Curriculum

The Marietta Middle School 2024-2025 Course Catalog has further information on all courses offered.

Language Arts/Reading

The language arts curriculum is divided into two distinct grade levels of instruction, with sequential concepts from one grade to the next. Students are expected to learn to write both creatively and factually. They learn to read, discuss and interpret great literature. Speaking skills are developed through formal and informal projects. The ultimate purpose of this curriculum is to develop literate speakers and writers who are well prepared to succeed in the high school curriculum.

Mathematics

At Marietta Middle School, students learn to use mathematics in order to think critically, and with the understanding that in applied mathematics there are many different approaches to a solution and sometimes more than one right answer. The central idea of all mathematics is to discover how having knowledge of some things, and using reasoning, permits students to develop knowledge of other things without having to commit the information to memory as a separate fact. It is the connections, the reasoned, logical connections that make mathematics manageable. The implementation of the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) in mathematics places a greater emphasis on problem solving, reasoning, representation, connections, and communication.

GSE mathematics focuses on actively engaging students in the development of mathematical understanding by:

• Using manipulatives
• Describing math with a variety of representations
• Working independently
• Solving problems in cooperative groups
• Estimating and computing efficiently
• Conducting investigations and recording findings

Science

In the seventh grade, students focus on life science with an emphasis on ecology. The eighth grade conceptual physical science class focuses on energy transformation, energy, and matter. Ninth grade physical science is also offered for students meeting set criteria.

Social Studies

In the seventh grade curriculum, students continue the application of map skills learned in the sixth grade. Students also continue the study of World Geography, concentrating primarily on Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Eighth grade social studies classes currently focus on Georgia history; and some aspects of United States history.

World Languages

The World Languages department provides a program for 7th and 8th graders that allows the opportunity to earn one Carnegie unit of world language credit. Upon successful completion of two years of study, students will receive Carnegie credit for one year of high school world language. Students will successfully participate in small conversations in the target language. World language courses are offered in French and Spanish. They will also obtain information, knowledge, and understanding of another culture while reinforcing knowledge of other disciplines. The program follows the state standards for the first year of language instruction as outlined in the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum and the Marietta Curriculum Guidelines.