Course Descriptions

Prerequisites:  

Wind – Range of no experience to 1 year of study on an instrument. 

Percussion – 2 or more years of keyboard/piano study 

The continued study of a musical instrument boosts confidence and self-esteem in students. Each successful performance results in a sense of achievement and accomplishment. In 6th Grade Band, students continue to develop and advance the skills they began to cultivate in their previous year of study on a band instrument. The students are introduced to more complicated music appropriate to their developing skill level as they continue to refine their tone quality, increase their range, and improve their technical facility. Greater emphasis is placed on playing with proper intonation and balance in the large group setting. Students also work on listening with a more critical ear to improve their own individual playing as well as the group’s overall sound. 

Developing and honing one’s technique as an instrumentalist requires dedication and practice. These are two skills that are an integral part of Orchestra 6. Studying slurs, multiple finger patterns and key signatures continues to raise the overall level of playing by all students in the orchestra. As the skill level rises in the orchestra, so does the level of difficulty in the music. Adding vibrato to longer notes in rehearsals and weekly semi-private lessons raises the level of musicianship of the orchestra. A December performance, as well as a culminating concert in May, provides students with the opportunity to share the progress they make throughout the course of the year. 

Physical Education class is an integral part of a student’s education and contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Students participate in class for 75 minutes every other day throughout the school year. Fitness activities begin each class period to improve individual fitness. Specific units are taught with an emphasis on teaching skills and concepts involving Invasion Games, Net Games, Striking/Fielding Games and Target Activities. In all units, students are taught critical elements of specific skills that will be assessed as the unit concludes. Students at this grade level are now ready to apply knowledge and skills to their practice and game play with a constant emphasis on cooperation and team play. 

This rigorous math course builds the foundations for Algebra. We dive deeper into the topics of integers, one-step, two-step, and multi-step equations, inequalities and equations, graphs and functions, percent, and probabilities. We also present an introduction to geometry and right triangles. Students will use algebra to generate their own conclusion of how to find the solutions to problems. Material is spiraled and the year culminates with a final comprehensive exam. 

Art is a language by which students learn to communicate visually, expressing and exchanging ideas using the elements of line, shape, space, color, value, texture, and form. The Art 6 experience is an integral part of the broader Middle School Art program, which is designed to foster student growth at every level. Through hands-on experience, development of technique, and application of concepts, students gain confidence in their skills and hopefully find joy in creating. This course offers instruction and opportunity in the mediums of drawing, painting, ceramics, and printmaking. Composition is addressed in all mediums, as students are guided through a design process. Architecture is emphasized, both in the printmaking and ceramics units, while the drawing unit references the work of artist, Jim Dine. To celebrate the creativity and accomplishments of each student, artwork is exhibited in the community throughout the semester.

Me, Myself, & Eye: My Self, My Body, My Perspective

What it means to be me.

Who are you in the world? What do you think? See? Feel? …. And how do you express it all?

The middle school years are a time of physical, emotional, and social change. Theatre is an excellent way to communicate and to explore these challenging, yet exciting times in a fun, safe, and educationally vibrant setting. This course will place an emphasis on the emotional, physical, and social growth young people experience at this age. As a class, we will embrace self-expression, truth-telling, playfulness, and playwriting. Students will learn to utilize their bodies to heighten character development for comedic and dramatic roles.

Sixth graders will spend the semester producing scenes about life as a middle school student and what it means to be an inclusive, kind, compassionate human being. Using humor, poetry, movement, song, yoga, physical exercises, improv, and playwriting, students will explore relationships with peers, guardians, and the greater community. All students will memorize self-written scenes and monologues for our final showcase performance at the end of the semester.

In sixth grade, students continue to explore complex issues of the current world through the texts, discussions, and writings of their English class and curriculum. While settled into middle school routines, these pre-teens are still working to develop their interpersonal skills, their ability to resolve conflict, and their personal sense of place and self in an ever-changing, pretty amazing world. As such, students have fun delving into and exploring vocabulary, ideas, themes, and actions of characters and texts that mirror their own experiences while providing windows into the lives of others, again building empathy, understanding, and the language needed to foster belonging. While still developing and strengthening their writing skills, students engage in more complex forms of creative and analytical writing, adding increasingly nuanced use of grammar and punctuation to effectively and accurately convey their thoughts. Using the writing of fifth grade as a benchmark, students learn additional ways of correcting run-on sentences, punctuating dialogue and embedding quotations, more formally citing their sources, and organizing information in an increasingly clear and transitionally-smooth manner. Students continue to write for different purposes and audiences, gaining an increased understanding of why this is important as they continue exploring the author/audience relationship and the impact their words (and actions) have on others. 

Middle School health education provides students with knowledge, attitudes, and skills to make health-promoting decisions. The classes address the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of health. The goal of health class is to give the students the knowledge and skills to make choices that will improve their health and wellness. 6th grade health covers conflict resolution, empathy, stress, self-esteem, emotional health, fitness and basic nutrition. 

