Snapshots
Curriculum
Overview Lower School: Specialist Programs PhysicalMusicMakeryLibraryArt Education SELTheaterScience(Social Emotional Learning Lower School: Grade Level Academic Snapshots FourthThirdSecondFirstKindergartenGradeGradeGradeGrade Curriculum Snapshots Table of Contents Upper School: Specialist Programs SELEWorldMusicArtsMakeryDramaLanguagesBlock(SocialEmotional Learning Upper School: Grade Level Academic Snapshots Fifth EighthSeventhSixthGradeGradeGradeGrade
Burke's Curriculum Snapshots provide a curriculum overview and a peek into each grade level across all academic and social-emotional areas of growth. Our academic program is grounded in educational best practices while also meeting the evolving needs of our students. As a school that values effective delivery of a dynamic and relevant curriculum, Burke's empowers its teachers to work collaboratively with their professional learning community to continually reflect upon, revisit, and re-envision what and how they are teaching. The foundation of our K-8 curriculum development is the Understanding byDesign(UbD)framework. This model begins all lesson design with "enduring understandings" which are statements summarizing important ideas and core processes that are central to a discipline and have lasting value beyond the classroom. Launching learning experiences by considering the big picture, vs. focusing on what content and activities students will engage in is an essential practice when Burke's teachers design curriculum.
Snapshots Overview
Curriculum
Michele Williams Head of School Yukiko Meadows Dir. of Advancement Renita LiVolsi Dir. of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Natalie Mast Dir. of Admissions Curriculum Snapshots Burke’s Admin Team Alice Moore Dir. of Lower School Patricia Neville Dir. of Finance & Operations Fran Yang Dir. of Curriculum & Innovation Sheena Tart-Zelvin Dir. of Upper School
LOWER SCHOOL Rigorisnotdefinedbythetext —itcomesfromwhatstudentsdo.Itis measuredItnotstandardacrossacurriculum—itisindividualtoeachstudent'sneeds.isnotquantifiedbyhowmuchgetscrammedintoaschoolday—itisindepthofunderstanding.—Edutopia
LowerSpecialistSchoolCourses
Art Program Goals ● Enable students to see themselves as artists.
● Combine hands-on studio practice with exposure to art history and aesthetic appreciation.
● Teach visual language with an emphasis on self-direction, problem-solving, risk-taking, resiliency and individual creativity.
● Students attend art class once a week: kindergarten for 50 minutes and first through fourth grade for 75 minutes.
Lower School Art
The Lower School art program introduces students to art from diverse cultures and genres, enhances students’ artistic vocabularies and helps them develop individual art practice through a personal sketchbook, where they free draw, and do sketching exercises to build understanding of artistic concepts. Students also participate in “gallery walks” where they learn to articulate the meaning behind their art, and give constructive feedback to one another.
● Building student confidence in their unique creative vision.
● Use
● Gather
● Make
● Enjoy
Library Program Goals The Library program supports students as they grow into competent, curious, creative, and researchers; open-minded and critical thinkers; productive, empathetic, and ethical members of the learning community; and enthusiastic readers. The goals are for all students to: curriculum-related books that are shared in Library or read independently. independent reading in a variety of categories. in literature and research-related activities. issues related to information literacy and literature appreciation. information in a variety of ways (print sources, electronic sources, observation, data collection, human resources, etc.). a variety of research skills and strategies and make wise book selections. connections (i.e., text-to-self and research-to-self).
● Enjoy
Lower School Library
● Discuss
● Engage
The Lower School Library curriculum is built around students. Classroom and specialist faculty regularly collaborate to provide students with experiences that resonate with their developmental level, while also piquing their curiosity, and letting students choose the pace and approach of their involvement.
confident
● Empowered Learner ● Digital Citizen ● Knowledge Constructor ● Innovative Designer ● Computational Thinker ● Creative Communicator ● Global Collaborator Lower School Makery
Burke’s Makery classes are where students learn both digital and non-digital skills around design thinking, independent creative problem-solving and critical thinking. When they move into Upper School, students will bring knowledge and experience with a wide range of tools, and creative confidence derived from those skills. Makery projects are often integrated with the work the students do in other classes, for additional relevance and resonance. Students can drop into the Makery before school and during recess if they choose to work informally on individual projects, or use the applications provided. The curriculum emphasizes the ISTE standards:
● Appreciate and respect music and dance from a wide variety of cultures.
Lower School: Specialist Courses Music
● Learn and experience music's community-building possibilities.
The music program at Burke's involves everychild, encouraging the development of their inherent musicianship and love of music. Burke's understands the vital role music plays in the growth of the whole child: its contributions to the intellectual, emotional, social and physical realms of learning. Through active "hands-on" music-making, each student is given a wide variety of experiences in which to learn about, appreciate and prepare for a lifelong involvement in the performing arts, as both performer and appreciative, knowledgeable audience.
Music Program Goals
● Gain and demonstrate appropriate growth in concrete musical skills such as singing, movement, understanding basic melodic and rhythmic concepts and notation, and understanding expressive elements of music.
● Learn to work in ensemble, developing one's own ideas and sense of self as a musician in relation to others in the creative process.
● Knowledge through experience doing different activities can be both beneficial and fun.
Our physical education program is designed to teach students the value of movement from a variety of disciplines. Lessons are structured with a goal of preparing a solid movement foundation for students’ transition to Upper School Physical Education. Our movement and skill development focus includes cooperative games, conflict resolution games, and social emotional learning (SEL) games as well. Success in physical education leads to social and emotional growth that can assist academic achievement. Exercise enhances brain development. P.E. Program Goals Three main goals of the Burke’s Lower School physical education program are:
● Identifying movement and skill application pattern similarities to increase confidence.
Lower School
Physical Education
● Fundamental movement skills and movement knowledge.
● Students come to view themselves as scientists, empowered to satisfy their curiosity through inquiry and experimentation. They learn to ask good questions and learn tools and processes to find out the answers.
Science Program Goals
that can’t 1sttalk?Grade - Why do things move? What is a fair test in 2ndscience?Grade- How can matter change? 3rd Grade - How can I figure out how devices 4thwork?Grade - How do animals survive in difficult habitats?
Children are natural scientists, observing the world and asking, "Why?" The Lower School Science curriculum is designed to encourage students in pursuing their questions and to allow them to find joy in scientific explorations. The program introduces students to the scientific process and gives them opportunities to understand concepts and develop skills.
