SEPTEMBER 2013

EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS

Common Core Standards:
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Theme/Tema: My Family/En Mi Famila:
Vocabulary
Talk about family
Ask and tell ages
Express possession
Give dates
Make comparisons
Construct a family tree
Culture/ Cultura:
Students will learn about la sobremesa and compare mealtime traditions.
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases:
Where there is nobility, generosity is./Donde hay nobleza, hay largueza.
Common Core Standards:
RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of
a character, or provoke a decision.
RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to
other texts.
Language Arts: (Core Knowledge)
Literature: Alices Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Theme Adolescence and the struggle between wanting to be treated like an adult and the desire to remain
a child.
Literary Elements: Theme, Plot, Setting, Conflict, Characterization, Parody, Symbolism.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards:
W.8.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant
descriptive details,and well-structured event sequences.
Writing:
Memoir Write narratives to develop real experiences using effective technique, relevant descriptive
details, and well-structured event sequences.
Common Core Standards:
RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text
History and Geography: (Core Knowledge)

Introduction to 8th Grade American History

What is Justice?
How has America become a more just society?
America on the Eve of the Civil War
Review of conflict over slavery
Events leading to the Civil War
Common Core Standards:
8.NS.1 Apply and extend previous understandings of addition and subtraction to add and subtract rational numbers;
represent addition and subtraction on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram.
8.EE.4 Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations
and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.
8.EE.2 Understand that rewriting an expression in different forms in a problem context can shed light on the
problem and how the quantities in it are related. For example, a + 0.05a = 1.05a means that increase by 5% is
the same as multiply by 1.05.
8.SP.1 Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the
population; generalizations about a population from a sample are valid only if the sample is representative of that
population. Understand that random sampling tends to produce representative samples and support valid inferences.
Mathematics: (Core Knowledge)
Numbers & Expressions
Variables & Expressions
Properties
Variables & Equations
Ordered Pairs & Relations
Scatter Plots
Common Core Standards:
8.SP.1 Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the
population; generalizations about a population from a sample are valid only if the sample is representative of that
population. Understand that random sampling tends to produce representative samples and support valid inferences.
Science: (Core Knowledge)
Review of Graphing Skills/Laboratory Skills
The Scientific Method (Chapter NOS)
Rocks and Minerals (Chapter 13)
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS TEST WILL BE
CONDUCTED EACH DAY.

OCTOBER 2013
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards:
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Theme/Tema: The Family/Mi Famila:
Vocabulary
Talk about what clothes you want.
Say what you wear in different seasons.
Use the verb tener expressions.
Stem-changing verbs: eie
Direct object pronouns
Culture/ Cultura:
Surrealist art in Spain.
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (Core Knowledge)
Its never too late, if the deed is good. / Nunca es tarde, si la dicha es Buena.
Common Core Standards:
RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including
its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of
a character, or provoke a decision.
RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to
other texts.
RL.8.6 Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created
through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
Language Arts:
Literature: Alices Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Themes Adolescence and the struggle between wanting to be treated like an adult and the desire to
remain a child.
Literary Elements: Theme, Plot, Setting, Characterization, Conflict, Parody, Symbolism
There will be a test on the book at the end of the month.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards:
W.8.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant
descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
Writing:

Memoir Write narratives to develop real experiences using effective technique, relevant descriptive
details, and well-structured event sequences.

Common Core Standards:

