Academics
Our Core
Our curriculum aligns with the core instructional expectations of the New York City Department of Education. Students build and maintain digital writing portfolios over the course of three years from grades 6th through 8th. Student writing portfolios are comprised of standards-based writing projects (“MUST HAVES”) completed in their four core subjects throughout the school year. Students showcase and review their writing portfolios at the end of each marking period during our parent-teacher conferences so that families are able to track and celebrate their progress in Mathematics, ELA, Social Studies, and Science. Our core and elective courses curricula are fully aligned to the New York State Department of Education standards.
Curriculum content By grade
Mathematics:
At each grade level, there is an emphasis on certain power standards that build as the students progress through middle school.
Grade 6: Ratios and Proportional Relationships, Number Sense and Expressions and Equations.
Grade 7: Ratios and Proportional Relationships, Number Sense and Expressions and Equations.
Grade 8: Expressions and Equations, Functions and Geometry.
English Language Arts:
NMBAA students receive 45 minutes of reading instruction and 45 minutes of writing instruction daily. Our reading curriculum is divided into units of study. A unit of study focuses on a set of skills and is rooted in providing students with choice, time to practice, and targeted feedback within each skill band. Our ultimate goal is to develop students who are lifelong readers and writers.
Grade 6 Reading: A Deep Study of Character, Tapping the Power of Nonfiction, Social Issues Book Clubs, Fantasy Books Clubs
Grade 6 Writing: Personal Narrative: Crafting Powerful Life Stories, Research-Based Information Writing, The Literary Essay: From Character to Compare/Contrast, Fantasy Writing, Graphic Novels: Writing in Pictures
Grade 7 Reading: A Deep Study of Character 2.0, Tapping the Power of Nonfiction 2.0, Investigating Characterization: Author Study Book Clubs, Historical Fiction Book Clubs
Grade 7 Writing: Realistic Fiction: Symbolism, Syntax, and Truth, The Art of Argument, Historical Fiction: Weaving Fact and Fiction Together
Grade 8 Reading: Investigating Characterization: Author Study Book Clubs 2.0, Essential Research Skills for Teens, Dystopian Book Clubs, Contemporary Classics: Critical Reading of Award-Winning Literature
Grade 8 Writing: Writing Memoir, Position Papers: Research and Argument, The Literary Essay: Analyzing Craft and Theme, Investigative Journalism
Science:
All science classes at NMBAA focus on the following 3 areas:
1) Disciplinary core ideas: content areas and topics such as properties of matter or ecosystems.
2) Science and engineering practices: the activities scientists do as they investigate such as planning investigations and analyzing data.
3) Crosscutting concepts: which link together topics across all domains of science such as patterns or cause and effect.
Social Studies:
Grade 6: Ancient Civilizations
Grade 7: Early Native Americans to the Civil War
Grade 8: Reconstruction to Current Events