DATA 8th Grade Newsletter

ELAR

MATH

"The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics." -Paul Halmos

Algebra: We wrap up Unit B this week by writing equations from scenarios and using those equations to find missing values. We will test over Unit B this week on Friday (Tuesday for 5th period). Students may attend a tutorial Unit B Review on Thursday afternoon. Please pick up students at the front of the school by 4:30.

Geometry:  We are continuing to use theorems and definitions to find missing angle measures. This week we will move beyond the intersection of two lines to parallel lines cut by a transversal (third line that crosses). Students will use their knowledge of angle definitions to discover more rules about the relationships of these angles.

SCIENCE

 A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein 

Last week we wrapped up our universe unit with the HR Diagram. We looked at trends on the diagram as well as plotted stars based on temperature and luminosity. Students will begin the week with a short review of HR Diagram followed by a quiz. 

We will then proceed into our unit on Space Cycles. Space Cycles includes the concepts of rotation and revolution, with our focus on seasons and moon phases. Students will explain what causes the change in seasons as well as identify the season at any given location. Students will explain how the lunar cycle works and will predict the lunar phases on different dates.

U.S. History through 1877

We are Living History!

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Whoop, whoop! Week 6! 

A few updates: 

• As of Friday, 9/15, all of your historian's grades have been put into the gradebook; yes, even the late work that I have received. Thank you for granting me patience in getting their test corrections in this week. 

• If one of your historian's assignments is in the gradebook as a "50" AND "Missing" then I am missing that assignment from your historian. My tutoring hours are below if your historian needs to make up an assignment. 

• The Librarian, Ms. Godoy, and I were able to pull out exemplars from our first big project! With those we created a display right next to the Library of those amazing Colonial Recruitment Brochures. Check them out the next time you're on campus!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming:

Your historian spent all of week five looking at causes of the American Revolution. We talked about the French and Indian war, and the various laws that England began passing after the war: The Proclamation of 1763, the Sugar Act, the Quartering Act, the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, the Townshend Act, and the Intolerable Act. Quiz your historian and see if they can tell you what each law did 😊 We also learned about bias and the propaganda that stirred up the colonists and the British.

This week I will have the absolute honor to talk to your historian about common sense. I know, it is a much needed conversation. I mean, what kid isn't enthralled by serious conversations about Common Sense and Thomas Paine! 😂 In all seriousness, we start looking at the early parts of the American Revolution in week six. We'll tackle the crazy notion that some rag-tag colonies could have the guts to declare their independence from a global superpower, and examine exactly how they start to do it.

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My Puzzle Club meets after school on  Thursday from 3:45 - 4:30.  

And it's back on this week! 

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Tutoring is available Mondays, 7:45-8:20 am and 3:45-4:15. Students can also tutor during lunch every day, except Wednesdays.

You can reach me at lvanho@neisd.net

Have a wonderful week! 

-Ms. Van Horn

AV Comm/Video Game Design

Mr. Lovett's Classes

Principles of Architecture: 

This week in Principles of Architecture we will begin our interior design project. This is an extensive project requiring skills that we will use the entire year in this class.  We will be working across platforms using Adobe Photoshop and SketchUp. 

Digital Media 2:

Symmetry September is under way!  Next week, we will be doing a symmetry challenge! I will have a few choices of banners for students to recreate based on the month's theme. This project will entail peer review and, if time permits, the opportunity to make improvements before they show it off. I can't wait to see what our students come up with. 

Students in all DATA 8th grade tech classes enjoy complimentary access to Adobe Creative Cloud, made possible by the support of NEISD. This means they can freely use Adobe's suite of applications on their personal devices at home. This opportunity equips them with tools for graphic design, video editing, photography, animation, and more. Feel free to contact me for assistance in setting up this software at home.