Grade 8 Curriculum

Overview

Eighth Grade is an action-packed and productive year at All Saints. Students start the year with a bang, getting right down to the important work of producing graded writing samples to be used as part of their application to high school. Students’ work continues to grow in length and depth, but mostly in the independence they are given to develop their ideas and organize their thoughts. A highlight for the year is a capstone field trip, where students engage in mission-focused experiences to celebrate their years at All Saints. Of course, the end of the year is bittersweet for all, as students celebrate the end of their Middle School years through the planning and execution of their graduation ceremony and celebration. Throughout the year, students prepare for this important ceremony by reflecting on their time at All Saints and how they will continue to live the School’s mission statement.

Language and Literature

In the final year of their Middle School journey, students intensify their studies in Language and Literature as they prepare for high school. Students read a variety of novels that relate to their Individuals & Societies and Rites of Passage classes. Projects focus on writing across a variety of genres, including analytic essays, research papers, poetry, news articles, and speeches. Their major project is an analysis of a modern-day human rights violation in conjunction with the study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Individuals & Societies. Students study and follow the MLA style requirements to write expository papers in preparation for high school-level work and continue their vocabulary and grammar studies.

Mathematics

Eighth Grade Math continues to explore complex systems of mathematics like algebra and geometry. Students develop a fuller understanding of coefficients, formulas & positive and negative scientific notation. They begin to examine direct variation, inequalities with negative and positive coefficients, slope, and various forms of linear equations.

Throughout these new explorations, they continue to improve their facility in working with decimals, fractions, percents, and exponents. For those in the advanced section, an Algebra course, the curriculum covers additional topics in algebra such as adding radical expressions, defining and graphing sequences, function notation, systems of equations, exponential functions, and various methods for solving quadratic functions. Eighth Grade students also explore the history of mathematics as a tool for understanding nature.

Science

Eighth Grade covers concepts in Life, Earth & Space, and Physical Science which follow the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). Topics of study include Evolution and Adaptation, Weather, Climate, the Human Impact on the Earth, Energy, the Electromagnetic Spectrum, Circuits, and Forces and Motion. Students use the practices of analyzing and interpreting data, developing and using models, and engaging in arguments from evidence to make sense of these topics.

Projects, labs, and demonstrations further enhance the curriculum, as students are expected to engage in increasingly sophisticated demonstrations of their knowledge, such as building a circuit and designing an environmentally-friendly tiny house in conjunction with their Design studies.

Co-Curriculars

Grade 8 Students partake in several co-curricular activities such as music, Latin, art, physical education, and world language. Please see our Beyond Core Academics page.

Milestone Projects

8th grade students attending all saints school

Grade 8 ~ Community Project

Throughout the year, students in Grade 8 experience the themes of the school’s mission statement as they relate to the greater community and the world community.