Written by: Ms. Hopps (8th Grade ELA Teacher) 

Hello 8th Grade Caregivers! Here are some updates from our 8th Grade teachers.

In English class students wrote and submitted their first of two position papers. In their first paper they argued whether kids should be allowed to play violent games such as laser tag or video games. Now, they are exploring a second topic. The class topic asks the question should child soldiers be forgiven for their crimes? Students are learning to use evidence to support their thinking and to be open to both sides of an argument before coming to a conclusion!

In Science class our 8th graders took the lead to teach the rest of the grades about the solar eclipse! Students created presentations that they shared with younger grades on the day of the eclipse. This was an exciting opportunity for students to take ownership of their learning and show why they are the leaders here at GHMS.

In Social Studies students are learning about westward expansion. They are learning how to use primary sources and note taking to critically think about questions of movement and displacement in the American West. 

In Accelerated Math students are working with quadratic equations. In general math students are working with the pythagorean theorem and irrational numbers. 

8th graders are swiftly moving towards the end of the year. 8th graders will have multiple opportunities to celebrate their accomplishments through the end of the year. Keep an eye out for communication from our 8th grade team about the specifics of the different events your child will be able to participate in.

Written by: Ms. Birmingham (7th Grade Social Studies Teacher)

In social studies, the 7th grade scholars are wrapping up our unit in South & Central (Latin) America! The students have spent weeks learning about the human geography, physical features, languages, and history of the many cultures belonging to Latin America that dates before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. This week, scholars are spending time in class analyzing important Document Based Questions that relate to our essential essay question: How did the North American Free Trade Agreement Impact Mexico? Next week, scholars will finalize their rough drafts of their essay’s and turn their final drafts in by April 16th and April 17th @ 11:59 PM. 

Feel free to scan Ms. Birmingham’s Weekly Overview Agenda to keep up with weekly assignments! 

In accelerated math, the 7th grade scholars just finished their most recent unit on functions. The next learning objective and focus will be on exponents at the beginning of next week. 

The 7th-grade science students started a new unit on matter cycling and photosynthesis. Students are working towards answering the essential question of "Where does food come from and where does it go next? We watched videos of food being extracted from plants and are continuing to review nutrition labels for the plant foods we eat. Scholars will determine that all plants have some food molecules and have started to develop models to try to explain this and develop a Driving Question Board to guide future investigations. 

In 7th grade math, the 7th grade scholars (Kenwood) are finishing up on expressions and equations. The next goal is to start to work on the last section of our unit on inequalities . 7th grade (Wesson) math is spending time this week reviewing material for forward testing. The test is this Wednesday and Thursday. Once testing is completed students will be graphing inequalities on a number line. 

In ELA this week, the 7th grade scholars are working on their Literary Essays and next week, they will be jumping into our Tapping the Power of Nonfiction book club unit!  The students will get to choose Nonfiction Narrative books and work with groups to create final projects toward the end of the trimester. More details on that to come soon. We are extremely proud of how hard they worked on their Forward Exams last week!

Written by:  Grace S. and Janiyah B. (6th Grade Students) and Mr. Pfaffl (6th Grade Math Teacher) 

In Math class, we’ve been reviewing for the Forward! We just finished up a unit on Equations and Expressions, and have spent the past week or so doing a geometry review.

In ELA, last week we did Forward testing. This week we’re doing literary essays. 

In SS, we’re learning about Ancient China. Daoism is “just going with the way” or living in ease. 

In Science, we’ve been working on how to write scientifically. We talked about making a claim, evidence, and reasoning and how to structure a scientific argument. We’ve also been talking about rocks, erosion, and preparing for the Eclipse. See the pictures we took!

In Art class, we’ve been working with clay! We’re making pots and we made sugar skulls.

Check out our eclipse pictures from this past Monday HERE.

Written by: Ms. Rias (5th Grade Teacher) 

In math class we are finishing our unit on graphing, geometry and volume. Our next unit will be on multiplying and dividing fraction!

In ELA students have just begun their fantasy units for reading and for writing. Students will spend time reading a fantasy novel as well as creating a fantasy story of their own!

Students spent time learning about the eclipse and it was awesome to have the 8th graders come in and teach our 5th graders on it!

Written by: Whitney Wege (Spanish Teacher)

¡Feliz primavera! Happy Spring!

Each grade level (6th-8th) is well underway in their last unit of the 2023-2024 school year. Sixth and seventh grade classes are finishing the school year learning and practicing the most important foundational skill, verb conjugation. The mastery of regular present tense verb conjugation is vital to the ongoing success of Spanish language use and development. Sixth grade students will start their conjugation learning during our “School Life” unit, while seventh grade scholars will extend their verb conjugation skills during our “House” unit. Eighth grade students will warp up their time at Glen Hills with the forever popular “Food” unit. Heads up to eighth grade families, your scholars will be completing a mock final exam closer to the end of May. This mock exam will be the closest comparison we can provide to a Spanish 1 final semester exam. This will provide your soon-to-be high school scholars with a taste of the high school final exam realities and demands.

Reminders: Please bring a charged Chromebook every day!