Grade 8 Curriculum

Curriculum Standards Grade Level 8

 

Language Arts

Language Arts - literature, writing, speaking and listening, and grammar and mechanics - is an important part of the communication process. Making meaning from text and communicating that meaning effectively are literacy goals that the curriculum supports. Students in the seventh and eight grades need to be able to read, write, listen, and speak in order to process their learning in content areas and apply it to real world situations.

 

Literature/Oral Language

·         Review of summer reading

·         Study of the short story covering the literary elements of plot, character, setting, and theme

·         Study of drama: understanding dialogue and a screenplay

·         Study of non-fiction in the literature genres of biographies, memoirs, autobiographies, and essays

·         Study of narrative and lyrical poetry

·         Study of novels

·         Reading for enjoyment and producing written book reports

·         Students read purposely, actively and critically from functional, informational, and literary texts

·         Vocabulary: done on a weekly basis in connection with Latin roots tests

Writing/Speaking/Listening

·         Use of six traits writing process (ideas and content, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, mechanics)

·         Expository writing: summary paragraphs, research reports, essays, persuasive essays

·         Creative/Narrative writing: descriptive paragraphs and stories

·         Poetic writing

·         Literary analysis

·         Research writing

·         Review of spelling strategies

·         Formal speeches

·         Use and enhancement of listening skills: establish purpose of listening, note taking skills and focusing attention to important details and ideas

·         Students effectively use comprehension strategies before, during and after listening

·         Students listen purposely, actively, an critically in a variety of settings

·         Students determine main concepts, supporting details, bias, and persuasion techniques in media

·         Students analyze functional, informational, and literary medial for meaning and effectiveness

·         Students design and create coherent presentations with a clear controlling idea, adequate detail, and appropriate consideration of audience, purpose, and situation

·         Students select, organize, or produce visuals to enhance presentations

·         Students use appropriate strategies to analyze and evaluate speeches/presentations

·         Students use appropriate communication skills in group settings

·         Students prepare for and perform in a Shakespeare play

Grammar and Mechanics

·         Review of proper sentence structure

·         Identify kinds of sentences, subjects and predicates

·         Analyze and develop compound and complex sentence structure

·         Review of parts of speech: nouns, verbs, pronouns, modifiers, types of phrases (prepositional, verbal, participles, gerunds, and infinitives), clauses (independent and subordinate)

·         Development and refining of composition skills in the forms of paragraphs, dialogue, creative stories, personal narratives, business and persuasive letters, and research papers

 

Social Studies

Students will study United States history with an emphasis in the 18^th and 19^th centuries on the Age of Exploration through Reconstruction and the western movement. There will be ongoing studies of current events in the United States as time permits.

·         Native American lifestyle and culture prior to exploration and colonization

·         Review of the development f the thirteen colonies

·         Study of the events leading up to, during and post Revolutionary War

·         Development and the principles of the U.S. Constitution

·         Study of the events leading up to, during and post Civil War

·         Western expansion of the United States: Louisiana Purchase, Industrialization, and Immigration

 

Science

Science is a way of knowing, a process for gaining knowledge and understanding of the natural world. Students will participate in a hands-on active curriculum where they "do" science, not simply read about science to emphasize the importance of science in their daily lives. Students will work through the scientific process by observing, inquiring, questioning, formulating and testing hypotheses, and analyzing, reporting, and evaluating data. Eighth grade science is a pre-physics and pre-chemistry study.

 

Scientific Methods

·         Experimental Design

·         Study of measuring systems

·         Students participate in data collection, graphing/technology of their findings

