Grades 7 & 8 - Charles River School

Experiential Learning

The seventh- and the eighth-grade program maintains the school’s commitment to hands-on, experiential education and the acquisition of important skills through genuinely interesting and relevant topics. As we say in our CRS mission statement, “Our graduates know themselves, understand others, and shape the future of our diverse world with confidence and compassion.”

Meet the Teachers

Advisors, Creators, Coaches, Rockstars...

Elizabeth Clayton

Associate Head of School, Grades 7 & 8 Math

Leigh Hutchinson

Grades 7 & 8 English, Advisor

Tara Jennings

Grades 7 & 8 Science, Advisor, PreK-8 Science Coordinator

Kent Rouillard

Grades 5-8 Spanish, Grades 7 & 8 Advisor

Tessa Steinert Evoy

Grades 7 & 8 Social Studies, Advisor

Julie Weeden

Grades 3-8 French, Grades 7 & 8 Advisor, Middle School Coordinator

Lizz Albany

Grades 7 & 8 Math, PreK-8 Math Coordinator

Curriculum Overview

View the full Grades 7 & 8 curriculum, which includes a comprehensive overview of theme, language arts, math, social studies, science, technology, music, art, Spanish, physical education, and library.

Download Curriculum PDF

Academics

The 7th and 8th English curriculum emphasizes principles of communication: listening, writing, reading, and speaking. Over the course of two years, students study poetry, short stories, and fiction and nonfiction novels.They learn to interpret and analyze literature with an emphasis on close reading and literary interpretation including character development, and symbolic and figurative language, point of view and literary conflict. 7th and 8th grade students also write in a variety of formats including analytical, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and expository. Emphasis is placed on using specific structures to organize and clarify ideas appropriate for each style of writing.

Developmental Skills:

7th and 8th graders will learn and practice literal and inferential reading comprehension strategies, use evidence to support conclusions, and identify and use literary devices
Students will practice the skills of generating ideas, organizing material, revising, and presenting their writing.

Mathematics is the language of numbers, and by the end of their time at CRS, graduates should become increasingly fluent in this language. Our focus in 7/8 is to shift from arithmetical thinking to algebraic thinking, and we encourage this transition through hands-on, interactive lessons that make the learning both tangible and relevant.

Over the course of two years, skills will include:

Problem solving
Decimals, fractions, ratios, proportions and percent
Geometry
Graphs, displays of data, probability, and statistics
Polynomials and quadratics

This course prepares students to think, listen, write, and speak critically on justice issues of historical and current importance. It is a two-year curriculum that examines selected events in American and world history as well as topical issues like political campaigns, marketing, and education. Curriculum is frequently adjusted to address breaking news. Data analysis and geography are incorporated throughout. In the spring of both seventh and eighth grade, all students complete an extensive research project that culminates in a written paper and a presentation. Public speaking, visual presentations, and facility with various writing styles are important aspects of this course. The discipline of independent work is balanced by collaborative projects.

Skills include:

Analyzing and evaluating information, including use of primary sources
Research writing: thesis arguments, outlining, footnotes, bibliographies
Determining cause and effect
Building cohesive arguments using compelling evidence

The science program in Grades 7 and 8 is a comprehensive, hands-on curriculum designed to focus on science skills while utilizing students’ curiosity about the world around them. Students engage in laboratory work and activities (both in the classroom and in our on-campus Wetlands Laboratory) that prepare them for high school lab sciences, yet still allow ample opportunity to explore their own interests. Topics in Earth science, physics, chemistry and biology deepen students’ understanding about their world and provide a medium in which to teach transferable skills such as data collection and analysis.

Skills include:

Data collection and organization (qualitative and quantitative), and analysis of data (calculations, graphing, interpreting graphs, etc.)
Drawing conclusions from gathered facts, and supporting conclusions with evidence
Scientific writing (such as formal lab reports)

In the second and third years of a three-year program, students expand their knowledge of French/Spanish grammar and vocabulary. Instruction is almost entirely in the target language. Students improve their language skills through group and paired speaking and writing activities during class and through individual work on their Chromebooks both in and outside of class.

Developmental Skills:

Students continue to build vocabulary and increase their knowledge of grammar in order to speak and write with increasing fluency in the target language.

In Grades 7 and 8, the focus shifts from discrete classes to using specific software applications embedded in content area curriculum.

Developmental Skills:

Students use spreadsheets to support data analysis in social studies, use multimedia presentations to enhance persuasive speeches on social justice topics in English class, manage online portfolios, and use online collaboration for project management.
There is also an important focus in Growth Education on self reflection, social media use, and learning to navigate an online social world in healthy ways.

The seventh and eighth grade Art program gives students the opportunity to develop an advanced foundational skill set across a variety of media.

Developmental Skills:

The year begins with a progression of observational drawing assignments, developing new skills while experimenting with different techniques and approaches.
In the latter half of the year, the focus shifts towards sculptural work. Whether working with cardboard construction, clay, or papier mache, students learn to translate two dimensional ideation into three dimensional form.
Project examples include: contour and blind contour still life drawings, figure drawing focused on gesture, monochromatic self portrait painting, mixed media collage, monoprint derived from landscape drawing

The Physical Education program is developmental and skill-based. The program includes cooperative games, standard games, such as capture the flag and ultimate Frisbee, and team sports including field hockey, soccer and basketball. Students practice motor and sports skills throughout these activities. Students develop sports skills through movement exploration, specific skill work and playing games.

Developmental Skills:

Sports Skills: Throw, Dribble, Kick, Bat, Catch, Shoot (basketball), Volley
Fitness Exercises, Relays, Cooperative Games, Group Challenges, Obstacle Courses, Lifetime Fitness Activities

Kent's Charles River School Point of View

A day-in-the-life of CRS for me is building and fostering relationships with students. Without meaningful and positive relationships, I believe that our time together in the classroom wouldn’t be as productive. One of the parts of my job that brings me joy is being an advisor to seventh and eighth graders. Over the course of two years, I get to help students navigate what can be a challenging time in their life.

Kent Rouillard
Grades 5-8 Spanish Teacher, Grades 7 & 8 Advisor

our graduates know themselves and shape the world

Grade 6