Friday, October 25, 2013

Announcements: Oct. 26-Nov. 1


WORDS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR


WE’RE 60!
Saturday is the big day to celebrate everything Hancock! We celebrate the insight Mrs. Hancock and the Bells had in creating and running Hancock for decades, and the courage the Friends and Parents of Hancock Day School had continuing the Hancock Way under a new structure with a new campus. We are truly blessed to be part of this institution. I hope everyone has a great celebration and congratulations to whomever won the $5,000!

FALL SPORTS
The fall sports season is coming to its conclusion. Thursday our volleyball team played in the SPAL tournament. We were seeded against the second best team in our league and gave them all they could handle. On a personal note, I attended a number of games, including the first game of the season at St. Andrews. I watched as our girls developed from a group that had trouble doing any significant scoring to a team that worked together at the end of the season.  Congratulations girls, Coach Hughes and Coach O’Hayer.

Cross country finished up its season with a race at Savannah Christian. There were over 125 runners and Hancock runners showed very well finishing in the top third of the pack.  Congratulations boys and girls for a dedicated season and congratulations to coaches Michelle Jenkner and Whitney Crawford!

Our football team is improving each week. The final game has been moved several times.  It is now scheduled on Tuesday, October 29.  We will be playing Calvary at Calvary.  Please come out and support these young men and celebrate their commitment to their season. 

Basketball season it coming up fast.  Hancock will have 6 teams playing across all age groups.  Please plan on attending games to support our students.  Practice begins on November 4th.

STUDY SKILLS
Study Skills was slated to start last Monday.  The beginning of this new offering was delayed one week so our student could attend the book fair.  Classes will begin on Monday.


In honor of Conference Day this past Wednesday, a clip from the Hancock Newsletter from 1975!



6TH GRADE NEWS

6th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor
The sixth graders are gearing up for a new unit covering the elements of short stories.  Students will be studying plot structure, character development, and point of view next week as we begin exploring a variety of short stories in our literature textbook.  Additionally we will complete lesson four in Wordly Wise; students can expect a quiz over this lesson on Monday, November 4th.  We will also spend time working with predicate nouns and adjectives.  

Math 6 with Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Math 6, we will finish up Chapter 4 by converting fractions to decimals and decimals and fractions.  On Tuesday, we will review for the Chapter 4 test.  Wednesday (10/30) students will take their Chapter 4 test and receive the outline for their math facts quiz on Friday.  On Thursday, we will work on a fun fractions and decimals project in class using a 100s grid.  On Friday (11/1), students will take their math facts quiz.

6th Earth Science with Mr. Crawford
We ran a little behind last week, so some of this week’s assignments might look a little familiar!  Friday’s homework is to read the Sunscreen Lab.  Monday we will complete that lab and write it up for homework.  Tuesday we will work on organizing notebooks and completing questions for Section 1 (homework).  Wednesday we will work as a class on how to use notes and homework to review for a quiz or exam.  Questions for this quarter’s assessments will be drawn from homework assignments and notes.  Homework – prepare for Section 1 quiz.  Thursday, quiz on section 1 and begin notes on Section 2.  Homework is to complete notes for section 2. Friday we will discuss section 2 in class.

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake
The sixth graders will finish their review of latitude and longitude on Monday.  There will be a quiz over this on Wednesday.  At that point the class will be introduced to Alfred Wegener and his theory of continental drift. Wegener proposed his theory one hundred years ago and it was not accepted at the time. The students will look at the evidence he used as the basis for this theory and the reasons other scientists did not readily embrace Wegener's ideas.

6th Spanish with Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 6th grade will continue working with conjugation. So far we have covered the conjugation of “ar” verbs. Students will also be learning how to conjugate “ir” and “er” verbs as well.  The students will have a grammar quiz over conjugation on Wednesday, October 30th.

6th World Civilizations with Mrs. English
This week we will finish our notes on Independent Sumerian City-States and discuss the achievements of Ancient Mesopotamia in Chapter 3- Section 3.  We will continue to review the 50 States in geography and have another quiz on the 50 states on Friday.  For homework, students should expect to read the sections thoroughly, define vocab, and answer review questions. 

7TH GRADE NEWS

7th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor
We are in the midst of working on a group project in which students are creating a newspaper centered on events and themes from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.  Each student is individually responsible for writing two news articles or editorials, and collectively each group will edit and compile the articles, in addition to creating an entertainment section for the newspaper.  This assignment is due on Thursday, October 31st and will count as a major composition grade.

Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will wrap up Chapter 4 by learning scientific notation.  On Tuesday, students will take a math facts quiz. Wednesday (10/30) we will review for the test.  On Thursday, students will take their Chapter 4 test. Friday, we will do a fun project on scientific notation!

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we will be continuing to graph linear equations (4.5).  In addition, we will be discussing parallel lines and their slopes, and solving word problems involving linear equations. We will be having a quiz towards the end of the week on sections 4.4 – 4.5.

7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake
After looking at molecular movement into the cell, the seventh graders will now study how plants produce some of these molecules during the process of photosynthesis. The students will also learn about cellular respiration which releases energy from glucose molecules.  They will have a quiz next Wednesday over the first two sections of the chapter.  Their test will be on Tuesday, November 5. 

7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 7th grade will continue working with verb conjugation in the preterite. So far we have covered the conjugation of “ar” verbs. Students will also begin learning about direct objects in Spanish. There will be a grammar quiz on Wednesday, October 30th.

7th American History with Mrs. English 
American History: In American History we will continue to study the early English Colonies in America.  We will have a quiz on Chapter 3-Section 1 on Monday.  Homework will include defining vocab, answering review questions, and completing section worksheets. 


8TH GRADE NEWS

8th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor
We have just finished studying “Flowers for Algernon” and are preparing to read To Kill a Mockingbird.  Next week students will receive copies of the novel, as well as their reading calendars.  Students can expect to have reading homework every night next week, as well as a quiz over the first several chapters of the book on Thursday, October 31st.  

8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake
The eighth graders will continue their study of the periodic table. One of the most important features of the table is that it helps students understand why certain elements will form compounds and others will not. They will have a quiz on the periodic table next Thursday. The class will then look at the different types of mixtures and ways in which they can be separated.  

8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 8th grade will continue to work with the vocabulary in chapter 3A. Students will be reviewing the direct object and irregular preterit  The students will have a graded listening quiz on Wednesday, October 30th.

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we will be continuing to graph linear equations (4.5).  In addition, we will be discussing parallel lines and their slopes, and solving word problems involving linear equations.  We will be having a quiz towards the end of the week on sections 4.4 – 4.5.


8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Advanced Algebra/Introduction to Geometry (Grade 8) class, we will finish our discussion on rationalizing the denominator by expanding upon that by using conjugates (p. 724).  We will review sections 11.1 and 11.2 on Wednesday and then on Thursday have a test on what we have covered so far in Chapter 11 (11.1 – 11.2).  On Friday we will begin solving equations with radicals in them (11.3).

8th American Government with Mrs. English 
This week in American Government we will continue our intensive look at the Constitution.  We will discuss the specifics of the Constitution and debate whether the Founding Fathers would be proud or disappointed in the Republic we have today. Students will turn in their Constitution Scavenger Hunt on Monday for a quiz grade.  



SPORTS EVENTS

Saturday, Oct. 26 @ 11am
Football Game
Hancock vs. SCDS at Benedictine

Tuesday, Oct. 29 
Football Game
Hancock vs. Calvary at Calvary 



May 21st - May 25th

NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD Important Dates for all Families! All middle school students were provided information regarding end of ye...