8th Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the 1st for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help, please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: i-ready diagnostic and Linear Expressions

Activities: This month we took our i-ready diagnostic for math and started our first unit on linear expressions. We started out this month reviewing 7th grade standards of solving for variables in single and multi-step equations. Next month, we will be using this concept to look at and evaluate linear expressions and graphed lines.

Teacher Tip or Reflection Questions:

Teacher Info: Mrs. Alexander, halexander@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: About Me writing, acrostic poetry, journaling, Book Project introduction, creative writing, conferencing, writing stations, iReady testing

Activities: Language Arts is off to a great start! We spent our first day talking about classroom routines - emphasizing our overarching goals for the year to BE BRAVE and BE KIND. We did a fun movement activity to demonstrate both goals with 100% participation! Our first writing project was called About Me. This was a fun way to share about ourselves and learn more about our classmates. Next we created acrostic poems with our names as the focus word and made class banners to adorn the room. Two days were spent on the iReady diagnostic test. Students worked hard and now their future iReady lessons will target the skills they need to learn. Journaling and group discussions play an important role in our writing practice and group engagement - and both are successfully underway. Book projects were introduced and students are excited about creatively sharing what they are reading at home. One day was spent on writing stations around the room where students demonstrated a variety of writing skills. In addition, students drafted their first creative writing stories and then conferenced one-on-one with me to create individual goals for improvement. Whew - it’s been a busy month but we are off and running in this new school year!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Teacher info: Mrs. Oscarson, roscarson@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Class routine, getting to know each other, growth mindset.

Activities: We are off to a great start in Robotics, Engineering and Design. We spent our first few days of class getting to know each other a bit and brainstorming goals and expectations for a successful year as Engineers. Innovators and Problem Solvers.

Challenge Project- Cups and Sticks- Student teams were challenged to build the tallest tower using only fifty cups and fifty large craft sticks. Constraints: Limited to using only the provided materials (No glue, tape, or staples). You cannot alter (cut, break, pierce...) materials. Cups cannot touch. Sticks can touch both sticks and cups. Towers were measured by counting the levels of cups. Students recorded the height of their towers as they continue to adjust their design to increase the height of their towers.

Challenge Project: Roller Coaster-STEM projects provide hands-on experimental learning. Curiosity is piqued and students investigate many workable solutions using critical thinking skills and explore by manipulating materials to solve a problem. The roller coaster challenge is a multiple day activity. Task 1: Students worked to answer the question; “How does the height of the first hill affect the success of a roller coaster? Working with a partner, Students design and build a roller coaster, using foam tubes as the track, tape, and a marble as the passenger car, to test different hill height combinations. Students learned that a marble traveling a roller coaster where the second hill height is more than the first hill, does not have enough potential energy to traverse the second hill. Student teams will continue to explore physics concepts of roller coaster design and engineering.

Teacher Tip: Robotics, Engineering and Design topics and activities can be included in your Independent Science class monthly reviews.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Brannen - Room 8 lbrannen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Balancing privacy and security, Civil Rights Act of 1964, "Do I Have A Right?" and Interpreting the Constitution.

Activities: It has been a terrific opening month of learning in Mock Trials. Since most of the students in this class have some experience with Mock Trials and an understanding of the judicial process, we have started by looking at some important legislation from the past. First, we examined the government’s dual role to protect the people as a whole and at the same time, to protect our rights as individuals. To do this, we learned about The Patriot Act of 2001. This was passed in the wake of Sept. 11th as a way to protect Americans. Students could see how the Act changed the way government security agencies operate in a way that may have kept us safer but at the same time, often interfered with some of the rights that we enjoy as Americans. From here, we used resources from iCivics to help us understand one of the most important laws passed in the US in the last 100 years, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As students worked through this, we were able to:

• Identify several protections in the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Describe a reason why the Civil Rights Act was created

• Apply Civil Rights Act protections to real life scenarios

• Analyze how the Civil Rights Act impacts people’s lives and the country as a whole

As we became more familiar with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, students applied their knowledge to an online simulation called "Do I Have A Right?" In this activity, students assumed the role of an attorney working at a law office. They heard complaints from potential clients and determined whether or not their rights were violated. They also had to connect the complaint with the constitutional amendment that protects that right. In this way, students are learning to think like attorneys and use the Constitution as their framework for analyzing complaints. After refining our own understanding of the law, students most recently examined real Supreme Court opinions centered on the 1st and 8th amendments. They analyzed cases and explored the role of the court in interpreting the Constitution.

I have been having a great time with this small group and I am excited to get into the tough work of carrying out a mock trial.

Teacher Tip: Topics and work we do are shared in Google Classroom. Feel free to ask your student for a peek at what we have done so far.

Teacher Info: Let me know if you have any questions!

Mr. Caraco, jcaraco@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Our learning objectives this month were the following: a substance is a form of matter with a unique composition and distinct properties, substances can be represented with common names, chemical names, and chemical formulas, and a chemical reaction occurs when substances (reactants) interact to form new substances (products). Students also began balancing chemical equations.

Activities: We conducted an investigation to try and identify the two substances that were mixed together in a “mystery mixture.” Students used observation and investigation to try and determine which two substances could be a part of the mystery mixture when given 9 pure substances to examine (two of which were part of the mystery mixture). Students compared the substances and looked for visual differences. They also mixed the substances to compare differences in chemical reactions. Students also compared the chemical formulas of each substance to look for patterns and similarities.

Teacher Info: Mrs DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu