Hancock Middle School: May 2018

Thursday, May 17, 2018

May 21st - May 25th

NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD

Important Dates for all Families!

All middle school students were provided information regarding end of year events with dates and times in Homeroom on Friday, April 19th. 6th and 7th grade information can be found HERE. 8th grade information can be found HERE.

Exam Schedule

Students and teachers have been diligently working to prepare for next week’s exams! Please remember that Thursday, May 24th and Friday, May 25th are both noon dismissal days for the middle school. There is no extended for middle school students on these days.

The schedule for exams is below.

6th Grade Schedule

Thursday, May 24th	Friday, May 25th
Science Exam	Math Exam
ELA and History Activities	Spanish Exam

7th Grade Schedule

Thursday, May 24th	Friday, May 25th
History Activity	Spanish Exam
Math Exam	Science Exam

8th Grade Schedule

Thursday, May 24th	Friday, May 25th
Spanish Exam	History Activity
ELA Exam	Math Exam

History Activity

Thanks to Mrs. English and a grant from Ancestry.com, our seventh and eighth grade students have been researching the ancestry of a person of interest and creating a video or audio interview of this person as their summative assessment for this trimester. So far the results of this assignment have been fantastic, and we’d like to invite parents to visit Hancock Hall and view the projects during the times listed below.

7th Grade Parents: Thursday, May 24th from 8:30-10am

8th Grade Parents: Friday, May 25th from 8:30-10am

St. Vincent’s Academy Study Skills Course

St. Vincent’s Academy is offering a study skills course to students June 4th - June 7th. The course is to help students learn time management and organization, how to take notes and how to use them to study for tests, understand learning styles and how to process information, and includes resources to help students stay motivated. Please see the following link for more information: Registration

Lunch with Ms. Pedrick

7th grade boys lunch groups will continue next week - Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

Community Service

AMERICA’S SECOND HARVEST is in immediate need of volunteers to pack boxes for their summer feeding program. Boxes are being packed Monday through Friday from 9-5 and on Saturdays from 8-11:30. Interested students and their families should contact the volunteer coordinator, Bryce at Bryce@helpendhunger.org.

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 finish up exam review!! Students have the option to earn 5 extra points on their exam by completing their exam outline packet. The packet will be due on their exam day which is Friday, May 25.

8th grade Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete exam review. Students have been given an outline of the topics that will be covered on the exam. The Advanced Algebra exam will take place on Friday, 5/24.

8th grade Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete exam review. Students have been given an outline of the topics that will be covered on the exam. The Geometry exam will take place on Friday, 5/24.

8th grade Physical Science - Mr. Cooper

Students will continue to work on their electric vehicles in class. We will end with a race on Wednesday, May 23rd. In addition to creating their electric vehicles, students will also compose a written piece focused on this project during class time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There is NO final exam in science, but this activity and written component will constitute 10% of students’ overall grade in the course.

8th grade English Language Arts - Mrs. O’Connor

With the research paper behind us, students are now wrapping up their study of nonfiction and preparing for their third trimester exam. I provided students with an outline of content to review on Friday, and next week we will spend class time digging in to each section.

8th grade History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English

This week we will continue working on our summative assessments. Please remember that the interview is due at the beginning of class on Monday. Then we will work on the trifold and paper for the summative assessment. All guidelines and links are on Google Classroom. Please join us for our research fair Friday, May 25th 8:30-10:00, students will present their summative assessments in Hancock Hall.

8th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes

The listening portion of the Spanish exam will be Monday, May 21st and the speaking portion will be Tuesday, May 22nd and Wednesday May 23rd. Students should continue to go over their study guide in order to prepare for the exam.

7TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

7th grade Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

7th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete exam review. Students have been given an outline of the topics that will be covered on the exam. The 7th grade Pre-Algebra exam will take place on Thursday, 5/23.

7th grade History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English

This week we will continue working on our summative assessments. Please remember that the interview is due at the beginning of class on Monday. Then we will work on the trifold and paper for the summative assessment. All guidelines and links are on Google Classroom. Please join us for our research fair Thursday, May 24th 8:30-10:00, students will present their summative assessments in Hancock Hall.

7th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes

7th Grade ELA - Mrs./ Boyer
Students will be working on their Exam Activity. Students will be working in their Book Clubs to create an Animal Farm themed newspaper, which will include a literary review, a historical analysis, a political cartoon with an explanation, and advertisements that utilize the propaganda techniques.

Reading Logs for T3 were collected on May 17th.

