Summer Session
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Summer Programs NMH Summer Session

Middle School Program Major Courses

Places are currently available in all courses. Although there is no application deadline, complete materials should be submitted as soon as possible. Financial aid is no longer available.

Writing
The object of this course is to help students learn to enjoy writing. Free-writing develops ease in putting ideas on paper. Students read, revise, and edit each other’s work, as a process leading to the final product. Working together fosters a sense of trust and openness. Reading short stories offers a chance to respond to an author’s application of his/her craft and provides numerous topics for writing and discussion. Students are given an opportunity to try their hand at writing drama, fiction, essays, and poetry. Elements of style are explored according to the individual needs of the students. We emphasize writing as a process: putting ideas down on paper and discussing and revising them as a means of clarifying and enhancing what one is trying to say. Meets first period.

Realistic Fiction
This course is a study of realistic fiction written for young adults. Students focus on specific reading skills such as making inferences, drawing conclusions, and making text-to-world, text-to-text, and text-to-self connections. Included are reading comprehension tests, self-assessments, student presentations, and a final project in which students analyze their characters’ values and make connections with them. The course includes critical and creative writing components in which students are required to analyze texts in depth and then use the course readings as models for their own pieces of realistic fiction. Meets second period.

Skills in Literature
The most important goal of this course is to make students more enthusiastic, effective, and appreciative readers. We seek to encourage students’ love of reading, their comfort and efficiency as they read, and their understanding of the potential of literature to enrich their lives. The more concrete goals involve the development of skills in the analysis of fiction, drama, and poetry. We study such fundamental elements as plot, characterization, point of view, setting, and theme. Students are taught to respond to literature by relating it to their own experiences. We study vocabulary on a daily basis to enhance basic comprehension and use short, weekly writing assignments as an aid to increasing clarity of thinking and expression. Meets second period.

Drama Literature
Plays are frequently called slices of life. In this class, we examine how people's interactions affect their lives. We also compare the characters' circumstances to our own experiences and prepare scenes to bring the situations to life. By reading plays and preparing individual scenes, we learn how to analyze plot and story devlopement, characterization, and setting. The course utilizes the “whole language” approach—reading, writing, speaking, listening—to help students develop the skills necessary for academic success. Students are also given the chance to supplement class discussions by attending a live performance of a play. Meets first period.

Writing and the Outdoors
Students engage in writing assignments and discussion of reading assignments to advance their abilities to write clearly, thoughtfully, and creatively. Emphasis is placed on the writing process in which students learn to think, write, rethink, and revise their work. The outdoors becomes the second classroom through activities such as canoeing, rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, and field trips. The course, which is collaboratively taught by humanities and outdoor education teachers, connects exploration of the natural world with effective ways of explaining that world to others. For example, students may write a research paper about a river on which they have canoed, a poem based on an observation made during a hike, or an analysis of the early history of the town of Northfield after having explored local historical sites. This is a unique course that combines traditional classroom work in writing with experiential outdoor education. For rising ninth graders and College Prep students.

Pre-algebra
The goal of this course is to provide a strong foundation in some of the most important concepts of algebra I. Among the topics studied are properties, solving equations using inverse operations, coordinate geometry, problem solving, connections between algebra and geometry, and applications of mathematical concepts to everyday situations. The intent of the course is to give students the skills and confidence necessary for success in algebra I. Meets first period.

Algebra I
This course covers the work of a full year of college-preparatory algebra I, including the following topics: properties of mathematical systems; solution of equations and inequalities; solutions to equations that involve square root and absolute value; graphs of linear equations and systems, slope and intercepts; graphs of inequalities; operations on polynomials and on rational and irrational expressions; solution of quadratic equations by factoring and by quadratic formula. The solution of verbal problems is an integral part of the course. Meets for the full morning.
Afternoon sessions are required for additional course work. Middle School Program students in this course have the option of taking either a Middle School minor course or a College Prep sport for the second half of the afternoon.

Geography
This class focuses on two major types of geography: physical and human. Physical geography focuses on the earth's physical features, climate, biodiversity, and environmental issues. Human geography focuses on why people live the way they do and how people interact with and affect their environment. Together, physical geography and human geography help to explain how the physical world shapes the human world—and how the human world shapes and changes the physical world. Specialized topics include global warming, the expanding human population, conservation of land and animals, and changes to our landscape and natural habitats. Hands-on activities and projects, map skills, student presentations, and materials from National Geographic support the study of North America, Africa, and Asia. Meets second period.

Field Biology
The Northfield Mount Hermon campus is ideally situated for a summer course in field biology because of its location on the Connecticut River, surrounded by evergreen and hardwood forests, grassy fields, and freshwater ponds. We teach the basic principles of ecology through field walks and laboratory projects. The objectives are to develop an understanding of the techniques of field biology, to observe and sample the varied ecological habitats that exist in the upper Connecticut River Valley, and to provide an opportunity for collecting and identifying specimens and learning their groups by zones or other environmental gradients. Meets first period.

Beginning Spanish
This is an introductory course covering the elementary structures of the language and beginning training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Class sessions emphasize active use of the language and also provide an introduction to Spanish culture. By the final weeks of the session, the classes are conducted almost entirely in Spanish. Although students with some background in Spanish can be accommodated, this course is for those who have not had a full year of formal instruction in the language. Meets second period.