Spotlight
on Eighth Grade with Kindergarten
Kindergarten and 8th Grade Buddy Catapult Activity
Kindergarten partnered with their 8th grade buddy to create a catapult made from popsicle sticks and rubber bands. After the 8th grade students helped their kindergarten buddy create their catapult, they used the completed STEM project to see how far they could launch the pumpkin candy given to them. Everyone had a great time during this activity, and the students were all smiles while spending time with each other on a very successful project.
Art Eyeball
By: LaDavid and Carlos
The Rene Magritte eyeball exercise was a good time at Holy Angels. During Mrs. Cordano’s Art class, we created an eyeball that reflected our desired image. Two butterflies fly over the clouds in the sky as they are reflected in my eyeball. I was inspired by the original illustration for "The false mirror" to create clouds and butterflies. This is due to the fact that when I first saw the illustration, I greatly appreciated the painting and considered how to make it more interesting. That is how the two butterflies ended up there. I am aware that my eyeball will appear to someone or the viewer to be an endless sky. I was at peace while creating this artwork because, for me, drawing is a really calming and stress-relieving activity.
The Thirteen Haunting Halloween Stories
By: Danica and Deanna
This is the eighth grade Vocabulary Stories. All ten of the vocabulary words that were given to the eighth graders had to be used in these stories. The eighth graders also illustrated their story’s greatest point of the story. The students were able to talk about their stories and share their illustrations to other classmates. The eighth grade class enjoyed themselves while also getting some excellent comprehension work. After the eighth graders were done creating their stories and drawings, they went around and read their October halloween stories. This was a great way to help them remember and review their new vocabulary words. They brought out their sleeping bags and had a great time reading. This lesson motivates kids to learn and expand their vocabulary.
“Know it, Not memorize it”
By: Francesca and Jasmine
When you think of vocabulary you may think of having to memorize new words. But for our 8th grade vocabulary class, we focus on knowing the words, not memorizing them. Mr. Calma reminds us that it is better to know and be able to recall the meaning of the words than to memorize them. In vocabulary, we first say the 10 vocab words in unison. Then, we are given assignments to help us comprehend the words. A popular assignment enjoyed by our class to review is to complete a graffiti wall. On google slides, we type out the words, write original definitions, think of words that connect to the word, along with images that relate to the word.
By utilizing our access to these activities we are also exercising our brains to help us retain and know the words, their spelling, and their meanings. Majority of the time whoever wins these activities will receive candy. This way we are motivated even more to focus and to give us the motivation to try our very best to get our desired scores.
Holy Skits!
By John and Ysabella
In preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation, the 8th graders worked together in groups to make skits about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Once we performed these skits, our class had to guess which two gifts were being acted out. These skits were used to help us to be more familiar with these gifts. We were allowed to use props to help enhance our performances. It was a good activity to help us to have a closer bond with each other but also to learn more about our faith. We all had a good time and were full of laughter while watching these skits being acted out.
Is it a Solid or a Liquid?
By Marian and Micheal
You may be asking yourself, “what is Oo-bleck?” Oo-bleck is a substance of cornstarch and water mixed together. The most asked question is whether Oo-bleck is a solid or a liquid? We, the 8th Grade class, experimented with Oo-bleck by coming up with various questions and tests to see how it would react. Then, we record what we observed to finally determine whether it was a liquid, a solid, or both. The experiments that we did were the finger test, cup test, smash test, throw test, and the heating test. In the finger test we dipped our fingers into the oo-bleck to see what happens. In the cup test, we poured it into a cup to see if it would react like a solid or liquid. In the smash test, we hit the oo-bleck with a hammer. In the throw test, we threw the oo-bleck in each other's hands to see how it would react. Finally, in the heating test, we heated the oo-bleck over a fire to see how it would respond. During these tests, we observed that the oo-bleck would change between a solid and liquid-like state. In the end, it turns out that oo-bleck is a colloid, a mix between a solid and a liquid. This was a really fun experiment, as the majority of the class enjoyed it… including us. 10/10, we would do it again!
Weekly Debates
By: Micah and Jeremiah
One activity we do in 8th grade is our weekly Debates. Every week, we are given a statement/topic to debate about. When the topic is given to us we all have a choice of agreeing, disagreeing, or in between. Once we have made our decision, everyone has an opportunity to share why they agree/disagree or both. The opposing side and those in between can counter their point or say something about that statement. The topics we discuss are current event related, can be a controversial topic, but others can just be fun and lighthearted. Once we have finished debating verbally, we then type out our opinions, along with the pros and cons on google classroom. This is a very fun way of learning to express our opinions, sharing our ideas with others, and using reasoning skills to try and persuade others.
Customized Bill of Rights
By: Mikaela
Our class is learning about the Constitution of the United States of America. We are on the topic of The Bill of Rights. One assignment we had to do was to customize the Bill or Rights. We had to list ten freedoms or rights we wanted to establish in our school, community, state, or country. Along with that, we also had to explain why we wanted it established and the logic behind it. It was really interesting to see what rights my classmates wanted and it was amazing to share my opinions as well.
Holy Angels School
Email: holyangels@holyangelscolma.org
Website: www.holyangelscolma.org
Location: 20 Reiner Street, Colma, CA, USA
Phone: (650) 755-0220
Facebook: www.facebook.com/holyangelscolma