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: Linear Equations

Activities: This month we looked at writing equations for a graphed line and determining the linear equation for a set of coordinates. We then practiced drawing lines for linear equations. Lastly, the class looked at systems of equations and used graphed lines to determine solutions for systems of equations (where lines intersected). Afterwards, we looked at algebraic solutions of solving systems of equations, using substitution. For our summative assessment, students partnered up in "bands." Their goal is to manage their band better than their bandmate and try to break even and profit quicker based on their start-up fee and monthly expenses versus their revenue. To determine their start-up fee, students designed an album cover for a mathematically inclined band. By making choices about who their manager, producer, type of tour, accommodations, etc. would be for their band, students found out their monthly band expenses and initial costs. With these in mind, students wrote a linear equation that represented their band's cost of operation in order to predict future expenses. This last week, students were able to roll a die to determine if their choices paid out for each option they made. With their revenue determined, students were able to write a new linear equation in order to make predictions about how much money their band would make over time. Graphing each equation on the same graph, students are able to determine roughly where they break even and start profiting. Ask your student how well their band preformed. We will be continuing this task into next week in case they are not done yet.

Teacher Tip:

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

Topics: Explanatory Writing, Ode Poetry

Activities: Explanatory writing is underway and students are doing a great job mastering the skills of a new writing genre. With a focus on including all of the essential elements (hook, thesis, claim, evidence, commentary, conclusion) we are carefully organizing a plan before we write and editing our work. We first practiced the process on a common topic and then students were given the opportunity to research a topic of their choice. In Mrs. Montgomery’s class, they learned how to find good sources and create a bibliography. Then they used those sources to craft their explanatory papers. Students are working hard and making excellent progress on their papers. We also spent one day writing Ode Poetry - the art of expressing your adoration for a seemingly mundane item. It is always a popular project as this type of poetry tends to be very funny!

Teacher Tip: Assignments get turned in on our Google Classroom. Be sure to have your students show you their completed work!

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

Topics: WWI, MAIN Causes, invasion of Belgium, trenches warfare, role of US

Activities: A new semester brings some exciting new topics for the 8th grade students. We have transitioned to learning about the World Wars this semester and started off by examining the events that led to the outbreak of war. Students identified 4 MAIN causes of war:

1-Militarism

2-Alliance System

3-Imperialism

4-Nationalism

After building an understanding of these 4 long term causes, we learned about the event that lit the fuse; the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand. Students took notes from a .ppt, examined political cartoons and read passages to understand how this complex series of events brought Europe into open warfare and in the coming days, we will learn how nations outside of Europe also got pulled into the fighting.

Next, students read and "translated" a fascinating series of correspondences sent between Belgian and German politicians in the days leading up to the war. Reading primary source materials can be challenging but students did an excellent job putting the telegrams into more student friendly language. Next, we read the first hand account of a journalist who described the German invasion of Belgium and examined some maps to understand the "Schlieffen Plan." These resources help to paint a picture of how the Germans hoped to quickly defeat the French so that they could turn their attention to the east and prepare for war with Russia. As we continued to learn about the opening phases of the war, we used a couple of fascinating resources to help build an understanding of fighting in trenches. The first was an online interactive exhibit, which helped students get a sense for what the trenches looked like and how they were used. Students summarized what they learned, recorded facts and new vocab to help them understand the trench warfare that became a defining part of WWI. We even used clips from a fantastic documentary that shows archival footage from the battlefields of WWI. Next, we read and reflected on a series of letters that were sent from soldiers fighting on the western front of WWI. This provided students with a first hand account of what the soldiers were experiencing. A surprising takeaway was the tone of positivity that was expressed in so many letters.

Most recently, we learned about the US position of neutrality at the start of the war. President Woodrow Wilson was determined to keep the US out of the fighting but two key events made American participation unavoidable; the sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman telegram.

Throughout the first month of studying WWI, students have been diligent workers and come to class every day with a thoughtful and mature perspective. Keep it up, historians!

Teacher Tip: Ask your student if they can explain the complicated system of alliances that turned a battle between Austria-Hungary and Serbia into a continent-wide war.

Teacher Info: Don't hesitate to contact me if you have a question.Teacher Info: Reach out if you have any questions.

Mr. Caraco, jcaraco@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: keyboarding, internet research, creating bibliographies using Google tools, Canva

Activities: We began this month by reviewing information from Common Sense Media about how to choose good internet sources. This discussed the importance of credibility and reliable sources using the CRAAP test. We looked at different website domains and the credibility of each. The students were given an opportunity to do their own internet research for essays they would be writing in Language Arts with Mrs. Oscarson. Each students was expected to find three good sources. Next we practiced creating bibliographies using the 'cite' function on the toolbars in Docs. This function automatically creates a APA or MLA bibliography entry.

Our next project is to create a poster in Canva, an app available to MSD students in grades 6-12. As this app is new to many students, we started with a quest to explore the different features. Posters will be due the first week of March.

All student lessons, review materials, assignments, and rubrics can be found in the Google Classroom. Please have your son or daughter show you this site.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Montgomery, rmontgomery@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: VEX Kit, Engineering Notebooks, Teamwork, Force of Friction & Hauling Capacity, Basebot, CodeIQ, Clawbot, Scientist Biographies

Activities: We are off to a great start with Robotics this month! We started with familiarizing ourselves with the VEX Robotics kit and components, got introduced to our new Engineering Notebooks and how to effectively work with our robotics teams. Then we built and drove our first basebots, studied how different tires effected the force of friction and the vertical climbing ability of the bots. Then we started our Up & Over until where we built the Clawbot and have begun building and iterating on claw design. The Edison robots the younger kids used have been named for famous scientists and so we added a short Scientist of the Day biography segment at the start of each class. Scientists this month include: Thomas Edison, Katherine Johnson, Nicola Tesla, Hedy Lamar, J. Ernest Wilkins, Marie Curie & Albert Einstein.

Teacher Tip: If you’re not aware of Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/), it is a coding platform created by MIT. Basically, MIT is talent farming and they’ll teach your child to code for free in a safe environment online. I know Scratch Jr is on the approved list for our district and I just want to highly recommend this platform. My own children have been having fun with it since it was new. The CodeIQ platform used by VEX IQ is based off a scratch style engine and so it’s good software building practice.

Teacher Info: Ami Clayton, aclayton@meridian.wednet.edu