The mission of the Knoxville School District is to provide a caring,
cooperative atmosphere in which students, staff, and the community work
together to promote lifelong learning and social responsibility
The Middle School Building Goals are:
(1) Communications
A. Students at all grade
levels will improve reading comprehension skills.
B. Students at all grade levels will
improve writing skills.
(2) Mathematics,
Problem Solving and Quantitative Thinking
A. Students will demonstrate
improvement in mathematics operations
and
quantitative thinking at all grade levels.
B. Students will demonstrate improvement
in mathematical problem
solving at
all grade levels, across the curriculum.
(3) Caring for
Self and Others
A. Students will increase
their understanding of the importance of making
correct
decisions regarding substance abuse.
B. Students at all levels will demonstrate
improved respect for their peers.
(4) Student
Attitudes and Approaches to Learning
A. Students will increase
their understanding of the importance of making
correct
decisions regarding substance abuse.
B. Students at all grade levels will
become more actively engaged in
their
learning through the implementation of a wider variety of
instructional
strategies.
C. Students at all grade levels will take
more responsibility for learning.
(5) Students
will demonstrate improvement in scientific process and skills.
Education is an active partnership involving the school, the community,
and family. This partnership is necessary so all students can learn and
succeed.
All classes, except
skill-building classes, will receive a letter grade and will be used to calculate
eligibility. Only core and select
exploratory classes will be used to calculate the student’s G.P.A. Exploratory classes not included in the
G.P.A. include keyboarding, Life Skills, and TAG at the 6th grade
level, Technology Literacy I, Life Skills, and Mock Trial/TAG at the 7th
grade level, and Technology Literacy II, Writer’s Workshop, Mock Trial/TAG,
Behavior Benders, and Life Skills at the 8th grade level.
LANGUAGE ARTS (Year)
The sixth grade language arts
classes provide opportunities in reading, listening, speaking, observing,
thinking, and writing. The students will learn to make good choices about what
they read, to increase their ability to comprehend and respond critically to
written language, and to express creatively and critically through written and
oral communication. The student will also develop a life-long appreciation of
the necessity and opportunity for relaxation that language arts can have.
The student will:
·
Use knowledge of word origins and derivations to determine the meaning of
unfamiliar words.
·
Use strategies to understand reading vocabulary (e.g., context,
synonyms).
·
Use a variety of word reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, thesauruses,
glossaries) to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.
·
Generate questions to be answered while reading.
·
Read a variety of fiction (e.g., realistic, fantasy, historical,
biographical) and nonfiction texts (e.g., expository, argumentative).
·
Understand non-literal language (e.g., similes, metaphors, and analogies)
in literary texts.
·
Distinguish between first-person and third-person point of view.
·
Use a variety of strategies to respond to literature (e.g., write
responses in a log or journal, describe initial impression of the selection, connect knowledge from the
selection with personal knowledge).
·
Understand and utilize reading skills and use strategies when reading.
·
Identify speaker’s purpose (to inform, persuade).
·
Understand ways in which language differs across a variety of social
situations (e.g., formal and informal contexts).
·
Speak in a variety of roles during small group discussions (e.g., as an
active listener, discussion leader, contributor, facilitator).
·
Use a variety of prewriting strategies (e.g., make outlines, use
published pieces as writing models, brainstorm).
·
Use strategies to draft and revise writing (e.g., use an organizational
scheme; rethink and rewrite for different audiences and purposes; select vocabulary
and information that enhance the central idea, tone, and voice; analyze and
clarify meaning.
·
Use strategies to edit writing (e.g., use resources to check spelling;
check for capitalization of proper adjectives; check for use of punctuation
such as commas after introductory phrases and colons in formal letter
salutations; check for use of verb and adverb forms, verb-noun agreements, use
of double-negatives, and proper forms of pronouns).
·
Use conventions of capitalization in writing (e.g., titles such as names
of books, stories, magazines, and
newspapers; geographical features; proper names, such as planets and ships;
businesses; nationalities; months of the year; regions; holidays; the first
word in direct quotations; proper adjectives; titles of respect; family
relationships; monuments).