7th grade Life Science - Ms. Hoffman

We are almost to the end of the year. Next week is exam review (Monday through Wednesday) and then exams. The 7th graders will have their science exam on Friday 5/25. On Monday and Tuesday, we will work on a vertebrate study guide and comparison chart for the fish, amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal groups. Wednesday, we will do a review on the Invertebrates we learned about earlier in the trimester. The 3rd trimester exam will cover all of the animals, but will be about 75% over the vertebrates. Students should still have their Invertebrate study guide and other work in their science notebooks to help study from. Our Animal Farm Science Report is due Monday, 5/21 and will count as our last test and homework for the Trimester. Remember that completing this project is an excellent way to review for our exam!

6TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

6th grade Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Accelerated Math 7, we will finish up exam review!! Students have the option to earn 5 extra points on their exam by completing their exam outline packet. The packet will be due on their exam day which is Friday, May 25.

6th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete exam review. Students have been given an outline of the topics that will be covered on the exam. The 6th grade Pre-Algebra exam will take place on Friday, 5/24.

6th grade ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim

I have had such a great time teaching your children! Thanks so much for the opportunity and for working with me to create a meaningful support system.

Literature: We will continue to work on and complete our Anne Frank timeline that counts for our exam grade this trimester. When that is complete, we will watch the documentary, Paperclips. Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the setting for this documentary about an extraordinary experiment in Holocaust education. Struggling to grasp the concept of six-million Holocaust victims, the students decide to collect six-million paper clips to better understand the extent of this crime against humanity. The film details how the students met Holocaust survivors from around the world and how the experience transformed them and their community.

6th grade Earth Science - Ms. Hoffman

Even though we are in the last couple of weeks of school, the 6th grade has been super busy learning about the universe, including our solar system and its’ components (sun, moon, planets, etc.), the life cycle of stars, and how we measure and compare these stars. On Tuesday, 5/15 we had a visit from Oatland Island who brought their digitarium Star Lab. (See the photos below.) We will officially begin our exam review next Monday, 5/21, but the content we have been discussing most recently will compose a significant portion of the exam. Monday is also the day the solar system trading card assignment is due. Students are also completing an Astronomy Alphabet paper to see who can find the most terms we have learned and discussed during class that relate to Astronomy. (Both the trading cards and alphabet paper assignment are fantastic ways to review important information and terms for our upcoming exam.) Winners will get candy bars! Our 3rd Trimester exam will cover both Oceans and Astronomy and will be on Thursday, 5/24. Approximately 75% of the exam will be Astronomy and the students already have in their science notebooks an Oceans study guide completed for the Ocean Unit Test we took last month. Next week we will also do a short review of this section before the exam.

6th Grade Ancient Civ - Mrs. Boyer

This week students will be preparing for their exam which has been changed to an activity. In partners, students will be creating an ABC book over Greek and Roman Culture.

6th Grade Spanish - Ms. Dubick

Hello Parents and Students! The students will have their exam on at 10:30am on Friday 5/25. They will complete the listening portion of the exam on Wednesday 10/23. They will be given an exam review packet this Friday the 18th and should start doing Quizlets to review the vocabulary! They did great on their Monsters projects, which will be up in the hall next week.

MS Art - Mrs. Cookson

“Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits.” - Twyla Tharp

8th grade: Will put the final glaze on the clay tiles.

7th grade: Will have our final art class this week, so will wrap up all projects. Look for stuff to come home.

6th grade: Will finish up the Restricted Sculpture.

CLUBS

Science Club

For our last science club meeting of the school year we used water-soluble markers to demonstrate chromatography. Students placed the paper (coffee filters) into water to separate the colors, showing that the inks were actually mixtures. I have really enjoyed working with all the students this year in Science Club and look forward to next year.

Friday, May 11, 2018

May 14th - May 18th

NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD

Hancock Sports

Any student playing on a Hancock team needs to have a current (within 12 months) physical on file at the school. The student can bring a note from his/her physician clearly stating that he/she is cleared to play without reservation or he/she can get a sports physical at school. Physicals for the 2018 fall season are being given on Monday, May 14th. To participate each student needs a signed sports physical form. These were distributed earlier this week. A copy of the form can be found HERE.

Important Dates for all Families!

All middle school students were provided information regarding end of year events with dates and times in Homeroom on Friday, April 19th. 6th and 7th grade information can be found HERE. 8th grade information can be found HERE.

Lunch with Ms. Pedrick

7th grade boys lunch groups will continue next week - Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

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 review the remaining sections in Chapter 10 in preparation for the students’ last Chapter test of the year on Tuesday, May 15. We will then begin reviewing for exams! The end is in sight! :)

8th grade Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete factoring and solving quadratic equations. We will have a day of review on Monday and the test on Tuesday. We will then begin exam review.

