November 17-21

NOTES FROM THE HEAD OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

8^TH GRADE HIGH SCHOOL VISITATION

The 8^th grade will continue its visitation of area high schools on Monday.  This week, the class will visit the Habersham School.  The timing of this visit is slightly different from our other trips.  Students will leave HDS at 11:45 and return by 2:00.  They will have lunch with their Habersham hosts.  This will conclude our fall visitation of high schools.

Savannah Arts Academy has still not opened up its admission process for the 2014-15 school year.  When this happens, we will try and schedule a visit, but that will not happen until January.  I encourage all families interested in applying for the upcoming year to keep a vigilant eye on the SAA admissions schedule.

HELISE SANDLER TO SPEAK TO PARENTS

Helise Sandler from Savannah Educational Consultants will speak to HDS families on Wednesday, December 3^rd, at 6:30.  Mrs. Sandler is an educational consultant that works with families helping to plan educational choices for both high school and college.  Several HDS families take advantage of her services.  All are welcome and encouraged to this hear her presentation.

HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSES

Savannah Christian Preparatory School on Chatham Parkway will be hosting an open house for families on Monday, November 17^th at 7:00.  Please note that this is a time change from the material students were given when they visited the school.

Benedictine Military School has an open house this Sunday, November 16^th beginning at 2:00.  The school has also scheduled its admission test for Saturday, December 6^th at 8:00.

FOOD DRIVE COLLECTIONS GOING WELL!

Week one has been a HUGE success in our quest to collect 2014 pounds of can goods for Second Harvest.  One week remaining in this very worthwhile community service project.  Please keep this drive in mind when shopping this weekend! 

The Middle School is going to visit Second Harvest on Tuesday, November 25^th to drop off our food and help stock shelves.  We will return to HDS at 12:30 to celebrate all that we are fortunate to have with our annual Thanksgiving Feast.  Dismissal for the MIDDLE SCHOOL ONLY will be at 1:30.  To accommodate families we will provide structured activities for those students who cannot be picked up until 3:00.  More information on our special day coming your way next week.

SAVANNAH COUNTRY DAY SALSA PROGRAM TO PREFORM

Students from the Savannah Country Day School SALSA program will be visiting the Middle School on Friday, November 21.  They will make a presentation to our 8^th graders about making the choice to be substance free in high school.  This presentation was a huge success last year.

Internationally known artist Tony Troy did a demonstration of portrait drawing for the 7^th Grade art classes on Thursday.  He spoke to the students about how he started drawing portraits on the street in London to becoming a highly regarded and commissioned portrait painter and book illustrator.  Cole Kitchens and Lily Horton were lucky enough to be chosen to have a quick, 10 minute portrait draw!  Art Matters at HDS!

We are well on our way to reaching our goal of 2014 pounds of non-perishable foods to donate to Second Harvest! 

6TH GRADE NEWS

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

Next week the sixth graders will wrap up their study of short stories.  Students have a test over the material we have covered this unit on Tuesday, November 18^th.  In preparation for this test students should review their notes as well as the outline that was distributed in class on Thursday.  After our test we will finish revising our creative short stories; this composition is due on Thursday, November 20^th.  We will also take a Wordly Wise Quiz over lesson four on Friday, November 21^st.  

  

6th Math with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Math 6, we will continue in Chapter 5 by adding, subtracting, and multiplying mixed numbers and fractions.  On Wednesday, we will review for a Chapter quiz over sections 1 – 3.  On Thursday, November 20, students will take their quiz over lessons 1-3 and on Friday we will play a fun game of fraction bingo.

6th-7th Pre-Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will continue exploring exponents and their properties.  Students will discover what negative exponents mean and what a zero exponent means (4.6).  We will have a quiz on exponents (4.5 – 4.6) on Wednesday.  We will then learn about scientific notation and its uses in the world (4.7).

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Earth Science, we will take a deeper look at the Earth’s layers, as well as wrap up plate tectonics by discussing the plate boundaries and what natural disasters occur at each of the boundaries.  On Thursday, we will review for the Chapter 10 test that will take place on Friday, November 21.

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake

The sixth graders are finishing their chapter on plate tectonics next week.  The students will have an activity on the layers of the Earth that will be helpful with this chapter and the next two on earthquakes and volcanoes.   They will have their test on this chapter next Friday.