This course introduces the development of topics including computing decimals and fractions, writing, interpreting, and using expressions and equations, developing an understanding of statistical thinking, and connecting ratio, rate, proportions, and precents to whole number multiplication and division. Spiraling upon the foundation of previous years, Math 6 will allow students to gain the confidence and sharpen the skills they need going forward. Problem solving is a large component of the class and students use different tools and strategies to find solutions.

Prerequisites: None

Sing, say, dance and play! All of these aspects of the Orff Schulwerk methodology are incorporated into General Music and Choir 6. Singing and playing together builds trust and relationships amongst classmates that are an important foundation of development in middle school. Rhythmic accuracy is a focus as students create and experience body percussion. Dancing both in small and large groups develops coordination and the ability to be comfortable within one’s body. Learning new instruments continues to be a focus of General Music as students are introduced to both Guitar and Alto Recorder this year. A December performance, as well as a culminating concert in May, provides students with the opportunity to share the progress they make throughout the course of the year.

Science in 6th grade is very active with experiments and data collection. Environmental education and insects are how we start the year. Our overnight trip reinforces our students and lays the foundation for future collaboration. Students view physics through the lens of the scientific method, creating hypotheses, gathering data, and reflecting on the results as they study simple machines, forces and energy, and light and color. Some additional skills students learn are graphing with Xcel, coding with Microbits and Scratch, and creating an escape room with PowerPoint.  We use the design thinking process to have our coding result in an action or product, such as creating a flashing led lights lamp using Microbits. Throughout the year with read and write about current events in science to help students become informed scientific citizens. 

The information students have at their fingertips allows for great opportunities in life and learning, but thriving in an academic environment filled with technology and media can be challenging. Seminar 6 is a one-quarter course focusing on navigating the digital environment at Mounds Park Academy. Students are guided through the process of using Office 365 effectively, accessing Schoology, and navigating the MPA website. Students have the opportunity to discuss Internet privacy issues, Internet safety, media use, and digital footprints. Using Typing Pal Online, students continue to improve their keyboarding proficiency. Working with our school librarian, a portion of the quarter focuses on research and information literacy, as students continue to discover the vast amount of print and digital resources available through the MPA Library.

Me, Myself, & I.

What it means to be me.

Who are you in the world? What do you think? See? Feel? …. And how do you express it all? 

 The middle school years are a time of physical, emotional, and social change. Theatre is an excellent way to communicate and to explore these challenging, yet exciting times in a fun, safe, and educationally vibrant setting. This course will place an emphasis on the emotional, physical, and social growth young people experience at this age. As a class, we will embrace self-expression, truth-telling, playfulness, playwriting. Students will learn to utilize their bodies to heighten character development for comedic and dramatic roles.  

 Sixth graders will spend the semester producing scenes about life as a middle school student and what it means to be an inclusive, kind, compassionate human being. Using humor, poetry, movement, song, yoga, physical exercises, improv, and playwriting students will explore relationships with peers, guardians, and the greater community. All students will memorize scenes and monologues for our final showcase performance at the end of the semester. 

Our course will begin by discussing the difference between a dominant and a non-dominate storyteller.  Understanding the difference is essential when learning about the history of the United States. Most traditional American History textbooks focus on a Eurocentric and White view of our country’s development. Instead, this course is focused on honing your historical detective skills through reading primary sources from all parties involved and creating a holistic narrative that includes the non-dominate perspective. Our study of history will focus on the cultural, political, and economic factors that helped develop the United States from colony to country and analyze how these factors impacted the multiple ethnic groups. Classroom activities will focus on skills development in the areas of expository writing, communication skills, content knowledge, and critical thinking skills. Assignments will be project-based with a focus on developing reading, speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills. 

MPA is a community that sings! This is truly evident in the Middle School, where all seventh and eighth grade students participate in choir. Separated into two mixed choirs, members practice the elements of good singing. Through vocal exercises, students learn how to breathe properly, unify vowels, energize consonants, and expand their ranges. While studying a wide variety of music, singers learn to function within a choir and demonstrate knowledge of their vocal part. Students showcase their work in two public concerts per year. 

Prerequisites: Previous Orchestra experience or private lessons  

Cooperation, responsibility and teamwork are important life skills. Orchestra 7/8 emphasizes the importance of the individual as part of the larger ensemble while instilling a sense of inner responsibility on the part of each student. Continuing to develop technique remains at the forefront of rehearsals and weekly small group fifteen-minute lessons. By learning to shift to multiple positions, a higher level of playing is promoted both as an individual and as an ensemble. A December performance, as well as a culminating concert in May, provides students with the opportunity to share the progress they make throughout the course of the year. 

Prerequisites:  
Wind – One to two years previous playing experience on a band instrument or approval of the instructor. 

