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Challenger eighth grade math teachers expand on the geometric concepts taught in previous grades as they deliver carefully crafted lessons to guide students to deeper understanding and proficiency. Students learn to define the basic elements of geometry; from these definitions come postulates, and from postulates and definitions come theorems. Students apply deductive reasoning in a two-column proof format. The math skills of our eighth graders exceed those of many high school graduates!
By eighth grade, Challenger students write well-reasoned essays and speeches, compose business letters, use research effectively to defend a thesis, and employ dialectics and rhetoric to refute arguments or convey positions. Their writing is mature, clear, and precise.
Eighth graders are practically grammar geniuses! They can diagram just about any sentence, no matter how complex. They understand and know how to use participial phrases, parenthetical expressions, and parallel structure, and their vocabularies are extensive.
Eighth grade history at Challenger focuses on U.S. history from Reconstruction to the present day. Students study concepts like totalitarianism, welfare state, property rights, and capitalism. They become proficient in explaining the causes and effects of events and are able to apply this understanding to their own lives.
As Challenger eighth graders study works like Fahrenheit 451 and Macbeth, they examine the use of contrast and paradox and learn the features of Shakespearean tragedy. When they graduate, they are equipped to apply literary analysis to any text or piece they encounter.
We give our eighth grade students a solid foundation in Austrian economic and free-market principles and entrepreneurship. Students participate in an extended entrepreneurship project where they have the opportunity to develop a business plan and market goods and services to fellow students.
Through studies of topics such as thermal energy, chemical bonds and compounds, and the properties of waves, eighth graders apply their knowledge of the scientific discoveries and advances of others to classify and understand the natural world. Perhaps one day, they will be the ones making breakthroughs and advancing new theories and technologies!
Graduates often point to Challenger’s speech instruction as the basis for their success in high school, college, and the workplace! Eighth graders have many opportunities to perfect and exhibit their communication skills by engaging in persuasive speaking, classroom debates, and academic and dramatic presentations.
When students complete Challenger’s eighth grade music program, they are musically literate! They sing on key with proper breathing and diction; they can identify the rhythm of a piece; they can understand emotional content in music; and they recognize instruments, composers, and musical terminology. In addition to Christmas Sings and Spring Programs, eighth graders perform in a chorus for graduation.
Challenger eighth graders think rigorously and systematically to plan, develop, test, and troubleshoot programs. By studying different algorithms and using data structures like text files, multidimensional arrays, and records, students become more self-reliant and better prepared for future challenges.
By the eighth grade, our students have learned many skills and techniques with which they can portray ideas and concepts in various media. They have been taught to depict groupings of still life objects; to depict figures and faces of people and animals; and to use one- and two-point perspective to illustrate buildings, landscapes, and modes of transportation.
Minsui T., Strawberry Park campusGrade 8
Challenger’s PE program culminates in an understanding of and a basic proficiency in a wide variety of athletic pursuits. Eighth graders review the positions and selected steps of dances learned in previous years and work with advanced choreography. They play flag football and volleyball and learn how to maintain a life of fitness.
This student’s geometry classwork demonstrates excellent reasoning skills. He proficiently uses theorems to determine the calculations needed to solve real-life scenarios involving similar triangles.
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