Eighth Grade

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Eighth Grade

Advisory

During this final year of Middle School, a year of tremendous stress, growth and change, eighth grade advisors seek to provide students with a �safe haven.� Eighth grade advisory provides a place of belonging, where acceptance is guaranteed and where each child�s presence is acknowledged and valued. Eighth grade advisory provides a place where an adult befriends each advisee and becomes a confidant, critic, and advocate. Eighth grade advisory provides a �home� for each eighth grader going through the process of �finishing-up� middle school and preparing for high school.

Much of this atmosphere is achieved through formal and informal activities: community service, library information, fund-raising for the Washington D.C. trip, constructing yearbook pages, visits to local shops and restaurants, and inter-advisory competitions and activities. Social skills are learned and enhanced through teamwork, where each advisee participates as a leader and as a group member. Preparations for both the class trip to Washington D.C. and for high school registration occupy many hours of advisory throughout the year. Knowledge and experience are shared; questions are asked and answered.

Eighth graders are allowed more freedom during advisory periods than they were in previous years. This is by design as advisors are interested in helping their advisees begin the process of making good choices about time management.

Humanities

The eighth grade Humanities program continues to focus and build on the critical thinking, listening, oral and writing skills to which students were introduced in their earlier Middle School Humanities classes. It calls for a remarkable variety of types of expository and creative writing, including analytical essays, a research paper, book critiques, �how-to� papers, journal writing and poetry. Among the oral skills on which class work focuses are storytelling and presentation skills. We work hard on effective listening and collaborative participation in class discussion.

Fall quarter begins with a number of short stories and a work of fiction. Students examine what history and stories have in common and how they differ. We study the early history of Chicago, the importance of its location and its founding as a city, the Great Fire of 1871 and the Columbian Exposition�the World�s Fair of 1893 that took place in Jackson Park and on the Midway. The Fair serves as a lens through which we examine important developments in early twentieth century American life, such as the mass movement of people from farms to the cities where they went to work in newly created factories (urbanization and industrialization), the arrival of millions of immigrants into the country from 1880 to 1920, and the effects of mass marketing and mass media on early twentieth century American culture.

In winter and spring quarters we read�in chronological order-- novels that relate to movements and events in U.S. and world history. We begin with All Quiet on the Western Front, a German soldier�s account of World War I., focusing on the War�s effects on the individual and raising questions about �human nature.� Inherit the Wind, a fictionalized account of the famous evolution controversy and the Scopes trial (1925), follows. We continue with To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee�s novel about coming of age in the depression-era South, and then explore the beginnings and development of the Civil Rights movement with Ellen Levine�s Freedom�s Children. The power of �everyday� people to effect radical change and some of the remarkable ongoing changes that reshape our country daily will be our focus. The year ends with a novel set in the future, Fahrenheit 451, which allows us to explore questions about the role of technology in our lives, the tradeoffs that come with literacy, and, once again, the relationship between the individual and society.

Throughout the year students refine the mechanics of writing (grammar, punctuation, word usage and sentence structure) and do a great amount of editing and revising of all written assignments. They compile an ongoing vocabulary notebook over the course of the year and do considerable work with etymology. We also subscribe to Upfront, a middle school news and features magazine issued about twice a month by The New York Times, which serves as a periodic focus of class discussions and presentations on current events.

Humanities field trips include a boat tour of the Chicago River, a slide presentation and tour at the Palmer House hotel, the longest continuously operating hotel in North America, and a visit to Juvenile Court. A lawyer will also visit the class four or five times over the course of the year to work with us on legal issues related to the topics we are studying. In the spring we take the legendary trip to Washington D.C. to visit our seat of government.

Algebra or Geometry

Basic Curriculum:

Students who selected the two-year algebra course continue with the second half of this course (see description under �Seventh Grade�). Students who have completed a year of algebra take geometry.

