Welcome to the
8th Grade Team Page
General Announcements:
NO SCHOOL: May 25th (Memorial Day)
Canobie Lake Field Trip: Tues, June 16
Last Day of School: HALF DAY: Wednesday, June 17
Welcome to the
8th Grade Team Page
General Announcements:
NO SCHOOL: May 25th (Memorial Day)
Canobie Lake Field Trip: Tues, June 16
Last Day of School: HALF DAY: Wednesday, June 17
Course Information
Parent Resources
Algebra:
Pre-Algebra:
IMPORTANT DATES
Algebra:
Unit 3 Reassessment Deadline 5/8
Unit 8 Summative 5/12
Pre-Algebra:
Unit 5 Summative 5/12
Algebra 1
Unit 8 Quadratics
Students will demonstrate an understanding of quadratic functions and be able to factor quadratic polynomials to reveal the zeros of the function it defines, and will be able to apply knowledge of quadratics to real world situations.
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Pre-Algebra
Unit 5 - Functions & Volume
Students are introduced to functions, using terms like input, output, and function to describe relationships. They represent functions with tables, equations, and graphs, analyze linear functions using rate of change and slope, and explore volume formulas to understand functional relationships in geometry.
Unit 9: Division
Unit 7 is complete! The students did a great job with their final project.
Unit 9 discusses the rising tensions in the United States due to the issue of slavery as the nation expands into new territories. We will have a few formatives and conclude with our final summative: a podcast. This final summative addresses all of our course competencies and the students have a lot of fun creating it. (Ask them to share it with you!) Our final days in class will be listening to the podcasts that their classmates create.
REMINDERS:
All assignments are posted daily on Google Classroom. Unit vocabulary can also be found in the materials section. Students should be studying 5-10 minutes a night EVERY night. Also, assignments with a 💻 emoji at the start are the only ones that are required to be turned in on Google Classroom.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Most of the essays have been handed in, and now it is onto the presentations! Because of testing we only have each class once this week, but they will have two days next week to spruce up their slideshows and will be ready to present next Thursday and Friday.
For the remainder of the year I plan on a mini Shakespeare unit to prepare the students for reading Romeo and Juliet next year.
I am so happy that I was able to begin my career at HMHS with this wonderful class!
Forces at a Distance – How can a magnet move another object without touching it?
In our next unit, students will be investigating a question that connects directly to everyday technology: how a magnet can move something without ever touching it. We begin with a familiar but often overlooked system—a speaker. Students observe a speaker in action, take it apart, and even build a simple version themselves. This initial experience raises questions about how different parts of the system interact, especially when those parts are not in contact.
From there, students begin exploring how magnets behave and what they can interact with. They test different materials, experiment with coils of wire, and investigate what changes when electricity is introduced into the system. Along the way, they start to notice patterns in how objects push and pull on each other and begin asking questions about where the motion and energy in the system are coming from.
As the unit progresses, students shift their attention to the space around magnets. Using tools like compasses, iron filings, and digital simulations, they explore how this space can be mapped and represented. They compare situations involving single magnets and multiple interacting parts, building diagrams and models to keep track of what they observe and how different setups behave.
In the second half of the unit, students investigate how energy moves through systems where objects are not touching. They design and carry out experiments to test how changes in distance and electrical input affect what happens in the system. They also explore how devices like speakers use changing electrical signals, connecting ideas from earlier units to what they are now observing.
By the end of the unit, students will bring together their observations, experiments, and models to revisit the original phenomenon. They will refine their explanations of how the system works and apply their thinking to similar technologies and situations, using evidence they have gathered throughout the unit.
Mrs. Gattie
5/12 Last push for our concert! Please remind your students to practice. Our concert is May 27th. Students need to arrive by 6:45pm. The concert begins at 7:00pm.
The current U.A. class ends April 20th. Check Apsen for the new class.
The transition to high school can feel over whelming. School counselors are available as well as therapists from Cartwheel.
Mme Hill
Quebec Trip was a success and students got to explore Quebec and learn the history. The French language has been the vector for the identity of the region.
Next week, students are taking the AAPPL test. They will be able to show how far they have progress in the 4 skills: Interpretive reading and listening and interpersonal speaking and writing.
After the week of AAPPL, students will watch a movie based on a 1912 book "La guerre des boutons" by Louis Pergaud.
Studying vocabulary regularly is a good habit to continue: 10 minutes practice a day. Students can use Quizlet or Blooket and they are also encourage to practice with Duolingo.
Hawk Time is taking place everyday from 2:20 until 2:50. Students can get the help they need by coming to Hawk time in 207. If your student has an inc. (incomplete) NHI (Not handed In) or abs (absent), they need to complete the work during Hawk Time.
Students have been working on talking about the various parts of the body and what we do with them (die Augen - sehen, die Ohren, hören, etc.). Along the same lines, students were practicing talking about being ill and not feeling well. They had to write apology notes for missing a party due to illness. What do they have to do to feel better? What are they not allowed to do when they are sick?
We are moving on to talking about illness or accidents that have happened in the past. (Ich hatte einen Fahrradunfall. Ich war krank). We will continue working with this and providing reasoning using "therefore" (deshalb). To put it into the cultural context, we will be talking about healthcare differences in Germany versus the United States.
REMINDER: If your student is absent from school, please ask them to reach out to me via E-Mail so that we can get them caught up. It is a great habit to get into before high school so that they are in charge of their own learning. If students are absent, I often ask them to come down during HawkTime.
Students should be reviewing new and old vocabulary 10-15 minutes per day.
In January, we discussed current events in Venezuela, and students read a Venezuelan teenager's description of her life in Venezuela. They compared their lives in Hopkinton to her life in Venezuela. A specifial emphasis was placed on possessive adjectives ("mi escuela" vs. "su escuela").
In February, we will dive into one of our favorite units. It centers around a very unique collaborative activity in Cataluña, Spain that UNESCO has identified as an "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity." To kick off this unit, we divided students into small teams and presented them with this challenge: Which team can build the tallest tower out of playing cards? Which team can build the tallest tower out of plastic cups? Then, students tried to put the world's tallest towers (i.e. La Torre Eiffel) in order, from shortest to tallest. Most of the world's tallest towers are made of stone, cement, steel, or glass. But, in Tarragona, Spain, there are towers made of humans! This month, we will study los castells de Tarragona. Check out this National Geographic mini-documentary to learn more!
To get ready for Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance, we studied his use of the sapo concho (a Puerto Rican toad) and two empty plastic white chairs on his album cover. What could these chairs and this animal symbolize?