SHANGHAI HONG QIAO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLCOURSE CATALOG

MIDDLE SCHOOL2019 / 2020

ContentsMATHEMATICSMathematics (Grade 6)Mathematics (Grade7)Mathematics (Grade 8)SCIENCEScience (Grade6)Science (Grade7)

Science (Grade 8)ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTSEnglish Language Arts (Grade 6)English Language Arts (Grade 7)English Language Arts (Grade 8)

Literacy Seminar 1 (Grades 6/7)Literacy Seminar 2 (Grades 6/7)Literacy Seminar 3 (Grades 6/7)Literacy Seminary 1 (Grade 8)

Literature Seminary 2 (Grade 8)SOCIAL STUDIESSocial Studies (Grade 6)Social Studies (Grade 7)Social Studies (Grade 8)

MANDARIN LANGUAGE AND LITERATUREMandarin Language and Literature - High Level (Grade 6)Mandarin Language and Literature - Standard Level (Grade 6)Mandarin Language and Literature (Grade 7)

Mandarin Language and Literature (Grade 8)MANDARIN LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONMandarin Language Acquisition (Grade 6)Mandarin Language Acquisition - High Level (Grade 7/8)Mandarin Language Acquisition - Intermediate Level (Grade 7/8)Mandarin Language Acquisition - Beginner Level (Grade 7/8)

THE ARTSVisual Arts (Grade 6)Visual Arts (Grade 7)Visual Arts (Grade 8)Orchestra (Grade 6)Orchestra (Grade 7)

Orchestra (Grade 8)PHYSICAL EDUCATIONPhysical Education (Grade 6)Physical Education (Grade 7)Physical Education (Grade 8)

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MATHEMATICS

Mathematics - Grade 6

Grade 6 Mathematics is an integrated mathematics course which covers Number Theory, Algebra, Geome-try and Statistics. The course includes the number system, ratios and proportional relationships, negative numbers, variables and expressions, equations and inequalities, measurements of 2D shapes and 3D solids, presenting data and data distribution such as dot plots, frequency tables, histogram, mean, median, mode, interquartile range, and standard deviation.

Mathematics – Grade 7

The course includes the number system, ratios and proportional relationships, expressions, equations, and inequalities, linear equations, functions, circle geometry, triangle geometry, polygons, three dimensional solids, statistics and probability such as probability models, compound events, the counting principle, and so on.

Algebra 1 – Grade 8

The course includes solving equations and inequalities, introduction to concepts of function and relations, linear functions, systems of equations and inequalities, operations of polynomials, factoring polynomials, quadratic functions and equations, exponents and exponential functions. Statistics and Probability topics include bar graphs, double bar graphs, line graphs, double line graphs, circle graphs, stem–and-leaf plot, frequency table, histogram, cumulative frequency table, mean, median, mode, range, interquartile range, box-and-whisker-plots, counting principle, factorial, permutations and combinations, experimental probabil-ity vs. theoretical probability, independent and dependent event, two-way table, compound event.

SCIENCE

Science – Grade 6

Students explore and experience a variety of areas within the field of science including physical and earth sciences. Major content areas include properties of matter, forces and motion, energy, and the Earth’s place in the universe. Performance expectations of students will focus on several scientific practices such as developing and using models, planning and conducting investigations, analyzing and interpreting results, and constructing explanations.

Science – Grade 7

Grade 7 Science focuses on “Systems within systems within systems” in which cells interact to create body systems which interact to create organisms which interact to create ecosystems. The course follows from the microscopic interactions of organelles to the macro interactions of biomes. It focuses on how adaptation is the key to survival at every level of organization.

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Science – Grade 8

Grade 8 Science is organized around the crosscutting concept of energy flows, cycles, and conservation. While the goal is for students to master basic concepts in Physical Science, many of the phenomena are drawn from Earth and Life Sciences so that the course truly serves as the culmination of the middle grades Science experience. Each instructional segment focuses on one form of energy and is sequenced to ensure that the most conceptually simple energy form (kinetic).

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

English Language Arts - Grade 6

In Grade 6 English Language Arts students will build healthy reading, writing, listening and speaking habits aligned with the Common Core Standards. Through a variety of texts including novels, poetry, short stories, films, articles, essays, and documentaries, students will learn to compare and contrast texts, analyze texts and create thoughtful, insightful responses. In this course students will compose a variety of texts, both written and oral, narrative and informational, and will engage in constructive peer feedback in order to develop their writing and analytical skills.