● Students learn to compare ideas, experiment, recognize patterns, and share their observations with their peers.
● Students engage in hands-on activities that are relevant to their own experiences and interests.
The topics studied in Lower School science class are vehicles for teaching the broader skills and concepts. Each year is a mix of life sciences, physical sciences, earth sciences, and engineering, with regular tie-in with subjects from their main classrooms. Units last four to six weeks to allow for in-depth study. animals
Lower School Science ExampleQuestionsGuiding Kindergarten - How can we answer questions about
Lower School Theatre Arts presents a stage for students to see and explore the world, explore it, and express themselves. Students develop presence, power, energy, observation, imagination, emotional, and artistic expression through the performing arts. Mime, masks, movement, acting, clowning, improvisation, directing, writing and storytelling are all disciplines that students get to experience and explore. Each class has a public performing experience, based on techniques and skills or full play productions.
Theater Program Goals ● What makes a story theatrical? ● How is the written story translated to theatrical images? ● What are the colors, the sounds, the music, the history of the story and times? ● Who are the characters? ● What do they want? ● How do they get what they want? ● What animals and elements describe the characters?
Lower School Theater
Students learn basic acting techniques to connect feelings with words and lines in a way where they can move beyond memorization to experience and identify feelings and behaviors. By participating in theater, students learn to work within an ensemble art form which requires collaboration, teamwork, creativity, spontaneity, planning, artistry, sequencing, spatial awareness, repetition, revision, passion and emotional expression.
SEL Program Goals Burke’s Social Emotional Learning curriculum is all about growing friendship, building courage, learning how to make a difference, growth mindset, and effective allyship. Students learn to discuss their feelings and how to handle social situations through role-play, conversation, and strategies from the Toolbox Componentscurriculum. of other research-proven SEL resources include Kimochis., Zones of Regulation, and SEL related read-alouds. Collaboration with Burke’s learning specialists, teachers, administration, families, outside support & clinicians, and students as self-advocates is central to our social-emotional learning program.
Lower School SEL (Social Emotional Learning)
Kindergarten LanguageArtsMathSocialStudies
Kindergarten Language Arts
In Kindergarten, students develop a foundation in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Core resources in our language arts programs are the TeachersCollegeUnitsofStudyforReadingandWriting, WordsTheirWay, Fountas andPinnellPhonics, and HandwritingWithoutTears. Reading instruction begins with phonemic awareness (the manipulation of sounds), letter recognition, and word study work (decoding and spelling words). Students read in one-on-one, small group, and whole group settings, while learning strategies that include: tracking, using sight words, picture cues, stretching out words, and beginning comprehension skills. Instruction is differentiated for each individual student to meet their learning needs. Writing instruction begins with fine motor strength, letter formation, learning how to generate topics and record ideas.
Students explore fiction and non-fiction genres ranging from “how-to” books, persuasive letters, poetry, journaling,and story writing. Workshop time provides readers and writers opportunities for creativity, 1:1 instruction, and authentic assessment. Listening and speaking skills are a focus of development throughout the year. From presenting their own work, sharing with the class, to gaining confidence in presentation skills kindergarteners learn to interact in both prepared and impromptu discussions.
The math program emphasizes exploration and hands-on activities using manipulatives. Kindergarteners at Burke’s develop a concrete understanding of number sense, geometry, measurement, and data collection. Our goal is to develop mathematical thinkers with strong number sense and a flexible approach to solving problems. Real-world applications provide connections to learning beyond the classroom. Students explore shapes around them, measure and weigh objects using nonstandard units, and practice creating surveys and collecting data. Students also learn ways to present, sort, and problem-solve using their data. Students develop and practice ideas across a variety of activities and contexts, providing time for in-depth learning that builds on previously-covered topics. Students get to practice in dynamic work settings, playing games and hearing others’ strategies for solving problems. Some examples of kindergarten units include:
● Counting and Describing Attributes ● Collecting Data, Counting, and Sorting ● Counting and Representing Quantities ● Comparing Lengths and Quantities ● Describing and Making 2-D Shapes ● Measuring and Counting ● Describing, Making, and Combining 3-D Shapes Kindergarten Math
Social studies is opportunity for students learn more about themselves through exploration and celebration of similarities and differences. Burke’s curriculum focuses on providing students with the skills to be positive contributing members of a diverse and inclusive community. Kindergarten Social Studies begins with an exploration of individual identities and culture surrounding family configurations, interests, gender, race, and physical differences. We use a program called Responsive Classroom as a foundation to foster a sense of joy and belonging in our classes each day. Friendship and Allyship are two important platforms for social justice that we discuss throughout the year alongside components of the Pollyanna curriculum. This includes units such as: practice important social competencies necessary to succeed, including resiliency, regulation, decision-making capabilities and mindfulness.
● Self-Identity: Me --> We ● Family: Family Structure; Homes ● Gender: Stereotypes, Diversity ● ChangeMakers: Standing Up to Inequity ● Students(Dis)Abilitylearnand
Kindergarten Social Studies
First Grade LanguageArtsSocialStudiesMath
In first grade, students embark on a balanced literacy program involves listening, oral, and choral reading and interpreting stories through creative writing, drama, art projects, and games. Students practice their reading skills with with instruction that meets their individual learning needs, styles and readiness levels. Teachers provide instruction around phonemic awareness and phonics, vocabulary, leveled readers, skill development, whole language experiences, discussion and analysis, and independent reading. Burke’s uses the FountasandPinnellguided reading and multisensory approach for group lessons. Writing: Creative writing becomes an increasingly important aspect of student writing as they develop their skills. We use the LucyCalkinsWritingWorkshopprogram, which integrates various forms of writing, from simple stories and letters to poems and expository writing. Creativity, fluency, mechanics of writing, and developmental spelling are the highlights of this program. Handwriting: We use the HandwritingWithoutTearscurriculum, a research-supported developmentally appropriate, multisensory approach to handwriting instruction. The focus is consistent letter formation to to build a foundation where students can concentrate on expression of thought instead of letter formation. To reach this goal, we focus on a kinesthetic component that links the eyes, hands, and brain together to establish consistent and comfortable letter formation.
First
Grade Language Arts
First grade math is an entry point into new mathematical explorations. Students develop numerical fluency for numbers 1-100. The begin with concrete objects, then move into numerical representations. This program sets the stage for students to perceive themselves as beginning mathematicians, and to communicate their understandings and ideas through drawings and words. The mathematical concepts Burke’s first graders encounter include:
● Modeling with Data: Collecting, recording, representing, describing and comparing data in multiple categories, conducting data investigations.
