Homeroom Update:

Thank you, wonderful parents, for joining us at Back to School Night last Thursday. The Middle School Team is excited to work with you in continued partnership as we prepare our kiddos for their exciting High School adventure in the coming months!

Please be sure to look over the 8th grade Information PDF that Ms. T emailed out to each of you last week. If you did not receive that PDF, please email Ms. T directly. Now is the perfect time to start looking into the different options for next year, as some application processes are beginning this month. We highly recommend that you consider applying to multiple schools, as the admission process can be competitive and spaces are limited at each site.  Now let’s check out what the first few weeks of school have had in store for your eighth graders!

A Few Upcoming Key Dates:

9/1: Math STAR test

9/2: Reading STAR test

9/5: No School (Labor Day)

9/7: School Picture Day

9/13: PTG meeting (8th Grade families encouraged to attend!)

9/16: Pasta Dinner (8th graders will be servers! Please leave this day open)

9/23: No School for students (Elementary Staff Day)

9/25: Family Mass @11am; please join us in the Church if you can

9/27: 8th field trip to St. Joe’s in Alameda

Social Studies & Religion:

8th grade has been busy reintroducing ourselves to the historical stage we’ll be studying this year. We’ve reviewed early European exploration in the Eastern Hemisphere, West African kingdoms, and feudalistic Europe. As we embark on our second chapter, we dive into European exploration of the Americas. In Religion class, we’ve spent time reestablishing our understanding of the Liturgical Year and examined the role Peter played in the early Church. We’ve also reinforced how to use our Bibles to look up Scripture passages, and have had opportunities to practice application of these skills. As we look towards September, 8th grade will continue learning about the early history of the Catholic Church as an Apostolic ministry.

Math & Science:

8th grade math began with a review of 7th grade concepts and cementing the practice of good note taking. Each student must have their own notebook exclusively for math and be taking notes on problems done on the board. Work has primarily been through our Math textbooks, but we began introducing Mathletics at the end of last month. 

Science for 8th grade began with an examination of what is science, a thorough review of the scientific method, and an explanation of what a controlled experiment is and its terminology to prepare students for the science fair and science literacy into high school and adulthood. All students must keep handouts and assignments that have been returned after grading. Science binders must have 5 tab dividers and follow the organization order reviewed in class.

ELA:

In Literature class, 8th graders began  reviewing the elements of a story, as well as reading aloud for me to gauge their reading fluency.  Currently, students are working on a mini research report to set the groundwork for our next novel, My Brother Sam is Dead.  Students will be expected to read and/or write nightly for homework once our novel study begins. It is imperative that you stress this element to your student as it plays an integral role in the progression of my daily lessons. In Language Arts students have been working on creating their first narrative writing piece.  Students have been working on taking copious notes and working through daily mini lessons such as writing a lead for their personal narrative.  The narrative writing piece will hopefully be completed by the middle of the month and then students will be learning about a new approach to analyzing literature.