January 26-30

   

NOTES FROM THE HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL 

LOWER SCHOOL INTRAMURAL - HELP WANTED!!

HDS is able to offer a wide range of quality programs due in large part to an army of volunteers.  Intramural basketball is one of those programs.  For 4 Saturdays over the next two months students in the Lower School will be playing basketball.  We need volunteers to make these games happen, specifically, clock keepers and referees.  NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY - THIS IS LOWER SCHOOL INTRAMURALS!!!  Please consider volunteering as a parent or having your student volunteer to help out.

Please click here for specific dates and times.  You may sign up by contacting Ms. Gordon in the Middle School office.  

IT’S A SWEETHEART OF A DANCE!

The Middle School Student Government has planned a Sweetheart dance for Friday, January 30th from 6:30 - 9:00.  The students have hired a GREAT DJ for the event.  Light snacks will be provided based on the following schedule:

6th grade bring snacks and finger food

7th grade bring “hand held” desserts (cookies, cupcakes, brownies, etc.)

8th grade bring 2 liter bottles of soda

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES

Periodically we receive information about extracurricular offerings at other schools inviting our students to participate.  As I receive these invitations I will announce them on the BLOG.

This week, I received an announcement about summer school offerings at the Lovett School in Atlanta.  Some offerings are purely academic, others are activities like photography and film-making.  Additional information can be found by clicking here.

WASHINGTON TRIP

The students have given their final input to trip itinerary.  We will be holding a parent information night on Tuesday, February 3rd beginning at 6:30.  8th grade families should plan on attending this session.  Along with the announcing the details of the itinerary, we will discuss appropriate clothing and accessories that should be taken and collect emergency information.  4 Weeks and counting!

6TH GRADE NEWS

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

The sixth grade students are reading the conclusion of The Outsiders and preparing for our test (scheduled for Tuesday, January 27^th).  Students are also researching different aspects of life in the 1960’s in order to better understand the novel’s setting.  Students will present their findings to the class on Thursday, January 29^th.  Thursday students also have permission to dress like a Greaser or a Soc instead of wearing the usual HDS uniform!  Late next week we will take a closer look at some major themes in the novel as we begin brainstorming for an essay assignment.  We will also practice identifying adverb and adjective clauses in our GUM book.

6th Math with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Math 6, we will take Monday and Tuesday to review in depth Chapter 6.  Chapter 6 is content heavy, therefore your child should not wait until the night before the test to start studying!  The Chapter 6 test will take place on Wednesday, January 28.  Thursday and Friday we will take a look into Chapter 7 and explore writing expressions and equations.

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

Next week we will be studying proportions.  Students will learn how to write and solve proportions in various ways.  We will have a quiz on ratios and proportions (6.1 – 6.3) on Wednesday.  We will then begin applying those skills towards geometry with similar and congruent figures (6.4).

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Earth Science, we will continue to explore space by taking a look at the different types of telescopes that are used not only to look at stars, but also to study radio waves traveling through space.  We will also discuss some of the early space missions as well as satellites.

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake

 The sixth graders have just started their unit on astronomy.  They have just read about the electromagnetic spectrum and will be learning how we make use of the various types of radiation.  They will have a short quiz over this information on Tuesday.  At that point, 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. Also, they will construct a time line of the milestones of the program.  

6th Spanish with Mrs. Dixon-Bender

Next week, we will continue to cover Capítulo 3A. There will be a vocabulary quiz from this chapter on Friday, January 30^th. We will review together the Thursday prior. 

6th Ancient Civilizations with Mrs. Hannah

We are continuing our study of the major Chinese dynasties next week as we cover the Zhou and Qin dynasties. Students received their approved research questions today, along with resources on how to create source cards and note cards as they research their topics. We have class time at the end of next week and the beginning of February devoted to in-class research, but students can begin gathering sources now, so they can maximize the in-class time. I am in my classroom by 7:45 daily for any extra help or clarification. 

