Program
Academics

Seventh Grade

List of 10 items.

  • Reading & Literature

    • Read and explore novels, short stories, poems, and plays whose protagonists represent a variety of backgrounds and challenges
    • Identify literary elements: metaphor, symbolism, foreshadowing, theme, and historical and cultural references
    • Independent and in-class reading and literature criticism
    • Analyze and identify literary themes: friendship, identity, tolerance, diversity, and beliefs
    • Connect literature to history, author, personal experience, and the modern world through discussion, journal entries, and group work
  • Writing & Language Arts

    • Write multi-paragraph essays (narrative, memoir, analysis, and research paper)
    • Debate skills at an end of the school year debate
    • Practice Courageous Conversations (community circles)
    • Focus on the writing process: prewriting, writing, editing, and rewriting
    • Develop research skills: internet and library
    • Maintain a notebook and practice note-taking and organizational skills
    • Strengthen vocabulary and grammar skills
    • Make oral and visual presentations
    • Analyze and write poetry, short stories, and fiction
  • Social Studies

    • Explore West Africa & South Africa, Japan, China, India, and Medieval Europe
    • The Americas Politics
    • Economics, geography, and society of different civilizations
    • Note-taking skills: history notebook, document analysis, paragraph
    • Civilization project
    • Cause, effect, and impact of historical events
    • Comparison of present-day case studies and literature to historical studies
  • Mathematics

    • Proportional relationships
    • Scale drawings
    • Percent change
    • Circles, angles, triangles, surface area, and volume
    • Operations with negative numbers
    • Expressions, equations, and inequalities
    • Data analysis, probability, and graphing techniques
    • Problem-solving strategies
    • Interpret and solve problems in real-world situations
    • Share multiple perspectives and communicate mathematical thinking
  • Science

    • Work as a scientist: observe, research, develop controlled experiments, create models, communicate
    • Evolution
    • The microbiome, viruses, the immune system
    • Life processes: strategies and solutions from cells to plants to human beings
    • Genetics and heredity
    • Sex and drug education: accurate information leads to informed decisions
    • Cross-grade science projects with Lower School buddies
  • Spanish

    • Project-based learning focused on authentic, meaningful situations. Verbal communication is highly emphasized
    • Use Realidades textbook, workbook, and interactive website
    • Active learning through Total Physical Response games, art, music, and dance 
    • Celebration of Latino culture through the study of music, stories, dance, traditional holidays, and geography
    • In-depth individual PowerPoint presentations on Mexico 
    • Interrogatives, the imperative, the preterit tense, formulas tener que + infinitivo and ir + a + infinitivo
  • Visual Arts

    • Drawing: contour lines, shading, grid enlarging, layout, lettering
    • Gridded Self-Portraits
    • Paper Mache Mask-Making
    • Print making: linoleum block carving
    • Public art opportunities
    • Social Messaging
    • Mud Cloths
  • Music

    • Advanced drum ensemble workshop
    • Year one drum ensemble
    • 5-part 6/8 pattern
    • Dividing the beat into three and four parts
    • Mayi, Ibo, Samba
    • Featured performance at African American Cultural Celebration
    • Exploration of the cultural role music plays in a community
    • Performance band for instrumentalists
  • Physical Education

    • Understanding that the love of play never has to end
    • Analyzing an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and using this analysis in a game situation
    • Demonstrating appropriate sportsmanship in game situations
    • Working cooperatively with all peers regardless of skill level
  • Community Engaged Learning

    • Research an issue of concern- using historical and present-day Oakland 
    • Select a partner organization
    • Develop and implement an action plan to support the community
    • Independent and cooperative learning
    • Agency and mutual partnership, perseverance, empathy, and connecting to a larger purpose
St. Paul's Episcopal School
116 Montecito Avenue
Oakland, CA 94610
510.285.9600