade band is an exciting opportunity for beginning instrumentalists. Students who choose to be a part of this group learn more about all types of music, while also learning how to perform to the best of their ability on their instrument. We listen to all styles of music and learn to compose and improvise. The bands perform three concerts each year, and may have other opportunities to perform in public as the year progresses. No previous experience is necessary to be a part of this band. Come be a part of a quality organization, make new friends, love learning about music, and be a part of the BEST BAND IN THE LAND!
CHORUS All Year
Chorus is open to all students. Developing the voice with proper breath support, vowel sounds and projection will be the major focus of the vocal rehearsals. Students will sing a variety of songs from the different periods of history; from early Baroque to Broadway tunes. Grades will be determined by attendance, daily class work, and participation.
COMPUTER ENRICHMENT Class Fee Required Pass/Fail Rotation
Students will spend time reinforcing keyboarding skills and learning basic word processing techniques. This class will alternate with a study hall.
6th GRADE
REQUIRED CLASSES
ART Class Fee Required Rotation
Introduction to basic concepts in Art. Students will be involved in lab experiences and projects, as well as classroom work. This class will alternate with a study hall and keyboarding class.
KEYBOARDING Class Fee Required Rotation
This course will introduce students to the computer. Emphasis will be on learning basic keyboarding skills. This class will alternate with a study hall and an art class.
LANGUAGE ARTS All Year
The language arts curriculum is based on the reading of high-interest and challenging novels that are read and discussed during class time. This involves the use of many higher-order thinking skills and completion of comprehension building activities. Vocabulary, spelling, and writing are included in the novel study. Grammar skills are taught and reinforced during writing activities. Students also select four novels that are reading-level appropriate, and read them outside of class. Comprehension of these novels is checked through use of the Accelerated Reader Program, book talks, and other high interest activities, including a Power Point Presentation.
MATH All Year
Master the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, fractions, and mixed numbers. The students learn to compute area and perimeter. Negative numbers are introduced. We touch on algebra by using letters to represent an unknown in a problem. We also learn prime and composite numbers, lines, angles, polygons, and percent.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION All year
Physical Education focuses on increasing the knowledge affecting attitudes and behavior related to physical activity including exercise, sports small games, and dance. Emphasis of study is placed on basic fundamentals, form, and rules.
READING All year
Students will concentrate on strategies to improve reading comprehension and fluency.
SCIENCE All year
Science has six (six) different units. Units A & D, the life science units, consists of cells and microbes. This involves the structure and life processes of cells, including mitosis, protists, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. It also covers continuity of life by focusing on asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction, including meiosis. It briefly covers inherited and acquired traits, as well as evolution. Students will also learn to manipulate a microscope and view several different slides of microscopic organisms.
In Unit B, the students are introduced to the theory of plate tectonics. They branch out from there, and are able to explain the shapes and positions of the continents, earthquakes, volcanoes, and the location of mountain ranges using the tectonics theory. The students will also learn how mountains are formed, and will be able to classify different types of volcanoes and eruptions.
In Unit C (Chemistry), The Nature of Matter focuses on observations of the properties of materials and how matter changes. Through activities and resources, students describe matter, classification, and how energy affects matter. Students become familiar with the characteristics of different states of matter, and they learn that the way atoms are organized into molecules gives materials their distinctive properties.
In Unit E, the students study the oceans. They will learn to identify the properties of ocean waters and the living things they contain. They will study the features and sediments on the ocean floor, and understand how the ocean floor’s topography changes. They will be able to explain ocean movements and list the resources of the ocean. They will understand how different types of pollution threats to damage or destroy those ocean resources.
Unit F (Physics), Forces and Motion, investigates motion, speed, gravity, momentum, and action-reaction forces.
SOCIAL STUDIES All Year
Introduce and develop concepts of history, geography, civics/government, economics, and culture. Students will develop these concepts from such cultures as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Middle Ages, and modern day Russia. Development of geography, civics, and economics is evident throughout the curriculum. Students also develop social skills through cooperative learning projects.