8th grade Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete Chapter 12 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 12 test on Tuesday. We will then begin exam review.

8th grade Physical Science - Mr. Cooper

Next week students will take the Electricity and Magnetism test on Monday. They will then receive the Electric Vehicle project and rubric. Students will be provided with several main components of this project in school and will need to bring in a few supplies from home. This can be an individual project or partner project depending on what students choose. We will end with a race on Wednesday, May 23rd.

8th grade English Language Arts - Mrs. O’Connor

This week students worked diligently to create outlines for their research papers, conference with me about their individual progress, and compose their rough drafts. Rough drafts will (hopefully) be complete by the time students leave class today, and we’ll spend early next week editing and revising. Final drafts of research papers are due on Wednesday, May 16th. Once the paper is behind us, we will begin reviewing for our final exam! I can’t believe the year is almost over!

Reading Logs for T3 are due May 17th.

8th grade History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English

This week in American history we will have our final quiz on African geography on Tuesday, May 15th. Also, we will begin our summative assessment, which is an interview and ancestry research project. Look for an email and further details coming home with your students this weekend. Lastly, we will hopefully wrap up our yarn WWII memorial project. Feel free to help your student as them make the final push to finish their canvases. Looking forward to a great week!

8th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish the 8th grade will present their cooking projects and share the dishes they prepared. Students will also begin organizing their binders for the third trimester exam review. The listening portion will be Monday, May 21st and the speaking portion will be Tuesday, May 22nd and Wednesday May 23rd.

7TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

7th grade Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra, we will review the remaining sections in Chapter 10 in preparation for the students’ last Chapter test of the year on Tuesday, May 15. We will then begin reviewing for exams! The end is in sight! :)

7th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete Chapter 10 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 10.1-10.4 test on Tuesday (7th grade) or Wednesday (6th grade). We will then begin exam review.

7th grade History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English

This week in American history we will have our final test on Ch. 11.1-3 on Tuesday, May 15th. Also, we will begin our summative assessment, which is an interview and ancestry research project. Look for an email and further details coming home with your students this weekend. Looking forward to a great week!

7th grade Spanish - Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 7th grade will present their skits using the future tense and current vocabulary. Students will also begin organizing their binders for the third trimester exam review. The listening portion will be Monday, May 21st and the speaking portion will be Tuesday, May 22nd and Wednesday May 23rd.

7th Grade ELA - Mrs. Boyer

Next week:

The Animal Farm Final Novel test date has been moved to 5/16!This is the final move! This will be over character analysis, theme, literary devices, critical thinking and writing skills. Students have an extra study opportunity posted on Google Classroom.

Quizzes and writing assignments will be used to analyze the students progress in regards to critical thinking. Students need to be prepared for 8th grade next year and this new way of learning is a strategy which will prepare them for next year’s ELA class.

Students need to be prepared for class everyday, which means bringing their novel, journal and a writing utensil.

Reading Logs for T3 are due May 17th.

7th grade Life Science - Ms. Hoffman

Students looked at the actual skins of a snake and alligator to help learn about the four groups of reptiles we have been studying. These are the turtles/ tortoises, snakes, crocodile/ alligators, and lizards. They also worked with a partner on an activity called Soaking Up Those Rays to better understand how ectotherms (cold-blooded) animals react to the environment. Next we are finishing up the Chordate/ Vertebrate Phyla of organisms with our last two groups; birds and mammals. Students will compare these more advanced animals and use their science knowledge to complete a science report project using the book Animal Farm, which they have been reading in English/ Language Arts Class. The rubric went home today (5/10) and is posted on Google Classroom. The project will count as a test and two homework grades. One homework grade will be a progress check Thursday, May 16th and the other will be when the report is due, Monday, May 21st.

6TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

6th grade Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Accelerated Math 7, we will wrap up our year by learning how to use formulas to solve for the area of parallelograms, trapezoids, and triangles. We will review on Wednesday and students will take their last test of the year of Thursday, May 17. We will then begin reviewing for their exam.

6th grade Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week we will complete Chapter 10 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 10.1-10.4 test on Tuesday (7th grade) or Wednesday (6th grade). We will then begin exam review.

6th grade ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim

Literature: Unit Test over Anne Frank 5/15. Begin in-class exam project on Anne Frank

Grammar: Review for proofreading and homonym quiz 5/17. Study with “Fix the Sentences” and Homonym packets. IXL also has skills practice.

Reading Log: Reading for the reading log begins for Trimester Three will begin on Feb 28th. 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 Friday, May 17th.

