Curriculum—Grade 8

Everything that a child encounters in his/her school day from the minute the student enters the school building until he/she leaves to go home is considered the curriculum. This includes classroom experiences, lunchroom, gym, recess, prayer, as well as any other activity that occurs during the school day.

The Junior High curriculum at Sacred Heart School is centered on preparing each student for the high school experience. In the Junior High the students switch classes for 45 minute periods. They are taught to be organized and prepared for each class. Students are responsible for bringing all the materials they will need for each class, just like in high school. They are also exposed to having different teachers for each class, and thus must adapt to different teacher personalities and teaching styles.

The curriculum consists of:

• Religion: Students are taught the theory of the catholic faith with Scripture based texts which are enhanced through classroom discussions. Church history is studied in detail. The students celebrate the Sacrament of Penance at least twice during the school year. The students also attend the school Liturgy once a month.

• Literature: Students are exposed to different genres in literature through a hardcover text and trade paperbacks. They examine short stories, poetry, fabless, mythology, drama, and novels. Emphasis is placed on close reading, critical thinking, vocabulary development and comprehension. Non-fiction is also addressed in class so that students can be better prepared for academic reading in their other classes. We look at navigating a textbook, formal note-taking, questioning, and understanding of academic writing. Other forms of non-fiction writing including magazines and newspapers are addressed as well.

• Language Arts: The eighth grade students learn the mechanics of grammar through exercises in the “Voyages in English” text used in class along with a practice book for homework. Students are also introduced to a number of websites via the computer lab and apps on the tablets to practice their skills. Junior High students are focused on developing a more mature writing style by building vocabulary and learning more complex sentence structure. The result is a more fluid and organized writing style. Practice will include persuasive essays, narratives, business and letter writing, research papers, and creative writing. Daily personal journal writing is included. Students will also be introduced to Latin and Greek roots words and their importance to vocabulary development.

• Math: The Math curriculum includes both an on-level and accelerated program. This program allows the teacher to focus on each child’s individual learning style and ability. Students will be working alongside their peers who demonstrate similar instructional needs. This will provide them with the opportunity to flourish and build their computation and problem solving skills.The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level. The 8^th grade map includes:
  • Real Numbers
  • Properties of Real Numbers
  • Distributive Property
  • Variables and Expressions
  • Order of Operations
  • Algebraic Expressions
  • Equations
  • Ratios, Proportion and Percentages
  • Inequalities
  • Word Problem Strategies and Applications
  • Relations and Functions
  • Writing and Graphing Forms of Linear Equations
  • Compound and Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities
  • Systems of Linear Equations and Linear Inequalities
  • Rate of Change/Slope
  • Direct Variation
  • Laws of Exponents
  • Polynomials
  • Factoring
  • Quadratic Equations
  • Rational Expressions
  • Radicals
  • Division of Polynomials
  • Solving Rational Expressions

• Science: The Science curriculumincludes Earth, Physical and Life Science. The curriculum incorporates S.T.E.M – an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. STEM Education attempts to transform the typical teacher-centered classroom by encouraging a curriculum that is driven by problem-solving, discovery, and exploratory learning. It requires students to actively engage in the situation in order to find its solution.

• Social Studies: The 7^th and 8^th grade students study US History from colonization to current events. Map skills are emphasized as well.

• Music
• Computers
• Physical Education
• Art
• Library
• Health
• World Language (Spanish)