North Bethesda
Middle School
Course & Registration Information
2018— 2019
North Bethesda Middle School
8935 Bradmoor Drive
Bethesda, MD 20817
(240) 740-2100
Fax (301) 571-7752
montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/northbethesdams/
A Word from the Principal
North Bethesda Middle School is a caring professional learning community of passion and purpose where the highest levels of teaching and learning take place in an environment that is academically rigorous, yet socially and emotionally nurturing. We are committed to providing professional and courteous services to our students and their parents/guardians.
Our Counseling Department, led by Mrs. Cynthia Drucker, Resource Counselor, works closely with students to provide a broad array of comprehensive services in response to their academic and individual needs.
Our three grade-level teams send weekly parent updates via email to keep parents/guardians up-to-date on team projects as well as the activities that are taking place in each teacher’s class.Parents/guardians also have the opportunity to keep up with their children’s progress through My MCPS classroom. In addition, we use an online registration process which allows students, using their school login and passwords, to access the class registration site and complete the online process with their parents.
North Bethesda is indeed an outstanding learning community. Staff, parents, students, and the community at large collaborate to provide the best possible middle school experience for our children.
Alton E. Sumner
Principal
CounselingDepartment
(240) 740-2110
The information in this booklet will describe the courses that will be offered for the 2018 - 2019 school year. Please pay careful attention to the important dates, deadlines, and timelines, as the counselors and other staff must meet these deadlines when scheduling and enrollment information is entered into the county's database.
Instructional Practices
Differentiated instructional practices address a wide range of academic abilities and physical, social, and emotional differences among students. They include acceleration, enrichment, and other strategies as needed to foster intellectual growth. Students are placed in classes so they have the opportunity to work in homogeneous groups, heterogeneous groups, or individually, depending on their developmental needs in each instructional area or the task involved. As students' needs and abilities change, regrouping may occur at any time during the year to accommodate the academic growth of each student.
Student Service Learning Credit
In Middle School, Student Service Learning (SSL) hours are earned through the infusion of service into the Middle School curriculum. Students will complete service projects in Grade 6 Science, Grade 7 English, and Grade 8 History. Through these classroom activities, all students attending Middle School, and completing the projects, will be credited with 30 of the 75 student service learning hours that Montgomery County Public Schools require for graduation from High School. Middle School students may earn additional SSL hours by volunteering to work at those agencies that have been approved by the school system for this purpose and that are able to use the services of middle school age students.Mrs. Christine Keller is currently the SSL Coordinator for NBMS. For further information you may visit the NBMS website, montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/northbethesdams/, the MCPS SSL site,mcpsssl.org, orcontact Mrs. Keller at or (240) 740-2110.
Program of Studies 2018 — 2019
North Bethesda Middle School is committed to providing the best possible transition from elementary to secondary education. The emphasis of the program of studies will be on academic achievement and will include emotional and social supports to help students adjust to the middle school program. We provide more in-depth learning experiences for those students who master the basic course objectives. Students who require academic support will be provided additional instruction. As you read the program of study, please keep in mind that the course descriptions provide only a brief summary of the various courses. When school begins in the fall, students will receive the specific course objectives.
Students and parents are encouraged to read the course descriptions very carefully. All students will be scheduled for seven subjects. Counselors will explain the registrationprocess to parents and students.
1
Required Subjects
English or ESOL
Digital Literacy 1 (6th Grade only)
Social Studies
Mathematics
Science
Physical Education and Health
Elective SELECTION
World Languages
Band 6, 7, 8
Intermediate Orchestra6
Advanced Orchestra7, 8
Chorus 6,7,8
T.V. Production 7,8
Art 6,7,8
Unified Arts Rotation 6
Computer Applications 7
Living with Technology 7
Earth Space Technology/Robotics 8
1
Courses by Recommendation Only
Special Education Resource Program
READ 180
Alternative 1 Program
Developmental Reading (Special Education Program)
1
English
Advanced English 6
The English curriculum features four thematically based units:Foundations,Adventures, Challenges and Barriers, and Artistic Choices. Each of the four units involves the study of language and literature in the context of change and possibility. This focus resembles the experience of 6th graders who, newly arrived in middle school, find themselves in an environment defined by change. English 6 integrates all the processes and contents of the English/language arts. Students will continue to develop collateral language skills in writing, reading, listening, and speaking. The focus in writing highlights skills in the narrative, persuasive, informative, and procedural forms. Grammar and vocabulary will be taught and reinforced throughout the year. Grammar instruction will include the parts of speech, types of sentences, simple and compound sentences, subject/verb agreement, and pronoun agreement. Independent reading and analysis are essential lifetime skills; they are integrated as a part of the year-round program in which all 6th grade students participate.
