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WCSS Curriculum
Grade Eight
The Language Arts Curriculum is divided in three areas: Speaking/Listening, Reading/Liturature, Writing/Language. This curriculum is based upon state and national standards and recommendations for the Language Arts.
Language Arts Speaking/Listening
Display skills necessary for oral communication- Use non-verbal factors that enhance audience appreciation
- Sustain coherent reasoning during a speech
- Differentiate between formal and informal context and employ an appropriate style of speaking
- Experiment with a variety of purposes for speaking such as:
- Giving directions
- Motivating
- Defining
Participate effectively in classroom discussions- Invite ideas and opinions of others
- Demonstrate respect for the opinion of others.
- Analyze the factors that contribute to the success of a discussion
Demonstrate the skills of listening- Evaluate the reliability of information in communication
- Follow a speaker's argument and represent it in notes
- Listen to recall significant details and sequence correctly
Exhibit critical thinking skills- Identify propaganda techniques
- Draw conclusions from the spoken message
- Summarize to verify understanding of another point of view
- Make inferences as a speaker is speaking
Language Arts Reading/Literature
Read the printed word to explore language and convey meaning- Derive word meaning from the context and structure of words
- Read fluently at a proficient level
- Utilize vocabulary strategies
Use effective strategies to achieve comprehension in reading- Activate prior knowledge before reading to build background and make prediction
- Set a purpose for reading including:
- Gain information
- Appreciate literature
- Learn about an author's point of view
- Analyze and infer meaning through literary devices such as:
- Imagery
- Exaggeration
- Personification
- Figurative Language
- Monitor one's own understanding of literature including:
- Self-questioning
- Inferring
- Identifying main ideas
Interact with literacy texts to achieve deep meaning- Evaluate and make valid inferences from classic and contemporary literature
- Read to understand cultural and historical perspectives
- Read and analyze material from multiple perspectives
- Transfer information process, strategies, and skills across the content areas
- Experience reading situations where the author's perspective differs from one's own
- Communicate creatively when responding to literature
Language Arts Writing/Language
Write to communicate to different audiences for a variety of purposes- Write a persuasive piece with a clear position, a discernable tone, a coherent argument, and provides reliable evidence
- Write for a variety of readers adapting content, style, and structure to the audience and situation
- Write reflective essays that model a Christian view of the world
Use elements of writing of language to improve written communication- Apply conventions of capitalization and punctuation in context of one's own writing
- Address patterns of organization in written text such as:
- Cause and effect
- Compare and contrast
- Sequential
- Use the functions of parts of speech to effectively communicate
Plan, revise, edit and publish clear and effective writing- Identify questions and strategies for improving drafts when revising
- Practice editing strategies and use peer editing
Our Social Studies curriculum is based upon both state and national standards for Social Studies education.
Social Studies
History- Analyze examples of conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among regions or societies
- Give causes and consequences for major events in U.S. History, along with identifying important people during those eras
- Analyze, determine and support a position about political values.
Geography- Use a variety of geographic representations to gather and compare information
- Explain the movement of people, ideas, products, and diseases in the world
Economics- Identify and explain various points of view concerning economic issues
- Give examples of the government's role in maintaining a fair market economy
- Understand how production and specialization leads to interdependence
Behavioral Science- Analyze cultural conflicts in U.S. history
- Identify and interpret the cultural contributions of racial/ethnic groups in U.S. history
Political Science/Citizenship- Explain how laws are developed, changed, and enforced
- Identify and explain the basic principles of democracy
Peace and Justice- Identify abuses of human dignity found in American society
- Models attitudes and behaviors that accept and values differences
- Take an active role in programs and laws that support life
Our Religion curriculum focuses on the four pillars of the Catholic Church: Creedal Church, Liturgy and Sacraments, Moral Life, and Christian Prayer.
Religion
Creedal Church - Recognizes major periods in the Bible and in the history of the Catholic Church
- Recognizes that we know God through creation, our own consciences and our longing for God.
- Recognizes the possibility we will be called to suffer for our faith.
- Knows that to understand the Scriptures, one has to take into account the literary forms of the time.
Liturgy and Sacraments- Knows that Christ acting in the Church is the ultimate celebrant of every sacrament.
- Identifies the symbolic nature of Sacraments with symbols in life.
- Identifies and experiences Catholic rituals and rites, for example, blessings and the Sacraments.
Moral Life- Identifies personal moral choices as an expression of a Catholic Christian moral life.
- Recognizes that the values of our Catholic faith are contrary to the message in some contemporary music or media.
- Knows that we are called to respect life from conception to death.
- Knows that peer pressure is a powerful force that sometimes contradicts Christian principles.
Christian Prayer- Recognizes and experiences belonging to a community which prays with and for each other.
- Uses Scripture as a source for daily prayer.
- Uses contemplative prayer.
- Prays and understands the Nicene Creed as well as blesses God for all He has bestowed.
Our Math curriculum is based upon both state and national standards for Mathematics education.
Math
Number Operations and Relationships- Identify irrational numbers, reciprocals and exponents.
- Convert fractions, decimals and percents greater than 1 and less than 0.
- Apply the concepts of percent to discounts, simple interest, and sales tax.
- Apply all operations to rational numbers
- Extend and apply estimation skills to rational numbers.
Probability and Statistics- Collect, organize, and analyze data and draw conclusions using various methods.
- Select, create, and use appropriate graphical representations.
- Distinguish between dependent and independent events.
Geometry- Name, define, and give examples of complex figures (thombus, polyhedron, cylinder) and their component parts (base, altitude, and slant height).
- Draw 2-dimensional sketches of 3-dimensional objects.
- Construct parallel and perpendicular lines, triangles, and transverals.
- Apply formulas for area, surface area, and volume for 2- and 3-dimensional figures.
Measurement- Measure and draw angles up to 360 degrees.
- Add, subtract, and multiply measurements where groupings may be required.
Algebraic Relationships- Analyze pattern relationships.
- Identify functions.
- Use problem solving to develop numerical/algebraic relationships.
- Apply concepts of variable, expression, and equation to solve simple problems.
- Graph equations.
- Use integer exponents and square roots.
- Apply percents and ratios/proportions to solve problems.
Our Science curriculum is based upon both state and national standards for Science education.
Science
Science Inquiry- Communicate scientific procedures and explanations, as well as the importance of implications of experimental results to peers, teachers, and other adults.
- Use inferences to help decide possible results of their investigations and use observations to check those inferences
Science and Technology- Illustrate the impact that science and technology have had on society.
- Show evidence of how science and technology are interdependent.
History and Nature of Science- Explain how the general rules of science apply to the development and use of evidence in science investigations, model making, and applications.
Catholic Social Teachings- Display an awareness of responsibility to others around the world.
- Participate in service projects and identify these with the Christian community.
Life Science- Identify different taxonomic groups of the Animal Kingdom
- Know that sexual reproduction results in the continuation of the species.
- Know that animals have a variety of body structures with specific functions for survival.
- Describe the chemical process of photosynthesis.
- Discover that plants carry on basic life processes.
- Describe how plants are producers.
- Explain plant responses to environmental stimuli.
- Describe the eight biomes in terms of their distinct biotic and abiotic characteristics.
- Know the process of natural selection.
- Know the history of the Theory of Evolution.
- Know that humans carry on basic life processes.
- Know the chemical and structural properties of DNA and its role in specifying the characteristics of an organism within an organism.
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