·
Use conventions of punctuation in writing (e.g., use commas to set off
inventory words, phrases, or clauses; use semicolons between coordinating
clauses; use apostrophes with form possessives and contractions; use periods,
exclamation points, and question marks; use quotations for short literary
titles, songs, and television shows; use commas between city and state).
·
Use conventions of spelling (e.g., vowel/consonant combinations, root
words, affixes, commonly misspelled words).
·
Use and identify a variety of nouns (e.g., plural forms), verbs,
subjects, predicates, simple/compound subjects, and simple/compound predicates.
·
Use writing form (e.g., journals, letters, editorials, reviews, poems,
narratives, reports, instructions, descriptions) appropriate to audience and
purpose for writing.
·
Use strategies of descriptive writing in the process of showing rather
than telling.
LITERATURE
The 6th grade literature class incorporates
the same goals as the 6th grade language arts classes but offers
advanced students accelerated and more in-depth learning opportunities.
Students are expected to achieve required levels of proficiency on multiple
standardized assessments before being recommended for placement into the 7th
grade literature class.
MATHEMATICS (Year)
Sixth
grade math begins as a review of basic math operations with whole numbers. Skills are introduced and taught during the
year in fractions, decimals, measuring, geometry and ratios/percents. The use of technology is introduced with the
TI calculators and with projects using the computer. Real-life activities are connected to
curriculum objectives. This class will also
include interdisciplinary units that tie math to other curriculum areas.
The
students will:
·
Demonstrate a knowledge to read and write place values.
·
Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimal numbers
·
Use proportion to understand percents
·
Calculate perimeter of polygons
·
Classify angle by measurements and know how to measure them.
·
Measure length to the nearest mm/cm/inch.
·
Describe lines, segments, rays, angles, parallel and perpendicular lines.
·
Use mental math to solve problems.
·
Collect, organize, interpret data, and make predictions using tables and
graphs.
·
Use patterns to represent and solve problems.
ACCELERATED MATH
Sixth Grade accelerated math will cover
the regular curriculum at a faster pace and also delve into more advanced
algebra, integers, and probability. Every chapter will include projects to
relate how the math topic will be used in real-life situations. The
students will spend a great deal of time working on multiple-step story
problems. Challenging work will be available to all students in the class
SCIENCE (Year)
Life, Earth, and Physical
Science are taught. Life Science covers
activities of flowering plants, life in the ocean and changes over time. Earth Science covers beyond the solar system,
weather, and climate. Physical Science
covers elements, compounds, chemical, and nuclear changes. The class is structured for individual, small
group, and large group learning. Cooperative groups are used in lab settings.
Many hands on labs are used in conjunction with the concepts taught.
The student will:
·
Explain how the changes in our weather are caused by the gravity and
rotation of earth as well as by the
effects of the sun and moon.
·
Discuss the changes over time they find from fossils to compare ancient
and modern plants and animals.
·
List the planets in our solar system and the relationship they have to
the sun.
·
Explain the relationship organisms have in a food chain and how they
overlap in food webs.
·
Demonstrate how organisms’ numbers and type are dependent on available
resources in an ecosystem.
·
Explain that elements can be grouped according to similar properties,
metals, and nonmetals, and explain how the elements are important to us in our
daily lives.
·
Explain how the effect of light, sound, and friction frustrated our
ancestors and still challenges our modern civilization.
SOCIAL STUDIES (Year)
Social Studies class will
emphasize societies and cultures stretching from
Current events will be used
throughout the class, as well as other supplementary materials.
The student will:
·
Demonstrate an understanding of the development of civilizations.
·
Understand the need for interaction between people and their environment.
·
Understand the need for more advanced technology that will impact world economy.
·
Show an understanding of our local and
·
Explain the cause and effect of wars and revolutions on people’s lives.
·
Identify the major elements of a culture.
·
Understand the smallness of our world and our dependence on others for
supplies.
·
Demonstrate how we understand every event in history has cause and
effect.
·
Have an understanding of the formation and growth of the state of
·
Explain the part the early settlers had in the cultural development of
our state.
