Hancock Holiday Concert Friday
Ten members of the Middle School will be participating in next week’s concert. We look forward to watching them perform!! Please come and support our students.
8th GRADE FAMILIES
Just a friendly reminder that the deadline for 8th grade yearbook ads is coming up on December 16th. Don't miss out on this creative way to commemorate your 8th grade student’s time at Hancock Day School.
Simply follow the link below to select, design, and pay for your ad. Then wait to see it in print at the end of the year.
Feel free to contact yearbook@hancockdayschool.org with any questions.
UPCOMING 8th GRADE FIELD TRIP - DRIVERS NEEDED
On Thursday, January 12th, the 8th grade will be visiting the Massie Heritage Center and eating lunch off campus. We are looking for 5-6 drivers to help transport the 8th grade to Massie, lunch, and then back to Hancock Day School. We plan to depart Hancock at 9:30 in the morning and return to campus around 1:30. If you are available to drive for this trip, please email achandler@hancockdayschool.org
Community Service Opportunity 2017 Yates-Astro Resolution 5K Race at Bethesda Academy on Saturday, January 7, 8:30 a.m.
Click on the link below to register. Take advantage of the early bird discount ($25.00) through 12/26. The entry fee goes to $35.00 beyond that date. Racers can also sign up race day....just come a half hour early!!
Sponsored by the Women’s Board of Bethesda.
(No strollers or pets allowed.)
COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
12/17 at Second Harvest Food Bank: Students and their families may volunteer to help bag food for senior citizens in need. Volunteers should be at Second Harvest at 7:45 AM and wear closed-toe shoes.
12/19-12/23 at Memorial Hospital: Due to flu/RSV concerns, volunteers under 18 will not be allowed to help wrap gifts at Memorial Hospital this year.
NOTES FROM 8th GRADE
8th Grade Algebra 1 Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Algebra we will continue working on the creation of our Chapter 5 board games. Each student received directions and a rubric yesterday in class. They are working in groups to create a fun, interactive, and structured game that practices the concepts learned in Chapter 5. The project is due at the end of class on Thursday, December 15.
8th Grade Geometry Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will continue Chapter 6 by learning about similar polygons and scale factors (6.3) and proving triangles are similar by various methods (6.4 - 6.5). Have a wonderful holiday break!
8th Grade Advanced Algebra Mr. Lanfear
We have come to the end of the Algebra portion of our course. Next week we will review all the topics we have covered so far. When we come back from break, we will begin the Geometry portion of the course to prepare students for a full high school Geometry course next year. Have a wonderful holiday break!
8th Grade Language Arts Mrs. O’Connor
This week we’ve learned about mysteries and detective fiction by exploring Doyle’s, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.” Over the weekend students will try their hand at composing their own (brief) piece of detective fiction as they compose a couple of paragraphs on a creative prompt. Next week students will review the elements of plot structure in preparation for their quiz on Wednesday, December 14th.
Please remember to always check Google Classroom when you are absent for the most up to date information regarding what you missed in class. I also encourage students to keep up with their independent reading over the winter break!
8th Grade History Mrs. English
This week we will have our European geography quiz on Tuesday. We will also wrap up our 19.1 & 2 unit with a quiz on Wednesday. Looking forward to a good week and a restful break!
8th Grade Physical Science Mrs. Huennekens
Properties of light are our focus this week. Students are discovering many aspects of light, such as the types of artificial light, the difference between primary color and primary pigment colors. Lucky for them, they are also exploring the color wheel in Art class.
There will be a quiz on Tuesday, December 13th on the material covered from Wednesday(12/7) through Monday (12/12). Students have information in their textbook on pages 550-554 and notes taken in class that have been added to supplement the textbook.
Students are encouraged to check Google Classroom on a daily basis, come see me for extra help and to review material covered in class nightly.
8th Grade Spanish Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 8th grade will wrap up Chapter 3B with a listening activity on Monday. Students will review on Tuesday and the chapter test will be on Wednesday, December 14th. We will end the week by learning about some holiday traditions and songs in Spanish. I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing break!
NOTES FROM 7th GRADE
7th Grade Algebra 1 Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Algebra we will continue working on the creation of our Chapter 5 board games. Each student received directions and a rubric yesterday in class. They are working in groups to create a fun, interactive, and structured game that practices the concepts learned in Chapter 5. The project is due at the end of class on Thursday, December 15.
7th Grade Pre-Algebra Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will continue Chapter 5 by learning how to multiply and divide fractions (5.4-5.5). There will be a quiz covering sections 5.1 - 5.4 on Tuesday. Have a wonderful holiday break!
7th Grade Language Arts Mrs. Hannah
We are concluding our poetry study by writing an annotated poem with a central theme and identifying poetic devices within the poems. We began last week, and will work on this in class Monday and Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, we will review for the poetry test which is scheduled for Wednesday. Students should be able to identify main events and poetic devices from each poem that we read.