6th Spanish with Ms. Dixon

Next week, we’ll finish up Capítulo 2B and prepare for our test on Friday, November 21^st. Our test will cover classroom objects, location words, and conjugation. Thursday will be a review day. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

6th Ancient Civilizations with Mrs. Hannah
 We have completed our study of Ancient Egypt, and we will be taking a quiz over the Middle and New Kingdoms on Tuesday. The test over Ancient Egypt will take place on Thursday, and students will correct their graded tests on Friday. I will be in my room each morning at 7:45 to answer questions or for extra help!

7TH GRADE NEWS

7th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. Hannah
We will continue our focus on the various types of phrases by studying the difference in participial, infinitive, and gerund phrases this week. There will be a quiz on Friday over the three different types of phrases. I will be in my room each morning at 7:45 to answer questions or for extra help!

6th-7th Grade Pre-Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will continue exploring exponents and their properties.  Students will discover what negative exponents mean and what a zero exponent means (4.6).  We will have a quiz on exponents (4.5 – 4.6) on Wednesday.  We will then learn about scientific notation and its uses in the world (4.7).

7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake

The seventh graders will finish their study of the mitosis, meiosis and DNA next week.  They will learn about meiosis which is a specialized process that produces only germ cells.  The culmination of this chapter is a lab in which the students construct a 3-D model of DNA.  Their test on this chapter will be Friday of next week.  

7th-8th Algebra I with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra I, we will continue in Chapter 5 by using linear equations in slope-intercept form as well as writing linear equations in point-slope form.  On Wednesday, we will review for a Chapter quiz over sections 1 – 3.  Thursday, November 20, students will take their quiz over lessons 1-3 and on Friday we will use the graphing calculators in investigate slope-intercept form in depth.

7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class the 7^th grade will finish up Chapter 8A. Students will have several writing and reading assignments throughout the week. The test will be Thursday, November 20^th. On Friday students will receive a rubric for their travel project. Each student will be assigned a Spanish-speaking country to research and present.

7th American History with Mrs. English
This week in American History we will continue our study of the effects of the French and Indian War and see how the British began taxing the American colonists.  Students will understand how these events are examples of “cause and effect” history.  Students will create a timeline of events leading to the American Revolution.  We will have a quiz on the Top Ten of the French Revolution and Chapter 5-Section 2 at the end of the week.  Lastly, students will receive a rubric for a group project on the events leading to the American Revolution.  

8TH GRADE NEWS

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

 Eighth grade students will finish reading and discussing The Hound of the Baskervilles in the week ahead.  Students have a quiz over chapters 9-13 on Tuesday, November 18^th and a test over the entire novel on Friday, November 21^st.  I strongly encourage students to come see me for extra help before or after school if they are struggling.  We will also continue to work on finishing up our 20% projects.  Remember that these are due on Tuesday, December 2^nd.  All students should have copies of their rubrics with clear expectations for how the project will be graded.

8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake

The eighth graders are looking at matter in its different phases.  The students are learning how energy transfer influences each particular state.   They will perform a lab which looks at the energy needed to change water from a solid to a gas.  They will have a quiz on Wednesday of next week.  

7th-8th Algebra I with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra I, we will continue in Chapter 5 by using linear equations in slope-intercept form as well as writing linear equations in point-slope form.  On Wednesday, we will review for a Chapter quiz over sections 1 – 3.  Thursday, November 20, students will take their quiz over lessons 1-3 and on Friday we will use the graphing calculators in investigate slope-intercept form in depth.

8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear 

Next week students will discover the mathematics behind extraneous solutions in radical equations and practice solving them (11.3).  Students will begin exploring the Pythagorean Theorem (11.4) and have a quiz on Thursday covering radical equations and the basic uses of the Pythagorean Theorem.

8th Geometry with Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will have our Chapter 4 Test on Tuesday.  We will then continue exploring triangles and theorems involving them, including the Midsegment Theorem (5.1) and perpendicular bisectors (5.2).

8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class the 8^th grade will continue working with the imperfect tense through writing and reading assignments. We will also review indirect objects pronouns and how we use them in Spanish. There will be a graded listening as well as the chapter test on Friday, November 21^st.

8th American Government with Mrs. English

This week in American History we will continue to look at the grassroots and government progressive reforms  in the early 1900s.  We will see what changes the Progressive Movement brought to America.  Lastly, we will take a look at the Progressive Presidents of America.  Students will understand how these men changed America and increased the size of the national government.  

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