NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD
SCHEDULE CHANGE - TAKE NOTE!
Monday, February 19
The school is closed for President’s Day
Tuesday, February 20
Regular school day
Friday, February 23rd
School-wide Spirit Dress Down Day
School-wide Spirit Dress Down Day
Middle School T2 Exams
The Middle School TEAM feels it is important to make up valuable instructional class time lost to both Irma and Snowmageddon. Therefore, we are going to cancel the second trimester exams and use this time for regular instruction. This adjustment will allow our teachers to conclude the trimester in a meaningful way and ensure that our students have ample time to complete all their assignments. Therefore,
- Thursday, March 1st, originally a half day dedicated to exams will now be a FULL DAY of regular classes.
- Friday, March 2nd, originally a half day dedicated to exams will STILL BE A HALF DAY, but we will hold regular classes. Teachers will have an inservice day in the afternoon to close out the second trimester.
Thank you for adjusting your schedules to support the education of your children.
8TH GRADE GRADUATION IS HERE….ALMOST
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Yearbook Baby Pictures
Eighth grade families: please submit ONE high resolution (300 dpi) baby picture, preferably under 2 years of age, to yearbook@hancockdayschool.org by Friday, February 23rd. Please make sure the picture is DIGITAL.
8th Grade Graduation Slideshow
Eighth grade families: please submit FIVE of your favorite pictures, from birth to now, for the graduation slideshow to mross@hancockdayschool.org by Friday, March 9th. Please make sure the pictures are DIGITAL.
NEW! SOCIAL MEDIA PART TWO!
HANDS ON WORKSHOP - YOUR CHILD & SOCIAL MEDIA!
February 28th Parent.Edu 6:00 - 7:00 Hancock Hall
Social Media is always changing, and our kids are always the first ones to utilize new platforms. In this workshop, Jillian Stafford, CEO of Stafford Media Group, will guide you through the process of keeping your kids safe online. We’ll go over each of the platforms that kids are using to communicate, and look at how to monitor your child’s activities, and how to make sure your kids aren’t using it in a way that could be dangerous. We’ll take a look at how every member of the family can utilize privacy settings to keep your sensitive information and private family moments out of the wrong hands. The goal of this workshop is to empower parents with the tools to navigate the ever changing world of digital communication with confidence and, most importantly, keep our children safe. Jillian Stafford has been in a social media professional for about as long as it has been a job title. Her agency works with some of Savannah’s iconic brands including Parker’s Convenience Stores, Jalapeños Mexican Grill, Optim Healthcare, Mike Hostilo, and more. In addition to running a full service agency, she is also a mother. THIS IS A HANDS ON LIVE COMPUTER BASED WORKSHOP! TO ENROLL, EMAIL OR CALL MADISON ROSS AT mross@hancockdayschool.org or 912-351-4500 ext 315
March Parent.Edu already scheduled!
March 28th Parent.Edu - Emotional Coaching 6:00 - 7:00 Hancock Hall
Do you struggle as a parent to communicate with your child? Do you have difficulty identifying their emotions and understanding the why behind their behaviors? The truth is that we all do. For March’s continuing education event, licensed professional counselor Whitney Owens will be addressing these concerns. Whitney will teach a new technique titled Emotional Coaching. This skill helps parents effectively listen to their children, understand their emotions, and allow for a healthy process of those emotions. Research proves that parents who use this tactic have children with better physical health and more success in their lives. These children have fewer behavior problems and score higher in academics. Whitney will be available to answer questions at the completion of the seminar.
Lunch Bunch Groups
Lunch Bunch continues! 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.
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 solving linear systems by adding, subtracting, and multiplying. We will also solve special types of linear systems. Students should begin preparing for their Chapter 7 test that will take place on Wednesday, February 28.
8th grade Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will complete right triangle Trigonometry by having a day of review on Wednesday and the test on Thursday. We will then begin our short unit on angle relationships (2.3-2.4, 3.3).
8th grade Geometry - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will continue Chapter 9 by learning about matrices and how to add, subtract, and multiply them (9.2). We will also learn about reflections and rotation in the coordinate plane (9.3-9.4).
8th grade Physical Science - Mr. Cooper
Next week we will start Unit 6 in our textbooks (chapters 16-19). This unit covers waves, sound, and light. Students can expect to cover a chapter roughly each week with several hands-on lab activities and a short quiz at the end of each. There will be a Unit test at the end of this unit.
8th grade English Language Arts - Mrs. O’Connor
In the week ahead students will be exploring persuasive speaking and writing as they craft short public service announcement videos in small groups. Working together, students will create a 30 second video that inspires others to take action to solve a problem. Students will also take a short quiz over capitalization rules on Thursday, February 22nd.
8th grade History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English
This week we will begin our annual Silent Film Project that correlates with lessons learned from the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. We will also begin discussions about the events that led to World War II. Students will have a geography test on Wednesday, February 21st. It will cover European and Asian political maps as well as the rivers/mountains of Europe. Students should play the geography games located on Google Classroom for practice.
8th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish the 8th grade will work with the grammar and vocabulary from Chapter 4B. Students will continue to use the imperfect and preterite tenses as they describe situations in the past. We will also compare and contrast celebrations in Spanish-speaking countries with the U.S. The Chapter 4B quiz will be Friday, February 23rd.
7TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
7th grade Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Algebra we will continue solving linear systems by adding, subtracting, and multiplying. We will also solve special types of linear systems. Students should begin preparing for their Chapter 7 test that will take place on Wednesday, February 28.
7th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will continue Chapter 7 by learning about percent applications in the real world (7.6) as well as how interest works in the real world. We will then learn how to compute simple and compound interest (7.7).
7th grade History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English
This week in American History students will work on their president research projects. Students will pick one of the first 18 presidents to research. Their research will be centered around why their president was influential and important to American history. Once students have completed their research they will use it to compete in the annual “March President Madness” competition. Details about the competition will be given to students in early March.
7th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish the 7th grade will continue to work with the grammar and vocabulary from Chapter 8B. We will also explore ways to help others and the environment. Students will learn about indirect object pronouns and work with irregular preterite conjugation. The Chapter 8B quiz will be Thursday, February 22nd.
7th Grade ELA - Mrs. Boyer
Parents! This week we will be working on Noun and Pronoun Clauses. Also, students will be reviewing Chapters 29-40. Students will be working on their study guide questions and creating an artistic project to portray their understanding of the character development within the novel. Essays are due on 2/16. There will be a test on Chapter 1-40 on 2/27. 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. Reading Logs for 7th ELA, this trimester, will not be required.
7th grade Life Science - Ms. Hoffman
Students did a wonderful job learning about the skeletal system and being able to identify 20 of the major bones. We have also been learning about the 3 types of muscles (cardiac, smooth, skeletal) and which ones are voluntary or involuntary. They have also learned 12 of the major muscles in our body. (Feel free to quiz your students at any time to help them with their science.) The skin is the last section for chapter 17 on structure and support and students have been learning about the skin’s various layers and their importance. On Friday, we will have a lab on fingerprints and muscle reaction times. Our quiz on the muscles and skin will be next Wednesday, 2/21. Then we will begin the digestive system.
6TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS
6th grade Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon
Next week in accelerated math 7 we will continue in Chapter 7 by solving equations using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. We will also take a look at some two-step problems. Students should begin preparing for the Chapter 7 test that will take place on Wednesday, February 28.
6th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week we will continue Chapter 7 by learning about percent applications in the real world (7.6) as well as how interest works in the real world. We will then learn how to compute simple and compound interest (7.7).
6th grade ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim
Literature: We will continue to work on a research project that focuses on reading the Pros/Cons of a student chosen topic (from a list of topics). Students will complete a Works Cited page, notecards, and a presentation. While there may be some work at home, a lot of time will be given in class to research the topics. There are resources posted in the About Section of my ELA Google Classroom for students to use. Next week we will be working on student presentations. Please ask your child to practice - perhaps with you as the audience - to work on speed, voice level, eye contact, familiarity with the presentation/notes, and comfort level. Presentations will begin next Friday.
A test over the research terms is scheduled for 2/22. There is a note-taking guide for study purposes.
Grammar:
Writing: Note-taking skills
Vocabulary: List 1 from The Giver, our next Lit book. Quiz on 2/21
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 have begun our discussion on earthquakes by learning about where underground they begin (the focus) and how the 3 types of earthquake waves (P, S, and surface) travel. We are also learning about tension, shearing and compression and how these types of stress affect earthquakes. The San Francisco earthquake of 1989 has been the focus of real earthquake footage allowing students to learn about the extreme damage earthquakes can cause. We will have a lab on Friday to simulate creating building structures able to withstand the shaking of an earthquake. Next week we will begin studying another destructive force of nature: volcanoes. Students will learn about the different types of volcanoes and eruptions. We will begin a volcano poster project in class by mapping the various earthquakes and volcanoes around the world. Students will also be given a specific volcanic eruption to research and will conduct a day of research during class. The rubrics for this will go home at the end of next week. Our Unit Test on earthquakes and volcanoes will be on Thursday 3/1.
6th Grade Ancient Civ - Mrs. Boyer
Parents! This week we will be traveling along the Silk Road. Students will be labeling the trade routes and the goods being traded, along with writing a mini-research reflection on the purpose of the Silk Road. There will be a quiz over the Qin and Han dynasties on Thursday 2/22. The test over Ancient China is on 2/27. There will be an Ancient China Part 2 quiz on February 22 (Qin/Han Dynasty). The final assessment will be a Unit Test on February 27th.
6th Grade Spanish - Ms. Dubick
Hello Parents and Students! The sixth graders are diving into a unit on weather this week, they will have a quiz on this vocab on Friday 2/23 and a test on Thursday 3/1
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
This will be a week of exploration and discovery.
8th grade: We will have a mini screening of the finished stop motion animations.
7th grade: We will start to learn page layout software in order to design our posters.
6th grade: The layers are built, the landscapes are coming together, and some people will start to work on making the final felt.
CLUBS
Science Club We are still working on building our water bottle rockets. As fins and ballast are being added some groups are modifying their designs. Some students have also been absent or working with student government and unable to attend our most recent meeting. We hope to have the rockets completed at our next meeting which is at the end of the month. Then we will compare our different designs during our rocket launch.