Digital Literacy 1 (6th grade reading course)
The Digital Literacy 1 curriculum focuses on developing critical and creative thinking through reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing in a 21st Century approach. Working through a problem-based process, students learn to define real world problems of interest, research the causes of those problems using real-time global texts and then create solutions to address the problems. Students will advance their understanding of comprehension, analysis and evaluation of text as well as vocabulary acquisition through reading complex informational and argumentative texts in a technology-rich medium. Students will collaborate regularly both through the research and the solution phases of their investigations. Students’ curiosity and motivation will engage the students in their investigations while learning and refining the processes that will enrich all other courses and prepare them for college and career projects.
Advanced English 7
The 7th grade English curriculum features four thematically based units within the overarching theme of Forging New Connections: Identity,A Sense of Place,Perspectives and Expressions,andImagination. Each unit is anchored by common tasks and novels selected to develop critical thinking skills and effective communication skills. Students will continue to developlanguage skills in writing, reading, listening, and speaking. The focus in writing highlights skills in the narrative, persuasive, informative and expressive forms. Grammar and vocabulary will be taught and reinforced throughout the year. Grammar instruction will include the parts of speech, subject/verb agreement, sentence structure, and pronoun agreement. Independent reading and analysis is integrated as a part of the year-round program in which all 7th grade students participate. In addition, students may earn a minimum of ten hours credit toward their student service learning graduation requirement.
Advanced English 8 Semester 1
Like its counterpart in ninth grade, this course puts writing at the center of teaching and learning.This course prepares students to communicate in a world that is rapidly changing.The course focuses on writing effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.The writing class is a workshop: Students write daily, track progress, and set goals and explore ways to convey their own voice.They read as writers analyzing short texts, practicing the writers’ techniques.They study literature and language as an integral part of the writing and revision process.Students write to explore their own thinking, engage in reflection, and learn to improve their craft.
Advanced English 8 Semester 2
Semester 1 provides the transition between Semester 2 and Literature and Language 8.Just as students make choices in their own writing, they now consider more carefully the choices the authors make in the works they read.Students read short stories and narrative fiction to explore how authors shape their texts in deliberate ways to give life to their stories.This unit focuses on all the elements that go into crafting a good story – compelling characters, a well-chosen setting, complex relationships, colliding desires and ultimately, a resolution of conflict that allows the author to express a truth about human nature or the human condition.
ESOL — English for Speakers of Other Languages
The ESOL middle school curriculum is designed to challenge students to think critically as they acquire and process the language of American English. The curriculum teaches and reinforces the acquisition of all four-language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.The incorporation of both literary and expository text provides opportunities for extended language development with authentic materials.Teachers are expected to provide independent reading guidance to students for supplementary reading practice.
ESOL –Level1–5Curriculum
MCPShas adopted the Milestones program by Heinle-Cengage for all ESOL students.The content of this program is aligned with Maryland English Language Proficiency Standards as well as with key English Language Arts indicators. The curriculum has excellent cross-curricular connections.The program systematically develops academic vocabulary using the six-step vocabulary development program based on the work of educational theorist Robert Marzano.The program also provides opportunities for students to connect language to literacy as they apply their knowledge of both language skills and reading strategies when reading both literary and informational texts.The curriculum provides assessments that can be used to monitor both language acquisition and prepare students for the PARCC.
ESOL – AdvancedLevel 5Curriculum
The standards-based ESOL curriculum (2008) is aligned with theMaryland State Department of Education Voluntary State Curriculum.This curriculum integrates Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and the four language skill areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing.The curriculum focuses on developing Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) for advanced ESOL students. The ESOL 5 curriculum emphasizes:
- Reading and exposition
- Academic vocabulary
- Speaking to narrate, inform and persuade
- Purposeful listening to speakers and presenters
- Writing paragraphs and essays
- Making inferences, drawing conclusions and evaluating text
ESOL 5 and its assessments serve as a system of monitoring both language acquisition and for purposes of preparing students for the PARCC.
Mathematics
The goal of the Montgomery County Schools pre-K-12 mathematics program is for all students to achieve mathematical proficiency through mastery of mathematical skills, concepts, and processes.The end result is the ability to think and reason mathematically and use mathematics to solve problems in authentic context.The middle school mathematics curriculum is organized by course, not by grade level with the goal of preparing students for Algebra 1 by grade eight.
Mathematics 6
Course Description:
Mathematics 6 extends students’ understanding of whole number and fraction concepts developed throughout the elementary grades. Instruction at this level will focus on four areas: (1) connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division and using concepts of ratio and rate to solve problems; (2) completing understanding of division of fractions and extending the notion of number to the system of rational numbers, which includes negative numbers; (3) writing, interpreting, and using expressions and equations; and (4) developing understanding of statistical thinking.
