What's Happening in the Eighth Grade?

Welcome to 8th grade ELA! My name is Cheri Omernick and this is my first year teaching at the GET Middle School, and the 29th year of my teaching career. I'm looking forward to a fantastic year!

The year has been amazing. It's been a joy to see the students grow as readers and writers!

STAR Testing: Wednesday, January 8

Unit 2 Assessment on Theme and Academic Vocabulary: January 13-14

Materials are on the StudySync app and in a StudySync workbook that is provided.

Language Arts

Unit 3: No Risk, No Reward

Essential Question: Why do we take chances?
Genre Focus: Informational Text
Extended Writing Project: Argumentative and Informative

Several excerpts and the novel Call of The Wild by Jack London will be studied.

Unit 2: Past and Present is almost complete. The novel Outsiders by S.E.Hinton as well as poetry and several excerpts were read and analyzed.

Grammar is an important part or becoming a better reader and writer. Writing improvement is a focus for Term 3. Sentence structure, word choice, and fluency work will be implemented during Core classes and Target Time.

Beyond the Classroom: ELA

Math

We are officially through September. Welcome to October!

We are finishing up:

Unit 1 (Rigid Transformations/congruence).

Our assessment is taking place on October 2nd.

What can I GUARENTEE I know from Unit 1

Rigid Transformations (Translations, Rotations, Reflections)
Congruent Figures
Properties of Parallel Lines

Unit 2 Topics

Scaling/Dilations
Similarity of Polygons
Slope

The units were reordered to align with learning goals for 8th grade. HERE is the link that takes you to the family version of our online book.

Beyond the Classroom: Math

Social Studies

We have started our 2nd biographical research essay for the year. This essay will show students their progress and what they have learned about historical research. They have chosen a topic and started their research. Now they will start putting together their essay. This essay will be due on Friday (5/30). Students have been given guidance through a document that takes them through the steps, the format, and shows the rubric of how they will be graded on Schoology. The students also have been provided an example paper on Schoology, but their 1st research paper in google docs would be a great example to use as well.

Questions to ask your student-

Who are you researching?

How did your person bring the country together?

What admirable personality trait did they show throughout their life?

updated: 5/27/2025

Beyond the Classroom: Social Studies

Science

Welcome to the 2025-26 School Year!

We have 5 units of study in 8th Grade Science. Take a look at the outline for each below:

1) Earth Systems - Throughout this unit, we learn about the four main systems that drive Earth’s processes. We then make connections to how materials and energy within those systems drive Earth’s processes in regards to plate tectonics, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

2) Earth's Place in the Universe - In this unit we focus on the various objects that make up our solar system, galaxy, and overall universe. We strive for a deep understanding about how gravity and other natural forces impact the movement of objects.

3) Structures and Properties of Matter - To prepare for Chemistry, our focus revolves around classifying and describing matter using their physical properties. We then dive into the Three States of Matter and how they change from one to another.

4) Atoms and Chemical Reactions - As we launch our unit into Chemistry, we strive to ensure that students leave 8th grade with an understanding about overall atomic structure, the organization of the Periodic Table, and a basic understanding regarding molecules & bonding.

5) Waves & Information Technologies - During this coursework we learn about the electromagnetic spectrum and how it impacts our everyday lives. We seek a deeper understanding about sound waves, light waves, and how they interact with the natural world.

Beyond the Classroom: Science