March 11th - March 15th

DRESS DOWN DAY On Friday, March 15th there will be an all school tops only dress down day.

SPRING PICTURES
InFocus will be on campus to take Spring Pictures on April 2nd. Completing this form is required in order to have your child's picture taken. There is a free choice dress for picture day only if you have completed this form. Otherwise, your child must come in their HDS uniform (or PE uniform if it is a PE day).

8TH GRADE GRADUATION SLIDESHOW
The Hancock Day School 8th grade graduation will be on Thursday, May 23rd.  Per HDS tradition, we will have a slideshow presentation of our 8th grade students during reception. Please submit FIVE pictures of your choice to Mrs. Mannarino ASAP. (mmannarino@hancockdayschool.org)  **These pictures are separate from the baby picture you submitted for the yearbook**

SMOKING, VAPING AND JUULING - PARENT.edu - MARCH 27TH!!
In response to the growing concern about the emergence and prevalence of e-smoking, we will be offering two information sessions in March as part of our Parent.edu series. The presentations are being coordinated by our nurses in conjunction with the Georgia Healthy Family Alliance.  There will be a student assembly for grades 6-8 during the school day followed by a Parent.edu presentation for parents at 6:00. More information and parent permission slips for the assembly will follow in March.

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. Click HERE for a log form.

The President's Volunteer Service Award  In the 8th grade, students who complete hours beyond the basic Hancock Day School requirement are recognized at the annual Middle School Honors Assembly. Eligibility for an award is separated in three levels:  Bronze: 50 - 74 hours, Silver: 75 - 99 hours, Gold: 100 + hours. To qualify for this award your hours are due to Mrs. Mannarino by April 1st so they may be submitted to the President for review.

The March of Dimes Shamrock Run benefits the mission of the March of Dimes to improve the health of babies.  Students can earn a community service hour for participating in the 5K or kids run event on the evening of Friday, March 8th.  Registration information can be found here.

The Old Savannah City Mission needs volunteers for various positions.  The mission provides food, shelter, and clothing to the homeless.  For more information, contact Connell Stiles at 912-232-1979 or stiles@oscm.org.

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.

This month we are exploring empathy as our virtue of the month. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Ms. Pedrick at apedrick@hancockdayschool.org

Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

HAVE FUN IN D.C.! See you when you return from Spring Break!

Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, we will be in Washington, D.C.!

Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, we will be in Washington, D.C.!

Physical Science - Ms. Hoffman

The eighth graders have been busy learning about sound.  We have discussed the parts of the ear, how we hear and the properties of sound, including loudness, intensity and pitch.  We have also looked at the Doppler Effect and the frequency of sound learning about ultrasound and infrasound and the fact that the average human hearing is in the range of 20-20,000 Hertz.  We ended our week with a sound lab focusing on pitch. (See photos below.) After the 8th grade DC trip and Spring Break holidays, we will continue with sound and discuss sonic booms, sound resonance and create a wave/ sound booklet.  We will also have another quiz and our March Science in Comics will be due Friday, 3/29.

English Language Arts - Mrs. Boyer
Literature: Students will begin their Holocaust Unit by reading Night by Elie Wiesel.

ELA Unit Project: Students will be engaging in a four-six week project where they will be competing in the Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance) Writing and Art Contest which is sponsored by the Jewish Educational Alliance of Savannah. Rubrics and Due Dates will be handed out in the coming weeks.

Upcoming Units: Students will be engaging with the novel Night by Elie Wiesel from March 1st to May 1st. Students will engage in a learning segment regarding the history of the novel from March 4th-8th, in order to prepare them for entering the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English

Excited to join the kids for D.C. this week!! We’re going to have a great time!

Spanish - Ms. Hughes
Looking forward to another great trip to D.C.!!

Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

In order to stay on track with the other Algebra class that will be in DC next week, we will do a little cross-curricular work in lieu of beginning Chapter 8.  We will investigate the 3/5ths Compromise and do some math to find out if the compromise made a difference in the number of representatives that each state had.  We will also work on a “If you had a million dollars” challenge towards the end of the week. When we return from Spring Break, we will jump right into Chapter 8.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, Mr. Lanfear will be with the 8th grade in Washington, D.C.  Students will be broken into groups and use scale models and ratios to design, draw, and decorate their own playground!