·
Identify the contributions of various
·
Understand the importance of tourism to our state’s economy.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION (Year -
every other day)
Basic
to middle school physical education is building a foundation for students to
lead a healthy active life, while respecting self and others. Vigorous physical
activity produces increased circulation, cardiovascular health and fitness and
releases tension. Elevated heart rate increases oxygen supply to the brain
which stimulates brain activity to facilitate learning.
In
2008
The
fundamental skills of good team work; tolerance, sportsmanship, cooperation,
coordination, flexibility, and respect are critical skills for a successful
life. Those skills are explicitly taught and expected to be demonstrated by all
students.
The
curriculum is designed to teach skills and techniques of sports, lifetime
activities, coordination and fitness activities and individual self testing,
which prepares students for life. Classes
meet every other day. Physical education
clothes include fingertip length athletic shorts or sweatpants, a T-shirt or
sweatshirt, socks and clean athletic shoes.
Shoes need to be other than those worn to school. All clothing, including shoes, should be
marked with the owner’s name for identification.
The
physical education program is divided into units of instruction that may
include, but is not limited to:
·
·
Volley ball
·
Bocce ball
·
Games and relays
·
Pickle ball
·
Table tennis
·
Rope jumping
·
Basketball
·
Ultimate Frisbee
·
Badminton
·
Softball
·
Fitness activities and testing
·
Towel hockey
·
Disc golf
·
Team building activities
ART (Semester – alternate days)
Sixth grade exploratory art is an
introductory course designed to offer all students a successful learning
experience while building skills and confidence. Areas covered include drawing skills,
perspective, design elements, mosaics, art history and art appreciation.
The student will:
·
Identify the principles of one-point perspective.
·
Draw an object in one-point perspective.
·
Recognize and use the principle of balance in a work of art.
·
Recognize and create an additive 3-D sculpture.
·
Apply the techniques of drawing in a work of art.
·
Identify and use a complementary color harmony.
·
Use and improve on the skills which have been introduced and taught
previously in the curriculum.
·
Follow directions for the care and safe use of art media, tools, and
materials.
·
Strengthen the eye-hand coordination used to create art.
LIFE SKILLS 6
Life Skills 6 is an
exploratory class which teaches academic, career, and personal/social
development skills to all students to assist them in achieving school
success.
The student will:
Academic
Identify attitudes and behaviors which lead to successful
learning.
Apply knowledge of learning styles to positively
influence school performance.
Share knowledge.
Apply study skills for academic success.
Use assessment results in educational planning.
Demonstrate
an understanding of the value of lifelong learning as essential to seeking,
obtaining, and maintaining life goals.
Career Development
Learn to set goals.
Develop a positive attitude toward work and learning.
Use research and information resources to obtain career
information.
Demonstrate awareness of the education and training
needed to achieve career goals.
Explain how work can help to achieve personal success and
satisfaction.
Learn to work cooperatively with others as a team member.
Personal/Social Development
Learn the goal
setting process.
Identify and express feelings.
Understand the need for self-control and how to practice
it.
Demonstrate cooperative behavior in groups.
Identify personal strengths and assets.
Know that communication involves speaking, listening, and
nonverbal behavior.
Learn how to make and keep friends.
Demonstrate when, where, and how to seek help for solving
problems and making decisions.
Know how to apply conflict resolution skills.
Differentiate between situations requiring peer support
and situations requiring adult professional help.
Identify resource people in the school and community, and
know how to seek their help.
Learn about the emotional and physical dangers of
substance use and abuse.
Learn how to cope with peer pressure.
INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY (9 weeks)
Projects:
·
Drafting - 15-20 days. The student
will do 5-6 drawings.
·
Woodworking - 20-25 days covering all the tools, safety, measuring and
marking wood projects, etc., and the student will make 1-3 small wood projects
assigned by the instructor.
·
Robotics - 5 days programming a robotic arm.
The student should have a
serious attitude about learning and working with others due to the safety
factor involved with the use of hand tools, power tools, and machines. This class will give the serious student an
opportunity to explore some career opportunities in the industrial technology
area, make them aware of some of the skills needed to survive in today is
technological world and provide them with some hobbies for the future. Safety glasses, and all other materials
needed, will be provided by the instructor.
The student will:
·
Demonstrate communication skills through drafting and writing
assignments.