ELECTIVE CLASSES
BAND Class Fee Required All Year
Being a part of the 6th grade band is an exciting opportunity for beginning instrumentalists. Students who choose to be a part of this group learn more about all types of music, while also learning how to perform to the best of their ability on their instrument. We listen to all styles of music and learn to compose and improvise. The bands perform three concerts each year, and may have other opportunities to perform in public as the year progresses. No previous experience is necessary to be a part of either of these bands, although students wanting to enter for the first time must gain permission from the instructor. Come be a part of a quality organization, make new friends, love learning about music, and be a part of the BEST BAND IN THE LAND!
CHORUS All year
Chorus is open to all students. Developing the voice with proper breath support, vowel sounds and projection will be the major focus of the daily vocal rehearsal. Students will sing a variety of songs from different periods of history; from early Baroque to Broadway show tunes. Grades will be determined by attendance, daily class work, and participation.
COMPUTER ENRICHMENT Class Fee Required Pass/Fail Rotation
Students will spend time reinforcing keyboarding skills and learning basic word processing, Excel, and Power Point techniques. This class will alternate with a study hall.
7th GRADE
REQUIRED CLASSES
LANGUAGE ARTS All Year
This course integrates literature and language in real-world contexts. The students read a variety of classic, contemporary, and multicultural literatures. This reading is then integrated with writing, language skills, and spelling instruction using real-world applications and interdisciplinary contexts.
MATH All Year
Seventh grade mathematics includes in-depth work with the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. The integer number systems are more thoroughly covered through the same operations and rules. Simple percent situations and relationships to fractions and decimals are used in equations and work problems. Types of word problems are studied for their patterns and logic. The basic equations are developed. A variety of charts, tables, and graphs are introduced to help organize information in the problem solving process. Volume, simple construction, and Toothpick Bridge building help with two and three-dimensional geometry, area and perimeter are introduced. Practical money math and everyday situational math are used throughout the year. Vocabulary, verbal, and written communication are used and reinforced. Calculators are used in the class.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION All Year
Physical Education focuses on increasing the knowledge affecting attitudes and behavior related to physical activity including exercise, sports, small games, and dance. Emphasis of study is placed on basic fundamentals, form, and rules.
READING All Year
This class will be used to improve students reading ability at the 7th grade level. A variety of genres will be used.
SCIENCE All Year
A review of life science including basic science skills is included. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, parts of the cell, classification of organisms, diffusion and osmosis, animal and plant structures and systems, and nutrition. The course incorporates collection of data, scientific problem-solving methods, analysis, and interpretation of data into all laboratory activities. Students will utilize the scientific method to create and perform a controlled experiment and organize data to be presented as a science fair project.
SOCIAL STUDIES All Year
The seventh grade social studies course is a survey course of American history from the exploratory period through the post-Civil War, which includes an introduction to the U.S. Constitution and the American philosophy of government and political system. A Native American research unit which concludes with oral presentations is also done at the seventh grade level.
ELECTIVE CLASSES
BAND Class Fee Required All year
The Somonauk 7th grade band is a fun opportunity to expand and add to all the great musical experiences gained in your first two years of instrumental music at Somonauk. This band performs in three concerts, participates in solo and ensemble contest, and organizational contest. Beside traditional concert band music, these students also participate in marching band, where they march in 3 parades each year. The band has gone to Morris, Dwight, Great America, and even Chicago to perform and hear concerts. New members should gain permission from the instructor before enrolling. We love learning about music and performing, and would love to have you as a part of our great band program. We hope you choose to be a part of the BEST BAND IN THE LAND!
ART Class Fee Required Rotation
Introduction to basic concepts in Art. Students will be involved in lab experiences and projects as well as classroom work. This class will alternate with a study hall and computer enrichment class.
