Classes
6th Grade |
7th Grade |
8th Grade |
| Language Arts | Cola** | Algebra |
| Math | Health/Physical Education | COLA |
| Reading | Language Arts | COLA Composition |
| Science | Language Arts 2/ Reading** | Language Arts |
| Social Studies | Math | Pre-Algebra |
| Physical Education | Pre-Algebra | Science |
| Band | Science | Social Studies |
| Social Studies | Physical Education | |
| Band | Band | |
| Jazz Band | Jazz Band |
**18 week course
This course is the highest level math class for 8th graders. The topics include real numbers, linear and simple quadratic equations and linear inequalities. Application problems are addressed at each lesson. If time permits polynomials and factoring will be addressed. Graphing calculators are used on a regular basis. Algebra Blaster, Green Globs and Geometer's Sketchpad are three of the programs used to enhance skills. After successful completion of this class the students should be ready for Honors or Regular Geometry in high school. If a student does not successfully complete the course they will be recommended for Algebra I or Honors Algebra in high school.
SUMMER BAND
The Rantoul City Schools Band department offers a summer band session for students interested in playing during the summer. Course offerings are: Intermediate Band (for students who already play an instrument), beginning band, summer jazz band, and exploratory band. Students are charged a fee for participation in this 4 week course. In addition to instruction the students receive a t-shirt, folder and pencil. Students in the Intermediate band also will play in the Rantoul 4th of July Parade.
6TH GRADE BLUE BEGINNING BAND
Band lessons are three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) during 3rd hour. This class will be set up for accelerated advancement. Beginning band students are added to the existing Gold Cadet Band during the second semester. Once they join the cadet band, they will have 2 full band rehearsals during 2nd hour (study hall) and one small group lesson weekly.
Band is a class and students will receive a letter grade on their report card. They will also receive a “band report card” with their regular report card. This will
give you insight into the specific areas that your child is competent in, as well as areas that may need extra attention. Their grade will be based on attendance at lessons, having their instrument and book at lessons, their participation in class, their improvement on their instrument, participation in scheduled performances, and weekly practice sheets. Four practice sheets, with a minimum of 40 minutes practice recorded, must be turned in during each 9 week grading period. Students need to come to class even if they are without their instrument.
Rehearsal schedule may vary when performances are near.
Dress for performances will be as follows:
Plain White Top, Khaki Bottoms, Dark Dress Shoes
GOLD CADET BAND
The Cadet Band is made up, initially, of 6th grade students who have successfully completed the summer music beginning band program. During the 2nd semester all 6th grade band members will be part of the Blue & Gold Cadet Band. This band rehearses as a full band 2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday) during 3rd period study hall and once every 7th school day during p.e. The students are split into 7 small groups which rotate and come out of p.e. A lesson calendar is provided at the beginning of each month.
Band is a class and students will receive a letter grade on their report card. They will also receive a “band report card” with their regular report card. This will give you insight into the specific areas that your child is competent in as well as areas that may need extra attention. Their grade will be based on attendance at rehearsals and lessons, having their instrument and book at rehearsals and lessons, their participation in class, their improvement on their instrument, participation in scheduled performances, and weekly practice sheets. Four practice sheets, with a minimum of 40 minutes of practice, must be turned in during each 9 week grading period. Students need to come to class even if they are without their instrument.
Rehearsal schedule may vary when performances are near.
Dress for performances will be as follows:
Plain White Top, Khaki Bottoms, Dark Dress Shoes
SUMMER BAND
The Rantoul City Schools Band department offers a summer band session for students interested in playing during the summer. Course offerings are: Intermediate Band (for students who already play an instrument), beginning band, summer jazz band, and exploratory band. Students are charged a fee for participation in this 4 week course. In addition to instruction the students receive a t-shirt, folder and pencil. Students in the Intermediate band also will play in the Rantoul 4th of July Parade.
DOG POUND JAZZ BAND
This band is made up of Cadet Band Members who would like to try playing in a jazz setting. This band does not meet until 2nd semester. The students will come out of study hall one or two days each week to practice with this band. The students will perform during the annual Pops Concert.