·
Demonstrate safety principles in the lab area.
·
Demonstrate proper tool usage through hands on projects.
·
Apply problem-solving techniques during lab projects.
·
Work effectively with others during classroom and lab activities.
·
Measure accurately using different measuring devices during lab projects.
BAND (Year - Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday)
The sixth grade band is offered
to any student who wishes to begin playing a band instrument. Students enrolling in band must participate
in the 4-week summer band program.
Students who do not participate must successfully complete the first 12
pages of the Standard of Excellence lesson book before admission to group band.
(1) Lessons - each student is
required to have one 10-15 minute lesson per week. (2) Concert Band - meets Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday throughout the year for one class period. (3) Public performances - 2 to 3 concerts per
year with mandatory attendance. A fourth
area of instruction strongly encouraged, but optional, is solo and ensemble
contest held on the second Saturday of March.
CHOIR (Year - Tuesday and
Thursday)
The sixth grade chorus program
includes a continuing developmental study of the musical elements -- timbre,
harmony, form, melody, texture, rhythm, and expression with an emphasis on the
study of the voice and proper breathing techniques as they apply to individual
and group performance. The chorus will
meet Tuesday and Thursday throughout the year for one class period and will
perform 2 to 3 concerts per year with mandatory attendance.
The student will:
·
Sing melody and harmony.
·
Demonstrate proper vocal techniques.
·
Follow the conductor (basic conducting patterns, tempo, and dynamic
changes, entrances, and cut-offs).
·
Perform music according to its inherent style.
·
Practice proper rehearsal and performance etiquette. *Read steps, skips,
and repeated notes.
KEYBOARDING (9 weeks)
Keyboarding is one component of
the Computer Applications course designed to teach the fundamental skills of
learning the alpha/numeric keys on a personal computer. Special emphasis is
given to proper technique and accuracy during the 6th grade course. Remaining
components of the course include instruction of the expectations associated
with the district Technology Acceptable Use Policy, basic operation of PC
computers, basic operation of the district LAN and WAN networks, and basic
access and operation of commonly used software.
The student will:
·
Use correct fingering for the alphabetic, numeric, and symbol keyboard.
·
Demonstrate correct posture.
·
Demonstrate proper “touch” techniques.
·
Use correct spacing after punctuation marks.
·
Key straight copy, hand written, or rough draft copy.
·
Format personal/business letters.
·
Format short reports.
FAMILY CONSUMER SCIENCE (9
weeks)
Sixth graders are offered a
course provided for young students to be in an action-centered classroom that
will help them to take charge of their lives.
The contents of this course
will help you explore:
(1) Your self-image, improve
yourself understanding and
(2) Appreciate and understand
the role of families.
(3) Building friendships and be
a good friend.
(4) Building good health
habits.
(5) Your food; your food habits
and attitudes.
(6) Participating in simple
food preparation skills.
(7) The nutrients you
need.
(8) Understand the body changes
you are experiencing.
(9) Grooming; taking care of
your clothes (laundry).
(10) Simple sewing skills.
The student will:
·
Read and follow directions.
·
Function as a team player.
·
Demonstrate good listening skills.
·
Read, interpret, and carry out a single recipe.
·
Apply principles of food safety and sanitation to food preparation.
·
Analyze foods for nutritional value.
·
Set long and short-term goals.
·
Demonstrate hand-sewing techniques.
·
Name and safely use sewing equipment.
MUSIC (9 weeks)
Music class is designed to
expand the student’s understanding of the 6 elements of music - timbre,
harmony, form, melody, texture, and rhythm.
Activities will include singing, listening, and playing of instruments.
The students will:
·
Be skillful performers of music.
·
Be wise consumers, listeners, and performers of music.
·
Develop an understanding of the relationships of music to history and
culture.
·
Demonstrate knowledge of basic signs and symbols used in music.
·
Demonstrate an understanding of the relationships between music and the
other arts and disciplines outside the arts.
·
Demonstrate an understanding of the relationships to music to career and
life-long applications.
TALENTED
AND GIFTED
TAG students at the
Orientation
Learners
gain knowledge about the TAG program, themselves, and others in the TAG
program, and the concepts of giftedness, intelligence, and creativity.
