August 20th - August 24th

NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD

Lost….and never found!  Each year we accumulate dozens of lost clothing items that we are unable to return simply because they are not labeled.  Please, please, please label water bottles, outerwear, sweaters and especially team sweatshirts to ensure when they are misplaced (which they will be!) we can return them to you.

Discipline - To increase our communications home, we have instituted a new reporting system for Middle School discipline.  Part of this change includes the elimination of our Silent Lunch policy. A complete description was emailed home on Wednesday and can be found HERE!

Back to School Night - We look forward to welcoming our parents on Wednesday, August 22nd from 6:00pm - 7:30pm.

NURSE NOTES

Please notify the nurse if your child is sick or plans to be absent:  nurse@hancockdayschool.org. This will help as we do attendance daily and prevent unnecessary calls home. If you would like work sent home, contact Ms. Ross (351-4500 x315 or mross@hancockdayschool.org) by 12:00 to request assignments.

For your child’s safety at lunch there is a list of all allergies posted in Hancock Hall  and several size appropriate EpiPens available.

COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Each middle school student is required to complete ten hours of community service over the course of the school year.  See below for a few upcoming service opportunities.

VERY IMPORTANT - 7th GRADE STUDENTS TAKE NOTE!!!  Along with strong academics, service is one of the defining categories for admission to the National Junior Honor Society.  In order to be considered for membership, a student MUST have met Hancock’s criteria of 10 hours of service per year. To include hours earned in the summer, we accept hours for the 2017-18 school year through Tuesday, September 4th.  After that, all hours are credited toward the 2018-19 school year.

America’s Second Harvest Food Bank provides food assistance for low income senior citizens by preparing brown bags of food monthly.  Students and their families can volunteer to help with the monthly packing dates by contacting volunteer coordinator, Bryce Seuntjens at 912-721-1795.  

Upcoming dates are Saturday, August 18, Saturday, September 15, and Saturday, October 20th.  

PACK is a local nonprofit that delivers weekly food bags to children at risk of hunger in our community.  Volunteers are needed on the first Sunday of each month to prepare bags of supplies for homeless children, children in the foster care system, and others in our community.  You can learn more about this opportunity and sign up to help on their website -- www.packsavannah.com

Union Mission exists to prevent and end homelessness in the Savannah community.  They welcome students and/or their families to volunteer to visit and serve a meal, sort donations, or participate in a family activity night.  More information can be found through their website -- http://www.unionmission.org/first-time-volunteers/

GUIDANCE & CHARACTER EDUCATION

This week students met in small groups to either complete team building activities with Ms. Pedrick or review and unpack The Hancock Way with their advisor.  Our virtue of the month is responsibility, and we look forward to discussing this further with students in the week ahead.  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Ms. Pedrick at apedrick@hancockdayschool.org

8TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra, we will be writing expressions, equations, and inequalities, as well as translating verbal phrases into expressions.  Students should expect a quiz over sections 1.1-1.4 on Thursday, August 23. We will review in depth for this quiz on Wednesday, August 22. Students will also receive a challenge problem on Monday, August 20.  They will have a week to work on it and can get help on it from me, a parent, or a tutor, but NOT a classmate. The challenge problem will be due on Monday, August 27.

PICTURES FROM FRIDAY, AUGUST 17 CLASS:

ESCAPE MATH ROOM CHALLENGE - Students used their knowledge of order of operations to crack 4 codes on the iPads to unlock the math room.

Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Welcome back to all middle school! Next week we will be continuing Chapter 9 by learning how to factor quadratic equations by a variety of methods including the difference of two squares (9.7), the grouping method (9.8), and the AC method (9.6).  The challenge problem #1 will be due Monday, 8/27.

Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Welcome back to all middle school!  Next week we will be completing Chapter 1 by learning about different types of angles (1.4-1.5) and polygons (1.6).  There will be a quiz covering 1.1-1.5 on Wednesday, a day of review on Thursday, and the Chapter 1 test on Friday. The challenge problem #1 will be due Monday, 8/27.

Physical Science - Ms. Hoffman

Welcome Back to all of our senior middle school students!  This year in Physical Science we will be learning about two broad topics: Chemistry and Physics.  During the first two weeks of school we are reviewing lab safety and equipment, as well as, the scientific method/ engineering process, including variables. Students have also received their syllabus and completed an example of our monthly Science in Comic assignment.    

Next week, students will receive the newly purchased science textbooks, along with an accompanying workbook that they will be able to write in for assignments and review/ reinforcement.  They will also participate in two labs utilizing the engineering process and measurement. Then, we will begin chemistry with the four states of matter and their properties, along with elements, compounds and mixtures.  There will be a quiz on Wednesday, 8/22 covering lab safety, lab equipment, and variables.

English Language Arts - Mrs. Boyer

In the weeks to come we will be discussing Fahrenheit 451. Below is an email that discusses all of our activities. Summer Reading projects will be graded in the next week or so. :) We will be starting To Kill a Mockingbird in September.

