8th Grade 2nd Quarter Newsletter

Artists are now starting an acrylic painting on canvas board. Students have researched different paint styles and subject matter. They can pretty much pursue and paint anything they want! This is a very independent and exciting project where students are asked to challenge themselves and not just play it safe. We just wrapped up a clay sculpture project last week, and will be firing the sculptures in the kiln very soon! After the current painting project, we will transition to painting the clay sculptures. Can’t wait to see how everything turns out! Last thing I’ll add, is that our tape sculptures turned out great this year! They are still hanging around the school. Next week will be the last week for them on display before we take them down/home.

8th Grade Treble Choir

Students have begun preparing music for their upcoming Winter concert and they are learning their parts for a four part version of the “Star Spangled Banner” for Veterans Day. Students have also been working on their sight-reading skills along with music theory. Some of the selections they are currently working on are Elaine Hagenbrug’s “Tyger”, Michael Mendoza’s “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, Reena Esmail’s “Listen”, and the Ukrainian traditional “Carol of the Bells”. Students are very excited for their upcoming concert, which is December 9th.

7th/8th Grade Baritone Choir

Students have begun preparing music for their upcoming Winter concert and they are learning their parts for a four part version of the “Star Spangled Banner” for Veteran’s Day. Students have also been working on their sight-reading skills along with music theory. Some of the selections we have been working on are Victor C. Johnson’s “Baraka na Wewe”, the Scottish folk song “Loch Lomond”, the Spanish carol “A la ru”, and “Gaudete!” which is a song in Latin, Students are very excited for their upcoming concert, which is December 9th.

In PE, students will be working on competitions with mini sports. Students will also be moving into creating their own games, spikeball, then a unit on stretching/yoga (a reminder will go out the week before this unit). In Wellness, students will be looking back at goals we made at the beginning of the semester, starting their Nutrition unit, and ending the semester with learning about sleep and health connections (a reminder will be sent out the week before we do this unit).

8th Grade Math (Nicol/Holland)

We finished up our module on Scientific Notation and Exponent Properties and are moving into module 3, Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side. In this module students will draw on their knowledge of solving two-step equations to help them solve equations with variables on each side of the equal sign.

What Students Will Learn in This Module:

• Equations with Variables on Both Sides

• Equations with Grouping Symbols

• Students will write equations with grouping symbols (such as parentheses) on one or both sides of the equation, such as 3(x + 2) + 4 = x – 4( x – 3).

• Students will solve equations with grouping symbols using the Distributive Property.

• Number of Solutions

• Students will determine whether an equation has one solution, no solution, or infinitely many solutions.

• Students will write equations that have one solution, no solution, or infinitely many solutions.

• Important Vocabulary

• Coefficient - The numerical term of a factor that contains a variable.

• Constant - A term without a variable.

• Like Terms - Terms that contain the same variables to the same powers.

• Solution - A value that makes an equation true.

Support your child’s understanding of writing equations with variables on each side by demonstrating how they can be used when choosing a cell phone plan. Discuss with your child the various types of cell phone plans and explain that some plans include a phone, and some plans include only service. With your child, investigate the cost of cell phones, the cost of plans that include cell phones, and the cost of plans that include only service. Help your child to algebraically model the costs associated with each type of plan. For example, if a phone costs $600 and a service-only plan costs $50 per month, your child might write c = 50m + 600, and if a plan that includes a phone costs $125 per month, your child might write c = 125m. For each equation, c represents the total cost and m represents the number of months. Have your child write an equation to find the number of months it would take for a person to pay the same amount for either plan. For example, your child might write 50m + 600 = 125m and find that m = 8. Help your child interpret their solution. In the example above, m = 8 indicates that, after 8 months, someone would have paid the same amount for each plan.

Algebra 1 students will begin 2nd quarter with their test over exponential functions. We will then do a project that I am very excited about. Our 2nd and 3rd units of the year were Linear functions and Exponential functions. One way that those show up in real life is in loans or investments. Simple interest is calculated with linear concepts and compound interest is calculated using exponential concepts. Students will do a research project where they need to pick one loan / investment that uses each type of interest. For example, a student could choose to study mortgages (simple interest) and credit cards (compound interest). They will study where the concepts we learned in the classroom are present as well as how things are more complex in real life.

Once we finish that project, we will begin our quadratic functions unit. Students will learn all about parabolas! We will learn how the equations work, the different forms of equations that quadratics take on and will begin to incorporate some real life application as well. Once we finish that unit, students will begin their prep for our midterm! We have had such a strong start to the year - I am excited to keep moving along!

Honors Geometry

The geometry students have already learned so much in the first quarter! As we begin the second quarter, we will be wrapping up the trigonometry unit. We have learned how to use the sine, cosine, and tangent functions with right triangles and we will conclude the unit learning how to find side lengths and angles when we do not have a right triangle. The next topic will be congruent triangles. We will consider what information we need to prove triangles are congruent. Then, we will use congruent triangles to prove characteristics of quadrilaterals. For example, students know that the opposite sides of a rectangle have the same length, but they cannot explain how they know. “Because they just are!” is not a logical reason. Geometry is intended to teach logical arguments. Being able to articulate our thinking and explain our reasoning, as well as, critique the arguments of others, is a valuable life skill!

After our study of quadrilaterals, we will take a break from proofs and shapes and learn about conditional probability. Students will take a semester exam in geometry the week prior to winter break.

This quarter in Social Studies 8, students will be learning about a variety of topics including details on the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution, and how those led to the American colonies declaring independence from Great Britain in 1776. We will start the quarter by learning about a variety of Enlightenment thinkers that inspired our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, including: John Locke, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire, Thomas Hobbes, and Baron de Montesquieu. We will spend some time learning about the French and Indian War, focusing on how its consequences led to colonial discontent and eventual revolution. Students will learn about the different events that led to the American Revolution including the Proclamation of 1763, The Stamp Act, The Sugar Act, The Quartering Act, The Intolerable Acts, The Boston Massacre, The Tea Act, The Boston Tea Party, and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. We will read some passages about Paul Revere’s midnight ride and learn about how Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Students will participate in a mock trial that resembles the trial that was held after the Boston Massacre. Some students will be on the side of the British soldiers, represented by future president, John Adams. Other students will be the American colonists. The last topic we will be discussing this quarter is the Revolutionary War itself. We will be studying some of the main battles and the different generals that led both the Patriots and the British soldiers. Students will learn about the war through a simulation, where they will take on the role of an historical figure and work together to strategize on how to win the war for their side. The entire month of December will be centered on this simulation. Students will be making recruitment posters, planning battle strategies, even spying on the other side. When we come back from winter break, students will learn about how America became America, focusing on the early presidential administrations and the writing of the U.S Constitution.