Muskego Lakes 8th Grade Newsletter

March 2022

Absent? 8th Grade Agendas!

Agendas are the tools students will use when they are absent to stay caught up. The expectation is that students access each agenda and complete the listed tasks for their classes. If your student is unable to complete the tasks for any reason, please have them contact their teacher directly to let them know. Click on the links below to check them out!

Literacy:

Math:

Social Studies:

Science:

CLASSROOM CATCH UP- LOOK TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 8TH GRADE CLASSES THIS MONTH!

Literacy - Tome, Koeller, Lehmann

It’s hard to believe that 4th quarter is here already! We are full swing into our argument unit. We’ve read several texts, analyzing how authors present their claims and back up their arguments with evidence and reasoning. We’re looking at valid persuasive techniques, as well as some of the logical fallacies (errors in logic) that are sometimes used in advertisements and persuasive writing.

In April we will be moving forward preparing a persuasive argument that students will present as a speech. Students have already had a little practice in front of the class with mini debates. Now they’ll research both sides of a topic, form an opinion, plan an argument, and give a full persuasive speech.

Also coming up in April is the Wisconsin Forward exam. We feel confident that our 8th graders will do well on this. We’ve already worked through many of the 8th grade reading standards, including all of our Standards of Focus for Literacy. Additionally, through our daily spirals we continually practice vocabulary skills, editing, analyzing poetry, and some of the challenges that come with writing an on-demand essay.

Finally, be sure to check in with your child about their classic book. Students seem to be enjoying them, and we love seeing them work through great stories, meeting interesting characters, and working through some language challenges to comprehend high level text.

Looking forward to more success in 4th quarter, finishing strong and preparing for the transition to high school!

Math 8 - Vogler & Michalski

March Recap:

Unit 6 → Functions. This unit builds on Unit 4: Proportional Relationships. Our Functions unit will include our last two Standards of Focus for the school year, which are:

Compare properties of two functions each represented in a different way (algebraically, graphically, numerically in tables, or by verbal descriptions).
Construct a function (equation) to model a linear relationship between two quantities when given a table, graph, or written scenario.

Expect to see those tests coming home soon!
We are officially done with all our Standards of Focus for 8th Grade Math!

Upcoming in April:

Unit 7 → Exponents. Students will apply properties of integer (positive or negative) exponents to simplify expressions. The properties are…

Products and Products of Powers
Quotients and Quotients of Powers
Zero and Negative Exponents.

Unit 8 → Scientific Notation. Students will apply their learning about exponents to scientific notation. In this unit, students will…

Convert between standard and scientific notation while being able to compare numbers written in scientific notation
Perform operations with numbers in scientific notation (Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, and Dividing)

Reminders:

Please remind your child that they should be working on Math 20-30 minutes each night. If they are done with their practice, they should spend the time working on iReady.

Algebra - Vogler

All students did a great job persevering through Quarter 3 where we learned so many new and abstract concepts! In Quarter 4, we will begin by looking at all the different functions we have studied this year and learn how they can be transformed. Please remind your child that they should continue to work on their iReady lessons at home - with a goal of beating iReady!!

Social Studies - Tsakonas & Koeller

March Recap

Causes of the Civil War

Differences between the North and the South (economy, immigration, education, political beliefs)
Northern industrialization
Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Government decisions and compromises

The Election of 1860

Coming up in April

Civil War Interest Project:

Medicine and Medical Care during the War
Ships and the development of the Navy
Defense and Military Strategies
A soldier’s life
Women in the War
Key leaders
Other options too!

Skills:

Note-taking and annotation
Writing informational text + text structure
Conversation through podcasting!

Science - Goldberg & Tome

In March, we completed the chemistry unit with a project on synthetic projects and natural resources. It was so much fun seeing the great variety of items students made! Currently, we are focusing on preparation for the Forward test and then our space unit will take us to the end of the school year!

Topics we will be covering in April are:

Day and Night
Seasons
Earth and Moon scale
Moon phases

Daily Assignments

Please preview this Assignment Log that overviews the tasks that are assigned in each class daily. This is a tool to use with your student to check in about homework completion and to make sure they are filling out their assignment notebook completely and accurately.

8th Grade Syllabus

Click here to view the syllabus for each of the 8th grade core classes.

8th Grade Website

Click here to view our 8th Grade website.

This is a website worthy of being bookmarked! This is a great tool to get your questions answered.

Here are some items that are found on our website:

Syllabus for each core class
Rolling Agendas
Contact Information
Daily Assignments (What your students should have in their assignment notebook!)
Monthy Newsletter links

Encore Newsletter

Please click here to view the Encore Newsletter!

Important Dates Ahead

End of 3rd Quarter- April 1st
Lion King Musical - April 2-3rd
No High School Classes for MLMS Students - April 12th
Forward Testing- Tues, April 19- Fri, April 22nd
Spring iReady Assessment for Literacy- Tues. May 10- Th. May 12th
Spring iReady Assessment for Math- Mon. May 16th- Wed. May 18th
Band Concert at MHS PAC - May 19 at 7pm
Best Buddies Friendship Walk- Sat. May 21st
Choir Concert at MHS PAC- May 24 at 7pm

Tuesday Emails from Your Child!

Tuesday Checks are underway. You should an expect an email every Tuesday. Some valuable things that you should see coming home in this email include:

1. Current grades in Core Classes

2. Missing Work Updates

3. Areas students are proud of

We hope that receiving this communication will help you stay up to date on what is going on in your students 8th Grade world. As teachers, we feel it provides such a great talking point and area for parents to follow up with students and truly feel more in the know! If you have additional feedback regarding the Tuesday emails, please reach out to your child's resource teacher! Thanks so much for supporting!