January 21st - January 25th

NOTES FROM MR. CRAWFORD

8th GRADE PARENTS - WASHINGTON, D.C.
On Tuesday, February 12th we will hold a Washington, D.C. Parent Meeting at 6pm in Hancock Hall. We will present the final itinerary and miscellaneous details for the trip.  If the government shutdown is not resolved at that point, we will review our options. Please plan to attend!

7th GRADE PARENTS - UPCOMING FIELD TRIP
We are still in need of a few more drivers for next Thursday’s 7th grade field trip to the Trustee’s Theater.  Drivers are needed to transport students from HDS to the theater at 12:30pm on Thursday, the 24th. Drivers are also needed to pick students up from the theater at 3pm and return them to HDS.  If you are able to help, please contact Mrs. Mannarino in the Middle School Office.

Please also remember that the 7th grade will have a slightly delayed dismissal (3:30 instead of 3:10) on the 24th due to this field trip. DUKE TIP HIGHLIGHTS Each 4-6 weeks we receive a newsletter for educators from the Duke TIP program.  It contains a lot of information helpful to eligible families. Rather that paraphrase the contents for this newsletter, it can be found HERE.   CALVARY DAY SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE Calvary Day School will be holding an open house on Sunday, January 27 at 2:00pm.  Click HERE for more information.

2ND TRIMESTER READING ASSIGNMENT
As the new trimester begins, the English Language Arts Department is altering the format of the Reading Log in order to promote student engagement and creativity.  In place of assigning 360 minutes of reading this trimester, students will choose one age-appropriate book to read during the course of the trimester. Before beginning to read, students must share the title and author with their ELA teacher for approval.  The book may be of any genre, fiction or nonfiction. After reading this book, students will create a brief book review using a 5 x 7 note card, which we will supply. Click HERE to view more information regarding this new assignment.

AFTER SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES

ART CLUB
Ms. Dubick will be offering an after school art club from 3:15-4:30 every Monday starting in January.  The cost will be $75 for 6 weeks.  There is a five student minimum in order for the club to run, there is a cap of twelve students.  Art club participants will explore mediums and projects not covered during art class. Alcohol ink, wire sculptures, detailed clay projects and glazes will all be covered, among other materials.   Please email Ms. Dubick to sign up or for questions. cdubick@hancockdayschool.org.

COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Each middle school student is required to complete ten hours of community service over the course of the school year.  Please remember to list hours worked on a daily basis, do not log total sum of hours worked over an extended period of time.  See below for a few upcoming service opportunities.

America’s Second Harvest needs volunteers to help prepare monthly bags of food for senior citizens in our community.  Volunteers should arrive by 7:45 and must wear closed-toe shoes. Contact Bryce Seuntjens at bryce@helpendhunger.org for more information.

GUIDANCE & CHARACTER EDUCATION

This month we are exploring integrity as our virtue of the month. 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 continue in Chapter 6 by solving and graphing multi-step inequalities.  We will take a day to review 6.1-6.3 and then students will have a quiz over the material on Thursday, January 24.  The challenge problem that students received on January 14 is due on Tuesday, January 22.

Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

This week, we will be completing Chapter 8 by having a day of review on Tuesday and then the Chapter 8 test on Wednesday.  We will then start Chapter 7 by learning about similar polygons and scale factor (7.1-7.2) and showing triangles are similar by the AA Similarity Postulate (7.3).

Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

This week, we will continue Chapter 8 by learning about properties of rhombuses, rectangles, and squares (8.4) and discuss the different definitions of trapezoids and kites and why some mathematicians prefer one definition over another (8.5).  There will be a quiz covering sections 8.1-8.4 on Thursday.

Physical Science - Ms. Hoffman

The eighth graders are still reviewing motion, speed, velocity and acceleration and participated in an outdoors motion lab to determine speed and the effect it has on stopping distances. (See the photos below.)  We will also apply this information later on when we discuss Newton’s Laws and how they relate to car crashes. In addition, this week the students have been solving word problems to determine the values of these concepts using the appropriate formulas and have discussed and learned about forces, gravity and friction, including how they affect different objects.  Next week we will continue this discussion and conduct a friction lab to compare static and kinetic friction on various surfaces. Our next quiz will be Friday, 1/25/19 and our January Science in Comics is due at the end of the month, Thursday, 1/31/19.

