Welcome to Eighth Grade!

Summer Mathletics Assignments

All students going into grades 1-8 have 2 assignments on www.mathletics.com over the summer: (1)Complete 10 Focus Activities with a score of 80% or higher (you’re allowed to do it over if you don’t get 80% right away); (2)Play Live Mathletics: 50 times for incoming 1st and 2nd graders; 100 times for incoming 3rd and 4th graders; 200 times for incoming 5th–8th graders.

Because this is all done online with each student having his or her own password, there is nothing to bring to school in the fall to show that you’ve done your work. Teachers can access each student’s report online. However, you may want to use the chart from the June 9th Blue Envelope to track your progress. If you lost the chart, it’s okay. Just create a chart of your own. You don’t have to turn the chart in to your teacher. It’s just to help you keep track of your progress throughout the summer.

Even though you may already be familiar with Mathletics, ALL STUDENTS should check out the student guide from the website. Go to www.mathletics.com. Click on “home” at the top of the screen, and then click on “guides” at the bottom of the screen. Then click on “Mathletics for Students.”

If you have trouble accessing the website, call 1-866-727-0840. The Mathletics customer service number is 1-866-387-9139. If you have any questions, or if you lose your username or password, you may contact Miss Patterson at ppatterson@mountcarmel.org. She will check her e-mail every few days over the summer.

For those of you who were so excited about this assignment (yippee!) that you started working on it before Friday, June 11 . . . you may notice that some of your Activity choices have changed, or that some of your results seem to have been erased. Don’t worry; everything’s okay. You’ll still get credit for what you’ve done. Your work will still appear on the online report that your teachers see, even if it’s disappeared from what the students see. On Thursday, June 10, all students were transferred into the next grade, which caused these issues.

One last thing . . . a few students asked if they may do the Test at the end of each Practice Unit and have that count as 2 Activities (since the Activities are 10 questions, but the Tests are usually about 20 questions). YES, you may!

Have a great summer . . . Your teachers can’t wait to see how much you’ll have accomplished by the fall!

HOMEWORK

English:

Literature:INCOMING EIGHTH GRADE SUMMER READING

This summer incoming EIGHTH graders will need to read the specific book required for their grade, and one from the recommended list, and complete the assignment.

The required reading for eighth grade is Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X Stork. Students will have to answer the following two questions about the novel in a word processed document that is due on the first day of school. If you will not be attending the first day of school the assignment is due via email to gr8@mountcarmel.org.

1. In describing the Internal music (IM), Marcelo says: “the music is not heard with the ears.” What are some of the ways that Marcelo describes the IM? Why is it so hard for him to describe it? Marcelo tells Dr. Malone that the IM is always there when he looks for it. What happens to Marcelo’s ability to hear the IM as the summer progresses? What do you think is the relationship between Marcelo’s ability to hear music and his religious faith?

2. If you were to ask Marcelo at the end of the summer, “How do we live with all the suffering?” What do you think he would say to you? Can you point to places in the book where you think Marcelo might have glimpsed at the answer to that question?

These questions were taken from Scholastic’s website. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=39027

Students also need to read one book from the following list and be ready to begin a Literature project on it for the first quarter.

Leviathan Scott Westerfield
The Reformed Vampire Support Group Catherine Jinks
Flygirl Sherri L. Smith
The Maze Runner by James Dashne

Religion:

Social Studies:

SCIENCE:

Spelling:

Spanish (non-native):

Spanish (native speakers):

Math – Mrs. Ploeser:

Math – Miss Bruzzone:

Math – Miss Patterson:

PE:

Extra

Writer’s workshop