Core Subject Curriculum

Core Subject Curriculum

English-Language Arts

The English-Language Arts team strives to teach students the literacy skills necessary to achieve our instructional focus, which is to graduate all students on an 8th grade level. The team uses a balanced literacy approach, focusing on both reading and writing mastery. 

At M.S. 101, we use the Core Ready curriculum that focuses on four key units which increase in rigor throughout students’ three years in ELA class. Units One and Three, “Shape of Story” and “Journey to Meaning” teach students how to interpret and craft narratives. Unit Two, “Power to Persuade” focuses on argumentative reading and writing through informational texts like biographies, speeches, and articles. Unit Six, “Road to Knowledge” seeks to teach students how to understand and craft informational pieces. Additionally, the ELA team spends time teaching students how to analyze and write poetry and prepare for standardized exams through test sophistication. 

 

To track student growth, we administer pre and post-unit exams aligned to the Writing Pathways rubrics and checklists and engage students in one-on-one reading and writing conferences. Moreover, students take a reading exam called the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP), three times a year to measure their reading levels. We use data from these sources to create individualized intervention and acceleration plans for all students. 

In the spring of 8th grade, students who show exceptional literacy skills may be recommended to take the High school level New York State ELA Regents exam, gaining early High school credit.

 

MATHEMATICS

Math Students continue to move forward with learning math through the use of our McGraw Hill, Reveal curriculum which is supplemented by an adaptive Tier 1 computer based program called Zearn. Students move at their own achievement level through various standards based lessons and missions.

All grades are focused on the following standards:

• Making sense of problems and persevere in solving them
• Construct viable argument and critique the reasoning of others.
• Model with mathematics in problem solving situations/scenarios.

Students have access to IXL for additional practice and work in small groups to target specific learning needs. Extra help for math takes place 2 days a week after school, please contact Mr. Rosoff if you would like to attend. Select students, known as our “Mathletes” have competed in several competitions this year, including MathLeague.

The NYS exams will take place on May 2, 2023 and May 3, 2023. This spring our Grade 8 students will take the Computer Based NYS exam. Additional grades will be added each year.

 

SCIENCE PROGRAM

The M.S. 101 Science team believes that it is our job to prepare our students for the scientific and technological demands of the 21st century. Our teachers use the New York City Scope and Sequence, aligned to the Next Generation Science standards, to ensure that students are appropriately prepared for their future.

 

Over the course of their three years in science at M.S. 101, students learn the foundational skills needed to ensure their preparation for High school level science classes. Students learn the scientific method, participate in hands-on and virtual laboratory investigations using the Amplify curriculum in all three grades.

 

 

Additionally, M.S. 101 is an Urban Advantage School. Urban Advantage is a standards-based partnership program designed to improve students' understanding of scientific inquiry through collaborations between urban public school systems and science cultural institutions such as zoos, botanical gardens, museums, and science centers. Our teachers attend frequent professional learning at these partner institutions and bring back their rigorous, engaging resources for classroom use.

Our science program culminates with the Intermediate Level Science Exam or the Living Environment Regents which students take in the 8th grade.

 

SOCIAL STUDIES PROGRAM

At M.S. 101, we firmly believe that it is our job as educators to develop our students into future model citizens who have the ability to think critically and make informed decisions.  

To achieve this, the Social Studies team uses a rigorous, Highly engaging curriculum called Passport to Social Studies. The curriculum, developed by New York City educators, utilizes primary source documents to teach students not only about historical events, but how to also make judgments about the individuals that shaped our past. In 6th grade, students learn about the Eastern Hemisphere, while 7th and 8th graders learn about the History of the United States and New York. 

The Social Studies team teaches students critical ELA skills including how to make observations, inferences, determine bias, point of view, and central idea. These skills culminate with a major writing assignment at the end of each unit called a Document Based Question essay. 

Social Studies students graduate M.S. 101 with the content knowledge and skills needed to master the New York State Social Studies Regents and Advanced Placement exams in High school.