Middle Academics

Music

The Middle School Music program at IPA focuses the development of music fundamentals, as well as the exploration of basic music theory. Students learn to explore these concepts through learning to play the ukulele. By the end of the middle school, students will be able to read and perform music proficiently on the ukulele, and compose and perform a 12 bar blues.

Drama

The Middle School Theatre Arts program emphasizes artistic perception and creative expression. Students will be trained in the fundamental skills of theatre arts, including improvisation techniques, creative drama, body control, voice, diction, pantomime, learning of lines, creation of character, projection of ideas and emotions, and acting of scenes from plays. It will include dramatic play, story enactment, imagination journeys, theatre games, puppeteering, story-telling, role playing, music and dance.

Visual Arts

The Middle School Visual Arts program emphasizes an exploration into a variety of art and studio techniques. Ceramics gives students experiences in making functional as well as sculptural pieces. Well thought out forms, designs and functional uses along with good craftsmanship are also emphasized. The class is an introduction to basic techniques in both hand building and wheel- working. Various methods of glazing and firing are addressed as they relate to student work on specific projects.

Grade 6

The Grade 6 design course, Introduction to Design, provides an introduction to design thinking processes and technologies. Emphasis is on conceptual and technical skills that empower students to design solutions that address real-world problems. Through design thinking and technology, this project-based learning course will guide students to carefully consider context, audience, and purpose. Students will be challenged to craft a variety of solutions for given problems and to evaluate the impact of those solutions on the world around them. Students will begin building competencies in a variety of software and hardware design technologies.

Grade 7

The Grade 7 design course, Design Through Art, provides opportunities for students to develop problem-solving skills through investigations in art and community development. Topics covered in this course will include art and technology as a tool for collaboration, building empathy towards our communities, modeling design ideas, creating solutions, and evaluating their process and product. The students will develop practical application of the design cycle by demonstrating their understanding through presentations, documentations, and end products produced. Art and technology are an integral component of the course, and students are encouraged to experiment with a range of different media during the year.

Grade 8

The Grade 8 design course, Entrepreneurship and Design, provides an introduction to professional level design software through an entrepreneurial lens. Students will gain the technical and conceptual skills to design, plan, produce and present solutions to real-world problems. Students will use a variety of design tools, software, and design strategies to demonstrate their innovative solutions. The goal of this course is to leave students with a design thinking mindset that is necessary for the 21st-century citizenry.

Grade 6

Grade 6 Humanities focuses on cultural geography. Students will be learning about the world around them by gaining cultural awareness. Through the study of continents and cultures across the globe, students will gain a unique understanding of why culture and ideals are important to people everywhere. Students will also learn about how various social and cultural systems function. More importantly, students will be able to explore their own self-identity to discover what shapes their own values and beliefs. This class will be supplemented with a variety of relevant books, films, and current events.

Grade 7

The focus of Grade 7 Humanities pertains to the study of Ancient Civilizations. Through various projects, students will explore the emergence of cultures across the globe. Units of study will touch upon the importance of understanding ancient cultures, as well as pondering their origins and eventual demise; thus helping students to recognize continuity and change over time. Students will also learn about various governmental structures. The class will be supplemented with a variety of relevant books, films, and current events.

Grade 8

The Grade 8 Humanities course focuses on a thematic examination of early American history. It begins with the pre-Columbian era and a study of Native Americans and extends to the Civil War. Units will focus on different time periods, as well as the foundations of national identity and governmental structures of the United States. Issues of discrimination, community, and belonging will also be addressed through the close reading of various novels and primary sources. The class will be supplemented with a variety of relevant books, films, and current events.

Grade 6

Integrated Mathematics 6 focuses on building skills in the areas of numbers, algebra, geometry, statistics and probability, and discrete mathematics. Computational work, problem-solving strategies, improving mathematical communication, and reflection upon the analysis of various situations are important components of this course. Mathematics plays an essential role in school and the world around us. Knowledge of that language will be facilitated by promoting critical thinking skills that lead to the development of logic and analytic reasoning abilities and the solving of real-world applications.

Grade 7

Integrated Mathematics 7 provides students the opportunity to revisit the concepts of number, algebra, geometry, statistics and probability, and discrete mathematics with a focus on furthering, as well as developing greater depth of conceptual understanding and skill. Critical thinking skills that lead to the development of logic and analytic reasoning abilities and the solving of real-world applications are also further developed throughout the 7th-grade mathematics course.