RI.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
RI.8.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
RI.8.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound
and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
History and Geography: The Civil War & Reconstruction (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Division over Slavery and States Rights
An Attempt to Rebuild
Common Core Standards:
8.NS.1 Know that numbers that are not rational are called irrational. Understand informally that every number has a
decimal expansion; for rational numbers show that the decimal expansion repeats eventually, and convert a decimal
expansion which repeats eventually into a rational number
8.NS.2 Use rational approximations of irrational numbers to compare the size of irrational numbers, locate them
approximately on a number line diagram, and estimate the value of expressions (e.g., 2). For example, by
truncating the decimal expansion of 2, show that 2 is between 1 and 2, then between 1.4 and 1.5, and explain how
to continue on to get better approximations.
8.EE.1 Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. For
example, 32 35 = 33 = 1/33 = 1/27.
8.EE.2 Use square root and cube root symbols to represent solutions to equations of the form x2 = p and x3 = p,
where p is a positive rational number. Evaluate square roots of small perfect squares and cube roots of small perfect
cubes. Know that 2 is irrational.
8.EE.3 Use numbers expressed in the form of a single digit times a whole-number power of 10 to estimate very large
or very small quantities, and to express how many times as much one is than the other. For example, estimate the
population of the United States as 3 times 108 and the population of the world as 7 times 109, and determine that
the world population is more than 20 times larger.
8.EE.7 Solve linear equations in one variable.
8.F.1 Understand that a function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output. The graph of a function is the
set of ordered pairs consisting of an input and the corresponding output.1
Mathematics: Integers (Chapter 2)
Integers and Absolute Value
Operations with Integers (Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing)
The Coordinate System
Equations (Chapter 3)
The Distributive Property
Simplifying Algebraic Expressions
Solving One-Step Equations
Solving Two-Step Equations
Writing Two-Step Equations
Using Formulas
Factors and Fractions (Chapter 3)
Factors and Monomials
Powers and Exponents
Prime Factorization
Greatest Common Factor
Simplifying Algebraic Fractions

Multiplying and Dividing Monomials

Negative Exponents
Scientific Notations

Common Core Standards:

RI.8.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
Science: (Core Knowledge)
Earthquakes and Volcanoes (Chapter 15)
Fossils and Dating (Chapter 16)
o **Focus on Relative Age Dating**
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED EACH DAY.

NOVEMBER 2013
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards:
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Theme/Tema: Downtown/En el centro:
Vocabulary
Stem-changing verbs: eie
Direct object pronouns
Common Core Standards:
W.8.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
Writing:
Students will write a poem about one of the seasons.
Culture/ Cultura:
Surrealist art in Spain.
How does geography affect a countrys climate?
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (Core Knowledge)
There is no worse deaf as those who dont want to hear./No hay peor sordo que el que no quiere or.
Common Core Standards:
RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text
RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including
its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of
a character, or provoke a decision.
RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to
other texts.
Language Arts:
Literature: Alices Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Finish Memoirs
Short Stories (Core Knowledge) and Writing in Response to Literature
Skills Instruction: words in context, roots and affixes, main idea, supporting details.
Independent reading should be done every night (6 book hooks due in early December 2011)
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.

Common Core Standards:

RI.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
RI.8.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
History and Geography: Reconstruction (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Rebuilding the South
Opportunities and Obstacles for African Americans
Common Core Standards:
8.EE.1 Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. For
example, 32 35 = 33 = 1/33 = 1/27.
8.EE.5 Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Compare two different
proportional relationships represented in different ways. For example, compare a distance-time graph to a distancetime equation to determine which of two moving objects has greater speed.
8.EE.7 Solve linear equations in one variable
Mathematics: Continue With Rational Numbers (Chapter 5)
Measures of Central Tendency
Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences
Ratio, Proportion and Percent (Chapter 6)
Ratios and Percents
Using Proportions
Scale Drawings and Models
Fractions, Decimals and Percent
Using Percent Equations
Percent of Change
Probability and Predictions
Common Core Standards:
RI.8.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
Science: (Core Knowledge)
Thermal Energy (Chapter 5)
States of Matter (Chapter 6)
Mixtures, Solubility, and Acid/Base (Chapter 10)
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED EACH DAY.

