Grade 8
Electives
Table of Contents
WORLD LANGUAGES
When choosing a language program, we recommend that students study through year four or five at the High School if they wish to become reasonably proficient, Students continue the language they began in seventh grade; there is no beginning entry point for eighth grade. When these students enter the High School, they are automatically in the second year course (assuming they have been recommended by their eighth grade teacher). A grade in the D range would suggest the need for serious remediation. When student enrollment allows, year one courses are offered in French, German, Latin, Chinese, and Spanish at Wellesley High School.
580 FRENCH 8
SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE
The Grade 8 world language courses build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in seventh grade. Students continue their proficiency development, learning real-world communication skills in all three modes: the interpretive mode (reading, listening, viewing), the presentational mode (speaking, writing), and the interpersonal mode (active, unrehearsed communication between individuals). Instruction is activity oriented. Students should expect regular homework assignments and frequent quizzes, tests and/or projects. By the end of eighth grade, students should be able to express themselves in past, present and future frames of time.
582 SPANISH 8
SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE
The Grade 8 world language courses build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in seventh grade. Students continue their proficiency development, learning real-world communication skills in all three modes: the interpretive mode (reading, listening, viewing), the presentational mode (speaking, writing), and the interpersonal mode (active, unrehearsed communication between individuals). Instruction is activity oriented. Students should expect regular homework assignments and frequent quizzes, tests and/or projects. By the end of eighth grade, students should be able to express themselves in past, present and future frames of time.
584 LATIN 8
SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE
This course introduces students to the ancient world through the language and ideas of the Romans. Students acquire some basic elements of Latin syntax and a significant vocabulary base. They become skilled in deriving English words from Latin roots, learn numerous Latin sayings used in English, and through reading Latin become acquainted with Roman customs and mythology. Students' experiences in learning Latin are enriched and enlivened by drama activities, games, projects and films. Students should expect regular homework assignments and frequent quizzes, tests and/or projects.
586 GERMAN 8
SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE
The Grade 8 world language courses build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in seventh grade. Students continue their proficiency development, learning real-world communication skills in all three modes: the interpretive mode (reading, listening, viewing), the presentational mode (speaking, writing), and the interpersonal mode (active, unrehearsed communication between individuals). Instruction is activity oriented. Students should expect regular homework assignments and frequent quizzes, tests and/or projects. By the end of eighth grade, students should be able to express themselves in past, present and future frames of time.
579 MANDARIN CHINESE 8
SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE
The Grade 8 world language courses build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in seventh grade. Students continue their proficiency development, learning real-world communication skills in all three modes: the interpretive mode (reading, listening, viewing), the presentational mode (speaking, writing), and the interpersonal mode (active, unrehearsed communication between individuals). Instruction is activity oriented. Students should expect regular homework assignments and frequent quizzes, tests and/or projects. By the end of eighth grade, students should be able to express themselves in past, present and future frames of time.
FITNESS AND HEALTH
981 WORLD FOODS 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
The World Foods course is designed for students to develop and hone their basic culinary skills while learning about and preparing a variety of foods originating from all over the world. World Foods will encourage students to try new foods and foster their creative spirit. Students practice the basics of kitchen safety and sanitation, time-management and food preparation in cooperative learning groups. As students engage in a culinary tour of the world, they will study traditions of family meals and current customs unique to those countries. As a culminating project of the course students will create a cookbook project and participate in a group cooking competition.
PERFORMING ARTS
Required concert attire for music ensembles:
Uniform concert dress is required for all performances. Concert dress consists of solid white shirts with long sleeves and man-tailored collars (no ties) and black slacks or long skirts (legs must be covered). Shirts/blouses are to be tucked in. Dark dress shoes should be worn.
684 BAND 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
YEAR COURSE
Band 8 is designed to meet the needs of the maturing middle school instrumentalist. Band membership is limited to brass, woodwind, and percussion players. Private lessons are strongly recommended for all students. This ensemble performs music drawn from the traditional band repertoire as well as popular music and show tunes. Band 8 performs several concerts throughout the year. Attendance and participation at performances are a requirement of this course. A limited number of advanced grade band 8th members have the opportunity to audition for the Eastern Massachusetts Junior District Festival Band in January. Continuous membership is strongly recommended for those planning to play in High School band ensembles.
680 / 682 CHORUS 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSES (Can be taken twice for a full year)
Section A: 680 Subharmonics (tenor and bass voices)
Section B: 682 Overtones (soprano and alto voices)
Chorus 8 is divided into sections–Overtones (formerly Song Sisters) for soprano and alto voices, and Subharmonics (formerly Brooks Brothers) for tenor and bass voices; they sing separately as well as occasionally combine into a mixed choir. This course is designed to provide students with healthy vocal techniques needed to manage their changing voices. Students learn reading skills at an increasingly difficult level. They sing repertoire from a variety of genres, including folk, classical, and popular music forms. They perform in school-based concerts, and they travel periodically for offsite performances to Boston, Wellesley High School, and other venues. Attendance and participation at performances are a required part of this course. A limited number of advanced grade chorus 8th members have the opportunity to audition for the Eastern Massachusetts Junior District Festival Choruses in January. Continuous membership is strongly recommended for those planning to sing in High School vocal ensembles.
612 JAZZ BAND 8
MEETS BEFORE SCHOOL (M-W-F)
YEAR COURSE
(Admission by Audition only)
The Jazz Band is designed to provide an opportunity for technically advanced wind, percussion, guitar, bass instrumentalists and pianists in grades 7 and 8. Students learn to perform jazz and contemporary music styles, including an introduction to jazz improvisation is provided. Members of the Jazz Band who play wind and percussion instruments are required to perform in their grade level Bands. Guitar, bass players, and pianists should be enrolled in orchestra or chorus. Jazz band students perform in concerts where their participation is required.
611 ORCHESTRA 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
YEAR COURSE
Orchestra membership is limited to eighth graders who play violin, viola, cello, and string bass with a minimum of two years prior orchestra experience or the equivalent. This ensemble is designed to provide string players with a substantive technical training and performance experience in preparation for entering the high school orchestra program. Repertoire for the Orchestra is primarily drawn from the Baroque and Classical periods, as well as music from later stylistic periods. Orchestra students perform in regularly-scheduled concerts throughout the year. Attendance and participation at performances are a required part of this course. Technically advanced orchestra members have the opportunity to audition for the Eastern Massachusetts Junior District Festival Orchestra. Private lessons are strongly recommended for all students. Continuous membership is strongly recommended for those planning to play in High School orchestral ensembles.
688 DRAMA 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE (Can be taken twice for full year)
Students continue to develop skills of characterization and improvisation through exploration of prompts designed to create scenes which will culminate into a short, full-length script. The class will perform this script during school for an invited audience. Students should be aware that they do not have to perform on stage but can also be helpful working stage crew for this performance. Building on learned skills, students will also learn various genres of theatre. Genres include, but are not limited to, musical theatre, theatre for young audiences, improvisation and sketch comedy. Skills learned in 8th grade are designed to prepare students for high school theatre arts classes.
931 ROCK BAND 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
This class is designed for any student instrumentalist/vocalist who is interested in playing rock/popular music. All levels of musicianship and all instrumentalists/vocalists are welcome. Students will learn songs from various eras of rock and popular music. Students will also explore topics such as songwriting, planning a performance and creating a set list. No experience is required or necessary. Students will have access to a drum set and guitar/bass amplifiers, however they will need to bring their own instruments to class. Students may also choose to join the extra curricular Rock Band Club to add further depth to their work, but this club is not required.
TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING
The following courses are a continuation of meaningful educational experiences to help students uncover and develop individual creative talents, apply problem solving and decision making techniques, apply other school subjects and begin to formulate possible career choices.
Eighth grade courses are extensions of experiences from the sixth and seventh grade MakerSpace courses. Courses meet three periods per cycle for one semester. These courses are more in-depth processes and enable students to construct more advanced projects based upon their level of ability and competence.
881 DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
ONE SEMESTER COURSE
This course focuses on one central challenge: Within the confines of our school’s greenhouse, design/build a sustainable system to responsibly grow, maintain, market, process and deliver the maximum quantity of high-quality food to feed students at WMS. The course is an opportunity for students to apply a wide variety of design, engineering, and science-related concepts to achieving the goals described.
882 ROBOTICS I
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
ONE SEMESTER COURSE
In this course, students learn how to program small robots to function autonomously–to perform certain tasks based only on a set of instructions a student has created. Students progress through a series of challenges in which they must program their robot to perform increasingly complex tasks. The semester-long course culminates with small groups of students designing a robotic device that they build and program to complete a challenging task their group has chosen.
885 ROBOTICS II
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SECOND SEMESTER COURSE
For students who wish to further develop their programming and building skills, the second semester Robotics class continues the focus on student-designed projects that will challenge and engage participants in deepening their grasp not only of programming skills but also of the ways in which many science and engineering disciplines intersect within the world of robotics.
880 WOODWORKING I
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
ONE SEMESTER COURSE
Grade 8 woodworking engages students in the systems and processes used in furniture construction. Problem solving and developing a student’s creative abilities are focal points of this course. Students design, plan and construct their own personal projects in this class. The course creates opportunities for students to work more independently with woodworking machinery. Projects may include chairs, bookcases, and tables. Safe practices are emphasized throughout the course.
883 WOODWORKING II
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SECOND SEMESTER COURSE
In order to take Woodworking II, students must have taken Woodworking first semester. In Woodworking II, students will continue to build upon their knowledge and concepts developed in Woodworking I.
890/1 COMPUTER SCIENCE I 7/8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
ONE SEMESTER COURSE
This semester-long, three-times-a-cycle course will be offered to 7th and 8th grade students; through the Codesters platform and curriculum, it introduces the principles of computer science at a middle-school-appropriate level and links these principles to algebraic thinking. In this course, students will complete a series of lessons designed to teach the basic syntax, structure, and process of writing programs in Python. These projects will tackle the following concepts: data types, variables, conditionals, loops, lists, algorithms, and debugging. Students create a final project at course completion.
893 COMPUTER SCIENCE II 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SECOND SEMESTER COURSE
PREREQUISITE: Computer Science 1 or Equivalent Coding Experience
This semester-long, three- times- a cycle course will be offered to 8th grade students who have successfully completed the Computer Science I Course OR have prior experience with the python programming language from outside of school. In order to be successful in this course, students must have prior knowledge of data types, variables, conditionals, loops, lists, algorithms, and debugging. Through the Codesters platform and curriculum. This course builds on the knowledge acquired in the Computer Science 1 course and requires students to apply the syntax learned to solve larger, novel problems. Students will be expected to understand basic concepts within the python framework, including indexing, algorithms, string manipulation, while loops, events, booleans, program design, and game mechanics. Students create a final project at course completion.
896 SCIENCE, THE WORLD AND YOU 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
Guided by student curiosities, current events, and real-world questions and problems, this 8th grade elective will enrich students’ scientific knowledge. During the semester, students will work in teams to identify a question or problem and work toward an answer or solution using the Project-Based Learning (PBL) framework for teaching and learning. This course is designed as an enrichment course for students who show an interest in different subject matter and create space for students who benefit from a project-based learning experience.
VISUAL ART
Art electives are designed to give students an opportunity to specialize in any of five art disciplines. The purpose of these courses is to teach basic art principles through immersion in a medium and skill building that stimulates the developing middle school student. Art electives meet three times per cycle. No requests for elective changes will be accepted after the completion of the first two cycles (12 school days) of each semester.
781 PAINTING & DRAWING 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
The aim of this course is to introduce basic skills utilized in drawing and painting and to encourage awareness of composition, line, color, and individual style.
Class work will focus on building observational, expressive and imaginative drawing skills using a variety of media including pencil, pen, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, and acrylic paint. Exercises and portfolio assignments will explore still life, portrait, landscape, and abstraction on a variety of surfaces.
782 METALS 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
This is an introductory course in metalworking techniques with an emphasis on design, function and craftsmanship. Students will work with sterling silver wire to creatively respond to several design challenges. Through this process students will acquire skills for sawing, wire bending, filing, and soldering. The techniques covered may be used to make pendants, key chains, bracelets, earrings, and rings. Students will complete at least two original pieces during this class.
783 CERAMICS & SCULPTURE 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
This course explores the third dimension with an emphasis on form, shape, and space through a range of materials such as clay, paper, paper mâché, found objects, and alternate mediums. Students will learn and utilize various sculptural skills and techniques guided by historical and contemporary influences.
780 PHOTOGRAPHY 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
In this introductory black and white darkroom photography course students will learn how to operate a 35mm film camera and process their own film. Using a contact sheet, test strips, filters. cropping, dodging and burning they will learn to make professional quality prints. Students will shoot two theme-based rolls of film, one on objects and one on portraiture. Classroom lectures cover Pulitzer prize-winning photography, famous photographers and focus on asking the question, What is a good photograph? Students will become visually literate about photographic psychological qualities such as narrative, ambiguity and tension of opposites. Individual and group critiques use formative self-assessment with photographic visual elements such as composition, light/shadow, texture, range of value and exposure to improve work. This is a demanding, rigorous class with cumulative, sequential learning and high standards.
786 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL ART 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
This course uses technology as a medium to introduce students to digital image building. Students learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop and other software, while learning artistic concepts. Students will also learn about famous artists, art techniques, as well as basic layout and design. High-quality printing techniques on various photo and art papers are taught.
789 MIXED MEDIA 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE
In Mixed Media, students will use some traditional materials and art-making methods in combination with gelli-plate printmaking materials, collage and assemblage methods, which will allow them to experiment and explore the process of creating a finished piece. Students will be encouraged to take risks, problem solve critically, develop techniques, and become more autonomous as artists. This course combines multiple media, including digital and collage, to create artwork. Today’s art makes use of more than one medium, and requires Grade 8 students to utilize and integrate their knowledge and skills into one elective course.
WRITING
079 WRITING FOR FUN AND PUBLICATION 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
ONE SEMESTER
If you have ever dreamed of seeing your work in print, this is the course for you. This English elective will meet every other day on a semester basis for students interested in focusing on their creative writing. Students will choose their own writing projects. Class time will be used for the writing process and for conferences with teachers and fellow student authors for individual feedback. The publication process will be highlighted with specific emphasis given to contests and publications that accept the work of young authors.
SUPPORT CLASSES
READING / WRITING
076 READING 8
THREE OR SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE
The Grade 8 Reading course targets word recognition, vocabulary and comprehension skills and strategies for students with needs in those areas. Students have opportunities to build fluency through reading appropriately leveled texts. Placement in the Reading course is a result of recommendations from literacy specialists in consultation with school counselors.
MATHEMATICS
387 MATH WORKSHOP 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
YEAR COURSE
The Grade 8 Math Workshop provides extra support to students who are enrolled in Concepts in Algebra or Algebra 8. It targets computational skills and foundational concepts in math for students with significant needs in those areas. Students have opportunities to build skills proficiency and strong conceptual understanding of fundamental mathematical ideas through a variety of classroom and computer-based activities. The workshop teacher may also provide some support for the students' regular mathematics work, as time permits. Placement in this course is by recommendation of the classroom teacher in consultation with specialists, the school counselor, and parents.
ENGLISH LEARNERS
199 ENGLISH LEARNERS (EL) 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
YEAR COURSE
The English Language Development course is designed to provide support services to our English Language Learners. The course targets essential academic reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills needed for academic success. Students have the opportunity to practice and develop language-based academic skills so they can participate meaningfully in their content area classrooms. Participation is determined by an English language proficiency assessment.
ACADEMIC AND SEL ENRICHMENT
888 SCHOLARS 8
THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE
SEMESTER COURSE (Can be taken twice for full year)
A support class for eighth graders that allows for the previewing of selected academic content, as it relates to important skills needed for work in specific subject areas. Additionally, social and emotional skills are taught that support students with identity, race/ethnicity and affinity with classmates.