In eighth grade we strive to support students to be successful in a safe and encouraging academic environment where failure is not an option.

Eighth Grade Curriculum

Religion
Students learn about God’s love through classroom experiences, weekly attendance at Mass, daily prayer and using our daily religion program and student materials called Be My Disciples.  The curriculum focuses on Morality and the Liturgy.

Language Arts

Many areas will be covered and students will learn how to do the following:
Narrative/Informational Text
Analyze the kinds of genres such as mystery, poetry, memoir and drama

•  Analyze non-fiction texts such as persuasive essays, research reports, personal correspondence and biography
•  Narrative/information text

• Use their own experiences to help understand new ideas and connect to ideas in text
• Recall and summarize the main idea(s) and details for narrative and informational text
• Remember and use what has been read from other subject areas such as Science, Social Studies and Math
• Recognize when having difficulty understanding while reading, writing and listening
• Use strategies to improve comprehension such as predicting, rereading, asking questions, summarizing and making a mental picture

• Use the writing process to produce narratives, expository, research to support ideas, argumentative dialog
• Follow the writing process, relying heavily on editing and revising skills to publish 5 to 7 high quality pieces of writing
• Use of the MLA format

• Write complete sentences using correct grammatical structure and conventions
• Demonstrate the MLA
• Write neatly in all compositions

• Identify and understand unknown words by using reading strategies
• Fluently read beginning grade level text and more difficult texts as the year progresses

Text used:
Literature text - Adventures for Readers II, Harcourt
Class Novels - Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor   
Writing text - Write Source, Houghton Mifflin    

Math
The eighth grade Algebra 1 curriculum contains several chapters, printable worksheets, tests and quizzes.  The program is aligned with our Diocese curriculum.  The Accelerated Math program is used to monitor student progress throughout the school year.  All students who take Algebra 1 as an eighth grader will have the opportunity to receive high school credit for this class.  The decision will be made at the end of the student’s freshman year in high school with parents, student and high school counselor.  By receiving this credit it allows our students in the Nouvel system to take 5 years of high school math instead of 4.

The lessons are organized into chapters that are similar to what is introduced in pre-algebra but go into much greater depth in Algebra 1:
    •    Number Systems
    •    Real Numbers
    •    Number Theory
    •    Ratio, Proportion, and Percent
    •    Real World Computation
    •    Expressions and Equations
    •    Plane Geometry
    •    Graphing
    •    Linear Relationships
    •    Probability
    •    Data and Statistics

Text Books Used: Glencoe Mathematics, Algebra 1

The Eighth Grade also has a competitive Algebra 1 class.  This class is for advanced students that want to push themselves to learn at a faster pace and go more in-depth into the Algebra 1 topics.  Math problems from local math competitions, such as; Mathcounts and The Delta Math Competition, will be incorporated into the students learning.  

Science
In eighth grade Science the primary subject being covered is Earth Science.  Students are taught a wide variety of topics through differentiated instruction, hands-on activities, learning fair projects, individual and group projects.  All focusing on the advancement of the students to the high school curriculum.  In Earth Science the material covered includes human impact on the environment, Earth’s structure, Earth’s History, Rocks, Minerals, Geologic processes, energy from the sun, water, Earth’s atmosphere, weather and climate, solar system, stars and galaxies, the sun, moon and Earth.  

Social Studies
The Eighth Grade students take an in-depth look at American History, beginning with the causes of the Revolutionary War through the Civil War and reconstruction. The curriculum is aligned with the Michigan Grade Level Content Expectation.

Topics Include:
    •    Revolutionary War
    •    Creation of a New Country
    •    The Constitution and creation of American Government
    •    The Age of Jefferson
    •    Growth and Expansion
    •    Jacksonian Democracy
    •    Reform Movements
    •    Civil War
    •    Reconstruction

Enrichment Opportunities:

• Reading Buddies
• Band and Choir
• Mathcounts Team
• Competitive Math Team
• Student Council
• Service Hours
• Monthly community service at local soup kitchen
• Cedar Point Trip
• Washington DC Trip
• Football
• Boys and Girls Basketball
• Volleyball
• Track
• Cheerleading