Grade 8

Integrated Mathematics 8 builds on experiences in mathematics learning that students have gained in previous mathematics courses. The use of structured inquiry is a precursor to the problem-solving and inquiry-based approach. Students will have developed not only an inquiring and reflective approach to mathematics learning but also critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which they will be able to apply and extend in further mathematics courses.

Grades 6 – 8

Physical Education is intended to establish a lifelong interest in and enjoyment of physical activities. Special attention will be given to establishing relationships with classmates, and understanding different roles as part of a larger group. Students will participate in team and individual sports, as well as non-sport-related physical activity, to better understand the importance of a balanced, healthy lifestyle. Students will learn the basics of nutrition and begin to establish a balance of age-appropriate diet and exercise to reach their optimal level of physical fitness and overall health. Overall, students will begin to build the groundwork for a healthy life, lessons that they can take with them well past their school-age years.

Grade 6

The Grade 6 science class explores the world of physical sciences. Each student will develop a Science Fair project of their choice throughout the first semester. Through Science Fair, the students will apply the scientific process to a topic of their interest and learn lab report writing skills that will be used in all subsequent science classes at IPA. The course content will focus on chemistry and physics, which constitute the physical sciences. 6th-grade students will learn and investigate the matter, chemical reactions, water solutions, and basic physics concepts.

Grade 7

The Grade 7 science class explores the world of life sciences. Each student will develop a Science Fair project of their choice throughout the first semester. Through Science Fair, the students will apply the scientific process to a topic of their interest and develop lab report writing skills that will be used in all subsequent science classes at IPA. The course content will focus on the biology of the human body. 7th-grade students will learn about cells, genetics and the inheritance of traits, and how the human organ systems function.

Grade 8

The Grade 8 science class explores the world of environmental sciences with an emphasis on exploring and discovering our home environment here in Hawaiʻi. Through hands-on, student-centered lab activities students will learn about the scientific method. Oceanography, atmosphere, global patterns, and the Hawaiian environment are all topics that will be covered in this course.

Grade 6

In the Grade 6 World Languages course, Language Explorations I, students will have the opportunity to learn basic language skills in Spanish, Japanese, and Hawaiian language (one trimester each). Language Explorations I will place an emphasis on the relationship between language and culture, providing students with the opportunity to learn about Japanese culture, Hispanic culture, and Hawaiian culture. Through the exploration of three different languages, students will be able to make connections across cultures and languages in an effort to develop greater global awareness and cultural understanding.

Grade 7

Spanish: In this course, students will develop their language skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing through different interactive activities and real-life experiences. These experiences include pen pals, video conferences with Spanish-speaking students in Latin America, and field trips to Hispanic businesses in Honolulu. Students will learn to express likes, and dislikes, describe themselves and others, conjugate regular and irregular verbs, and write short narratives about places they go and activities they do.

Japanese: This course is designed to build upon the basics of the Japanese language and an understanding of Japanese culture. The focus of oral communication and visual interpretation is building simple conversation skills and identification of everyday situations into interactive conversations and understanding of everyday situations. Reading comprehension and writing will focus on Hiragana and Katakana as a tool to express details or ideas about a situation. The learning of new vocabulary will be included as appropriate for each topic. In addition, we will take a closer look at online and offline tools as a reference. Students will be introduced to the integration of language and cultural knowledge to communicate information about familiar situations in their daily life.

Grade 8

Foundations in Spanish: This course will provide students with a strong foundation in the Spanish language and an understanding of Hispanic culture. This course will focus on vocabulary acquisition, correct grammar, exposure to Hispanic culture more in-depth, and the development of the reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in the Spanish language. The students will be exposed to a broader variety of real-life situations and will develop the language skills necessary to be able to communicate in Spanish in various real-world contexts.

Foundations in Japanese: This course is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in the Japanese language and an understanding of Japanese culture. Oral communication will be developed through the practice of unrehearsed situations combined with more familiar presentations and projects. The focus on visual interpretation skills will place students in a position where they must identify opinions and ideas related to the topic. Reading comprehension and writing skills will be tied closely to the mastery of Hiragana and Katakana and an exploration of kanji. Projects will be presented with the use of technology. Students will continue to build off their experiences in Language Explorations through the integration of language and cultural knowledge to communicate their personal perspectives on various topics by applying their prior knowledge to unfamiliar situations.

Foundations in Papa ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i: In this ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian Language) course, students will develop foundational skills necessary to communicate in Hawaiian through an emphasis on speaking, listening, writing, reading, and cultural understanding. Students enrolled in this course will learn greetings, basic language structure, and vocabulary. With an emphasis on place-based learning, students will have the opportunity to learn about the Hawaiian language and culture through learning trips to places around the island.