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What’s New in Eighth Grade?
Eighth graders at Wyndcroft are considered true school leaders, and they show their leadership throughout the school. They assist at the school store, record lunch orders for the kindergarteners, and read morning announcements. They manage and captain our athletic teams as well as mentor and encourage our younger athletes. One of their most significant achievements is the creation of the school’s yearbook, a 100+ page professionally published hardbound book entitled The Wyndward. Eighth graders are responsible for all aspects of the yearbook, including layouts, articles, graphics, and photographs. Through all of these ways, eighth graders forge connections throughout the entire school and build a sense of community. The following is a typical eighth grade weekly schedule at Wyndcroft: 7 periods of Language Arts (two double periods each week) Language Arts This course focuses on further development of and polishing of the students’ basic skills of spelling / vocabulary, grammar, writing, and literature. During the summer, students are required to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The year begins with a discussion of and testing of the required, summer reading novel; furthermore, the students hand in four, written book reports from books of their choosing. The students begin work in the Sadlier-Oxford vocabulary book. Lessons on vocabulary words, The following are our language arts objectives for eighth graders:
Textbooks: Vocabulary Workshop, Level C (Sadlier-Oxford), English, Level 7 (Houghton Mifflin), Literature, Middle Level, Level 8 (Houghton Mifflin), To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare), Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck) Mathematics Eighth grade honors Algebra I is divided into nine sections. The year begins with a comprehensive review of factoring polynomials, solving equations by factoring, and working with algebraic fractions. This is essentially a review of chapters 5 and 6 in the textbook Algebra Structure and Method Book 1. Students will continue their review with ratios, proportions, and percent in chapter 7. New material begins with negative exponents and scientific notation in chapter 7. Linear equations include graphing ordered pairs; graphs of linear equations; slope of a line; slope, intercept form; determining an equation of a line; solving systems of linear equations, graphing method, substitution method, and linear combination method; wind and water current problems; and digit, age, and fraction problems. Relation, The following are our mathematics objectives for eighth graders:
Textbook: Algebra Structure and Method Book 1 (McDougall Littell / Houghton Mifflin) Science This year-long course focuses on a variety of topics. The topics can be broken into five major areas: botany, chemistry, cartography, geology, and meteorology. The year begins with an introduction to different branches of science. A plant unit that builds on the biology from seventh grade follows. In the The following are our science objectives for eighth graders:
Textbooks: Holt Science and Technology Earth Science (Holt, Reinhart and Winston), Holt Science and Technology - Interactions of Matter (Holt, Rinehart and Winston), Galactic Cookie Dough (B. K. Hixson, Synaptic Wammy Works) Social Studies The course focuses on American history from 1820 to 1945. Specific historical themes which are examined include the rise of sectionalism prior to the Civil War, industrialization and the rise of corporations, the growth of the United States as a world power in the late 1890s, the ongoing tension in foreign policy between isolationism and global activism, the causes and results of the Great Depression both nationally and internationally, and the causes of World War II.
Textbooks: The American Nation: Civil War to Present (Prentice Hall), A History of US series (Oxford University Press) - War Terrible War: 1860-1865, Reconstruction and Reform: 1865-1896, An Age of Extremes: 1870-1917, War, Peace, and All That Jazz: 1918-1945 Foreign Languages All eighth grade students are required to complete a five course core curriculum of math, language arts, science, social studies, and foreign language (French or Latin). Based on the student’s overall academic progress and success with language study in seventh grade, the school will recommend that a student entering eighth grade follow one of the following schedules:
The eighth grade French course focuses on speaking, writing, and understanding French at an advanced level. Eighth graders expand their grammar knowledge with the use of direct/indirect object pronouns, double object pronouns, and the imperfect, conditional, and future verb tenses. The mastery of passé composé enables students to expand on verbal and written expression. There is more student initiated dialogue at this stage. Student speaking is enhanced with student-led verb conjugations, class participation using repetition, games, and recollection, and compare and contrast dialogues. Eighth graders continue the verbe du jour. Writing is evaluated with daily writing assignments, text book assignments, free writing, and quizzes/tests. Student translation is focused on internal translation as well as written. Eighth grade spends the second quarter studying the country of France and the monde francophone, as well as units on geography, language, history, government, the arts, and current events. Students read Le Petit Prince and Le Comte de Monte Cristo. Supplementary authentic reading material is provided for student pleasure. Students use technology skills to explore the French Internet and radio internationale. For students completing French at an advanced level, they will use the Allez-veins! textbook (Level 3) in preparation for accelerated study at the secondary school level. The following are our French objectives for eighth graders:
Textbooks: Dis-Moi (Scott Forseman) Dis-Moi Practice Workbook (Scott Forseman), Le Petit Prince, Le Comte de Monte Cristo, Schramm Vocabulary Thematic Unit Study, LaRousse Dictionnaire Français, Allez-viens! Level 3 (Holt, Reinhart, & Winston)
The following are our Latin objectives for eighth graders:
Textbooks: Cambridge Latin Course, Unit 3 (Cambridge), Omnibus Workbook, Unit 3 (Cambridge), Latin Poetry for the Beginning Student (Longman) Specials: Art
Space: perspective, design recognition, negative and positive The following are our art objectives for eighth graders:
Computer This course begins with a brief review of skills previously met. The primary focus of this course is the development of a multimedia presentation of individual work. Students use a variety of input devices and peripherals as well as editing tools to create unique multimedia projects covering a variety of topics. Individuals learn to utilize the variety of multimedia formats to present their work to the teacher and their peers. There is an emphasis on project management and individual ownership of all work. The following are our computer objectives for eighth graders:
Health These classes deal with individual healthy choices as students approach young adulthood. Healthy and appropriate relationships, respect, and communication are stressed. There are lessons on human reproduction, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS. This course stresses that only abstinence can fully prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and that abstinence is the only acceptable behavior for students at this age. (N.B. Parent permission is required for students to attend classes covering human sexuality. Students not given parent permission to attend will be given self-study packets to complete during the time of the assigned health class.) The following are our health objectives for eighth graders:
Textbooks: Current Health 2 (Weekly Reader) Music
The following are our music objectives for eighth graders:
Physical Education / Team Sports Students in grades six through eight take part in team sports and athletic activities. Students are required to participate in at least one team sport each year. The fall athletic options are boys’ soccer, girls’ field hockey, and fitness (indoor track, conditioning, etc.). In the winter, students may compete in basketball, or they may take part in a regular organized gym class and go to the Hill School for tennis and squash one day a week. The spring athletic options are lacrosse (both for boys and girls) and instructional swimming / water sports. The following are our physical education objectives for eighth graders:
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Eighth grade is the culminating year for a Wyndcroft student. The eighth grade curriculum provides numerous opportunities for eighth graders to demonstrate both their maturity and their readiness for continued academic study after graduation. Eighth graders read and debate Romeo and Juliet, both in Language Arts and in Music class. They compute algebraic equations and reflect on the causes and consequences of the Civil War. Eighth graders also have the choice of continuing in both French and Latin, or taking only one foreign language with additional math and language arts support.
