Text Box: Cooperative Middle School Stratham, NH 603.778.7772 x8349 Text Box: Robinson Ropes Course

Text Box: SECTION 2 RRC Ropes Course Curriculum Homepage Text Box: Low Ropes Point System High Ropes Point System Teacher Rotation   Text Box:  You are on page 1 of 10 in this section.  Tiers of Programming  6th Grade Activities & Elements  7th Grade Activities & Elements  8th Grade Activities & Elements  All Grades Activities & Elements  Point System Text Box: Text Box: © Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. Contact the Ropes Course Director, Cari-Ann Yarmus, if you would like permission to reproduce or copy any information found on this website. Text Box: RRC's Ropes Course Curriculum Text Box:

 

Text Box: Tiers of Programming Text Box:  7th Grade Text Box:  6th Grade   

Text Box: © Cari-Ann Yarmus 2002-2004 Text Box: On the following few pages you will find information about the curriculum we have designed at the Robinson Ropes Course. Our goal is to provide this information as a resource to other middle school ropes course programs and the community. Our Ropes Course programs are not mandatory parts of the middle school curriculum, but are supplements to the curriculum standards set forth by the state of New Hampshire. The focus of our curriculum is on character education and the development of core personal and group skills. The next page has a schematic of the Tiers of Programming we strive to deliver to the CMS students. Looking at the Tiers may help you understand the next few paragraphs better.  How often do the middle school students participate in a program?                           Typically, each student is given the opportunity to use the ropes course at least six times throughout their entire time at CMS. Our school is structured into twelve pods (four for each grade level.) In the fall of each year each pod comes out to the ropes course for up to a full day of combined field initiatives and low elements, with the focus being on Community Building. Skills such as listening, leadership, problem-solving, communication, cooperation and taking responsibility are stressed. The goals are to introduce and develop those skills, as well as to give each student an opportunity right away to get to know their peers and their teachers in a context outside of the classroom. A follow-up program is usually designed for the spring of each year, where each pod brings their students out for a half day of the high ropes elements. Here skills such as supporting one another, personal risk taking, goal setting and requesting and providing help are emphasized. For both of these programs we often use a set Point System and Rotation Sequence. In addition, there are several other opportunities for students to participate in a ropes course program. Throughout the year we design specific programs for different groups within the school such as: the Alternative Education classroom, Peer Mediators, Emotionally Handicapped students, Students in Prevention and athletic teams. These can be one-day skill-focused workshops or long-running personal development programs. Furthermore, we often offer programs where the emphasis is on a 'tie-in' or curriculum enhancement. For example, we may take the classes who are reading the Miracle Worker out to do a blindfolded trust activity in order to simulate what it feels like to both be blind and to assist a blind person. Or we bring science classes out to the Teeter Totter to better understand balanced and unbalanced forces. In the next few years our goal is to design more programs that bring the values and lessons of the ropes course right into the classroom. For a list of activities and elements we use in the 6th grade, click here. For a list of activities and elements we use in the 7th grade, click here. For a list of activities and elements we use in the 8th grade, click here. For a list of activities that are potentially used at all grade levels, click here. Text Box: Home

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Text Box: Think. Text Box:   8th Grade