7th Grade History Mrs. English
This week we will continue our study of espionage during the Revolutionary War by creating invisible ink and book codes to pass messages. Students will learn about the devastating cost for getting caught as a spy, but the great reward for successfully completing missions. Looking forward to a great week and restful break!
7th Grade Spanish Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 7th grade will wrap up Chapter 7B with a reading comprehension check on Monday. Students will review on Tuesday and the chapter test will be on Wednesday, December 14th. We will end the week by learning about some holiday traditions and songs in Spanish. I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing break!
7th Grade Life Science Mrs. Heyward
This week has been a whirlwind, to say the least! We had a discussion Tuesday about antibiotics and their effect on bacteria. In addition to that, we began our discussion about viruses and vaccines. Ironically, I came down with streptococcus pyogenes, also known as strep throat. Based on the name, your student should be able to tell you its shape and growth pattern! When they stain it, it shows up crystal violet! Is that Gram-positive or Gram-negative? This upcoming week, we will perform a lab where we will do a Gram stain study on the bacteria in milk. We will also begin our discussions on Cellular Transport which will culminate with another lab Friday, December 9. We will have a short quiz just before that lab, as well. Enjoy your weekend!
NOTES FROM 6th GRADE
6th Grade Accelerated Math 7 Mrs. Reardon
This week we completed Chapter 5, ending with customary units. We played a fun converting customary units game of “I have, who has” in class today. Students had to say, “I mustache [must ask] who has 8 ounces written in cups?” and similar questions. In order to play the game they had to grow some facial hair (see pictures below!) :) We will review for the Chapter 5 test on Monday and Tuesday and students should expect their test over Chapter 5 on Wednesday, December 14. We will do a fun holiday activity on Thursday in class.
6th Pre-Algebra Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will continue Chapter 5 by learning how to multiply and divide fractions (5.4-5.5). There will be a quiz covering sections 5.1 - 5.4 on Tuesday. Have a wonderful holiday break!
6th Grade Language Arts Mrs. Guggenheim
Week of December 12, 2016
We will continue working on our short story unit, discussing the elements of a story and reading short stories. We will begin brainstorming for the short story we’ll write in January. There will be a grammar quiz over the eight parts of speech, sentence structure, and subject/predicate on December 14th. Some students are off to a great start on their 2nd Trimester Reading Log. The holidays are a great time to catch up on reading! Please don’t forget this counts as a project grade. Students are asked to read 360 minutes (of outside reading) per trimester. Parent signatures are required for students to in minutes. Please don’t forget about Community Service hours (10 each year of middle school is the goal). Students may turn in their sheets before the holidays to have their time-to-date recorded. We will return the sheets so students may continue to record their hours.
We will continue working on our short story unit, discussing the elements of a story and reading short stories. We will begin brainstorming for the short story we’ll write in January. There will be a grammar quiz over the eight parts of speech, sentence structure, and subject/predicate on December 14th. Some students are off to a great start on their 2nd Trimester Reading Log. The holidays are a great time to catch up on reading! Please don’t forget this counts as a project grade. Students are asked to read 360 minutes (of outside reading) per trimester. Parent signatures are required for students to in minutes. Please don’t forget about Community Service hours (10 each year of middle school is the goal). Students may turn in their sheets before the holidays to have their time-to-date recorded. We will return the sheets so students may continue to record their hours.
6th Grade Ancient Civilizations Mrs. Hannah
We have wrapped up our study of India, and will test over the unit on Wednesday 14 December. Students should be familiar with the material in their notes packet and with the map of the subcontinent. We will complete a chapter review on Monday to identify key topics, and play a matching review game on Tuesday to reinforce information from the chapter.
6th Grade Earth Science Mrs. Huennekens
Students are excited to learn about the changes in our Earth! This week they learned about the three different stresses: compressional, tensional and sheer. Ask them to tell you about the San Andreas Fault and the two plates that are involved. Below are photos from our lab on Thursday. They did a lab called “Soapy Stress”. They used soap as a model for rock to try and demonstrate the three stresses and how rocks break.
A quiz is scheduled for Tuesday, December 13th.
Students are encouraged to check Google Classroom on a daily basis, come see me for extra help and to review material covered in class nightly.
6th Grade Spanish Ms. Sotomayor
Ms. Sotomayor has been out sick this week. Keep an eye on Google Classroom for next week’s assignments and activities.
Ensemble Mrs. Cookson
We are getting ready to wrap up Ensemble for this round. Working in small groups the students put their creative energies into developing a final performance for the class. Pulling from what we have covered so far, each group will decide our activities for the very last class next week, so it should be interesting.
Art Mrs. Cookson
It’s wrap up time in the art room, as we prepare for the upcoming holiday break.
6th - Digital self-portraits continue while the students get an introduction to the Principles of Design.
7th - Plaster, plaster everywhere as the students move forward with their figure sculptures. Without even realizing we made some discoveries in chemistry and physics through our burlap and plaster work.
8th - The color wheel projects came out looking so good, and I think it even crossed over into what they are learning in science class. If you get a chance, take a look at them on the board in the hallway outside room 315.