Mathematics 7
Course Description:
Mathematics 7 extends students’ understanding of mathematical concepts developed in Mathematics 6. Instruction at this level will focus on four areas: (1) developing understanding of and applying proportional relationships; (2) developing understanding of operations with rational numbers and working with expressions and linear equations; (3) solving problems involving scale drawings and informal geometric constructions, and working with two– and three–dimensional shapes to solve problems involving area, surface area, and volume; and (4) drawing inferences about populations based on samples. Students who successfully complete this course will be ready for Mathematics 8 in Grade 8, strengthening their foundation for the Common Core State Standards Algebra 1 in Grade 9.
Investigations into Mathematics
Course Description:
Investigations into Mathematics (IM) extends students’ understanding of mathematical concepts developed in Mathematics 6 and accelerates the pace of instruction to prepare for Algebra 1. This course compacts all of the Grade 7 Common Core State Standards and much of the Grade 8 Common Core State Standards into a single year. Students who successfully complete IM are prepared for Algebra 1 in Grade 8. Instruction for IM will focus on four critical areas: (1) developing a unified understanding of number, recognizing fractions, decimals (including both those that have a finite or a repeating decimal representation), and percents as different representations of rational numbers; (2) using linear equations and systems of linear equations to represent, analyze, and solve a variety of problems; (3) comparing two data distributions and reasoning about differences between populations; (4) analyzing geometric relationships in order to solve real-world mathematical problems.
Mathematics 8
Course Description:
Mathematics 8 extends students’ understanding of mathematical concepts developed in Mathematics 6 and 7. Instruction at this level will focus on three critical areas: (1) formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations, including modeling an association in bivariate data with a linear equation, and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations; (2) grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships; (3) analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem. Students who successfully complete this course will be ready for Algebra 1 in Grade 9.
Algebra 1 (High School credit)
Course Description:
Algebra 1 is designed to analyze and model real-world phenomena. Exploration of linear, exponential, and quadratic functions forms the foundation of the course. Key characteristics and representations of functions – graphic, numeric, symbolic, and verbal – are analyzed and compared. Students develop fluency in solving equations and inequalities. One and two-variable data sets are interpreted using mathematical models. This course satisfies the High School Algebra I requirement.*Students are also required to pass the Algebra PARCC to graduate from High School. Students successful in this course will take Honors Geometry the following year. The grade received in Algebra will be recorded on the High School transcript and be part of the student’s GPA.
Honors Geometry (High School credit)
Course Description:
Honors Geometry formalizes and extends students’ geometric experiences from the elementary and middle school grades. Students explore more complex geometric situations and deepen their understanding of geometric relationships, progressing towards formal mathematical arguments. Instruction at this level will focus on the understanding and application of congruence as a basis for developing formal proofs; the relationship among similarity, trigonometry, and triangles; the relationship between two- and three-dimensional objects and their measurements; exploration of geometric descriptions and equations for conic sections; and application of geometric concepts in modeling situations. This course satisfies the High School Geometry requirement. The grade received in Honors Geometry will be recorded on the High School transcript and be part of the student’s GPA. Students who successfully complete Honors Geometry will enroll in Honors Algebra II the following year.
Honors Algebra II *(High School credit)
Course description:
Honors Algebra II is a high school credit bearing mathematics course. Students who successfully complete both semesters earn one mathematics credit toward graduation. * This course is taught at Walter Johnson High School.
Science
Investigations in Science 6 (IS6)
Investigations in Science 6 is a problem/project-based curriculum. Instruction is interwoven around a relevant problem/project to allow a focus for student learning. Students engage in minds-on inquiry and hands-on explorations, productive discourse, and purposeful reading and writing. Units studied in IS6 center around topics related to matter and its interactions, ecosystem dynamics, human impacts on the environment, energy, and waves. Students engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in order to propose solutions to identified problems. Students are awarded 10 SSL hours at the completion of Grade 6 Science for their full participation in SSL activities.
Investigations in Science 7 (IS7)
Investigations in Science 7 is a problem/project-based curriculum. Instruction is interwoven around a relevant problem/project to allow a focus for student learning. Students engage in minds-on inquiry and hands-on explorations, productive discourse, and purposeful reading and writing. Units studied in IS7 center around topics related to cellular processes, structure and function in living things, genetics, Earth’s history, and biological evolution. Students engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in order to propose solutions to identified problems.
Investigations in Science8
Investigations in Science 8 is a problem/project-based curriculum. Instruction is interwoven around a relevant problem/project to allow a focus for student learning. Students engage in minds-on inquiry and hands –on explorations, productive discourse, and purposeful reading and writing. Units studied center around topics related to Forces and Motion, Astronomy, Weather and Climate, and Earth’s Materials and Processes. Students engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in order to propose solutions to identified problems.