*Science Fair Projects are due this month.  The completed science fair formal report is due next week on Wednesday 1/23 and will count as the eighth grade second trimester project grade for science.  Then the completed triptych (test grade) and completed log book (homework grade) will be due the following week on Wednesday 1/30. Classroom science fair project presentations will be on Wednesday 1/30 and Thursday 1/31 and will count as a classwork grade.  All rubrics for these are found in the Science Fair Information Packet handed out the beginning of November and posted on Google Classroom. Please let me know of any questions you have. As a reminder, Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7:30-8am are designated to helping the eighth graders with their project.  

English Language Arts - Mrs. Boyer
Literature: Students are almost two Acts into William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Students will be given the No Fear Shakespeare version which has the translated version on one side and the Shakespearean writing on the other. We will be reading scenes in class as the unit progresses, and I will be ‘mock’ annotating in order to teach the students how to annotate more thoroughly. As we read, students will have reading checks and activities that will only be possible to complete and engage with if the student has read their portion. We will also be diving into the vocabulary of Shakespearean language, his background, and the historical context of this play. It is critical that each student read and keep up with their studies. We will be interacting with this text from January 8th until Spring Break in March (however, we will be discussing the Holocaust and their T3 novel, Night, in order for the students to connect to the text while they are in Washington, DC).

January 11th-17th

Act I

68 pgs

January 8th-24th

Act II

64 pgs

January 25th-31st

Act III

72 pgs

February 1st-7th

Act IV

40 pgs

February 8th-13th

Act V

39 pgs

Final Reading is due on February 13th

Exams February 14th-15th

February 18th-March 1st (Projects/Writing)

March 4th-March 8th (Holocaust Intro)

Assessments: One-three Quizzes, Act I-II and the Shakespeare Background January 29th (There was a pop quiz on Wednesday 1/16- many verbal hints were given and students had multiple days to review), One Test February 5th on Act I-III

Vocab: Shakespearean Language-Dictionary Project

Reading Novel Card:  Due before or on February 1st.

History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English

The WWI Documentaries turned out great! There was a lot of research and effort put into these projects. Moving forward students are going to focus on the Roaring Twenties. Topics covered will include the America after World War I, the first Red Scare, political cartoons, and women’s suffrage. Readings and homework will come from Chapter 22.1-2. Looking ahead, students are going to have a Roaring Twenties quiz on January 30th and a Roaring Twenties test on February 6th.

Spanish - Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish the 8th grade will continue to work with the imperfect tense and the vocabulary from Chapter 4A. Students will exchange information about what they were like as a child and use that information in the biographies. The grammar quiz will be on Thursday, January 24th and will cover the imperfect conjugation and indirect object pronouns.

7TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Algebra, we will continue in Chapter 6 by solving and graphing multi-step inequalities.  We will take a day to review 6.1-6.3 and then students will have a quiz over the material on Friday, January 25.  The challenge problem that students received on January 14 is due on Tuesday, January 22.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

This week, we will complete Chapter 6.1-6.6 by learning about scale drawings and models (6.6).  There will be a day of review on Wednesday and the Chapter 6.1-6.6 test on Friday.

History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English

This week we are continuing our study of the American Revolution with a closer look at the roll of African Americans and women during the Revolutionary War. Students will do research on specific heroes of the war that have often been overlooked by historians. We also will talk about battles in the west and south that had a major impact on the war. Readings and homework will come from Chapter 6.3-4. Throughout our study, we will also look at two overarching questions, 1) why was the Revolutionary War revolutionary? 2)  Why did the Americans overcome great odds and win the war? Looking ahead, students will have a test on January 30th over Chapter 6.

Spanish - Ms. Hughes

This week in Spanish class we will continue to work with the grammar and vocabulary Next week in Spanish the 7th grade will continue to work with the preterite and vocabulary from Chapter 8A. Students will exchange information about vacations and trips in the past through various speaking and listening activities. The grammar quiz will be on Wednesday, January 23rd and will be over conjugation and the personal “a”.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer
Literature: We are diving into our next theme: Voices of the World! The students will be reading Just a Drop of Water, Refugee, All the Broken Pieces, or Hidden Figures (Young Readers Edition). This will be a writing/project heavy unit as we dive into discussing the world issues within these novels. Students will be writing a research paper, engaging in character analysis projects, plot mountains, research posters, etc.

