St. James Lutheran School is an integral part of the total minis-try of St. James Lutheran Church. Our mission is to share the love of Jesus Christ with our families, our community and our world. Our goal is to nurture children and their families and to provide children with a comprehensive Christian Education that will prepare them for life both now and for eternity.

A little something about your teacher Mrs. Piehl Kerry Piehl was born and raised in Shawano, where she attended St. James Lutheran School. She graduated from Concordia Univer-sity-St. Paul. She taught at Mayer Lutheran High School in Mayer, MN and at Nicolet School in Green Bay before moving back to Shawano and St. James.

Kerry has worked at all grade levels from K-12, as either a librarian, part-time or full-time teacher. Currently, she's the 8th grade home-room teacher and the 6th-8th reading/literature teacher. Kerry and her husband, Art, have three children: Aaron, Kara and Andrew. She enjoys reading, cooking, and traveling.

What your child will learn and do in the…

EIGHTH GRADE

St. James Lutheran School 324 South Andrews

Shawano, Wisconsin 54166

(715) 524-4213

www.stjames-shawano.org

EIGHTH GRADE COURSEWORK

Religion/Memory: Students will continue their religious study of God’s Word and Lutheran Doctrine. They will:

Participate in Confirmation class led by a pastor 3 times a week

Complete a weekly Confirmation sheet on their current topic of instruction

Attend worship services and fill out sermon reports

Do service projects required for school, church, and com-munity

Participate in a Christian Living class once a week

Apply Christian teachings to their lives and participate in a Christian Living Class

Share their faith with others in class discussions and through the statement of faith they create

Pray daily for others using the class prayer list as a guide

Participate in chapel service once a week

Memorize an assigned memory selection each week

American History: A History of the

Republic (Prentice Hall 1990)

Through the study of American History the students will:

Art - Arts Attack (Marcia Osterink, Arts Attack Publications, 1996) Students will continue to develop skills needed to create and appreciate art. They will:

Learn about and understand the elements and principals of art including line, color,

shape and form, pattern, texture, space, and composition

Practice applying specific elements (eg.color) to an assigned project

Create original works of art Study the art of individuals and historical

periods Discuss and evaluate works of art

They will: Demonstrate knowledge of musical styles Learn the basic music elements of rhythm, melody, dy-

namics, timbre, form and tempo Identify significant composers and their pieces through

listening and analyzing music. Computer Class - Students will continue to develop and improve the skills needed to operate technology. They will: Review basic operations of Microsoft Word including

creating, formatting, editing, saving, and printing a docu-ment to create a locker poster, vocabulary table, re-search papers, and to prepare class assignments.

Use the basic functions of PowerPoint such as creating a slide show, inserting slides, formatting slide transitions and animations, and inserting sound to create presenta-tions including an Autobiopoem slide, a Confirmation slide, A Person I Admire PowerPoint, a Grandparents PowerPoint, an Art Institute of Chicago PowerPoint, a Chicago Trip PowerPoint, and a Holocaust PowerPoint

Use Paint to create visuals including a cartoon face, a camel graphic, and a penguin drawing.

Use Publisher to create greeting cards and a Folder Book Report.

Use Excel to practice entering data and creating a vari-ety of graphs.

Use the Internet to import graphics onto documents. Access information using search engines on the Internet

in an efficient way. Practice keyboarding skills to improve speed and accu-

racy (suggested goal of 30 wpm). Record typing speeds to monitor progress. Use a scanner to capture a photo and transfer the im-

age to a document. Transfer images from a digital camera to a document.

Study the geography of the Americas

Learn about various landforms and climates and how they have influenced the way Americans lived and the growth of European nations and their focus on trade routes to Asia

Learn about the settlement of the New World colonies by the Spanish, Dutch, French and English and about the first thirteen American colonies and the distinct cul-tures that developed in the New England, Middle and Southern colonies including the affect slavery had on these cultures

Learn about the French and Indian War and how the debt of the war led English attempts to raise money from the colonies

Learn about the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence, the Patriot victories and defeats through-out the Revolutionary War

Learn how the continental Congress organized the first American government under the Articles of Confedera-tions and follow the steps taken by George Washington, as our first president, to organize an efficient govern-ment

Learn how Thomas Jefferson expanded our nations borders

Learn how the Industrial Revolution affected America Learn about the social and political changes brought

about by Andrew Jackson about the settlement of the West and about the growing differences between the North and South and the development of the cotton kingdom

