Literacy is our highest priority as a district. We have recently revamped our middle school curriculum in English Language Arts to reflect the demands of the Common Core Standards. This year our middle school language arts classes will be utilizing the Readers Workshop model developed by Lucy Calkins to support the teaching of our units of study. The scope and sequence in ELA is available below for each grade level.
MSAD 60's Middle School math program is fully aligned to CCSS and uses the Big Ideas book as a foundation for instruction. Big Ideas Math® is the first complete middle level curriculum written to the Common Core State Standards and uses the Standards for Mathematical Practice as a foundation. We will be reviewing the math curriculum across the district during the coming year. Look for changes and updates!
In addition to strong preparation in ELA and Math, it is critical that we prepare students with a solid foundation in science and technology. To meet the demands of the Next Generation Science Standards and the Maine Learning Results for science, all middle school students will have the opportunity to learn the following units in science:
**During the 2018-19 school year the 6-8th grade science classes will be piloting new curriculum materials from Elevate Science which will result in some adjustments to the approved scope and sequence.
It is also critical that we prepare students to be active and involved citizens who understand the world around them, from their local community to the global marketplace. To this end, students will experience the specific social studies units listed below:
Students at NMS participate in two Global classes per semester. They are randomly assigned based on multiple factors. Chorus and/or Band are available to interested students and will count towards their Global classes each semester for students who elect to participate in them. While at NMS, students take Physical Education and Health for at least 1 semester each over their sixth and seventh grade years.