Parent Email:

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I am looking forward to an exciting and productive year with your children. Eighth grade English Language Arts is an engaging course designed to challenge students and prepare them for success in high school. The texts we read and the depth of our class discussions will push students to think critically while growing as readers and writers, but there will also be ample support throughout the year to ensure that students are able to find success.

I understand that summer reading provided a challenge to several students, and I'm sending this communication to reassure families that considerable class time will be spent discussing Fahrenheit 451.  First, I wanted to say that I am so very proud of all of our 8th graders because they have taken the bull by the horns, and they are diving in to this material with their brains wide open! Understanding that this novel was/is challenging for students to read on their own, I have planned extensively for analyzing, critiquing, and discussing Bradbury’s novel through multiple learning styles and differentiated assignments.

While there is a quiz over the book on the horizon (in two weeks), I am committed to working with students to help them understand and relate to this novel. Discussion and comprehension run hand in hand, and the class activities planned are designed to help your child find his/her inner voice and be prepared for future academic challenges in the years to come.  At the end of this letter I have detailed many of the specific activities students will be in engaging in to help them better understand Fahrenheit 451.

Should any student feel that she/he needs additional help beyond our regular class time, I am available daily from 7:45-8:15.  Additionally, please feel free to contact me personally if your child ever needs extra help beyond this timeframe, or different strategies for their learning styles.  Thank you for all of your support and best wishes for a fantastic year!

Best,

Mrs. Olivia Boyer

Below are a few of the class activities and assignments designed to enhance each student’s understanding of key elements of Fahrenheit 451.

1. The Opinion Walk
1. Students will respond to prompts written on poster board around the room and will discuss their responses in class. Special attention will be paid to analyzing characters, connection to supporting details, and theme(s).
2. Effective Annotation and Question Asking
1. Students will learn how to annotate and ask effective questions from a challenging novel. Students will learn how to question society, the novel itself, the author, etc. Secondly, students will learn how to ask an effective/ meaningful question and where to find the answers to their questions.
3. Fake News/DQ
1. Students will read two articles from Stanford University and NPR regarding fake news in the lives of students. This topic will be discussed in regards to the novel and students will be responding to a Discussion Question where they can post their response and respond to other students. Students will learn how to write an argument.
4. Think Aloud
1. Students will be paired up to analyze characters, setting, and themes.
5. Theme Analysis
1. Students will be paired together to create a slide presentation on a theme chosen for them by the teacher. These themes/presentations will be discussed in class.
6. Writing Prompt
1. Students will receive a writing prompt. The teacher will brainstorm with the students and the students will be able to take notes. The students will receive the rest of the class to respond to the prompt.
7. Socratic Seminar
1. Students will be taught how to participate in a Socratic Seminar. Notes from this seminar will be posted on Google Classroom for study purposes.
8. Plot Mountain Poster
1. Students will work together in groups to create a poster with a plot mountain for the novel. Students will use their prior knowledge to find the exposition, rising action, climax, conflict, falling action, and resolution.
2. These will be corrected and discussed in class.
9. Finding Literary Devices within Fahrenheit 451
1. Students will be creating literary device flashcards and using those to help them choose two examples of each in the novel.

History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English

Welcome back! It was wonderful to see all of the students this week! They’ve all grown so much! Next week we will continue our study of the Civil War. We will have our first quiz over on Friday, August 24th. The quiz will cover the Nation Divides and the Civil War intro notes. We will use all of class on Thursday to review for the quiz on Friday. Looking forward to a great week!

Spanish - Ms. Hughes

Welcome back! It was a wonderful first week in Spanish class. Next week we will begin Chapter 1A. This chapter discusses classes, classroom rules, classroom activities, new stem-changing verbs, and affirmative and negative words. Students will also have a chance to create and present some new rules they would like to see implemented at Hancock Day School. The vocabulary quiz will be Thursday, August 23rd.

7TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra, we will be writing expressions, equations, and inequalities, as well as translating verbal phrases into expressions.  Students should expect a quiz over sections 1.1-1.4 on Thursday, August 23. We will review in depth for this quiz on Wednesday, August 22. Students will also receive a challenge problem on Monday, August 20.  They will have a week to work on it and can get help on it from me, a parent, or a tutor, but NOT a classmate. The challenge problem will be due on Monday, August 27.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Welcome back to middle school!  Next week we will be continuing Chapter 1 by learning about integers including comparing and ordering (1.4), adding (1.5), subtracting (1.6), and multiplying and dividing (1.7).  There will be a quiz covering 1.1-1.4 on Tuesday. The challenge problem #1 will be due Monday, 8/27.

History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English

Welcome back! It was wonderful to see all of the students this week! They’ve all grown so much! Next week we will continue our study of the first civilizations in the Americas in Chapter 1.1. We will use the entire class on Monday to review for our first quiz over Chapter 1.1 on Tuesday, August 21st.. The quiz will cover the Chapter 1.1 notesheet and the world map we filled out this week. The rest of the week will be spent learning about monotheistic religions and trade routes in the 1500s. Looking forward to a great week!

