December Update from the 8th Grade Classroom

Welcome to the Winter Term! The weather outside is cooperating with our seasonal shift, and we hope you all had a great Thanksgiving week with plenty of family time, relaxation, and maybe even a little skiing!

Because this is a new term and we have a number of exciting projects going on, this is going to be a long blog post. Two highlights that you don't want to miss:

1. Students are starting to work on their 8th Grade Projects. We are looking for professionals in various fields who would be willing to speak with an 8th grader in the next three weeks about their experience and help them brainstorm ideas for hands-on opportunities related to their topics. Click here for a list of student topics, and please email me if you are or know an expert in one of these fields and would be willing to have a student contact you.
2. We are also starting work on the National We Are America project. Stay tuned for more information about the project through the course of the term, and check out the The National We Are America Project website for information. We are really excited to be a part of this.

A few housekeeping items: 

• Firstly, we wanted to re-share our weekly schedule document. We use this daily, and it's a great resource if you want to know what your child is doing each day in school. 
• Secondly, we have officially started the winter schedule! This means that on Tuesday through Friday, middle school and upper school students are dismissed at 1:30. We do offer a variety of after-school clubs that run from 1:30-2:30, so make sure to check those out (Sam sent an email about them a couple of weeks ago) if the early dismissal does not work for your family. 
• Finally, we welcomed new/returning 8th grader Sacha Stern-pre back to school the week before Thanksgiving. He spent the fall term in France, and we are excited that he's back!

We finished up our Food Unit at the end of the fall term. Students shared their learning through a number of final projects that they presented to the 6th and 7th graders during lunch on Friday, Nov. 22. They created everything from a satirical newscast that explored different methods of farming to a side-by-side "cost" comparison of local versus organic or local versus conventional food.

Students work on final projects.

Students experimented with plant growth using modified soils.

   

Food writing requires a lot of eating!

Students peer review their personal food narratives.

December marks the beginning of the winter term and our Identity Unit, a unit that focuses on defining aspects of identity and personality formation. In addition to exploring a passion through 8th Grade Projects, our 8th grade class has been selected to participate in The National We Are America Project through the organization We Are America! We Are America’s goal as an organization is to help spark national conversation around American identity, led by the young and bright members of the current generation of students. After applying, Naomi and the SVCS 8th graders were one of 36 classes from 23 states across the country selected to participate! 

During this project, Naomi will work with students to plan, edit, and publish a book of student stories and recordings for the We Are America Project national website. These stories will center on student perspectives about and experiences with American identity and will be shared with families, with the school, and with our communities. The project consists of multiple lessons that will be taught during Writing and Humanities classes starting in this week and running through the end of the winter trimester, with a possibility of an extension of the project into the spring. For the national project, the school will receive copies of the printed book of stories to share with students and families. We are so excited about this opportunity, and will be sure to share more about the project in future blogs.

Before the break, we also introduced the 8th Grade Project, the long-term project that 8th graders will be working on throughout the winter term. The 8th Grade Project assignment can be viewed here, so please take a moment to read through the expectations with your child. We have also provided students with a general calendar of the term that they can refer to or make a copy of to organize their own time and work. This week, students will be working on proposals for their projects. Please talk to your child about his or her ideas! We are hopeful that all students will have their topics chosen by the beginning of next week. The final presentations of the projects are scheduled for the week of March 16-20, 2020. Yvonne will be in touch with you to schedule those presentations starting in February.

Here's where you can help: One of the requirements of this year's projects is a preliminary interview with an expert in the field each student is studying. We are hoping that by connecting with professionals, students will get ideas about how they can "live" their topics through hands-on experiences. Click here for a list of student topics, and please email me if you are or know an expert in one of these fields and would be willing to have a student contact you.

A final aspect of our Identity unit that began this week is our Human Sexuality class. As part of the Life Skills curriculum, students will learn about human anatomy and physiology, reproduction, sexuality, safe and healthy relationships. These classes will be taught primarily in single-gender groups by Naomi, Reggie, and Sam Herrick.

We are so excited to be jumping into a new term and new topics with this group! I will publish a list of topics in my next blog right before Winter Break, so check back then to see what 8th graders have chosen to study.