Eighth Grade Curriculum

Course Description:

Eighth Grade Religion introduces the student to ecclesiology, the study of the Church, covering the origin and nature, and teaching and governing authority of the Church.  It looks at the sacraments, Mary, the saints, and our separated brethren.  The course addresses the work of the Christian in the world, through virtue, the works of mercy, vocations (single, religious, and married), and the law, conscience, and social order.  It also looks at the four last things, of death, judgment, heaven, and hell.  The course is written to help the student to desire to imitate the saints of the Church.

Course Description:

Grade Eight Bible History covers the last part of the Old Testament about how God’s chosen people were led into captivity and their kingdom was destroyed; It leads into the New Testament and the fulfillment of God’s promise to His chosen people.  (The first half of the book is used in seventh grade.)

The text presents an important aspect for one who is going to be educated with a classical curriculum because it shows how God used all cultures and peoples to bring about the Redemption of mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is a two – year course.  The first half of the book is presented in seventh grade and the second half in eighth grade.  It can be used in conjunction with the Religion course and done easily in one or two days a week.  If the student has not read the first part of the book in seventh grade, it is recommended that it be read before following the course plan for the eighth grade.  It would not be necessary to do the written work attached, but it would be beneficial to have the background for what will be covered this year.

Course Description:

Grade Eight English is designed to teach students to speak and write correctly and effectively in the English language. Students should progress, at this level, to an understanding of English grammar that should suffice for a lifetime of general usage with some amount of study of more complex construction. The class will also emphasize, secondarily, training in the social graces, which are necessary for successful communication.

The lesson plan concentrates on Part Two of the book, which is Grammar.  Everything learned in English should be applied and reinforced in the student’s reading, composition, spelling, and vocabulary. A dictionary is recommended for use in English.  The daily work should include memorization of fundamental rules of grammar.  The student should diagram sentences in exercises as he proceeds through the work.  There are many exercises in the back of the book following the Index that can be used if time permits. The best way to teach English is by example and reinforcement of correct usage in the spoken and written word.

Note that Part One of Voyages in English, which is Composition, is not used in this course.  Composition is studied in Kolbe Academy’s Vocabulary and Composition course using Sadlier-Oxford Composition Workshop series.

Course Description:

Eighth Grade Composition uses Sadlier Writing Workshop, Level C to aid the student in developing composition skills, which are so necessary for further education.  These skills include developing thoughts in a logical manner, both for speaking and writing; writing narrative, informative, descriptive, and persuasive paragraphs and essays; test taking; and writing for different purposes, such as a newspaper, letters, a research report, and about literature.  Grade Eight Vocabulary uses Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop to encourage the student to use the new vocabulary words in speech and written work.  It also develops the student’s ability to work with synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homographs, prefixes, suffixes, roots, denotation, connotation, literal usage, figurative usage, and analogies.  The best way to teach Vocabulary and Composition is by example and reinforcement of correct usage in the spoken and written word.

Course Description:

Eighth Grade History looks at the United States and its place among other nations.  It begins with a look at American business, labor, and farming.  It then leads the student through World War I and World War II, ending with the preservation of American heritage and democracy.  Before going through the text of a chapter, check out the activities, etc. at the end of the chapter and the end of the unit.

Course Description:

Eighth Grade History seeks to provide familiarity with the historical context of the settlement of the Americas.  This course will help the student to obtain a broad Catholic understanding of the anthropological history of the Americas up until the last decade.  It begins with the explorations of Columbus, Cortes, and Magellan, proceeds to the arrival of the English in the American colonies and the American Revolution, the influence of missionaries, the birth of the American government, the Civil War, through the Depression, World Wars I and II, and concludes with a look at the moral decline of America.

Course Description:

This Eighth Grade Mathematics course is a pre-Algebra course, providing a transition “from the concrete concepts of arithmetic to the abstract concepts of algebra.”  Students who may have struggled with Saxon Mathematics 8/7 are encouraged to use Saxon Algebra 1/2 prior to moving onto a course in Algebra I.  Topics covered include points, lines, and rays, roots, surface area, ratio and proportion, absolute value, parentheses, properties of algebra, exponents and signed numbers, classifying triangles, Roman numerals, probability, the Pythagorean theorem, permutations, and real numbers.

