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Fifth Humanities
- English
Sixth Language Analysis And Development
- English
Ninth English
- English
The IMS English Department has––at least for the last decade or so––encouraged students to treat their interaction with every text in the syllabus like an investigation. What is this novel, short story, play, excerpt, podcast, or piece of longform journalism really about? How is this central subject signaled (subtly or overtly) by the author/writer/creator of the work in question? Is the author levying a judgment? If so, what is it? What’s the relevance of this assertion to the way we think and live? The focus has always been on active reading and rigorous engagement with the texts considered. This year, as the English and History departments prepare to merge and adopt a unified humanities model in 2022-2023, the lines of inquiry we’ll follow will be largely the same in both disciplines. We’ll strive to adequately and accurately define terms such as “power,” “justice,” “identity,” “equity,” “perspective,” “alterity,” “privilege,” and “morality.” Then we’ll seek to sufficiently unpack and account for the relationships extant between these concepts, as the students come to understand how their interaction and interplay, their causality and influence, dictate the social structure of societies and civilizations.
Expression has long been at the forefront of what we do. Being articulate in discussion and eloquent on the page have always been paramount learning goals. When it comes to written work, the modes of expression that receive the lion’s share of attention are persuasive/expository, introspective, and creative writing: the stylistic (and pedagogical) emphasis is, respectively, on clarity and concision in the first case; candor and earnestness in the second; observation, detail, vividness, and narrative elements in the last. The goal is to endow students with the analytical acumen to dissect and distill sophisticated content and the technical mastery to trenchantly convey their views and beliefs about said content.
Spanish IA
- Global Languages
Spanish 1A is an introductory course and the rough equivalent to the first half of Level 1 Spanish in high school. The class begins with verbal practice in greetings, introductions and to introduce rules for pronunciation. Throughout the year this course covers foundational rules of grammar primarily in the present tense. Lessons related to school, food, family and daily activities help build a foundation in basic vocabulary. Daily activities include all four modalities: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Class participation is encourage through verbal exercises. A variety of cultural units are studied in order to bring a relevance to the student as they explore the richness in the lives of the people of Latin America and Spain. Successful completion of this course advances the student to the next level, Spanish 1B.
Latin IB
- Global Languages
Latin IB, the second half of the two-year program, begins with a thorough review of the material covered in IA. Once the class has demonstrated a solid understanding of the basics, the course moves on to more difficult concepts, including the passive voice, demonstrative pronouns, adjectives, and participles. Passage translation becomes more prevalent, and more emphasis is placed on reading involving Roman mythology and history like in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Latin IB also studies a Roman author that each student gets to choose, research and even pretend to be. The class ends the year by creating their own Roman frescoes out of plaster and chalk. The successful completion of the two-year course earns credit for Latin 1 at the secondary school level.
Mandarin IB
- Global Languages
Mandarin IB is an elementary language course for beginners. After learning Chinese in Mandarin IA at IMS or equivalent, the students will continue to develop their language skills on the following topics at the novice-high level: colors, clothing, friends, sports, pets, languages, shopping, routines of a day and ongoing actions, weather, directions, and trips. Approximately 250 new characters will be learned in the course. The learners are expected to have learned approximately 500 characters in total upon course completion. The students will be able to use complete sentences, hold simple conversations about everyday topics, as well as ask and answer questions on familiar topics.
Fifth Mathematics
- Mathematics
The goal of the fifth grade math program is to solidify, through review, the basic operations with whole numbers and decimals. The students are then introduced to the four operations with fractions. Units on geometry and measurement conclude the year’s work. A clear and thorough record of student achievement is maintained in each student’s notebook.
Math games and brainteasers are also employed to improve the student’s ability to think mathematically, notice patterns and solve problems logically. The class also emphasizes the practice of mental math activities.
ELL: Writing
- English
This class is intended for second language learners who are attending IMS for the first time. Students learn and practice the intermediate/ advanced intermediate level grammatical structures and apply them in their speaking and writing. They progress from writing grammatically correct sentences to structured paragraphs and five paragraph essays. In addition, students write poetry, narrative fiction, and summaries. They are expected to participate in class discussions and to improve their listening skills. It is the goal of this class to prepare students for mainstream English class or ESL Bridge class the following year. Evaluations include regular quizzes and tests, as well as placement and cumulative testing using the Cambridge Michigan English Placement test.