Eighth Grade Curriculum

  • Like all Middle School students, eighth graders are issued a Chromebook for use throughout the school day.  Students follow a bell schedule and change classrooms each period enabling them to work with teachers who are focused in a single area of study.

    RELIGION
    In eighth grade, students continue to prepare for the sacrament of Confirmation which they receive in the Spring.  The class uses the text and journal Confirmed in the Spirit by Loyola Press which leads them to recognize the Holy Spirit alive in the world today.  Students organize the mission project Lollipops for Love, benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and also participate in a service experience outside of school.  Receiving the sacrament of Confirmation, our eighth graders are encouraged to take an active role within the Church as adult Catholics. 

    LANGUAGE ARTS
    Middle School Writing follows a Writer’s Workshop framework. Aligned with the Common Core Standards and the incorporation of the Chicago Archdiocese’s Beyond the Core Standards, all middle school students receive writing instruction and experience in argumentative, informational and narrative writing. Pointed mini-lessons, independent application of skills, peer conferences, and one-on-one teacher conferences are the components of each writing class. As students migrate from one grade level to the next their writing skills for planning, researching, organizing, producing and sharing their compositions advance. In doing so, students learn and implement strategies to manage time and independently work.

    READING
    Middle School Reading classes are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and the Archdiocese of Chicago Benchmarks. The class focus is on identifying and analyzing literary devices in a variety of novels and other texts. Novel studies include Animal Farm, Night and To Kill a Mockingbird; additional reading materials include non-fiction short texts, short stories and poetry. Students are required to read, reflect, and react through class discussions and written responses. In 8th grade, the emphasis is placed on writing essays based on current reading. Students also practice reading and writing skills using iReady.

    MATH
    Big Ideas is the online math curriculum used in all sixth through eighth grade math classes. “Students master content through inductive reasoning opportunities, engaging activities that provide deeper understanding, concise stepped-out examples, rich thought-provoking exercises, and a continual building on what has been previously taught. Big Ideas Math delivers a unique and revolutionary curriculum providing a balanced instructional approach of discovery and direct instruction. This approach opens doors to abstract thought, reasoning, and inquiry as students persevere to answer the Essential Questions that drive instruction” (Big Ideas Learning, 2017).

    SCIENCE
    All Middle School students receive a high quality, rigorous science education at St. Luke School. Our curriculum reflects the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards: Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas. Studies in these areas provide opportunities for continual hands-on experimentation; the application of mathematics; and collaboration, communication, and creativity. In eighth grade students study Physics which includes the study of motion, forces, vector analysis, energy, periodic motion, light, and sound. Our eighth grade course is mathematics based and intended to prepare students for high school Physics.

    SOCIAL STUDIES
    Eighth grade students study American history. We take a deeper look into The Civil War and Reconstruction using what we learned in fifth grade as a starting point. From there we follow the course of American history through Settlement of the West, Industrialization / Immigration, the emergence of the United States as a world power, The Progressives, World War One, The 20s, The Great Depression, World War Two, and the Cold War.  In addition to this course of study, eighth grade students participate in the inquiry-based History Fair which requires them to complete a research project about an important event or figure and their impact on American history. St. Luke is proud to have had many students move on to compete in the Illinois History Day competition in Springfield, Illinois as well as two visits to the National History Fair in Maryland in both 2014 and 2018.

    Please refer to the Academics tab to learn more about our eighth grade curriculum in the areas of Art, Music, Physical Education, Spanish, and Technology.