NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD
Internet Safety Parent.edu
Hancock Day School will be providing a Parent.edu on internet safety including the uses of Instagram and Snapchat on January 31st from 6:00pm to 7:00pm presented by APO Sharif Lockett. This should be an extremely informative and helpful program! If you have any questions please email Ms. Pedrick at apedrick@hancockdayschool.org or call at 912-351-4500 Ext 309.
Lunch Bunch Groups
Starting next week, lunch bunch groups will begin for the sixth grade! These will be divided up by gender and each group will meet during lunch every other week. This will give students an opportunity to get to know others in their grade and provide a space for students to discuss the ups and downs of being middle school students. If you have any questions please email Ms. Pedrick at apedrick@hancockdayschool.org or call at 912-351-4500 Ext 309.
8th Grade Field Trip
Next Wednesday, January 31st, our eighth graders will be taking a field trip to downtown Savannah to explore our city’s rich history. Students will also have the opportunity to practice their Spanish as we have lunch at Jalapenos. The field trip letter that went home with students this week can be found here.
Savannah Country Day School
Country Day has extended an invitation to the Hancock community to attend a presentation on the hidden impact of screen time & social media on children: what every parent needs to know. The event is on Thursday, February 1st, 7:00 - 8:30, with a follow up coffee with the presenter on Friday morning, February 2nd, at 8:30. CLICK HERE to see invitation.
Volleyball Camps
Bob Bertucci Volleyball Camps are being held at St. Vincent’s Academy from July 26-28, 2018. For more information about the camps and registration CLICK HERE
Community Service
Hancock Day School has encouraged student involvement in serving the community since it was founded. The Community Service Program at HDS was established to prepare our students for a lifetime of service to others. We hope to provide them with the opportunity to experience firsthand the pleasure of helping others while developing their communication, leadership, and decision making skills. Middle School Students are expected to complete a minimum of 10 hours of community service each school year. Please document service hours on the HDS Community Service Log and submit to Madison Ross in the MS office.
8TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
8th grade Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Algebra we will continue in Chapter 6 by solving compound and absolute value inequalities, as well as absolute value equations. We will review Thursday for the 6.4-6.6 quiz that will take place on Friday, February 2. Challenge problem will be due on Tuesday, January 30.
8th grade Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will continue Chapter 8 in the Geometry textbooks by learning how to find the area of parallelograms, rhombuses (8.5), and trapezoids (8.6). We will also learn how to calculate the circumference and area of circles as well as finding areas of complex figures and sectors of circles (8.7). There will be a day of review for Chapter 8 on Friday and the Chapter 8 test next Tuesday.
8th grade Geometry - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete Chapter 7 by practicing using right triangle trigonometry in word problems (7.5-7.7). There will be a day of review on Tuesday and the test on Trigonometry on Thursday. Due to a field trip, there will not be Geometry class on Wednesday. We will then begin Chapter 8 by learning about the interior and exterior angles of polygons (8.1).
8th grade Physical Science - Mr. Cooper
Next week we will finish our “Egg Crash” projects. The students will test their safety vehicle to see if they can keep their crash test dummy (eggs) alive! We will then start Chapter 11 on Newton’s Laws of Motion on Wednesday. There will be a quiz on Section 1 of Chapter 11 on Friday.
8th grade English Language Arts - Mrs. O’Connor
Next week students will begin reading Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night. This book is a fascinating true story of one man’s experience in a concentration camp during World War Two. As we read this book we will be discussing the dangers of silencing the voice of a group of people, and on Wednesday students will take a field trip which will allow them to reflect on the role of oppressed and enslaved people in Savannah’s history. On Friday students will take an open-book quiz over chapters 1-4 of the book. In addition to reading the text, students will also be studying contextual vocabulary and working on writing effective compound and complex sentences.
8th grade History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English
This week in American history we will continue our study of the 1920s. Topics discussed will cover the Jazz Age, mass culture, famous American writers, and the women’s suffrage movement. Students will go on a field trip on Wednesday, January 31st. We will have a test over Chapter 22.1-3 and 19.3 on Friday, February 2nd.