Learn about the antislavery movement and women’s struggle for equal rights, the events leading up to the Civil War and the reform movement after the war

Learn editorial cartooning Learn all states and capitals of the

United States and the correct spelling of each state and its capital

Math - Mathematics, Applications and Connections, Glencoe 1999 Students will continue to work with numbers. They will:

Add, subtract, multiply, an divide whole numbers, money, fractions, and decimals

Identify place value through the trillions Write and solve algebraic expressions Work with perimeter, area, volume and angles in ge-

ometry Use customary and metric measurements Problem solve Use a calculator for various operations Literature Students will continue to develop and use the skills needed to read and understand literature. They will: Learn and apply the elements of fiction and nonfiction to

their reading selections Use various reading skills such as cause/effect, com-

pare/contrast, drawing conclusions, predicting out-comes, figurative language, etc. to aid in reading com-prehension of reading

Read, discuss and respond in writing to class novels in-cluding Julie of the Wolves, Johnny Tremain, Across Five Aprils, The Hobbit, The Hiding Place and The Miracle Worker

Listen to Killing Mr. Griffin and respond in writing to the daily topic of discussion

Form groups, select novels, and participate in Literature Discussion Groups

Select and read novels of their choice for Reading Workshop

Apply Reading Workshop mini-lessons skills to reading activities

Use their understanding of the conduction, convection, and radiation of heat to design and build a solar oven that heats using only the energy from the sun

Develop critical thinking skills through scientific inquiry and the use of the scientific method to test their thoughts, ideas, and questions

Explore and observe how God is uniquely present and visible in and through the design of His creation (Romans 1:20)

Music - Mrs. April Black Students will experience self-expression through performing and creating music. They will praise the Lord with the gift of music and participate in these areas: singing, listen-ing, feeling, moving, playing, reading and notating music.

They will: sing alone and with others various styles of music be instructed on proper vocal technique and skills be exposed to the cultural and historical context of pieces

and their composers perform on hand chimes, recorders and classroom instru-

ments learn the basic music elements of rhythm, melody,

dynamics, timbre, form and tempo. Read and notate music Compose and arrange music within specified guidelines Listen to, analyze and describe music Evaluate music and musical perform-

ances Participate in Children’s Christmas

Worship Service *****(7

th and 8

th only) *Participate in

Solo and Ensemble and Large Group Festival in the Spring

Participate in Spring Concert Sing for worship services

Develop safety habits Work on physical fitness and conditioning through

exercise Science - Physical Science (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005) Students will continue to explore God’s creation, focusing on the elements and study of physical science. They will:

Review and further develop the use of the SI units of measurement; including the fundamentals of measuring and using length, mass, volume, density, force, velocity, acceleration, momentum, and temperature

Develop and practice the appropriate use of the science lab materials and supplies; focusing on proper technique and safety habits in the lab

Examine both the physical and chemical properties of the three states of matter, specifically as they relate to their behavior and changes in state

Investigate how Newton’s Laws apply to motion; focus-ing on the forces involved including friction, gravity, and momentum

Use this understanding of force and motion to design and build a Mousetrap Car that moves using only the force of a single mousetrap.

Examine the use and mechanical advantage of simple and compound machines

Critically review energy resources and evaluate energy use

Become familiar with the Periodic Table and the funda-mental properties of atoms, bonds, compounds, and the Atomic Theory

Spelling - Everyday Spelling, Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley 2000 Students will continue to improve their skills in spelling. They will:

Review patterns in spelling Review spelling rules Study word parts and their meanings, including suffixes,

prefixes and roots Learn word origins Practice spelling strategies and apply them to daily work Focus on a group of 20 words each week and be tested on

those words. English - Writing and Grammer, BJU Press 2005 Students will continue to improve the skills needed to express ideas orally and in writing. They will: Use the writing process of pre-write, draft, revise, edit, and

publish to write paragraphs, essays, stories, and reports Participate in peer-editing Practice using correct grammar, mechanics, and usage

through the use of the English workbook Identify parts of speech and sentence structure Study and create poetry Prepare oral presentations Physical Education Students will continue to develop their physical abilities. They will: Learn about and participate in team sports and their rules

including soccer, football, volleyball, basketball, and floor hockey

Learn about and participate in individual sports and their rules including swimming, tennis, golf, and bowling

Play low-organized games and understand and follow the strategies of those games

Computers—.