DECEMBER 2013
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards:
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Theme/Tema: Downtown/En el centro:
Que hacemos esta noche?/What are we doing tonight?
Vocabulary
Describe places and events in town.
Talk about types of transportation.
Say what you are going to do.
Order from menu.
The verb ver (to see0, ir a + infinitive.
Stem-Changing verbs o ue.
Stem-Changing verbs e i.
Culture/ Cultura:
How do the local markets of El Rastro and Chichicastenango reflect the culture of an area?
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
A poet is born, not made./El poeta nace y no se hace.
Common Core Standards:
RI..7.6 Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her
position from that of others.
RI.7.7 Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each mediums
portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words).
Language Arts:
Literature: Autobiography and Biography
Identify narrators and point of view
Analyze the writers tone toward his/her subject
Identify the writers use of vivid details
Common Core Standards:
W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 13 above.)
Writing: Autobiographical Sketch
Write an autobiography that maintains a clear point of view
Grammar: Identify Different Kinds of Verbs

Test preparation for the New York State test will be practiced throughout on a weekly basis.

COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS

AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards:
RI.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
RI.8.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
History and Geography: American Industrialism (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Workers vs. Entrepreneurs
Immigration
Work towards Reform
Common Core Standards:
8.EE.1 Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. For
example, 32 35 = 33 = 1/33 = 1/27.
8.EE.3 Use numbers expressed in the form of a single digit times a whole-number power of 10 to estimate very large
or very small quantities, and to express how many times as much one is than the other. For example, estimate the
population of the United States as 3 times 108 and the population of the world as 7 times 109, and determine that
the world population is more than 20 times larger.
8.EE.4 Perform operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation, including problems where both decimal
and scientific notation are used. Use scientific notation and choose units of appropriate size for measurements of
very large or very small quantities (e.g., use millimeters per year for seafloor spreading). Interpret scientific notation
that has been generated by technology.
8.EE.7 Solve linear equations in one variable.
Mathematics: Continue With Ratio, Proportion & Percent (Chapter 6)
Probability & Predictions
Equations & Inequalities (Chapter 7)
Solving Equations with variables on each side
Solving Equations with Grouping Symbols
Writing & Graphing Inequalities
Solving Inequalities by Adding or Subtracting
Solving Inequalities by Multiplying or Dividing
Solving Multi-Step Inequalities
Common Core Standards:
RI.8.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
Science: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Finish Chapter 10
Light and Sound (Chapter 4)
Electricity and Magnetism (Teacher Produced Unit)
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED EACH DAY.

JANUARY 2014
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards:
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Theme/Tema: Welcome to our home./Bienvenidos a nuestra casa:
Vocabulary
Describe a house and household items
Indicate the order of things
Describe people and locations
The verb Ser and Estar
Ordinal numbers
Culture/ Cultura:
Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamin
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Same jibaro, different horse./El mismo jibaro con diferente calballo.
Common Core Standards:
RL.8.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or
plot).
RL.8.5 Analyze how a dramas or poems form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.
Language Arts:
Common Core Standards:
W.8.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant
descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
Writing, Grammar, and Usage:
Response to literature: Students explore the big idea and theme of short fictional narratives (experienced
level).

Speaking, listening, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar lessons supplement and enhance the writing
process.