● 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional Geometry: Observing, describing, comparing, and building 3-D shapes, developing vocabulary for naming and describing defining attributes of 2-D and 3-D shapes.
● Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System: Counting and comparing quantities, connecting these skills to addition and subtraction, as well as strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems. Students learn to count by numbers other than 1, with an emphasis on groups of 10: adding and subtracting 10 from a 2-digit number, subtracting multiples of 10, and using two digit numbers to add within 100.
● Measurement and Fractions: Developing accurate techniques for linear measurement, solving comparison problems, ideas about time and fractions.
● Comparing and Combining Shapes: Observing and describing attributes of 2-D shapes, using those attributes to build, compare, and sort.
First Grade Math
ThroughZonesofRegulationand the Kimochi characters, students learn how to identify feelings, work through challenging social conflicts and regulate their emotions. Students are introduced to the concept of "intent and impact" and reflect on how their actions affect others. We revisit many tools from the Toolbox, including patience, mindfulness, apology and forgiveness, and empathy. Our social studies curriculum strives to have students demonstrate qualities of active community members while increasing their familiarity with the Toolbox language.
Grade
In first grade, the overall theme is FromMetoWe. Social studies topics include self, school community, neighborhood community, cultural traditions and holidays, food and nutrition, community helpers and changemakers. Lessons are interwoven with first grade language arts curriculum and specialist classes. Areas of study are introduced through literature, and expanded with discussion, writing, art projects, field trips, and a variety of hands-on activities. First graders continue to develop social emotional skills through the year.
First Social Studies
Second Grade LanguageArtsMathSocialStudies
In second grade Reading Workshop, Burke’s instills a love of reading in students and supports their development as avid readers. Students read every day, have a selection of books ready to read so that they can practice their inference skills, reflect on character development, and author intentions. We utilize the TeachersCollegeUnitsofStudyfor ReaderandWriterWorkshops, and other core resources such as the Fontas and Pinnell program to aid with guided reading and assessment . Word study is an exciting component of the language arts curriculum with a foundation in children's developmental spelling stages. Students get to practice wondering and inquiring about words, understanding the connection between the way a word is spelled and its meaning. Students practice recognizing patterns in the English language through dictation, sorting, letter/sound manipulation, games and activities. Writing Workshop is meant to empower students to voice their thoughts and ideas through writing. In a 21st century world where information is communicated by writing more than ever (text messaging, email, social media, search engines), students must learn how to communicate clearly and concisely. Burke’s emphasizes organization, idea generation, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, and conventions. We guide each student to see themselves as a writer who is able to clearly and confidently convey themselves through the written word.
Second Grade Language Arts
Second graders explore areas of geometry, data, measurement, number and operations, and beginning algebra through a variety of activities. Burke’s uses whole class and small group activities, guided practice, and content-rich games, to pique the curiosity of every learner. Through this all-encompassing approach, second graders develop flexibility, resiliency, and confidence in the use of multiple strategies and tools as an avenue to engage in mathematics.
● Modeling with Data: Sorting and classifying categorical data, ordering numerical data, collecting and representing categorical and numerical data using a variety of representations.
● Foundations of Multiplication: working with equal groups as the foundation of multiplication by investigating even and odd numbers, representing equal groups with arrays and tables.
● Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System: Developing and achieving fluency with subtraction within 100, addition and subtraction within 20 and with time.
● Geometry and Fractions: Observing and describing defining attributes of 2-D and 3-D shapes, developing ideas about equal parts of a whole.
The Lower School math program focuses on:
● Linear Measurement: Develop strategies for accurately measuring length with nonstandard and standard units and tools, considering the relationship between different units and tools.
Second Grade Math
In second grade, the year begins with establishing a safe and welcoming classroom environment to bolster our continued focus on communities. Students consider how individual choices impact others, how to positively contribute to their community, and how diverse perspectives can foster strong connections and relationships. Second graders build their self-awareness and confidence to navigate a continually changing and complex society. They listen to stories and read books about strong girls who persevere in difficult situations and study women who make a difference.
Second Grade Social Studies
Our social studies curriculum strives to have students interpret and justify a variety of perspectives and understand that individuals can make a difference. Students experience a variety of resources including Pollyanna, a K-8 Racial Literacy Curriculum designed to help students gain knowledge about race as it has been constructed in the United States.
● Culture ● Time, Continuity, and Change ● People, Places and Environments ● Individual Development and Identity ● Global Connections ● Civic Ideas and Practices
Burke’s social studies curriculum prepares our students to be contributing members of the world community through age-appropriate inquiry:
Third Grade LanguageArtsMathSocialStudies
Reader’s Workshop shifts the focus from learning to read to reading to learn. Concepts, skills and strategies are modeled for students to practice in their own reading. Strategies and skills include: ● building reading stamina ● decoding and using context clues to understand unfamiliar words ● reading with fluency and expression ● asking open-ended questions ● making predictions, inferences, and connections ● synthesizing information collected from nonfiction texts
Burke’s third graders continue their literacy exploration through a balanced integration of reading, writing, word study, listening and speaking. The language arts program encourages and empowers each student to discover herself as a reader and writer.
Writer’s Workshop projects include personal narratives, persuasive essays, reviews, poetry, fiction, and research writing, journal entries, letters, and responses to literature. Word study builds spelling skills, vocabulary, and ability to decode multisyllabic words. Decoding includes identifying and using spelling patterns in the English language, as well as distinguishing the meanings of words and their parts (e.g., bi-cycle).
Third Grade Language Arts
In writing, students work through the writing process to brainstorm, plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish their work.
● Measurement: Generate measurement data in inches, half-inches, feet, and yards.
Third Grade Math
● Fractions and Decimals: Understanding the meaning of fractions and decimals as numbers and as equal parts of a whole, reasoning about equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, using notation to model fractions and fraction relationships.
● Multiplication and Division: Understanding the meaning of multiplication, modeling multiplication using arrays, understanding the inverse relationship between multiplication and division.
● Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System: Understanding and extending knowledge of place value and the number system to 1,000, adding and subtracting accurately and efficiently.
