Academics and Arts

Sixth, seventh and eighth grade math courses include Mathematics, Pre-Algebra, Geometry, and opportunities for Algebra I and Algebra I Honors.

A variety of mathematics courses in Middle School allows for students to excel at the most challenging and appropriate level. 

Math teachers at Corbett Prep use a conceptual approach to instruction to foster students' conceptual understanding. Teachers also differentiate math instruction based on the student's level of mastery in each unit and offer extension opportunities such as participation in math competitions. 

Sixth grade science is divided into four units of study that include hands-on activities and labs: 1. Natural Resources: The world around us with deep dive into the aquifer systems all around Florida. 2. Ecology: The relationships that exist in nature. 3. Climate Change and Clean Energy: What is going on in our world today and how we can grow as a society. 4. Climate vs. Weather: Basic weather systems and climates around the world.

Seventh grade science is divided into the following units of study:  1. The Nature of Science: What is Science, Scientific Processes and the Scientific Method, Characteristics of Life, Microscopes 2. Cellular Processes: Cell Parts and Functions, Homeostasis Between a Cell’s Organelles and Their Functions; How Adaptations Enable the Evolution of Organisms from Simple to More Complex Organisms 3. Mendelian Genetics and DNA: Chromosome Theory of Inheritance, DNA the Molecule, Mutations and Disease, Human Traits 4. Evolution: Facts, Adaptation and Evolution 5. Human Reproduction: Female and Male Reproductive Systems. Seventh Grade Project-Based Learning: Hurricane Study; Anatomy-Frog Dissection; Egg Drop (includes engineering cycle)

The 8th Grade Science course Issues and Physical Science Honors, IAPS, is offered to all eighth-grade students. IAPS is a lab-based course that integrates high school chemistry and physics in a curriculum in which students use problem solving skills and inquiry methods to test hypotheses and find solutions to real-world issues. IAPS follows seven units of study: 1. Chemistry of Materials 2. Chemical Reactions 3. Energy 4. Force and Motion 5. Waves 6. Fields and Interactions 7. Egg Drop Engineering Project

Foreign language  is presented as a core subject with the opportunity for Spanish I high school credit at the eighth-grade level.

The purpose of the Middle School Spanish program is to enable students to continue to acquire proficiency in Spanish through a communicative and cultural approach to learning a language. 

Components of the program, including interactive lessons and other resources, offer a variety of materials, many of which are technology-based. Meaningful cultural connections are woven throughout units of study via interactions and projects with Corbett Prep’s “sister” school in Madrid. 

The academic foundation of the program begins in 6th grade with the basic structure and grammar of the Spanish language, vocabulary,  listening, speaking, reading, and writing and increases in complexity through 7th and 8th grade.

This course completes the two-part sequence of Spanish I at the Middle School and high standards prepare students for success in high school. 

The Middle School Language and Literature program is designed for students to utilize the tools of language. Reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, listening, and speaking are all examples of skills that combine to help develop students into effective communicators. Students accomplish this by constructing, comprehending, and negotiating meaning through a wide variety of sources and experiences.

A. Reading - Outside novels as well as novels, novellas, or short stories assigned in class will be used as a springboard to a myriad of English topics.

B. Writing - Creative and authentic writing situations in both the classroom and Writers’ Workshop classes will be used throughout the year to improve writing skills.

C. Vocabulary and Spelling - Words from student reading, SSAT preparation, and grade-level appropriate vocabulary lists to improve student vocabulary and spelling.

D. Grammar - Grammar will be addressed in a cumulative way as to build upon prior knowledge through writing instruction.

E. Speaking - Students present class projects and selected works to improve public speaking skills.

6th Grade: Literature 

• Identity and Survival: Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse

• Creativity: Poetic Form

• Author’s Technique to Create Interesting Characters: Short Story Unit

• Change, Legacy, Societies, Power, Context Identity: People Fair Project

• Choice: How do our choices define us? Red Kayak, Priscilla Cummings

 7th Grade: Literature & Writing 

• Identity, Belonging, and Change: The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton

• Social Justice, Race and Class: Bad Boy, Walter Dean Myers

• Writer’s Workshop (literary elements and creative development)

• Introduction to Autobiography and Memoir

• Becoming an Independent Researcher

• Submitting for Publication

 8th Grade: Literature

• The Importance of Persistence: The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho

• Focus on Argumentative Writing: C-SPAN Videography

• Poetry Coffee House

• Literature Can Stand the Test of Time: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet: The Prince of Denmark, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

• From Adversity Comes Knowledge: Night, Elie Wiesel

• Novel of Student’s Choice: Monthly Book Analysis

The goal of the Middle School Social Studies curriculum Individuals and Societies is to help students better understand themselves, their country, and how their country fits into the world arena. Developing the skills necessary to understand and interpret history is the primary objective.

Areas of focus in each course include geography, government, historical trends, history and other disciplines, the rich cultural diversity of history, and the writing process to demonstrate knowledge of history.

History "Comes Alive” through a social studies program designed to make learning relevant, experiential, and rigorous.

6th Grade - Ancient World History

The sixth grade social studies curriculum introduces students to the beginnings of the human story. As they explore the great early civilizations of Sumer, Egypt and the Near East, Greece, and Rome, students discover the secrets of these ancient cultures that continue to influence the modern world.  During the People Fair interdisciplinary unit of study, students research and portray a famous person from history.

