Pride With Purpose Preparing For The Future

The Pershing Academic Program

Pershing is a middle school. We serve children who range in age from ten years to fourteen. We believe our students need more nurturing than high school students and more specialized instruction than elementary school students do. Pershing organizes the day to include both the nurturing of elementary school and the specialization of high school. It is also organized to provide time in every period for direct instruction and the application of learning through practice, activities and projects. We have followed this schedule since the fall of 2001 and have experienced significant academic growth and an increasingly calm, focused work atmosphere for our students.

Our schedule has four 80-minute periods each day and students take five subjects each marking period. The three core classes meet daily; physical education and an elective class meet on alternate days. Students earn both an academic and a citizenship grade for each of these classes. In addition, there is a daily 30-minute reading period for which students earn a citizenship grade. 

Our sixth grade students belong to a class and spend 70% (their three core classes) of each day with this core group. This grouping promotes a sense of belonging and helps students build community. Every 80 minutes, each class moves as a class to a new teacher so that students can have expert instruction. Three teachers share about 100 students who rotate among these three teachers throughout the day. Teachers team together to provide support for their students and for each other. Students from the full grade level are regrouped for the other classes- PE, an elective (music or wheel) and the reading period. This regrouping gives students some experience with students outside their class and allows most students a choice of either a music or a wheel class.  
Seventh and eighth grade students take two subjects every day with their core class. All students take 80 minutes daily of Humanities (English Language Arts and Social Studies) and 80 minutes daily of Science.   Seventh and eighth grade students regroup for their 80 minutes of math by subject- pre algebra, algebra or geometry.

Pershing students have a fourth class every day. All students are required to take Physical Education (PE) every other day for 80 minutes. On alternate days, most sixth grade students take four 9-week short courses on Introduction to Middle School, Pre-Engineering, Drama, Computer Technology. In place of the wheel class, sixth grade students may also take Band, Orchestra or Study Skills. All seventh and eighth grade students take a yearlong elective class. Pershing offers Drama, Pre-Engineering, Computer Technology, Band, Orchestra, Study Skills and Peer Tutoring. Our Pre-Engineering and technology classes are offered in cooperation with the Engineering Department at SDSU. 

The 80-minute class is an important structure for young adolescent students. This expansive period allows students to receive a traditional 50-minute lesson and then ensures that all students have the opportunity to apply immediately the learning through an activity or project. The time also gives teachers the space to use interdisciplinary techniques and thereby strengthen mathematical and literary fluency. Finally, teachers use the additional time to individualize instruction for the particular students in their classes. 

Mathematics 

The standard district math course for both sixth grade and seventh grade students is a pre-algebra curriculum. The goal is to support students in learning to use mathematical concepts, read and use mathematical notation, and apply mathematical skills and strategies as tools for living life well. The topics studied are positive and negative integers, decimals, percents, proportions, ratios, fractions, simple equations, inequalities, exponents, square roots, linear functions, graphing, geometry and spatial reasoning. 

The standard district math course for eighth grade students is algebra. The algebra class develops the concepts studied in pre-algebra and uses these to study the properties of real numbers, solve and graph linear equations, linear inequalities, exponential functions, quadratic equations and functions, rational expressions and equations and radicals, polynomials and factoring. 

For students attending Pershing throughout middle school, the 80 minute mathematics class provides far more time studying mathematics across the three years than students receive with most other school schedules. While this additional time helps many students solidify their understanding of grade level standards, it also provides a structure for interested students to advance in the math curriculum. This acceleration will allow participation in challenging capstone courses in high school by introducing the required prerequisites and the habits of mind needed for success in rigorous college level courses while in high school.  

Seventh grade algebra: Students who demonstrate strong algebra readiness at the end of sixth grade are considered for seventh grade algebra. Eligible students must be recommended by their teacher, score at the mastery level on the algebra readiness test, earn a minimum of a 390 on the Grade Six California Standards Test of Mathematics and have the consent of their parents. At Pershing, about 100 seventh grade students (approximately 1/3 of our 7th grade class) study algebra and earn high school credit. All students who meet the required pre-requisites are eligible for this class. 

Eighth grade geometry: Seventh grade algebra students who also pass the rigorous algebra final exam are eligible to study geometry in eighth grade. At Pershing, about 100 eighth grade students (approximately 1/3 of our 8th grade class) study geometry and earn high-school credit. All students who meet the required pre-requisites are eligible for this class. 

Pershing works closely with the Department of Mathematics at San Diego State University, one of our business partners. The SDSU Math Department supports our school in many ways, including guiding our program and paying their math students to be part time tutors in our math classes.

Pershing’s Math program is extensive and our math teachers are able to work closely with our students. All of our students benefit from this rigorous program. 

For More Information:

San Diego Unified School Course Description: 

     http://studata.sandi.net/cos/pdf/Math.pdf 

California State Department of Education information about mathematics:

     http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ma/cf/index.asp

English, Social Studies and Humanities 

Sixth grade students study English Language Arts for 80 minutes daily for the entire school year. They are also taught Social Studies for 80 minutes per day during the fall semester. Seventh and eighth grade students study both English and Social Studies in a single 80-minute daily class. When we consider the two subject areas jointly, we call these the Humanities. 