synonyms, antonyms, analogies, completing the sentence, choosing the right word, word families, and enrichment of reading skills such as restatement, context clues, contrast clues, and cause and effect clues are presented each week. Grammar is taught through daily edits, through assigned writing, and as weaknesses are observed in the students’ work. Exercises from the text strengthen the students’ skills. More intense work with all parts of speech, clauses, verbals, and using all parts of grammar is assigned. Working with daily edits and daily analogies, the students further enhance their grammar and critical thinking skills. Writing lessons are included in the vocabulary lessons as the students incorporate the new words into weekly writing assignments of sentences or paragraphs that contain the week’s new words. Writing is taught through a variety of lessons: weekly assignments in vocabulary, formal paragraph construction, readers’ responses, and essay tests. These skills are expanded upon; more is expected from eighth grade writers. More formal writing is expected from eighth grade writers as they prepare essays for secondary school applications, class assignments, and crossing the curriculum with French, technology, and music classes. Journal writing is continued to expand the students’ enjoyment of personal, creative writing. Working in the literature textbook, students are exposed to fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, and essays. The students read Romeo and Juliet and study the life and times of William Shakespeare; they also read and study Of Mice and Men. The eighth grade class produces and publishes the Wyndcroft School’s yearbook The Wyndward. The periods are spent writing copy, creating layouts, taking pictures, writing captions, and learning all aspects of publishing. After the yearbook has been sent to the publisher in the spring, students spend those class periods writing and illustrating a children’s book. Following a formula that includes various literary terms and grammar requirements, the students develop their books and then present them to Lower School students.
functions, and variation are covered through relations; functions and function notation; linear, constant, and composite functions; quadratic functions; direct variation; inverse variation; and problem solving using variation. Inequalities are studied through order of real numbers; solving inequalities in one variable with graphing on a number line; solving problems involving inequalities; solving combined inequalities with conjunctions and disjunctions; absolute value in open sentences; graphing linear inequalities in two variables; and systems of linear inequalities in two variables. The study of rational and irrational numbers is studies through properties of rational numbers; decimal forms of rational numbers; rational square roots; irrational square roots; square roots of variable expressions; the Pythagorean Theorem; multiplying, dividing, and simplifying radicals; adding and subtracting radicals; multiplication of binomials containing radicals; and simple radical equations. Quadratic functions are studied by solving quadratic equations with perfect squares, completing the square, and the quadratic formula; graphs of quadratic equations; the discriminant; sum and product of the solutions; problem solving with quadratic equations; and joint and combined variation. At the end of the year, students are introduced to plane geometry.
chemistry section, the students are introduced to the following topics: atoms, the periodic table, chemical bonding, chemical compounds, chemical reactions, acids and bases, and the pH scale. Hands-on activities are done to emphasize the chemistry that is taught. In the cartography section, the students gain an understanding of the history and importance of map-making. The student is also introduced to a number of different map projections. In the geology section, the student is introduced to the basic mineral types, the rock cycle, energy resources, the fossil record, and plate tectonics. In the meteorology section, the atmosphere and a basic understanding of weather are emphasized. Throughout the year, lab work and projects are done to reinforce the topics. Students also learn how to interpret graphs and figures related to the topics covered.
The following are our social studies objectives for eighth graders:
Eighth grade Latin is the culmination of the Latin program. Students explore an intense sequence of grammatical forms and functions. The focus of translation is independence. Students translate short adapted Latin stories based on Homer’s Odyssey. Class review of a story translation is student directed, with emphasis on discovering variations in meaning rather than agreeing upon a uniform translation of words. As a final project of the year, eighth graders scan, read, and memorize small sections of authentic Latin poetry. As with other grades, students select a cultural topic of their choice to research for presentation in the Saturnalia festival.
Eighth graders examine the world of art in these areas:
to exhibit age appropriate and ethical behaviors when using information and technology and to discuss consequences of misuse
to comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention
The course begins with the study of West Side Story and how it compares to Romeo and Juliet (which is studied in English class at the same time). The second half of the course concentrates on musicals. There is also the opportunity to participate in chorus and select chorus.
to identify the benefits of games and sports for themselves and others