The Basics:
In math, students tackle the Pythagorean theorem, bringing their math to a higher level of algebraic reasoning and knowledge of the properties of operations. With their understanding of unit rates and proportional rela♐tionships, they connect these concepts to points on a line and ultimately use them to solve linear equations.
In English🦂, students read major works of fiction and non-fiction from all over the world and different time periods, seeking to understand, evaluate and analyze the works. 🌱Writing may include stories, essays, reports, and “persuasive papers.
Inside The Classroom: English
Sayuri Stabrowski, director of instruction, KIPP Infinity Middle School, Manhattan
In 8th grade rea💮ding, we help students develop a love for reading, strengthen vocabulary and language skills alr💖eady developing, and further hone critical reading and thinking.
Student choice is an important cornerstone of our reading program. Students select books that they read for pleasure and for practice both at school and on their own time at home. When students can select from a variety of texts – fiction and nonfiction – they amass knowledge and vocabulary, develop their worldview and build a lifelong sense of curiosity.
Shared, close reading experiences are also crucial to our reading program. Students discuss open-ended and book-specific questions and develop t♔heir analytical skills daily. Most of our units are designed around a significant piece of writing like “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan or “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. In addition to the main text, we introduce supplemental texts that help them develop their underst🅷anding of the major themes or issues of the central text.
In 8th grade, students study the interplay between multiple literary elements in order to trace the development of themes and central ideas, explore an aut💛hor’s intent and evaluate the success and validity of authors’ arguments.
For example, by studying dramatic irony and word play in “Romeo and Juliet,” students dig into Shakespeare’s linguistic choices and allusions to determine his intended impact on the audience.
In the unit on “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” students analyze and evaluate the strength of Pollan’s argument, while reading texts that contradict his claims. Instead of accepting all of Pollan’s points as complete truths, students increase critical thinking skills by learni𒆙ng to question and apply their own knowledge to an analysis of each argument.
Students also learn to read texts in conversation with other texts, discussing how books, articles, plays, poems and essays address and respond to one another. When studying “To Kill a Mockingbird,” students read speeche🌸s by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and poetry by Langston Hughes to deepen their understanding of Lee’s setting and characters.
Questions from the 2015 test:
Studenꦿts read two- to three-page articles and fiction excerpts, then answer multiple-chꦬoice, short-answer, and longer essay questions.
1) In the memoir, “The Diving Horse,” a writer recalls the school assignment that sparked his passion.
Read lines 50 and 51:
“So two months later, when Sister Mary gave us the essay assignment, it was easy . . . as easy as falling into a pool.”
These lines mean that the narrator…
A: has a vivid memory of the previous summer’s events
B: is comparing his achievement with that of the horse
C: is fondly remembering the horse’s splash
D: has a strong feeling of excitement
2) “The First Public Park,” tells about the planning and construction of Central Park.
Which phrase from the article helps readers understand the meaning of “pastoral” (line 20)?
A: “grand public park” (line 2)
B: “formal locations” (line 22)
C: “rural feeling” (line 25)
D: “world-famous site” (line 73)
3) “Can a Playground Be Too Safe?” discusses the risks of “safety-first” park equipment, Why are lines 65 through 84 important to developing a central idea in “Can a Playground Be Too Safe?”
Use two details from the article to support your response.
Answers: 1. A; 2. C; 3. Two points possible.
Inside The Classroom: Math
In the 8th grade math curriculum, students deepen their knowledge of writing and reasoning with algebraic expressions, study linear equations, and learn about the idea of mathematical funﷺctions. To prepare for high school geometry, 8th graders work with congruent (same-s🍃ize) shapes and similarity of geometric figures. All of these concepts flow logically and coherently from those learned in their previous years of math.
At this age, students are all about peer learning – paying much more attention to each other than to any adult. Classroom strategies can piggyback on this tendency. “Station activities” set up several stations around the room, each focused on a different math skill. Students take turns becoming experts at each station and teaching one another. Or a teacher might “trade places” with an 8th grader who understands a concept, asking that student t🉐o take over the teaching role and explain the idea to the class in her own way.
Lesson plans make math concepts material and hands-on. In one, a seemingly simple question – how many Styrofoam cups must you stack to reach the top of the teacher’s head? – inꦍtroduces the concepts of slope, y-intercept, and rate o🧔f change.
Groups of students get four foam cups and a ruler. Through measurement and experimentation, they realize it’s 🧸not the full height of a cup, but the height of a cup’s lip, that increases the height of the stack. With leading questions – like “Have I solved problems like this before?” and “What is this problem really asking?” – the teacher guides❀ the students into finding various ways to solve the problem: with a graph, with a chart, or with an algebraic expression.
After they test their solutions, the teacher translates this real-w🔴orld experience into mathematical terms: the lip height is the slope (or rate of change), the base of the cup’s height is the y-intercept, and plotting those variables on a graph lets you determine the stack height for any number of cups.
“They connected it back to the ratios they learned the year before, and I explained how in Algebra 1 this will relate to linear functions and quadratic functions,” one 8🀅th grade teacher said.
The core’s standards connect curriculum strands from oneꦯ year to the next while honing students’ problem-solving and analytical skills.
Questions from 2015 test:
1) Triangle M is similar to triangle N. Triangle M has two angles with measures of 32° and 93°. Which two angle measures could be included in triangle N?
A: 32° and 58°
B: 32° and 74°
C: 93° and 55°
D: 93° and 87°
2) Jenny wants to rent a truck for one day. She contacted two companies. Laguna’s Truck Rentals charges $20 plus $2 per mile. Salvatori’s Truck Rentals charges $3 per mile. After how many miles will the total cost for both companies be the same?
A: 4
B: 6
C: 20
D: 60
3) Determine the solution to the system of equations below. Show your work.
x – 3y = 1
3x – 5y = 11
4) The express elevator in the Empire State Building in New York City travels nonstop from the ground floor to the top floor at a rate of 1,400 feet per minute. The express elevator in the John Hancock Center in Chicago travels nonstop from the ground floor to the observatory on the top floor at a rate represented by the equation y = 30x, where y is the height, in feet, and x is the number of seconds.
Graph the two relationships on the grid below to compare the rates of the two elevators. Which elevator travels at a faster rate?
Using the information from the graph, explain how you got your answer.
Answers: 1. C; 2. C; 3. x=7, y=2; 4. Chicago elevator, three points possible.