-
Mrs. Przybojewski and Henry are excited about sauntering a new school year with you. It will be a year filled with great writing!
"How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live." Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau Resident Author
“It’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see.” (H.D.T.)
Students in eighth grade English have been working on an essay for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. It is based on their annual Martin Luther King essay contest. This year’s theme focuses on social justice, which works very well with our study of the Holocaust and the use of the book Henry David Thoreau Bell Ringer for Justice. Students have been and will continue to pursue the study of injustice in the past and present. They had to focus on what they could do to promote justice in our world and why it is important to do so in their essays.
In addition, students have begun to read Thoreau’s Walden, which will serve as the springboard for a variety of writing activities—expository, creative, compare and contrast, as well as writing short answer responses to questions throughout the year. We have also been working on grammar and punctuation skills consistently to improve writing.
In Religion, students chose an African canonized saint and answered questions about that saint. They also drew an illustration of the saint. The focus for the next few weeks will be prayer and the Mass. Students will learn the various parts of the Mass as well as learn the meaning behind the symbolic actions during the liturgy.
In Science, our eighth graders are learning about the evidence scientists use to determine Earth's past. They've learned about and examined insect fossils that got stuck in sticky tree sap, fell to the ground, and where they were buried by mud and sand. Over time, millions of years go the sap turned into amber, and the insects were preserved as fossils. They have also learned how scientists use the age of the rock in which the fossils have been found in to determine the age of the fossil and what conditions contribute to the likelihood that a dead organism will be fossilized.
Lastly, they researched and reported back to the class by using a power point presentation on the best locations on Earth to locate dinosaur bones and fossils.
Students in Math are finishing up a chapter on dilation, similarity, and slope. They will be working with the equations of lines soon.
In Social Studies, the eighth grade has just begun a unit on the American Revolution. In this unit we will be investigating the causes of the Revolution, as well as early founding documents like the Declaration of Independence. Students will begin the process of doing a re-write of the Declaration in modern day language to ensure maximum comprehension. Additionally in social studies the eighth grade is beginning a 3 month project based on the television show Shark Tank. Students will ultimately design a business idea and pitch their idea to a panel of judges. The winner of our in-house competition will move on to a regional competition at Saint Ignatius High School in March.
The eighth grade wishes everyone a blessed Thanksgiving.
Students in grades 6, 7, and 8 have been utilizing the book Henry David Thoreau Bell Ringer for Justice as a way to learn about the social justice activities of this American author as well as reflect on the issues of injustice in our world today. They have been involved with a number of writing activities, which included compositions, short answer reflections in journals, as well as power point presentations.
Also, sixth grade students imagined that Henry visited them and wrote a compositions describing three things that they would do with him and evaluate if he would have liked those activities. Walden is the focus with eighth grade and will provide a variety of writing activities that will exercise their critical thinking skills and help them evaluate their own use of time.
Students continue to improve description and observation skills through their observation journals.
The eighth grade students had a spiritually moving retreat at Camp Christopher. They prayed, listened to Trinity High School students’ witness talks about their relationship with God, and went on a prayer hike in the beautiful natural setting. Liturgy was celebrated in the evening in an outdoor setting by the lake with Father Miola as presider.
Studying the roots of our faith through the Scriptures is the focus of our chapter in Religion. Students participated in a prayer service with pita and honey to symbolically show how God’s word is as sweet as honey to the lips. Father Miola has been teaching the students once a week as well.
Language Arts classes is reinforcing grammar with the diagramming of subject complements as well as direct and indirect objects. Students completed writing an original poem about their feelings of leaving childhood behind. The students are being introduced to the Holocaust in preparation for a number of writing assignments. Observation skills are growing with the students observation journals, which are done every two weeks.
In social studies the 8th grade has been learning about the original 13 British colonies. They have observed the differences between the three regions. This will become important later on as these differences magnified over 150 years of American history will eventually lead to the American Civil War.
In math, students have been finalizing their study of rigid transformations by looking at congruence. They will be looking at dilations and similarity of shapes after that. The eighth graders will look at more kinds of grids in the near future.
Henry David Thoreau Resident Author
Students in grades 6, 7, and 8 have been really trying to perfect their observation and descriptive writing skills as they observe nature at least three times a week. They then record their observations using the five senses. Modeling Henry, they doodle a sketch of something they observed.
Here are a few samplings of their awesome writing:
"I hear the rustle the leaves of the small bush that sways its leaves back and forth. I stand and let the wind surround me touching my skin. A calmness comes over me and I feel peace."
