HOMEROOM/READING TEACHER: Dannet Menaker (Dmenaker@stbartholomew.org OR Ext. 28)

SCIENCE/8th Gr. Level ALGEBRA TEACHER: Susan Kirkbride (mrs.k@stbartholomew.org OR Ext 27)

9th Gr. Level ALGEBRA TEACHER: Steve Bartl (sbartl@stbartholomew.org OR Ext 34)

ENGLISH TEACHER: Lynn Mathia (Lmathias@stbartholomew.org OR Ext 26)

RELIGION: Germania Rebaudengo (grabaudengo@stbartholomew.org OR Ext 33)

SOCIAL STUDIES: Principal Miller (Kathleen@stbartholomew.org< OR Ext 11)

Eighth grade means finally making it! Graduation will take place on this year and then they move on to bigger things. The years here at St. Bartholomew School have been some of the best times of the children's lives. The joys, the pain, the ups and the downs have helped them grow into the individuals they are today.

Science

The course is Physical Science, and we will be learning about matter forces, work and energy, the atom, electricity, and waves. There will be numerous hands-on activities, films, demonstrations, and activities. The students will be investigating the world around them discovering how and why things work.

Tests will be given on each chapter, with an occasional alternative assessment. Homework will average 20 minutes per night. Every two weeks, an envelope with all of the student's work goes home. Please examine, sign, and return the evaluation sheet and envelope. This will give an accurate picture of the student's progress. Please check eBoard for upcoming assignments or missing work.

Grading: 67% testing, 33% homework

Reading

This course is more of a literature class because we apply our basic comprehension to very specific topics in works of fiction and non-fiction. Each class has a literature book, which we use to strengthen our skills before we begin our novels. We spend a great deal of time reading, analyzing, comprehending, and synthesizing these books. In order to accomplish all of this, we have many discussions about different topics in the novel and we work on comprehension questions to practice responding to questions on a multitude of levels. Students are also assigned one book project per quarter, in addition to their classroom reading. The book projects always involve a written requirement and a creative component.

Students are encouraged to take careful notes as they read the required novels. STudents will be keeping a journal with poetry and creative writing. We will also be sampling musical lyrics, poetry performances, and dramatic acting. We will cover organizational and study skills.

FALL

The Jungle, sampled
Witness
Out of the Dust

WINTER

Anne Frank
Poetry, sampled
The Watsons Go To Birmingham

SPRING

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Deathwatch

Reading Grading Policy

In both Reading and English, students keep a grade-sheet of all of their graded assignments. This way, they are able to know where they stand, in these two classes, at anytime. All assignments are awarded a set amount of points (10-20 for homework, 30-50 for quizzes, 100 for tests and projects) and, depending on the completeness and accuracy of the work, students will receive their grade out of that total. At the end of the quarter, all the students’ points are added together and the divided by the total amount of points possible, in order to get a percentage.

Vocabulary, English, and Reading all receive a separate grade on the report card. Each of these grades counts towards Honors eligibility. Additionally, all three grades are also averaged together for a cumulative language arts grade.

1. Computational skills
2. Familiarity with algebra topics and concepts
3. Problem-solving and applications

Each lesson involves board work, practice problems, and worksheets. The students will sharpen their computation accuracy with a timed drill, review homework, and practice the skill. Daily assignments will give them the opportunity to practice and master the material.

On a typical day, students learn mathematical concepts by analyzing patterns and writing mathematical rules. Instruction frequently includes work at the board, the use of hands-on materials, and working with partners or in small groups. Homework is assigned daily, along with weekend enrichment and cumulative review assignments.

Homework is an essential component within the learning process and will be graded as follows:

An assignment is considered on time if it is complete, with the directions properly followed, the work shown as directed, mistakes corrected, the appearance of work satisfactory, and the assignment handed in at the time of class.

If a student is absent, handing the assignment(s) in upon their return to school would be considered
on time.

If an assignment is late, it will be indicated by a 'late' mark in the students’ assignment book with the teacher's initials next to it.

Please monitor your child’s assignment book to keep informed on how they are doing.

The homework grades throughout the quarter will be averaged to determine the quarterly
homework grade.

This survey course is designed to give an overview of the 20th century to current events.

Students are encouraged to watch the National Network News eah night as well as reading a newspaper at breakfast or news online. The students will occasionally be working in groups to conduct research to present to the class. We will also be learning how to follow the stock market. Have students keep a log of historical places that they travel to or read about.

Grammar - The textbook is Voyages in English (Loyola Press). The children also have a grammar workbook, Exercises in English (Loyola Press), which may be written in and taken home. Eight graders continue to learn mechanics of punctuation, as well as parts of speech and elements of a sentence. They will be analyzing sentence structure, clauses - their use, placement and purpose - and constructing and deconstructing complex and compound sentences and inverted word order. We will do some work on subtleties of style - parallelism, sentence variety, voices, the application of modals, and coherence and transitions.

Vocabulary and Spelling - Vocabulary in Action, Level E (Loyola Press) is the vocabulary text for this grade. Students will be tested every Friday on words they study at home.

Writing - There is no writing textbook. About half our class time will involve writing strategies, ideas, and processes. We will do descriptive, analytical, and persuasive writing and research projects earlier in the year, and save drama, prose fiction, and poetry for late April and May. Grading on writing projects will consider the use of proper, age-appropriate syntax; vocabulary that is above an elementary level; organization of material; and creativity. It is better that a child express a complex and original thought clumsily than express a cliche well.

Oral Communication - Archdiocese standards include a section on oral communication. We will do a few formal writing projects - a dialogue or play, and a debate - that explicitly involve oral speech. Students are graded on their class participation and their ability to express themselves in Standard English in full sentences.

Homework - Students will have grammar and vocabulary homework on a regular weekly basis. They will be given a written rubric for graded writing projects that is usually assigned early in the week for submission the following week.

Grades - Grades are based on writing projects, the results of grammar and vocabulary quizzes and tests, and class participation. Extra-credit writing assignments may be requested by students who would like to improve their grades.