Grammar: Predicate Adjectives/Predicate Nominatives, Quiz on 1/22- Students will be able to use a card with notes. On Wednesday, we will be reviewing the different types of pronouns which will be our introduction to our unit on tense.

Vocabulary: Unit 5, Vocabulary and Literary Terms (Review Words) on 1/29

Reading Novel Card:  Due on or before Feb 1st.

Life Science - Ms. Hoffman

The seventh graders have been continuing to learn about Charles Darwin, natural selection and the theory of evolution. They participated in the lab “Which beak is best?” to simulate using different beaks to obtain different food sources and discover the difficulty and variations involved. (See the photos below.)  We also discussed other types of evidence for plant and animal evolution, including fossils, embryology, and DNA and looked at convergent and divergent evolution. The students also went on a field trip to Skidaway Aquarium and participated in a fish dissection, oyster dissection and invertebrate lab. I will post photos of this next week.   Next week on Wednesday, 1/23 will be our quiz on Darwin, natural selection and evolution. We will then begin to learn about Abiotic/ biotic ecosystems, succession, and the relationships between organisms including symbiosis, mutualism and parasitism.  Our unit test on all this material will be on 2/1.  Don’t forget our January Science in Comics is due at the end of the month, Thursday, 1/31/19.   

6TH GRADE ASSIGNMENTS

Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Accelerated Math 7, we continue in Chapter 6 by adding and subtracting integers.  On Thursday, students will do a hands on activity to show them an easier way to add and subtract integers.  On Friday, students will take a brief quiz over lessons 6.1-6.3. The challenge problem that students received on Monday, January 14 will be due on Tuesday, January 22.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

This week, we will complete Chapter 6.1-6.6 by learning about scale drawings and models (6.6).  There will be a day of review on Wednesday and the Chapter 6.1-6.6 test on Thursday. We will then learn about simple probability and odds (6.7).

ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim

LITERATURE: We will continue reading the nonfiction book Phineas Gage: A True But Gruesome Story About Brain Science. There will be a quiz Tuesday over Chapter 2. We will be doing a number of activities to support our reading of the text. Dr. Rollings is coming to speak to the students on Wednesday.

VOCABULARY: The List 7 Greek/Latin + 7 SAT words quiz is scheduled for 1/24.

GRAMMAR:

We are starting a unit on nouns this week.

The outline for the 2nd Trimester ELA Exam was posted in GC and students were given a copy.

2nd Trimester Reading Assignment: The new Middle School reading assignment for second trimester is attached to the Blog and is also posted in my Google Classroom. It takes the place of the Reading Log. While it may be turned in at any point during the trimester, it is DUE  BY FEBRUARY 1, 2019.

Earth Science - Mrs. Taylor

Students have tied together tectonic plates, earthquakes and volcanoes. They recently discovered where the 8th continent will be located, what it will be called and when this is estimated to happen. Ask them.  They will have their Geology Unit test 1/29/19. Next week, they will also be introduced to their T2 Project for their exam. They will have AMPLE time to complete this at school and have it ready to present.

Ancient Civ -  Mr. O’Hayer

Last week we took the opportunity to study the Proverbs of Solomon. Students then researched proverbs that have special meaning to them and wrote a reflection on the proverb they chose along with a personal account or experience. They did a great job!! Lots of thought and in depth discussions. To start the week we will finish Ch. 6 Lesson 3 and review for our Ch. 6 test on Wednesday the 23rd. To end the week we will begin introducing the next chapter: Changes for the Jewish People. In this chapter we will analyze the religious, economic, and social structures of the early Hebrews.

Spanish - Ms. Dubick

The 6th graders will be learning how to describe weather and will have a test on time, schedules, days, months on the 25th.  They will also continue learning about present day Cuba.

Art - Mrs. Cookson

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decided if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

8th: Will get an introduction to stop-motion animation and begin ideation for their own projects

7th: Will get back to work on their music concert posters

6th: Will work on doodle drawings