8th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 8th grade will continue to work with the imperfect tense and indirect object pronouns. Students will read the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein in Spanish. This story provides many examples of the new grammar. Students will also begin writing biographies describing what their partner was like as a child. The vocabulary quiz is Thursday, February 1st.
7TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
7th grade Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Algebra we will continue in Chapter 6 by solving compound and absolute value inequalities, as well as absolute value equations. We will review Thursday for the 6.4-6.6 quiz that will take place on Friday, February 2. Challenge problem will be due on Tuesday, January 30.
7th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete Chapter 6 by learning how to use ratios and proportions to find lengths of sides in similar figures (6.5) and how to use scale drawings and models (6.6). We will have an activity on Wednesday involving The Hobbit and using scale drawings. There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 6 test covering 6.1-6.6 on Friday.
7th grade History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English
This week in American History we will continue working on our Revolutionary War Hero Skits. Students will perform these “interviews” on Monday. Next we will wrap up our Revolutionary War unit by doing a few spy experiments. Students will learn how to make “invisible ink” and how to create a cipher. We will also have a geography quiz on Wednesday, January 31st.
7th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish the 7th grade will continue to work with the grammar and vocabulary from Chapter 7B. Students will also begin to research the Spanish-speaking country they were assigned for the travel project. They will use their geography and math skills to plan their trip under a tight budget. The vocabulary quiz will be Wednesday, January 31st.
7th Grade ELA - Mrs./ Boyer
Parents! This week we will be learning about Subject-Verb Agreement, creating French Revolution Info Activities, and reviewing Chapters 1-17 in The Count of Monte Cristo. I highly suggest that students work on their study guide as they read; this will help them engage in the text and question their comprehension. We will be studying the novel chapter by chapter, character by character. The point of reading this novel is to teach the students HOW to read a dense novel with multiple characters in a historical setting. I will be guiding them through this journey, but it is the student’s responsibility to keep up with the reading and the comprehension activities. If the student does not understand the material and needs extra help, please send them to me sooner rather than later. There is a chapter by chapter summary powerpoint that I created from multiple sources. DO NOT READ THE SUMMARY BEFORE READING THE CHAPTERS PLEASE. All students have a paper copy of the reading schedule and the expectations for this novel. The reading schedule is posted on Google Classroom.
Secondly, if your student is struggling with grammar material, I highly suggest that they use the resources and extra practice in the about section of google classroom. I have posted IXL links for them to use at home or in study hall.
On January 23, the seventh grade got to show their competitive side and practiced their IO/DO/Subject Complement knowledge from utilizing the IXL links.
Reading Logs for 7th ELA, this trimester, will not be required.
7th grade Life Science - Ms. Hoffman
We have finished our brief study and discussion of the first two sections of chapter 6 entitled Adaptations Over Time. This material included Darwin, the Theory of Natural Selection and some of the evidence for evolution, such as fossils, DNA, and homologous and vestigial structures. Our focus will continue with Ecosystems found in chapter 26 of our textbook. As we begin learning about the different terrestrial biomes (tundra, forests, grasslands, desert, taiga, etc.) and aquatic ecosystems (marine, freshwater and estuary), we will continue learning about the diversity, interactions and adaptations of the plants and animals in these areas. Some of the things we will discuss include biotic/abiotic energy flow, mutualism, parasitism and commensalism and predator/prey relationships. Our Unit Test on evolution, biomes and ecosystems will be on Friday, 2/2. Our January Science in Comics is due on 1/31.
6TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
6th grade Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in accelerated math 7, we will wrap up Chapter 6 by learning about rational numbers, the distributive property, and the coordinate plane. On Thursday, we will play a round or two of coordinate grid battleship. On Friday, we will begin reviewing for the Chapter 6 test that will take place on Tuesday, February 6. Challenge problem will be due on Monday, January 29.
