Electives

Art

Discovery Middle School's art program is designed to facilitate a broad overview of art-making to students with all levels of experience. Curriculum is rooted in art education theory addressing aesthetics, art history, studio art activities and art criticism in alignment with the Florida Sunshine State Standards for the Visual Arts. We currently offer Two-Dimensional Studio Art 1, 2, and 3.

The Digital Art and Design class utilizes Mac computers and Wacom pressure sensitive drawing tablets as tools to create art. Students will learn the basic of the programs and deepen their knowledge as the course progresses. The focus is on the creation of art using computer tech to develop art skill techniques, art vocabulary, graphic design and history of art.    

Band

Since Discovery Middle School opened over 20 years ago, our Band Program has been very active in the community by regularly performing at local venues for community activities and events. Our bands have also earned a reputation of high quality throughout OCPS by regularly receiving the highest ratings at adjudicated festivals. The different bands offered at DMS are Beginning Band, Concert Band (Intermediate), Symphonic Band (Advanced), and Jazz Band (Advanced). To help encourage our students' interest and knowledge of music our students often take trips throughout Orlando, to Tampa, and to Daytona. Many students enjoy our bands so much that they sign up for multiple band classes each year! Our students, their families, the school, and the community all play an equal part in producing a quality musical education and experience for our Discovery Explorers.

Chorus

Discovery Middle Schools chorus is having so much fun learning how to sing all styles of music from Classical to Beatles to today's tunes. We have a beginning chorus that performs multiple times throughout the year as well as other opportunities for students that want to seek further involvement through All-county chorus, All-State chorus, and smaller ensembles.

Computer Technology Education

Computer Technology Education offers computer courses for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. In 6th grade students will work on earning Digital Tools Certificates in Computing Essentials, Cyber Security, Word Processing, and Multimedia.  In 7th grade, students will earn Digital Tools Certificates in Spreadsheets, Databases, Web Design, and Coding.  The digital tool certificate program helps students prepare for future classwork and life after graduation.
 
Digital Information Technology (DIT) is an 8th grade computer class that approaches technology through the lens of IT specialists. DIT is a high school credit class. Students in DIT learn applications of software and hardware, networking and databases. DIT concludes with an opportunity to earn an industry certification in A+.

Guitar

Discovery Middle School offers Guitar 1&2 for students with little to no experience in music or guitar. This class is a great opportunity for students to learn new styles of music through guitar as well as learning how to play in an ensemble. Guitar 2 performs at least three times a year at Discovery and Guitar 1 will have opportunities to perform throughout the year as well.

Latinos in Action

Latinos in Action (LIA) is an interactive class that provides college, career, and life readiness skills. It also is an exploration of personal development, biculturalism, professionalism, and cultural heritage through literary and performing arts. As part of the curriculum, the teacher will provide leadership opportunities through literacy tutoring at nearby elementary schools and student-led service through social and professional committees.

Orchestra

Orchestra has been a growing program filled with fun opportunities to perform and make new friends! We perform for our school at least three times a year as well as outside events such as Barnes & Noble, Multicultural festival, Waterford Elementary School, and many others. Any one is welcome to start beginning orchestra without any musical experience and eventually work up to orchestra levels 2 and 3.

Orchestra students who are interested in deepening their musical ability and skills also have the opportunity to audition and perform for various OCPS ensembles through out the year (Solo/Ensemble, All-County, and All-State).

Physical Education

Physical education classes include introductions to a variety of sports, games, and activities. We work on basic and introductory skills of sports such as basketball, football, soccer, tennis, hockey, archery, volleyball, etc. while leading up to games.

Students are given the opportunity to develop enhanced physical skills, a core knowledge base about healthy behaviors, and a sense of how physical education can contribute to life-long health. Some of the equipment used to develop these skills include: indoor cycles, inline skates, pedometers, heart rate monitors, geo mats, DDR, and more. We also have other fitness equipment that will be used which includes treadmills, elliptical machines, universal weight station, and free weights.

 

Spanish

Discovery Middle School offers Spanish to sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students that have a great standing in all core classes. Research has shown that the Spanish language is the foreign language mostly used Worldwide, making it the second most spoken language by native speakers, heritage speakers, and second-language speakers.

It has also shown that when a student acquires a second language this will activate and develop a different part of the brain. Studying a foreign language like Spanish will help the students in many different ways such as: understanding the diversity of cultures, expanding career opportunities, and improving language skills. The Spanish classes are fully aligned with the Florida Standards for Foreign Languages and emphasize five curriculum strands: Communication, Culture, Connection, Comparison, and Community. The main goal of this Spanish course is to help each student attain a good degree of proficiency in the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the target language. The Spanish courses offer in DMS are as follow:

The Beginning Spanish course is designed for students with no exposure or knowledge of the Spanish language. Students will learn basic Spanish skills like the alphabet, letter and syllable sound to develop their writing, speaking, listening and reading skills. These skills will be taught gradually by topics for students to develop vocabulary, grammar and finally, be able to write, speak and understand the target language.  

The Spanish 1 course is designed for seventh and eighth grade honor students with none or minimal knowledge of the Spanish language. This course allows students to earn one High School credit at the completion of this course with a final passing grade.  Students will learn how to develop their writing, speaking, listening and reading skills by learning vocabulary, grammar structure and common expressions in the target language.  
 
The Spanish 2 course reinforces the fundamental skills acquired by the students in Spanish 1. This course is designed for students that have completed Spanish 1 or have some experience in the target language. The specific content to be covered is a continuation of listening and oral skills acquired in Spanish 1. Reading and writing receive more emphasis, while oral communication remains the primary objective. Also, this course allows students to earn one High School credit once completed with a final passing grade. 

 

STEM

The Project Lead the Way (PLTW) GATEWAY STEM program at DMS teaches students engineering design process and techniques for critical thinking and problem solving. Utilizing technology, students use their skills and abilities learned in core subject classes combined with engineering techniques and protocols, to design and develop solutions to real-world problems.

In the quest for developing an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) career choices with our students, we offer the following courses at Discovery Middle School:
6th Grade: Science of Technology, Medical Detectives
7th Grade: Design and Modeling, Flight and Space
8th Grade: Automation and Robotics, Magic of Electrons

Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) is an 8th grade STEM class. IED is a high school credit class and the first course in the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) engineering track. IED focuses on applying engineering concepts and standards through Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and collaboration. Students in IED explore the design process from concept to implementation. IED concludes with an opportunity to earn an industry certification in Autodesk Fusion 360.

Theater

Discovery Middle School’s, “Infinity Theatre” is our exciting program for students in grades 6--8 to learn, grow and cultivate their theatre skills. We offer Theatre I, where students learn about Blocking, Movement, Pantomime, Improvisation, Voice, Scene Work, Puppetry, and Teamwork, then Theatre II where they begin to work in deepening skills of Monologues, Shakespeare, Scene Work, Storytelling, Greek Theatre, Directing, and Musical Theatre and then in Theatre III we move into more advanced work in Dialects, Subtext, Acting Techniques, Solo work, Contrasting Monologues, Advanced Scene Work, Production, Modern Playwrights, Script Analysis and Careers in Theatre.

We also offer opportunities for students who would like to further advance their talent on stage in our optional  productions of plays, musicals, showcases and participation in our Jr. Thespian District 8 Festival and State Festival each year. Our District 8 Festival is a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their talent on stage and offstage in technical, acting, directing and musical events.

The skills a student acquires in a Theatre program are life skills that will benefit them in whatever career path they choose and is best stated in our motto from Alexander Pope’s Essay On Man, “Act well thy part, for therein all honor lies.”