Ten days of camping with twenty-five 13 to 14 year olds might seem quite daunting for some, but as a Waldorf teacher I have been looking forward to the much anticipated 8th grade trip with my tight-knit group of middle schoolers. It was a magical and bonding opportunity well worth the planning and e

Grade 8 Curriculum at the Private Progressive School. Waldorf education developed by Rudolf Steiner.

Explaining the Waldorf Curriculum, Kindergarten through 8th Grade by Dr Rick Tan Sedimentary rocks settle back to their bins inside the science closet. The chalkboard compass acutely rests deep in my desk. My sword leans against a wall like a seasoned knight retired from his last battle. From studying rocks to Rome, knights to […]

grade eight physics Continuing the science blocks at East Bay Waldorf school, I am teaching physics for grade eight. Physics in the upper grades begins in grade six, and continues on as a sequence of advancing concepts through grade eight. In grade eight, the concepts covered are thermal dynamics, refraction, hydraulics, and electromagnetism. Our first week of physics, we learned about heat energy. Heat energy travels via radiation, conduction, and convection. I organized our week according to these three principles. The approach to physics in Waldorf is phenomena-based, meaning, the instruction is designed to be experiential, and not abstracted through lecture or texts. Through direct experience and observations of demonstrations, the children live in the phenomena of physics. The beauty of physics is that, unlike learning about Renaissance art, or the American Revolution, physics is experienced in the everyday. The physics block can be regarded as a way of simply giving a vocabulary and elucidation of what the children already know and experience. Day One: Heat Experienced in the Everyday, and Radiation On our first day, I had the students write a paragraph on their experience of how heat and cold are experienced in their everyday lives. It was a way for them to give thought to their actions and their feelings as they wake in the morning and feel the coldness of a bare floor, the warmth from a robe or a cup of hot chocolate. They become active in feeling warmth in standing close to their friends, and the sun as it filters into the classroom space. In observing the effects of the sun on dark and light materials, and in experiencing the heat from a radiant heater, the students learned about RADIATION, the transfer of heat energy through space. The key observations were that dark objects tend to absorb heat, while lighter objects tend to reflect heat. Day Two: Conduction The rhythm of the main lesson is such that the students are engaged in some movement exercises and mental acitivities to synchronize the class as a whole, followed by a review of material introduced the day before, then the new material, and work in their main lesson books. In day two, I had the students form two lines and, joining hands, formed a wave. Good for their physical beings, and also had demonstrated for them how radiated heat travels (through waves). We observed the phenomena of CONDUCTION. I used a heating plate with a baking stone set on top, and placed various materials on top of that: a piece of marble, a metal cup, cork, rubber stopper, a beaker of water, a shell, wood block. The students touched the materials after the baking stone had heated, and also after the heat was turned off. Conduction is the transfer of heat energy between materials that are in direct contact with each other. We witnessed that different materials behave differently to applied heat: the metal cup seemed to have heated up the fastest, the marble heated to the highest temperature, and the marble also retained the heat the longest. Day Three: Convection, Part I Our movement exercise included two lines of students who demonstrated the wave, and they also passed a ball from one person to the next, showing that "direct contact" is required for conduction. Each line of students raced one another - let's see who can conduct heat the fastest! The phenomena demonstrated on day three was CONVECTION, the transfer of heat energy through air or liquid by a moving current. I demonstrated for them how heat from a candle produces a current of warmed air that rises. This rising heat can be used to do work - thermal dynamics. I showed them how to make tiny pinwheels that balance on bent paper clips. They held their pinwheels over the candle, and the pinwheels turned! Day Four: Convection, Part II We continued the concept of convection. This time, using a large glass container, I showed them how a red dye placed at the bottom of the water-filled jar would begin to move towards a corner that was being heated by a candle. It showed how heated liquid rises, and as the water cools with an ice cube placed at the opposite end, the cooled water sinks, creating a convection current. In their main lesson books (MLBs), the students would write a paragraph and draw a picture that would help them synthesize their learning. Following a two-day rhythm, the material that I introduced one day would be become their MLB work the following day. Day Five: Designing an Eco-Friendly Home The knowledge gleaned from the week's work is connected with practical application. In designing homes that are energy-efficient, and eco-friendly, which is a growing industry, knowing how to regulate temperature of a home with efficiency and with resource conservation is very important to the comfort of its occupants. I put the students in small groups and gave them the following exercise: they are an architectural firm who a client is asking to design an energy efficient home that uses heat energy wisely, so innovative use of materials and design elements is essential in winning the bid. The students took the exercise whole-heartedly and came up with some creative solutions such as grass rooves, rain catchment systems, gray water, radiant-heated floors, solar energy, wind energy, and use of materials that have good thermal retention and are eco-friendly. To keep things fun, and help them with remembering concepts and terms, I had them draw little cartoons associated with the concepts. With radiation, they drew a surfer enjoying heat from the sun, saying "Radical, dude!" With conduction, they drew a duck whose feet are in direct contact with an icy pond, "Quack, my feet are cold!" With convection, they drew a conveyor belt, where heat was actually being moved from one place to another, "More heat, coming right up!"