7TH GRADE NEWS

7th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. Hannah

We are already halfway finished reading The Hobbit! In conjunction with their project, we have been analyzing Bilbo Baggins' transformation into a hero. Your student has all the resources needed to write the first paragraph and begin the second paragraph of the paper, and should have an idea of how they will create the map that will accompany the paper. We have a quiz over The Hobbit chapters 9-12 on Wednesday, and a quiz over verbs on Thursday.  I am in my classroom by 7:45 daily for any extra help or clarification.  

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

Next week we will be studying proportions.  Students will learn how to write and solve proportions in various ways.  We will have a quiz on ratios and proportions (6.1 – 6.3) on Wednesday.  We will then begin applying those skills towards geometry with similar and congruent figures (6.4).

7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake

The seventh graders continue their invertebrate project.  They are working in teams to research a particular phylum and will be responsible for teaching the class about that group of invertebrates.  These presentations will be given over the next four weeks.   Also next week, they will finish sponges and will move on to the phylum cnidarian.

7th-8th Algebra I with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra I, we will wrap up Chapter 6 by graphing linear inequalities in two variables on Monday.  Since this chapter is so content rich, we will take both Tuesday and Wednesday to review the material for the Chapter 6 test that will take place on Thursday, January 29.  Students should not wait until the night before the test to study!!

7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 7^th grade will begin a new chapter discussing entertainment and how to express preferences and opinions using “gustar-type verbs”. Students will also create a movie trailer in Spanish using their new vocabulary. The vocabulary quiz will be Friday, January 30^th. 

7th American History with Mrs. English
We are finishing Chapter 6-The Revolutionary War this week.  We will have a test on Wednesday. Homework this weekend, Monday, and Tuesday night is to prepare for the test.  Students will begin their geography project on Wednesday in computer class.  We will continue working on it on Thursday and Friday.  Looking forward to a great week! 

8TH GRADE NEWS

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

The eighth graders are continuing to explore poetry by identifying examples of common poetic devices/figurative language through their work on the poetry poster projects.  Analyzing why poets choose to include poetic devices is a major component of the assignment.  This project is due on Wednesday, January 28^th, and students will have time to work in class on Monday and Tuesday.  We’ll spend the second half of the week examining sonnets and ballads as we wrap up our poetry unit and prepare for a test on Thursday, February 5^th.  We will also continue to identify parts of speech and sentence parts through our daily grammar practice.

8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake

The eighth graders are looking at bonding.  Next week they will learn about the different types of bonds and do some more work with Lewis structures.   They will also review

chemical formulas.  This will complete our short chapter on atomic structure and bonds.  Their test will be at the end of next week.

7th-8th Algebra I with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra I, we will wrap up Chapter 6 by graphing linear inequalities in two variables on Monday.  Since this chapter is so content rich, we will take both Tuesday and Wednesday to review the material for the Chapter 6 test that will take place on Thursday, January 29.  Students should not wait until the night before the test to study!!

8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear 

Next week we will continue our exploration of geometry by studying polygons and their various properties (Chapter 8).  We will learn how to classify polygons, as well as some theorems (equations) about the angles of polygons.  There will be a quiz on what we have covered up to that point on Friday (8.1 – 8.4).

8th Geometry with Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will finish Chapter 6 by proving triangles are similar by various theorems and postulates (6.4 – 6.5).  We will also use some theorems involving proportions (6.6) and learn about dilations in the coordinate plane (6.7).  There will be a Chapter 6 Test the following week.

8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 8^th grade will begin a new chapter discussing natural disasters and exchange information over newsworthy events. Students will also create and present a news broadcast completely in Spanish using the new vocabulary. The vocabulary quiz will be Friday, January 30^th.

8th American Government with Mrs. English

This week we will have a test on Tuesday over the Roaring Twenties. On Thursday I will introduce the stock market and how the Great Depression occurred.  Students will also finish their Silent Films on Wednesday and we will "screen" them on Friday.  Homework will come from Chapter 22-Section 4 (defining key terms, checkpoint question, and Check Your Progress questions). Looking forward to a great week!