8th Grade in January
Hello, families!
Humanities
Students are midway through their ELA unit on Gothic Literature. Reading Edgar Allen Poe, William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Mary Shelley has proven to be a productive challenge to the 8th graders, and they are excited by the mysteries of the stories they are reading. We are discussing author’s use of literary elements like setting, plot, and characterization, and how their choices impact suspense and horror.
In Social Studies, students have just wrapped up their study of antebellum America–examining the lead-up and causes of the US Civil War. Looking at a wide array of texts, they have explored the multiple perspectives of the pre-war era through both primary and secondary source documents. I am excited to get to teach them about the war itself in the coming weeks!
Joseph
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 and feel part of 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 social media director) 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!
Science
Science returned from break by exploring the science behind cooking. We started by creating custom cookbooks and focusing on how raw ingredients are transformed into the final product. There is plenty of science behind the concept of cooking. Next students worked on the concept of ratios by trying to create a well balanced lemonade from water, lemon juice, and sugar. After that activity we discovered the concept of Gas laws, using popcorn for our example. Students need to observe the science of popping corn and how it related to the variables of volume, temperature, and pressure. Next students discovered how heat transfer works within an oven and explored the difference between convection and conduction. Between these activities, we used computer simulations software to get a deeper understanding of these science concepts. We refined our use of interrupting graphs in order to make a comparison of these concepts. We cannot wait to continue our exploration of culinary science as we discover melting points and reshape chocolate into unique shapes.
Mike Noll
Maths
Hebrew
Dear parents,
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