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

week four of grade eight physics The topic of electromagentism was covered in three days between the third and fourth week of the physics block with the grade eight students of East Bay Waldorf. We began by playing with permanent magnets (magnets that have been commercially produced or are naturally-occuring, and hold their magnetic field). We experienced the force of a magnetic field. We then built an electromagnet using wire, a 9 volt battery, and an iron nail. Looping the wire created a solenoid, which multiplied the magnetic force present in the wire. The addition of an iron core, such as a nail, further amplified the magnetic force.

I love this Waldorf meteorology block! We spent the first part of our Physics block studying the dynamics of air and water.

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

Say goodbye to tedious paper and pencil reviews and say hello to our STAAR Stations! Specifically tailored to meet TEKS and STAAR standards, this interactive and fun-filled math center keeps students motivated, engaged, and learning! Your students will find themselves eagerly practicing for the end-of-year test! Get all 15 stations with the STAAR Stations Bundle today! THIS PRODUCT INCLUDES: ✅ STAAR Station 14: Roll For It (TEKS 6.12C measures of center and spread, mean, median, range, interquartile range (IQR) ✅ STAAR Review Booklet: Each mini-booklet includes 3 sections: a review, practice, and assessment Review: Prior to each station activity, use the "Review Section" as a quick refresh of the standard. Practice: The station activity serves as the "Practice Section" of the lesson. Students record their work from the station activity in their STAAR booklet. Assessment: Use the "Assessment Section" as an exit ticket to assess student understanding. ✅ Teacher Answer Key ✅ Student Directions & Station Cover Page: Each station comes with a directions page for the activity and includes “I can” statements. These direction pages can double as station covers for easy organization. ✅ Color and Blackline: All stations include both color and black-white versions. ✅ STAAR Station Reference Guide: A reference guide is included that list all 15 stations and the Readiness Standards each station targets. A picture reference guide is included to provide a visual of what each station will look like when ready for implementation. ➡️ Check out the STAAR Stations Bundle and get all 15 stations listed below! Station 1: Line Up Station 2: Hit The Target Station 3: Rational Number Race Station 4: Found It! Station 5: We Belong Together Station 6: Fill and Solve Station 7: Tic-Tac-Toe Station 8: Guess My Rule Station 9: True or False Station 10: Thing 1 and Thing 2 Station 11: Measure Me Station 12: Odd Man Out Station 13: Dot Dude Graphing Station 14: Roll For It Station 15: True or False Data IDEAS FOR USE: Review Practice Test-prep Math centers Small group Guided math Intervention or RTI End-of-year culminating activity Tutoring Grade recovery Summer school WHAT EDUCATORS LIKE YOU ARE SAYING... ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ BEST STATIONS EVER! These are fun and interactive and the students really enjoy working on them. The booklet covers test questions, reviews, and a place to answer the task cards all on one easy sheet of paper. I LOVE THIS RESOURCE! I am using it in class to reinforce the Readiness standards and I am using it with my Test Prep Tutoring groups. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PERFECT & ENGAGING Review Activities for my 6th graders! Well worth the money! My students enjoyed these STAAR activities in math stations. Thank you so much for your time and creativity of making activities ON POINT of the TEKS! ☺ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I am using this resource as practice for my students after teaching a concept. I will also use this resource as practice right before STAAR. The questions per topic are wonderful and give my students what they need in order to be successful on rigorous test questions. Great resource!