Announcements Jan 27-31, 2014

WORDS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR

STUDENT COLDS

By now most of our families have been touched by one of the two “bugs” traveling around the Middle School, the dreaded stomach bug or the sinus/head cold. These have hit our students (and faculty) hard with symptoms ranging from minor to fevers.  If your child appears to be coming down with an illness, please keep him/her home. That will help minimize the spread to other students. If you child is out, email Ms. Edie and she can get assignments together that can be completed at home. 

STUDENT SERVICES

From time to time I hear from people, businesses or agencies that are providing educational services.  I am going to start passing along this information. This information is forwarded as a resource for families and unless specifically noted, comes without recommendation. 

This week I met with Sally Greenberg, the tutoring coordinator at the Royce Center.  The Royce Center does one on one tutoring as well as broader programs that are offered both during the school year and during the summer.  The Center just provided me with information about a Study Skills program they are offering from February 10 – April 14 on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 for $250.  We offer Study Skills once a week for our students.  This might be something you would like to consider to supplement that as the classes are small (generally 6 – 8).  I have a flyer at school and Ms. Greenberg can be reached at sgreenberg@roycelc.org for more information.

HIGH SCHOOL ADMISSIONS

The admissions season grinds on for our 8^th graders.  Please keep an eye on any deadlines for submission of applications.  Many are coming up and some have gone by already.  Most of the admissions packets that were submitted to us to process are complete and forwarded onto the appropriate school.  I will be sending emails to our 8^th grade families next week confirming our submission of your student’s admissions packet.

COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITY

The intramural program is looking for students to assist on Saturday mornings with the basketball program.  Duties include running the clock and preparing the gym for the games.  There are two times available each Saturday, 8:45 – 11:00 and 10:45 – 1:00.  An EXCELLENT opportunity to help our the HDS community!  Sign up in Ms. Edie’s office.

ACTIVITIES

The first Middle School dance of the year will be Friday, January 31st, 6:30 – 8:30.  The students are planning a stylish event! 

Here is a list of things that would be helpful for parents to provide:

Mr. Lanfear: desserts (brownies, squares, cookies, candy etc.)

Mrs. Blake: Finger foods and apps (chicken fingers, chips and dips etc.)

Mrs. Reardon: 2 liters, tea, lemonade, water

Ms. Hughes: 2 liters, tea, lemonade, water

Mrs. O’Connor: Paper products (cups, plates, napkins, cutlery)

The regular basketball season concludes the week of January 27^th and the SPAL tournament begins the week of February 3^rd.  Bring on February Madness!

Second Harvest of America is a great organization to volunteer community work hours. What they do is give food to the less fortunate by getting food donations and either bag it and send it to the people receiving the food or they stock it in their mobile food pantry which is a place where people can come to the warehouse in Second Harvest. I usually go to the warehouse to bag the groceries, but this year, as a class, we went to stock the Mobile food pantry. We also got a tour around all of Second Harvest and got to learn about how they are helping the community. America's Second Harvest is a great organization and is a great place to donate some of your time to help them out. --Philip Dusek, 8th grade

6TH GRADE NEWS

6th grader creations from art

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

It’s been a quick week, and the sixth graders are rapidly concluding their study of The Outsiders.  Questions over chapters 11-12 are due on Monday, and students will take their test over the book on Tuesday, January 28^th.  On Wednesday we will begin working on a persuasive essay exploring some themes from the novel.  Students will also continue working on compound and complex sentences in their GUM books.

Math 6 with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Math 6, we will wrap up Chapter 7 by learning about functions and equations, as well as graphing functions. On Wednesday and Thursday we will review for the Chapter 7 test and on Friday, January 31, students will take their Chapter 7 test.

6th Earth Science with Mr. Crawford

Remarkably I am adhering to my New Year’s resolution and remaining basically on schedule for the semester!  We will continue our exploration of earthquakes this week.  Friday (1/24) night’s assignment is to read “Measuring and Predicting Earthquakes” and answer questions 1 & 2 found on page 6. Monday we will discuss earthquakes and prepare for an examination on Plate Tectonics and the underlying hypothesis’s (Continental Drift and Sea Floor spreading) that surround that theory. Tuesday is the exam; homework is to complete the last two bulleted questions on page 6 of the “Measuring” paper. Wednesday and Thursday will be working on a project exploring the major earthquakes that have struck the United States. While we will be completing a majority of the work in class, Wednesday night’s homework might require some online research. Thursday night homework is to read “The Nature of Earthquakes.” Friday we will wrap up our discussion of earthquakes and prepare to move to volcanoes.

