8th Grade

We are starting The Diary of Anne Frank play. Next week, we will learn about her story, WWII, and the Holocaust in general while working on activities and assignments. The play is in our textbook, so if your student is absent, he/she will need to check out a book and get themselves caught up. Of course, this story has been out for like 70 years, so they can also Google the play full-text to read it online if they are absent.   

Students are currently working on dilations and similarity, expanding the idea of similarity beyond “same shape, different size” to include a variety of geometric figures. Students explore the definition and properties of dilation conceptually and on the coordinate plane, describing transformations such as translations, rotations, and reflections and how they relate to congruence and similarity. They apply proportional reasoning to determine scale factors and similarity, extending their learning to include the Pythagorean theorem through similar triangles. 

During the month of January, students will work with partners to collect and analyze medical data by measuring vital signs and interpreting medical information to draw conclusions about a patient’s health. 

We are now moving past the American Revolution and started the semester with a review over the Articles of Confederation and will begin analyzing George Washington's administration and presidential precedents he set as a leader of our country. As always please don't hesitate to reach out with anything throughout the semester.  

8th Grade has started learning about states of matter. In this unit students learn about properties of matter and the particles inside that make up matter. Through demonstrations and experiments, students will work to explain why an oil tanker imploded overnight after it was steam cleaned. The unit will end with students modeling the tanker using soda cans and getting to watch it implode! The test for this unit will be around January 23rd.