Curriculum: Kelly Program

Curriculum

Types of Courses

CORE classes consist of traditional academic courses.

FITNESS & LIFESTYLES is a wellness approach to physical education which blends games, sport, dance, and skill activities with a comprehensive fitness/wellness curriculum

RELATED ARTS classes rotate between Fitness, Spanish, Beginning Japanese and Writing. Students in the Yujin Gakuen program attend Japanese Immersion classes during this time. These classes are ongoing all year.

FLEX classes are electives that vary in length, but most of them last nine weeks. Students choose an area of interest to pursue.

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Core Classes

Science

One of the strengths of our science program is the hands-on learning our teachers provide. Here students have created their own cricket environments. They study the effects of water, food, shelter, light, then record and compare their findings. No wonder our science scores are some of the highest in the district!

Social Studies

Project-based learning experiences designed to connect student explorations throughout the day often begin in social studies and extend into, science, math, Spanish and language arts classes. Geography, history, civics, and social science analysis skills and content fill three years of study and span the centuries for our students. Teachers create learning units that provide student with opportunities to form questions, seek answers and present findings to audiences beyond the classroom.

• 6th Grade: Ancient civilizations inspire student projects.
• 7th Grade: The five themes of geography take students around the world.
• 8th Grade: U.S. History brings them back to the states.

Language Arts

The ability to communicate clearly and effectively in today’s culture of information provides the context for building students’ skills and abilities in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Applying these skills to gain knowledge, to express understanding, to form opinions and to interact with people in our community happens throughout the year in our language arts classroom.

Frequent writing opportunities in expository, persuasive, and narrative writing; along with grammar and vocabulary building activities, encourage students to refine skills through the writing process. Traditional short stories, young adult fiction, newspaper articles, and other readings encourage students to develop skills that support individual learning across the curriculum.

Math

Students explore and apply math skills using the Connected Mathematics program that provides investigations and skills practice in each of the grade-level programs. Teachers build understanding of math concepts in algebra, geometry/measurement, probability and statistics and numerical operations. Students also use Accelerated Math at each grade level to practice and refine math skills. Daily feedback on attempted problems allows students to work through exercises at an individually appropriate pace to master math skills.

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Fitness and Lifestyles

Program Philosophy
Fitness and Lifestyles is a wellness approach to physical education which blends games, sport, dance, and skill activities with a comprehensive fitness/wellness curriculum. The goal of this unique program is to develop motor skills for a lifetime of leisure activity while also providing students with the concepts, problem solving, and critical thinking skills necessary to adopt a healthy lifestyle both now and in the future as lifelong learners. The Fitness and Lifestyles program strikes an equal balance between the traditional and contemporary gym activities of physical education and a fitness lab experience which employs a variety of technologies in providing students with personal feedback and opportunities for personal growth and understanding.

Dress down for class is required. Dressing down means appropriate clothes for activity (shorts and t-shirt or sweats, tennis shoes). This should be a change of clothes as students will be expected to be out in the rain, on occasions, as well as working up a sweat in class.

Life Center
The Life Center incorporates a wide variety of equipment and technology for students. A good portion of this equipment and technology was obtained through fundraising, donations, and grants.

Polar Heart Rate Monitors
Pedometers Pyramid Challenge Software
Fitnessgram Software
Computerized skinfold caliper
Flextester II for flexibility measure
200 Copies of student text, Fit For Life
2 Universal Gym
2 Total Gyms
Total Hip Machine
Large set of dumbbells
12 Gym Sticks
Quick Fit Exercise Tubing (60) and accompanying exercise guide
Plyometric Balls
6 Schwinn Airdyne Cycles
6 Concept II Airdyne Rowers

Pyramid Challenge
Pyramid Challenge is CD-ROM software which allows students to combine eating choices with nutritional information. This very easy to use software allows students to take a look at their actual nutritional choices and habits while learning more about good nutrition concepts. Students can measure how well they are eating and are provided with recommendations to improve food choices.

Polar Hear Rate Monitors
The use of heart rate monitors provides students with immediate and accurate feedback on how their cardiovascular system is responding to activity. The Polar monitors not only allows students to monitor their heart rate during activity but can be interfaced with the computer allowing students to summarize, analyze, and print personal information. A multitude of activities allow students to learn about resting heart rate, reaction to stress, different training zones, perceived exertion, recovery time, relaxation, and much more.

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Related Arts

Spanish

Spanish language instruction is provided to students at each grade level. During our three-year program, students develop and practice writing, speaking and listening skills. Sixth-grade students start with basic vocabulary and grammar lessons that help them begin to speak the language. In seventh grade, verb conjugation and writing skills activities help students communicate more clearly in Spanish. Eighth-grade students are expected to produce accurate and fluent, oral and written presentations that will show they are well prepared for high school Spanish instruction.

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Flex (Electives)

This is not a complete list of electives:
• Band
• Aerobics
• Power Walking
• Read to Learn
• Art
• The Natural World
• Team Games

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Edline

Access your EDLINE account now, click here

The Importance of Technology

OUR VISION
In order to prepare students for a technology-rich society, we will weave instructional technology, critical thinking, and global communication into everyday teaching and learning.

Kelly is a PHASE II Technology School

Technology Abounds!
We have more technology hardware infused throughout our school than any other middle school in the 4J district.

Our school is at the forefront of technology education.

WE HAVE
• Building-wide wireless
• On-site Technical Support
• Teacher laptops
• Classroom projectors in every classroom w/external speakers
• Network printers
• Software
• Digital camcorders
• Document cameras in every classroom
• Airliners
• Interactive White Boards
• Student Response Systems
• 2:1 students to laptop ratio

In addition to the list above, we also offer Edline Online for every teacher and parent in order to boost communication and direct access to up to the minute grading.

Teachers are currently and continuously being trained in the use of best practice technology and bring these best practices to every classroom in our school.

Staff are currently involved in two different technology grants, the TILT and TIP grants which enables us to bring state of the art, cutting edge technology into our school. Teachers now have Classroom Response Systems (clickers) and airliners for use in our school.

We are actively producing multimedia projects in our Project Based Learning initiative. These include:
• Keynote
• Pages
• Garageband
• Podcasting
• iMovie.

Teachers currently use online subscription services to enhance student learning. These include the acclaimed:
• BrainPop animations
• Learn 360 (video clips)
• Frog Guts (virtual dissection)
• and many other interactive sites such as the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives for Interactive Math.

Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning is a comprehensive instructional approach that engages students in sustained, cooperative investigation.

There are 3 important factors in good project-based learning curriculum:

1) Projects are created by a "driving question" that is anchored in a real-world problem and ideally uses multiple content areas.

2) They provide opportunities for students to make active investigations that enable them to learn concepts, apply information, and represent their knowledge in a variety of ways.

3) Projects foster collaborative efforts among students, teachers, and others in the community so that knowledge can be shared and distributed between the members of the "learning community."

When teachers at Kelly Middle Schools plan for PBL’s, they incorporate the 6 As:
• Academic Rigor
• Authenticity
• Active Exploration
• Applied Learning
• Adult Relationships
• Assessment Practices

To learn more about the PBL your child will be engaged in this year, or PBLs in general, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher or visit this web site.