Poetry:
Reading selected poems by Dylan Thomas, and examining a few of the important poetic devices needed for
understanding this and other texts.
Fiction:
Students will be reading The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, and analyzing some of the
literary elements that have led to its importance as a young adult work of fiction.
ELA Test Preparation:
Students will be guided through researched test materials to strengthen their skills in reading
comprehension and written responses.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards:
8.RI.5 Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the
whole and to the development of the ideas.
History and Geography: The Progressive Era (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Trust-Busting
Power back to the people
Expansion of power abroad
Imperialism
The Panama Canal
Yellow Journalism & The Spanish-American War
Common Core Standards:
8.F.1 Understand that a function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output. The graph of a function is the
set of ordered pairs consisting of an input and the corresponding output.1
8.F.2 Compare properties of two functions each represented in a different way (algebraically, graphically,
numerically in tables, or by verbal descriptions). For example, given a linear function represented by a table of
values and a linear function represented by an algebraic expression, determine which function has the greater rate
of change.
8.F.3 Interpret the equation y = mx + b as defining a linear function, whose graph is a straight line; give examples of
functions that are not linear. For example, the function A = s2 giving the area of a square as a function of its side
length is not linear because its graph contains the points (1,1), (2,4) and (3,9), which are not on a straight line.
8.F.4 Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change and
initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these
from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the
situation it models, and in terms of its graph or a table of values.
8.F.5 Describe qualitatively the functional relationship between two quantities by analyzing a graph (e.g., where the
function is increasing or decreasing, linear or nonlinear). Sketch a graph that exhibits the qualitative features of a
function that has been described verbally.
8.EE.5 Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Compare two different
proportional relationships represented in different ways. For example, compare a distance-time graph to a distancetime equation to determine which of two moving objects has greater speed.
8.EE.6 Use similar triangles to explain why the slope m is the same between any two distinct points on a nonvertical line in the coordinate plane; derive the equation y = mx for a line through the origin and the equation y = mx
+ b for a line intercepting the vertical axis at b.
8.EE.7 Solve linear equations in one variable.
Mathematics: Functions & Graphing
Functions

Linear Equations in Two Variables

Graphing Linear Equations using Intercepts
Slope
Rate of Change
Slope-Intercept Form
Writing Linear Equations
Best-Fit Lines
Solving Systems of Equations

Common Core Standards:

RI.8.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
Science: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Interactions within Ecosystems ( Chapter 18) **
Biomes and Ecosystems (Chapter 19)
Environmental Impacts (Chapter 20)**
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED EACH DAY.

FEBRUARY 2014
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards: SL.8.1
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Theme/Tema: Planning a party./Una fiesta en casa.
Vocabulary
Plan a party
Talk about chores and responsibilities
Tell someone what to do
Say what you just did
Irregular verbs
Afirmative t commands
Acabar de + infinitive
Culture/ Cultura:
Discuss how people show pride for their community.
Learn about the textiles of Otavalo.
Folk dances in Ecuador and Panama.
Learn about the origins of the sanjuanito and tamborito.
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
The habit does not make the monk./El hbito no hace al monje.
Common Core Standards: 8.RL.5, 8.W.3, 8.W.4
Language Arts: Core Knowledge
Writing, Grammar, and Usage:
Response to literature: Students explore the theme of two short fictional narratives and draft a comparative
essay, (experienced level).
Speaking, listening, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar lessons supplement and enhance the writing
process.

Poetry:
Reading selected poems by Dylan Thomas with special attention paid to the villanelle as a unique poetic
art form. Some important poetic devices needed for understanding this and other texts including the
common metrical pattern known as iambic pentameter.
Students will learn a writing process for composing their own poems. Different styles and forms will be
practiced and compiled in an anthology.
Fiction:
Students will continue reading The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, and analyzing some of the
literary elements that have led to its importance as a young adult work of fiction.
ELA Test Preparation:
Students will be guided through researched test materials to strengthen their skills in reading
comprehension and written responses. Special attention will be given to paired passages, short written
responses, and the longer essay style answer required in Book 3 of the ELA Test.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards: 8.RI.1, 8.RI.2
History and Geography: World War I (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Causes of European Civil War
The war to end all wars
The Jazz Age
The Roaring Twenties
Prohibition
Harlem Renaissance
Common Core Standards: 8.G.1, 8.G.2, 8.G.3, 8.G.4
Mathematics: Two-Dimensional Figures
Identifying line and angle relationships
Find missing angles in triangles
Classifying triangles and quadrilaterals
Congruent Triangles
Transformations in the Coordinate Plane:
Quadrilaterals
Area: Parallelograms, Triangles, Trapezoids
Circumference and Area of Circles
Area of Irregular Figures
Common Core Standards: 8.RI.4
Science: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Review of select topics from 7th grade curriculum
o Cells/Cell structure
o Periodic Table
o Punnet Squares/Genetics
Practice 8th grade state test (Multiple choice/Extended Response)
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED EACH DAY.

