Additional Notes to 8th Grade Parent Letter

Hello again!

First, I would like to change the location for our meeting next week.  Instead of meeting in the 8th grade classroom on Tuesday, September 14 at 6:30 PM, we will meet in the school office.

The other VERY IMPORTANT topic that I neglected to put in the parent letter was what we are doing in Religion this year.  I don't know how I forgot that because it is probably what I am most excited about teaching!

We have new religion textbooks this year; Sadlier's "We Live Our Faith."  The book has four units that contain six chapters each.  The content focuses on how our faith should be integrated into our daily lives.  It has background information from the Catechism and the bible and shares many stories of Saints and other holy men and women that can be our models. Students will have a quiz on each chapter and there will be unit tests as well.  In addition, there will be assignments and other forms of assessment. 

The textbook is a great start, but I believe that putting the skills into practice is very important to.  Therefore, students will be required to complete 5 service hours each semester and write a reflection paper about the work they completed.  I will give more information on this in a few weeks as well as a list of suggested service projects.  We will also complete at least one project together as a class each trimester.

Again, if you have any questions about what if going on in our class this year, please let me know.  I want your year as parents to be a great one too!