8th Grade Religion
The focus of study for 8th Grade Religion is the Early Church and the history of the church. We begin with a review of who the Apostles are and then dive into Acts. From there we discuss the early church and study those who have inspired Her to continue to be a beacon throughout Her history. Daily Copy work consists of looking up verses in the bible with weekly reflections on those verses. Students also choose a Saint every week to do a short study of in preparation for the 4th quarter research paper on the life of a Saint of their choosing.
We attend Mass on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Adoration takes place on Fridays with the addition of Benediction on First Fridays. The students participate in Reconciliation several times throughout the school year. Every morning begins with prayer and we pray the Angelus before lunch daily.
6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Reading
All students will be required to read daily. The classroom library contains approximately 800 titles. The students are familiar with the idea of beginning class with ‘Open Books and Closed Mouths’. Students receive points daily for reading silently. Following the ten minutes of reading, students record information about what they have read in a reading log which is turned in weekly. The focus of the reading logs changes quarterly and includes character development, story themes, plot line development and conflict type. Students also receive points for completed reading logs.
Greek and Latin is intended as a means of introducing students to Greek and Latin roots words. Students will complete packets bi-weekly based on the root words. Each root study includes a sketch sheet which students are encouraged to color. These sketch notebooks are a separate assignment and are due at the end of every quarter. Packets are due every other Thursday with a quiz every other Friday.
This year, we will be using CommonLit as the main source for our literature study. CommonLit provides a wide base of literature types and opportunities for the students to participate in. We will try to complete one unit every quarter.
6th Grade English
We will begin every class with a grammar lesson from our textbook. Once we have completed our lesson, we will move into writing. In English, our focus for writing will be technical. First quarter, we will work on increasing our writing grade levels and writing more complex paragraphs with quality main ideas, bodies and closing sentences. Second quarter we will look at expository writing. We will work on reading, analyzing and writing expository writing. Third and fourth quarters, we will move into writing essays with a focus on thesis statements and organizing our writing for success in higher grades.