The first third of the geometry course focuses on the concept of proof. Students learn to develop a chain of reasoning and thereby learn the power of logic as a tool to prove congruence in geometric figures. Doing proofs also dramatizes the relationship among ideas.

The use of proof continues throughout the course as students study the following topics: properties of parallel lines and special quadrilaterals, polygons, similarity, Pythagorean Theorem, circles and area; certain concepts from analytic geometry such as the equation and slope of a line, distance formula and proofs by algebraic methods; geometry of three-dimensional space, surface area and volume of standard solids; and basic constructions and applications of locus.

Students apply geometric concepts to art and computer projects.

Math Team:

All eighth graders may choose to join the Math Team, which meets once a week during lunch all year. Students work on a variety of problems to prepare for the American Mathematics Contest, the Illinois Math League Contest, and the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics Contests. All these contests are administered at school during the school day and are open to all students.

Math Activities:

All eighth graders may choose to attend optional math activities offered during Activity Period. These activities are usually either extra math help or math contests.

Science

One of the goals of eighth grade science is to build on the concepts and skills learned in Lower School and Middle School science classes, and to prepare students for the specialized science classes offered in the high school. Earth science, the subject of eighth grade science, is well suited to this endeavor as it utilizes concepts from physics, biology and chemistry. The course covers such topics as matter, weather, geology and astronomy.

Skills associated with laboratory experiences are very important at this level. Students work with various types of laboratory equipment especially in the data collection process. As in the fifth, sixth and seventh grade science classes, there is a strong emphasis on acquiring and perfecting the skills used in the investigative process. This includes the ability to formulate a hypothesis before beginning a laboratory exercise; carefully collect and observe the data; analyze and display the data in tables and graphs; and make inferences and draw conclusions from the data. Graphing is a skill that is particularly emphasized in the eighth grade. Students learn to establish correct graphic scales, axes, titles, select appropriate graphing formats (e.g., pie, bar or line graph), and plot and draw graphs.

Eighth grade science is a hands-on, laboratory-driven course. Some of the laboratory activities students participate in include separating mixtures; observing chemical changes; investigating such phenomena as conduction, convection, radiation and rotational forces; identifying rocks and minerals; and interpreting seismograms. Various topics related to weather, astronomy and geology are investigated on the Internet.

The units of study consist of:

Matter in earth science: an overview
This includes such topics as atoms and subatomic particles; element-compound mixtures; separation of substances; and differences among solids, liquids and gases.
Matter in the atmosphere: weather and climate
This includes such topics as the composition and structure of the atmosphere; heating factors affecting weather (e.g., temperature, water, and pressure); storms; weather maps; weather prediction; and climate. Students participate in a weather game project.
Matter on earth: minerals and rocks
This unit focuses mainly on solid matter and includes such topics as the identification of minerals and rock types (e.g., igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic).
Topographic maps
This includes learning about contour lines and engaging in various map exercises. Students create their own topographic map.
Changes in matter: subsurface processes
This includes such topics as plate tectonics, deformation of the earth�s crust, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Students write a newspaper article about a fictitious earthquake.
Changes in matter: surface processes
This unit focuses mainly on erosion and agents involved in erosion (e.g., running water, ground water, wind, glaciers), with an emphasis on physical and chemical changes in matter and the interaction of the atmosphere and earth. Students create a diorama of an agent of erosion.
Matter in space: astronomy
This includes such topics as the earth, sun, moon, solar system, galaxies and stellar evolution. Students make a brochure advertising a planet, comet or asteroid.

Foreign Language

The Middle School offers three foreign languages: French, German, and Spanish. Students begin their study of foreign language in third grade and proceed through the lower and middle school program in heterogeneous groups. Students new to the Laboratory Schools who do not have a background suitable for mainstream placement in these groups will be placed in a beginning language class. The beginning language will be one of the three languages offered in the Middle School.