Percussion – 2 or more years of keyboard/piano study 

The overall emphasis of 7/8 Band is to help students continue their journey towards becoming strong, independent performers who can make smart musical decisions. More difficult rhythmic patterns, key signatures, and time signatures are introduced as the students continue to develop their playing skills. Students are expected to draw upon their knowledge of previous performances to play in a stylistically appropriate manner, and the increasing complexity of the music encourages part independence. During large group rehearsals, a strong emphasis is placed on playing with proper balance and intonation. Students are also encouraged to self-evaluate their own performance as well as that of the entire band using critical listening and thinking skills. 

Physical Education class is an integral part of a student’s education and contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Students participate in class for 75 minutes every other day throughout the school year. Fitness activities begin each class period to improve individual fitness. Specific units are taught with an emphasis on teaching skills and concepts involving Invasion Games, Net Games, Striking/Fielding Games and Target Activities. In all units, students are taught critical elements of specific skills that will be assessed as the unit concludes. This grade level is the application stage in motor development—students are ready to be more sophisticated game players. Learning experiences will integrate the application of skills into practice tasks and allow students to discover the how, when, and why of the tactic or strategy. 

This rigorous course dives deep into the heart of Algebra. Topics include: computing with real numbers; simplifying algebraic expressions; using variables; solving and graphing equations and inequalities; solving systems of equations; performing operations with polynomials; factoring polynomials; solving polynomial equations; and solving quadratic equations. This is an advanced level course, so the level of challenge will be high. Material is spiraled and the year culminates with a final comprehensive exam. 

Credit: Semester long, full block course
Prerequisites: None

“Creativity takes courage,” Henri Matisse.

To risk to be different, to act with thoughtful care and show others the work that springs forth in class, this is what we ask of the young artists in Art 7. They are acting with courage and faith, and learning a process to express ideas with their head, hands and heart. Visual art is a way to understand and communicate in the world through the use of line, shape, color, space, texture and values. These elements of design are the backbone of the Art 7 course. Through demonstration of technique, applied concepts, and hands-on experience in a range of media, students learn art language, gain confidence in their skills, and find joy in creating. From drawing and painting, to printmaking and ceramics, assignments are designed to maximize student development.

This course is designed for students who enjoy the craft of creative writing. From poetry to prose, students will write independently according to their individual goals as well as create partner and group pieces together. Intended to tap on their passion and broaden their understanding of creative writing in an ungraded workshop setting, Creative Writing Workshop gives students additional time and opportunities to write and collaborate beyond the classroom.

This class will focus on the fundamentals of debate. Students will work on persuasive speaking and writing on topics of interest to them, and how to build and present an argument through careful research and analysis. Students will also learn how to effectively track arguments, and study rebuttal techniques.

This course is about believing we can make a difference, and having an intentional process to generate new, relevant solutions that create a positive impact. Students engage in hands-on design challenge that focuses on developing empathy, promoting a bias toward action, encouraging ideation, developing metacognitive awareness, and fostering active problem solving. It is human-centered, collaborative, optimistic, experimental, and fun.

Actors, directors, and designers all have different jobs to bring a script to life…going from the page to the stage! Seventh grade drama students will explore the art of acting and creation through an introduction to monologues, play reading, and technical theatre. In other words, this is a semester focusing on the jobs of the actor and designers. Students will work on contemporary monologues and scene work with their classmates, investigating dramatic structure and deeper character studies. This is in conjunction with creating costume, set, make-up, and sound designs. This work will culminate in a final class performance and portfolio presentations for families and peers.

In seventh grade, students examine how the English language works and strive to become attentive and artistic readers, writers, thinkers, viewers, and listeners. They broaden vocabulary and hone organizational and academic habits of mind to deepen their facility with and appreciation for the power of words. By studying the works of authors such as Lois Lowry, Reyna Grande, Akwaeke Emezi, Shirley Jackson, and more, seventh graders ponder questions such as “How do we choose what’s good or right?”; “How do our words matter?”; and “How do words act as a connection across experiences, cultures, and continents?”  

Middle School health education provides students with knowledge, attitudes, and skills to make health-promoting decisions. The classes address the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of health. The goal of health class is to give the students the knowledge and skills to make choices that will improve their health and wellness. 7th grade health covers sleep/stress, values/morals, nutrition, fitness and chronic diseases. 

Are you a budding inventor, maker, do-it-yourselfer? Students in this hands-on class will learn how to design, fabricate, repair, and repurpose objects made of wood and metal using hand and power tools in MPA’s new Makerspace. We will focus on the design process and emphasize craftsmanship as we learn, develop, and hone life skills. 