COMPUTER ENRICHMENT Class Fee Required Rotation
Students will learn basic word processing skills. Computer support time for Power Point and Excel assignments will be provided. This class will alternate with a study hall and an art class.
CHORUS All year
Chorus is open to all seventh grade students. Developing the voice with proper breath support, vowel sounds and projection will be the major focus of the daily vocal rehearsal. Students will sing a variety of songs from different periods of history; from early Baroque to Broadway show tunes. The junior high chorus will perform at the Winter Concert, Spring Concert, and the Fox Valley Junior High School Choral Festival. Students will be given the opportunity to enter the State Solo and Ensemble Contest. Grades will be determined by attendance at required concerts, contests, and festivals along with daily class work and participation.
8th GRADE
REQUIRED CLASSES
LANGUAGE ARTS All year
This course continues the previous year’s integrated study of literature and language in real-world contexts as it takes a more in-depth approach to the topics presented. Writing, language skills, and spelling instruction is continued in real-world applications and interdisciplinary contexts.
MATH All year
Eighth grade mathematics assumes that the student has mastered the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. The class takes these concepts farther into more complicated and multi-operational problems, using order of operation, symbols of inclusion, and logic. The logic of word problems, formation and solving of equations, reading and developing of graphs, and using and interpreting percents are covered throughout the year. Two and three-dimensional geometry is illustrated through situations of perimeter, area (plane and surface), and volume. Construction of tagboard 3-D solids helps to reinforce these concepts and assist in understanding congruency and symmetry. Logical thinking, communication (verbal and written), and the building of new concepts from old concepts is continually shown throughout the year. Calculators are used in this class.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION All year
Physical education focuses on increasing the knowledge, affecting attitudes and behavior related to physical activity, including exercise, sports, small games, and dance. Emphasis of study is placed on basic fundamentals, form, and rules.
READING All Year
This class will be used to improve students reading ability at the 8th grade level. A variety of genres will be used.
SCIENCE All year
A review of physical science includes basic science skills. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, density, velocity and acceleration, inertia, structure of the atom, the periodic chart, chemical bonds, and properties of matter. The course incorporates collection of data, scientific problem-solving methods, analysis, and interpretation of data into all laboratory activities.
SOCIAL STUDIES All year
The eighth grade social studies course is a survey course of American history from post-civil war to present time. An intensive study of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and state and local government is covered at the eighth grade level. Current events and geography are reinforced at both grade levels. An introduction to the stock market project is also included in this course.
ELECTIVE CLASSES
BAND Class Fee Required All year
The 8th grade band is a fun opportunity to expand and add to all the great musical experiences gained in your first two years of instrumental music at Somonauk. This band performs in three concerts, participates in solo and ensemble contest, and organizational contest. Besides traditional concert band music, these students also participate in marching band, where they march in 3 parades each year. The band has gone to Morris, Dwight, Great America, and even Chicago to perform and hear concerts. New members should gain permission from the instructor before enrolling. We love learning about music and performing, and would love to have you as a part of our great band program. We hope you choose to be a part of the BEST BAND IN THE LAND!
CHORUS Class Fee Required All year
Chorus is open to all eighth grade students. Developing the voice with proper breath support, vowel sounds and projection will be the major focus of the daily vocal rehearsal. Students will sing a variety of songs from different periods of history; from early Baroque to Broadway show tunes. The junior high chorus will perform at the Winter Concert, Spring Concert, and the Fox Valley Junior High School Choral Festival. Students will be given the opportunity to enter the State Solo and Ensemble Contest. Grades will be determined by attendance at required concerts, contests, and festivals along with daily class work and participation.
ART Class Fee Required Rotation
Introduction to basic concepts in Art. Students will be involved in lab experiences and projects as well as classroom work. This class will alternate with a study hall and computer enrichment.
COMPUTER ENRICHMENT Class Fee Required Rotation
Students will learn basic word processing skills. Computer support time for Power Point and Excel assignments will be provided. This class will alternate with a study hall and an art class.