Week 7 Announcements: Sept. 30th-Oct. 4th

The 8th graders each memorized and recited a section of the Declaration of Independence Thursday.

Update! (9/30/13)

Please sell your raffle tickets! So far Mrs. Reardon's homeroom is in the lead!

1st Place: Mrs. Reardon

2nd Place: Mrs. Blake

3rd Place: Mrs. Hughes

**Remember, the homeroom with the most tickets sold will get to go off campus for lunch! Support Hancock!** 

WORDS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR

COMMUNITY SERVICE

A great week in the Middle School.  Wednesday we had a presentation about a community service/mission project completed by Philip Dusek.  His Power Point slides were beautiful and his Spanish pronunciation articulate.  Continuing what is becoming a weekly part of our schedule, we will have a Middle School assembly this Wednesday during homeroom time.  The theme this week is Community Service. Part of the Hancock Way is a commitment to community service.  We ask that each of our students complete 10 hours of community service each year, 30 hours for their years in Middle School.  I was asked by one student, "what happens if we don’t do it?"  The answer simply is that is NOT an option.  Commitment to community service is a corner stone of the Hancock Way.  We have all chosen to join this community largely because of the value system that governs who we are.  To ignore one of our fundamental tenants brings into question, why do you want to be a member of this community?  We hope as educators to “teach” the importance of making community service an integral part of everyone’s live. If you have any suggestions for ways our students could serve the community, please email me at school and I will share these opportunities with our students.

More on this later!

ACTIVITIES

On Friday afternoon we took a break from our academic rigors to have some social time as a middle school community.  The break was well deserved and gave everyone a chance to connect in a more social setting.  A good time was had by all!

PARENT CONFERENCES

On October 23^rd classes will not be held so that parents may come to school to meet with teachers.  In the past that meant meeting with your child’s homeroom teacher.  We are making a break from that tradition to permit you to schedule time with 2 of your child’s teachers.  Why just two?  Simply, time limitations.  Our staff is ALWAYS available before or after any school day to meet with parents.  If you have a concern, simply call our office to schedule an appointment.  Ms. Edie will be calling parents who have multiple children at HDS to schedule them first.  That will be completed next week.  After that, we will announce how to schedule your conference time.  Look for more information next week.

6TH GRADE NEWS

6^th Grade English Language Arts

Students have just started reading Anne Frank:  Diary of a Young Girl, and we have our first quiz over the text coming up on Monday.  Your student already has a reading calendar that outlines every homework assignment, quiz date, and the date of our test over this book.  I encourage students to read ahead if they know that they have an especially busy night due to extracurricular activities or other commitments.  During our study of this book we will pause our work in Wordly Wise and instead explore some contextual vocabulary related to Anne Frank’s diary.  

Math 6 with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Math 6, we will continue in Chapter 3 learning about several more types of data displays such as histograms and box and whisker plots.  Wednesday, we will finish making the bar and line graphs in excel on the laptops.  On Friday, students will have a Chapter quiz over sections 3 through 6.

6th Earth Science with Mr. Crawford

Next week we will finish up our study of the Earth’s motions, time and longitude and latitude.  Monday we will cover pages 33-35, Satellites; Tuesday and Wednesday we will discuss pages 38-41, longitude and latitude; Thursday we will prepare for an examination on the material covered in chapter 2 plus longitude and latitude.  Doing well on this examination is CRITICAL!  We only have had one examination this quarter and will only have a total of 3.  The exam average counts for 35% of the quarter grade.  What you earn on the exam is what you get, so doing well the first time is CRITICAL.  I strongly suggest studying small sections each evening.  There WILL be a few questions from the first exam (Introduction to Earth Science and the Scientific Method) on this exam so review of this material is essential.  Students will create their own study guides on Thursday in class.

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake

After hearing presentations on several elements, the sixth graders will spend next week learning about the structure of atoms and different atomic models.  They will have an activity in which they will make Bohr models of several atoms.  At the end of the week they will have a quiz on atoms.  This information about atomic structure will be helpful as we go on to study chemical compounds.

6th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish, the 6^th grade will begin a new chapter where they will talk about personality traits, ask what people are like, and use adjectives to describe others. We will also learn about verb conjugation. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday, October 4^th.

6^th World Civilizations with Mrs. English
In Ancient World Civilization we will study Chapter 2-Lesson 3 “Building Communities.”  This section covers the early towns in southwestern Asia.  We will discuss the division of labor, social classes, and the beginnings of governments.  We will see what early towns looked like and what archeologists find when they uncover one of these sites.  Homework will include lesson terms, review questions, and writing reflections.  We will also continue our study of geography with landforms and U.S. States in an effort to establish building blocks for world geography.  Students should expect a quiz on U.S. States and physical geography terms on Thursday October 3^rd.  