Are you curious about the world of investing? Students in Investment Club will develop financial intelligence and literacy by exploring the principles and practicalities of investing and entrepreneurship. We will participate in stock market simulations, explore basic economic and market principles, and learn how to make our money work for us.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore the local, regional, national, and world events impacting their lives and the lives of those around them. Students will practice evaluating sources, writing, interviewing, and presentation skills. Students will learn the basics of effective, ethical reporting by creating stories using social media, print, audio, and video to collaboratively and punctually produce a finished product. 

The 7th and 8th grade Leadership Seminar courses build upon the skills learned and practiced in the 5th and 6th grade literacy seminars in order to pave the way to student agency, academic success, and leadership. Students use the reading, writing, and speaking tools they gleaned in 5th and 6th grades to develop leadership skills, an outward mindset, consider how their values affect their relationships, and grow their communication, digital, and global literacy skills to become aware, empathetic, resilient critical thinkers ready to tackle larger, interdisciplinary, collaborative projects such as Future Cities in 8th grade and the 7th grade social change project and beyond. 

This option is for students who love math, love a challenge, and are interested in participating in Mathcounts, the premier math competition for 7th and 8th grade students. Math Club works with problems and topics that students do not encounter during their math classes. Students who think hard math problems are fun and who participated in and enjoyed Math Masters will love Math Club!

This math course introduces the foundations for Algebra. We dive deeper into the topics of integers, fractions operations, one-step, two-step, and multi-step equations, one and two-step inequalities, graphs and functions, and percent. We also present an introduction to geometry and right triangles. Students will use algebra to generate their own conclusion of how to find the solutions to problems. Material is spiraled and the year culminates with a final comprehensive exam.  

This class serves to prepare students to compete in National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) throughout the year. The class generally centers on scrimmage play to build buzzer skills and knowledge bases. Students also do preparatory work in specific subject areas, particularly ones outside of traditional school curricula. Students, as part of the class, will also compete in 3-4 NAQT Tournaments throughout the year. For more information, go to: www.naqt.com/ms/middle-school-quiz-bowl.html.

This course is designed for students who love to read. Students will have the opportunity to read a variety of genres, including poetry, plays, short stories, graphic novels, fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature. The class will feature shared reading and discussion, written and verbal critique, and independent reading. Participants will take an active role in selecting both the content and the format of the course.

Welcome to the world of Science & Design. Students will learn science concepts and then apply these concepts to real-world engineering problems. This course provides students with a fascinating look at the world around us. We begin the year with Biomimicry–looking towards nature to solve human problems. This unit includes a field trip to the MN Zoo to become expert observers of nature and animal behavior. Once an expert, students invent solutions to real-world problems of their choice. This requires a lot of time in the Makerspace building prototypes of their inventions. The next unit examines genetics and the role of genetic engineering in their current and future lives. This is an exciting adventure into the use of CIRSPR for positive science achievements while investigating the potential harm of these powerful technologies. Force and Motion concepts are applied to student designs and building of their own CO2 dragster. These dragsters race at about 50mph so the more students understand physics and aerodynamics, the faster the dragster. The final unit is on Human Body Systems. Students become experts of how their bodies work from the inside out. The 7th grade curriculum prepares students for a rigorous year in 8th grade and Upper School.

In the words of Bill Nye (the Science Guy), “Science Rules!" In Science Club, students will be faced with challenges related to a variety of science topics and work with a partner or team to tackle them. There will be a semester-long project that will challenge the students in a design sense, as well as smaller tasks that will get them to see science in a friendly, but competitive way. Science is not always about the big Latin names we can’t pronounce – although we may try our best at spelling them – it is about exploring the world around us. 

This course will focus on the fundamentals of competitive speech. Students will be introduced to many different categories of public speaking, and will develop and hone their skills in the areas of speech writing, enunciation, facial expression, gesturing, and pacing.

Students who need additional support and guidance along with a quiet place to complete homework and study during the school day will benefit from this time with the Learning Specialist. Ms. Kramer will help students develop time management, organization, self-advocacy, and study skills. Pre-approval from the Learning Specialist and MS Director is required. Students with support plans will be given priority.

What does it take to be a successful student, person, and citizen in the 21st century? Seminar 7 is a yearlong course focusing on study skills, technology skills, and citizenship. Critical thinking, problem solving, responsibility (personal, school, and social), and decision-making are emphasized, along with leadership skills and character development. Technology skills align with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and focus on creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, and technology operations and concepts.

Do you like to MAKE things? Do you enjoy the satisfaction of creating useful and beautiful art with your own two hands? This class introduces various handicrafts including hand-sewing, machine-sewing, knitting, crocheting, and needle-felting. Through hands-on projects, students will experience the joy of creative expression while learning design, problem-solving, and engineering fundamentals.

From Page to Stage

Actors, directors, and designers all have different jobs to bring a script to life…going from the page to the stage! This semester we will focus on the jobs of the actor and designers. Students will work on contemporary monologues and scene work with their classmates, along with creating costume, set, and flat designs. 

