Academic Program for Middle School
Language Arts:
This program focuses on the effective use of the reading and writing processes. Reading instruction includes literary, informational, and technical texts for literal, interpretive and inferential meaning. Through projects and presentations, students develop their visual and oral communication skills. Students also participate in listening, viewing and speaking strategies, understanding the common features of a variety of literary forms and responding critically to visual, oral and written texts. Emphasis is placed on grammar and vocabulary skills, which allows for the development of the conventions of standard written English as well as writing for a variety of purposes and audiences. Along with all language skills, students are introduced to note taking and various methods of study skills. Writing instruction includes all stages of the writing process from prewriting, drafting and editing to publishing. Students learn to write a variety of forms, including basic paragraphs, essays, short stories, and book reports. Students also receive instruction in test-taking skills and strategies.
Sixth Grade Math:
The sixth grade curriculum lays the foundation in math concepts and skills needed to progress students from grade 6 to grade 12. It also consolidates the concepts and skills that they learnt in their lower grades. It includes computational abilities of varied numbers, ratios, proportions, percents, integers etc. Algebraic concepts are also introduced.
Seventh Grade Math:
Grade 7 Integrated Math – II reviews the skills covered in grade 6 and focuses on the core concepts of algebra. At this level of instruction, students explore formulas, expressions, and equations in more details. In addition, proportion, scale, and similarity are covered in more depth as well as number sense and operations. Exploration of integers is also an integral part of 7th grade curriculum with equation and graphs. Geometry with all of its aspects is also introduced.
Eighth Grade Math:
Grade 8 Integrated Math – III This course allows students the opportunity to study algebraic objectives in more details. Students continue to explore the language of algebra by learning about variables, expressions, equations, linear equations and inequalities as well as functions and relationships. Rational and irrational numbers are developed including operations. Ratio, proportion, percent, area volume, geometry and measurement are also part of this course. Finally, students have the opportunity to learn in detail about solid geometry, similarity, congruence and transformations.
Social Studies (Sixth Grade):
The Sixth Grade curriculum focuses upon the commonalities of the human struggle through study of ancient civilizations. It also emphasizes a solid understanding of basic geographic concepts, which will allow students to better succeed as they progress through the advancing curricula. Man's basic struggle to both tame and cope with his natural environment are examined in the world's first civilizations and related to similar circumstances today.
Seventh Grade:
The Seventh Grade curriculum covers the American experience from the beginnings of European exploration through post-Civil War Reconstruction. It is here that the introduction to the "American Experience" begins. As a nation of immigrants, the contributions of diverse world cultures and ethnicities are not taught as isolated occurrences. Rather, they are infused throughout the instruction, as they happened, a natural part of the American mosaic. In Seventh Grade, the basics of the dream found in the Declaration of Independence and the vehicle of the Constitution are introduced, culminating with the Civil War and Lincoln's redefinition of what it meant to be an American.
Eighth Grade:
The Eighth Grade curriculum covers the American experience following Reconstruction through the United States' emergence as an active participant in the world today. The importance of cultural diversity and its contribution to the United States is emphasized, not in isolation, but as an integral part of our nation's growth. These events are examined critically in their historical context as well as how they have impacted the world as we now know it today.
Science:
The goal of NUIA Science program is to achieve scientific literacy which can be defined as the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for scientific decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. The tenets of scientific literacy include the ability to find or determine answers to questions derived from everyday experiences, describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena, understand articles about science, engage in conversation about the validity of conclusions, identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions, and pose explanations based on evidence derived from one's own work. NUIA students can achieve scientific literacy through an instructional program based on the science component of the Standard Course of Study for Science.
Sixth Grade Integrated Science:
The sixth grade science curriculum is structured to engage students in an interactive approach to understanding scientific concepts through investigations and explorations. At this level, the student advances to a more in-depth study by relying on prior knowledge, logical reasoning, experimentation, and research to process the skills of science. It presents an inquiry into many high interest topics which shows a direct relationship between science education and daily life. Essentially, through implementation of the scientific method, the student connects mathematics, technology, geography, and language to learn about themselves and their environment. The student will explore and understand concepts related to: Matter and Energy, Cells, Growth, and Reproduction , Physical Forces, Astronomy, The Earth, Heredity, the Human Body: Response and Change.
Seventh Grade Physical Science:
Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to the biological sciences. However, the term "physical" creates an unintended, somewhat arbitrary distinction, since many branches of physical science also study biological phenomena.
Eighth Grade Life Science:
Life Science is focused around the Florida Sunshine State Standards. The Sunshine State Standards were approved by the State Board of Education in 1996 to provide expectations for student achievement in Florida. The Standards approved in 1996 were written in seven subject areas, each divided into four separate grade clusters (Pre K -2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12). This format was chosen to provide flexibility to school districts in designing curriculum based on local needs. The Standards for grade 6-8 were used for this course to indicate what a student should know at the end of the 8th grade as pertaining to Life Science. This course is an introductory course which is a prerequisite for Biology which will be taken in the ninth grade.
Mathematics:
This program lays the foundation in concepts and skills needed to progress students to high school. Algebra is introduced in 6th grade, and more deeply explored in 7th grade in addition to the basics of geometry. In the 8th grade, algebraic and geometric concepts are thoroughly developed. The first course, grade 6, consolidates the concepts and skills learnt in the lower grades, including: computational abilities of varied number, ratios, proportions, percents and integers. The focus of the second course lies in formulas, expressions, equations, and proportions, scale and similarity, exploring the language of algebra by learning about variables, expressions, equations, linear equations and inequalities as well as
functions and relationships. Rational and irrational numbers are developed including operations. Ratio, proportion, percent, area volume, geometry and measurement are also part of this course. Finally, students have the chance to learn in details about solid geometry, similarity, congruence and transformations.
