Students have Language Arts every day. We use a core reading program in each grade.  Grade 5 (as well as grade 4) uses the Treasures program, and grades 6 - 8 use the Glencoe Literature program. Reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary instruction is coordinated not only between the language arts teachers, but also with social studies and science teachers.  Our school uses the Great Source Writers Handbook as the primary resource for our 6-Traits writing program. For students who require additional instruction in reading, we offer a decoding program, SRA, during Schooner Time to provide the necessary additional instruction. For those who need additional comprehension support, we offer a Reading Comprehension Lab during Anchor time. We also have a Writing Lab that supports a limited number of students. In addition, we offer gifted and talented language arts classes in grades 6 - 8 for eligible students.  We are fortunate at CRMS to also have a Literacy Coach. The Literacy coach supports literacy growth in students by directly supporting teachers in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment and by directly servicing students who need intervention (remedial and enrichment).

Students have math every day.  Like Language Arts, we use a core math program in each grade.  Grade 5 is the final year of the K-5 EveryDay Math program. The grades 6 - 8 math program is Connected Math, which is a deep, challenging curriculum. Our math program includes an alternate curriculum in grades 5 - 8 for students who have difficulty navigating through the language of the CMP materials. This class uses the Saxon math grade-level curriculum. In eighth grade, we also offer a traditional Honors Algebra I class for students who demonstrate readiness.  In addition, we offer gifted and talented math classes in grades 5 - 8 for eligible students.

Students have Science class every other day. In grade 5, the curriculum is still fairly general, and students have science with their homeroom teachers. The grade 6 curriculum emphasizes earth science, grade 7 focuses on life science, and grade 8 will focus on earth science for school years 2010-11 and 2011-12.  After that time, grade 8 will focus on Physical and Chemical Sciences.  In 2010-11, we switched earth science from grade 8 to grade 6.

Students have Social Studies every other day. In grade 5, a focal area is the discovery of America and the Revolutionary War. Grade 6 tackles the Civil War and both World Wars. Grade 7 emphasizes Maine and Global Studies. The grade 8 curriculum covers ancient civilizations and citizenship (Project Citizen).

Spanish is a required course in our district from grades K - 8.  In grades 5 - 7, students have Spanish every other day for 30 minutes.  In grade 8, students take Spanish as a full academic class (either High School Spanish I or II) that meets every other day.  By the end of grade 8, about half of our student population is prepared for Spanish II in high school, and the other half is prepared for Spanish III.

Our intervention program is aimed at helping all students be successful at CRMS.  Whether a student is struggling or advanced beyond our traditional curriculum, we seek to meet student needs whenever we can.  To that end, we have an Intervention Coordinator who works closely with teachers, administration, special education staff, and our literacy coach to oversee student interventions.  Our areas of focus are reading, writing, and math.  We offer a variety of intervention strategies at the school, classroom, small-group, and individual level.  On a school-wide level, we have instituted an academic vocabulary program, a summer reading program, and a content area writing program.  At the classroom level, teachers are differentiating curriculum to meet student needs whenever possible.  In addition we offer a variety of small group and individual support in the form of "Labs" and tutorials.

Other resources:
Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands
Bonny Eagle RTI

INTERVENTION CLASSES IN READING, WRITING AND MATH

The guidance curriculum is structured developmental lessons designed to assist students in achieving the desired competencies and to provide all students with the knowledge and skills appropriate for their developmental level.  The guidance curriculum is infused throughout the school’s overall curriculum and is presented systemically through K-12 classroom and group activities.