8th Grade Curriculum

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The course continues the chronological narrative of American History from the Civil War to the present day. There is also a continuation and refinement of the skill development begun in 7^th Grade American History. The students are also introduced to the skills needed to answer and complete a document based question. This course culminates in a State Social Studies exam.

English 8 is designed to meet the needs of a heterogeneously grouped class in which students represent a wide range of ability levels. The focus is on developing and refining skills students need for success in eighth grade and beyond. Close reading of a variety of texts and expository and creative writing are the centerpieces of the course, the literary vehicles through which the essential sub-skills of language arts and independent learning are developed. The core reading pieces include The Pearl by John Steinbeck, The Giver by Lois Lowery, The Diary of Anne Frank, A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers. In addition, students read short stories, essays, articles and poetry and also complete several long range projects. As the year progresses, students are expected to demonstrate increasing levels of individual responsibility and personal organization in anticipation of the demands they will meet in high school. All eighth grade students are required to sit for the New York State English Language Arts Assessment administered in January. The course culminates in a final examination in June.

This 8th grade course focuses on the two main branches of Physical Science: Chemistry and Physics. Students work with tools of measurement, the diversity of matter, the physical/chemical properties of matter, and the Periodic table. In addition students study motion, force, work, electricity, heat, energy, and magnetism and simple machines. This course culminates in a New York State Middle School Science exam.

This course covers typical grade 8 topics required by the State Education Department. Grade 7 topics are reviewed and expanded. New topics include: the Pythagorean Rule, the use of sine, cosine, and tangent, relations, functions, and graphing, transformations and constructions. Special attention is placed on problem solving. The course culminates in a Grade 8 State Math exam.

This is the first course in an integrated sequence of mathematical study that covers topics in logic, algebra, polynomials and factoring, coordinate and transformational geometry, graph theory, probability, and statistics. Traditional Sequential I work is covered and expanded upon. Problem-solving skills and concepts are emphasized. This course culminates in a school final exam. Students next year will take the New York State Math A exam in either January or June depending on their choice of High School. Prerequisite: Successful completion of the Advanced Math 7 course with at least a grade of 85 and teacher recommendation.

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This page was updated 09/01/04