Core Subjects

The English 8 course uses the StudySync Grade 8 Curriculum. Each of the four units (Everyone Loves a Mystery, Past and Present, No Risk No Reward, Hear Me Out) include lesson sequences and materials structured to meet the Common Core State Standards in meaningful ways and to provide flexibility for a range of learners. Formative assessments in each unit are designed to measure student progress towards mastering focus indicators for the processes and content of English. StudySync is a comprehensive English Language Arts curriculum that is designed for all 21st century learners. StudySync combines print books with a digital platform for reading and writing. Students will have their own online digital binder where they will receive their assignments, store their writing, and receive teacher and peer reviews.

The English for Emergent Multilingual courses use a version of the StudySync Grade 8 Curriculum that is slightly modified for students who are learning English. Each of the six units (Suspense!, In Time of War, A Moral Compass, The Civil War, Moment of Truth, Test of Time, and The Power of One) include lesson sequences and materials structured to meet the Common Core State Standards in meaningful ways and to provide flexibility for a range of learners. Formative assessments in each unit are designed to measure student progress towards mastering focus indicators for the processes and content of English. StudySync is a comprehensive English Language Arts curriculum that is designed for all 21st century learners. StudySync combines print books with a digital platform for reading and writing. Students will have their own online digital binder where they will receive their assignments, store their writing, and receive teacher and peer reviews. Students will be scheduled into one of two classes based on their language needs.

English 8 for ELs 1 & 2

Double period class that focuses on StudySync 8th grade curriculum coupled with English Language development in order to meet the Common Core State Standards. .

English 8 for ELs 3

Single period class that uses the StudySync 8th grade curriculum and language supports in order to meet the Common Core State Standards.

The daily physical education program offers a comprehensive and well-balanced series of instructional activities. At each grade level there are six focus areas: Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics, Personal and Social Responsibility, Fitness, Physical Activity and Motor Learning. The six focus areas are taught throughout the year in the following units: net games, invasion games, striking activities, conditioning and physical fitness, and dance. Team sports and individual sports game tactics and fundamental skills are taught throughout the units. *Each student is expected to change into approved P.E. attire, i.e., shorts, t-shirts, sweats/warm-ups, and proper shoes. Students are assigned a locker with a lock for their clothes.

Comprehensive health education is taught for a term of 9-weeks during Grade 8. Knowledge, concepts, skills, and strategies essential to making healthful decisions are presented promoting lifelong health and well-being. Certified Health Education teachers implement a variety of learning activities to promote and practice wellness skills and health literacy. The development of lifelong positive health-related attitudes and behaviors are emphasized to promote self-reliance and self-regulation. Skills include accessing information, decision-making, goal setting, communication skills, analyzing influences, and advocacy.

Key Concepts

• Alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs—accessing information about tobacco and marijuana; accessing information about addiction, and community treatment resources.

• Personal and consumer health—accessing information about the identification of food borne illnesses, preventing the spread of food borne illnesses.

• Family life and human sexuality—decision making about appropriate use of social media; sexual behaviors and limits, decision making and contraception; teen pregnancy and parenting; accessing information about maternal changes occurring during pregnancy.

• Safety and injury prevention—using decision making and interpersonal communication skills to use technology responsibly.

• Nutrition and fitness—analyzing influences on body image; managing weight; accessing information about eating disorders.

Parents of grade eight students will receive information about the opt-out unit of Family Life and Human Sexuality at the beginning of the school year through an evening meeting. Parents wishing to opt their child out of this unit may check “No” on the permission form sent out during the first week of school. If no permission form is returned, the student will receive this instruction. Students opted out will receive an alternate independent study unit to be completed in an alternate location.

Students explore the history of the United States from colonization to post Civil War Reconstruction and Industrialization while extending their understanding of political, economic, geographic and cultural systems. Throughout the course students analyze multiple perspectives and study how the diverse populations of Americans, including Native Americans, African Americans, women, immigrants, and Mexican Americans contributed to and were impacted by events. Connections to current issues help students identify patterns and themes that have shaped America in the past and continue to shape the nation today. Students extend their literacy practices by using the historical thinking skills learned in Grades 6 and 7 to build effective, evidence based historical arguments. This course prepares students for continuing their study of U.S. History in Grade 9.

This course is built around the core Grade 8 social studies curriculum, Historical Inquiry in US History 8, that includes historical content from colonization to post Civil War Reconstruction and settlement of the West. In addition to the content in the core curriculum, students will learn in greater depth about the social and cultural history of America including how the historical legacy of racism and discrimination continue to affect American society today. Students will also strengthen their writing through Document Based Questions, and enhance their learning through relevant literature connections. They will also participate in a public history fair to showcase their projects on monuments and memory. Students will be enrolled in this course based on teacher recommendation and/or assessment data.

Eighth grade students will investigate the topics of Weather and Climate, Geology and Plate Tectonics, Physics, and Astronomy. As students investigate Unit 1 focusing on Weather and Climate, eighth graders will learn about geographical influences on climate, the water cycle, oceanic and atmospheric circulation, and climate change. Students will apply their understanding of these concepts to create an emergency preparedness plan for a community that has a history of weather related disasters. Geology will allow students to investigate the characteristics of Earth’s structure, continental drift, plate tectonics, minerals, types of rocks, weathering and erosion. Students will apply their understanding of these concepts to design and create Earthquake resistant structures. During the 3^rd unit students will learn about kinetic and potential energy, describing motion, forces, and Newton’s Laws. Students will apply their understanding to the design, creation, and launch of a model rocket constructed in class. The final unit covering Astronomy, students will learn about Earth’s motions, the reasons for the seasons, gravity, and characteristics of the solar system, galaxy, and universe. Students will apply their understanding to design a movie set that depicts the living conditions on a human colony located on either a planet, a moon, or an asteroid within our solar system.

In this course, eighth graders tackle exciting new ideas and concepts in preparation for work in high school. They extend earlier understandings of proportional relationships to study linear relationships and work with linear equations in one and two variables. Among other things, they are also introduced to the idea of functions and have their first encounter with irrational numbers. This course unfolds across 9 units that range in length from about 16 to 22 days.

Ilustrative Mathematics Algebra is designed to analyze and model real-world phenomena. Exploration of linear, exponential, and quadratic functions forms the foundation of the course. Key characteristics and representations of functions – graphic, numeric, symbolic, and verbal – are analyzed and compared. Students develop fluency in solving equations and inequalities. One- and two-variable data sets are interpreted using mathematical models.

Curriculum 2.0 (C2.0) Geometry formalizes and extends students’ geometric experiences from the elementary and middle school grades. Students explore more complex geometric situations and deepen their understanding of geometric relationships, progressing towards formal mathematical arguments. Instruction at this level will focus on the understanding and application of congruence as a basis for developing formal proofs; the relationship among similarity, trigonometry, and triangles; the relationship between two- and three-dimensional objects and their measurements; exploration of geometric descriptions and equations for conic sections; and application of geometric concepts in modeling situations. Students successful in this course will go on to take Honors Algebra 2 or Algebra 2 the following year.