Teachable moment with Ms. Oosterhoudt. The 8th grade art class was discussing the Monks visiting the Jepson Museum to create a healing madala in class and they said to me, "We want to make one!" We watched a video of the Monks creating a madala, out came the sand, the students made paper funnels and they went to town. Fantastic!

7TH GRADE NEWS

7^th Grade English Language Arts

Students are in the process of revising and typing final drafts of their creative short stories.  The final draft of this assignment is due on Monday and will count as a major composition.  Students have just started reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and our first quiz over the book is scheduled for Tuesday, October 1^st.  Your student already has a reading calendar that outlines every homework assignment, quiz date, and the date of our test over this novel.  I encourage students to read ahead if they know that they have an especially busy night due to extracurricular activities or other commitments.  During our study of this book we will pause our work in Wordly Wise and instead explore some contextual vocabulary related to the novel.


7th Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue in Chapter 3 by solving equations with variables on both sides, as well as learning how to solve inequalities using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  On Thursday, we will review for their Chapter quiz that they will take on Friday.  The quiz will be over sections 3 through 6.

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Algebra (7/8) we will be completing Chapter 3.  We will discuss percent problems (1.3) and practice rewriting equations with only variables in them (3.8).  We will have a day of review and the chapter test at the end of the week.

7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake

The seventh graders have started their work on their viral disease project.  Each student randomly picked a disease to research.  They have worked in pairs to gather information and develop a speech on that disease.  Lastly, they will design a Power Point presentation to accompany their talk.  These speeches will begin on Thursday.  During the first part of the week, students will perform one more lab with the microscope.  They will have a quiz over the microscope on Wednesday.

7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish, the 7^th grade will begin a new chapter discussing clothes, shopping, and prices. Students will also learn about demonstrative adjectives. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday, October 4^th. 

7^th American History with Mrs. English
In American History we will study chapter 2-section 2 “Spain’s Empire in the Americas.”  This section discusses the conquistadors in the Americas and considers how a few hundred men altered history in the New World.  We specifically will study Hernando de Soto, a Spanish conquistador that trekked through North America’s southeast.  The history of the Spanish in the Americas played a significant role in how the United States formed several hundred years later.  In fact, the formation of Savannah was largely due to the presence of the Spanish!  Homework will include section key terms, review questions, and writing reflections.  Students should expect a quiz on Chapter 2-Section1 on Tuesday, October 1^st and a Geography assessment on physical geography terms and U.S. States on Thursday, October 3^th.  

7th graders give their explorer presentations Tuesday.

8TH GRADE NEWS

8^th Grade English Language Arts

Students in the process of composing a persuasive essay in which they must analyze Ender’s character and pass judgment on some of his actions.  Rough drafts of this assignment are due on Monday, and we will spend time in class editing and revising our work during the early part of the week ahead.  Final drafts will be due on Thursday, October 3^rd.  We will also begin exploring some short pieces of fiction in the literature textbook as well as working on our next lesson in Wordly Wise.  Students can expect a vocabulary quiz on Friday, October 4^th.  

8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake

The eighth graders will continue working with SI or the metric system.  Since SI is used in all of the sciences, it is important that they understand the system and conversions within the system.  We will work on relearning the various prefixes used and perform two lab activities with metrics.  They will have a quiz over SI on Thursday.

8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish, the 8^th grade will begin a new chapter discussing the preterite tense and irregular verbs. They will learn useful vocabulary about making purchases in Spanish-speaking countries. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday, October 4^th.  

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Algebra (7/8) we will be completing Chapter 3.  We will discuss percent problems (1.3) and practice rewriting equations with only variables in them (3.8).  We will have a day of review and the chapter test at the end of the week.

8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

In Advanced Algebra (Grade 8) we will be exploring the quadratic formula (10.6) in great depth and discussing how one can determine the number and type of solutions to a quadratic function using the discriminant (10.7).

8^th American Government with Mrs. English
The Declaration of Independence projects went great this past week!  Moving forward the American Government course will study the Articles of Confederation and discuss how the early foundations of American government influence our current politics.  We will have a quiz on Tuesday October 1^st on Chapter 2-Section 2 and a geography quiz on Thursday October 3^rd on U.S. States and physical geography terms.  

More sand madala making in 8th grade's art class.

SPORTS EVENTS

Football Game against St. James 

Tuesday, Oct. 1st @ 7pm
Volleyball Game
Hancock vs. St. Peter at Hancock

Saturday, Oct. 5th @ 9:30am
Football Game
Hancock vs. St. James at St. James