Third grade math instills a love of exploration and learning, while celebrating the process of trial and error and discovery through mistakes. Problem solving and computational fluency is emphasized. Concepts are explored in whole class and small group activities, guided practice, and content-rich games. Units of study include:
● 2-Dimensional Geometry: Understanding and finding perimeter and area using standard units of measurement, and on classifying 2-D figures.
● Data Analysis: Using bar graphs, pictographs, and line plots to represent, describe, and compare categorical and numerical data.
Ourlearning.social/emotional learning program focuses on community building, culture, and identity with the goal of creating a caring classroom community in which students are valued for who they are and feel safe to take to risks. Students learn strategies for expressing emotions, resolving conflicts, and communicating ideas and feelings. Our third grade Buddy Program provides students with daily opportunities to branch out and form new friendships.
The theme of “continuity and change” guides the third grade social studies curriculum. Students learn about Bay Area history, with a focus on Ohlone community and culture, Chinese immigration to San Francisco, and Bay Area changemakers throughout time. These units are explored through a social justice framework. “Whose story is being told?” and “Whose story is not being told?” are recurring questions that guide our
Third Grade Social Studies
Fourth Grade LanguageArtsMathSocialStudies
In fourth grade, students become ‘leaders of their learning’, finding their voices and confidence as readers and writers. We utilize Reader's and Writer’s Workshop models, to support the development of strong reading and writing skills through mini-lessons, read alouds, conferencing, independent reading/writing, and literature responses. When reading, students focus on becoming active readers that ‘talk to their texts’, practicing how to dive deeply into their reading as well as learning how to beginning text annotation. In writing, students experience myriad of different projects: personal narratives, essays, and poetry. They also practice shorter writing assignments such as quote analysis, or journal entries that use evidence to prove their thinking. We also focus on formal grammar lessons and promote the idea of using one’s resources (ex: dictionary, thesaurus, and building our typing skills). All year, students are continuing to build their writing process skills through brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their work.
Fourth Grade Language Arts
Fourthdecimals.grade math program goals: ● Support students to make sense of mathematics and learn that they can be mathematical thinkers.
● Focus on computational fluency with whole numbers.
Fourth Grade Math
● Emphasize reasoning about mathematical ideas.
● Engage the range of learners in understanding mathematics.
Fourth grade math launches with Jo Boaler’s Week of Inspirational Math. It’s time when students activate and engage growth mindsets, and celebrate mistakes as opportunities for learning. Fourth graders dive into whole number operations, generating, representing and analysing data, exploring 2 and 3-dimensional geometry, and extending understanding of measurement to include fractions and
● Foster a growth mindset. ● Prepare students to transition to the Upper School mathematics program. Fourth grade mathematicians take on Project Based Learning, such as a unit titled, “Game On!” in collaboration with the Makery, where they research, prototype, and develop educational games. We also emphasize engaging with math in the real world, which has inspired projects such as a Change Maker Data Unit.
Fourth grade social studies integrates the language arts disciplines being studied: reading, literature, writing, word study and grammar. Students learn to read critically for information, write clearly and coherently, and use class time productively. Unit topics include:
● Government ● Geography: CA Regions ● European Explorers & California Missions Period ● California Rancho Period ● Gold Rush & Immigration to CA ● Transcontinental Railroad Service learning is a thread throughout the year in fourth grade as well. Fourth Grade Social Studies
UPPER SCHOOL missionwhyCurriculumtellsthestoryofwhatweteach.Itisinspiredandguidedbytheandthehow.Byanchoringittopurpose,itbreatheslifeintotheoftheschoolandembodieswhatitmeanstoeducate,encourage,andempower.Asaresult,itrequiresconstantreflection,revision,andinnovation.”—HeadofUpperSchool
UpperSpecialistSchoolCourses
Drama classes provide opportunities to develop self-esteem and self-confidence through skill-building exercises involving the body, voice, and imagination. In addition to being an outlet for self-expression, drama class provides a safe environment to explore emotions, as well as the opportunity to increase self-discipline, skills of observation, and listening.
● Fifth Grade: Classes provide opportunities to develop self-confidence, increased focus, and awareness. In Spring, drama classes focus on a collaborative production of the Greek plays, a long-standing feature of the fifth-grade Humanities curriculum.
● Seventh Grade: Students choose between three options: Theatre Exercises, Improvisation class, and Play Production.
● Eighth Grade: The final trimester of the school year is devoted to the spring Musical, a collaborative effort of the visual and performing arts teachers. All eighth graders participate in the musical, whether performing on stage, providing instrumental accompaniment, and/or working behind the scenes on stage management, costumes, set, lights, or sound.
Upper School Drama
● Sixth Grade: Drama and Music begin the year with a collaborative project. Students explore typical characters and scenarios of melodrama and composing music on GarageBand. Later in the year, they meet more frequently to create scenes to accompany Broadway songs for the Spring Cabaret.
Upper School Makery
Burke’s students are empowered to innovate, experiment, make mistakes, collaborate and be creative limited as a part of our Makery Mindset. The Learning Dimensions of Making and Tinkering guide the learning experiences throughout the Burke’s Makery program. In the Upper School, the students enjoy Open Make Time where they can explore their personal interests within different mediums of design thinking. Students make, create, and use technology as a tool to help communicate ideas effectively while demonstrating learning across disciplines. Through collaborative classroom projects, the students are exposed to digital fabrication allowing them to connect applications together to design elements for hands-on building. Application examples: Adobe Illustrator, Tinkercad, and various coding programs that are scaffolded and prepare students for life beyond Burke’s. Collaborative, integrated project examples: multimedia presentations connected to our Cultural Heritage Fair, Egyptian Museum, the creation of props and costumes for the Eighth Grade Musical.
Arts at Burke’s is an exploration of methods and media including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, crafts, and digital art, as well as two- and three-dimensional design basics. Students acquire art language and concepts from hands-on experiences and discussion, and are exposed to multicultural art history references when appropriate. Student work is displayed on campus during the year, and at the school-wide Arts Festival. The Visual Arts program opens a world beyond textbooks for students to explore and builds a foundation for creative thinking. Students are encouraged to explore new techniques, seek deeper meaning out of their art practice, and establish a personal approach to their work.
● Seventh graders are required to take Art as one of a number of arts courses meeting for at least one quarter of the year. Options include Open Studio Visual Arts, Drama, Vocal Ensemble Music, Photography, Sewing.