Our course will begin by discussing the difference between a dominant and a non-dominate storyteller.  Understanding the difference is essential when learning about the history of the United States. Most traditional American History textbooks focus on a Eurocentric and White view of our country’s development. Instead, this course is focused on honing your historical detective skills through reading primary sources from all parties involved and creating a holistic narrative that includes the non-dominate perspective. Our study of history will focus on the cultural, political, and economic factors that helped develop the United States from colony to country and analyze how these factors impacted the multiple ethnic groups. Classroom activities will focus on skills development in the areas of expository writing, communication skills, content knowledge, and critical thinking skills. Assignments will be project-based with a focus on developing reading, speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills.

MPA is a community that sings! This is truly evident in the Middle School, where all seventh and eighth grade students participate in choir. Separated into two mixed choirs, members practice the elements of good singing. Through vocal exercises, students learn how to breathe properly, unify vowels, energize consonants, and expand their ranges. While studying a wide variety of music, singers learn to function within a choir and demonstrate knowledge of their vocal part. Students showcase their work in two public concerts per year. 

Prerequisites: Previous Orchestra experience or private lessons  

Cooperation, responsibility and teamwork are important life skills. Orchestra 7/8 emphasizes the importance of the individual as part of the larger ensemble while instilling a sense of inner responsibility on the part of each student. Continuing to develop technique remains at the forefront of rehearsals and weekly small group fifteen-minute lessons. By learning to shift to multiple positions, a higher level of playing is promoted both as an individual and as an ensemble. A December performance, as well as a culminating concert in May, provides students with the opportunity to share the progress they make throughout the course of the year. 

Prerequisites:  
Wind – One to two years previous playing experience on a band instrument or approval of the instructor. 

Percussion – 2 or more years of keyboard/piano study 

The overall emphasis of 7/8 Band is to help students continue their journey towards becoming strong, independent performers who can make smart musical decisions. More difficult rhythmic patterns, key signatures, and time signatures are introduced as the students continue to develop their playing skills. Students are expected to draw upon their knowledge of previous performances to play in a stylistically appropriate manner, and the increasing complexity of the music encourages part independence. During large group rehearsals, a strong emphasis is placed on playing with proper balance and intonation. Students are also encouraged to self-evaluate their own performance as well as that of the entire band using critical listening and thinking skills.

Physical Education class is an integral part of a student’s education and contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Students participate in class for 75 minutes every other day throughout the school year. Fitness activities begin each class period to improve individual fitness. Specific units are taught with an emphasis on teaching skills and concepts involving Invasion Games, Net Games, Striking/Fielding Games and Target Activities. In all units, students are taught critical elements of specific skills that will be assessed as the unit concludes. This grade level is the application stage in motor development—students are ready to be more sophisticated game players. Learning experiences will integrate the application of skills into practice tasks and allow students to discover the how, when, and why of the tactic or strategy. 

Prerequisite: Successful completion of Honors Geometry

This is the year to become fluent in mathematics. Correct vocabulary, writing clear solutions, using the graphing calculator to its full potential, and viewing problems both algebraically and graphically are emphasized. Students improve their mathematical proficiency by investigating properties and transformations of various functions, including linear, quadratic, absolute value, exponential, rational, and trigonometric functions, with an introduction to logarithms. Mathematical modeling of real world situations is done as much as possible, and writing thorough, well-thought-out solutions is required.

This rigorous course looks at properties of geometric shapes both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. Concepts are introduced with and without proof and include: points, lines, rays, angles, and triangles; congruent and similar triangles; perpendicular and parallel lines; quadrilaterals; right triangles, including right triangle and non-right triangle trigonometry; area and volume; circles; regular polygons; and geometric solids. Students will use both Algebra and proofs to support their reasoning on how they arrived at an answer. Material is spiraled and the year culminates with a final comprehensive exam.  

This course introduces the development of the real number system. The emphasis throughout the year is on showing work clearly and completely, as well as explaining how to arrive at solutions. Topics include: computing with real numbers; simplifying algebraic expressions; using variables; solving and graphing equations and inequalities; solving systems of equations; performing operations with polynomials; factoring polynomials; solving polynomial equations; and solving quadratic equations. Material is spiraled and the year culminates with a final comprehensive exam. 

Credit: Semester long, full block course
Prerequisites: None 

Leonardo de Vinci, the great artist, thinker, inventor, and problem-solver began his work through observation and recorded it through drawing. Visual art, a language of communication, is a way to understand the world through line, shape, color, space, texture and values, and then to create it anew through imagination. As the capstone middle school visual art experience, Art 8 builds students’ skills, independence, and confidence through conception, creation, and exhibition of their work. Lessons intentionally guide students through rich and diverse hands-on art making experiences in a variety of media and art disciplines so they may become expressive young adult artists. Art history and criticism is smoothly intertwined with visual concepts to guide our next designers and makers in the visual world.

