WELCOME TO TEAM SUCCESS (formerly 8-3)!

Showcasing the Spirit and Spark of Team SUCCESS!!

October has found Team Success delving deeper into course content, getting a baseline of ELA and Math skills, and continuing to build commuity through weekly circles.

Math 8

Mapping Hurricane Andrew

Math 8

Students in Math 8 have solved multi-step linear equations algebraically and used them to model real-world situations such as comparing salaries, running distances, and more. Students are now using linear expressions to create linear equations and interpret the components of the lines graphically.

Students in Math 8 Accelerated/Algebra 1 have modeled linear equations to solve riddles related to consecutive integers, comparing ages, and finding out the number of coins a person might have. They are currently creating and solving systems of equations and systems of inequalities as clues to solving riddles such as finding how many of each items a person purchased or how many pounds of fruit a company can order.

In Social Studies students deepened their understanding of the Civil War as took the roll of a Civil War soldier and wrote about their experiences.

Team Success wrapped their initial units on meteorology by learning how and why hurricanes and monsoons form in specific areas of the planet. Ask your child to explain it to you!

Pressure in a vacuum

Our students have been immersed in responding to a few short stories and analyzing their themes, using graphic organizers to find key literary elements and share our thinking. For independent reading (IR), students are expected to read a “just right” book for at least 20 minutes on school days. 8th graders can utilize the JJMS library during recess their half-hour recess if they want to browse and get a new book (and still have 30 minutes for lunch). We’ll be analyzing the impact that the author’s choice has on a reader in the upcoming month! This week, students were asked to find characterization, conflict, and (as a bonus) figurative language in their IR books. Students just finished building their paragraph skills in preparation for the Fall benchmark and our next unit. This work laid the foundation for our upcoming literary essay writing workshop, which revolves around two questions:

  • How does an author use literary elements (such as characterization, conflict, point of view, symbolism, foreshadowing, flashback, and dramatic irony) to convey a theme?  

  • How can I utilize an essay structure and the writing process to clearly answer this question? 

Although we're always pushing to build stronger readers, it was amazing to see how Team Success writers are already taking steps to infuse what they've learned into their writing to make it more powerful!