Eighth Grade Newsletter Your Monthly Update from the CCP Middle School Team
November Edition
Theology
Mr. Thro
mthro@chaminade-stl.org The 8th grade Theology classes have been looking at Roman and pagan concepts of religion, worship, and gods. The intent is twofold: to show them what mentality the Christians encountered when evangelizing the gentiles, and to show how superstitious ancient Roman thinking about religion actually was. It made it difficult for the Romans to understand not just the Incarnation, but also to accept why Christians would not worship Roman gods. Currently, we are currently studying the ideas the priest Arius promoted about the Trinity which became very popular and which ultimately led to the calling of the Council of Nicaea. What was really at issue there was the Christian concept of God, and that is what we are currently beginning to study as well. At Nicaea this matter was settled, at least most thought so, but intrigue and backroom dealings caused quite a stir afterwards. So, we are looking at how this matter was settled at the Council of Nicaea in 325a.d., and why it had to be resettled at the Council of Constantinople in 381a.d. Anyway, I will show them the first version of the Nicene Creed that emerged from Nicaea and how it looked as it was “finalized” at Constantinople.
Math
Mr. Bennett
fbennett@chaminade-stl.org Hello all! Currently, we are working on graphing linear equations and functions.
Science
Mr. O'Shaughnessy
boshaughnessy@chaminade-stl.org In our Earth Science class we are on to our 3rd unit of the semester which covers the topics of Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics. Students will chart earthquake seismic readings and use it to plot the location of known earthquakes, create new ocean floors and mountain ranges in our Plate Tectonics Virtual Lab, and participate in demonstrations involving wave particle motion as well as wave reflection and refraction. This unit has an in-depth look at the history of science in how scientists over the past 120 years have slowly built evidence to support a model of how our planet is structured. We will look at evidence presented by Alfred Waegner’s continental drift, of Harry Hess’ Sea Floor spreading and the final culmination of these many related concepts with J. Tuzo Wilson’s Theory of Plate Tectonics.
Social Studies Mr. Gambaro
dgambaro@chaminade-stl.org The 8th grade has currently paused its coverage of American History. We are currently taking time to examine the function/purpose of the Electoral College and the presidential election process. The students have systematically gone through the examination conducted by an undecided voter. The culmination of this unit will take place net week. The students will use all the skills and knowledge they’ve accumulated to vote on and elect a fabricated candidate. The “candidates” have real bios and specific stances on important issues. Each 8th grade section will represent a state with a specific amount of electoral votes. Next up after the Presidential Election Unit, Chapter 4: A New Nation. The boys will make their way through first several presidents, the formation of political parties, and all the other peaks and valleys of the young republic.
Math
Mr. Schaaf
jschaaf@chaminade-stl.org ALG 850 Starting a difficult chapter (polynomials) and asking students to pay attention to the "type" of polynomial by its primary characteristic. Math 830 Finishing up "Equations", and extra effort needs to be afforded the test review in anticipation of the chapter test.test.
PE
Mr. Derkits mderkits@chamiande-stl.org 8th grade Physical Education class is currently in a baseball unit for the next two weeks. Our next units will likely be Pickleball and outdoor Hockey. With the weather starting to cool down, students are encouraged to bring sweatshirts, sweatpants, stocking hat, gloves, etc. to wear over their physical education attire. With the exception of rain or snow, most PE classes will be held outside for the rest of the semester, so please bring clothes to bundle up. As a reminder, students should also bring a refillable water bottle to class. The students are doing a great job and I look forward to continued success!
Chinese
Dr. Chen
xchen@chaminade-stl.org We are learning sports in Chinese! During most of the recent classes, students were having high energy as we were doing sports in class. They were excited to turn our Chinese class into PE class! After they get familiar with all these new words on sports, we will focus more on reading. We will read a story about sports and friendship together.
Spanish
Mrs. Galvan
mgalvan@chaminade-stl.org Eighth grade students have started Chapter 5 in their textbooks. This includes how to express emotions and how to talk about actions that are in progress. They are working hard and rolling with the new change of a teacher via Zoom for the next few weeks. Please email me with any concerns, as I will try to make myself as available as possible online to them.
Latin
Mr. Makarewicz
jmakarewicz@chaminade-stl.org In class we have completed the first three chapters of our textbook and will begin chapter four next week. Students should be reminded that if there is a quiz over a reading from the book, they are expected to re-read the section and be familiar with its content and vocabulary. If help is needed, there are Quizlets, reading tutorial videos, and handouts posted to Canvas. Recently we began our reading groups program where for the first ten minutes of class students will read in a beginner Latin novella from our classroom library.