Our course focuses on current events and issues, including but not limited to: global climate change, poverty and food insecurity, human rights, and healthcare. Students will encounter and evaluate a variety of sources; craft written and spoken answers to research questions; and engage in discussion, debate, and creative projects. This course is designed as a workshop, with each student challenged to think critically as they begin to recognize themselves as global citizens and members of the human community. 

This course is designed for students who enjoy the craft of creative writing. From poetry to prose, students will write independently according to their individual goals as well as create partner and group pieces together. Intended to tap on their passion and broaden their understanding of creative writing in an ungraded workshop setting, Creative Writing Workshop gives students additional time and opportunities to write and collaborate beyond the classroom.

This class will focus on the fundamentals of debate. Students will work on persuasive speaking and writing on topics of interest to them, and how to build and present an argument through careful research and analysis. Students will also learn how to effectively track arguments, and study rebuttal techniques.

This course is about believing we can make a difference, and having an intentional process to generate new, relevant solutions that create a positive impact. Students engage in hands-on design challenge that focuses on developing empathy, promoting a bias toward action, encouraging ideation, developing metacognitive awareness, and fostering active problem solving. It is human-centered, collaborative, optimistic, experimental, and fun.

This course will help you bring the Bard on stage. The text is the key, and you will learn to decipher it both emotionally and intellectually. You will be given exercises to extend your breath capacity so that the language is easier to speak. Other warm-ups will improve your body-mind connection so that your performance of the language will be more natural and less presentational. The course’s second emphasis (yet just as important) is the development of natural characters. You will not learn how to ‘act Shakespeare’ in this class, rather you will begin creating whole and realistic characters based on the text. The class will be drawing straight from Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Additional texts written by various Shakespearean scholars and performers will also be used.

Words allow us to reach across the mystery of each other and our world. To pay attention and take care to use their words to lead with love, eighth graders examine the conventions of the English language, develop discernment and analysis skills, practice creative and expository writing, and critically read a broad range of literature and non-fiction. By engaging in civil conversations, students question meaning, who they are to each other, and the significant possibilities for their world through the writings of authors and poets such as Art Spiegelman and Maya Angelou and their own compositions. To journey through English 8 is to learn to read, write, think, speak, listen, view, question, and discern in a spirit of curiosity and empathy with new skills, appreciation, and joy. 

Middle School health education provides students with knowledge, attitudes, and skills to make health-promoting decisions. The classes address the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of health. The goal of health class is to give the students the knowledge and skills to make choices that will improve their health and wellness. 8th grade health covers mental health, decision making/values, digital citizenship, communication/relationships and comprehensive sex education. 

Are you a budding inventor, maker, do-it-yourselfer? Students in this hands-on class will learn how to design, fabricate, repair, and repurpose objects made of wood and metal using hand and power tools in MPA’s new Makerspace. We will focus on the design process and emphasize craftsmanship as we learn, develop, and hone life skills. 

Are you curious about the world of investing? Students in Investment Club will develop financial intelligence and literacy by exploring the principles and practicalities of investing and entrepreneurship. We will participate in stock market simulations, explore basic economic and market principles, and learn how to make our money work for us.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore the local, regional, national, and world events impacting their lives and the lives of those around them. Students will practice evaluating sources, writing, interviewing, and presentation skills. Students will learn the basics of effective, ethical reporting by creating stories using social media, print, audio, and video to collaboratively and punctually produce a finished product. 

This option is for students who love math, love a challenge, and are interested in participating in Mathcounts, the premier math competition for 7th and 8th grade students. Math Club works with problems and topics that students do not encounter during their math classes. Students who think hard math problems are fun and who participated in and enjoyed Math Masters will love Math Club!

The MPA Jazz Ensembles are audition-based ensembles that meet before school every other day. Students are selected and placed into an appropriate ensemble, based on age and experience level, and begin honing their skills in improvisation, ensemble playing, and jazz theory. With an emphasis on the exploration of a variety of styles music, students will dissect harmonic structures, forms, and rhythmic nuances. This course cultivates musicianship, teamwork, and the art of musical expression, providing an enriching and rewarding experience for aspiring jazz musicians. 

This class serves to prepare students to compete in National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) throughout the year. The class generally centers on scrimmage play to build buzzer skills and knowledge bases. Students also do preparatory work in specific subject areas, particularly ones outside of traditional school curricula. Students, as part of the class, will also compete in 3-4 NAQT Tournaments throughout the year. For more information, go to: www.naqt.com/ms/middle-school-quiz-bowl.html.

This course is designed for students who love to read. Students will have the opportunity to read a variety of genres, including poetry, plays, short stories, graphic novels, fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature. The class will feature shared reading and discussion, written and verbal critique, and independent reading. Participants will take an active role in selecting both the content and the format of the course.