This course covers the following concepts re: the existence of the Early Hominins in early civilizations through Ancient Rome: Civilization, Geography, Government, Religion, Culture, Conflict, and Social Structure

7th Grade - World History & Geography

The seventh grade social studies curriculum is partnered with scholars from the National Council for Geographic Education and engages students in a stimulating, case-study approach to geography.  Students  go beyond maps, using geographical information systems to understand why the people of the world interact with their environment and each other in the manner in which they do.  The geography curriculum units help to provide interdisciplinary support for all other academic disciplines through our studies of physical features and cultures.

This course covers the following concepts from the existence prior to the fall of Ancient Rome to present day:

Europe during Medieval Times, Islam in Medieval Times, Cultures and Kingdoms of West Africa

Imperial China, Japan during Medieval Times, Civilizations of the Americas

Europe’s Renaissance and Reformation, Europe Enters the Modern Age

 8th Grade - American History

The eighth grade social studies curriculum immerses students in a powerful journey through the history of the United States from its earliest foundations to the age of industrialism. Annually, students participate in the C-SPAN Student Cam competition. This interdisciplinary unit reinforces the skills of research, writing, presenting and video production and editing in order to submit a documentary answering a C-SPAN posed question each year.

This course covers concepts from prior to the existence of the United States through to modern times:

Exploration:  Native Cultures, European Exploration, Lewis and Clark, Space Exploration

Revolution:  Glorious Revolution, American War for Independence, French Revolution, Civil War, Industrial Revolution, Technology Revolution

Government:  Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Democratic Republic, American System, Communist System of the U.S.S.R.

Economics:  Colonial Economics, Early American Economics, Rise of Capitalism, Great Depression

Foreign Relations:  Early American Republic, Post Civil War, World War I, World War II, The Era of the United Nations

Society:  Colonial Life, Pre-Industrial America, Post Industrial America

Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia Study Trip (live or virtual)

Middle School Design Technology explores several units of study. Lessons are also integrated into the core content classes such as English, mathematics, science, social studies, and Spanish.

Sixth grade units include Organizing for Success, Digital Citizenship: Responsibility, and Computer Science: Game Design.

Seventh grade units include Digital Citizenshop: Identity, Computer Science: Coding, and Robotics and Automation.

Eighth grade units include Documentary Film Making, Digital Citizenship: Cyberbullying, Design and Prototyping, and Creating Resumes.

Middle School students take the visual arts course one trimester per grade level as part of the arts rotation of art, music, and drama. The art curriculum rotates on a three-year basis:

1. Elements of Art and Principles of Design
2. Art History Timeline
3. Global Perspectives in Art

Hands-on, creative experiences give the students the opportunity for self-expression and the personal pleasure of working with art media in a relaxed and encouraging atmosphere. All instruction is developmentally appropriate and challenging at each learning level throughout the divisions from Primary to Middle School.

Art Elective & Art Club

In addition to the fine arts core classes, middle school students are given an opportunity to sign up for an art elective and/or Art Club. The Art Elective is a commitment for students who have a special talent and/or love for graphic design and wish to experience an in depth study of digital art. Areas of focus will include Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Procreate drawing app and silk screening.

Art Club is a trimester long commitment with a focus on the craft of art and may include projects in jewelry making, ceramics, and paper arts.

Music in Middle School is part of the arts rotation in which each grade takes art, music, and drama for one trimester each year. The music curriculum is divided into three units of study:

UNIT 1- PIANO PERFORMANCE

• Public performance
• Note values, music reading, and musical terms
• Good practice habits
• Concert etiquette

UNIT 2- THE MUSICIAN AS CITIZEN

• Music in culture
• Music in history
• Music in our time and culture

UNIT 3- MUSIC COMPOSITION

• Music notation
• Music technology
• Musical form
• Creativity

Each grade level takes drama during one of their trimesters as part of the Middle School arts rotation.

The sixth grade drama curriculum is an introduction to theatre, which includes three main focal points: the actor, the space, and the art. The purpose of this course is to enable students to develop fundamental knowledge and appreciation for history of theatre in various cultures.

• Introduction to Theatre: the Actor, the Space, and the Art
• The Process & Art of Storytelling
• Theatre History, Architecture and Culture in Ancient Civilizations
• The Establishment and Role of Performing Artists
• Acting Techniques – Storytelling and Improvisation.

The seventh grade drama curriculum continues and expands on acting techniques and touches on technical theatre. Students continue to learn the actor’s craft as they analyze the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder and participate in developmental acting technique activities.

• Natural Behavior in Acting
• Theater Organization
• Introduction to Technical Theatre
• Acting Techniques – Natural Behavior and Pantomime.

The eighth grade drama curriculum is a performance-based unit which culminates in an eighth grade showcase performance, Theatre Through the Ages at Corbett Prep.

• Study of Playwrights Through Time
• Study the Relevance of Shakespeare to Modern Playwrights
• Diverse Scripts as a Celebration of Imagination, Choice, and Variety
• The Physicality of Acting with Diverse Playwrights
• Creating Dramatic Language
• Scene Analysis from a Feeling Approach for Understanding, Translation, Point of View, and Enactment.
• Rehearsal Techniques and Etiquette.
• Ensemble Skills
• Acting Techniques – Natural Behavior, Tactics, and Status in Time, Experiences, and Cultural Values.