English Language Arts – Grade 7

Grade 7 English Language Arts combines and extends the objectives from Grade 6. The class incorporates reading, writing, speaking and listening skills aligned with the Common Core Standards. The course is built around the essential question, What feeds the human spirit? The reading aspect increases students’ knowl-edge of the dystopian fiction genre, provides a strong foundation for future growth in reading, and engages students in critical analysis of literature. The writing element reinforces the skills needed to write informa-tionally, argumentatively, creatively and critically. The course also provides opportunities for oral presenta-tions and creative projects. Novels, short stories and informational texts are used in combination with media resources. This course is closely aligned with Grade 7 Social Studies.

English Language Arts - Grade 8

Grade 8 English Language Arts is intended to be a more challenging, interactive course which focuses on building students’ skills in analyzing literature and processing those discoveries through written and verbal communication as aligned with the Common Core Standards of reading, writing, listening and speaking. This course is built around the essential question, Who has the power and how do they keep it? The reading and writing aspects of this course are closely connected, as students relate literature to history, the world and themselves through interactive Literature Circles which incorporate listening and speaking skills. The writing element reinforces the skills from Grade 7 and students continue to write informationally, argu-mentatively, creatively and critically. Novels, short stories and informational texts are used in combination with media resources. This course is closely aligned with Grade 8 Social Studies.

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Literacy Seminar 1 – Grades 6/7

This seminar promotes the development of core literacy skills, including research strategies, materials, and presentation-based assessments. The focus is on building intentional, critical literacy skills with topics including text complexity, leveled texts, dialogic instruction, vocabulary building and referencing, giving and receiving specific constructive feedback, giving and using peer revisions, accessing reliable sources and information on the Internet, and creating visuals that are on-topic, relevant, and aesthetically balanced. An emphasis is also placed on reflective speaking and writing.

Literacy Seminar 2 – Grades 6/7

This seminar promotes the development of core literacy skills, including research strategies, materials, and presentation-based assessments. The focus is on building intentional, critical literacy skills with topics including text complexity, leveled texts, dialogic instruction, vocabulary building and referencing, giving and receiving specific constructive feedback, giving and using peer revisions, accessing reliable sources and information on the Internet, and creating visuals that are on-topic, relevant, and aesthetically balanced. An emphasis is also placed on reflective speaking and writing.

Literacy Seminar 3 – Grades 6/7

This seminar is designed to address the varied needs of the English language learners in our school. Second language acquisition has become an essential skill for global cooperation and problem solving, and is now much more than an academic pursuit. Our units of study will be taken from Oxford Discover. These are inquiry-based learning units covering a variety of themes such as social studies, sciences, arts and mathematics. Students will not only build their 21st Century Skills through critical thinking, communi-cation, collaboration and creativity, but also strengthen their language and literacy skills through vocabu-lary, grammar, and different reading strategies. The seminar is also supplemented with daily proofreading and comprehension practices, as well as project works such as Readers’ Theatre to help boost their confidence to speak in English.

Literacy Seminar 1 – Grade 8

This seminar is designed to address the varied needs of the English language learners in our school. Second language acquisition has become an essential skill for global cooperation and problem solving, and is now much more than an academic pursuit. Our units of study will be taken from Oxford Discover. These are inquiry-based learning units covering a variety of themes such as social studies, sciences, arts and mathematics. Students will not only build their 21st Century Skills through critical thinking, communi-cation, collaboration and creativity, but also strengthen their language and literacy skills through vocabu-lary, grammar, and different reading strategies. The seminar is also supplemented with daily proofreading and comprehension practices, as well as project works such as Readers’ Theatre to help boost their confidence to speak in English.