Spanish - Ms. Hughes

What a great first week! I really enjoyed getting to know all of my new students. Next week in Spanish class, the 7th grade will begin Chapter 5B. This chapter discusses restaurant vocabulary, descriptions of people and food, and some new stem-changing verbs. We will also review ser vs. estar when describing people and emotions. Students will create and present a restaurant writing activity using the grammar and vocabulary from Chapter 5B. The vocabulary quiz will be Friday, August 24th.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

This week students are reviewing the writing process through engaging with a personal narrative. Students are learning the skills of writing at a higher level in order to write critical analysis essays further in the year. Students will be learning how to write a HOOK (a thesis), an introduction (characters, setting, plot, the why?, etc.), the body paragraphs (transitions, imagery, etc.), and a conclusion (Why does it matter to the world? How does it change the reader?). We will be working through these skills for the next week or so.

Summer Reading reports will be graded in the next week or so.

We will begin The Hobbit in September.

Life Science - Ms. Hoffman

Welcome Back to all our wonderful 7th graders!  This year in science we will learn about Life Science, including classification, cells, genetics, the 6 kingdoms of life (including all the phyla of animals), biomes and the various systems of the human body.  During the first two weeks of school we are reviewing lab safety and equipment, as well as, the scientific method, including variables. Students have also received their syllabus and completed an example of our monthly Science in Comic assignment.

Next week, students will receive the newly purchased science textbooks, along with an accompanying workbook that they will be able to write in for assignments and review/ reinforcement.  They will also participate in two labs. One will focus on the scientific method and measurement and the other will help them learn about the parts and use of a microscope. Then, we will begin our life science content with classification, organism diversity and cells. There will be a quiz on Wednesday, 8/22 covering lab safety, lab equipment, and variables.

6TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Accelerated Math 7, we will begin Chapter 1 by recognizing and extending patterns, evaluating variable expressions, and writing and evaluating powers.  Students should expect a quiz over sections 1.1-1.3 on Friday, August 24. We will review in depth for the quiz on Thursday, August 23. Students will also receive a challenge problem on Monday, August 20.  They will have a week to work on it and can get help on it from me, a parent, or a tutor, but NOT a classmate. The challenge problem will be due on Monday, August 27.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Welcome to middle school!  Next week we will be continuing Chapter 1 by learning about integers including comparing and ordering (1.4), adding (1.5), subtracting (1.6), and multiplying and dividing (1.7).  There will be a quiz covering 1.1-1.4 on Tuesday. The challenge problem #1 will be due Monday, 8/27.

ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim

Literature - Discuss annotation and practice annotating in class. You need to bring your Baseball in April short story book on Monday, August 20th.

Grammar - Work on proofreading skills

Vocabulary - Greek/Latin root words List 1 + 7 SAT words. Students will complete Exercises A-D for homework and will practice writing sentences with the 7 SAT words. The quiz is scheduled for Friday, August 24.

Writing - Continue to review paragraph format

Reading Log: Reading for the reading log begins for Trimester One has begun. 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. This year students will be reading for 20 minutes on Wednesday during a silent reading time. This time counts for their reading log if they get their form signed by the proctor. Reading log minutes for 6th grade are due Friday, October 26th.

Earth Science - Mrs. Taylor

Please give your children a big shout out for making me feel so incredibly welcome. We just finished up Lab Safety (typically review) 8-16-18, and began work on the Scientific Method. Application of the Scientific Method will be Tuesday, the 28th.

Quiz Lab Safety: 8-21-18 The students will identify Lab Safety errors in pictures as well as situational paragraphs as well as identifying Lab Symbols.

Quiz Scientific Method: 8-23-18.

Ancient Civ -  Mr. O’Hayer

Welcome to middle school. We had a great first week learning the day to day policies and procedures of middle school. Next week we begin our study of Early Humankind. Chapter 1 will take us to The World’s Early People- The Distant Past. Lesson objectives will be introduced on Monday.  Our Lesson 1 quiz will be on Thursday, August 23rd. In preparation for the quiz we will learn how to outline a lesson, identify key terms, and explain key concepts found in the readings. Homework will consist of reading portions of the lesson, define all key terms, and complete short answer questions relating to Linking History and Geography, Historical Interpretations, Interpreting Visuals, and Historical Point of View. Friday will take us to the introduction to Lesson 2, Early Modern Humans.

Spanish - Ms. Dubick

It’s been wonderful to have these kids in my class this week, many of whom I taught when they were in 4th grade!  They’re off to a great start and have been polite, attentive and eager to learn. We have begun the year with common classroom phrases and reviewing the alphabet.  They will have a quiz on Wednesday August 22nd covering this and some cultural topics. I highly recommend that they use Quizlet to study for their vocab! After that we will dive into greetings, goodbye’s and the gender of nouns.

Art - Mrs. Cookson

“I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” - Vincent Van Gogh

Welcome back! We are looking forward to another exciting year in the art room; full of creative thinking and discovery. Seventh graders will catch up with the other grades that met last week, and will have a refresher on the basics of the elements of art, the expectations in the art room, and a scavenger hunt to find materials in the room.

8th: Graffiti Names

7th: 1 object/9 ways

6th: Will continue on their Adjective, Adjective, Noun drawings