NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD
Star Shooter Camp
We need your help to bring professional shooting coaches, Jay and Ryan Wolf, to Hancock on Saturday May 5, 2018! Please return your camp registration and payment by Friday April 6, 2018. You can drop off your registration and payment in the HDS office or pay by calling 800.735.0356. We must have a minimum of 30 paid registrations by April 6th to bring Jay and his Star Shooter program to Hancock.
Spring Sports Pictures
InFocus will be taking Spring Sports Pictures this year. Players should bring their uniforms to school on Wednesday, April 4th. They will be taking pictures starting at 12:00pm. This will include: soccer (boys and girls) , track and field, and golf.
Community Service
Hancock Day School has encouraged student involvement in serving the community since it was founded. The Community Service Program at HDS was established to prepare our students for a lifetime of service to others. We hope to provide them with the opportunity to experience firsthand the pleasure of helping others while developing their communication, leadership, and decision making skills. Middle School Students are expected to complete a minimum of 10 hours of community service each school year. Please document service hours on the HDS Community Service Log and submit to Madison Ross in the MS office.
8TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
8th grade Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Algebra, we will review Chapter 8 in depth in preparation for our Chapter 8 Test that will take place on Wednesday, April 4. Towards the end of the week, we will use the diagnostic tool from IXL.com to do some review of the concepts that will appear on the ERBs during the week of April 9.
8th grade Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete Chapter 9 by exploring how to find the volume of pyramids and cones (9.5). We will also learn how to find the surface area and volume of spheres (9.6). There will be a day of review on Wednesday and the Chapter 9 test on Thursday.
8th grade Geometry - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete Chapter 10 and circles by learning about graphing circles on a coordinate plane (10.7). There will be a day of review on Tuesday and the Chapter 10 test on Wednesday. We will then begin Chapter 11 by reviewing how to find the area of rectangles, squares, triangles, and parallelograms (11.1).
8th grade Physical Science - Mr. Cooper
This week we will begin covering Chapter 19 (Light, Mirrors, Lenses) in our textbooks. We will work through sections 1 and 2 in the textbook and have a lab on Thursday. We will finish sections 3 and 4 next week. There will be a quiz on this Chapter on Friday, April 13th. There will be a culminating Unit Test on Chapters 16-19 TBA.
8th grade English Language Arts - Mrs. O’Connor
We have started reading Romeo and Juliet and will continue to examine this text next week. Students have a quiz over Act 2 and contextual vocabulary on Tuesday. Students have a quiz over Act 3 on Thursday. This is a challenging text and our class discussions are designed to help students process the content and appreciate the beauty of the language. As always, I’m available before and after school if students need additional support.
8th grade History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English
This week we will continue to study World War II. Topics covered will include Operation Overlord, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and nuclear bombs. We will have a WWII test on Friday, April 6th. Students will also continue working on their World War II casualties fiber arts project!
8th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish the 8th grade will wrap up Chapter 5A with some speaking and writing activities, and the test will be Thursday, April 5th. Students will also be “airing” their news broadcasts where they will tell us all about the current events happening around the world, the weather forecast, sports updates and entertainment.
7TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
7th grade Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Algebra, we will review Chapter 8 in depth in preparation for our Chapter 8 Test that will take place on Wednesday, April 4. Towards the end of the week, we will use the diagnostic tool from IXL.com to do some review of the concepts that will appear on the ERBs during the week of April 9. Challenge problem due on Monday, April 2.
7th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete the first part of Chapter 8 (8.1-8.6) by having a day of review on Tuesday and the Chapter 8.1-8.6 test on Wednesday. We will then begin studying the rest of Chapter 8 by learning about function notation like f(x) (8.7) and beginning to explore systems of linear equations and their uses in the real world (8.8).
7th grade History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English
We wrapped up our President March Madness bracket. What a fun experience it was! This week in American history we will continue working on our study of the Jefferson Era and James Madison’s involvement in the War of 1812. We will have a test on Ch. 9.1-4 on Friday, April 6th.
7th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish the 7th grade will wrap up Chapter 9A and the test will be on Thursday, April 5th. Students will also be presenting their short films in class at our very own Spanish film festival. After all of the movies have been presented, students will select their favorites according to specific categories from our vocabulary.
7th Grade ELA - Mrs./ Boyer
Students will be working in groups to create an A,B,C Book (Research Project: Due March 28th) which will explain the entire novel through inquiry into the setting, characters, literary devices, etc. Students will be working in class on this project.
There will be an open book novel quiz on 3/27.
Study Guide Questions are due on March 29th.
Reading Logs for T3 are due May 17th.
Heads Up!! Our next novel will be Animal Farm!!
7th grade Life Science - Ms. Hoffman
Students have been learning about some of our most basic invertebrates...the sponges, cnidarians (jellyfish, coral, sea anemones) and worms (roundworms, flatworms). They participated in a lab (see pictures below) to see some real examples of these interesting creatures. Our quiz over this information (chapter 12) has been moved to next week on Tuesday, 4/3. After this we will begin learning about mollusks (snails, clams, octopus), segmented worms, arthropods (insects, spiders, crustaceans), and echinoderms (sea stars, sand dollars, sea urchins) as discussed in chapter 13.
6TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
6th grade Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Accelerated Math 7, we will begin in Chapter 9 by converting percents to fractions and decimals and vise versa. On Thursday, we will review 9.1-9.3 and take a quiz over those sections on Friday, April 6th. Challenge problem due Tuesday, April 3.
