Posted on: Thursday, October 14, 2004
What your eighth-grader is expected to learn
| • | Tips for parents |
Advertiser Staff
Here's a brief description of what your eighth-grade child is being taught and is expected to know by the end of the year. The goals are intended to help ensure that your child is at the appropriate development level and that Hawai'i's public schools are working toward meeting Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards.
SCIENCE
• Uses scientific inquiry to conduct scientific investigations dealing with Earth and space systems including processes and cycles
• Describes how systems may or may not change depending on the environment
• Uses technology and analyzes data to understand complex Earth- or space-related systems
• Conducts issue investigations related to the environment
• Analyzes use of natural resources and consequences to the environment
SOCIAL STUDIES
• Examines the people and ideas and events (economic, social and political) that led to the Revolutionary War, such as mercantilism and Navigation Acts, The Great Awakening, French and Indian war and the Treaty of Paris
• Analyzes the factors and issues of the Constitutional Convention, the original intent and various interpretations of the Bill of Rights throughout U.S. history, and the purpose of governments
• Using the tools and methods of the political scientists, plans, implements and evaluates a civic action, such as changing public policy, service learning projects or other substantial civic action
• Analyzes U.S. expansion and reform by examining new technologies, Jackson administration, reform movements and western expansion
• Examines physical and human characteristics of the North and South before, during and after the Civil War. Discusses historical contingencies, i.e., how different choices or decisions could have resulted in different consequences or outcomes
• Using the tools and methods of historians (generate historical questions, consults multiple primary and secondary sources, tests the validity of the sources, etc.), analyzes various marginalized or racialized groups throughout U.S. history
MATHEMATICS
• Uses real numbers, ratios and proportions in given situations
• Determines surface area and volume of prisms, pyramids and cylinders
• Compares two- and three-dimensional figures and describes the relationship among their properties
• Applies the Pythagorean Theorem to problems involving right triangles
• Uses tables, graphs and symbolic rules to solve problems involving linear relationships
• Designs surveys, collects and organizes data using an appropriate representation, and interprets data
EXTENDED CORE
In Grades 7 and 8, students experience a transition in curriculum. They move from an elementary curriculum, which includes essential content from all 10 areas, toward their secondary curriculum in which six content areas beyond the required core emerge as choices for them to expand and deepen their experiences
In seventh and eighth grade, these content areas, sometimes called the extended core, provide opportunities to:
• Explore new subjects
• Acquire foundations for subjects and specialties to come later
• Get a glimpse of subjects that are part of a rich high school curriculum
• Follow their strengths and interests
• Become aware of the wide range of choices that will be available to them
LANGUAGE ARTS
• Uses a process when reading to re-examine interpretations based on inferences drawn from texts. Strategies can include skimming, scanning or re-reading, or analyzing the syntax or structure of the text
• Uses knowledge of literary devices to analyze and support interpretations
• Develops a theme or issue by reading from multiple perspectives and comparing and contrasting textual information to reach a reasoned conclusion
• Adapts the writing process to suit specific needs by improving clarity and organization, developing own voice, and increasing precision and correctness
• Uses standard English when speaking
Source: Department of Education
Next week: What your high schooler is expected to learn
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| TIPS FOR PARENTS
As students hit eighth grade — and their teen years — homework often takes a back seat to their social life and afterschool activities. Here are some tips from kidshealth.org and the U.S. Department of Education to help make sure your child makes time for schoolwork. • Sit down and go over your child's schedule together and help prioritize activities so it is not too stressful. Let your child schedule daily homework time, but emphasize it shouldn't always be late at night and that schoolwork should take priority over non-school activities. • Make sure your child has all of the supplies necessary to do his or her homework efficiently — for example, a backpack with compartments, folders, a calculator and a planner. • Check in with your teen to see if he or she understands what needs to be done with assignments before hunkering down to do them. • Help your teen avoid cramming by working out a schedule or outline of what needs to be done to prepare for a test or an assignment that requires extensive writing or research. For example, suggest certain resources online or take him or her to the library. • Suggest that your child do harder assignments first. That way, he or she will be more alert and able to focus on tougher material. But be flexible and pay attention to your child's learning style — he or she may want to get the easy work out of the way first and save the heavier stuff until last. • Engage your teen in thought-provoking discussions about classes, homework assignments, school projects, grades and activities, focusing on the positive aspects of school. Your perspective can help your child apply what's being taught in school to the "outside" world. Source: kidshealth.org |
