Cascade Canyon

7th and 8th Grade

We have made many exciting changes to our seventh and eighth grade middle school program at Cascade Canyon School this year, expanding the core staff to two  teachers, each playing to their areas of passion and expertise: Aaron Feldstein specializes in the Humanities, teaching English Language Arts and History, and Karen Sonnenblick is the lead Math/Science teacher - as well as the science teacher for fifth and sixth grades.  Aaron and Karen bring a rich array of experience in middle and high school teaching in their core subjects and in program administration, including gifted education, outdoor education and wilderness survival and ecology. The middle school team is rounded out by our amazing specialist staff, most of whom also teach core subjects in the mornings at Cascade Canyon: our Spanish teacher, Devin Eckert, our theater teacher, Peggy Tunder, our music teacher, Jayme Pohl, our PE teachers, Megan Marietti and Aaron Feldstein, and our art teacher, Julie Pledger. The seventh and eighth grade program at Cascade Canyon School offers middle school students a unique opportunity to push themselves intellectually, socially and emotionally in a challenging, engaging, safe and personalized learning environment. The class of fifteen students forms a close, supportive community. Motivated to learn for learning's sake, without the competitive pressure or external reward of grades, our seventh and eighth grade students excel into confident students, mature young adults, and leaders on our K-8 campus. Feedback from the local and San Francisco high schools attended by our graduates is excellent: Cascade Canyon students are recognized in high school as students who are comfortable with adults and themselves, confident communicators, and capable and versatile learners - not afraid to ask for help or for enrichment. Cascade Canyon graduates have an excellent acceptance rate to  Marin and San Francisco private schools, including Marin Academy, The Bay School,  Branson and Drew in recent years, and at the Novato School of the Performing Arts, where admission is audition and portfolio based. Many of our graduates choose to attend our excellent local public schools, such as Drake, Redwood, Tamalpais and Terra Linda High.  Eighth graders at Cascade Canyon School also go through an exciting, innovative Transitions Program to prepare themselves for the journey through adolescence and into high school. The Transitions Program integrates high school preparedness and the application process, parent and student education, a ropes course and backpacking trip, community service, and leadership. LANGUAGE ARTS: This year’s novel studies revolve around our school-wide theme "You must be the change you want to see in the world" (Gandhi).  The passing of values, customs, traditions, information through stories, social action and responsibility, and rules for living harmoniously are just some of the ideas that we’ll be exploring.   Novel Studies:                Animal Farm             Adventures of Tom Sawyer             To Kill A Mockingbird             Out of the Dust All novel studies include: reading comprehension vocabulary in context  discussions and analysis of litererary elements: plot, character, theme, structure, symbolism, style, literary devices making inferences and drawing conclusions reading independently and in groups reading aloud Writing: A central component of the7th-8th grade writing curriculum is an ongoing Writer’s Workshop.  This is an excellent way for students to truly identify themselves as writers and to hone in on the craft of writing. Primary resource texts for Writing Workshop:             In the Middle, Nancie Atwell             Lessons that Change Writers, Nancie Atwell                                                                     Writing workshop includes instruction and practice in: using the writing process word study: parts of speech, grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, sentence structure writing in a range of genres: memoir, short fiction, responses to literature, journaling, poetry, and exposition - including critical reviews, interviews, correspondence and research papers experimenting with style: writing descriptively, using figurative language, developing voice, point of view paragraph development: expanding ideas, using description, selecting and incorporating specific examples creating and supporting a thesis statement developing research skills: creating a statement of purpose, gathering information, taking notes, creating outlines, and citing sources through bibliographies and footnotes Speaking/Listening: contributing to group discussions giving group and individual presentations reading aloud presenting and discussing current events participating in morning meetings participating in conflict resolution memorizing and reciting giving speeches Study Skills: organizational strategies using assignment planners time management note-taking outlining highlighting proofreading test taking strategies MATHEMATICS:  The math program in 7th and 8th grades is designed to help students gain greater number sense, recognize the significance of math in their daily lives, and develop problem solving strategies and skills.  Students work at their own pace through a pre-algebra and algebra curriculum, and are encouraged to go as far as they can in the two years.  Strong math students who successfully complete our full algebra program by the end of 8th grade are qualified to enter geometry  in high school; students who successfully complete at least half of our algebra program are qualified to enter into the second year of algebra in high school; students struggling with algebra concepts or just beginning our algebra curriculum are encouraged to take beginning algebra in high school.   Math Texts:                       Mathematics: Exploring Your World, Silver Burdett Ginn                       Key to Algebra, Key Curriculum Press                       Algebra 1, Paul Foerster                   Strands covered throughout the year: Number Sense: Students know the property of, and compute with, rational numbers expressed in a variety of forms; exponents, powers, and roots; using exponents in working with fractions Algebra and Functions: Students express quantitative relationships by using algebraic terminology, expressions, equations, inequalities, and graphs; interpret and evaluate expressions involving integer powers and simple roots; graph and interpret linear and some nonlinear functions; solve linear equations and inequalities over rational numbers; analyze slope; investigate systems of linear equations Measurement and Geometry: Students choose appropriate units of measure and use ratios to convert within and between measurement systems to solve problems; compute the perimeter, area and volume of common geometric objects and use the results to find measures of less common objects; changes of scale and how they affect perimeter, area, and volume; the Pythagorean theorem; plane and geometric shapes; construction of figures that meet given conditions; identifying attributes of figures Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability: Students collect, organize and represent data sets that have one or more variables and identify relationships among variables within a data set HISTORY:  It is my hope that through this course, students will have a better sense of their national and international communities.  It is my strong desire for students to understand their place and responsibilities in today’s world.  To do this, they must know of its past. U.S. HISTORY: This year’s focus is on the Growth and Conflict of Our Nation, from 1776 to the 1900's. Our "Be the Change" theme will be woven throughout the curriculum. History Texts:                         Creating America, McDougall Littell                 History of US, Joyce Hakim Units covered: Launching the Ship of State: The great achievements of the Constitution, the moral and political ideas of the time, the contributions of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Adams, the beginning of political parties, the election process, government, the connection between education and democracy, the rise of capitalism and the economic problems theat accompanied it, foreign policy in the New Republic, treaties and outcomes of those treaties with the Native Americans. Divergent Paths of the American People: The nation’s regional development in the West, Northwest, and South, and how each deeply influenced and affected the politics, economy, mores and culture of the nation. Toward a More Perfect Union: The causes and consequences of the Civil War as well as the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction. The Rise of Industrial America: Transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political conditions in the U.S. in response to the Industrial Revolution.  Changes in the social and economic status of blacks, immigrants, women, religious minorities, children and workers. U.S. GEOGRAPHY: Integrated into our 7th-8th grade program is the study of the geography of the United States through the five themes of geography: location, place, human/environment interaction, movement, region. Students will learn to name and place all fifty states and their capitals on a blank map as well as identify major waterways, mountain ranges, and other geographical features of the United States.  Newspapers and bi-monthly issues of Junior Scholastic are used for enrichment in U.S. History, U.S. Geography, and Current Events. Classroom time is taken to discuss the history and meanings of these national holidays: Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday, Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day. SCIENCE: The 7th-8th grade science program is taught by our Science Specialist, who is an expert in her field. To learn about her 7th-8th grade science curriculum, click here .