Mrs. Nielsen: 8th Grade English/ Language Arts and Social Studies

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I'm very excited to be sharing this year with you and hope that you are just as excited!

 

8th grade is a busy year. It goes by really fast - and for our students that can be both exciting and a little scary. It's a busy time of memory making, growth, and anticipation as they prepare to move on into the next stage of their life - High School. But before they get there, they still have a lot to learn here at DV. We strive to help them gather, maintain, and refine as many skills as they can to help them be successful when they leave our Panther Family - skills for success both academically and socially. Their world is expanding, and we want them ready to face and embrace it. 

 

That being said, the pace of 8th grade is FAST - both because is seems to fly by and because the academic expectations are high. Every year, 6th through 8th grade, these expectations increase - and they will continue to as our students move on into high school. Keeping up is vital to success. Helping your students learn and understand the value of "Student-Athlete" or "Student-Member" in relation to sports and clubs is especially important as they will not be able to enjoy the one without success in the first. Getting bogged down and falling behind, only makes students feel they cannot succeed, so please help them find and make time to focus on their studies. Encourage them to practice these important skills. The more they practice them, the easier they become.

 

And invite them to get involved in something! It's been proven that students who are actively involved in a clubs, sports and other activities are more likely to been successful in their academic studies. This is likely due to several factors - one big one being motivation to continue with the activity as to do so requires maintaining a 2.0 GPA. There are other benefits as well: being part of a team, learning time management skills, finding success and enjoyment in areas outside of traditional academics being some of them.

 

Encourage your student to be an advocate for self at the appropriate times. This skill is one of the more important ones for success and is one that our 8th grade team puts a lot of emphasis on because it is so vital is life. Please encourage your student to seek out teachers first, allowing that direct communication between student and teacher whenever possible.

 

I am excited to see the growth we will make together! 

 

It will be a memoriable year - and it will be one we successfully complete together!

Both ELA and Social Studies involve lots of discussion, developing clear support for reasoning, making modern connections, and building depth of both understanding and communication. As such, students can expect that they will need to do prep work in order to adequately participate in class. More information on what that looks like will come home in the parent-student letter and the syllabus for each class. 

 

SPECIAL NOTICE:

THIS IS AN ELECTION YEAR - as such, you can expect that your student will have homework directly related to the upcoming election and that there will be discussions related to the the upcoming election. California Standards require students to learn and practice skills of civil discourse. Please be sure to read the handout that will come home with your student for the details of how these discussions will be handled.

8th Grade is a wonderfully exciting time for students as it is the capstone of their elementary educational journey! This year will be full of ups and downs, memory making, skill building, anxiety and relief. It's a growing year - that means challenges and pushing hard to overcome them.

 

By 8th grade it is expected that students will be their own primary advocates. It's important for parents and guardians to still be involved, but students will be encouraged and expected to speak up, seek out help, and communicate directly with their teachers as the need arises. This important skill will provide them with confidence and the ability to be successful throughout the remainder of their educational careers and into the workforce.