MARCH 2014
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards: SL.8.1
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Unidad 6: Republica Dominicana/Mantener un cuerpo sano/Maintianing a healthy body
Theme/Tema: Planning a party./Una fiesta en casa.
Vocabulary
Talk about sports
Talk about whom you know
Talk about what you know
The verb jugar
The verb saber and conocer
The personal a
Culture/ Cultura:
Discuss how professional athletes support their home countries.
Discuss how an artists work can reflect the pastimes of ones country.
Read about sports club in the Dominican Republic and compare sports facilities in the Dominican Republic
and U.S.
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
You never know what you have till its gone./ Nadie sabe lo que vale el agua hasta que falta.
Common Core Standards: RL.8.4, RL.8.10, W.8.4
Language Arts: Core Knowledge
Writing, Grammar, and Usage:
Students will revise, edit, and publish a literary essay comparing the themes of two short fictional
narratives in a well-organized 4-5 paragraph literary essay with a thesis statement, topic sentences, detailed
evidence, and a text to world connection.
Students will write a poetic-prose vignette using their own life as a source of inspiration, and Mango Street
as a model.
Speaking, listening, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar lessons supplement and enhance the writing
process.
Poetry:
Reading selected poems by William Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barrett Browning with special attention
given to the Sonnet as an art form. Discussions will include the important characteristics of a sonnet, like
iambic pentameter and the standard 14 lines.
Students will learn a write and compose their own sonnets for inclusion in an anthology along with poems
written for other units. Different styles and forms will be practiced and compiled in an anthology.
Fiction:

Students will complete The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, and draw conclusions and make
inferences. Students will begin reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and will examine the
effectiveness of the third person omniscient narrator in the story. The symbolism it the earth, its importance
to the landed gentry of China, and the life of the poor indentured workers will be explored in light of the
cyclical events that occur.
Students will also be reading short stories that can be paired with the poetry and novels being covered in
the unit.
ELA Test Preparation:
Students will be guided through researched test materials to strengthen their skills in reading
comprehension and written responses. Special attention will be given to listening, compare and contrast of
paired passages, short written responses, and the longer essay style answer required in Books 2 & 3 of the
ELA Test. The new format of the ELA Test will be examined and reviewed during test preparation to be
sure students are familiar with it and know what to expect.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards: RI.8.4, RI.8.6
History and Geography: The Roaring Twenties (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
The Jazz Age
Harlem Renaissance
The Great Depression
American Struggles
The New Deal
World War II
The Rise of Hitler
Escalation to War
Common Core Standards: 8.F.1, 8.F.2, 8.F.3, 8.F.4, 8.F.5
Mathematics: Patterns, Relations, and Functions (Core Knowledge)
Define and use correct terminology when referring to a function (Domain & Range)
Determine if a relation is a function
Interpret multiple representations using equations, tables of values, and graphs
Recognize the characteristics of quadratics in tables, graphs, equations, and situations
Common Core Standards: RI.8.8
Science: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Continuation of Chapter 20
Genetics (Chapter 22)
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED EACH DAY.

APRIL 2014
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards: SL.8.1
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Unidad 6: Republica Dominicana/Mantener un cuerpo sano/Maintianing a healthy body
Theme/Tema: Your Health/la salud
Vocabulary
Talk about parts of the body
Make excuses
Say what you did
Talk about staying healthy
The verb doler
The preterite of ar verbs
The preterite of car, -gar, -zar verbs
Culture/ Cultura:
Discuss how an artists reflect their values through their paintings.
Learn about a meringue festival.
Read about two world-class athletes representing the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Erase and start over./Borron y cuenta nueva.
Common Core Standards:RL.8.2, RL.8.3, RL.8.4, RL.8.11, W.7.5
Language Arts: Core Knowledge
Writing, Grammar, and Usage:
Students will publish their literary essay comparing the themes of two short fictional narratives in a wellorganized 4-5 paragraph literary essay with a thesis statement, topic sentences, detailed evidence, and a text
to world connection.
Speaking, listening, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar lessons supplement and enhance the writing
process.
Using the Teaching Mattes model students will be guided through a poetry unit in which they will be
further immersed in core curriculum poetry, and will learn different methods for writing their own poems.
Emphasis will be placed on theme and the authors purpose, poetic devices, and developing their own
narrative voice (finding the poet within).

