6 th grade Course selection 2019-2020

1. 6th grade Course selection 2019-2020 Tex Hill Middle School

2. Tex Hill Administration Dr. Charles Reininger Principal Jonathon CampbellAsst. Principal 6th grade A-L and 7thgrade Christina Pelletier-RottoAsst. Principal 6th grade M-Z and 8thgrade Joana Richards Academic Dean Tiffany Johnson Counselor 6thgrade A-L and 8th grade Lesley Reichert Counselor 6thgrade M-Z and 7thgrade Jenna Ross Special Education Coordinator As questions arise regarding the selection of courses for next year, please contact the Tex Hill Counselors. Students who do not complete the registration process will have a schedule created for them by their assigned counselor. Please call or e-mail us, we will be glad to assist you in making these important decisions. Tex Hill Middle School Counseling Office: 210-356-8030 Mrs. Choni Carranza -Counseling Clerk Mrs. Janie Medrano Murray- Data Processor

3. Academic-Core Courses

4. Important Updates • Current 6th grade students are required to take one year or two semesters of a Fine Arts course during middle school. The fine arts classes are Art, Band , Choir, Dance, String Orchestra, or Theater Arts. • 4 semesters of P.E. is required throughout middle school with, at least, one semester per school year • High School credit courses are only for 7th and 8th graders.

5. 6TH GRADE SCHEDULE Tex Hill has an 8 period day with a 4 minute transition time between classes and a 30 minute lunch. Every 6th grade student will take the following courses: 1./2. English Language Arts/Reading Block: Grade Level, PreAP or GT 3. Math Grade Level or Math Pre-AP or Math GT 4. Science 5. History 6. P.E. (1 semester)/Health (1 semester) 7. Elective 8. Elective

6. PRE-AP COURSES • Pre-Advanced Placement courses in middle school are available to any student willing to take on the academic challenge. Students wanting to take these courses should be currently at an 85 or higher in their current class AND scored at a level II in their STAAR subject areas. English Language Arts/Reading PreAP, and Math Pre-AP are offered to all 6th grade students.

7. ELECTIVES

8. AIM (Academic Individual Motivation) • This course is designed as an enrichment opportunity for students to review academic concepts, seek assistance in solving academic problems, promote independent skills in time management, learn strategies for success such as vocabulary development, agenda use, binder organization, goal setting and character education.

9. ART I Art I is offered as a full year course. Art is designed for the student to learn the fundamentals of art.

10. BAND AND STRING ORCHESTRA • Band and Orchestra are only offered as year long electives. • Students must be willing to commit to outside of school practice sessions and performances to remain in the program for the entire year.

11. CHOIR Students must be willing to commit to outside of school practice sessions and performances. Choir is a year long course.

12. Dance This introductory/intermediate course is designed to focus on various mediums of dance, including ballet, modern ja and folk/ethnic. Emphasis is on training the student to coordinate elements of dance and to enhance student confidence, poise and collaborative skills. Aerobic activities and fitness activities will be incorporated.

13. DEBATEStudnets must have srong reading and writing skills First semester topics: logic, persuasion, and speaking and debate formats. Competitive events covered in the class include impromptu speaking, modern oratory, and Lincoln Douglas debate. Second semester topics: philosophy, current events, and debate formats. Students in both semesters will research, write, and present original works as well as critically evaluate works from others. Competitive events covered in the class will include Student Congress, and Public Forum debate. Students should have strong reading and writing skills.

14. THEATRE ARTS I Theatre Arts I is for students who want to learn the fundamentals of Theater Arts. Theatre Arts is a full year long course.

15. TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS The Technology Applications curriculum has four strands: foundations, information acquisition, work in solving problems, and communication. The course provides students an opportunity to acquire information in a variety of ways. Students complete projects involving work processing, databases, spreadsheets, multimedia, desktop publishing, graphics, and telecommunications.

16. PHYSICAL EDUCATION/HEALTH • 6th grade students take a semester of P.E or PreAthletics. and a semester of Health • 7th grade students take a full year of either P.E. or Athletics or Dance/P.E. • 8th grade students may take either a semester of P.E. or a full year of P.E. or a full year of Athletics or Dance/P.E. 8th grade students will have the opportunity to take a semester of high school Health. **4 semesters of PE is required throughout middle school with, and at least, one semester per school year.

17. PRE-ATHLETICS BOYS/GIRLS • The Pre-Athletics class is designed to introduce the culture of the Tex Hill Athletic Program to any 6th grade student who plans to participate in sports at Tex Hill MS in the 7th and 8th grade. The ideal candidate for this course is an athlete who wants to learn and participate in all three major sports afforded to 7th/8th grade students in NEISD; football, basketball, and track for boys and volleyball, basketball and track for girls The Pre-Athletics class will incorporate different levels of strength and conditioning and will follow a modified version of the 7th/8th Grade Athletic Period curriculum. The athletes will have the opportunity to learn about weight room culture, safety, and proper lifting techniques as well as various conditioning components throughout the semester.

18. Choose your electives wisely… Students and parents will have opportunities to carefully examine course offerings and course descriptions. All Electives are a full year commitment. Fill out your course card and use it to reference while you register your classes on line. Then turn your course cards in to your science teachers. The deadline to submit your course selection sheet is Friday, February 8, 2019.

19. Things to Remember • Students can switch into a Pre-AP class within the first two weeks of school • Course cards and Course Descriptions are posted on the Tex Hill Website • All Electives are a full year commitment. • Elective changes will not be made after June 6, 2019 • *** NEW this year - students will return a course card AND enter course selection online through Skyward ***

20. Course Card Directions • Be sure to write your name & ID number • Place an “X” by your selection of either Regular or Pre AP for your Core Classes • Number your top 5 choices for electives 1- 5. This will help when you are registering online. Choices 1 and 2 will be with your requested classes. Choices 3-5 will be your alternates. • Be sure to have required signatures • Return to your School Counselors by Friday, February 8th

22. Skyward Course Selection

23. Students will have: 4 core classes, 1 PE, 1 health, and their top two elective choices.

26. How to find help online

27. Help Continued….

28. Questions If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Tex Hill Counselor by email or phone. Mrs. Johnson (6th A-L/8th grade) tjohns29@neisd.net (210) 356-8032 Mrs. Reichert (6th M-Z/7th grade) lreich@neisd.net (210) 356-8033 Please refer to the Tex Hill MS course catalog for course descriptions on the Tex Hill Guidance and Counseling website at www.neisd.net/hill/guidance.