Hyla Middle School

Readings are drawn from a wide range of sources, and class activities aim to bring out enthusiasm in each student. Students write constantly: gathering ideas for their own writing, responding to what they read, retelling scenes from Shakespeare’s plays and crafting formal paragraphs, essays and narratives. In addition to writing, however, they will also learn to express their ideas in other forms: we will often use class and small group discussions, oral presentations, and visual projects to organize and articulate what we have learned. Strong emphasis is placed on developing appropriate classroom behaviors, such as conscientious listening, speaking, and collaboration. The interdisciplinary, multicultural curriculum is designed to engage students in their learning, develop their strong foundational skills of reading and writing, and encourage them to explore and celebrate the world around them.

A typical class block of 80 to 100 minutes usually includes the following: Writer’s Workshop, Book Clubs, small group or large group discussion and lessons in vocabulary, grammar, geography or research. Organization and time management are emphasized in all of the planned units and activities. All sixth grade teachers strive to emphasize the use of the student planner and organizational tools.  Class work is kept in a portfolio so that students can track their growth and set goals for their own improvement. By encouraging self-reflection, we hope to help students gain insight into their individual learning styles and acquire independent strategies which will support them throughout their lives.

THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

During September and October, the sixth graders will develop their Writer’s and Reader’s Notebooks as well as diving into literary essay, personal narrative and poetry. At the beginning of November, the students will inhabit the world of Shakespeare. As the humanities and drama courses work together to prepare to perform one of Shakespeare’s comedies, we will examine Shakespeare’s language and its relation to our own, explore Elizabethan England and play with our own voices as we write from varying perspectives. Fundamental to our study will be our examination of Shakespeare as a storyteller, how he communicated the ideas and concerns of his time and delved into the interior of the human mind in a way that no playwright had previously done.

After studying the dramatic story, some of the other genres we will study will be non-fiction reading and writing, memoir and fantasy. We will also interpret stories which are told through photographs, paintings, maps and cultural traditions.

It is through the magic of story, fiction and non-fiction, that students experience some of life’s most lasting lessons and the Humanities classroom at Hyla Middle School is designed so these lessons can be learned.