Learning Objectives

6th Grade

In the 6th grade, students will go through a cycle of thematic learning strands in which they develop personal strengths, as well as academic competencies. Through investigations with personal identity, production as it pertains to power and authority, environment and engagement in community assets, the 6th grade curriculum will facilitate year-long exploration and growth. In the personal strand, students will be supported in defining themselves and evaluating the values and convictions that structure their lives. In the production strand, students will question the idea of resource production, identifying what resources are and how they are distributed. Such inquiries address knowledge as an intangible resource that can be just as valuable as any physical object. In the environment strand, students will be come to learn how science and technology have advanced in ways to allow society members to be more environmentally savvy citizens. With technology advancing so quickly, this objective is pivotal to twenty-first century skills. In the engagement strand, the students will explore their community, its history and culture. This learning will support students in becoming change agents in their environment, as they will be guided in identifying the needs and issues of their own community. Students will explore the 6th grade curriculum strands both as individual issues and interwoven ideas. Teachers will guide instruction so as to allow students to formulate their own inquiries and solution to real world situations.

7th Grade

In the 7th grade, students will go through a cycle of thematic learning strands in which they develop personal strengths, as well as academic competencies at an intermediate level. The 7th grade students will begin the year learning about global identity, and then will move through the strands of distribution as it relates to power and authority, global connections in science and technology, and lastly social capital. Each strand supports an elevated investigation of what was introduced in 6th grade. In the global identity strand, students will be placed in a broader context, allowing them to better understand how inextricable intertwined people are, regardless of their regions in the world. This strand helps students see themselves as beings, a part of a global society that is diverse and dynamic. In the distribution strand, students will learn how to question ownership and dissemination of resources. This explicitly beckons for critique of power and authority. In the global connections strand, students will be introduced to information about how new technologies have supported the ability to create relationships amongst people and groups all around the world. In the social capital strand, 7th graders will identify how social capital is the product of active connections among individuals in which trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviors bind them and enable cooperative action (Dinda, 2008). Overall, 7th grade curriculum focuses on the "how to" and the transfer of knowledge. It aims to offer learning experiences and real world skills needed to perform within our greater global community.

8th Grade

In the 8th grade, students will go through a cycle of thematic learning strands in which they develop personal strengths, as well as academic competencies at a mastery level. 8th grade curriculum includes investigations of national identity, consumption in power and authority, civic practice and asset mapping. In the national identity strand, the students will explore the relationships between personal and national identity, as one influences the other. This strand forces students to recognize the complexity of national identity and how it may affect ones self-definition. In the consumption strand, students will be guided in recognizing how to prioritize economic wants versus needs. Students will learn about economic decision making and compare their own economic experiences with others, thus recognizing how their decision result in consequences that influence other groups, communities and nations around the world. In the civic practice stand, students will learn democratic ideas and practices, which demonstrate respect for alternative points of views and worldly vision. This strand will teach students how to play a civic role not only in the school community but in their communities outside of the school walls. In the asset mapping strand, the students will identify their community's assets that may be utilized to improve their wellbeing and quality of life. Asset mapping is a form of resource identification that can result in knowledge creation and community pride. The New Media Middle 8th grade curriculum is designed to synthesize all of the thematic strands previously investigated in 6th and 7th grade. This curriculum affords students the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of knowledge by applying the information beyond our immediate learning community.