Grade 8 Registration

Students in grade 8 have the opportunity to take a high school course in middle school.

Three courses are offered in grade 8: Intermediate Algebra, Geometry, Spanish A.

Intermediate Algebra

This course covers Minnesota Math standards from both 8th and 9th grade. The course includes the study of the real number systems, operations with polynomials, linear and quadratic equations and inequalities, functions, stats and probability, and radicals.

The major difference between Linear Algebra and Intermediate Algebra is the amount of content covered.  Intermediate Algebra covers all content in Linear Algebra AND all the 9th grade standards. The course moves much quicker and students can expect more homework. 

Enriched Geometry 

This course integrates coordinate and transformational geometry while continually reinforcing algebra skills. Topics include measurement formulas, three-dimensional figures, congruence, similarity, and proof. Enriched Geometry is only available to students who successfully complete Intermediate Algebra in Grade 7. 

Spanish 1A

Spanish 1A is equivalent to the first semester of the high school’s Spanish I course.  Students successfully completing Spanish 1A will earn 0.5 high school credits, and can advance to Spanish 1B as an 8th grader, which would then complete their fully 1.0 Spanish I high school credit, allowing them to enter the high school being able to enroll in Spanish II.  

Students in the Spanish 1A course will begin with the basic fundamentals of Spanish. Basic practical vocabulary and sentence structure in the present and immediate future tenses are introduced throughout the year. Two important elements in the classroom are the teacher’s use of spoken Spanish and the students’ development of good listening skills and pronunciation. Culture is also studied through songs, current events, and movies. skits, dialogues, games, and videos are used to supplement the text and foster increased language ability.

This class is NOT recommended for native speakers. Native Speakers are encouraged to take Spanish for Native Speakers in grade 9.

Students in grade 8 in 24-25, will have an opportunity to complete the first half of Spanish I. We will scaffold instruction to ensure students can move on to Spanish II in grade 9 in the 25-26

In grade 8, students who have completed Math 7 can choose between Linear Algebra and Intermediate Algebra. Linear Algebra is the 8th grade math course, and Intermediate Algebra is the 9th grade high school math course. 

Students who have successfully completed Intermediate Algebra in grade 7 should enroll in Enriched Geometry.

Students complete a worksheet in their math class the week of February 5 to help guide the course selection process.

Course descriptions for the three courses are as follows:

Linear Algebra

This course covers Minnesota Math standards from 8th grade. The course includes the study of the real number systems, operations with polynomials, linear equations and inequalities, functions, stats and probability, and Pythagorean Theorem. 

Intermediate Algebra

This course covers Minnesota Math standards from both 8th and 9th grade. The course includes the study of the real number systems, operations with polynomials, linear and quadratic equations and inequalities, functions, stats and probability, and radicals.

The major difference between Linear Algebra and Intermediate Algebra is the amount of content covered.  Intermediate Algebra covers all content in Linear Algebra AND all the 9th grade standards. The course moves much quicker and students can expect more homework. 

Enriched Geometry 

This course integrates coordinate and transformational geometry while continually reinforcing algebra skills. Topics include measurement formulas, three-dimensional figures, congruence, similarity, and proof. Enriched Geometry is only available to students who successfully complete Intermediate Algebra in Grade 7. 

Consider the following questions: 

• Is the student performing at grade level? 

This can be measured in a variety of ways: proficiency on MCA, at low or lowest risk target on aMath passing grade level math course and or assessments.

Students should be achieving at or above grade level to consider Intermediate Algebra .

• Does the student like to be challenged? solve problems? work at a quicker pace?

Intermediate Algebra covers twice as much content at Linear Algebra.

• Does the student have the time and work habits to complete regular daily homework assignments?

Intermediate Algebra will have daily homework.

• Does the student advocate for him/herself when he/she need assistance?

Students in Intermediate Algebra will need to advocate for themself when they need assistance.

Careful consideration should be given to the math course chosen. Before choosing a math course, it is important to review the math pathways from middle school through the high school and keep in mind a number of things:

• To graduate, students must have 3 credits in math AND complete Algebra 2.  Students who successfully complete Intermediate Algebra in middle school will earn 1 of the needed 3 credits. Students who successfully complete both Intermediate Algebra and Enriched Geometry in middle school will earn 2 of the needed 3 credits.

• Colleges and universities generally require students to take four years of math in high school. 

• If your student accelerates in Middle School they will need to take upper level courses in high school (such as an PreCalculus, an Advanced Placement course, College In the Schools College Algebra) to meet college recommendations for four years of math in high school. 

• Students who want to take AP Calculus in high school, can either take Intermediate Algebra as an 8th grader or double up in math during their high school years. Students may double-up by taking Geometry and Algebra 2 with Trig in the same year.

While Two River’s offers three different world languages: French, German and Spanish, we are only able to offer one language at the middle school, Spanish. Students can choose German or French when they get to high school to take and still access the courses that provide college credit. In Spanish in order to access both levels of courses at the high school that offer college credit (Spanish IV CE and V CE), students need to start taking Spanish in 7th grade.

Students in grade 8 in 24-25, will have an opportunity to complete the first half of Spanish I. We will scaffold instruction to ensure students can move on to Spanish II in grade 9 in the 25-26

Students in grade 8 have the opportunity to take a high school course in middle school. Three courses are offered in grade 8: Intermediate Algebra, Geometry, Spanish A.

These classes are offered at the middle school and are taught by a middle school teacher. The curriculum, scope and sequence and assessments used are the same as what is used at the high school. Middle school and high school teachers regularly collaborate. 

Middle School students can earn high school credit for these courses upon successful completion. The letter grade earned in these courses will appear on the high school transcript but is NOT calculated into the high school GPA. The goal is to provide students the opportunity to try out a high school course in an environment with lower risks.

Grades for high school courses work differently than middle school. Grades are reported by semesters and are cumulative, meaning that a grade is calculated across two quarters. The first semester grade will include your student’s work for both quarter 1 and 2. The second semester grades will include work for both quarter 3 and 4.

• In Intermediate Algebra and Geometry, upon successful complementation, students earn .5 credit for each semester of the course, for a total of 1 credit for the entire year.
• In Spanish, upon successful complementation of all four quarters, students earn .5 credit. 

Students who are struggling or not successful after quarter 1, may consider or be asked to drop the course. Students who drop the course before the start of quarter 2 will not have the course on their high school transcript. Grades earned will still also appear on the middle school report card. Students who do not earn a passing grade for the first semester are required to repeat this course at the high school and should work with their teacher to determine if they should continue in the course. Students who earn less than a C will be encouraged to repeat the course when they get to high school.  9th grade course requests will be updated for any student that failed the first or second semester. 

Our current AVID students do not have access to all of the required courses in middle school, for example many of our 8th grade AVID students take Spanish and therefore are not in Physical Education and Health, Music or Art. These courses are all required for students. In our redesigned schedule all of our elective courses will be offered every other day. We did consider offering AVID every other day, but doing so would mean that we wouldn’t be able to implement all of the components that are required for a course to be considered AVID elective.

The AVID elective will be offered at the high school. Interested students will learn about the requirements, application and interview process in the fall of their 8th grade year. 

For students currently in the AVID 7 elective in the 2023-2024 school year, we have worked with our high school and they will be able to continue in AVID when they get to the high school without completing the application and interview process if they meet these two criteria. First, they must successfully complete Warrior Prep.  Second, they must maintain a GPA of 2.5.