Middle School (Grades 6-8)

Our goal is to teach your child to read and write effectively and efficiently. To do that, there is a developmental sequence that students progress through as they become increasingly skilled learners. Our educators constantly assess your child to determine the right reading instruction that best meets their needs. This may be small group instruction or 1:1 tutorial depending on the individual needs of the student.

Middle School students meet once a day with their English Language Arts (ELA) class, which is strategically assigned based on a number of factors including but not limited to students' cognitive profiles, skill development, and areas of need. Using students' learning profiles, educators set class goals, define curricula, and set the pace to ensure the specific needs of each student are met.

Reading Approach

Strategies and skills use the methodology of the Orton-Gillingham approach to teach decoding, encoding, fluency, morphology, vocabulary and comprehension, recognition of plot structure, fiction and nonfiction text analysis, and literary devices.

Writing Approach

Focus is on the process of writing using the acronym POWER (plan, organize, write, evaluate, and reflect). By approaching writing as a process, teachers encourage students to postpone closure on a piece of writing until they have explored all of its possibilities for improvement. Writing goals are differentiated by class and by student.

Additional Language-Based Skills

Other skills covered in ELA include: note-taking, group collaboration, presenting and speaking in front of peers, active class participation, and self-advocacy

Every middle school student is assigned a focus area class, which is an opportunity for students to receive additional specialized instruction in an area of great need. Through a diagnostic and prescriptive approach, academic leaders analyze data, work samples, and educator recommendations in order to assign the most appropriate focus area course. Focus area educators communicate class-specific goals with families at the start of the school year. Focus area courses include:

• Orton-Gillingham (individual and small group)
• Comprehension & Vocabulary
• Written Expression (Grammar, Sentence Structure, Paragraph/Essay Structure)
• Reading and Writing through the Hero’s Journey
• Math Thinking & Problem Solving; Number Sense; Fluency
• Math/Language Focus Area; Executive Functioning

Our math curriculum is designed to teach students how to think. Traditional math, where facts and computations are memorized, does not harness the strengths of students with dyslexia. We take a different approach.

Carroll math educators nourish students’ logic and problem-solving skills to empower them to grow their mathematical intuitions. We accomplish this by assessing each student and setting class goals that are targeted to the class’ unique set of strengths and challenges.

Our mathematics content is guided by the Common Core Curriculum Frameworks for each grade, and includes: Foundations, Fundamentals, Introduction to Pre-Algebra, Pre-Algebra, Introduction to Algebra, Algebra, Algebra I.

At Carroll, we believe to understand the present, we must first understand the past. Using various periods of World and American history as a backdrop, our educators guide inquiry-based lessons and projects designed to allow students to practice language, comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and geography skills.

Students learn to think like a historian by analyzing primary sources, questioning biases, engaging in discussion and debate, and viewing various events in history through multiple perspectives. Through written, multi-sensory, and multimedia projects and reports, our students are encouraged to develop a sense of social and civic responsibility, ultimately learning how to think for themselves, but to also think of others.

• Grade 6: World Geography & Early Civilizations
• Grade 7: Colonial America, Development of US government
• Grade 8: US History (from Westward expansion to Cold War)

Children with dyslexia often see the world differently. That's why our science classes are designed to engage students in hands-on, multi-sensory activities that build upon their strengths to think critically and creatively, and relate to real-world examples and experiences. Students are provided with chances to explore, ask questions, experiment, make mistakes, re-test, design, and discover through STEAM activities.

Science educators design projects and experiments that foster the following skills: observation, collaboration, categorization, sequencing, recognition of patterns, determination of cause and effect relationships, recognition and control of variables, making predictions, drawing conclusions, and supporting with evidence.

Topics follow the Next Generation Science Standards and MA Curriculum Frameworks: Earth as a System (6th), Physical Science (7th), and Life Science (8th).

Speech and Language pathologists employ a collaborative, classroom-based intervention model. Through collaboration with family members and Carroll staff, the speech-language pathology department works to foster the receptive and expressive language skills necessary for students to have positive experiences while effectively engaging with peers, educators, and curriculum.

At Carroll, we hand craft each student’s schedule to give that child what they most need. Flex Block provides additional time for students to receive well-designed, thoughtful curriculum from trained faculty within carefully crafted groups. Throughout the year, students participate in the following strands: skills development, targeted cognitive intervention (TCI), health and wellness, community building, and executive functioning skills.

We’ve discovered that helping students with key cognitive development skills directly impacts their ability to read, comprehend, write, and problem solve. In the Targeted Cognitive Intervention (TCI) program, cognitive profiles reveal where learning weaknesses exist. Using games and activities, TCI directly targets those underlying deficits in areas such as reaction time, processing speed, visual working memory, verbal working memory, and many forms of executive function to help strengthen the underlying learning skills of each student.

Learn More about TCI

Children with dyslexia often have prolific talents. We celebrate the dyslexic advantage by giving students opportunities to embrace their strengths through art, music, makers, movement, and outdoor education.

Studio Arts

The Studio Arts program is designed to foster self-expression, self-confidence, and lifelong curiosity by building skills, tool technique, and concepts through a wide variety of artistic media.

Performing Arts

The Performing Arts program develops students' skills, knowledge, and confidence to share their unique thoughts and ideas with their community and the world. Through a variety of creative mediums (drama, music, improv, etc.), students explore and experiment with concepts that support self-expression and ensemble building.

Makers

The Makers program aims to bring student thinking to life. Using a variety of media and tools - such as 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, recording equipment, and more - students have opportunities to turn their ideas into projects. Recommended Read: Building a Middle School Makers' Haven

Physical Education

The Physical Education program promotes students’ gross motor skills, aerobic fitness, body strength, flexibility and eye hand/foot coordination, and social interaction skills.

Bounders

The Bounders outdoor education program challenges students in an energetic, non-competitive setting to take healthy risks; develop self-reliance, problem-solving, and risk assessment skills; work within a group, taking on a leadership role, and communicating with others; and connect to the natural world.

We believe that technology, when used appropriately, can bolster learning. At Carroll, children learn how computers, apps, and the internet can positively support their education. In the Middle School, all students are assigned an individual Chromebook to use during the school day. Our Educational Technology team hand selects grade-appropriate resources and tools that best meets the needs of each student, teacher, classroom, and project. Likewise, educators are encouraged and trained to use technology that supports, not replaces, learning.

Technology is always used under close supervision from an educator and is intended to be another engaging tool through which students can learn and begin to build 21st century skills.