6th grade Earth Science - Ms. Hoffman

Our Egg Drop competition was a big success! Students built a descent module to protect their “egg” astronaut by only using copy paper, masking tape and staples. First we dropped them from the ceiling of the classroom onto “sand” (a thick blanket). Then we created “hard ground” by removing the blanket and dropped them again. Finally, the final test for only one very durable module in my period 4 class, was to try and drop onto “rocks.” We did this by throwing the module across our classroom where it hit one (or more) of our tables before hitting the floor. All groups listed below passed the “sand” test, but only one group (with the *) passed the other two scenarios and survived it all! The winners were as follows:

Period 2   Jake Dyches, Wilkes Albert, Madeline Brainard

            Nathan Scarbrough, Julianna Jones, Emiline Baxter

Period 3   Aiden Dean, Corbett Salandi, Hayden Anderson

               Crawford Nelson, Greer Hollis, Jack Owen Myers

        William Whitfield., Whit Watson, Jacqueline Bunger

Period 4   *Brooke Coulter, Mary Tippens Solana, Ava Grace Harris, Harper Silva

        AB Smith, Skylar Quante, William Shearouse

        Anna Loren Dekle, Athon Herrin, Charlie Moody

After learning about satellites, early space exploration and comets, meteoroids and asteroids, we have turned our focus to our sun and all the planets, including dwarf planets, of our solar system. We discussed and modeled the order and approximate location of each planet in our solar system. (See pictures below.) Students will also complete an at-home project over this information by making solar system trading cards. A rubric was handed out and is also posted on Google Classroom. There will be a homework progress check next Wednesday, 5/16 and students need to have 8 of the 15 cards completed. The final set of cards is due Monday, 5/21 and will count as a test grade and second homework grade. Next week we will also discuss other stars, galaxies, and black holes.

The order and distance between planets

on a paper model.



Outside modeling the location of each planet.



Conducting research for our solar system cards

6th Grade Ancient Civ - Mrs. Boyer

Students will be working on one last large assignment: review questions. Students will be answering, to their best ability with two weeks to complete the questions, the review questions for Chapter 12-14. These questions will make the students think critically about the ideas which were generated during this important time in history. It will also allow them to practice time management and grammar skills as they must edit their work as they go. Students will not have any other homework other than this assignment and they will have class time as well.

Over the next week, we will be focusing on the purpose of religion and how it restructured the Roman government dynamic.

**Students should begin studying new material every night for five to seven minutes in order to prepare for these assessments. If a student is studying every night for five to seven minutes (something as little as discussing what they learned at the dinner table), they have a better chance at comprehending the content for a test. A student should never JUST start studying for an assessment two to three days before. Studying is an on-going process.

Study strategies: Create flash-cards, create a graphic organizer, create an outline, create a quizlet, brainstorm the essays beforehand, have a study party with friends, create your own quiz/test and take it without your notes, USE THE FILL IN THE BLANK NOTES TO QUIZ YOURSELF ON WHAT YOU KNOW AND WHAT YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT, come in for extra help with SPECIFIC questions.

All materials will be on GC.

Assessment Dates:

5/18: Rome Unit Test

The Exam for Ancient Civ has been changed to an activity.

6th Grade Spanish - Ms. Dubick

Hello Parents and Students! The sixth graders will be working on a monsters project integrating body parts, food and activities. We will also continue learning about the history of Latinos in America. Their last test will be on Thursday May 17, then we will start reviewing for their Exam which is in the morning of May 24. They will do the listening portion of the exam prior to the written portion.

EXTRA HELP:

Every MONDAY and WEDNESDAY 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

MS Art - Mrs. Cookson

Art

“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” - Edward Hopper

8th grade: Will work on a surprise challenge. Be prepared.

7th grade: Will finish up the faux stained glass.

6th grade: Will continue to work on Restricted Sculpture.

CLUBS

Science Club

The reaction of coke and mentos is actually a physical change caused by something called nucleation. This is where the carbon dioxide bubbles want to adhere to the surface of the mentos causing many, many bubbles and fizz to form. This is forced out of the bottle causing a simulation of a geyser. Students looked for the largest height of this fizzy coke geyser as they compared different bottles of soda and number of mentos candies. Some of the “winners” were: Lemon Lime beat Root beer; regular Big K cola beat Diet Big K cola, more mentos beat less mentos and it was about even for the name brand Diet Coke and Big K cola. We were, however, not able to conduct multiple tests for each comparison. There were some also difference in dropping the mentos into the bottles, even though each student used a cardboard holder to help stack them and to minimize dropping them on the ground. See below for some photos. Next week will be the last Club Day of the school year.