So Jung Kim

LEARNING GOD’S WORD

CHURCH HISTORY

Seventh graders learn God’s Word as it is expressed and lived out by His people through history from the time of Christ to the present. Lessons trace the history of God’s people and doctrines and creeds as they developed over time, and tie them into world history from the Social Studies curriculum. Students will process and express key doctrinal truths orally, in objective responses, and in writing, reinforced by Scripture memory and corporate worship.

• The birth of Christianity through its coming of age under Constantine
• Key heresies and the development of creeds
• The rise of the papacy, monasticism, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Crusades
• Reformation, rationalism, and revival
• Christianity in the modern era

MEMORY

Seventh graders deepen their connection to Christ through the study of memory verses that correlate with their Learning God’s Word curriculum. At the beginning of each week, a new verse is introduced and the class discusses the verse’s meaning during biblical times and its practical application to modern life.

SPELLING AND VOCABULARY

At the junior high school level spelling and meaning begin to converge. Students are expected to learn the generalizations for English spelling as well as understand the meaning and origins of suffixes, prefixes, and Latin and Greek roots. Vocabulary instruction based on lists from the high school SAT tests include varying levels of thinking skills. Spelling instruction includes sorting for patterns, deriving generalizations, and applying knowledge by creating and defining polysyllabic words.

ENGLISH

English skills are taught using direct instruction, guided practice, and individual practice. Parts of speech, generalizations, style, and grammar are taught and expected to transfer over into the student’s writing and formal speaking. The curriculum is divided into:

• Parts of speech
• Sentence Activities
• Sentence Basics
• Sentence Problems
• Sentence Variety
• Proofreading Activities
• Marking Punctuation
• Editing for Mechanics
• Spelling
• Word Choice

WRITING

Students are instructed to recognize, use, and evaluate the 6 traits of good writing: ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, and mechanics. Writing instruction occurs in a workshop environment that includes shared writing, peer-editing, using rubrics for evaluation, and mastering the writing process. The genres used are:

• Descriptive
• Narrative
• Expository
• Persuasive

LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERATURE

Trade books (historical fiction) and an anthology of various genres are used to:

• Identify idioms, analogies, metaphors, similes in prose and poetry
• Analyze differences in structure and purpose between various genres and categories
• Compare/contrast texts, analyze cause and effect
• Identify evidence that supports inferences and make predictions
• Analyze plot, characters, theme, point of view, imagery
• Assess accuracy and appropriateness of author’s evidence to support assertions, identify bias
• Identify literary devices
• Write thesis statements and supportive evidence in a formal analysis essay
• Oral presentations (participate in Speech Meet)
• Norse Mythology (create multimedia presentation)
• Introduction to Shakespeare (sonnets)
• Creative writing projects
• Accelerated reading goals

MATH

ALGEBRA 1

This honors-level, first year algebra class covers the full range of skills students should acquire for entry into Geometry freshman year. Students learn to solve and graph the full range of linear equations, inequalities, and systems of equations and inequalities. They will also work with quadratics and other polynomials and their graphs, equations, and applications.

• Solving linear equations, inequalities, and systems of equations
• Forms of linear equations, graphing, and systems of inequalities
• Operations with polynomials, factoring polynomials
• Solving quadratic equations
• Simplifying and working with square roots and rational expressions

SOCIAL STUDIES

HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Students will focus on major eras in world history in conjunction with the seventh grade theological emphasis on church history. Students will learn about world cultures and religions. Topics will be ordered to correspond with the chronological presentation of church history and supplemented by field trips and research activities that include an interactive simulation on China and castle project.

• Fall of Rome, the Byzantine Empire, Feudalism, and African Cultures
• Islam, the Holy Roman Empire, the Crusades, Renaissance and Reformation
• Exploration, the Americas, Enlightenment, Rationalism, Central and South American Civilizations
• Asian culture and Eastern religions, America as a world citizen, missions and evangelism

SCIENCE

LIFE SCIENCE

Beginning the push towards higher-order thinking skills, seventh grade Life Science emphasizes analyzing, classifying, and applying knowledge. Hands-on activities such as dissections, specific training in applying the scientific method to experiments, and instruction in note-taking skills using clearly presented models help accomplish these goals. Class includes a three-day outdoor education experience on Catalina Island with an emphasis on ecology and sustainable living.

