8th grade

8th Grade Language Arts is organized around four thematic units. Each quarter focuses on a particular theme along with key essential questions. Students read a variety of texts connecting to the quarter theme, including novels, short stories, poems, essays and articles. Using these texts as a starting point, students then produce different types of writing, such as literary analysis and argument essays. Finally, students in 8th Grade Language Arts will continue to develop skills in speaking and listening, through structured discussion and class presentations.

CC3: Core Connections, Course 3 is the third of a three-year sequence of courses designed to prepare students for a rigorous college preparatory high school mathematics course.

Students will use problem-solving strategies, questioning, investigating, analyzing critically, gathering and constructing evidence, and communicating rigorous arguments justifying their thinking. The course helps students to develop multiple strategies to solve problems and to recognize the connections between concepts. The lessons in the course meet all of the content standards for 8th grade math provided by the Minnesota Department of Education.

CCA: Core Connections Algebra is the first course in a five-year sequence of college preparatory mathematics courses that starts with Algebra I and continues through Calculus. It aims to deepen and extend student understanding built in previous courses by focusing on developing fluency with solving linear equations, inequalities, and systems. These skills are extended to solving quadratic equations, exploring linear, quadratic, and exponential functions graphically, numerically, symbolically, and as sequences, and by using regression techniques to analyze the fit of models to distributions of data.

Science 8 is Earth & Space science. Science is a way of thinking about, interacting with, and understanding the world around you. In Science 8, you will be learning more about how global systems on our earth work and our planet’s relation and impact on the rest of the universe.

• Scientific Inquiry

• Chemistry

• Meteorology

• Geology

• Astronomy

In science we value hands-on learning. When you are in class, we will be doing labs, and inquiry based activities in an environment that prepares students for the rigor of a high school course. Science this year will be designed to challenge students, and we will learn how to study, take notes, and identify strategies that work best for your learning style. Practice quizzes will be a way for students to check in on their understanding of particular topics. Student learning will be assessed with both a final unit test and a project to showcase learning and mastery of the content standards. Class resources for science will be found on the Canvas page, with links to assignments, videos, readings and other materials. Canvas is where learning will happen, and where teachers communicate with students about their learning progress. This is where we learn, make mistakes, and grow. Final grades are reported in skyward, and only assessment grades (tests and projects) count towards their final grade. We will also be using an online textbook that students can access with the “Savvas” app on their ipads.

The purpose of Global Studies is to broaden students' thinking, experiences and perspectives as we learn about the many cultures and geography of the world.

The overall goals for this class will be to:

• Increase awareness of what’s going on in the world and how it affects us

• Increase understanding and appreciation for other cultures and perspectives

• Develop civic skills and active citizenship

• Develop sound research practices and critical thinking skills