8th Grade English Language Arts:

Happy New Year to our families of eighth graders. As we finish the first semester, we look back on the tremendous amount of reading, writing, and thinking that has gone into English Language Arts class so far this year. Our eighth graders should be proud of the immense fall research project that is just now in its final stages. As high schoolers, each student will be ready to face the many research paper assignments to come. They can always look back on this year’s success with defining our overarching Science/Social Studies/ELA theme: In what ways have people challenged authority throughout history in order to forward human rights and scientific understanding? Eighth graders have been taking independent reading to a more advanced level by analyzing a variety of literary elements. We look forward to a visit to the newly opened main branch of the Cambridge Public Library. This month will also include a brief poetry review, followed by a closer look at hearing, reading, and most importantly writing and delivering speeches. Before we know it, our Amigos students will become Amigos alumni.

8th Grade Math

Happy New Year. It is good to be back and doing math with all of the remarkable 8th grade mathematicians. We are currently studying exponential relationships though our Growing, Growing, Growing unit.
Your child has previously studied linear growth, in which a fixed amount is repeatedly added to a beginning quantity to produce a sequence of values. Exponential growth involves patterns that are based on multiplication rather than addition. For example, in the sequence 3, 9, 27, 81, 243, …, each term is 3 times the previous term.
The basic goal in Growing, Growing, Growing is for students to learn to recognize situations, data patterns, and graphs that are modeled by exponential expressions, and to use tables, graphs, and equations to answer questions about exponential patterns.
You can help with your child’s homework and encourage sound mathematical habits as your child studies this unit by asking questions such as:
• Is the relationship between variables an example of exponential growth or decay? Why?
• How can this relationship be detected in a table, graph, or equation? What is the growth factor?
• What table, graph, or equation would model the data or the pattern in a graph relating the variables?
• How could I answer questions about an exponential situation by studying a table, a graph, or an equation of the exponential relationship?
• How does this exponential relationship compare to other relationships between variables I have studied?
In your child’s notebook, you can find worked-out examples from problems done in class and notes on the mathematics of the unit.
You can help your child with his or her work for this unit in several ways:
• Look over your child’s homework and make sure that all questions are answered and that explanations are clear.
• Talk with your child about the applications that are presented in the unit and similar applications that you encounter in your daily activities.
• Have your child pick a question that was interesting to him or her and explain it to you.
A few important mathematical ideas that your child will learn in Growing, Growing, Growing are given below. Our 7th grade mathematicians are capable of being excellent mathematicians. We will assign homework an average of three times a week. Homework completion continues to be a challenge for some students. If you would like some suggestions on additional strategies for helping you child complete and turn in their math homework, please feel free to email us.
Sincerely,
Ellen Davis
6-7-8 Mathematics
Herb Nipson
Title 1 Mathematics

[PDF] 8th Grade Math