History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English

I will be in D.C. this week chaperoning the 8th grade class trip. My 7th grade students will be working on a full week president research project. All the guidelines, rubrics, and examples are in Google Classroom. Students need to be aware of all the requirements and will be responsible for completing daily checkpoints  for their project. Looking ahead, we will take the research that they complete and start a “President Madness” mini-debate bracket in honor of March Madness. Hope you all have a wonderful week and spring break.

Spanish - Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class the 7th grade will continue working with the grammar and vocabulary from Chapter 9A. Students will also be writing and performing in a 3-5 minute short film. The rubric and requirements can be found on Google Classroom. I will be in D.C. with the 8th grade for the week. I will be checking email and Google Classroom regularly. I hope everyone has a great break!!

ELA - Mrs. Boyer
Literature & Writing: Students will be working on a research project where they will work with a partner and create an African American History research powerpoint.

Grammar: We will be venturing into irregular verbs, intransitive and transitive verbs, and who vs whom, and which vs that. There will not be a quiz over this material until after the break.

Vocabulary: We will begin Unit 8 immediately after Spring Break.

Life Science - Ms. Hoffman

We have finished discussing our next two Phyla of invertebrates; the mollusks (snails, clams and squid) and annelids (segmented worms).  The students looked at a variety of shells to see the differences between gastropods (snails) and bivalves (clams), and looked at some wonderful video clips to see both of these unique and interesting groups of organisms in action.  (See our photos below.) We also briefly started learning about insects, part of the Phylum Arthropoda. Next week we will finish up with information on all the arthropods (insects, spiders, crustaceans) and learn about our final invertebrate phylum, the echinoderms (sea stars, sea urchins and sand dollars).  We will also have another invertebrate lab to see first hand the unique adaptations and differences these animals possess. Our culminating unit test on all the eight invertebrate phyla will be Friday, 3/15, before our Spring Break. Our March Science in Comics is due Friday, 3/29.

Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Accelerated Math 7, we will jump right into Chapter 8 by learning about ratios, rates, and slope. We will review on Thursday and take a 8.1-8.3 quiz on Friday, March 15.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, Mr. Lanfear will be with the 8th grade in Washington, D.C.  Students will be broken into groups and use scale models and ratios to design, draw, and decorate their own playground!

ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim

LITERATURE: Oral presentations in class will begin on 3/14. Practice, practice, practice at home so you will be comfortable presenting. We have begun The Giver. We will continue reading and discussing in class. Students will write their thoughts in a journal (project grade) after reading the chapters.

VOCABULARY: The Giver vocab list 2 was given out on 3/4. The quiz is 3/15. Students may write sentences with the words for up to 5 extra bonus points on the quiz. Sentences are due Wednesday 3/13 if completing them.

GRAMMAR: Verb unit. Quiz on verbs 3/13. (Formatted like the Pretest)

3RD TRIMESTER BOOK PROJECT

Students will be given a choice. They may choose to keep a Reading Log for 360 minutes as they did 1st trimester or create a card as they did 2nd trimester over one book. They must inform me by 2/22 of their choice, and that choice is final. They may not switch between the two midway through the trimester.

GRAMMAR:

Earth Science - Mrs. Taylor

Oceans! Ask your little Einsteins about the 28,000 Ducks lost at sea known as the “friendly floaters”, ocean garbage patches, and gyres. They are now relating the weather unit to the Ocean Unit.  Love seeing the connections. We will be having quiz on waves and currents Wednesday, 3/13. Next up, tides and ocean topography.

Ancient Civ -  Mr. O’Hayer

I will be in D.C. next week on the 8th grade trip. Mrs. Blake will be in for me. Students will start Ch. 9: The Golden Age. Work will include Analyzing the political, religious, economic, and social structures of the Greeks. Students will also be introduced to the Persian Empire. Any assessments conducted will be open notes or open book. The chapter test will be after break. I will have limited access to email and Google classroom. If there are any questions feel free to reach out and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Have a wonder break.

Spanish - Ms. Dubick

The 6th graders are learning ser vs estar, which are two verbs in Spanish that both mean “to be”. They will be using these verbs, along with tener, to create physical and personality descriptions. Test: March 14 (Thursday) ser vs estar; descriptions using estar, tener & ser. Cultural knowledge of the Camino de Santiago and the running of the bulls in northern Spain.

Art - Mrs. Cookson

“Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” - Claude Monet

8th: No class due to DC trip

7th: Continue surrealism animal meld drawings

6th: Continue wet felting

---------

Craft Club

This week our Craft Club used kitchen ingredients to create playdough.