·         Students learn and participate in laboratory techniques

·         Using SI units

·         Conversions

Exploring Motion and Forces

·         Motion and speed

·         Velocity and acceleration

·         Forces and safety

·         Connecting motion with forces

·         Friction

·         Gravity

·         Balancing forces

·         Inertia

·         Newton's First Law

Acceleration and Momentum

·         Acceleration motion

·         Newton's Second Law

·         Air resistance

·         Projectile and circular motion

·         Satellites

·         Newton's Third Law

·         Action and reaction

·         Conservation of momentum

Energy

·         Energy and work

·         Potential and kinetic energy

·         Temperature and heat

·         Thermal pollution

·         Measuring thermal energy

·         Specific heat

Using Thermal Energy

·         Thermal energy on the move

·         Conduction

·         Convection

·         Radiation

·         Heat

·         Insulators and conductors

·         Using heat to do work

·         Radiators, forced air, and electric heating systems

·         Solar energy: passive and active

·         Engines: internal and external combustion

Machines

·         Mechanical advantage

·         Ideal machines

·         Six simple machines

·         Mending with machines

·         Compound machines

·         Efficiency

·         Power

Classification and Behavior of Matter

·         States  of matter

·         Changes of state

Atomic Structures and the Periodic Table

·         Protons, neutrons and electrons

·         Atomic mass

·         Periodic table

Elements and Properties

·         Metals

·         Nonmetals

·         Mixed groups

Chemical Bonding

·         Ionic bonding

·         Covalent bonding

·         Describe the chemical and physical properties of various substances

·         Observe and evaluate evidence of chemical and physical change

·         Identify the observable feature of chemical reactions, acid base chemistry/oxidation reduction

Applied Physics and Chemistry

·         Introductory Petrology: rock cycle/elementary chemistry and physics of rock formation

 

Mathematics

In the seventh and eighth grades, students are tested and tracked into an appropriately challenging math class. These tracks are fluid and account for students' different learning styles. Students are continually reassessed to ensure their math class is appropriate and adequately challenging. Much of the content is the same in both tracks, however the biggest difference is in the pace of the class and the breadth that the content is taken. In eighth grade students are placed into Algebra I or Algebra I/II.

 

Algebra I: (Regular-paced 8^th grade)

Algebraic Expressions and Integers

·         Polynomials

·         Factoring

Algebraic Equations and Inequalities

·         Solve all types including exponents and square roots

·         Solve proportions

·         Write Linear equations

·         Solve systems of linear equations

·         Quadratic equations

·         Absolute value equations

·         Transforming equations

Fraction and Exponent Theory

·         Negative exponents

·         Square roots

·         Rational/irrational numbers

Geometry/Measurement

·         Derive formulas

·         Trigonometry

·         Distance formula/mid-point

·         Pythagorean theorem

·         Dimensional analysis

·         Similar/Congruent figures

Graphing/Data Analysis

·         Find slope/intercepts from data, equation, or graph

·         Parallel vs. perpendicular lines

·         Graph linear equalities/inequalities and non-linear equations

·         Linear programming intro

·         Lines of Best Fit/Regression intro

 

Algebra I/II: (Accelerated 8^th grade)

Includes all of the above in addition to the following)

Algebraic Equations and Inequalities

·         Solving systems with three variables

·         Inverse and square root functions

·         Power functions

Geometry

·         Vertical/horizontal translations

Graphing/Data Analysis

·         Matrices

·         Parabolas

·         Linear regression

·         Derive formulas

·         Trigonometry

·         Distance formula

·         Pythagorean theorem

·         Dimensional analysis

Probability

·         Probability of combined events

·         Permutations/combinations

Graphing Calculator Instruction

·         Graph linear/non-linear equations

·         Solve systems of equations

·         Scatterplots/regression lines

 

Religion

Religion is an integral part of the entire school day. Through religious education, students' experiences of living and learning achieve their deepest meaning. Relationship to Catholic theology and worship will enhance the spiritual life of all the students. Eighth grade theology is a rotating curriculum shared with the Seventh grade year.

 

Church History

·         The human search for meaning and purpose

·         Faith

·         The early Church

·         The persecuted Church

·         The Roman Church

·         Medieval/Reformation Church

·         The Modern Church

Introduction to Sacred Scripture: The New Testament

·         The Gospels

·         The Letters of Paul

·         St. John/Revelation

Sacraments, Worship and Prayer

·         Sacraments of Initiation

·         The Eucharist

·         Penance

·         Anointing of the Sick

·         Matrimony

·         Holy Orders

·         Rite of Holy Week

The Apostolic Creed-Understanding the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church

Morality

Introduction to Sacred Scriptures: The Hebrew Scriptures