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake

 Next week the sixth graders will continue their study of space exploration.  They will look at the beginning of the “Space Age” and NASA’s various missions.  Also, they will construct a time line of the milestones of the program. They will have a short quiz on Wednesday.

6th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 6^th grade will continue to work with the new vocabulary and grammar from Chapter 3B. This includes stem-changing verbs and ways to maintain one’s health. The students will present their skits over healthy decisions on Monday and will finish their Spanish cookbooks throughout the week. The 6^th grade will have their chapter test on Friday, January 31^st.

6th World Civilizations with Mrs. English
 This week in World Civilizations we will finish writing our Greek myths and complete our study of Chapter 8-Lesson 4 on life in Sparta and Athens. Students will see how the cultures of Sparta and Athens were starkly different from one another.  Students will have a test on Chapter 8 on Friday January 31^st. 

7TH GRADE NEWS

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

The seventh graders really seem to be enjoying The Hobbit!  Questions over chapters 9-14 are due on Monday, and our test over the novel will be on Friday, January 31^st.  This is a change from the original reading calendar, and I have announced the new date in class several times.  We will spend some class time reviewing and preparing for the test.

Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Reardon

 Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will review for the Chapter 7 test on Monday, students will take their Chapter 7 test on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we will do an in-class project that will help students calculate sales tax and tips on restaurant bills. Thursday, we will start into Chapter 8 learning about functions and linear equations in 2 variables.

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Intro to Geometry class, we will begin discussing general facts about polygons (Chapter 8).  We will discuss classifying polygons (convex/concave/equilateral/equiangular/regular) (8.1). We will also discover for ourselves a way to find the sum of all the interior angles of any polygon (8.2). We will then begin discussing area formulas for different polygons (8.3 – 8.6).

7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake

The seventh graders continue their student led study of invertebrates. They are now learning about two phyla of simple worms-the flatworms and the roundworms. Next week they will have a short lab in which they will look at slides and specimens of representative animals from the four phyla studied thus far. Their test over this chapter will be on Friday, Jan. 31.

7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 7^th grade will begin a new unit covering television shows, movies, and entertainment. The grammar points will cover “gustar-type” verbs and discussing about events that just occurred. Students will begin a project where they will create a movie trailer and the project will count as a quiz grade. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday, January 31^st. 

7th American History with Mrs. English

This week in American History class we will finish our news articles on the Battles at Lexington and Concord. We will finish our notes on Chapter 5-Section 4—“War Begins.”  Students should expect a Chapter 5 test on Thursday, January 30^th. 

8TH GRADE NEWS

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

This week students finished reading Hound of the Baskervilles and submitted their final set of questions over the novel.  Our test over the book will take place on Tuesday, January 28^th.  Students will spend the latter portion of next week working on a literary analysis essay explaining the how mood is established in the novel and why it is significant.  

8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake

The eighth graders have finished their review of atomic structure and the periodic table.  Next week they will work on electron dot diagrams. Also, they will learn about the different types of bonds. They will have a short quiz on Wednesday.

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Intro to Geometry class, we will begin discussing general facts about polygons (Chapter 8).  We will discuss classifying polygons (convex/concave/equilateral/equiangular/regular) (8.1). We will also discover for ourselves a way to find the sum of all the interior angles of any polygon (8.2). We will then begin discussing area formulas for different polygons (8.3 – 8.6).

8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we will finish our exploration of inequalities in Chapter 6.  We finished last week by learning how to solve absolute value equations.  We will begin the week with learning how to solve absolute value inequalities (Chapter 6.6).  We will also explore graphing inequalities (Chapter 6.7), which involves the ever popular shading of graphs (cue dramatic music).

8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

 Next week in Spanish class, the 8^th grade will begin a chapter over family celebrations and other celebrations in Spanish-speaking countries. Students will continue to use the imperfect tense when discussing these events. We will also begin to use both the preterite and the imperfect tenses together. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday, January 31^st.

 

8th American Government with Mrs. English
This week in American government class we will start the presidential debate bracket.  Students will debate about who is the greatest U.S. president of all time. Student’s speeches should be five minutes long and persuade listeners that their president is the greatest in American history. These speeches will count as a quiz grade. We will also examine president Obama’s State of the Union address. Finally, students will be assigned their roles for the February campaign project.