8th Grade- Redeemer Lutheran School

Eighth graders begin each day in devotions led by their teacher.  Students start their day reading from Scriptures, with time to pray and discuss God’s Word. Classroom devotions give students an opportunity to learn to put the love, mercy, and grace of Christ into action.  Weekly Chapel services led by Pastor Koontz are also attended.    The eighth grade Bible curriculum uses the true, inerrant Word of God, Luther’s Small Catechism, and the series One in Christ. It is through God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit that students may know God and His forgiving love and salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ and see themselves as redeemed children of God. Using this curriculum, students will study the Old Testament sequentially from the Creation story through the book of Jonah. They will explore the life and ministry of Christ, His disciples, and the ministry of Paul in the New Testament. Students will be led by the power of the Holy Spirit to an understanding of the concepts of Law and Gospel, repentance, forgiveness, and God’s grace. They will also memorize portions of Scripture and Luther’s Small Catechism.  Students memorize Bible verses weekly,  chosen yearly for PreK-12th Grade students, with younger students memorizing shorter portions of scripture and older students longer portions.  

In language arts, students use McGraw-Hill StudySync curriculum. Students will continue to develop reading skills such as word identification using context and structural clues in conjunction with phonetics, vocabulary enrichment, comprehension and prediction skills, as well as reference and study skills. Our students will also study literary forms, techniques, and story elements. This learning will take place through the use of a digital textbook, silent reading, creative writing, book reports, and teacher read-aloud which will include many award winning novels for children.  Novels include: The Outsiders.  In addition, students will develop grammar and writing skills through the Shurley Grammar program. Daily practice in identifying parts of speech, editing sentences, and quick writing will strengthen students’ language skills.

The eighth grade science curriculum, - Students are assessed through participation, labs, notes, quizzes, homework, projects, presentations, and chapter tests. “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16

The eighth grade social studies curriculum, Pearson My World History, introduces students to the early ages.  Each ancient region will be explored as students appreciate the culture, language, food, religion, and government. Students will understand the developments of the Mesopotamia civilization-government, inventions, architecture, and religion. They will know the dynasties of Egypt and their way of government.  They will appreciate and know the basic history of China and India. Students will understand the influence that the Greeks had on the rest of the world, how democracy worked in Athens compared to Sparta, and examine the achievements of the Golden Age of Athens.  Furthermore, the students will know what led to the Reformation, and the impact it had with the church, and Martin Luther’s role. 

In eighth grade math, students use the series Prentice Hall, Mathematics Course 1. This structure of  mathematics promotes student success through incremental development of math concepts and continual review. The students will review the basic facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division as well as revisiting basic data and graph skills. Students will then build on this knowledge to learn place values up to billions, multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimals by one- and two-digit factors and divisors, as well as a heavy emphasis on fractions and their operations. Time will also be dedicated to the study of angles and polygons, length, perimeter and area, surface area, ratios, percents, and probability. Emphasis will be placed on problem solving skills, reasoning, and critical thinking skills, as well as geometric and algebraic thinking in order to prepare our students for higher level math classes.   The students utilize Edgenuity MyPath 6–12 which are personalized learning programs for math that deliver high-impact, engaging lessons that target the specific skills students need to get back to grade level. These innovative programs tailor learning to the needs of each student with technology that prioritizes age-appropriate content and optimizes learning to maximize student success.

All eighth graders have both a vocal and instrumental music class each week. Eighth graders learn the basics of the guitar and piano in their instrumental class, and music theory in their vocal class.

Physical Education is an important part of the curriculum, as active healthy students are better learners. Students have Phys. Ed. classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.