Course Description:

Students may begin this course after completing any pre-Algebra course, including the Saxon Math 8/7 (with pre-Algebra) course.  Students who struggled with Saxon 8/7 are advised to use Saxon Algebra 1/2 prior to beginning an Algebra I course.  Upon completion of Saxon’s Algebra I, students may either continue with the Saxon program by using Saxon’s Algebra 2 book, or may switch into a standard Geometry course using Jacob’s Geometry.  Please be advised that Saxon does not have a separate Geometry course.  The author instead integrates all Geometry concepts throughout the Algebra I, Algebra II, and Advanced Math programs.  It is advisable that all college bound students exclusively using the Saxon program complete through Advanced Math in order to cover all the Geometry and Trigonometry concepts that might appear on the PSAT, ACT, and SAT standardized tests.

This course covers the following topics: division by zero, reciprocal and multiplicative inverse, exponents, algebraic phrases, word problems, canceling, ratio, conjunctions, dividing fractions, domain, elimination, closure, probability, algebraic proofs, rational equations functions.

Course Description:

Harold Jacob’s Elementary Algebra provides a strong course for the Algebra I student.  His text is set up in a traditional style so that students have the opportunity to practice many types of problems taught within each lesson.  This course provides the backbone of Algebra I concepts to prepare the student for taking Algebra II, and adequately prepare a student to take the Algebra I Math sections of the PSAT, SAT, and ACT standardized tests.  Additional graphing supplements are provided in the course plan as an introduction to graphing.

Students can succeed in this course after completing any pre-Algebra course, including the Saxon Math 8/7 (with pre-Algebra) text.  Students who struggled with Saxon Math 8/7 are advised to use Saxon Algebra 1/2 or another pre-Algebra course prior to beginning this course.  Note that about the first five chapters will include much review of pre-Algebra concepts.

This course is typically done in the 8^th or 9^th grade.  Topics include: fundamental operations, functions and graphs, domain and range of functions, integers, rational numbers, equations in one variable, equations in two variables, simultaneous equations, exponents, polynomials, factoring, fractions, square roots, quadratic equations, graphing quadratic equations, real numbers, fractional equations, inequalities, graphing inequalities in two variables, and arithmetic and geometric sequences.

Course Description:

Eighth Grade Science studies the fundamental principles of physical science which are so important for the in depth approach to the high school sciences of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.  The main emphasis in this course is on Chemistry and Physics, but the same scientific though processes are applied and used in the high school Biology course as well.  This course covers a breadth of material recommended both for eighth grade students interested in honors science coursework in high school.

Topics covered include Chemistry: properties and states of matter, atomic structure, the periodic table, chemical bonds and reactions, and solutions, acids, and bases; Physics: forces and motion, work, power, and machines, energy, mechanical waves and sound, the electromagnetic spectrum and light, optics, electricity, and magnetism.

Ideally, this course should be taken concurrently with Algebra I.  However, strong math students will find that a pre-Algebra course provides most of the necessary math skills needed to complete this course successfully.

Course Description:

Eighth Grade Latin is a beginner's course using New Missal Latin, a book ideally suited for grade school age students. Latin is the language of the Church; as such it is an integral part of every Catholic's heritage. Students build upon their knowledge from previous study, including perfect, imperfect, pluperfect, perfect subjunctive, and pluperfect subjunctive of all four verb conjugations.  Also covered is an introduction to sequence of tenses, and the passive voice in the indicative and subjunctive moods.  The course also includes an introduction of the dative with special verbs, the perfect passive participle, the conjugation of –io verbs, and infinitives.  The book set includes the Student Book, Teacher’s Manual, Student Test Book, Test Book Answer Key, and a Pronunciation Guide on CD.  The Student Books are also sold separately.

Course Description:

Eighth Grade Greek uses the second half of a book ideally suited for grade school age students. Greek is the language of the New Testament and of translations of the Old Testament that were used by the writers of the New Testament; as such it is an integral part of every Catholic's heritage. Students continue to work to master the Greek alphabet, vocabulary, noun genders, noun cases, and prepositions and cases.  The student will also learn key Greek words for Biblical study, and further their knowledge of the English language by seeing how Greek roots and grammar are used in English.