6th Grade - Middle School in Houston, Texas

What if my child has never taken Spanish?

On occasion, students who have not had previous experience with Spanish join our middle school. In these cases, as with all courses at St. Mark's, students are met where they are. The focus is on ensuring that new students are learning and progressing at an acceptable and appropriate pace. Since 8th grade is the last half of Spanish I (which is a high school credit), new 8th graders should meet regularly with their teacher during extra help time to receive additional one-on-one support.

The 5th and 6th grade Spanish courses are a Pre-Spanish I program, which forms a bridge between the Lower School program and the Spanish I program of 7th and 8th grades. Therefore, these courses preview many of the linguistic elements and skills of Spanish I. In 5th and 6th grades, we focus on understanding spoken and written language since, in language learning, comprehension precedes production. The class is taught through storytelling in which grammatical and syntactical understanding comes to students through exposure to contextualized, comprehensible language input. This helps make students’ first years of middle school language instruction engaging and allows each student to work from their unique starting point in language acquisition. More advanced students can tell a story with greater detail and fluidity while less experienced students tell the story in its most basic form. Both are acceptable, since the primary goals of the class are developing creativity, learning to understand spoken language, and beginning to speak comprehensibly.  Grammatical accuracy is acquired by students throughout the year. Students develop both active and passive language skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writing), focusing on narrating and describing in the present tense, asking and answering questions, using correct pronunciation, and demonstrating strong gist comprehension of teacher-produced speech and stories.

In Technology class in middle school, students become digital learners. Since students in middle school bring their device to every class, they begin the year learning how to utilize their iPad and become a successful student-learner. It is important for students to understand the uses of the productivity apps in order to properly communicate with their teachers and maintain organization. In addition, they continue to enhance their typing skills by improving their accuracy and words per minute. Students learn about digital citizenship and how to be aware of forming media balance in their lives, as well as proper communication across media platforms with peers and other users. The remainder of the year, they participate in individual and collaborative projects that allow them to explore the various Google Suite applications, engage in meaningful conversations about the functionality of these apps, and learn how to problem-solve issues as they arise. Lastly, throughout the year, students build on their problem-solving skills by participating in various levels of reading and writing code.

In 6th grade, students take a survey course of the New Testament, focusing particularly on the life of Jesus. They learn to think critically about the stories in the Bible, while examining the historical, cultural, and theological history of what they are reading. Students engage with one another through inquiry, group projects, and various thinking routines. Students also learn about the influence of Christianity in our modern world and its application to social issues.

In Music, middle school students focus on reading music and learning a variety of instruments, including the recorder, glockenspiel, chimes, ukulele, and ocarina. Music class teaches students to effectively read music in both treble and bass clefs. Students have opportunities to sight-read, perform in small and whole group ensembles, and engage in competition for chair positions. Along with playing instruments, students also learn various vocal techniques, musical styles, and composer and music history. In Choir, a middle school elective, students perform on and off campus and have the opportunity to audition for local and national honor choirs. 

In Art, middle school students learn about artists and art movements. They acquire art techniques and art vocabulary. Students have opportunities to think creatively and produce artwork using the skills they develop in class. Each trimester, they will focus on one time period in art history—Renaissance for the 1st trimester, Impressionism for the 2nd trimester, and Modernism for the 3rd trimester. In addition to studying the great masters in art, students will be exposed to contemporary art and local Houston artists. They develop creative problem-solving skills and explore a wide variety of art mediums to prepare them for high school and beyond.

6th through 8th graders utilize the library for a variety of research projects, through classes, and for their own reading goals. Each of these grades participates in an open library rotation throughout their week, and can visit the library independently at different times throughout the school day.

Throughout the middle school PE experience, students are exposed to a variety of games and activities. PE units follow the seasons of middle school sports and offer students a foundational skill set for participating in athletics. Students also learn the importance of, and benefits around, exercising for a healthy lifestyle. They discuss muscle groups and how they are activated with different activities. In addition to PE classes, middle school students have athletic opportunities in the fall, winter, and spring to play on competitive sports teams.

We recognize that we are preparing students for the world of tomorrow, not the world of today. With technology growing and changing at an exponential pace, teaching students how to be flexible, adaptable, creative, and collaborative is of utmost importance. Our electives program is an integral part of the learning experience. It is designed to give students the opportunity to explore a variety of interests while developing the critical skills they will need to thrive throughout their educational years and beyond. 

Students choose from electives courses that are grouped into 4 collections: Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Communications, and STEM. 

• Visual arts electives allow students to express themselves creatively through the production of physical artwork. Some electives will also dive into interpreting works of art to discover meaning and understand the artist’s purpose. These electives develop skills like creativity, collaboration, innovation, self-direction, and global awareness.
• Performing arts electives include everything from center stage to back stage. Some offerings give students the opportunity to strengthen their public speaking skills while others give students the skills necessary to perform in our middle school musicals. Through performing arts, students develop confidence and learn skills that translate well into their academic classes like giving presentations, perseverance, leadership, critical thinking, creativity, and global awareness.
• Electives in our communications collection allow students to sharpen their ability to think on their feet, tell a captivating story, write more effectively, or track down and understand information with more ease. The competencies learned in these classes translate directly into academic classes. Depending on their choices, students get ample practice with a wide variety of skills including interpersonal communication, giving presentations, innovation, creativity, design, collaboration, leadership, and critical thinking.
• Our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) electives provide experiences that will challenge and captivate our middle schoolers and require them to dig deep to solve problems. Students can discover new ways to use technology, strengthen their understanding in math, or experiment with new inventions and creations. The competencies acquired in these classes are numerous and include practice with critical thinking, media and digital literacy, problem solving, innovation, self-direction, perseverance, and collaboration.

Each morning, middle school students and teachers gather in small advisory groups to start the day. The purpose of advisory is multifaceted and tailored to both the grade level and pragmatic needs of the students. Advisors help students prepare for their day, practice organizational habits, monitor deadlines and assignments, set and check in on goals (both personal and academic), and communicate regularly with their parents and teachers. During advisory, students and teachers also explore helpful study skills, discuss topics relevant to adolescent lives, and plan and promote school-wide events, school spirit, and community service. Advisors also serve as the point of contact for parents and coordinate with other teachers to ensure that each student is on track and thriving. Advisories are micro-communities within our middle school, providing a consistent group and safe space for students to receive individualized support.