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love that this was created by a TEXAS teacher. Our TEKS are different than the common core, and we need stuff specifically for us. My kids liked that we could review before they practiced the activity. We have not used them all yet, but it is a great start to a STAAR review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students had so much fun. We have only done one, but I know they are all going to be a huge hit! They love being able to be up and moving around the room or in my case the hallway. Thank you for creating such a fun, engaging and educational review resource! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The best thing I have ever came about for STAAR review. I love the booklets that go with every activity. The students loved all the activities. Thank you for all the work you put into this. Highly recommended. WHY FOCUS ON READINESS STANDARDS? Readiness Standards are deemed essential for student success at each grade level and address broad and deep ideas. Readiness Standards are important for student preparedness for the next grade level and make up 65% - 70% of the STAAR assessment. This allows teachers to focus on fewer standards at a greater depth. THE BUNDLE COVERS ALL THESE READINESS STANDARDS: 6.2(D) order a set of rational numbers arising from mathematical and real-world contexts 6.3(D) add, subtract, multiply, and divide integers fluently 6.3(E) multiply and divide positive rational numbers fluently 6.4(B) apply qualitative and quantitative reasoning to solve prediction and comparison of real-world problems involving ratios and rates 6.4(G) generate equivalent forms of fractions, decimals, and percents using real-world problems, including problems that involve money 6.4(H) convert units within a measurement system, including the use of proportions and unit rates 6.5(B) solve real-world problems to find the whole given a part and the percent, to find the part given the whole and the percent, and to find the percent given the part and the whole, including the use of concrete and pictorial models 6.6(C) represent a given situation using verbal descriptions, tables, graphs, and equations in the form y = kx or y = x + b 6.7(A) generate equivalent numerical expressions using order of operations, including whole number exponents, and prime factorization 6.7(D) generate equivalent expressions using the properties of operations: inverse, identity, commutative, associative, and distributive properties 6.8(D) determine solutions for problems involving the area of rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, and triangles and the volume of right rectangular prisms where dimensions are positive rational numbers 6.10(A) model and solve one-variable, one-step equations and inequalities that represent problems, including geometric concepts 6.11(A) graph points in all four quadrants using ordered pairs of rational numbers 6.12(C) summarize numeric data with numerical summaries, including the mean and median (measures of center) and the range and interquartile range ( IQR) (measures of spread), and use these summaries to describe the center, spread, and shape of the data distribution 6.12(D) summarize categorical data with numerical and graphical summaries, including the mode, the percent of values in each category (relative frequency table), and the percent bar graph, and use these summaries to describe the data distribution 6.13(A) interpret numeric data summarized in dot plots, stem-and-leaf plots, histograms, and box plots YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 6th Grade Math STAAR Practice Bundle - PDF Format 6th Grade Math STAAR Practice Bundle - Google Forms & PDF Format Middle School Math TEKS I Can Statements Bundle - Digital & Editable ➡️ FOLLOW ME to be the first to know about product updates, sales, freebies, and new resources! TERMS OF USE: Copyright © Catherine Solanik. All rights reserved by the author. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one teacher, classroom, department, school, or school system is prohibited. This product may not be distributed or displayed digitally for public view. Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license. Intended for classroom and personal use only.

grade eight physics Grade eight at East Bay Waldorf completed their second week of physics, where we studied pathways of light and sight. T...