● Eighth graders have Art as one of several elective choices including Yearbook, Music Songwriting, Drama, Sewing/Costume Design & Construction, Photography. Click here to listen to “Memories,” a song written and produced in the Songwriting elective by two eighth graders. Students are expected to work independently and challenge themselves while incorporating technical suggestions and art history references. Students are also required to keep a sketchbook and maintain regular reflection entries and images.
Upper School Arts
● Fifth and sixth grade students attend a 50 minute art class twice per rotation throughout the year.
● Recognizing the relationship of music identity, culture and emotion.
● Demonstrating understanding of basic songwriting structure. ● Developing increased appreciation of the power of a songwriter’s personal expression.
● Students explore Chrome Music Lab and develop proficiency for using the iPad GarageBand to compose a five-part GarageBand "sound story" and film trailers.
● Working independently and at their own pace, students further developed their sight-singing skills with the Music Prodigy practice and assessment assignments.
Upper School Music
● Exploration of Accapella singing and beatboxing with the Incredibox application.
Examples of Projects & Technology
● The Drama/Virtual Vocal Ensemble elective explores various aspects of theatrical production work and vocal performance. Topics included are the roles of playwright, director; stage manager; and set, costume, and sound designers; as well as the role of actor.
● Demonstrating appreciation of Arts Activism for Social Justice with a culminating group project presentation that includes representative poetry, music, and visual expression.
The primary goal of the Upper School Music program is to broaden each student's understanding of the fundamental music concepts -- rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, and form -- while building confidence and proficiency in musical expression. The curricular emphasis through the Upper School years includes the following areas of study:
● French: Students learn through classroom conversation, games and songs. Linguistic skills are cultivated to be comprehensive, and include speaking, writing and listening. Frequent and lengthy writing assignments help develop effective writing skills. In addition, students create various projects that they present to the class in French, including poetry and popular culture analysis. To create an environment especially conducive to realistic interactions between individuals, student engage in "global simulations"which allows a group of learners to create a universe of reference.
● Mandarin: Students learn via a variety of topics related to daily life and cultural activities such as hobbies, visiting friends, holiday celebrations, making plans and appointments, and dining out. Students develop and strengthen their language skills through games, songs, role-plays, skits, projects, conversations and dialogues.
As society becomes more interconnected, the need for proficiency in more than one language and culture will only continue to grow. In all language courses, students are assessed on the mastery of the five language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking and cultural competency) through quizzes and tests as well as homework, class participation, projects, and Burke’spresentations.offersthe
● Spanish: Students enjoy games and activities, with cultural studies that examine traditions from Latin America and Spain through multidisciplinary assignments and projects. For instance, students might create a multimedia project about famous Latinas/Hispanic women of history.
Upper School World Languages
following world language courses:
Upper School E Block
E Block is a six week class led by Burke’s Director of Inclusivity and Community Building. Students explore issues of equity, empowerment, entitlement, race and racial injustice, class, privilege, and delve further into their own engagement with these topics as future changemakers. Students have an opportunity to explore their own identity, ancestors and the way we are all interconnected, and what matters to us when we express ourselves. Students learn about these concepts through guest speaker presentations, written reflections, and a final project that presents a part of their life to their classmates. The Pollyanna Racial Literacy Curriculum, accompanied by work from the book ThisBook IsAnti-Racistby Tiffany Jewell guide the work in this unit. Some experiences that the students have enjoyed during E Block are: ● A guest speaker who shared about her identity as a professional dancer who shared how her personal identity characteristics impact her daily personal and professional life. ● American civil rights activist Ruby Bridges came to speak about what it is to be a changemaker to kick off a project around designing a ballot proposition to support a cause students identified as important to them
● Engage in literary appreciation in order to better understand ourselves and the world around us.
HEART class is led by an Upper School counselor, a librarian, a resource specialist, and a makery teacher. Digital citizenship, study skills, library and research skills, and social-emotional health are some of the areas covered.
Upper School SEL & HEART Class
Some examples of topics addressed in HEART class are:
● Engage in design thinking creative maker projects.
● Define and discuss success (growth mindset, strategies for improvement and plans to overcome challenges and disappointments).
● Create habits and routines (ask questions, create and maintain organizing systems , access resources, ask for help).
● Communicate honesty and learn to resolve conflict gracefully and effectively.
● Navigate digital media safely and use technology as a tool to communicate effectively.
Fifth Grade HumanitiesMathScienceP.E.
ENGLISH: Students are introduced to various types of literature, literary themes, and techniques, while further developing their vocabularies. The reader’s workshop approach allows students to practice critical reading skills, including inferential thinking, finding themes and motifs within a text, historical fiction, and nonfiction. Reading skills and concepts are taught through mentor texts, and students are asked to apply these concepts in their independent reading. In conjunction with independent reading, students discuss literature in small book club groups. The goals of the literature program are twofold: to encourage students to enjoy reading and to help them become more perceptive, competent, readers, and thinkers. Students continue to develop both expository and creative writing skills, increase their knowledge of grammar and the mechanics of writing, and develop research and reporting skills. A writer’s workshop approach is used as students brainstorm, draft, revise, and publish their prose.
HISTORY: Fifth grade history curriculum focuses on studies of ancient Egypt and Greece. Geography, literature, and the arts are some of the avenues used to explore these subject areas. We investigate the essential question "What is culture?" and explore the ancient world through map skills, timelines, and charts.
Fifth Grade Humanities
Using Singapore Math’s PrimaryMathematicsprogram, fifth grade students learn operations of whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. Students apply computational skills with units on perimeter, area, surface area and volume, percentages, ratios and rates, angles, and data analysis. Visual models and hands-on activities are used to solidify the understanding of concepts and number relationships.
● Big Numbers and Place Value: Select large numbers representing significant data in the world around them and create infographics to present to their classmates
● Solve multi-step problems: Visually represent multi-step word problems and learn strategies for multiplying multi-digit whole numbers.
● Multiplication and Division: Learn mental math strategies to multiply and divide expressions that end in powers of 10, such as 400 x 900 and 54,000 ÷ 600. Write story problems to represent multiplication and division problems
Fifth Math
● Factors and Multiples: Use sets of clues to solve number puzzles and write number puzzles for classmates to solve.
● Fractions: Write fractions in simplest form and create a Simple Message project where letters corresponding to fractions in simplest form revealed the answer to a riddle.
● Decimals: Calculate restaurant orders and completed shopping carts for groceries. Chose four stocks to follow on the stock market for 12 business days and used the data to calculate gains, losses and averages.
