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8th Grade Blog 10/17

Hello, 8th Grade Community!

Math

The 8th grade is revisiting the concept of solving linear equations in one variable. Mastering this concept is the key to moving onto linear equations in two variables, which they’ll be exploring shortly. Linear systems are a key component in Algebra I and they can be solved in several ways. The students will learn how to solve these systems graphically, by substitution, and by elimination before moving onto systems of linear inequalities.

Advisory

The 8th graders were an integral part of celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hannah Senesh Community Day School on Friday, October 11th. They spent several class periods planning and preparing four different rooms that transported us back in time to the year 1995 when the school first opened. The four rooms were as follows:
The Movie Room – The 8th grade showed students trailers for popular movies from 1995.
The Snack Room – The 8th grade showed students commercials for popular snacks from 1995 and let them sample a snack of their choice.
The Dance Room – The 8th grade choreographed a dance to a popular song in 1995 and taught the dance to visiting students.
The Photobooth Room – The 8th grade had students take photos with ’90s themed props.
The 8th grade hosted Kindergarten through 6th grade. We’re extremely proud of all of the hard work and effort that the 8th grade put in for this special day and how they made sure everyone had a lot of fun! Way to go, 8th grade!
Some photos from The Dance Room:

Science

Science continues with their exploration of atoms and the periodic table. Students were assigned different elements in order to make a brochure about the properties of their element. We also played a fun atomic bingo activity in class in order to discover how elements are arranged on the periodic table. This allowed students to notice the difference between the element name and its symbol. In the following weeks we will apply our knowledge about atoms into the concept of molecules. We cannot wait to continue our hands on activities in order to master these science concepts.

Humanities

In ELA, students have been continuing their unit of study on Gothic Literature and literary analysis. We have just finished reading Faulkner’s epic and creepy short story “A Rose for Emily” (ask your child about how this story ends!), and are gearing up to writing a literary analysis essay starting the week of October 28. The Senesh 8th graders are strong thinkers, and it’s really showing in the way that they are engaging with the text. For Social Studies, students are using primary and secondary sources to become critical thinkers about the European colonization of the Americas and contact with Native American communities. Students wrote an imaginative journal entry from the perspective of either a European explorer or a Native American.

Judaic Studies

8th graders studied a strange and funny aggada (story from the Talmud) about Purim, and turned it into a play using puppets or acting it out themselves. We discussed the message this aggada teaches and how it relates to Yom Kippur. In preparation for our upcoming visits with Project Ezra (an organization that supports the Jewish elderly on the Lower East Side), we looked at the Biblical mitzvah והדרת פני זקן (make beautiful the faces of the elderly) and considered the power of “Beauty” in our culture.

Hebrew

Dear parents,

Happy Sukkot! These last few weeks, 8th-grade students have been practicing describing the world around them in colors and shapes (Hebrew K) and discussing different clothing styles (Hebrew J). In addition, the students have been practicing conversational skits, learned two new Israeli songs and have been using the online program to use learned vocabulary in writing. I am attaching a few pictures from one of our activities.

Have a restful Sukkot weekend!