8th Grade - Parents' Window into the Classroom

Hi Folks,

Your 8th grader is thrilled to be reading the second novel by Mark Twain. Building on the humor of Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the class is experiencing the adventures of Tom's delinquent best friend, Huckleberry Finn. These adventures include Huck's expereinces with Jim the runaway slave as they try to escape Huck's abusive father and smothering life in the home of the Widow Douglas and Jim's fear of being sold downriver away from his family. The focus is on the evolving relationship between Huck and Jim and how Twain uses this venue to voice his personal oppostion to slavery.

The reading is difficult because of the use of southern dialects whenever characters speak.

Ask your child to share one of Huck and Jim's "adventures" on this Mississippi River journey.

The kids are glad CSAP's are over, but NWEA testing will begin soon. (Uhg!)

We're starting a reseach paper on a topic of their choice. Help your student brainstorm a topic that they want to find out more about.

We also have to get a Writing Assessment piece done before the Writing Assessment Scoring Day, Aprilo 26. Most of that writing will be done in class.

Mrs. Phelps, Mr. Sorensen and I hope to teach our Prairie Wind, Water, and Earth project again this spring. This project covers current event issues concerning the prairie environment we live in, so we take the kids on a couple of outings on the Peetz Table during the school day (weather permitting). Send written permission for your child to participate in this spur of the moment trips.

Yeah, Spring!