English Language Arts focuses on the process by which we use language. Students increase their communication abilities through reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities. English course work in grades 6-8 consists of interrelated units of study that teach literature, writing and oral communication, using a Readers and Writers Workshop approach. Students study the standard forms of American English, which include spelling, vocabulary, grammar and usage. Literature is taught by type (short stories, drama, nonfiction, poetry, myth, legend, folk tale, novel), by theme, and in interdisciplinary units. Writing areas include response to literature, narrative research reports, letter writing and poetry. Students complete several research projects each year. Independent reading is required and monitored. All students are expected to read a minimum of twenty-five books annually and to analyze the books using strategies learned in class.  The daily 30 minute reading period provides a supervised opportunity for all students to make progress toward the required twenty-five books. Most students will need to match the 30 minutes of reading at home in order to meet the reading requirement.

The Humanities curriculum increases student appreciation for literature through a historical lens. It develops student ability in the four literary areas: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students will learn and gain experience thinking critically about the material, drawing their own conclusions, and expressing those conclusions in a written format or class discussion. Further, students will increase their comprehension of Ancient History, World Cultures and United States History through comprehensive and thematic projects.

More Information:

San Diego Unified School Course Description:

     English: http://studata.sandi.net/cos/pdf/EngLangArt.pdf  

     Social Studies: http://www2.sandi.net/course/pdf/SocStuds.pdf

 
Science 

Sixth grade students study science for 80 minutes per day during the spring semester. Seventh and eighth grade science is an 80-minute daily class that lasts the entire school year.

We use a conceptual approach to science that provides rich hands-on experiences with the concepts being studied. Children need to experience manipulating material, following lab directions, discussing and reasoning about the meaning of the lab with partners and reading support material in order to understand the vocabulary, concept and connections that underlie the scientific phenomena that we study in middle school.

The course work is taught with significant use of technology. In 2005/2006, the district included Pershing in a grant, Enhancing Science Education Through Technology (ESETT). ESETT uses sixth, seventh, and eighth grade middle school science classrooms as the setting where students and their teachers utilize technology-based learning strategies in support of the district-adopted science curriculum. Science is an optimal choice for technology integration. The teaching approaches (i.e., connections with real time data and natural phenomena) that are used in contemporary science curriculum and instruction are conducive to the integrated use of technology. For more information about the ESETT project, see: http://edtech.sandi.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=201&Itemid=300

All science students maintain an academic notebook. The notebook is a structured method for recording notes, writing up labs and activities and supporting reasoning through the collection of evidence and observations. It is also a method to extend learning through personal interest and is an important strategy for developing the habits of mind that give student ownership of the ideas and concepts studied.

Pershing students are required to conduct a Science Fair project. Grade six science teachers lead students through a highly structured group project in each class, carefully building an understanding of the reasoning and processes that scientists use. In seventh grade students do a mini project with a partner and with significant teacher facilitation. Eighth grade students do a significant project culminating in a presentation to the public and possibly admission into the rigorous Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Science Fair held annually at Balboa Park.

The Pershing Science Fair supports all students in the learning of both academic and workplace skills. Academically, it gives students the opportunity to think like a scientist - to ask a question and do some initial thinking. It requires students to take notes, refine the question, research it, design a test and follow through with the testing process, keep records in a notebook, evaluate the testing using a sample of significant size, control variables, make sense of the data, reconcile the results with their understanding of Science content, explain the results in writing, represent the data, write up the full process including a research paper, and finally to present the project visually and orally. The Science Fair requirement also prepares students for the world of work by requiring the student to accomplish parts of the project throughout the fall semester, to meet a series of deadlines and to persuade a panel that the project has merit. Project management is an important workplace skill.

We require Science Fair projects from all our students in all grades believing that through this structured opportunity many children will learn that they are capable of rigorous thinking and work. We think of the Science Fair as an opportunity to find oneself as a student, to identify as a thinker and to come to see oneself as eligible for scientific and engineering careers. The project is a critical element of our GATE curriculum and provides all students the opportunity to extend learning far beyond the curriculum.
Sixth Grade Science is a hands-on/minds-on class. Earth Science is the major topic studied. Sub-topics include plate tectonics, earth systems, the forces that shape and reshape the earth’s surfaces, and the sources of energy for the earth. 

Seventh Grade Science & Technology is a hands-on, thought-provoking class focused on Life Science. Topics include cell biology, genetics, earth and life history, structures and functions of living systems, and physical principles of life systems. Teachers use experiments and simulations as well as readings and other media to enrich learning. Computer based technology is used regularly to make students computer literate through the science curriculum. 

Eighth Grade Science curriculum is based on California ’s state standards. Physical Science is the main topic studied. Sub-topics include motion, forces, reactions, density, buoyancy, the periodic table, the structure of matter, and earth in the solar system. Students are expected to learn many computer programs and use other classroom technological applications. They will have opportunities to integrate scientific questioning skills, conduct evidence collection, and prepare formal summaries by working as individuals and teams on laptops in the classroom. Students are also taught a two-week course of Sexual Education.  

For More Information:

San Diego Unified School Course Description:

     Science: http://studata.sandi.net/cos/pdf/Science.pdf

For information on Pershing's GATE program, please click here.