CONCERT BAND
The concert band is made up of 7th and 8th grade band students. The concert band has full rehearsals on Tuesday and Friday during 2nd hour (study hall). In addition, students are placed in one of seven small groups which rotate out of p.e. class (and come to band) once every 7 school days. A calendar is provided at the beginning of each month.
Rehearsal schedules may vary when performances are near.
Band is a class and students will receive a letter grade on their report card. Their grade will be based on attendance at rehearsal, attendance at lessons, having their instrument and music at all scheduled rehearsals and lessons, their participation in class, their improvement on their instrument, participation in scheduled performances, and weekly practice sheets. Four practice sheets, with a minimum of 40 minutes of practice, must be turned in during each 9 week grading period. Students need to come to class even if they are without their instrument.
Dress for performances will be as follows:
Plain White Top, Khaki Bottoms, Dark Dress Shoes
SOLO AND ENSEMBLE CONTEST
Solo and ensemble contest is open to Concert Band members and selected Cadet Band members. Participation at this activity is optional, but is strongly encouraged. Students prepare a solo or get in a small group to play before a judge and receive a rating as well as feedback about how they are playing and ways that they can improve. Solo and ensemble contest occurs during the “contest” season in late February or early March.
COLA – Computer Oriented Language Arts – 8th Grade
Two-part Language Arts class - COLA Lab and Classroom Instruction. Students spend one semester in the COLA Lab and one semester in classroom instruction.
• Writing skills include descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive, and poetry. Special focus is given to vocabulary, word study, punctuation, and grammar.
• Through Internet research and writing skills students are introduced to word processing, database, spreadsheet, graphing, drawing, and presentation applications.
COLA – Computer Oriented Language Arts – 7th Grade
• Two-part Language Arts class - COLA Lab and Classroom Instruction. Students spend one semester in the COLA Lab and one semester in classroom instruction.
• Writing skills include descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive, and poetry. Special focus is given to vocabulary, word study, punctuation, and grammar.
• Computer skills include keyboarding activities and practice. Through Internet research and writing skills students are introduced to word processing, database, spreadsheet, graphing, drawing, and presentation applications.
BULLDOG JAZZ BAND
This band is open to 7th and 8th grade band members, by audition, and has limited enrollment. Auditions are conducted during the first 2 weeks of band in the fall. The fee for jazz band is $1.50. Students will get a CD of most of the songs we will be playing during the year. This CD is for listening and for practice.
The Bulldog Jazz Band rehearses on the following schedule (all during 2nd hour study hall).
Monday - Jazz Band Winds (Saxophone, Trumpet and Trombone/Baritone)
Wednesday - Jazz Band Rhythm Section (Piano, bass, drums, guitar)
Thursday - Full Jazz Band
**The Bulldog Jazz Band plays at several civic functions throughout the school year. Some of these events are during the school day, some are on evenings or weekends. Students need to be committed to being available to play at these functions. No extra performances will be scheduled to directly conflict with another school activity (i.e. basketball, volleyball or cheerleading, etc).
Dress for performances will be as follows:
Bulldog Jazz Band Denim Shirt (available for purchase for $26.00 or you can borrow from me for the year)
Khaki dress pants
Brown or black dress shoes
LANGUAGE ARTS – 6th Grade
This course is designed to help students express themselves in writing
and speaking. There is a strong emphasis on grammar, conventions, and
usage. Styles of writing include narrative, expository, and persuasive.
Basic research skills culminating in a short research paper, are taught.
Speaking skills are explored in various oral presentations of their
written work throughout the year.
LANGUAGE ARTS - 7th Grade
This course is designed to incorporate grammar skills with writing.
Descriptive and narrative paragraphing are stressed. Vocabulary/spelling
is included.
LANGUAGE ARTS II/READING – 7th Grade
Seventh grade reading class lasts for one semester. Students read books and take associated tests about a book’s content, complete written activities, and make presentations. Students are expected to read about two books per week. One half of the reading class grade will come from written work completed, while the other half will be determined by the number of books a student reads and passes. "Over 12 books" read per quarter earns the students an A+ book portion of the reading grade.