German

Goals:

Reinforce material studied in seventh grade
Foster free-speaking ability by emphasizing student-generated activities such as role-playing, dialogues and discussions
Expand dictionary skills
Foster cooperative learning, through pair and small group work
Expand understanding of cultural aspects of the German-speaking countries, thereby enabling students to function with ease in a foreign setting

Skills and Concepts:

Vocabulary: review of sports, hobbies and leisure activities, conflicts/problems, stress at home and at school, phone conversations, letter writing, student exchange, television viewing habits and planning, map-reading, healthy eating habits, teenage activities and rights in the German speaking-world, icons, friendships, fashion and shopping for clothing, youth magazines, review of parts of the body.
Grammar: review of the present tense, modal verbs, and the present perfect tense, the imperfect tense as, review of adjectives and their forms in comparative and superlative, adjective endings with the nominative, accusative and dative cases, dependent vs. main clauses, indirect speech and subordinate clauses with �daߔ, conjunctive clauses with �denn�, �weil,� �wenn� and the corresponding word order, review of prepositions, verbal collocations with prepositions with the dative case and verbs requiring a dative object, personal pronouns in the accusative and dative, reflexive pronouns in the accusative and reflexive verbs.

Activities, Projects and Materials:

In addition to working with the textbook, workbook, readers, and authentic written audio and video materials, students engage in supervised and independent assignments on establishing and maintaining a �letternet� and e-mail exchange with a student overseas.
Use of computer programs such as Hyper studio to create a visual/written accompaniment for a fashion project including an oral presentation.
Students are frequently assigned writing assignments including dialogues and journal assignments to enhance meaningful written expression of daily experiences.
Language laboratory is used for enhancing aural comprehensive and spoken production.

French

Goals:

Reinforce material studied in seventh grade, especially the ìpassè composè, î that is studied in-depth in eighth grade
Introduce intuitive use of imperfect tense, which is formally studied in ninth grade
Continue composition writing, culminating in essay writing during the Impressionism unit
Increase in-class use of French and focus on aural comprehension through storytelling. Oral comprehension is reinforced during and the unit on Impressionism
Continue reading comprehension at a more advanced level
Continue integrating cultural components into the curriculum to heighten students' interest in French and enable them to function with ease in a foreign setting

Skills and Concepts:

Vocabulary: detailed weather vocabulary, adjectives for describing a person�s physiognomy and personality, film vocabulary, painting vocabulary.
Grammar: inversion, adjective agreement, position of adjectives, pronominal verbs (present, immediate future, and imperative), direct object pronouns (le, la, les), in-depth review of the passè composè, introduction to the imperfect.
Cultural concepts: brief introduction to French colonialism through select poems, French etiquette through writing invitations for social events, the French school day, a two-week unit on Fran�ois Truffaut and a study of Les 400 coups, and a comprehensive study of French Impressionism.

Activities, Materials, and Projects:

Various French poems
Elaboration of an Impressionist notebook, with nine compositions
End-of-the-year recital, bringing together all poems and one-act plays performed during the years of Middle School French

Spanish

Goals:

Reinforce material from seventh grade level while also concentrating on age-appropriate study and organizational skills that prepare students for high school
Utilize the four language modalities with increased emphasis on reading comprehension, composition writing, aural comprehension and in-class use of Spanish
Integrate cultural components into the curriculum to heighten students' interest in Spanish and enable them to function with ease in a foreign setting

Skills and Concepts:

Vocabulary: emotions, family relationships, foods of the Hispanic world, names of US and Hispanic holidays and festivities, household chores and activities, furniture, appliances, and vocabulary needed for international travel. (Students define vocabulary in Spanish; vocabulary will also be taken from supplementary readings.)
Grammar skills: all present-tense verb formations including irregular forms and stem-changes; reflexive verbs; saber versus conocer; possessive adjectives; discussing daily plans, routines, likes, dislikes; all pronouns; the present progressive; all preterite forms with an introduction to the imperfect and ordinal numbers
Cultural concepts such as comparing US and Hispanic holidays, family celebrations, regional Spanish cuisine, poems such as García Lorca's La Guitarra accompanied by flamenco guitar, Hispanic architecture

