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... Read More
8th Grade in December
Hello, parents! 8th graders are looking forward to the break starting next week, because they have been working hard in all their classes. Humanities In ELA, students have almost completed their poetry unit, in which they analyzed more than 25 poems over the course of a month! Now students are constructing small poetry chapbooks/zines in which they collect their own original poems, their favorite poems they read, and at least one analysis of a poem (their PRJ). They are creating beautiful pieces that I know they will keep for years to come! In Social Studies, students are learning about... Read More
October in 8th Grade at Senesh
Humanities Students have been working hard to write their own creative personal essays throughout the previous two weeks. In order to prepare, students have been doing intensive studies of both “master” texts from writers such as Jazmine Hughes, Alice Walker, George Orwell, and E. B. White, as well as from adolescent writers. The first drafts of their essays are due this Friday! Science Science has started strong with the discovery of what is an atom. Students created 3D models using beads and pipe cleaners. They needed to correctly position the three basic particles within an atom, namely the electron, proton,... Read More
Week 1 as 8th Graders!
HUMANITIES I am so very excited to begin my third year at Hannah Senesh (and my 8th year in education) with this group of 8th graders! We are beginning this year by writing personal essays in preparation for the high school process. Ask your children about E.B. White’s “Death of the Pig” and hemorrhagic infarcts!. As students read books from contemporary and historic American authors in their ELA course, they will also learn about the rich American legacy in their Social Studies course. I look forward to all the curiosity the students bring! Joseph, jhayden@hannahsenesh.org JUDAICS !ברוכים הבאים /... Read More
Sigh … the end to 8th grade at Senesh!
Math It’s the last week of school and the 8th graders are graduating this week. How exciting! They have worked hard this school year learning Algebra I and preparing for high school. 8th grade, whether you are taking advanced Algebra I or Geometry next year, I wish you the best in high school and I hope what you’ve learned helps next year. Congratulations, graduates! I hope you can visit next year! Humanities 8th graders have finished their year strong by writing and rewriting their graduation speeches. I was really touched by the way they expressed themselves and reflected on their... Read More
8th grade graduation is approaching! :'(
Humanities Students have chosen their final independent reading assignment for their 8th grade year: They are reading nonfiction books that range in topics from true crime to astrophysics, from historical pirates to DNA sequencing. Additionally, students are preparing for a big test taking place on June 2 that will assess their constitutional knowledge. Through reading excerpts in the American Constitution, students learn to identify 5 key concepts in American law: popular sovereignty, limited government, federalism, checks and balances, and the 3/5ths compromise. These thoughtful and critical 8th graders are excited to get a more intimate understanding of the foundation of... Read More
April in the 8th Grade
Judaic Studies It’s been a powerful 2 weeks of learning with the 8th grade. I was moved and awed by the focus and thoughtfulness students brought to our Yom haShoah unit. In preparation for our speaker, Dr. Anna Ornstein, we learned about the Holocaust in Hungary, and about Auschwitz. This was a difficult topic, but students were resilient and able to share and process together in a way that I really admired. We began our next unit — looking at moral dilemmas through the lens of Rabbinic literature. We are focusing on a real life question: what should be done... Read More
March in the 8th Grade
Humanities Students are wrapping up their essay reflections about visiting home-bound elders and will submit them for national competition on this Friday. The beauty of these relationships the students have developed with their elders really shines through their writing! It’s been a pleasure to read. Additionally, students are deep in their study of the legacy of enslavement in the United States. They have read primary source narratives and are making their way through reading the New York Times’ 1619 Broadside. Joseph Math The 8th Grade just finished a hefty unit about systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities. Now that the... Read More
February and Adar in 8th Grade!
Tomorrow, for Rosh Hodesh Adar, students are excited to come to school in their pjs. In Humanities class, we are planning to have a relaxing pj reading party! There will be Netflix fireplace playing on the screen, cozy chairs, and some nice books to read independently. In ELA, students are ending their unit on poetry, in which they are writing journal responses about a poem of their choice. Allusion, simile, metaphor, paradox, hyperbole, and oxymoron are all now part of the 8th grader’s regular vocabulary! Ask them to explain them to you. In Social Studies, we just ended our unit... Read More
Happy Hanukkah from the 8th Grade!
Happy Hanukkah! Humanities Students are finishing their Crucible projects and looking forward to their showcase with parents and family on Tuesday, December 15 at 1PM. Join us on zoom for this wonderful display of the students’ performances or creative projects tied to their reading of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In our study, students have explored dynamic and static characters and tracked their development over the course of the play. Additionally, on Tuesday, students had their second meeting with Jewish elders from around America. Students connected with their elder partners via zoom and shared their experiences of Hanukkah and growing up Jewish.... Read More