The Future City Competition is an international competition all MPA 8th graders participate in. Students design and build a city 100 years from now. In addition to all the components of a vibrant city, students also solve a different problem each year. For example, a waste-free city, a city on the Moon, or a city with adaptations and mitigations for climate change. Student teams are required to write a 1500-word essay, build a large model with working parts, and present to expert judges. This is an intense collaborative project that incorporates other courses like English, Social Studies, and use of the Makerspace. Students compete at the local, state, and national level.   

After the Future City unit, this class explores the physical features of our world. Beginning with Earth’s history, we will examine the record that is preserved in the rock layers. We will explore how the physical landscape has changed, and is constantly changing, through history. The fury of mother nature, including volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other forces will be explored as it continues to change the surface of the Earth. Leaving our planet, we broaden our study to the ever-expanding universe, focusing on our moon and the planets and stars in our solar system. Throughout our journey, students will utilize the scientific method–questioning and hypothesizing, designing and testing, and reflecting on results through the lens of our physical Earth and universe.

In the words of Bill Nye (the Science Guy), “Science Rules!" In Science Club, students will be faced with challenges related to a variety of science topics and work with a partner or team to tackle them. There will be a semester-long project that will challenge the students in a design sense, as well as smaller tasks that will get them to see science in a friendly, but competitive way. Science is not always about the big Latin names we can’t pronounce – although we may try our best at spelling them – it is about exploring the world around us. 

This course will focus on the fundamentals of competitive speech. Students will be introduced to many different categories of public speaking, and will develop and hone their skills in the areas of speech writing, enunciation, facial expression, gesturing, and pacing.

Students who need additional support and guidance along with a quiet place to complete homework and study during the school day will benefit from this time with the Learning Specialist. Ms. Kramer will help students develop time management, organization, self-advocacy, and study skills. Pre-approval from the Learning Specialist and MS Director is required. Students with support plans will be given priority.

Do you like to MAKE things? Do you enjoy the satisfaction of creating useful and beautiful art with your own two hands? This class introduces various handicrafts including hand-sewing, machine-sewing, knitting, crocheting, and needle-felting. Through hands-on projects, students will experience the joy of creative expression while learning design, problem-solving, and engineering fundamentals.

Theatre IV is a fun culmination of the Middle School theatre curriculum. Through theatre games, active exploration, devisement, and performance, students will further their confidence, grow in creative risk-taking, and care for their fellow artists. Guest artists from the local community will introduce the class to fight choreography, prop creation, dance and movement, and Shakespeare. Students will learn and then create a staged fight scene. Students will explore the fundamental components of dance through improvised movement and then choreograph their own short works. Prop creation will combine with the dissection and rebuilding of a Shakespearean monologue for performance. 

Projects will focus primarily on nurturing a student’s sense of creative risk-taking, as well as promoting connection between students through various aspects and manifestations of theatre-making and performance.  

The class will finish with an end-of-semester showcase highlighting the group’s work throughout the year. 

This course is designed for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who are new to French or to MPA, or who need to review French 1A or 1B before moving on the French 2A. The curriculum is based on the everyday themes of family, school, leisure activities, and meals, incorporating useful vocab and essential grammatical structures. Students who complete French 1 successfully will move into French 2A (rising 7th and 8th graders) in Middle School or French II (rising 9th graders) in Upper School. 

The curriculum of the French I course (1A and 1B) is built around the five C’s of language learning: communication, cultures, comparisons, connections, and communities. Students are given many opportunities to actively participate through games, skits, songs, and other activities. Students gain confidence while communicating in French and learning about French and Francophone cultures. Themes include: everyday life, school, family, travel, health, and relationships. Students actively explore these themes and make comparisons to other disciplines and to their own lives. Students are ready for French 1B upon successful completion of this course. 

Prerequisites: French 1A or equivalent 

Through communicatively-based activities, with a strong focus on speaking, students in French 1B build the vocabulary and irregular verbs that are used in everyday conversation. The themes of life in the city, shopping for food and clothing, leisure activities, and meals provide a lens through which to explore our own cultural practices and those of people in the French-speaking world. As students gain more confidence and facility with the present tense, they are introduced to the passé composé. By the end of French 1B, students are able to state facts in the present and the past, express opinions and tell stories about a wide variety of topics in French. 

Prerequisites: French 1B or equivalent 

Students begin French 2 with a good vocabulary and a firm grasp of regular and irregular verbs in the present and the passé composé. This gives them a solid base from which to jump into more complex vocabulary and structures. In French 2, students deepen their understanding of the passé composé and compare it with the imparfait. Direct and indirect object pronouns are introduced, along with relative pronouns. Through various cultural themes (including making friends, weekend activities, French meals, sports, travel, health, city life, personal relationships, and careers) students examine their own attitudes and practices while comparing them with those of people in the French-speaking world. At this level, students are ready to play with the language. They take what they’ve learned in other levels and piece it together in meaningful and original communication, which is a source of true joy in learning! This class is interactive with many opportunities to actively participate. Students are ready for French 3 upon successful completion of this course. 

