Seventh Grade Curriculum

The seventh grade core language arts curriculum consists of spelling and grammar exercises, and in-class literary discussions. Students also read several works of literature to increase their active and passive vocabularies.

Daily math lessons concentrate on extending problem-solving and number theory skills. Students incorporate the use of ratio, proportion and percent to calculate the lengths of similar figures in a unit on indirect measurements. Word problems involving percents, estimation, probability, decimals, and fractions serve as additional review.

This seminar introduces students to the Golden Rule of Equations: what is done to one side of the equation must be done to the other. Children practice one-step and two-step equation-solving and are introduced to calculations with positive and negative numbers as well as the concept of absolute value. This course culminates in an introduction to polynomials.

Geometry in the seventh grade focuses on the divisions of the circle and regular polygons as well as properties of angles. Lessons utilize a visual approach, as students make observations through their precise drawings of the geometric forms.

Seventh graders explore the human being through the internal structures that support its health and well-being. Major body systems include the digestive, circulatory and respiratory systems, as well as the skin and urinary systems.

Students are introduced to inorganic chemistry and the properties of earth, air, fire, and water. Major topics include combustion and the water cycle, the qualities of acids and bases, and the lime cycle.

The seventh grade physics seminar touches upon the areas of acoustics, electricity, the five simple machines, and light. Through playing, listening and measuring, students rediscover Pythagoras’ mathematical relationships between string lengths and intervals. Students learn of Galvani and Volta, as well as other famous inventors, and probe the mysteries of light in their experience of the camera obscura.

Students embark on an academic journey through the Silk Road beginning with Marco Polo. From there they begin to explore surrounding oceans, mountains, and rivers as well as the countries and their capitals. Topics of focus include Siberia, its climate, natural resources, and biodiversity, as well as geography of mainland and maritime Southeast Asia. Students also experience the customs and culture of certain parts of Asia through tea times and activities such as brush painting.

This seminar focuses on European History during the Late Middle Ages until the Hundred Years War and the life of Joan of Arc. Students probe the lives of famed navigators Prince Henry of Spain, Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan.

This seminar focuses on Europe during the Renaissance, with a particular emphasis on Florence, Italy. Students study Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Lorenzo di Medici, and Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation. Other topics include England’s War of the Roses, the defeat of the Armada, and the rise of the Anglican Church. The artistic component constitutes a partial reproduction Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel based on student collaboration.

Seventh-grade Spanish classes focus on the construction of more elaborate sentences, both written and oral. Students incorporate new vocabulary words from daily readings into their compositions. Grammar exercises include proper conjugation of common irregular verbs in the affirmative and negative forms.

Students read several texts throughout the year to encourage reading comprehension and vocabulary skills. Common grammar topics include the construction of questions and the conjugation of irregular verbs. Daily in-class dialogues enhance everyday conversational skills. Songs, tongue twisters, and poems round out the curriculum.

Students combine individual effort and teamwork to reenact a multi-act play, overseeing all aspects of production from costuming to props, music, and special effects. Past selections include Robin of Sherwood, a three-act play by J.R. Crawford.

Students learn variations on the common folk, square, and line dances through the addition of new steps and figures. Rehearsals teach students to listen carefully, treat partners with courtesy, and step with the tune of the music.

Seventh and eighth graders split into the Seventh and Eighth Grade Boys/ Girls Chorus as boys’ and girls’ voices develop and change. Students practice sight reading and intonation, as well as compose their own pieces and compile their work into a single motet for multiple instruments.

The seventh and eighth grade orchestra is exposed to new and challenging pieces such as Rite at Stonehenge, and Mabel Creek Overture. New techniques such as “col legno,” meaning to play with the stick of the bow rather than the hair, are also introduced.

Students use watercolor, charcoal, and pastels to compose nature scenes in conjunction to the material presented in science class on environments and biomes. Considerable time is also spent drafting spheres, cylinders, and rectangular solids to introduce the T-square.

Students are instructed in the use of a ruler and triangles to complete basic exercises and drawings in perspective. Assignments improve attention, precision, and individual creativity and design.

Seventh grade handwork class teaches students the art of felting wool, include the wet-felting and needling felting techniques. As a final project, students create a pair of slippers, utilizing the skills associated with carding, layering, and felting wool.

The major task of the seventh grade woodworking class is to make a mallet from roughly-split sections of green hickory or sycamore logs. After completing their mallets, students use them on bowls carved from blocks of green cherry from Glen Brook or, in some cases, kiln-dried poplar.

Students build strength and cardiovascular fitness through team sports such as volleyball, team handball, softball, and baseball. Students always follow safe playing techniques and the rules of sportsmanship during practices and games.

Eurythmy classes aim to actively engage students and establish a balance between motor skills, concentration, social awareness, and self control. Lessons offer challenging coordination exercises, some with copper rods, dramatic and/or comical poetry. Mental imaging before actual movements and versatile geometrical forms are essential substitutes for the traditional teaching tools of pencil and paper. Students also cooperate in groups to choreograph eurythmy movements to a poem.

This playful unit allows children to develop dexterity with juggling props, scarves, balls, rings, Chinese yo-yo’s, devil sticks, and stilts. Gymnastics is also incorporated through tumbling and acrobatics with the mini trampoline and leap frogs. Strength and alignment are emphasized through handstands. The skills developed in this unit are adapted into a scene for the Class Play.

During the seventh grade, students learn to lift their weight at Camp Glen Brook. The mechanics unit includes hoisting each other to the ceiling of the barn in a “bosun’s chair,” and raising heavy objects using levers, pulleys, and fulcrums. Students also experience the high ropes course for the first time, an exercise in both physics and teamwork.

Students of the seventh grade also embark on a Coming-of-Age Trip with members of the eighth grade class. A trip to Glen Brook specially designed to tackle important issues that arise during puberty, students will gain the confidence and the perspective they need to support them through this period of personal transitions.

The gardening curriculum aims for the children to learn and appreciate organic gardening skills. They care for a plot of land by improving the soil, making and using compost, planting trees, flowers, and bushes, harvesting their produce and weeding. During the winter months the children learn how to winterize the garden and prune trees. The children will also experience a brief introduction to Biodynamic Agriculture, a practice of enlivening the soil that enables the land to sustain itself through time.