● Perimeter, Area, Surface Area, and Volume: Design prototypes of the box for a new brand of cereal to demonstrate understanding
Grade
Fifth
Grade Science
The first year of science in Upper School is all about building upon students’ curiosity about the world around them, and Lower School’s scientific focus of asking questions and making observations, to seamlessly meld with teaching students how to document what their observations in ways that allow them to share and discuss data, within their learning teams, and make conclusions based on direct evidence. Learning experiences are designed to mirror the practices of an authentic science research lab so the students’ experiences model those of practitioners within the discipline while also reinforcing essential Upper School skills being taught in language arts and mathematics. The students spend the year applying these habits of mind to a biology focused curriculum that includes studies of cell biology, molecular biology and genetics, human biology, health/puberty, ecology, and evolution. Students document their learning in their interactive science notebooks and demonstrate their understanding through regular assessment.
In fifth grade we lay a foundation of knowledge and skills in each unit that we can continue to build on in the coming years. Students participate in a variety of instructional physical activities, in order to develop a solid foundation of prerequisite skills and movement patterns. We work on pushing out of our comfort zone and challenging ourselves to confidently meet new challenges as well as social and cognitive development, including a scope and sequence of activities to challenge students of all abilities and skill levels. To this end, all assessment in fifth grade is formative and game play is not part of the curriculum. We introduce activities to help students develop collaboration and cooperation skills, and continually explore what it means to be a positive and productive partner. We focus on the major units of badminton, basketball, flag-football, soccer, softball and volleyball with exploration units in other sports and movement activities as well. Students establish movement patterns as the basis for specific skills, developing strength, agility and Activitiesendurance.include: dance, endurance running, sprints, sit-ups, bicycle crunches, standing broad jump, vertical jump, medicine balls, flexibility, stretch bands, jump ropes, pull-ups, PEP exercises, plyometrics, isometrics; active and passive stretching; disc (Frisbee), volleyball, yoga, soccer, football, softball; badminton; basketball, cooperative games, hacky sack, hiking, and more.
Fifth Grade Physical Education
Sixth Grade HumanitiesMathScienceP.E.
The final trimester is devoted to an in-depth unit on historical societal structures around the world, exploring the concepts of power and leadership.
● Writing Workshop units, students develop their abilities to express ideas clearly and effectively through three genres: personal narrative, informational writing, and argumentative essays.
Students read and view primary texts from the civil rights movements of the 1960s and the present-day Black Lives Matter movement, connecting events back to their summer reading, and reflecting on peaceful protest intentions and purposes. Humanities continues with:
Sixth Grade Humanities
● World geography and mapping skills to raises students’ awareness of continents, oceans, and the countries of the world.
● Technological contributions of ancient civilizations, such as the Aztec, Chinese, and Mesopotamian innovations.
● Three main skills students develop this year: summarizing key ideas and details, analyzing craft and structure, and integrating knowledge and ideas. Examples of activities include reading a class novel, discussing texts in literature circles, and cumulative reading reflection projects. Multimodal texts are connected to humanities topics whenever applicable.
● Introduction to early hunter-gatherer societies, the agricultural revolution, and human adaptation to geographic regions. The concept of migration will also be explored, with a reflection on human migration patterns from then to current immigrant-rights issues.
● Students develop critical thinking through activities such as reading, discussion, writing, research, using technology, art, and projects, with written responses to issues and ideas.
Sixth
Grade Math
● Operations of Fractions: Students extend their understanding of fractions to solve word problems involving operations with fractions or mixed numbers with unlike denominators.
● Algebra: Students represented unknown numbers with variables and create pictorial representations of algebraic expressions using a bar model.
Using Singapore Math’s PrimaryMathematicsprogram, students review and continue to develop their understanding of operations of positive integers, fractions, and decimals. Units on data and probability, percentages, ratios and proportions, measurement, algebra, and geometry introduce new concepts and provide opportunities to apply computational skills. Visual models and hands-on activities are used to solidify understanding of concepts and number relationships. The units include:
● Real Numbers: Student review the relationships between fractions, decimals, and percents and learn how to represent the results with a table of equivalent fractions, decimals and percents.
● Ratio and Proportion: Students examine Rene Magritte’s painting PersonalValuesand create their own versions of the painting with disproportionate objects representing important things in their lives. They solve problems that involve constant and variable rates, and applied their knowledge about distance, speed, and time in planning a road trip with Google Maps.
● Angles and Angle Relationships: Students measure and draw angles using a protractor and applied what they learned ato design Angle Bumper Stickers.
● Data and Probability: Students learn the difference between measuring a population and taking a sample, and identify the difference between convenient and random sampling methods. Using dice, coins and spinners, we conducted trials to record the experimental probability of events.
● Percents: Students calculate simple interest, commission and tip. Using store coupons found online, we wrote and solved our own retail discount and sales tax problems.
The sixth graders’ second year of science in upper school is all about building their confidence when it comes to documenting the scientific process in a lab report; we build upon the 5th grade experience of engaging in authentic science experiments and focus on its proper documentation in 6th grade. Throughout the year we continue to reinforce essential upper school skills being taught in language arts and mathematics. There is not better evidence that demonstrates their ability to document their burgeoning scientific literacy more thoroughly than ExploraVision (runs from December to the beginning of February). ExploraVision is a science competition that goes beyond the typical student science competition and into what it takes to bring ideas to reality. Students work in groups of 3 – 4 to simulate real research and development into a current technology and envision how it could be used to solve a problem of today within the next 10 or more years and its development steps, pros & cons, and obstacles. Past winners have envisioned technologies ranging from a hand-held food allergen detector to a new device to help people who have lost limbs regain movement in real time. In addition to the ExploraVision project, students explore an earth science-focused curriculum strand that includes studies of Earth’s rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, geological activity: earthquakes and volcanoes, atmospheric processes (weather and climate), energy, and astronomy.The students continue to document their learning in their interactive science notebooks and demonstrate their understanding on frequent assessments.
Sixth Grade Science
Sixth-grade students continue to participate in a variety of instructional and developmentally appropriate physical activities. The focus is on developing the fundamental skills in each unit: Social-Emotional Learning, Non-Violent Communication, mindfulness, and transferable skills. This class incorporates more in-depth instruction in strength and conditioning activities that can enhance health-related fitness as students make progress in achieving personal fitness goals. Students are introduced to tracking their daily activity levels and encouraged to reflect on how active they are.
