English
Students finished up their formal three paragraph essay. Now they are reading spooky stories while practicing plot, compare/contrast, and figurative language. Students will also have a vocabulary quiz over the words from the stories they read. All of this will take us through October and into a little of November.
Math
We just wrapped up the first module! During the month of October, students will explore translations, reflections, and rotations to develop a precise understanding of congruence beyond its intuitive meaning. Through hands-on activities and geometry software, they study how rigid motions preserve distance and shape. Students build on prior knowledge to define and apply properties of these motions, sequence them to show congruence, and connect their learning to angle relationships and proofs. The module culminates in an optional extension applying these ideas to the Pythagorean theorem, preparing students for deeper geometric reasoning.
Algebra
Students will be able to read and write functions in various forms including tables, mapping diagrams, graphs and equations. They will be able to recognize key attributes of relations including whether it is a relation, its domain and range, and whether it is linear or nonlinear. Students will be able to use function notation to solve for an output given a specific input, and an input given a specific output.
PLTW
During the month of October, students explore the human body as a system of interconnected parts, focusing on the nervous system. They learn how the nervous system gathers, processes, and responds to information through neurons and the brain. Students build neuron models, dissect a sheep brain, and analyze symptoms to diagnose nervous system dysfunctions. The lesson concludes with a project where students create educational materials to explain a medical condition to a patient.
American History
We are now in the middle of the causes of the American revolution unit which I am always excited to examine with students. We have been covering the contributing factors that led to the colonists declaring their independence. We recently finished concepts such as the effects of the French and Indian War, The Proclamation Line of 1763, The Boston Massacre and the many tax acts such as the Sugar, Stamp and Tea Act. Students should be able to explain justifiable reasons for the colonial grievances towards the English government. We will be having a quiz over the causes of the American Revolution in about two weeks. I'm very proud of my American History students and I look forward to the rest of the semester. Please reach out if you ever need anything.
Science
This month 8th grade is finishing up their unit on laws of motion. Soon, they will start the egg-drop challenge if you would like to donate craft supplies please let me know! After that students will start a unit on simple machines.