8th Grade in April

Happy April and Happy Spring to everyone!

Humanities

Over the past few weeks, 8th Grades have concluded their study of the nonfiction novel Just Mercy, in which lawyer Brian Stevenson defends his clients on death row. The students ended the unit with a discussion-based Socratic Seminar that they led completely independently. Students did a wonderful job questioning and dialoging with each other in a respectful manner on a contentious and controversial topic!

Students are now reading Maus by Art Spiegelman and we are studying the Holocaust in history class. Using curriculum from Facing History’s Holocaust and Human Behavior unit, students are exploring the complexities of survival under atrocity. On Friday, Students will meet with Holocaust survivor Sami Steigman and bear witness to his story.

Judaic Studies

So many exciting things are going on in 8th grade Judaic Studies! We are discussing and preparing for the Israel trip; we just finished our Oral History Project presentations with our elder partners; and we are getting ready for Passover.

Israel Trip: I was delighted to see that many 8th graders volunteered to read Torah for our group when we are in Israel; I know that will be an incredibly special and memorable experience for them. (Torah reading assignments are on google classroom in advisory; please make sure your child practices over break!) We are spending time in class answering questions and learning about the places we will be going. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have a question or a concern!

Oral History Project: The presentations on Tuesday were heartfelt and wonderful. It is clear that both the elders and the 8th graders got a lot out of this experience, and it was moving to witness the learning and their relationship.

Pesach: The theme for our Passover unit comes from the haggadah: בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים…מעבדות לחרות / “In every generation, a person should see themselves as if they themselves left Egypt…from slavery to freedom.” In keeping with this idea — that we are obligated to personalize our national narrative — we have invited speakers into class to share their family stories of going from slavery to freedom. Thank you to Stephane Levy for telling about his parents’ experiences as Jews in Morocco and their travel to Canada and to the U.S.; to Carley Balazs (the Senesh communications manager) for sharing her coming out story and how it relates to the Pesach story; and to Anna Friedman, who will be joining class next week to talk about her childhood in the former Soviet Union. This has been an extremely moving and powerful experience, and I hope you will ask your 8th grader to share what they’ve learned at your own seder table.

Chag sameach!

Math

Science

Science is finishing with its exploration of physics. We are currently exploring the concept of momentum, kinetic and potential energy. Students conducted an experiment to discover which materials would be more durable to withstand a free falling marble strike. Through these experiments, we continue to work on graphing and experimental lab reporting skills. Then we had an activity where they build pendulums and hung them from the lights. This allowed them to balance potential and kinetic energy by playing a physics game of moving a cup to the edge of the lab table without it falling over. They learned by trial and error leading to a friendly competition. We had so much fun playing this game and have finished the unit with excitement. 

Mike Noll