The program continues to emphasize social and cognitive development and includes a scope and sequence of activities to challenge students of all abilities and skill levels. Activities interspersed throughout the year include individualized yoga, dance, endurance running, sprints, sit-ups, bicycle crunches, standing broad jump, vertical jump, medicine balls, flexibility, stretch bands, jump ropes, pull-ups, PEP exercises, plyometrics; isometrics, active and passive stretching, disc (Frisbee), volleyball, partner yoga, soccer, football, softball, badminton, circus arts, basketball, cooperative games, EPIC (Engaged Play Inspiring Creativity), hacky sack, hiking, and more.
Sixth-grade assessment addresses students’ progress towards competency building on fundamental skills developed in fifth grade, their fitness development, and quizzes on techniques and basic game rules.
Sixth Grade Physical Education
Seventh Grade ScienceHistoryEnglishMathP.E.
Public Speaking/Writer’s Workshop
Seventh Grade English
●
Seventh grade English is designed to develop confident, appreciative, and analytical readers and writers. This growth is supported by work on critical reading and comprehension, the writing process and writing mechanics, vocabulary development, and grammar. Students practice several modes of writing, including journaling, assignments focused on description, and the expository essay and the course includes a component of independent reading, fostering our students’ love of reading as a lifelong activity. The goals of the course are to:
● Expose students to a variety of literary genres, to help them develop their views of themselves and the world, and to teach them to think actively about ideas they encounter. Literature selections examine themes related to cultural identity, change, and what it means to move from one stage of life to another. (Examples: FullCicada Moonby Marilyn Hinton, YouBringTheDistantNearby Mitali Perkins)
In addition to English class, seventh graders attend a Public Speaking/Writer’s Workshop class once a week as an introduction to public speaking and the speech-writing process.. During the course of the year, each student selects a topic; researches, writes and edits a speech; and then delivers the speech at an Upper School assembly.
Focus on writing as a process and encourage drafting and engagement with the 6+1TraitsofWriting.
● Help students develop small group leadership skills in differentiated book groups, reading and discussing a variety of books, writing a variety of letters, and practicing and demonstrating their literary analysis skills through in-class writes.
● Students are introduced to the “Four Worlds”: political, economic, social, and cultural, each having its own set of actors, each with various sources of power and influence, each with different and often conflicting priorities. Explorations of how the dissemination of information affects the world include studying the culture of ancient China, Pax Mongolica, the Middle East and North and West Africa and the origins, expansion, and contributions of Islam and the Mali Empire.
Seventh Grade History
This course focuses on how cultures affect one another and how the spreading of ideas influences the development of culture.
● The year ends with each student researching, writing and creating a display about her family heritage and/or the history of her community. The project is both a culmination of our study of cultures from around the world and a celebration of the rich cultural diversity and experiences in our community. The project takes place over a seven-week period, with students given time to work on their research and writing projects in class.
● Students learn about the Protestant Reformation, we will see how the ability to print quickly, cheaply, and in multiple languages sparked curiosity in Europe, leading to the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment and shaping the world of today.
Students examine the nature of cause and effect in history and the advantages and challenges associated with increased connectivity within the world. Students begin by building an understanding of our own culture(s) as a way to gather insight and perspective. From here, the course focuses on four slices of history that illustrate the dynamics of how cultures influence those they come in contact with.
● Students explore the trade and economic factors that led European governments to seek new trade routes to Asia and begin to understand basic economic fundamentals and the social and cultural impacts of exploration in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
Using Singapore Math's Dimensionsseries, the main goal of the seventh-grade math program is to develop each student’s ability to use mathematical thought to solve problems. We concentrate on developing thinking skills, logic, the ability to make inferences, and the ability to use estimation to solve problems. Emphasis is placed on the relationship between the verbal, numerical, symbolic, and graphical representations of equations. During our Factors and Multiples unit, students practice finding the square or cube of numbers given in exponential notation and apply their understanding of square roots and cube roots to solving real-life applications such as finding the height of a cube when the volume is given or the side of a square when the area is given. During the Real Numbers unit, students used a number line and properties of real numbers to perform operations of real numbers. In the Algebraic Expressions unit, they learn to convert statements given in words into algebraic expressions using variables. Students also practice writing algebraic expressions to represent real-world situations. In the Solving Equations unit, students bridge pictorial and abstract representations of problems as we transitioned from drawing bar models to writing and solving algebraic equations. During our Ratio, Rate and Speed unit, the students engage in real-world activities like calculating the cost per square foot of an apartment in San Francisco.
During the unit on Percentages, we solved problems involving discounts and sales tax, and determined which was a better deal. We began our Graphing unit by graphing linear equations using a table of values. Inspired by the Sol LeWitt exhibit at SFMOMA, we create a "Wall Drawing 273" and write the equation of a line. We concluded the year with a brief look at the Pythagorean Theorem and its application.
Seventh
Grade Math
The Introductory Physical Science (IPS) program emphasizes three forms of active learning: experimenting, solving problems, and effectively communicating the results of a scientific investigation through writing. Students began their study of physical science by setting up lab notebooks, doing observation activities, and getting acquainted with the science lab and the equipment we’ll be using for the next two years! We generated classroom agreements to ensure constructive participation from everyone. Students learn about the nature of matter and how to describe it through an exploration of measuring volume and mass, and mass changes in open and closed systems. We learn and practice science skills throughout the year, including collecting data, and how to create and read histograms as a means of analyzing data. We’ll investigate characteristic properties of matter such as density, freezing, melting, and boiling point, as well as solubility. These experiences build toward a culminating investigation where students will separate a mixture of “Sludge,” applying skills and experimental techniques they have learned throughout the year. Our goal is for each student to find their own answers through experiences in the lab, discussions with classmates, engaging with the textbook, and doing research. Students learn to support or reject their predictions with data from the whole class. Explanations are evidence-based.
Seventh
Grade Science
The emphasis in seventh grade is on developing more advanced skills in each unit to build on the fundamentals developed in sixth grade. The principles of fitness training are further applied and the benefits of various training methods to enhance skills and fitness are explored. Students continue to track their weekly activity levels and write a self-assessment on their lifestyle. The program continues to emphasize social and cognitive development, encouraging students to take more leadership roles in the group and to work with classmates of all abilities and skill
Physical Education
Seventh-grade assessment addresses students’ progress towards proficiency of skills built to competency in sixth grade, fitness development, and quizzes on techniques and basic game rules.
