Our Middle School Language Arts classes will include the following and will be adjusted by grade level. All of the following components are necessary to start preparing for topic:

• Reading Comprehension
• Learn strategies to analyze structure of passages
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Writing
• Literature

Students will learn the fundamental components of grammar, including the parts of speech, diagramming, and understanding how a sentence is formed. Because grammar is not explicitly taught in most public schools, this class is critical for middle school students, since it is also tested on the SAT. A strong understanding of grammars often reflected in excellent writing, as it reinforces a student’s understanding of language.

During the writing portion of the class, students will be exposed to different styles of writing including personal narratives, descriptive writing, persuasive writing, research essays, and creative writing. Many middle schoolers have difficulty expressing their thoughts clearly, therefore our classes will focus on teaching students how to plan out a paper before they write it. In addition, classes will practice the skills needed to be a good writer, including finding exact words, revising sentences, and improve sentence structure.

One of the most difficult and emerging challenges facing students today is the ability to speak in front of an audience, Whether for debates, plays, or even class presentations, students are expected to perform at a high level. This class will introduce techniques and practices to help instill students with the confidence they need to succeed in any type of public speaking.

Our journalism class provide a unique approach to get students to not only improve their writing but also enjoy it too! Students will have the opportunity to research their own topics, learn how to perform an interview, and participate in the design process of the newsletter. Through this class students will learn crucial life skills such as understanding what it means to be a team player, implementing time management skills to meet deadlines, and writing to reach a broad audience, all while having fun!!

Understanding what is read is critical to promoting a student’s confidence and attitude towards reading. In the Reading Comprehension class, students will learn strategies to analyze the structure and underlying meaning of books, essay, and literary discussion. Tasks such as nothing inferences, finding main ideas versus supporting details, or deciphering unknown words in context are all tested on the SATs, so middle schoolers should start mastering these skills early!

Besides reading comprehension, a strong vocabulary will help to elicit vivid writing and to improve comprehension of the difficult literary material, both key skills used in and outside the classroom. Our classes will introduce common middle school and high school words, as well as Latin and Greek prefixes suffixes, and roots, so students can learn to decode words and their parts. Building a strong vocabulary while still in middle school can significantly increase confidence when studying words for the SAT in high school!

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As students progress to the high school level they will be expected to go beyond comprehension and come up with their own original interpretation of literary work. Such a skill is essential because high school and college level writing demands strong critical thinking and analysis. Critical and analytical thinking are also essential LIFE SKILLS that all students should have. Using literary work to practice it can better prepare students for the future.

Also known as math 7 in Cupertino middle schools, pre-algebra provides the foundations in algebra, geometry, and problem solving that is needed for success in more advanced courses. Students will be introduced to new material such as functions, prime factorization, inequalities and the Pythagorean Theorem.

Algebra 1 is frequently known as the gatekeeper subject. The course is used in many professions and is the first in a series of higher-level math classes students need in order to succeed in college and life. Students transition from concrete arithmetic to the symbolic language of algebra, allowing the development of abstract reasoning skills necessary to excel in math and science. Students will be introduced to new concepts such as factoring, algebraic proofs, and quadratic equations.

Geometry introduces students to theory and application of formal and informal reasoning as well as to synthetic, coordinate, and transformational approaches. Through learning key geometry theorems and proofs, this class is a great way to enhance and train logical thinking. Students will be utilizing logic to create proofs and constructions and will be introduced to new concepts such as perspective, space, and dimension.