Eighth Grade Curriculum

LANGUAGE ARTS

Below please find highlighted objectives for the course of study in
Grade 8 LANGUAGE ARTS

1. The student will be able to recognize parts of speech as they appear in sentences.

2. The student will be able to properly capitalize first words, proper nouns,abbreviations and titles.

3. The student will be able to properly use end and internal punctuation.

4. The student will be able to identify various types of sentences and their basic component parts.

5. The student will be able to write well-developed, meaningful sentences appropriate to his/her age.

6. The student will be able to write a unified, coherent paragraph containing a topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence.

7. The student will be able to narrow a subject and write an outline for a five paragraph composition.

8. The student will be able to write a well-developed friendly and business letter in appropriate style.

9. The student will interpret prose and poetic writing.

10. The student will improve his/her ability to speak clearly and confidently in a public setting.

11. The student will show improvement consistent with his/her age in his/her listening and study skills.

12. The student will be able to demonstrate proper usage of pronouns and verbs in both speaking and writing.

 

MATH

Below please find highlighted objectives for the course of study in Grade 8 Mathematics.

1. To select the correct procedure, set up, and to solve problems.

2. To evaluate expressions, equations, and functions.

3. To understand the absolute value of an integer; add, subtract, etc.

4. To use rational numbers.

5. To solve problems involving graphing and statistical measures.

6. To solve problems involving ratio, percent, and proportion.

7. To investigate many patterns and their relationship to geometry.

8. To solve problems involving perimeter, area, and volume.

9. To explore and solve problems with real numbers.

10. To understand graphing of relations and functions.

11. To solve probability and discrete mathematics problems.

 

READING

Below please find highlighted objectives for the course of study in
Grade 8 READING

1. The student will be able to understand the sequence of events in a literary work.

2. The student will be able to identify the main idea and important details.

3. The student will be able to show specific relationships.

4. The student will be able to draw a conclusion.

5. The student will be able to answer an inferential question.

6. The student will be able to seek the cause of character's behavior.

7. The student will be able to understand and appreciate the elements of story form - characterization, plot, mood, setting, climax, point of view,
and conclusion.

8. The student will be able to understand sources of humor.

9. The student will be able to understand three levels of comprehension:literal, interpretive and applied.

10. The student will be able to identify characteristics of literary forms: history,mystery, science fiction, realistic fiction, and drama.

11. The student will be able to identify poetry and its forms.

12. The student will be able to identify and write various forms of figurative language such as imagery and irony.

13. The student will be able to identify text types: narrative, informational, persuasive, and everyday.

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SCIENCE

Below please find highlighted objectives for the course of study in
Grade 8 SCIENCE. The learner will demonstrate the ability to:

1. To demonstrate safety in the science room.

2. To identify matter and properties of matter.

3. To describe the arrangement of elements in the periodic table.

4. To recognize major objects in our galaxy.

5. To identify a control in an experiment.

6. To be able to measure SI in mass, volume, and temperature.

7. To demonstrate the proper use of laboratory equipment and supplies.

8. To use the scientific method for problem solving.

9. To identify energy and the major types.

10. To name reactants and products in a chemical change.

11. To develop hypotheses and test them via experiments, models, or observations.

12. To demonstrate two kinds of electrical charges.

13. To demonstrate a variety of effects of static electricity.

14. To compare and contrast the characteristics of waves in various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

15. To identify mass number and calculate atomic mass.

16. To explain one hypothesis of how are solar system, moon, and universe formed.

17. To compare and contrast the planets in our solar system.


HEALTH

Below please find highlighted objectives for the course of study Grade 8 HEALTH. The learner will be able to demonstate the ability:

1. To explain the physical, mental, social and sexual changes of an adolescent.

2. To understand animal reproduction.

3. To identify the four food groups.

4. To compare and contrast eggs and sperm cells.

5. To know causes and cures of some genetic diseases.

6. To explain the difference between hybrid, pure breeds, and albinos.

7. To know how genes control traits.

8. To identify proteins.

9. To create and read a punnett chart.

10. To recognize fire safety precautions.

11. To recognize the virus that causes AIDS is not transmitted through casual
contact.

12. To define "drug" and list those substances that are considered to be most
used drugs.

13. To know how to get help for people with addictions.

14. To identify some proteins in the body.

 

SOCIAL STUDIES

Below please find the highlighted objectives for the
course of study in Grade 8 Social Studies.

The student will be able to:
1. Make some interpretations of historical data through a series of mini-projects.
2. Study various news media in order to better their understanding of the major political, economic and social changes that are presently taking place.
3. Write an historical editorial and a letter to the editor taking a stand on a historical event and backing their position with historical data.
4. Recognize the problems of the new nation under the articles of Confederation and the events leading up to the writing of the Constitution.
5. Identify the three major branches of the government and their responsibilities.
6. Relate the politics and identify the people involved in the attempts to settle the slavery problem in the first half of the 18th century, especially the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
7. State the problems of the U.S. and the other countries over the acquisition of the territories that make up the United States.
8. Write an essay of no less than four paragraphs describing the life of a famous American. The student will describe the person's background, identify the event or events which made them well known and express an opinion about this person.
9. Identify the definitions of a list of vocabulary words related to their studies. This list will come mainly from the lists found in the social studies text. Other words may come from current events studies.
10. Compare and contrast their life today with that of a person from another period of time.
11. List the causes of World War I and tell why the U.S. became involved.
12. Locate on a map of the U.S. the sites of various historic events.
13. Identify some of the diverse personalities in American history and their accomplishments.


SPELLING

1. The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to spell a compound word by spelling the familiar word parts separately.

2. The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to spell words by syllables.

3. The student will be able to demonstrate familiarity with the rule requiring the student to drop a silent "e" before endings beginning with vowels.

4. The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to build new words by adding different prefixes to roots.

5. The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to change verbs to nouns by adding the "tion" suffix.

6. The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to differentiate between homonyms.

7. The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to work with the familiar "i" before "e" rule.

8. The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to spell common words which have come to us from the French language.

9. The student will be able to recognize the many English words that have come to us from Latin expressions.

10. The student will be able to recognize Greek word parts as they are contained in English words.




 

 


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