6th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete Chapter 6 by learning how to use ratios and proportions to find lengths of sides in similar figures (6.5) and how to use scale drawings and models (6.6). We will have an activity on Wednesday involving The Hobbit and using scale drawings. There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 6 test covering 6.1-6.6 on Friday.
6th grade ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim
Literature: There will be a nonfiction unit test on 2/2. It will cover basic information about nonfiction as well as our reading of Phineas Gage. We will review in class next week.
Grammar: Continue to work on prepositions and prepositional phrases; quiz on 1/30 and a test over prepositions as well as compound/complex/simple sentences, run-ons and comma splices tentatively on 2/7.
Writing:
Vocabulary:
Reading Log: Reading for the reading log begins for Trimester Two this weekend. As stated in the syllabus, all middle school students are required to read 360 minutes during the course of the trimester - reading that is outside of their regular assignments. They have a form on which to keep track of their minutes, and on Mondays in class I post their minutes in a spreadsheet. They need to obtain a parent signature to verify the minutes read. This counts as a project grade. The grading scale is written in the syllabus. Reading log minutes for 6th grade are due Wednesday, February 21.
6th grade Earth Science - Ms. Hoffman
We are wrapping up our Plate Tectonic Unit and will have our Test on Wednesday 1/31. Our unit included learning about the Theory of Continental Drift, sea-floor spreading, subduction, trenches, plate boundaries and the mid-ocean ridge. The January Science in Comics is also due Wednesday, 1/31. At the end of the week we will have two labs to analyze sand samples from around the world and test properties of various rocks. See below for some pictures from our Georgia Power guest speaker, Wayne Grimes.
6th grade students learn about energy, energy resources and energy efficiency with our Georgia Power Speaker Mr. Wayne Grimes.
6th Grade Ancient Civ - Mrs. Boyer
Parents! This week we will be working through an online scavenger hunt regarding China’s geography while eagerly diving into the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han Dynasties. The students will be studying the geographic span of the dynasties, along with the trade, accomplishments, governments and everyday life of the Ancient Chinese people. Students will be reading the original tale of Mulan and watching portions of the Disney film; with their notes and findings from both sources, students will be writing an essay, a literary review, based on a personal and reflective response while also comparing and contrasting. The Ancient China Unit Test will be on Tuesday, February 27th. Quizzes are TBA. 
Students created a group puzzle map for Ancient China. Students may ‘check-out’ these study material at any point (first come, first serve). :)
6th Grade Spanish - Ms. Dubick
Hello parents! The 6th grade will be working on a project in the coming week describing the classroom using Hay, Estar, Ser, prepositions and classroom vocab. The project is due Thursday. From what I have seen so far, their visuals are very creative! They can do their visual on paper (drawn or collage is fine) or on the computer. Two typed paragraphs will accompany their visuals.
GOOGLE CLASSROOM/ABSENCES: All work from the day and any homework will be posted on Google Classroom. Students are responsible for checking Google Classroom and scheduling a time to come and see me to discuss anything missed during an absence.
EXTRA HELP: Every Wednesday and Friday morning before school I’ll be doing extra help sessions to reinforce what we are covering, any students who feel they could use the additional support are welcome to come. I also hold study sessions the morning before any assessment. STUDENTS SHOULD EMAIL IF THEY ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND.
GRADING: This semester, graded homeworks and classworks are 50 points, and homework checks will be 25 points. Any pop quiz will be a classwork grade.
MS Art - Mrs. Cookson
Things are happening. This week all grades should wrap up the challenges from the previous weeks.
8th grade: Groups will complete shooting their footage and move on to post production.
7th grade: Hobbit house construction will wrap up, and we will begin discussion on finishings.
6th grade: Get those arms ready for a work out with wet felting. We will lay out layers and begin rolling.
CLUBS
Science Club
Our science club tested the mini-catapults we made at our last meeting. Each person/ group competed for distance and accuracy. Our winner for both competitions was Will Cook with the distance of 7 meters and the most accurate landing in our predetermined target. See the pictures below for Science in Action!
Science Club
The Winner!!
Ready!
Aim!
Fire!