Activities, Projects, Materials:

Videos such as individual textbook series video, La Quincea�era, Don Quixote de la Mancha, Spanish music videos
Various projects: writing and performing dialogues and skits, introductory unit on Don Quixote de la Mancha, researching selected themes from the Hispanic world, reporting to the class in Spanish, European geography and nationalities

Arts

Visual Art

Students continue to strengthen their perceptual awareness and aesthetic growth through exposure to a wide variety of media and the art of different cultures and historical periods. In addition, they gain proficiency in terminology and techniques related to each genre and the ability to analyze the various approaches to art in a meaningful context.

Students develop their awareness of art�s position and purpose in various societies and cultures by sharing their art history presentations with their classmates. In addition, students continue to communicate their own feelings and ideas through projects in a variety of media. Projects that have been done by classes in the past include perspective drawing, architecture and collage.

Oral Interpretation

The goals of Oral Interpretation are to provide more formal training in acting and staging, and to develop a spirit of ensemble among the students that is conducive to experimentation and creativity in virtually all of the performing arts. Students are granted a great deal of independence in practicing and performing several group projects in which they discover both the delicate nature and importance of teamwork.

Through improvisation, students learn that a character�s goal; objectives and intentions within a dramatic situation generate energy and excitement onstage. Students are provided with several premises or starting points for improvisations, and are then granted brief rehearsal periods before sharing their work with the class. All improvisations are discussed and evaluated by the students, themselves, according to given criteria. Students round out their acting training by performing in scripted scenes in which they utilize the very same skills of characterization and intention discovered through the dynamics of improvisation.

Home Economics

Home Economics is a program for seventh and eighth grade students designed to assist them in developing the life skills necessary to achieve, and an understanding of the meaning of, personal satisfaction. The class meets for one quarter during the year (four days a week for 45 minutes per day). Students work in small groups, enabling them to draw upon each other's strengths and assist each other in completing the tasks.

Emphasis is placed on the development of skills that will assist the students as they journey toward self-sufficiency. Students are directed toward developing the competency to make educated and intelligent choices, and to apply principles and generalizations to new situations.

Students explore a variety of food groups. They apply previously learned skills and principles to the selection, use, and preparation of the foods. Laboratory work includes group planning and preparation of meals around each food selected.

As a final project, students complete an ethnic food project. They select a type of cuisine (such as French), and gather information on the cuisine, and prepare a dish. This project is carried out primarily during class.

Computer Science

The program continues to build on the skills and subject areas studied in the previous grades. In addition, scanner usage is introduced in the seventh grade. The eighth grade curriculum consists of two electives: one in basic computer techniques (which is a continuation of the previous years� studies) and the other in graphics and photography. In addition, the use of specialized software in connection with other subject areas is expanded further in the seventh and eighth grades. For example, students regularly utilize electronic library searches and encyclopedias in research projects; critique their book reviews using a mark-up program; and use foreign language drill programs.

Photographic Design

Photographic Design is quarter-long course for eighth grade students in the arts rotation (second and third quarter only). During this non-darkroom course, students learn techniques for shooting 35 mm color film, the parts of the camera and how to make proper exposures. The aesthetics of the course involve learning to design a photographic image, as well as how to "critique" a photograph. Either 35mm automatic or manual cameras are used.

Photo Technology

Photo Technology is a quarter-long course for eighth grade students in the arts rotation (first quarter only). This class offers students the opportunity to use both photography and the computer as imaging tools for self-expression. Students rotate between the computer lab and the photography room on a weekly basis. Polaroid manipulations, scanning, Adobe PhotoShop software and HTML programming are taught. Students are also asked to keep a daily journal on a common theme as a creative writing assignment.