6th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete the first part of Chapter 8 (8.1-8.6) by having a day of review on Tuesday and the Chapter 8.1-8.6 test on Wednesday. We will then begin studying the rest of Chapter 8 by learning about function notation like f(x) (8.7) and beginning to explore systems of linear equations and their uses in the real world (8.8).
6th grade ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim
Literature: Work with a partner on in-class Utopia project. Due Friday.
Grammar: Continue pronoun unit. We will continue to work on run-on sentences and comma splices. Pronoun quiz over possessive, subject, and object pronouns as well as pronoun antecedents scheduled for 4/3. Pronoun test is scheduled for 4/16.
Writing: Paragraph writing as part of the Utopia project
Vocabulary:
Reading Log: Reading for the reading log begins for Trimester Three will begin on Feb 28th. As stated in the syllabus, all middle school students are required to read 360 minutes during the course of the trimester - reading that is outside of their regular assignments. They have a form on which to keep track of their minutes, and on Mondays in class I post their minutes in a spreadsheet. They need to obtain a parent signature to verify the minutes read. This counts as a project grade. The grading scale is written in the syllabus. Reading log minutes for 6th grade are due Friday, May 17th.
6th grade Earth Science - Ms. Hoffman
We will continue to study the ocean floor and all it’s features, including trenches, seamounts, continental shelf, continental slope and the abyssal plain. We will also discuss different ocean zones and how plants and animals are adapted to live in these areas. This information is in chapter 19 in our textbook. Our cereal box project (assigned on 3/22) is due Friday, April 6th. The unit test on Oceans will be Friday, 4/20.
Below are pictures from our field trip last Friday, 3/23. Thank you again to the parents who assisted with driving. (Mrs. Shearouse, Mrs. Myers, Mrs. Dean, Mrs, Moody, Mrs. Nelsen, Mrs. Lapp and Mrs. Allen.) The students did a wonderful job and learned a lot.
At Congregation Mickve Israel we saw a 500 year old Torah written on deer skin and toured their interesting upstairs museum. We also learned about the history of this beautiful Gothic synagogue, including how it was formed in 1733 with forty-one settlers and the growth experiences over the years. At the Massie Heritage Center we learned about the Savannah city plan and different architectural styles, especially Greek and Roman. Students used their bodies to mimic the shapes of elements like arches, columns and domes and demonstrated tension and compression. We visited the upstairs original 1850’s classroom and learned about school during this time period, including some of the discipline techniques for disruptive students. We then went on an architectural scavenger hunt in downtown Savannah looking for actual examples of these architectural features, ending at Forsyth Park with lunch. Thank you to both of these establishments for making it a great field trip!
6th Grade Ancient Civ - Mrs. Boyer
We will be venturing into Ancient Greece and Rome for the rest of the school year!! Dates will be extremely important and will be required for assessments. Students will be expected to discuss the importance of dates, leaders, political events, wars, etc. Studying for the assessments beforehand will be a critical necessity. All assessment/project dates for the rest of the school year have been written on Mrs. Boyer’s board, posted in GC and written in student’s planner.
Students should clean out their binders of everything except maps and their newly printed packets on Greece and Rome.
Students should begin studying new material every night for five to seven minutes in order to prepare for these assessments. If a student is studying every night for five to seven minutes (something as little as discussing what they learned at the dinner table), they have a better chance at comprehending the content for a test. A student should never JUST start studying for an assessment two to three days before. Studying is an on-going process.
Study strategies: Create flash-cards, create a graphic organizer, create an outline, create a quizlet, brainstorm the essays beforehand, have a study party with friends, create your own quiz/test and take it without your notes, USE THE FILL IN THE BLANK NOTES TO QUIZ YOURSELF ON WHAT YOU KNOW AND WHAT YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT, come in for extra help with SPECIFIC questions.
All materials will be on GC.
Assessment Dates:
3/28: Quiz over Greece geography and Ch. 8 Lesson 1 and Lesson 2
4/18: Ch. 8 L3 and L4 and Chapter 9 quiz
4/19-4/24: Project
4/25: Greek Unit Test
5/10: Rome Quiz
5/18: Rome Unit Test
The Exam for Ancient Civ has been changed to an activity.
6th Grade Spanish - Ms. Dubick
Hello Parents and Students! The sixth graders did wonderful “Hacer La Maleta” projects on the hispanic countries and regions they chose. I am very proud of them! They are currently covering AR, ER and IR conjugations of regular verbs. They will have a Test Friday on using regular verb conjugations and clothing.
EXTRA HELP:
Every MONDAY and WEDNESDAY morning before school.
I’ll be doing extra help sessions to reinforce what we are covering, any students who feel they could use the additional support are welcome to come. I also hold study sessions the morning before any assessment. STUDENTS SHOULD EMAIL IF THEY ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND
MS Art - Mrs. Cookson
Spring is in the air.
8th grade: Will continue with pointillism; working on canvas boards.
7th grade: Will wrap up concert posters and begin preparation to switch from analog to digital or vice versa.
6th grade: Will start a new challenge with one-point perspective drawing.
CLUBS
Science Club
We started off our new rotation of science club this week. Our students created Hoopsters. These are airplanes made with drinking straws using paper hoops as wings. (The two hoops are different sizes.) Students tested for both distance and accuracy. They also checked to see how the orientation of the hoops (small in front or large in front) affected the planes flight. Our winners were Will Taylor and Harper Silva with a total distance of 27 ft achieved with the small hoop in front. This compared to their recorded distance of 13 ft with the large hoop in front.