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Literacy Seminar 2 – Grade 8

This seminar promotes the development of core literacy skills, including research strategies, materials, and presentation-based assessments. The focus is on building intentional, critical literacy skills with topics including; text complexity, leveled texts, dialogic instruction, vocabulary building and referencing, giving and receiving specific constructive feedback, giving and using peer revisions, accessing reliable sources and information on the Internet, and creating visuals that are on-topic, relevant, and aesthetically balanced. An emphasis is also placed on reflective speaking and writing.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Social Studies - Grade 6

Grade 6 Social Studies incorporates History, Geography, Economics and Humanities with a focus on the ancient world. Through the standards set out by the National Council of Social Studies, students will investigate the early humans before written history, ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and the European Renaissance. They will engage with essential questions such as, What is a civilization? How does Geogra-phy affect civilization? and What do humans need to survive? in order to make what they learn about the ancient world relatable in the 21st Century. In addition, students will learn how to use maps, graphs and other historical sources in order to make claims and arguments about the past.

Social Studies - Grade 7

This course serves as an introduction to world cultures and geography with an emphasis on gaining an understanding of trends associated with cultural diffusion, growing global awareness, climate change and sustainability. It is built around the essential question, How can I become more empathetic as I become more globally aware? Through general studies of various cultural regions, students acquire a basis for understanding physical and human geography and how they impact each other. Cultural emphasis includes the North and South American regions, including the United States and Canada, the Western regions of North Africa, Southwest Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eurasia, and Asia. Map skills are developed throughout the year, as well as knowledge of the political locations and physical features of each cultural region. This course is closely aligned with Grade 8 Social Studies.

Social Studies - Grade 8

This course is designed to prepare students to write, think, and analyze historically. The course is built around the same essential question as Grade 8 English Language Arts, Who has the power and how do they get to keep it? The course is split between two different historical periods: Colonial American Histo-ry up to the Civil War and The Final Dynasties of Chinese History. The course seeks to draw connections between the use of power and to seek patterns of how individuals shape history. This course is closely aligned with Grade 8 English Language Arts.

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MANDARIN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Mandarin Language and Literature – High Level - Grade 6

Building on the Chinese teaching foundations laid in primary school, Mandarin Language and Literature High Level develops students’ comprehension and usage of Mandarin. The course aims to improve their reading, writing, and oral communication ability, as well as to refine their language and thinking skills. The course is divided into four units: narration, exposition, prose and poetry, focusing on the themes of family life, funny childhood memories, and approaching nature. By studying famous works, such as Xiao Hong’s My Grandfa-ther and Me, Lu Xun’s From Baicaoyuan to Sanweishuwu, Chekhov’s Vanka, and Zhu Ziqing’s Spring, students will acquire a holistic perception of these texts, realizing the authors’ attitudes, opinions and feelings. In addition, they will be guided in understanding the content and thinking of texts, comprehending the meaning and function of sentences in context, learning to narrate complete events and analyzing the writing techniques used in certain scenes to express emotion.

Mandarin Language and Literature – Standard Level - Grade 6

Grade 6 Mandarin Language and Literature Standard Level supports students in the transition from Primary School to Middle School by building on good reading and writing habits developed in prior years. The academic year begins with scenic descriptive writing and an independent reading project focusing on the fictional text, Nils’ Journey by Goose. The focus then shifts to the topic of life and peace through a reading of Anne Frank as a project. This is followed by a study of nature and exposition, supported by a reading of Souvenirs Entomologiques (Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre). Over the course of the year students will write personal essays and Landscape prose.

Mandarin Language and Literature - Grade 7

Mandarin Language and Literature focuses on improving students’ ability to appreciate the beauty and imagery of literature. They will engage with the content, language and writing on a personal level and will be given opportunities to put forward opinions and questions. The course is divided into four units covering novels, poetry and prose. Students will study famous Chinese and foreign works such as Zhu Ziqing’s The Sight of Father’s Back, Shi Tiesheng’s Fond Memories of Autumn, Niu Han’s Hutuo River and Me. Students are guided to think deeply about topical social issues such as the relationship between humans and nature, people and family and to reflect on their daily lives. In order to develop more in-depth writing skills, students can determine the content according to their preferences and are encouraged to express their true feelings. Writing lessons will emphasize concise and appropriate sentence structures, clarity of expres-sion, sequencing, and the use of imagination to enrich the content.

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Mandarin Language and Literature – Grade 8

Grade 8 Mandarin Language and Literature supports students in developing and improving their under-standing of literature by building on good reading and writing habits developed in prior years. The academ-ic year begins with reading Silent Spring to support the exploration of the topic, The Human and The Earth and biological invasion. The theme of Love in cultures will be examined through reading Dear Andrew. The students will then study the drama, Merchant of Venice. Over the course of the year students will write a survey report and Drama appreciation essay.

