7th Grade Course Descriptions
GRADE 7 ELECTIVES
ART 7
GRADE 7
This exploratory course allows students to experiment with various wet and dry media such as pencils, charcoal, and ink while learning basic drawing techniques. A basic art vocabulary, as well as major artists and their works, will be studied.
COMPUTER SOLUTIONS
GRADE 7
Students are introduced to computing devices and software as problem-solving tools. Emphasis is placed on using basic touch keyboarding skills to complete a variety of projects incorporating word processing, database, presentation, and spreadsheet software. Basic Internet safety, coding, and device maintenance are components of this course.
INVENTIONS AND INNOVATIONS
GRADE 7
Students make models of significant inventions that have advanced society. After studying these developments, they explore contemporary technological problems facing them, their community, or the world and apply systematic procedures to invent new products or innovations as solutions.
APP CREATORS
GRADE 7
This unit will expose students to computer science as a means of computationally analyzing and developing solutions to authentic problems through mobile app development, and will convey the positive impact of the application of computer science to other disciplines and to society. This course is pending VDOE approval.
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCE EXPLORATORY I
GRADE 7
Family and Consumer Sciences Exploratory I students will prepare to be life-ready as they manage individual, family, career, and community roles and responsibilities.
SPANISH EXPLORATORY
GRADE 7
This course is designed to introduce students to the Spanish language and culture. In addition, the course is designed to study these past civilizations and how they impacted modern civilization.
HEALTH/PHYSICAL EDUCATION 7
GRADE 7
This course includes the study of health, growth and development, nutrition, substance abuse, bullying prevention, and safety. Students participate in activities that promote fitness and cardiorespiratory endurance. This course is required for all seventh grade students.
INTERMEDIATE BAND
GRADE 7
This course will expand on what the student learned in Beginning Band. The student will continue to learn music terminology, expand their understanding of the fundamentals of music, and work on playing their instruments at the intermediate level. Concert and parade performances are required.
MUSIC 7
GRADE 7
This exploratory course is to enable students to enhance musical knowledge and skills. Students participate in increasingly complex music through singing, playing instruments, performing rhythms, moving to music, and composing/improvising music.
CHORUS 7
GRADE 7
This course completes Level 2 of the vocal curriculum by teaching music production that helps students become better singers and appreciate the relationships among music, other arts, and society. Performances are mandatory and are a part of the overall grade in this class.
DRAMA 7
GRADE 6 -8
Sixth, seventh and eighth grade Drama provides students with opportunities to explore movement on stage, create original scenes, and interpret scripted material. While there will be major projects to assess each of the aforementioned areas, students will also engage in storytelling, theatre games, improv to develop both their skills and confidence along the way.
AGRISCIENCE EXPLORATIONS
GRADE 7
Students explore science as it relates to agriculture and develop an understanding of human relations, communication, the importance of agriculture to the economy, and key scientific terms related to the field of agriculture.
CAREER INVESTIGATIONS II
GRADE 7
This course allows students to explore career options and begin investigating career opportunities. Students assess their roles in society, identify their roles as workers, analyze their personal assets, complete a basic exploration of career clusters, select career pathways or occupations for further study, and begin developing an Academic and Career Plan (ACP) based on their academic and career interests. This course also helps students identify and demonstrate the workplace skills that employers desire in their future employees. It will also provide a more in depth study of MCPS pathways and career exploration especially in STEM related fields. This course is required for any student who did not complete the sixth grade course.
READING
GRADES 6-8
This course is designed to provide opportunities for students to build knowledge and understanding through the reading and in-depth study of popular, high-interest, thematic novels. Students learn new strategies to build vocabulary and increase comprehension. Students will be placed in this course based on teacher recommendation and SOL scores.
SKILLS ENHANCEMENT
GRADES 6- 8
This course is designed to provide additional support for students in the areas of reading decoding and comprehension and math computations and problem-solving. Students will be placed in this course based on teacher recommendation and SOL scores