BCS Middle School Information
Bible
Berks Christian elementary classrooms provide a firm foundation in major Old and New Testament Bible accounts and characters, as well as a study on the life and ministry of Christ.
Middle school Bible continues teaching students to live and apply the Bible to their own lives in addition to their book knowledge. They will gain a deeper understanding of God's redemptive story for mankind from the beginning of the world to the end. They will also learn to apply Christian living skills by studying real-life stories and situations. Participation in verse study to memorize and understand Scripture continues.
Middle school Bible curriculum is on a two year rotation with Bible Truths through BJU Press. One year is "Bible Truths: Learning from the Life of Christ" and the other year is "Bible Truths: Portraits from the Old Testament." In addition to what is taught through the lessons and verse memorization, student complete a project each quarter. Some of the projects include: a personal testimony paper, Bible journal, community service, and research paper on Christ's miracles.
The year in which, "Learning from the Life of Christ", is studied the students learn about our Lord's earthly life and ministry. The student are inspired by the example of Christ's own life experiences and the way He dealt both with friends and enemies. In addition, many other valuable lessons are drawn from Christ's sermons, miracles, and parables.
The next year when "Portraits from the Old Testament" is covered the students learn about Old Testament history from Creation through the formation of Israel and the era of the kings to the captivity and return. This overview familiarizes students with the broad outlines of the Old Testament while teaching them principles of personal character development. Both Bible study skills and practical application are taught in this text. In addition to explaining, illustrating, and applying a passage of Scripture, each lesson includes Bible reading, memory verses, key terms, and questions for personal reflection.
Mathematics
Berks Christian’s math curriculum is a fun, hands-on and manipulative filled subject with visuals to help students master mathematical concepts. Middle School students gain understanding of numbers and operations, pre-algebra to basic algebra, probabilities, pre-geometry, and Algebra I to move toward further application. Middle schoolers learn new things about matrices, linear algebra, and problem solving for everyday life with applications that relate to their age group, like—how slope applies to amusement park rides to make applicable assessments.
Students have fun doing a survey project using other students and friends. They use the information for creating graphs and presentation information. Students participate in World Math Day where they compete on-line with other students on an international level in Sixty Seconds Mental Math matches. In the past, 64 students in five grades at Berks Christian have completed 21,075 correct problems in one day.
Science
Students master the fields of earth/space science, life science, and basic physics from a Biblical perspective. Hands-on and visually based subject areas include the study of earthquakes and volcanoes, weathering, natural resources, the solar system, cells, animal and plant classification, heredity and genetics, body systems, atoms and molecules, electricity, and motion and machines. Demonstrations are given to reinforce concepts and teach students to interpret information presented to them.
Fun and exciting projects like—making cells with edible materials, hatching meal worms and watching the process of metamorphosis, a kingdom notebook, planet notebook, and moon calendar ensure that students who learn best with a hands-on approach have grasped the concepts. Labs include activities such as—
Learning basic microscope procedures, cleaning up an oil spill, dissection, building a strong structure made pasta and marshmallows to withstand an earthquake, an erupting volcano, and understanding types of soil where students live and classifying soils.
Middle School students see how their vast knowledge applies to the real world with field trips to places like the Franklin Institute, The Insectarium, planetariums, and Longwood Gardens.
English
Berks Christian middle school students enjoy a literature-based curriculum which teaches grammar, vocabulary, spelling, writing, and public speaking through the context of selected novels. This allows the students to see what they are learning in a true-to-life context. Novels include—Johnny Tremain, Number the Stars, Caddie Woodlawn, The Incredible Journey, Anne of Green Gables, Rifles for Watie, and the Bronze Bow. Both in-class and independent reading are utilized to encompass each novel. Fun activities such as role play, vocabulary skits, and popcorn reading assist the students’ with mastering the information.
Writing and composition workshops where students learn to pre-write, draft, revise, and edit, enable the students to become proficient with writing projects such as—fictional narrative, persuasive essay, editorial, research paper, historical fiction, and limericks. Foundational grammar principles are reinforced while emphasizing writing to clarify concepts.
History
In sixth grade, students build their knowledge of ancient cultures with fun projects such as—making Egyptian masks, pyramids, mummy sarcophagus, and agricultural tools. A Chinese New Year Party including Chinese food gives students a better understanding of their culture. A class Olympics is also held.
In geography, students also do celebrations of culture which typically includes either a party or a game day for the countries that they are studying. The students do a culture report on one country of their choosing. For each unit, students complete maps and study the culture with at least one hands-on-activity: collages, notebooks, brochures, etc. The students created a class newspaper filled with editorial, cartoons, and articles of events that were discussed in class.
In world cultures - the students have an "electronic" passport. Various readings to travel back in time are included to better understand the culture. While studying each time period, students complete a project— webquest, illustrated culture books and collages are a few examples. For black history month - students do a living museum where they become a significant figure in history and give a short speech when museum guests visit their area.
Computer Science/Technology
Student activities involve intermediate technology projects that are designed to teach advanced technology skills. Some technology projects focus on a specific technology skill such as word processing, presentation, graphics, or databases, while other projects combine software to encourage students to transfer their skills from one application to another. Students then practice the skill to complete a meaningful task. Review activities are included to help students gain confidence in using their skills.
Art
The practice of creating art is an ongoing discipline rooted in rich history. Art classes at Berks Christian offer an exploration in basic art making techniques and historical study. Students are provided the opportunity to work with variety of materials (clay, paint, charcoal, pastels, etc...) while being made aware of issue, concepts, and accomplishments of the past and present. By looking at other artists and art movements, it inspires students and stimulates new ideas. This course will provide students with a greater comprehension of visual language and the vocabulary to communicate about visual images. The goal of this course is to increase each student’s ability to see, analyze, and depict visual images as well as understand the broad cultural and historical context in which art is made and experienced.
Music
At Berks Christian, students have music appreciation and choir. We learn how to read music, sight-sing, play instruments, and what to listen for in the masterworks. We learn about music history and various music cultures.
Students have the chance to play the instrument of their choice in the Berks Christian School band. The highlight of the music department’s year is when our middle school choir and band performs for a sanctuary-filled audience of family and friends who look forward to two concerts each year.
Drama
Please visit our fine arts page for more information on our drama department.
Physical Education
Students enjoy sport-specific physical education class where basic skills for soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, and track are reviewed. Additional team sports are incorporated such as—dodge ball, kickball, and football. Students learn about fitness through fitness competitions. Berks Christian has participated in the Presidential Physical Fitness Challenge as well.
Sports
Visit our sports pages for more information.
Family and Career
Berks’ Christian middle school students review nutrition and meal planning through a MyPyramid.gov project where they read labels and understand portions. They learn about the media’s effect on their choices through advertising, basic sewing, greeting card design, budgeting/checkbook, and babysitting. Students are excited about sorting and folding laundry when it is presented relay-race style during the laundry unit. They learn about careers and further education with fun classroom activities like—working on an assembly line, establishing a basic resume, and writing a story about their life, twenty years from now.
Middle school students’ favorite part of Family and Career class is participating in cooking units where they make things like—apple sauce, cookies, cinnamon rolls, fruit salad, and Rice Krispy Thanksgiving turkeys.