MANDARIN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Mandarin Language Acquisition - Grade 6

This course is designed to expand Chinese vocabulary in a variety of concept areas including units such as, “the body and illness”, “currency”, “Chinese and Western food”, ”food and nutrition”, and ”shopping”. Study is guided by the textbook Chinese made easy 3. The course aims to improve students’ Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in a manner which supports students’ interests and real life needs.

Mandarin Language Acquisition- High Level – Grade 7, 8

In addition to developing their reading and writing skills, this course places emphasis on developing students’ oral communication by training them to express themselves fully. Students build vocabulary through a combination of peer interactions and textual study. Through reading famous ancient Chinese fables and taking part in cultural classroom activities, students deepen their understanding of Chinese language and culture.

Mandarin Language Acquisition- Intermediate Level - Level 7, 8

This course is designed to expand Chinese vocabulary in a variety of concept areas including units such as, “house & neighborhood”, “the geology of China”, ”travel”, and ”home life”. Study is guided by the text-book Chinese Made Easy 3 and 4. The course aims to improve students’ Chinese listening, speaking, read-ing and writing skills in a manner which supports students’ interests and real life needs.

Mandarin Language Acquisition- Beginner Level – Grade 7, 8

This course aims at building a vocabulary bank to enable students to comprehend spoken Mandarin and visual Chinese Hanzi (characters). Students will apply their language knowledge and communication skills to reflect on a variety of topics, tested with multiple assessments. Students will gradually develop an understanding of their own learning processes through learning grammar structures and active error correction.

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THE ARTS

Visual Arts – Grade 6

Grade 6 students will engage in several assignments that will implement the elements and principles of design. They will work with a variety of media to explore their creativity and look at how art has signifi-cance in our lives. Students will begin to develop skills that are helpful in art criticism and use correct terminology when discussing art movements, media and techniques.

Visual Arts – Grade 7

The program of Grade 7 Visual Arts builds on concepts and skills introduced in Grade 6 art class. Stu-dents continue to practice previously learned skills and to add new techniques with both familiar and new media tools. Throughout the production process, students will be actively involved in art criticism and issues of aesthetics. Students will begin to discuss the influence of art throughout history and across cultures. Art vocabulary will develop while students are encouraged to stretch their creative thought processes in order to solve problems, build on knowledge, and further develop fine motor skills.

Visual Arts – Grade 8

Grade 8 Visual Arts focuses on the application and understanding of previously learned concepts and more complex technical skills, as students manipulate the elements of art (color, form, line, shape, space, texture, value) and the principles of design (balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, proportion, rhythm, unity, variety) in the art-making process. Students make conscious choices of media, processes, and techniques for expressive purposes in the creation of original works of art. They formulate reasoned responses to meaningful art questions and develop their own criteria for making art judgments. Students make connections between their prior art experiences and other subject areas.

Orchestra – Grade 6

Orchestra is a performance-based ensemble class with a Winter Performance in December and an End-of-Year Performance in June. As beginners on their instruments, students focus on basic music-read-ing and performance skills and concepts with special attention paid to control.

Orchestra – Grade 7

Orchestra is a performance-based ensemble class with a Winter Performance in December and an End-of-Year Performance in June. Students continue to advance their skills as they exert more control over their instruments. Special attention is paid to practice routines and personal responsibility.

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Orchestra – Grade 8

Orchestra is a performance-based ensemble class with a Winter Performance in December and an End-of-Year Performance in June. Students continue building their music-reading and performance skills as they explore the aesthetic experience of making music. Students’ personal sense of musicianship begins to take shape as they are given more freedom and are challenged to demonstrate musical control and listening.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Physical Education – Grade 6-8

This course aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the important role of physical education, fitness, and healthy play in our personal lives and in society as a whole. Students will acquire the skills necessary to perform team and individual sports, as well as to maintain fitness and body control through various physical, mental, and social activities. Emphasis will be placed on improving the four components of fitness: muscle strength, muscle endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility. Our program is designed to improve skill acquisition and physical fitness in order to develop those healthy behaviors that promote lifelong wellness.

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SHANGHAI HONG QIAO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL