Eighth Grade Curriculum
Holy Spirit School students in Eighth Grade will:
RELIGION
- Describe the meaning of "Church" including the purpose of belonging to a community
- Explain the major liturgical seasons and the purpose of each season
- Describe the history of the early Church including how the Apostles started the Church and the connection between the Church and royalty
- Analyze the recent history of the Church including the Second Vatican Council, the division of the Catholic Church including the history of Martin Luther
- Incorporate the faith, liturgy and moral teachings of the Church into everyday life
- Compare and contrast religious movies and documentaries to better understand how to live a Christian life
- Participate in a four day leadership camp Tuolumne Trails – 8th Grade Trip where they learn communication skills and bond with each other as they begin their final year at Holy Spirit
- Participate in 8th grade activities to prepare for graduation including an 8th grade trip to San Francisco, buddy program with 1st grade, and an offsite 8th grade retreat
ALGEBRA
- Analyze and explain the process of solving an equation and justify the process used in solving a system of equations
- Develop fluency in writing, interpreting, and translating among various forms of linear equations and inequalities and use them to solve problems
- Solve linear equations and apply related solution techniques and the laws of exponents to the creation and solution of simple exponential equations
- Explain function notation and develop the concepts of domain and range while focusing on linear, quadratic, and exponential functions, including sequences, and also explore absolute value, step, and piecewise-defined functions
- Construct and compare linear, quadratic, and exponential models and solve problems.
- Explore systems of equations and inequalities, and interpret their solutions
- Interpret arithmetic sequences as linear functions and geometric sequences as exponential functions
- Utilize algebraic manipulation, including rearranging and collecting terms, and factoring, identifying, and canceling common factors in rational expressions
- Perform regression techniques to describe approximately linear relationships between quantities while using graphical representations and knowledge of context to make judgments about the appropriateness of linear models
LITERATURE/READING
- Participate in literature circles, to discuss literature and non-fiction texts with peers
- Describe the theme, main/central idea, author’s purpose and literary devices of grade-level texts
- Draw conclusions/inferences about a text using textual evidence, backstory and background information about the text and/or author
- Analyze characters in a text to determine the author’s intentions
- Describe connections that can be made with the text including to self, to the world, and to other texts
- Participate in Socratic Seminars and collegial discussions about a text
WRITING
- Participate in Writer’s Workshop using the Lucy Calkins curriculum
- Create outlines and other forms of pre-writing to prepare for writing an essay
- Write multiple personal statements to prepare for the high school application process
- Write a non-fiction narrative that includes research
- Write multiple literary analysis that analyze the theme of a text, compare and contrast themes of multiple texts, and analyze the literary techniques an author uses
- Write an argumentative essay that includes factual information on both sides of an issue, a well-developed claim and thesis statement, and a well-constructed counter claim
- Participate in quick writes throughout the year to help build writing momentum and learning to write faster
CONVENTIONS OF LANGUAGE
- Review vocabulary from middle school and continue to attain new vocabulary through literature
- Prepare for the high school placement test by learning key vocabulary
- Describe the purpose of a verbal exchange and use it correctly in writing
- Review comma rules as well as other punctuation and apply them correctly to eighth grade writing
- Describe commonly misused words, phrases, and grammar mistakes
- Identify parts of speech within a sentence or paragraph
- Format titles and publications correctly when writing including the use of MLA to cite sources
SOCIAL STUDIES - U.S. HISTORY
- Analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the United States throughout the years
Includes
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- Revolutionary War
- Early Republic- presidencies of Washington-Monroe
- Age of Jackson and Westward Expansion
- Society and Culture before the Civil War
- Sectionalism and the Civil War
- Reconstruction Era
- Industrial and Economic Growth
- The Progressive Era
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- Study current events, geography and mapping throughout the course
- Use a combination of reading and writing activities, STEAM projects, group and individual class work and homework, and various iPad apps to enrich their learning experience
- Visit the DeYoung Art Museum in San Francisco and the California state capital building in Sacramento
SCIENCE
- Explore electric and magnetic forces
- Build rockets to test their speed, velocity, and acceleration
- Engineer devices to display how elements and compounds work together
- Discover the aspects of space and observe them through a telescope