 Lessons focusing on spelling, capitalization, punctuation, subject/verb agreement, and vocabulary.

Poetry:
Haiku, its origins, characteristics, and relevance to this months novel. Students will have an opportunity to
write their own haikus and post them around the classroom.
Fiction:
Students will complete The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, and draw conclusions and make
inferences.
o Students will write a personal narrative in the vignette style of Cisneros.
o Oral presentation will be part of the final product and students will be graded accordingly.
Students will begin reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and will examine the effectiveness of the
third person omniscient narrator in the story. The symbolism it the earth, its importance to the landed
gentry of China, and the life of the poor indentured workers will be explored in light of the cyclical events
that occur.
Students will also be reading short stories that can be paired with the poetry and novels being covered in
the unit.
ELA Test Preparation:
Students will be guided through researched test materials to strengthen their skills in reading
comprehension and written responses. Special attention will be given to listening, drawing conclusions and
making inferences, reading paired passages, writing short response answers, and writing the longer essay
style answer required in Books 2 & 3 of the ELA Test. The new format of the ELA Test will be examined
and reviewed during final test preparations to be sure students are familiar with it and know what to expect.
.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards: RI.8.2
History and Geography: The Cold War (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Capitalism vs. Communism
Post WWII American Culture
The 1950s
Common Core Standards: All major standards
Mathematics: (Core Knowledge)
**The 8th grade will also be working on various skills, concepts, and applications in preparation for the NYS
Mathematics Test in April 2012.
Common Core Standards: RI.8.4
Science: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Review of Weather (Chapter 17 from 7th grade book)
o Focus on Weather Maps and being able to read them
Practice Full 8th Grade State Exam
o Includes a Practice Lab Practical
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED EACH DAY

MAY 2014
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards: SL.8.1
Foreign Language:Spanish
Unidad 7: Argentina//Una semana fenomenal!/A Terrific Week!
Theme/Tema: En el cibercaf/At the ciber caf.
Vocabulary
Talk about technology
Talk about a series of events
Say what you did
Talk about indefinite or negative situations
Preterite of regular er and ir verbs
Affirmative and negative words
Culture/ Cultura:
Discuss how slang words develop.
Discuss how art can capture the feeling of a place.
Read about how to protect a computer from viruses.
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Windy March, April rain, bring May flowers./Marzo ventoso, abril lluvioso, sacan a mayo florid y
hermoso.
Common Core Standards: RL.8.5, RL.8.9, W.9
Language Arts: Core Knowledge
Writing, Grammar, and Usage:
Students will write a literary essay comparing the themes of the novel, The Good Earth, with those found in
the poem, The Death of a Hired Man, by Robert Frost in a well-organized 4-5 paragraph literary essay
with a thesis statement, topic sentences, detailed evidence, and a text to world connection.
Speaking, listening, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar lessons supplement and enhance the writing
process.
Using the Teaching Matters model students will be guided through a poetry unit in which they will be
further immersed in core curriculum poetry, and will learn different methods for writing their own poems.
Emphasis will be placed on theme and the authors purpose, poetic devices, and developing their own
narrative voice (finding the poet within).
Lessons focusing on spelling, capitalization, punctuation, subject/verb agreement, and vocabulary.