Individual Development
Learners are presented with concepts to enhance their
life-long learning
skills. They
are exposed to college and career exploration, organizational
skills, productivity skills, technology skills, and
interpersonal and intrapersonal
development.
Enrichment
Learners have the opportunity to explore content and curriculum
that is in
addition to or different from the general school
curriculum. The goal here is for
learners to have the freedom to explore and
investigate with the purpose of
finding new and unique knowledge in a variety of
methods. Learners participate
in cultural and service activities.
Seminars
Learners in groups of three to five research a topic
and present their research to
TAG students and other interested people. The goal here is for our learners to
have the opportunity to practice moving from the role
of student to the role of
learner. They will gain new knowledge by experiencing
learning in a guided
independent group structure.
In-depth Studies
Learners will research work in their passion
areas. They will decide what is
learned, how it will be learned, and how it will be
presented. Research is begun
and completed with planning conferences held
periodically with the TAG
facilitator.
HEALTH (Curriculum is infused
into science, PE, Family and Consumer Science, and 6th, 7th,
and 8th Grade Life Skills.)
Health is a comprehensive study
of mental, intellectual, social and physical health. The importance of the four
health spectrums is taught through inquiry, research, and direct instruction.
The class discussions encourage each student to explore health as a life-long
experience.
Specific topics include:
·
Mental Health: a) coping skills, b)
decision-making, c) goal setting d) mental illnesses
·
Intellectual Health: a) values, b) principles, c)
emotional, d) developmental
·
Social Health: a) abuse, b) communicable
diseases, c) sexually transmitted diseases,
d) aids, e) conflict management, f) anger management
·
Physical Health: a) fitness, b) nutrition, c)
first aid
The library will augment the
entire curriculum. Its facilities aim to
meet the educational and recreational needs of the student body. Students are given instruction in library
skills in Language Arts classes. Groups,
accompanied by their teachers, are given opportunity for reference work when necessary. Individuals come from study halls as well as
classrooms for research and recreational reading. The librarian is available to assist students
before and after school as well as eight periods per day.
Students are encouraged to use
the library. All materials: books,
magazines, encyclopedias, atlases, etc., can be checked out from the library
for limited times depending on the need.
Fines are collected for overdue books.
Damages and loss of books are charged to the borrower. Once a student has 2 overdue books, he or she
can be restricted from checking out more until books are returned, or until
fines are collected.
GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT
The
comprehensive school counseling program builds on what all students in grades sixth
through eighth should know, understand, and be able to do in three domain
areas: academic, career, and personal/social development. The program helps all
students achieve success in school and develop into productive members of
society. The school counseling program
focuses on prevention and is geared toward the developmental needs of the
adolescent. The school counselors use
the following four program components to deliver the program to students:
·
The guidance curriculum component, taught in Life Skills classes, teaches
academic, career, and personal/social development skills to all students.
·
The individual planning component allows all students to plan, monitor,
and understand their growth and development and take appropriate action
educationally, occupationally, and personally.
·
The responsive services component responds to the direct, immediate
concerns of students and includes individual counseling, referrals, and
consultations with parents or guardians, teachers, or other specialists.
·
The system support component involves program, staff, and school support
activities such as consultations, professional development, Building Assistance
Teams (BAT), and guidance program development, implementation, and assessment.
PANTHER
PRIDE LEARNING CENTER
The
goal of the Panther Pride Learning Center is to increase the success of all
students. The following are the
program’s target areas: to provide a
safe environment, to provide opportunities for ownership, connection, and
belonging, to teach behavior, social, and study skills strategies, and to teach
healthy living skills. It is also
designed to provide opportunities for students to be academically
successful. The program may be
recommended to students who are having difficulty completing class assignments
to a satisfactory level (i.e., late, incomplete work, work that can be redone,
to improve the quality, students who may have fallen behind due to absences
from school).
The
Panther Pride Learning Center will be available daily from 7:45-8:07 A.M. and
from 3:09-3:30 P.M. Knoxville Middle
School extra curricular coaches and sponsors will support the program,
recognizing that a student’s academic success supports the success in other
activities.