8th Grade March Newsletter |
Q3 Reward is a trip to the Movies March 20th we will be seeing Pout Pout Fish. Per the contract, students missing 2 or more assignments in any individual class, or students who are missing 6 assignments throughout their classes will stay behind to catch up on their work during the movie. . |
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Happy March! We are well into John Steinbeck’s beloved American classic, Of Mice and Men. Perhaps a great dinner table conversation would be the juxtaposition in the character of Lennie! As we finish the riveting, tragic story (if you’ve read it, no spoilers for the students please), your 8th Grader will prepare to write a literary analysis essay exploring how Steinbeck uses literary devices such as dialogue, symbolism, personification, and hyperbole to convey a theme about the relative attainability of the American Dream. You can also ask your student what supplemental classic novel they are reading in a literature circle as we prepare to hold a mock Town Hall in which they take on the role of parent, teacher, school board member, or student, to discuss current policies in DPS and at Merrill around banned or challenged books. This would be their Soul Night project if they choose.
As always, email us with any questions at erin_brauer@dpsk12.net or rachel_sommer@dpsk12.net. |
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Students in Mr. Stock’s classes got to pilot this week a program that integrates video games into math education. DPS provided Nintendo Switches, mini-projectors, controllers, and games so that students could engage in a 4-player cooperative experience on Snipperclips - a game where you have to collaborate to beat puzzles. Students were seen planning and working diligently together to think through complex puzzles that even stumped some adults in the building. Classes were frantic, loud, and exciting, and both the student and Mr. Stock learned a lot about teamwork, logic puzzles, and the importance of a little fun.
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Students will be taking their second Interim on March 2nd or 3rd (depending on the Red/Black schedule). After that we’ll shift our focus to our next unit, Chemistry! We’ll learn about the periodic table, atomic structure, chemical changes, balancing chemical equations, and more. For their project for this unit, students will choose an element on the periodic table to become experts on and then personify in the form of a mini scrapbook, or slideshow. Feel free to ask your student questions about the element they’re choosing to research!
Science CMAS starts on April 7th so we’ll also spend a few days in March reviewing the potential topics that will be covered by the test, discussing test taking strategies, and working through some practice test questions. |
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This month, students are engaged in our Indigenous Mapping “Case File” Project, where they investigate the driving question: How did colonization and expansion unravel Indigenous ways of life and transform the land in your assigned state? What lasting threads are still woven into the state’s story today? Working in research teams, students are assigned a specific state or territory and analyze primary and secondary sources to examine Indigenous homelands, treaties, forced relocation, land loss, and the enduring impact on Native communities. Students will “solve the case” by synthesizing their research into a visual map and written summary supported by historical evidence. These maps will be displayed throughout the building, allowing our school community to learn from their work. Through this project, students are strengthening their research, source analysis, historical thinking, and understanding of how the past continues to shape the present.
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