Middle DivisionReading TutorialLanguage ArtsMathScienceSocial StudiesSpecialsAdvisorySocial SkillsRelated Services
Middle Division Overview
Students in Chelsea School’s Middle Division (Grades 6-8) enjoy a school day full of instruction, remediation, and enrichment. The school day is meant to maximize the benefits of instruction based on the cognitive effort needed to attend to rigorous academic subjects. The classes with the heaviest cognitive demands, the core academic classes, are scheduled earlier in the day with a morning break for movement and recharging. At the end of the day, when Middle Division students tend to be fatigued from a day of cognitive demands, students attend their “specials” which focus more on movement and creativity.
At the heart of Chelsea School’s Middle Division is a culture of caring, nurturing, and self-discovery designed to help students come to understand their authentic selves and how they best learn, thrive, and grow.
Core Classes
At Chelsea School, our maximum class size is 8 students. Classes typically average between 4-6 students, depending on the content area. Small classes allow teachers to better serve students individually, crafting their instruction to meet the unique needs of each child. Small classes also allow students to receive more attention from their teachers, creating a learning environment that is supportive and nurturing.
All Middle Division students take five core classes each day: English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science follow the Common Core State Curriculum and are scheduled by grade level. Reading Tutorial is based on a student’s specific IEP goals and is grouped based on reading level, learning style, disability profile, and other factors.
Reading Tutorial
Literacy remediation is at the core of Chelsea School’s program model and it is the first consideration when creating a student’s schedule. Chelsea School employs reading specialists and teachers who are trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach to literacy remediation, a “direct, explicit, multisensory, structured sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive” program for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities. Besides Orton-Gillingham specialization, our reading teachers also have training in a diverse range of methodologies, including Slingerland, Wilson, Linguistic Remedies, and Visualizing and Verbalizing.
Our three-tiered reading program is based on the acquisition of the basic skills of sound-symbol recognition and decoding, fluency, and comprehension.
Students can move in between tiers based on their skill acquisition, and sometimes groups are formed that combine the skills of two tier areas. Students are scheduled in these tutorials based on their current skill deficits, learning style, diagnostic data, and other individualized factors. Students attend their Reading Tutorial classes for 45 minutes each day Monday thru Thursday and for 30 minutes on Fridays.
Reading Tutorials do not follow a state curriculum, but are rather based on the Orton-Gillingham sequence of skill acquisition and the goals and objectives of each student’s IEP. Reading teachers collaborate with their fellow teachers, providing literacy data, leading professional development, and consulting on best practice for instructional methods.
English Language Arts (ELA)
Students attend an ELA class each day, grouped first by grade level and then by skill deficits and learning styles. ELA classes are based on the Common Core State Standards and each student’s IEP goals in the areas of Written Mechanics and Expression. ELA teachers are responsible for implementing, assessing, and reporting on IEP progress in writing.
Chelsea School utilizes the Process Writing Approach, which emphasizes the process of writing over the final product, breaking it into the steps of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The use of graphic organizers, semantic maps, outlines, visual organizers, self‐guided checklists, and assistive technology (speech‐to-text, text‐to‐speech, word‐processing, etc.) is embedded in all ELA classes.
Instruction is spiraled to include foundational and grade‐level skills. Teachers integrate remedial grammar and mechanics into daily writing activities.
Students in ELA are also given instruction in the comprehension and analysis of literary texts. Students study short stories, novels, plays, and poems taken from the Common Core curriculum. Students learn to identify text structures, literary devices, and elements of narrative writing.
Math
Students attend a Math class each day, grouped first by grade level and then by skill deficits and learning styles. Math classes are based on the Common Core State Standards and each student’s IEP goals in the areas of Math Problem Solving and Calculation. Math teachers are responsible for implementing, assessing, and reporting on IEP progress in writing.
Math instruction in the Middle Division is centered on an instructional approach that includes: direct instruction tailored to grade‐level standards, a variety of engaging tools (technology, manipulatives, whiteboards, etc.), one‐on‐one support as needed throughout each lesson, a safe, encouraging environment where students are free to ask questions, make mistakes, and celebrate their progress, explicit, systematic instruction: and immediate feedback.
Teachers utilize visual representations such as models, diagrams, and manipulatives to make math meaningful.
Science
Students attend a Science class each day, grouped by grade level and learning style. Science classes are based on the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. The focus for each grade is as follows:
Grade 6 Science Focus: Physical Science
Grade 7 Science Focus: Life Science
Grade 8 Science Focus: Earth and Space Science
Students learn about scientific topics through a number of instructional activities including multimedia content, labs, experiential learning, and project-based learning.
Chelsea School’s science classrooms are equipped with all of the tools needed for our young scientists to explore and learn. Students are taught to think scientifically, applying the process of the Scientific Method to their studies.
Social Studies
Students attend a Social Studies class each day, grouped by grade level and learning style. Social Studies classes are based on the Common Core State Standards. The focus for each grade is as follows:
Grade 6 Social Studies Focus: World Cultures and Geography: Western Hemisphere
Grade 7 Social Studies Focus: World Cultures and Geography: Eastern Hemisphere
Grade 8 Social Studies Focus: US History: Beginnings to Reconstruction
Social Studies classes directly support the implementation of study skills and executive functioning goals from students’ IEPs as well as writing composition goals. Students are taught using a variety of modalities as they explore historical topics through inquiry, research, and project-based learning.
Specials
At the end of each school day, periods 7 and 8, students attend “specials” which are classes that rotate on a quarterly basis. These classes are designed to further the students’ academic enrichment, but in an environment that is less formal. Movement, creativity, and fun are all components of these “specials,” which include:
Permanent Specials: Physical Education, Health, Art, Careers
Other Specials (may vary depending on year): Ceramics, Spanish, Culinary Arts, Graphic Design
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Social Skills
All Middle Division students take part in a social skills group once per week that is facilitated by a school social worker. Designed for students with learning disabilities, Social Skills incorporates team-building activities, leadership skills, communication exercises, and collaborative projects to teach students how to effectively communicate when working in groups.
The Social Skills class also provides students with an opportunity to learn about their learning disability, or as we call it, their “superpower.” Students learn about their learning style, their strengths and weaknesses, and the best ways that they learn. By sharing in this learning experience with their peers, they are able to demonstrate the famous LD empathy that Chelsea School is famous for!
Related Services
Many students at Chelsea School receive Related Services in the areas of Counseling, Speech Therapy, and/or Occupational Therapy. These services are provided by licensed providers who work with students both in their classes, and one-on-one outside of their classes. Services are proscribed by the student’s IEP.