• Nature and characteristics of living things
• The cell and simple organism
• Survey of fungi, plants, and animals
• The human body

SPANISH

Spanish Classes at Christ Lutheran focus on reading, writing, listening, and speaking the language as well as learning about the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. Instruction is focused into units that contain vocabulary and grammar/syntax lessons. Assessments contain dictation, listening comprehension, and writing. Beginning the first day of instruction, students are reading, writing, and responding in Spanish. CLCS graduates typically take Spanish 2 as freshman in high school.

• Vocabulary:
  • Parts of the face and body
  • Numbers from 100-1,000
  • Clothing and sizes
  • Physical and personal traits
  • Parts of a home (interior/exterior)
  • Specific items in a living room, bedroom, and kitchen
  • Household chores
  • Fruits
  • Items in place settings
  • Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
    • Foods and beverages
  • Morning routines
• Grammar:
  • Reflexive verb dolorse
  • Showing possession
  • How something fits
  • Two verbs for “to be” (ser, estar)
  • Prepositions
  • Describing and limiting adjectives
  • Saying what needs to be done and what has already been done (tener que, acabar de)
  • Tener and traer irregular verb conjugations
  • Comer, querrer, tomar conjugations
  • Cenar, almozar, probar verb conjugations
  • Reflexive verbs

ART

Seventh grade students utilize an arts program entitled Arts Attack. The program highlights the life
and works of artists such as M.C. Escher, Piet Mondrian, and Michelangelo to name a few. The
Elements (color, line, shape & form, texture & pattern, and space) and Composition (contrast,
balance, symmetry, emphasis, movement, unity, and variety) are the basis of the class and students
also focus on various drawing techniques (contour, perspective, shading, etc). Art class lessons
correlate with the History of the Middle Ages curriculum and students also take part in the Art to
Grow On program at least four times a year.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Students participate in physical education classes three times a week (2 activity sessions, 1 health
class). They dress out in CLS physical education uniforms and stretch out in order to prepare for
activities such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, and flag football. Rules to the games are
taught and drills are performed in order to master skill sets before taking part in the actual sport.
Health classes are taught once a week and focus on the connection between the body and living a
Christ-centered life. In the spring, students take part in Presidential Fitness Testing.

TECHNOLOGY

Students will use various applications of Microsoft Office. Students will use Word to publish
written works for their classes. They will use Excel to prepare graphs for their Science Fair projects
and PowerPoint to create presentations. We also use online presentation websites such as Glogster
and Prezzi.

• Typingweb.com – each student has their own account to learn and improve on their typing skills
• Establish Google Drive account; become familiar with Google Docs; learn how to access word processing, spreadsheets and forms; follow step-by-step directions for practice activities
• Create a store advertisement (Google Docs)
• “Techno Novel” – create an animated preview, or “trailer,” of a book to entice classmates to read it; use text, graphics, animation and transitions to create a 5-slide presentation; present to the class (Microsoft PowerPoint)
• “Techno CEO” – create a company with three product lines; use graphics to create a company logo; summarize the corporate structure by making an organization chart; summarize financial information by organizing data; calculate expenses using formulas; graph sales (Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint)
• Internet Safety

FIELD TRIPS

These are some of the typical field trips for 7th grade

• Museum of Tolerance (Fall)
• Medieval Times (March)
• Catalina (3 days, 2 nights in the Spring)
• End of the Year Field Trip: Universal Studios Hollywood (last Tuesday before close of school year)

TEACHER

Mrs. Kim earned a BA in History from University of California, Irvine and finished a Multiple
Subject Credential course at Biola University. She will begin coursework for the Single Subject
Credential program at California State University Dominguez Hills in spring 2017.