Poetry:
Haiku, its origins, characteristics, and relevance to this months novel. Students will have an opportunity to
write their own haikus and post them around the classroom.
Students will write their own rhyming (end line and internal rhyme) and free verse poems.
Fiction:
In conjunction with the audio book and 1936 film version, students will be reading The Good Earth by
Pearl S. Buck and will examine the effectiveness of the third person omniscient narrator in the story. The
symbolism of the earth, its importance to the landed gentry of China, and the life of the poor indentured
workers will be explored in light of the cyclical events that occur.
Historical and biographical readings and lectures will be assigned to give context and add meaning to the
novel.
Students will also be reading short stories and poetry considered companion pieces because of their similar
themes or topics.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS
AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards: RI.8.3
History and Geography: The Cold War (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Containing the Threat of Communism
The Civil Rights Movement
The Korean and Vietnam Wars
Common Core Standards: 8.G.1, 8.G.5
Mathematics: Geometric Constructions and Famous Mathematician Project/Presentation (Core
Knowledge)
Identify constructions using a straightedge and a compass.
Construct a segment congruent to a segment
Construct an angle congruent to an angle
Construct a perpendicular bisector
Construct an angle bisector
Famous Mathematician Project/Presentation
Common Core Standards: RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, RI.8.4, RI.8.5, RI.8.6, RI.8.7, RI.8.8, RI.8.9, RI.8.10
Science: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Earth and Moon System (Chapter 20 from 7th grade book)
o Focus on phases of the moon
Comprehensive review of 7th and 8th grade material
o Make use of the Measuring Up Books

JUNE/JULY 2014
EIGHTH GRADE SYLLABUS
Common Core Standards: SL.8.1
Foreign Language:
Spanish
Unidad 7: Argentina//Una semana fenomenal!/A Terrific Week!
Theme/Tema: Un dia en el parque de diversiones/A day at an amusement park.
Vocabulary
Talk on the phone
Say where you went, how it was, and what you did
Extend invitations
Que + adjective
Pretirite of ir, ser, and hacer
Pronouns after prepositions
Culture/ Cultura:
Discuss how paintings reflect a citys character.
Discuss and learn about foods from Argentina.
Read about two unusual museums in Argentina and Bolivia.
Sayings and Phrases/Dichos y Frases: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
A ship that doesnt sail, never reaches port./Barco que no anda, no llega a Puerto.
Common Core Standards: RL.8.9, RL.8.10, W.8.3, W.8.7, W.8.8, W.8.9, W.8.10
Language Arts: Core Knowledge
Writing, Grammar, and Usage:
Haiku, its origins, characteristics, and relevance to this months novel, The Good Earth. Students will have
an opportunity to write their own haikus as a part of the June 2012 project month.
As part of the June 2012 project month, students will write stylistic poems that mirror the poetry of e.e.
Cummings, William Butler Yeats, William Wordsworth, and William Shakespeare.
Poetry:
Poetry-Read selected sonnets of William Shakespeare and stylistic poems by e.e. Cummings, William
Butler Yeats, William Wordsworth, and others.
Fiction:
Students will complete The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and the 1936 movie version. Historical readings
and documentaries will be examined to give context and add meaning to the novel.

Students will be reading the works of William Shakespeare with concentration on the play Julius Caesar.
An appreciation for Shakespeares mastery of the English Language and performance by select students at
the end of the school year is the ultimate goal.
As part of the June 2012 project month students will write and perform their own one act play.

COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY WILL BE INEGRATED THROUGH LITERATURE LESSONS

AND ASSESED THROUGH STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS, CLASS DISCUSSIONS, WRITTEN
RESPONSES AND EXAMS.
Common Core Standards: RI.8.9, RI.8.10
History and Geography: The Vietnam War (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
The end of the Cold War
The Modern Era
Common Core Standards: 8.EE.1, 8.EE.2
Mathematics: A) Famous Mathematician and Topic PowerPoint Presentation and Display Board Project
(Core Knowledge)
B) Radicals
Square Roots
Simplifying Radicals
Adding and Subtracting like and unlike radicals
Multiplying and Dividing like and unlike radicals
Common Core Standards: RI.8.9, RI.8.10
Science: (CORE KNOWLEDGE)
Careers in Science
Current Events in Science
Science Portrayed in the Arts