STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY
STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY
SECOND LANGUAGES :: 2004 :: LATIN :: MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADES 6-8
MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADES 6-8
| Adolescents' Characteristics | Young adolescents undergo tremendous physical, social, Emotional, and intellectual changes which impact heavily on their learning. They want to know that they have a say in the organization of their life at home and at school. In their struggle for autonomy, they want independence from adults while looking for approval from their peers. They see themselves as active contributors and want privileges, but are unsure about responsibilities. Their self-concept is shaky, are vulnerable to criticism, and have a definite sense of fairness. Their formal thinking fluctuates from concrete to abstract. At the same time, they are interested in the new and bored with the old. |
|---|---|
| Instructional Strategies | Young adolescents must be exposed to relevant experiences
which allow them to adapt to all these changes. They need to
be involved in positive and meaningful interactions with their
peers, and, at the same time, they need opportunities to
develop a positive self-concept. Group and pair work are especially successful with middle school adolescents as long as the group and pair work are centered on well-defined tasks which are broken down into manageable parts since students this age often feel overwhelmed by long range assignments. In the classroom, young adolescents need assistance with organization and responsibility to help them move toward independence. At this level, students can work well from patterns and facts, but they have difficulty making applications. They have little tolerance for ambiguity. For this reason, they need explicit practice with a model. Since they have little patience for anything which is different, teachers will want to stress similarities rather than differences especially when dealing with culture. |
| Middle School Program | The middle school program conforms to concepts students
have mastered and experiences they have both in and out of
school. There are three sets of objectives corresponding to the
three program options available at the middle school level:
|
| Exploratory Program | This is a non-sequential program. The stated goals and
objectives apply to students at 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in a
daily program meeting 6-9 weeks; however, modifications
need to be made if the program meets for longer or shorter
periods of time.
The emphasis of this program is on:
|
| Beginning Sequence | At the beginning level students learn preliminary functions of
the language, become familiar with basic elements of its
culture and increase their English vocabulary skills. Emphasis is placed on developing reading skills for comprehension of short, adapted Latin texts. |
| Continuing Sequence | In the continuing sequence course, the students become more
familiar with basic elements of the culture, functions of the
language, and increase their English vocabulary skills. Students gain a strong foundation in skills necessary for the reading and comprehension of short, adapted Latin texts. Grammar is integrated in an age-appropriate manner and integration of other disciplines is ongoing throughout instruction. |
| Articulation | There needs to be on-going contacts with high school teachers to establish a common core of knowledge and skills expected of all students who place into high school Latin II. Smooth articulation from the middle school to the high school level ensures that students have the opportunity to continue building on what they have learned. |
| IB Program | In addition to the above programs, some school systems are implementing an International Baccalaureate (IB) program at the middle school level. Middle school IB programs are designed to feed into the high school IB program with its own curriculum. Some modifications to the Standard Course of Study may be needed to meet the requirements of the IB program. |
<< Back | Table of Contents | Next >>