Friday, March 31st

Religion--Mrs. Timmins The students finished up their unit on Miracles and did a wonderful job with their presentations. We are now moving our focus into the journey of Jesus in the New Testament. We started by learning about Nicodemus and the Woman at the Well and how Jesus had an impact on their life and journey. We continued to learn about the gifts that we have that enable us to share to the world. 7th grade will be taking a quiz over chapter 18 on Tuesday. They were give review notes. We were also very fortunate to have two Marian Sisters come and talk with the classes. They gave us a wonderful explanation of what life is like for the Sisters.  Many times we are able to get priests to come and share their stories, so it was very nice to hear from these lovely Sisters.

Language Arts--Mrs. McFarland This week in Language Arts we introduced Shakespeare. We watched a TED talk comparing Shakespeare and hip-hop music and we found that there are a lot of similarities in the importance of language, knowledge, and rhythm in each. We also had one last career speaker come in today: Mrs. Szalay. It was very cool to learn about her career as an orthopedic surgeon and even make our own finger casts. Thanks to all of the speakers who have taken the time to come in over the last few weeks! Next, we will be diving further into Shakespeare, learning about who he was, studying some of his works, and even writing our own sonnets.  Reading- In reading, we have started a new book called The Wednesday Wars. We are just about half-way through the book. This story is about Holling Hoodhood, a 7th grade boy growing up in 1967, who goes through some crazy (and hilarious) situations (and is also reading Shakespeare!). In the next few weeks, we will continue to read The Wednesday Wars and will eventually have a test and project after we finish reading.

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace This week, the 7th graders finished up their chapter over Mt. Everest and Monsoon Asia.  They were quizzed this week over the physical geography of Monsoon Asia and the main terms of Chapter 29.  They also write journal entries as though they climbed the stages of Everest.  We also had a guest speaker, Mr. Brian Block, who spoke about his experiences climbing Everest. He was also the first Iowan to climb the seven summits of the world! We are now going to study the Middle East and then move into the study of Oceania.  The students will individually be giving presentations over a selected topic from the Middle East and Oceania as well.  We will be working on these presentations next week. Our next geography quiz will not be scheduled until the week of April 10th.

Science--Mrs. Mistry   The 7th Graders have recently completed their study of Bones, Muscles and Skin.  They did a GREAT job on their recent test, which they will be bringing home today.  Our next area of study will be the digestive system and nutrition.  We will be learning about the structure and function of the digestive system and will also learn about nutrition.  We will discuss what foods are needed for good health, how to read food labels and how different types of food, vitamins, minerals and water help the body function.  As part of this unit I will ask the students to keep a food/water log.  They will then analyze their log to see if they are meeting nutrition needs.  We will also do a fruit tasting lab, to demonstrate fun ways to prepare various types of fruit and to allow the student to sample new fruits. I am enjoying work with your children in Science - enjoy your weekend!

Math--Ms. Cline

8th Grade

Important 8th grade dates:

Friday, May 5th: St. Francis Dance

Thursday, May 11th:8th grade service day at Meals from the Heartland (9:30-11:30 am)

Thursday, May 18:  Science Fair:  open from 8:00-5:00 in the Science Room.  Students will be with their project during their class time.

Saturday,May 20th: 8th grade dance at St. Theresa's

Friday, May 26th: Adventureland: 9:30-5 pm

Tuesday, May 30th: 8th grade graduation:  Class picture at 6:30 pm. Graduation Mass in Church at 7:00 pm.  Reception following Mass in Parish Hall.

Religion--Mrs. Timmins 8th grade just completed Chapter 14 over Church history. It was a very long and detailed chapter. The students will be concluding this chapter with a quiz on Wednesday. The students learned about The Great Schism, excommunication, and the crusades. We will continue with Church history and the students are going to be put into groups and give a brief presentation on one of the crusades. We were also very fortunate to have two Marian Sisters come and talk with the classes. They gave us a wonderful explanation of what life is like for the Sisters.  Many times we are able to get priests to come and share their stories, so it was very nice to hear from these lovely Sisters.

Language Arts--Mrs. Callaghan    Reading: We are on Chapter 9 of 23 chapters in the book, Left to Tell. I have given a schedule showing when each chapter must be read, through the completion of the book. At the beginning of each class, students are taking a 2-10 point quiz over comprehension questions from the current chapter. They are then getting in their book groups to complete discussion questions.  The remainder of the class is left to read the next chapter.  Please take a moment to talk to your children about how they are doing. I had every child check their Powerschool this week, so they know where their grade stands. (FYI: The quizzes will be in lieu of a final test.)                            Language Arts: We are completing the debate unit by incorporated listening to the final project. They have listened to a story discussing both sides of an argument about Tony the Tiger (not the cereal tiger- but a true story).  He is in Louisiana and for many years there has been fighting over his care and location of his home. Students have listened to his story, answered questions, had group & class discussions and turned them in for a grade. Since then, for the last two days, we have begun a mini unit on writing and punctuating dialogue. They’re currently completing a project and will wrap up the unit with a quiz next week.   Dates to remember: Mondays and Fridays: Vocabulary pre-quiz and quiz April 3rd: No School

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace This week, the 8th graders finished up their study of the Amendments to the Constitution.  We will now be doing a survey history of the events in US History from 1800-1850.  Individually, the students will each be presenting a topic from this time period.  At the conclusion of the unit, the students will be taking a written exam over five selected topics.  This will not be for 2-3 weeks as the students will have to complete their presentations. After these presentations, we will start to work our way to our final topic of the year; the Civil War! Time is definitely flying by and I am enjoying my remaining months with the 8th graders!

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 8th Graders are continuing their study of chemistry, recently focusing on states of matter and Charles' and Boyle's Laws.  They took their test on Chapter 2 today and will receive those back on Monday.  Science projects proposals forms (signed) were due today as well.  A few students are missing these.  Please check with your child to make sure they are on track with their project.  Students have work time most Wednesdays and they have been given a packet, including a calendar that outlines the project, along with a calendar.  The final project is due May 18.  The students observed the process of sublimation firsthand during our dry ice lab on Thursday.  They are doing a great job with their labs and working well with their lab groups. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding their projects as I would be glad to assist you.  Enjoy your weekend!

Math--Ms. Cline