French
Mrs. Dalton
cdalton@chaminade-stl.org The French students have been working with adjectives and describing family members. This can be challenging since the French sometimes put adjectives before nouns while others go after nouns. We will be using the acronym BAGS to help us remember. The students have already recorded one video introducing a male and female family member. My apologies in advance to have you look up extended family members in the up-coming 2 weeks as we begin to talk about possessive adjectives while extending our family tree in the French language. The students will be creating a digital family tree and presenting/creating a video to talk about family members to the class. There is a quiz this Thursday, November 5th over the adjectives and the rule of BAGS.
English
Mr. Master nmaster@chaminade-stl.org As we march towards the end of our second grading period, the students continue to make excellent progress in each of the four major areas of English study: Literature- All students should be on page 266 of The Book Thief. Please make sure your son is keeping up with the reading. We will have a mid-novel test late next week; additionally, he will need a strong understanding of the novel for an essay we are beginning to write (see below). Writing- Students continue to write the daily WADWED, but more importantly, we are in the early phases of our next formal essay. Students have each been assigned a Characteristic of Marianist Education at random. They are writing an essay explaining how 1-2 characters from The Book Thief embody their assigned characteristic. We have an outline on Canvas that is due Monday (Red) or Tuesday (White) morning. We will work heavily on the composition process and revision process with this essay in the coming weeks. Vocabulary- We are midway through our 6th Unit of Vocabulary Workshop. Students should continue to understand where we are in the 4 class rotation (Day 1- 10 sentences using the words, Day 2- Vocab Workshop workbook, Day 3- Submit workbook for grading + Kahoot review, Day 4- Unit quiz, repeat). Grammar- We have completed our 3 unit study of Parts of Speech (students can still re-take old lessons to improve scores on Grammar "Quizzes" (open not and multiple choice) or PostLesson Assessments). We now move into a study of Subjects, Predicates, and Objects. Students will study one lesson per day with a post lesson assessment to accompany it.
Stem
Mrs. Young
jyoung@chaminade-stl.org The end of the 1st trimester is upon us! The boys have been working so hard in class for their final project. Everything will be due by November 6th at 3pm. Weekend extra credit for all 11 weeks is open, so if your son has not completed them, they still have a chance! I am excited to meet this next group on November 10th. Thank you for such a great start to the school year!
Theater
Mrs. Lawrence
slawrence@chaminade-stl.org In 8th grade Drama, we recently finished reading the play Anon(ymous) by Naomi Ilzuka, which is a modern retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey. We are concluding our time together with a study of lighting design and producing work onstage. Using the play Anon(ymous) as our production, students are creating lighting design looks and one other element of design -scenic, costume, or sound. Students will share their work in class as time allows. A reminder that students should complete their Final Exam paper, writing about a production they watched online. Resources and guidelines can be found in our Final Exam Module on Canvas.
Band
Mr. Jones
hjones@chaminade-stl.org Intermediate Band students: Here are links to the songs we are performing for the Christmas Concert. Listen to the songs and play along with the recordings! African Bell Carol https://search.smartmusic.com/search? query=african%20bell%20carol Black Forest Overture https://search.smartmusic.com/search? query=black%20forest%20overture In the Hall of the Mountain King https://search.smartmusic.com/search? query=in%20the%20hall%20of%20the%20mountain%20king
Art
Mr. Anthony
manthony@chaminade-stl.org The eighth-grade visual art students have been working from observation. They got to enjoy working outdoors, drawing inspiration from the vibrant colors of fall leaves. The young artists further developed their skills in understanding how color works in creating their beautiful leaf portraits. As the semester draws to a close the students are looking at the body of work they have made and reflecting on their effort and creative accomplishments. Great semester gentlemen!
Student artists: Joseph DiGuiseppe, Harry Lineman, David Trampe, and Jack Bohling.
DATES TO REMEMBER: 11/5: 2nd Grading Period Ends 11/6: House Polo Day! 11/9: No School! 11/10: 3rd Grading Period Begins 11/23-11/27: Thanksgiving Break-No Classes!
ATTENDANCE REMINDER: Will your son be absent? Does he have an appointment and need to leave early or arrive late? Call the Middle School Office at 314.692.6687.
Messages from your Middle School Team: Principal Dr. Guidry
tguidry@chaminade-stl.org
Counselor
Mr. Twellman
jtwellman@chaminade-stl.org
Learning Consultant Mr. Hale
jhale@chaminade-stl.org
On November 16th and 17th, Mr. Twellman and Mrs. Griese will be taking the boys out of their Social Studies class to do some more socialization and team-building activities. We understand that many of the social aspects of school have been taken away so we want to give the boys a chance to socially interact in a safe manner as well as give them a break from the classroom. We will be doing these type of activities throughout the year. Continue to reach out if you have any questions or are looking for any resources to help you.