intersection of physiology and physics a visit to Benner Creek near Chester, CA When I had studied the human body in medical school, we spent much time naming every single bone, muscle, and organ in the body, we diagrammed metabolic processes, and we learned about disease and pharmacological treatments. Along with studies of the biological sciences as an undergrad at UC Davis, I came away with knowledge of other life forms as lesser species. It seemed that in our efforts in learning more about ourselves and our world, we are actually creating a widening rift between us and everything else. They are unicellular, we are multicellular with specialized cells. Their behavior is only instinct, while our cortical functions help us think things through. This is air, water, and fire, we are humans who can control the elements. Rarely in our academic studies in the sciences do we appreciate the relationships of us and the universe. Rarely are we given entrance into modes of thought that are more enlightened. It is no wonder that many systems today (economic, healthcare, environmental, government) are deteriorating. We are in need of new paradigms of thought that will lead to new ways to be responsibly and joyfully active in our work on this earth. A physics block with the serendipitous addition of some physiology for grade eight at East Bay Waldorf gave me a new paradigm of thought. It not only gave me that good teachery feeling of bringing something special to the students, but it gave me that awesome feeling of an aha moment! In physics with grade eight, we had been talking about heat, light, water, air, and electromagnetism. They can be regarded as the fundamental elements of fire, earth, water, and air. These elements are omnipresent around us, carefully balanced in nature. In terms of their movement and the way we experience them, they exist as a physical presence through flow and force. Flow and force. Like the yin and yang, flow and force is like male and female, death and birth, night and day. Equal and synergistic, like a magnetic field. The elements surge with power and grace, with strength and restraint, with awe and subtlety. We appreciate and interact with the elements everyday. The heat of the sun on bare skin, the crunch of river rock during a stroll along the river, water on the fingertips, a breeze to cool the nape of your neck. And as humans of high cortical function, we even go a step further and try to control the elements. In our study of physics, we gained knowledge of elemental properties, and often this knowledge allows us to control them for human use. The convection of air conditioning systems, refraction of light for corrective lenses, hydraulics, pneumatics, electric motors, and mag lev trains. I will not argue that our technology serves us and the world in some fantastic ways. But let's view the elements from a different light. In thinking of the elements (the physics) through the human body (the physiology), we discover a much deeper relationship with the elements. Charles Kovacs, in his book Muscles and Bones, touches on this relationship. And forgive me for this non-Waldorfy reference: Yoda, the Jedi Master, also shares this view. The force and flow of the elements are not only outside of us, and they are also more than something we can manipulate, they are within us. We are the elements. The fire element, the Sun, the magma that flows within the earth's core, is present in us. To maintain optimum metabolism, our bodies stay heated at 98.6 degrees F, and many chemical reactions in our bodies need heat and produce heat. We have a heat body. The water element, the oceans, the polar ice caps, Mars with its frozen tundra, is present in us. We are essentially water, as our bodies are about 70 % water and share the same density as water. We have a water body. The air element, the earth's atmosphere, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, is present in us. With every breath we take, air flows through our lungs and our blood, and every cell of our bodies. Our bones, as strong as they are, have air pockets. We have an air body. The earth element, stones, seashells, minerals, magnetic fields, bones and nerves, is in us. Like the electromagnetic force of the universe, our nervous system is powered by the flow of electricity and ions. Like the minerals of the earth, our bones are as tough and seemingly inert, the solid material of our bodies. We have an earth body. In this perspective, with humility, we are of the elements, without which, the human organism would not exist. We are one with the universe in this regard. The flow and the force of the elements surge within us. The new paradigm of thought that may allow us to live in harmony with our earth is to know that nurturing earth is the same as nurturing humankind. As we proceed with our human needs, we must encompass the needs of the earth. Physiology and physics must be studied and applied together. Thinking, feeling, and doing for us. Us, as in all things.

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

I love this Waldorf meteorology block! We spent the first part of our Physics block studying the dynamics of air and water.

I love this Waldorf meteorology block! We spent the first part of our Physics block studying the dynamics of air and water.

I love this Waldorf meteorology block! We spent the first part of our Physics block studying the dynamics of air and water.

I love this Waldorf meteorology block! We spent the first part of our Physics block studying the dynamics of air and water.

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]

12 Fun and Easy Tips for Gardening with Kids. With these fun ideas, the whole family will be enjoying the garden this year! (My kids think #9 is the coolest thing ever!)