The 8th grade language arts students will continue the district wide balanced literacy program incorporating predicting, summarizing, connecting, questioning, inferring, and imaging. Included in this program is the practice of extended reading response, group reading and discussion, individualized reading, and enhanced vocabulary. Within this program students will explore a variety of cultures and traditions by studying these literary genres: non-fiction, short stories, folklore, drama, poetry, and novels.
Sixth grade math encompasses place value, whole number concepts, decimals, fractions, measurement, geometry, and exponents. We also begin an exploration of ratios and percents. There are three major projects that are included in the project. Research using the computor lab and library are necessay for completion of the projects. At the end of the year, students displaying exemplary study skills, organization, and achievement in math may be recommended for the Pre-Algebra program as seventh graders.
This course is designed for the students to continue their mathematical development with whole numbers, decimals, statistics, fractions, and geometry. The students progress into skills needed for pre-algebra such as percents, ratios, integers. Experiences with engaged learning projects and computer software are incorporated in this course.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION – All Grades / Health-7th & 8th Grade
Physical education promotes physical fitness through a variety of activities which include team sports and individual fitness training. Our physical education program is concerns with the improvement of the students’ physical fitness as well as their knowledge of team sports. Our fitness covers the areas of strength, endurance, and agility and progress is tested and charted each quarter. Team sports here include basketball, floor hockey, volleyball, and many others.
Health promotes awareness of issues that junior high students face in their daily lives. It helps them to understand the consequences of their choices concerning drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and premarital sex. Solid Ground and DARE programs have been incorporated to achieve these goals.
PREALGEBRA I - 7th Grade
PREALGEBRA – 8th Grade
This is a basic fundamental Pre-Algebra class for 8th graders. The course reviews whole numbers, decimals, fractions, ratios, and percents. Emphasis is also placed on variables, equations, integers, coordinate planes, geometry, and some statistics. The metric system and practical applications of mathematics are also included. Upon successful completion of this course, the student may be ready for a high school Pre-Algebra class or possibly Algebra I.
READING - 6th Grade
Sixth grade reading is a literature and vocabulary developmental course
centered around four to five in-class novels per year. It also emphasizes
self-selected outside reading. The Accelerated Reading testing program
is utilized for student testing and teacher evaluation of comprehension.
This course is designed to introduce young students to earth and space science. Topics that will be covered include the scientific method, structure of the earth and solar system, rocks and minerals, natural disasters and astronomy. This course incorporated demonstrations and some hands-on experiments to explain the concepts of earth science.
This course is designed to introduce young students to the concepts of life science. Topics covered include the scientific method, the cell, genetics and heredity, evolution, and classification with a focus on the plant and animal kingdom. The course incorporate demonstrations and some hands-on experiments to explain concepts of life science. The class includes a fee for lab materials.
This course is designed to introduce young students to the basic concepts of physical and chemical science. It includes the scientific method, lab methods and safety, the properties and states of matter, motion, forces and work, the periodic table, the atom, and basics about waves. This course incorporates demonstrations and some hands-on experiences to explain the concepts of physical and chemical science. This class includes a fee for lab materials.
This is an investigation and examination of ancient world civilizations. Study and learn the geography, history, and ways of life on many ancient cultures. Starting with the Ice Age and Early Man, we proceed through civilizations including Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece along with many others.
Seventh grade social studies course involves a study of events, beginning in Europe, that led to exploration of the Americas and the subsequent colonization and development of both continents. Primary focus centers on United States history up to and including the Civil War.
This course will continue with post-Civil War through contemporary issues. It also provides a unit of state-mandated requirements for constitution testing prior to secondary education.
SOCIAL STUDIES – 8th Grade, General
This course encompasses the same area of study as 8th Grade social studies with the exception of a modified curriculum which would benefit identified special needs students. It also meets the state-mandated constitution requirements prior to secondary education.