Homeroom Update:

Our students have done a bang up job of navigating our distance learning schedule via Zoom thus far! We start each morning with our Homeroom check in and prayer, which is a great way to set the tone for our school day. Please be sure to join us for our Back to School Night, 9/1 at 6:30pm. 

A note to our awesome parents- please keep your eyes peeled for email information about High Schools; any information shared with Ms. T will be passed on to you. 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.

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 the distinction between Holy Days and Holy Days of Obligation. 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 begin learning about the early history of the Catholic Church as an Apostolic ministry.

Math & Science:

8th grade has been reviewing ratios and proportional relationships on the software Mathletics. The goal during distance learning is to reinforce proper math concepts by reviewing old topics and slowly adding new ones. 8th grade will follow the California Common Core Curriculum in preparation for continuing on to High School. Exercises are broken into two categories: new lessons which will be reviewed together during class, and fluency exercises that seek to enforce the newly learned concepts.  This week 8th grade will be moving from reviewing old material to learning new material  on ratios and proportional relationships.  For Science, 8th grade students will learn about Physical Science as per California Common Core standards. We have just concluded our introduction to Physical Science from our textbook and are now proceeding to the following chapter on Mathematics in Science. This week we will start preparing our first Current Event Sheet writing assignment where students will research a science topic of their choosing and summarize/analyze their findings.

ELA:

8th graders started off with reviewing briefly the elements of a story, as well as reading aloud in order for me to gauge reading fluency.  This group is a strong group of readers, so we reviewed and have begun our novel story for the historical fiction book, My Brother Sam is Dead.  Students will be expected to read and/or write nightly for class, and come into class ready to discuss the novel.  I will be sending out a reading schedule/calendar so that we will all be on the same page as far as reading expectations are concerned.  In grammar, we are reviewing key elements of 6th-7th grade language curriculum.  I am looking forward to beginning the 8th grade curriculum, and to begin walking through the literary analysis essay writing process with them.   In Spanish, students are continuing to work through content from where they left off at the end of last school year.  Lastly, I will be expecting all students to have outside reading books by the end of this month in which they are reading for pleasure.