Mandatory Classes

Seventh-grade students practice literacy skills with a variety of genres, thinking about the overarching essential question: What is value and who determines it? Through whole class study and discussion, small group sharing, and individual choices, seventh graders explore literature, seeking connections with interdisciplinary experiences and other forms of media to broaden understandings of the world in which they live. Students show their learning through presentations, projects, assessments, reading responses, and written analyses. Writers’ workshop routines ensure that students continue to use a variety of pre-writing strategies, develop editing and grammar skills, as well as use a multi-draft approach to produce a final draft. As in all literacy classes at Wydown, students reflect on their growth as language users. 

7/8 Accelerated Math
7/8 Accelerated Math is the second course in a two course sequence that covers 7th, and 8th grade math Missouri Learning Standards. This course serves as an intervention to meet the specialized needs of students who require acceleration and compacting of curriculum to make continued growth in the area of mathematics. Curricula for 7/8 Accelerated Math addresses the remaining 7th grade Missouri Learning Standards and most of the 8th Grade standards with an emphasis on the Mathematical Practices of precision, problem-solving, perseverance, reasoning, and communication. Upon successful completion of this course, students are prepared for Honors Algebra 1. Daily instruction in 7/8 Accelerated Math involves a minimal review of prerequisite skills, is quicker paced, requires increased learner independence, and involves participation in grappling with novel problems and situations.

Major topics of study in 7/8 Accelerated Math are organized in the following units of study that include the remaining 7th grade standards and all 8th grade standards (1) Rigid Transformation and Congruence, (2) Scale Drawings, Dilations, and Similarity, (3) Equations and Inequalities, (4) Linear Relationships and Systems of Linear Equations, (5) Functions,  (6) Associations in Data, (7) Volume and Surface Area, (8) Exponents and Scientific Notation, (9) Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers.

7th grade science students will complete the following units: 

Sunlight and Energy: Students will explore the properties and nature of light energy, and how it interacts with various surfaces and materials. They will make and observe models in an effort to understand what caused observed phenomena related to light, color, and heat.

Motion, Forces and Energy: In this Physics unit, students explore how objects on Earth interact with each other. Students study how changes in force and energy (kinetic and configurational) affect motion, distance, speed, direction, time, acceleration, and velocity, as well as how these measurements relate to one another. Students will also investigate the concepts of Newton’s Laws of Motion, the force of gravity, and the roles they play on the interaction of objects. 

Growth and Development: Students study how life is possible on Earth as a result of the light and energy provided by the sun. They begin by reviewing living versus nonliving matter, and the characteristics of living things. Emphasis is placed on the idea that all living things are made of cells. Students investigate various types of cells in an attempt to understand the relationship between structure and function of living things, with a focus on cell transport and cellular respiration. Building on that concept, students will learn how cells combine to make tissues, which combine to make organs and organ systems, which make complex life possible. 

Inheritance of Traits: Students study organisms that reproduce sexually and asexually, with a focus on the genetics of reproduction. Students model DNA and inheritance patterns with Punnett squares and pedigrees to understand how genes code for alleles and traits. Students also investigate other means of trait acquisition, including horizontal gene transfer, types of genetic mutations, and the role of the environment. 

In seventh-grade civics, students expand their critical thinking skills and their understanding of the foundations and workings of our government in the United States. They will develop their research skills, read and analyze primary and secondary sources, participate in interactive and collaborative work, and explore different points of view, motives, and biases. Throughout the course, students study the past to better understand the present, so that they are equipped to engage in civic action and to create change.

Health (1 Quarter)
The seventh-grade curriculum includes a nicotine unit focused on the many negative health effects that tobacco and electronic cigarette/vaping products have on the brain and body. The nutrition unit focuses on essential nutrients, analyzing food labels, and health outcomes related to nutrition.  Lastly, a unit on mental wellness will cover stress, anxiety, body image/self-esteem & an introduction to depression.