Announcements: February 3-7, 2014

WORDS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR

8^th GRADE TRIP

The 8^th grade will be traveling to Asheville, North Carolina in April for its capstone trip.  Our host will be the Mountain Trail Outdoor School located at the Kanuga Conference Center.  This trip was also taken and enjoyed by last year’s 8^th grade.  2014 marks the final transition year for these trips.  In 2015 the 8^th grade will be traveling to Washington, D.C. for its capstone experience.

While at the Outdoor School students will participate in activities that enhance leadership skills, team building, and the ecology of rural North Carolina. We will also take a trip to tour the Biltmore Estate and enjoy downtown Asheville.

Details for the trip:

Depart Monday, April 14^th at approximately 6:00 am.  We will travel in the Hancock bus and two rented mini-vans.  Arrive at the Outdoor school in time for lunch and afternoon activities.

Return Thursday, April 17^th following lunch (about 1:15) and arrive back at HDS around dinner time.

Cost will be between $300 and $350 dollars. This will be finalized next week. Along with the exact cost we will publish dates for deposits and final payments to be made.

An exciting time!

UPCOMING FIELD TRIP

The 7^th grade will be going to the Jepson Center on February 13 to see the Robert Henri exhibit entitled “Spanish Sojourns; Robert Henri and the Spirit of Spain.”  The trip will be discussed in the both the Art (Ms. Oosterhoudt) and Spanish (Ms. Hughes) curricula.

ADMISSIONS

The admissions season for high school is coming to a close. We have one final set of applications to deliver to the Habersham School next week. Then it is wait and see where our students will be accepted. In the spring I will be hosting an evening program to discuss with parents the next steps for a successful transition to high school. What role does the family play at this point in advocating for and developing your child’s high school program?  We have families that have many varied experiences that I hope to share that evening.

OPPORTUNITY

St. Vincent’s will be offering a 3 session Study Skills workshop.  Sessions will be Thursday, February 13^th and Friday, February 14^th 3:30 – 5:30; Saturday, February 15^th 9:00 – 2:00.  Cost is $85/student.  Ms. Edie has information to share or contact Jody Riddle at St. Vincents, jody.riddle@svaga.net. 

ACTIVITIES

Middle School dance tonight, 6:30 – 8:30 in Hancock Hall.

SPAL basketball tournament begins next week. Hancock will hosting the 5^th grade tournament with playoff games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Championship games on Thursday.  6^th and 7^th grade tournament sites and schedules are being developed. The format will be the same with playoffs early in the week and championship games late in the week. PLEASE COME AND SUPPORT OUR ATHLETES AND CELEBRATE THEIR HARD WORK!

6TH GRADE NEWS

6th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor

In the week ahead sixth graders will work on writing a persuasive essay pertaining to The Outsiders.  We will also begin a new unit in Wordly Wise and review types/kinds of sentences.  Students can expect a short quiz over these grammatical concepts on Thursday, February 6^th.

Math 6 with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Math 6, students will take their math facts quiz on Monday, February 3 and their Chapter 7 test on Wednesday, February 5. On Thursday and Friday, we will explore Chapter 8 by learning about ratios and rates.

6th Earth Science with Mr. Crawford

Mother Nature derailed my schedule so I am now officially slightly behind my plans!  We’ll get caught up!  Monday – Wednesday of next week we will wrap up our discussion of Earthquakes. Students will be completing a project in class to explore the major earthquakes.  Thursday and Friday we will begin our discussion of volcanoes and how they are related to the overall discussion of plate tectonics. Homework Monday will be to write about an assigned earthquake using notes and data researched in class. Tuesday will be to read the handout “Volcanic Activity.”  Wednesday we will discuss characteristic of volcanoes.  Homework questions 1-3 page 4. On Thursday night students will read the handout “Volcanic Eruptions.”

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake

 Due to our unexpected days off this week, the sixth graders just had their quiz over telescopes and the electromagnetic spectrum today.  Next week they will begin their look at the U. S. space program which was pushed to the forefront by the 1957 launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union.  They will look at all three projects that led to the moon landing in 1969.

6th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Due to the short week, the 6^th graders will now be taking their Chapter 3B test on Tuesday, February 4^th. We will also begin a new unit discussing locations in a community, leisure activities, and use of the verb “ir”. Students will continue to work with interrogative words in Spanish.

6th World Civilizations with Mrs. English

This week in World Civilizations we will have our Chapter 8 Greece test on Monday February 3^rd.  We will also introduce Chapter 9 on the Greek Golden Age.

7TH GRADE NEWS

7th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor

Seventh graders will take their test over The Hobbit on Tuesday, February 4^th.  After the test we will begin working on a character analysis essay.  We will also begin working on a new unit in Wordly Wise in the week ahead.

Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will start into Chapter 8 learning about relations and functions, linear equations in two variables, and using intercepts to graph equations. On Thursday, we will review for the Chapter quiz on Friday over sections 8.1 – 8.3.

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we will finish our discussion of Chapter 6 and inequalities by learning how to graph linear inequalities. This process involves graphing a line (either dotted or solid) and then shading the appropriate half-plane (side) of the line.  There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 6 Test on Friday.

7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake

The unexpected days off this week will postpone the seventh grade chapter test until Tuesday of next week. They will spend Monday reviewing. After the test, the students will begin looking at complex invertebrates starting with mollusks and segmented worms. There will be a quiz over mollusks near the end of the week.

7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 7^th grade will continue to work with the new vocabulary and grammar points in Chapter 9A. Due to the short week, the Chapter 9A test has been moved to Tuesday, February 11^th. 

7th American History with Mrs. English
This week in American history we will be discussing the Declaration of Independence and major battles of the American Revolutionary War. Students will be expected to memorize their section of the Declaration of Independence and present as a class on Friday February 7^th. 

8TH GRADE NEWS

8th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor

Eighth graders will continue working on their mood essay over Hound of the Baskervilles next week.  Rough drafts of this will be due on Wednesday, February 5^th, and final drafts will be due on Monday, February 10^th.

8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake

The unexpected days off this week will postpone the eighth grade chapter test until Wednesday of next week. They will spend Tuesday reviewing. After the test, the students will start a new chapter in which they will look more closely at chemical reactions. After reviewing the characteristics of chemical changes and chemical formulas, they will learn about chemical equations. A chemical equation is simply a shorthand method of showing what occurs during a chemical reaction. Because of the Law of Conservation of Mass these equations must be balanced.  We will spend the last half of the week working with balancing equations.   

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we will finish our discussion of Chapter 6 and inequalities by learning how to graph linear inequalities.  This process involves graphing a line (either dotted or solid) and then shading the appropriate half-plane (side) of the line.  There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 6 Test on Friday.

8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Advanced Algebra/Intro to Geometry class (Grade 8), we will be continuing our exploration of Chapter 8 involving the areas of various polygons.  We will start with the basic rectangles, squares, and triangles, and then move on to areas of parallelograms, trapezoids, and finally circles (8.3 – 8.7).

8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 8^th grade will continue to work with the new vocabulary and grammar points in Chapter 4B. Due to the short week, the Chapter 4B test has been moved to Tuesday, February 11^th. 

8th American Government with Mrs. English
This week in American Government we will begin our study of American campaigns. Students will learn the ins and outs of how election campaigning works. This unit will prepare us for our Hancock class campaign project starting in a few weeks.  We will also finish our presidential debates this week.  Students should look for a Chapter 12-Section 1 Quiz on Friday February 7^th.