8th Grade Update: October 31, 2018
Posted on 10/31/2018
Social Justice Warriors
The 8th graders have been setting a great example as the leaders of Putnam Ave. and are now trying to extend their influence to communities beyond the school. They are currently working in groups to create Social Justice Awareness or Upstander ads in which they design engaging and powerful ads that raise awareness for a group that is oppressed by a social construct. The 8th graders are using resources in the media lab (the green screen) and iMovie to educate viewers on topics such as sexism, racism, and classism in America. It is the students’ hope that these brief but informative ads will persuade people to begin working towards social justice and to be in the “right relationship” with all the members of our community.
Math
Students in grade level math are continuing their exploration with transformations and congruence. They are working to prove that rigid transformations create congruent lines, angles, and figures.
Students in AMP are wrapping up their work with one variable statistics and beginning to work with slope. We are exploring how slope triangles can model rate of change on a graph.
Science
We are in the midst of our unit on seasons as part of the overarching unit
on climate. Students are using both physical and virtual models (i.e. WorldWide Telescope software) to develop an understanding of how Earth’s axial tilt and orbit around the sun creates unequal heating of the earth, which then results in an effect on the seasons.
ELA
Students have wrapped up a successful launch to the independent reading unit that we started at the beginning of this school year. Students are reading texts of their choice both in the classroom and at home each night. This month we are beginning our first module where we study refugee experiences and the themes of identity and home through the text Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.