Activitieslevels. interspersed throughout the year include individualized yoga, dance, endurance running, sprints, sit-ups, bicycle crunches, standing broad jump, vertical jump, medicine balls, flexibility, stretch bands, jump ropes, pull-ups, PEP exercises, plyometrics; isometrics, active and passive stretching, disc (Frisbee), volleyball, partner yoga, soccer, football, softball, badminton, circus arts, basketball, cooperative games, EPIC (Engaged Play Inspiring Creativity), hacky sack, hiking, and more.
Seventh Grade
Eighth Grade ScienceHistoryEnglishMathP.E.
TheBookofUnknownAmericansby Christina Henriquez; analyzing gender identity and presentation in Shakespeare’s AsYouLikeIt,and finally looking at transgender rights through GracefullyGraysonby Ami Polonky. The writing curriculum is based on the idea that writing is a process and there is no such thing as perfect. Students learn how to respond to feedback, edit and revise, revise, revise. Periodic goal-setting, reflection, peer editing, and writing conferences play a major role in the students' development as writers. Since a strong vocabulary is best built by reading literature and by recognizing and learning new roots, students will review Greek and Latin roots, as well as collect and study words from their reading and use them in their writing. In eight grade, students will continue to study grammar as a means to improve their writing. They will learn about phrase, clause and sentence types and will experiment with sentence structure in order to build fluency and become more effective, precise and artful writers. By analyzing composition models, students will explore the many ways to write effectively with varied and complex sentence structures.
Eighth Grade English
The goal of the 8th Grade English curriculum is to help students become more confident and critical readers, writers and thinkers. We begin the year with a focus on injustice and inequality through the assigned summer reading and continue to explore the course themes, through reading various memoirs and primary source documents highlighting youth voices from times of crisis like excerpts from Anne Frank’s Holocaust diary; unpacking the terms “refugee” and “immigrant” through
Eighth grade students take an in-depth look at select topics for our country’s history including the founding of the United States, the U.S. Constitution, the inner workings of the U.S. government, the Bill of Rights, the country’s expansion and the great many people that have come to make up this diverse nation. They gain an understanding of the general timeline of U.S. History guided by the concept of viewing our country’s development through the four worlds (political, economic, social, and cultural) and the rights enumerated in our U.S. Constitution, including citizens’ rights, states’ rights and human rights. In addition, we will delve into current events in order to understand the relationship of past and present. The course begins with a geography overview and a study of different types of governments and what ideas influenced the foundations of the United States government. In the second trimester, students learn about the different articles of the Constitution and gain an understanding of the Separation of Powers, and Checks and Balances within the U.S. government. Students examine the Bill of Rights and debate their interpretations through a series of Socratic Seminars. Students will also gain an understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the United States. Finally, the students will write a persuasive essay regarding the Fourth Amendment’s search and seizure powers. In the Spring, students look at the growth of the country, its westward expansion and understand the toll this took on the continent’s native populations. Students will study and analyze the new nation and the different societies that emerged in the North, South and West. Included in this analysis will be an in-depth look into how, by ignoring the ills of slavery, the new republic set the stage for the American Civil War. We will close out the trimester with students learning about the reconstruction efforts.
Eighth Grade History
The aim of section 8-1 is to prepare students for Algebra 1 in high school by expanding their knowledge of real numbers, measurement, geometry, patterns, and functions. They will use algebraic expressions to represent real world scenarios; solve, write, and graph multi-step linear equations and inequalities, learn properties of exponents, simplify exponential expressions, and solve systems of equations and inequalities. Hands-on activities are used to strengthen their understanding of abstract concepts, to exchange ideas, and to develop their ability to communicate and reason.
Eighth Grade Math
Our students solidify their calculation and computation skills and broaden their repertoire of problem-solving skills through “real-world” applications of math. We emphasize the development of number sense, teaching estimation, and encouraging students to check their answers for reasonableness.
Students in 8-2 generally complete a full Algebra I course, including the study of linear functions and systems, exponents, polynomials, quadratics, and radical functions. Students in 8-3 will complete Algebra 1. Additional topics such as logarithms, matrices, and vectors will be explored, as time allows. Contingent upon their performance on placement tests at their respective high schools, many 8-2 and 8-3 students will move on to Geometry or Algebra II math classes as ninth graders. Grades are based on daily practice assignments, cumulative homework assignments and projects, and assessments.
Eighth Grade Science
We continue the Introductory Physical Science (IPS) program in eighth grade, which emphasizes three forms of active learning: experimenting, solving problems, and effectively communicating the results of a scientific investigation through writing. After setting up lab notebooks, creating classroom agreements, and reviewing lab safety, students generate and test each others’ procedures, reinforcing the importance of communication in science. In the fall we continue to work our way down to the atomic model through close observation in the lab. In the second half of the year, we focus on the careful investigation of the physical world as seen through the lens of Newtonian mechanics. Students design and perform experiments and tackle engineering challenges. Particular emphasis is placed on critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students are expected to carry forward their effective and safe use of lab equipment and experimental design from seventh grade. Our goal is for each student to find their own answers through experiences in the lab, discussions with classmates, engaging with the textbook, and doing research. Students learn to support or reject their predictions with data from the whole class. Explanations are evidence-based.
As eighth graders, students are encouraged to work cooperatively as teams and to explore their role and contribution to their team through games and challenges in the Challenge P.E. activity. As such, group dynamics are explored and individual roles on each student’s team are self-identified.
Eighth-grade students are instructed in a variety of developmentally appropriate physical activities in the same areas as in fifth through seventh grades, but the emphasis is on the application of the previously developed skills, tactics, and rules of gameplay situations. Students receive further instruction in methods to enhance skills and fitness and are asked to demonstrate the ability to apply these principles. Students may complete fitness development projects to illustrate their understanding of the principles of fitness development.
Physical Education
Activities interspersed throughout the year include individualized yoga, dance, endurance running, sprints, sit-ups, bicycle crunches, standing broad jump, vertical jump, medicine balls, flexibility, stretch bands, jump ropes, pull-ups, PEP exercises, plyometrics; isometrics, active and passive stretching, disc (Frisbee), volleyball, partner yoga, soccer, football, softball, badminton, circus arts, basketball, cooperative games, EPIC (Engaged Play Inspiring Creativity), hacky sack, hiking, and more.
Eighth Grade
Curriculum Snapshots Questions? Please forwww.burkes.orgvisitmoreinformation!