(This post contains affiliate links) We’ve been back to school for over a month now, but I’ve yet to post what I’m using with my 14 year old, 9th grade son, Christian. Let me firs…

Last school year, I had very ambitious dreams about starting a classroom economy system in my room. I was desperate for a way to tie in the Personal Financial Literacy TEKS that are a part of our math standards in Texas. I was very nervous about starting one and it was a very large project to take on to ensure it fit my very own needs. I am going to give you an idea of how I set mine up so that you can easily copy for your own room. If you want to know my full-year review of the classroom economy, be sure to stay to the end. I think the single hardest part was trying to figure out how to keep my money organized. I ended up getting this container from Dollar Tree and inserted index card dividers I already had lying around. This turned out to be perfect! I never had to guess or hunt for certain bills because they were already organized ahead of time. This was the fun part. I let students buy things under the variable expense category using the money they had earned. If you notice, I also included restroom breaks and pencils. No more freebies! This allowed me to have students use their credit cards in emergency situations and learn about paying them off with interest. It also kept them from taking all of my pencils before they had even asked peers to borrow one. The kids took this very seriously because they wanted to spend their money on fun stuff, not pencils. For the first time in my entire career, I actually had pencils left over at the end of the year!! I had always run through around 500 by spring break before the classroom economy system!! Fixed expenses were the not-so-fun part. And yes, I really did make my students pay rent. However, I did lower it down by a lot because the amount shown here was overly ambitious and the students were not reaching it. We changed rent to $100 after the first month equating $25 per week. This mean on months like December that were shorter, I only charged them the $25/week for however many weeks we were in school that month. If students could not pay rent, then they were required to bring their lunch into my room and clean my desks after they had eaten as a way to "work for hire" at $25/lunch break. So if a student was roughly $50 short on rent, they owned me 2 lunches as "work for hire." Almost all of my student figure out real quick to budget better and save up for rent before spending their money on the variable expenses! The income was how students earned their money. You can tailor this to meet the needs of your classroom and what you would like the students to accomplish. The key with an economy system is to have some things that are predictable and all students can reach like being in your seat and working on the warm-up by the time the bell rings. Some are there for students to stretch themselves such as making an A on an assignment. It also needs some sort of teacher discretion where the teacher can give someone money just because they feel like it for going above and beyond on an assignment, helping a peer without being asked, etc. Teacher discretions are not meant to be given every single time, but randomly, so that students never get too complacent on their work. Here is what the prices looked like set up in my classroom. It was very easy to see and reference for both the students and myself. So now the part you are waiting for...how did it go? I truly felt like it was single-handedly the best idea I ever had. The students were completely committed to it till the very end. One of the major benefits was that it provided me with an easy way to give lots of positive reinforcement without much effort. My class behaviors also became almost non-existent. Students who misbehaved in other classes were angels in mine because they were so committed to working hard and earning money. I only had to send 1 student to the office the entire year (he went a lot, but he was the only one who wouldn't fully buy-in to the system). This is in stark contrast to the 5-6 I had to send the year before. I also felt that it gave students lots of real-world application. It was common to hear "I hate paying rent! Being an adult sucks!" Many of my students come from families who are not good with budgeting themselves, so this was a new world for them. Yet, I feel confident that they gained some budgeting skills while with me this past year. It also taught my students how to count money. So few of them are ever exposed to cash anymore since their families just use debit and credit cards, that they have no idea what to do with actual money. Teaching them how to count the bills from biggest to smallest was not an area I expected to have to teach going into this, but I was very excited to see them accomplish this by the end of the year. I may not directly tie to a standard, but at least the can handle money now. If you are thinking about starting a classroom economy in your room this year or the next, be sure to check out my starter kit here. It has everything you need to get started and begin to tailor it to your own classroom needs. It has quickly become one of my best sellers for good reason. Have a fantastic school year!

We don't do grade levels. We don't do textbooks. But we do learn a ton. Here's a look at our unschooling 8th grade-style plan.

Teaching and assessing writing can be challenging, and even more so when you’re trying to identify effective ways to scaffold writing instruction for struggling students. Set teenagers up for success...