Prerequisites: French 2A or appropriate score on placement test. 

Students will use prior knowledge of French for this course, which is the most advanced Middle School French class. We review the passé compsoé and the imparfait, and introduce the future, conditional, and subjunctive mood. This class is interactive with many opportunities to actively participate. Students gain confidence while communicating in French and learning about French and Francophone cultures. The themes of travel, health, city life, personal relationships, and careers are covered in this course. Students actively explore these themes and make comparisons to other disciplines and to their own lives. Students are ready for French III in the Upper School upon successful completion of this course. 

Learning another language and culture can be fun and challenging. In Spanish 1A, students are introduced to the basics of the Spanish language through hands-on, culture-centered lessons. As they learn, they make connections and comparisons with their own cultures. Students delve into the alphabet, colors, numbers, weather expressions, seasons, school related vocabulary, food, family and house, daily chores, likes and dislikes. They are able to communicate effectively by learning about definite and indefinite articles, noun adjective agreement, possessive adjectives, subject pronouns, and present tense verbs and how to conjugate them and use them when speaking and writing. 

All vocabulary and grammar topics are presented through content-based instruction with embedded culture lessons.  

Language acquisition is achieved through songs, dances, games, online activities, videos, and skits. Students are assessed formally through written and oral tests and quizzes, projects, and skits. 

Our goal in Spanish IA, and in all our Spanish classes, is to teach what are called the five Cs: Communication, Connections, Cultures, Comparisons, and Communities. You can find a description of this here: http://www.actfl.org/publications/all/national-standards-foreign-language-education 

In Spanish 1A, upon completion of the course, the linguistic goal is to have students at the “novice low” to “novice mid” level according to ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language) guidelines. 

In Spanish 1B, students continue their study of Spanish language and culture through hands on learning and by making connections and comparisons to their own culture. Students delve into the school related vocabulary, food, family, daily chores, likes and dislikes. They are able to communicate effectively by learning about present tense verbs and exploring the basics of the preterit tense.

All vocabulary and grammar topics are presented through content-based instruction (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Davies-CBI.html) and culture based instruction (http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/culture-fifth-language-skill).  The means used in order to achieve language acquisition will be activities such as: songs, dance, games, iPads (and apps that go along with them), videos, and skits.  Assessment will be through written and oral tests and quizzes as well as projects and skits.

Our goal in Spanish IB, and in all of our Spanish classes, is to teach what are called the five Cs: Communication, Connections, Cultures, Comparisons, and Communities. You can find a description of this here: http://www.actfl.org/publications/all/national-standards-foreign-language-education

In this course, our linguistic goal is to have our students at the “novice high” level according to ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language).

¡¿Comiste qué?! (You ate what?!)  In Spanish II, students are immersed in the sites and sounds of the Spanish language and culture from day one.  Through the use of the AVANCEMOS II textbook, students learn to become comfortable with daily life in Latin America or Spain and are able to listen, speak, read, and write about their personality and characteristics, daily activities, food, school and around town, feelings, daily routines, making plans, likes and dislikes, travel, vacation, sports, health, clothes, shopping, the market, legends and stories.  Through these many topics students also learn the grammar of: subject pronouns, present tense verbs, ser vs estar, direct and indirect object pronouns, preterit tense, imperfect, preterit vs imperfect, and commands of tú, Ud, Uds.

All vocabulary and grammar topics are presented through content-based instruction (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Davies-CBI.html) and culture based instruction (http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/culture-fifth-language-skill).  The means used in order to achieve language acquisition will be activities such as: songs, dance, games, online activities, videos, and skits.  Assessment will be through written and oral tests and quizzes, essays, as well as projects and skits.

In Spanish II, and in all of Mounds Park Academy Spanish classes, students will learn what are called the five Cs: Communication, Connections, Cultures, Comparisons, and Communities.  You can find a description of this here: http://www.actfl.org/publications/all/national-standards-foreign-language-education

In Spanish II, the linguistic goal is to have students at the intermediate low level according to ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language). http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/public/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines2012_FINAL.pdf

The Middle School Spanish 3 class will study the Spanish language to expand comprehension in the skill areas of reading, speaking, writing, and listening. These will be learned through skits, games, writing/reading exercises, cultural presentations, videos, and some language/news websites. During the first quarter, we will review vocabulary and grammar skills (sentence structures) that students have acquired in previous levels. Specifically, this study will involve (among other grammar concepts) the present tense of regular and irregular (stem-changing) verb forms, the preterit and imperfect tenses, commands, the present progressive tense, and reflexive verbs. Study for the rest of the year will focus on new tenses (future, conditional, present subjunctive, past subjunctive, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, conditional perfect and present and past subjunctive perfect,) vocabulary, some passive voice constructions and por/para.