"Most trees still have their leaves, but some of them are beginning to change their hue. They are now a golden yellow and resemble sunflowers in an open field."
"The woods near my house is bright today, not shadowed because the sun is so bright and it's beams penetrate though the trees. As I look, it seems mystical to me."
"The clouds are so close together, they begin to look like mashed potatoes that have been spread on my plate."
The raindrops hit my face making it wet. It seems as if my face is covered with tears that roll down it and fall upon my chest."
"I heard a bird that looked like a chicadee on a branch. It made a sound like, ' see-dur-dur-dur-du."
Henry David Thoreau Book Walk
Junior High teacher Mrs. Donna Przybnojewski joined Cleveland Metroparks naturalist Jake Kudrna join us for a family-friendly fall hike don the newly completed Towpath Trail (Centennial Lake Link Trail). She read her book "Henry David Thoreau Loved the Seasons of the Year linking Thoreau’s writings about the change in season at Walden Pond with the natural experience along the newly reclaimed Cuyahoga riverbank. This was in connection with Visible Books, where a book signing followed the event.
September News Grade 8 2019
The eighth graders are off to a great start as they enter their last year of elementary school at St. Benedict. There are many wonderful experiences awaiting them this year. On Oct. 1, students will attend the Got Prayer Retreat sponsored by Trinity High School at Camp Christopher. Also, on October 9, students will shadow Trinity High School or another Catholic high school of their choice.
In Language Arts, students are reviewing the parts of speech as well as discussing and analyzing the lyrics to the song “House on Pooh Corner” by Loggins and Messina and the poem “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas. This is to prepare them for the writing activities that will be based on Thoreau’s Walden. The themes found in both the song and the poem relate to the many themes in Thoreau’s work. Students are also developing their observation and descriptive skills by writing an observation journal that is grtaded every two weeks.
Father Lou Miola is teaching the students once a week in their Religion classes. They are learning about the characteristics of being Catholic, learning the Creed, and reviewing the Catholic Social Justice Principles at present in their classes.
In social studies the eighth graders have been looking at America before America. Together with small groups they completed a web quest that allowed them to see just how advanced civilizations like the Inca, Maya, and Aztec were.
In Math the eighth grade is learning about rigid transformations which include translations, reflections, and rotations. These are the correct terms. However, many people know these as a slide, flip, and turn. The shape stays the same but position and orientation might change.
We started the year in Reading by solving a mystery! Students heard a read aloud to them. They then worked with partners reading clues to and worked on solving the case together. This was a great tool for critical thinking and team building skills. We also took a look at "The History of Roller Coasters" reading comprehension passage.
The questions students answered were carefully crafted to move readers from basic, recall questions to higher-level questions where students must cite evidence from the text to support their answers. There were 5 tasks/activities for the passage, moving from easier tasks to more challenging activities.
Our eight graders started off the new school year learning about the subject of plate tectonics and the theory of continental drift. How a very long time ago, the world was comprised up of one huge supercontinent known as Pangaea. And how over time that one great supercontinents broke up into two supercontinents and then eventually broke apart into the seven existing continents they we know of today. We reinforced this theory by using an orange peeled into seven separate pieces and how once pieced back together how well they fit together, just like the continents would. They will then begin exploring about the Earth and its layers by creating their own world by using play do.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU RESIDENT AUTHOR
IDuring July of 2019, junior high teacher, Mrs. Donna Przybojewski, attended the Thoreau Society gathering in Concord, MA. She gave a presentation explaining the continuing study of Henry David Thoreau in junior high language arts classes. The title of the presentation was Engineering through Junior High Language Arts with Henry David Thoreau. Everyone was amazed that St. Benedict School displayed such high academic standards by encouraging students to write, critically think, and celebrate their own unique qualities. St. Benedict Catholic School and Mrs. Przybojewski received a standing ovation for the work done in promoting the legacy of Thoreau through language arts.
Also, Mrs. Przybojewski had an art display of her oil paintings based on selected journal entries of Thoreau at the Thoreau Farm in the very room where the author was born.
Another highlight for Mrs. Przybojewski occurred at Walden Pond State Reservation where her new book book Henry David Thoreau Bell Ringer for Justice was used as a story walk throughout the summer. This book is based on Thoreau's work for social justice during his lifetime and will also be used across grade levels at St. Benedict Catholic School for social justice lessons.
