April 8th - April 12th

GREEN UP DAY AT HANCOCK!

On Saturday morning, April 6th, we will be greening up the campus.  Pinestraw will be spread, mulch added to the playgrounds, our borders outside the fence cleaned and general spring cleaning done.  A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT THE SCHOOL AND EARN COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS! SEE YOU SATURDAY 9:00am-11:00am!! ERB TESTING:  APRIL 8 - APRIL 11
Students in grades 3-8 will take standardized testing in the mornings of April 8- April 11.  It is especially important that students arrive at school on time on these days as testing will take place first thing in the morning.  Please encourage your children to get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast each day in advance of the testing. Due to light homework and assessments during the week of testing, we will open up Monday, April 15th for classroom assessments.

MONDAY ASSESSMENTS
To accommodate a light week in Middle School assignments and assessments to promote success on the ERB’s we will have some assessments on Monday, April 15th.

NEW RECESS OPPORTUNITIES!

Beginning next Wednesday, we are going to move the Wednesday lunch recess periods into the Bell Gymnasium.  This will facilitate a GREATLY upgraded recess experience. There will be access to lots of different equipment and more organized games.  The one thing everyone needs to participate is a pair of shoes suited for athletic activity (your gym shoes!). Those without proper shoes will have quiet activities in the bleachers.

SMOKING, VAPING, E-CIGS AND JUULING
We had a successful presentation by the Georgia Department of Health to both the students and parents about the emergence of e-smoking.  For those who could not attend the parent.edu session, the slides can be found HERE.  

ATHLETIC INTEREST 2019-2020
Parents:  Please help us plan for the future by completing the 2019-2020 Athletic Interest Survey Form.  To accurately predict our Athletic needs for 2019-20, we need responses from all parents of prospective student-athletes in grades 5th-8th.

ST. VINCENT’S ACADEMY 2ND ANNUAL ART MASTERPIECES EVENT
Click HERE for more information.

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 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 confidence as our virtue of the month. 7th grade won for the Middle School in March Kindness! Lunch Bunches start next week with the groups listed on the door to Hancock Hall. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Ms. Pedrick at apedrick@hancockdayschool.org

Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week, students will be introduced to exponential growth and decay. On Wednesday, we will explore exponential growth and decay by doing a hands on activity to show students how decay and growth works. We will begin reviewing Chapter 8 at the end of the week and students should expect their Chapter 8 Test on Wednesday, April 17.

Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, we will do our exponent project presentations.  Then we will begin reviewing linear functions and slope-intercept form, point-slope form, and parellel and perpendicular lines

Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, we will practice finding the area of regular polygons (11.6), and then review some important concepts from Algebra 1 such as factoring trinomials and solving quadratic equations using the quadratic formula.

Physical Science - Ms. Hoffman

We have been learning about the Electromagnetic (EM) Spectrum, including the seven main waves (radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays), as well as their importance and application.  Our lab this week demonstrated the three ways that visible light can be transmitted through objects that are transparent, translucent or opaque. The students also used prisms to see white light split into the different colors of the rainbow...ROYG.BIV  (See the photos below.) We will continue learning about visible light, including the parts of our eye, how we see color and optical illusions. Our next quiz will be on Monday, 4/15 after the week of ERB testing 4/8-4/12. We will finish up our unit with mirrors and lenses and participate in a lab demonstrating these concepts.  The unit test for the EM spectrum, light and mirrors/lens will be Thursday, 4/18 before our Easter holidays. The last Science in Comics for the year will be due Tuesday, 4/30 and students may complete up to two extra ones for additional homework credit.

English Language Arts - Mrs. Boyer
Literature: Students are two weeks into their Yom HaShoah Art/Writing Projects and they are about to read Part III of Night . We are having discussions that combine their reading to their real world knowledge (personal & cultural connections). There will be pop quizzes throughout this novel.

ELA Unit Project: Students will be engaging in a 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 were handed out on 3/25. Students are expected to turn in their projects to me/Hancock Hall by 4/10-4/11. They will also need to include the cover sheet (in the rubric). Students should be focusing on the journal entries for the next few weeks until the next deadline of 4/22-4/23 for the presentations and formal report. Students will be focusing on this project throughout T3.

Assessments: Most assessments will come from the project for T3. There will be a quiz on 4/16, and a test on either 5/2 or 5/10 (These announced assessments will be over Night.).

Reading Log: Students will have a choice between turning in a Reading Log (like T1) or a Reading Card (like T2). Either one will be due on 5/14/19. This is a project grade.

History & Gov’t II - Mrs. English

This week students will continue their study of World War II with discussion, homework, and readings coming from Chapter 24.3-4. We will also begin our collaborative memorial class project. More details will be sent to parents via email.

Spanish - Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish the 8th grade will continue to work with the vocabulary and grammar from Chapter 5A. We will be discussing current events and natural disasters in Spanish.  Students will also begin filming their newscast.

Algebra 1 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week, students will be introduced to exponential growth and decay. On Wednesday, we will explore exponential growth and decay by doing a hands on activity to show students how decay and growth works. We will begin reviewing Chapter 8 at the end of the week and students should expect their Chapter 8 Test on Wednesday, April 17.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, we will continue the 2nd part of Chapter 8 by practicing solving systems of linear equations by graphing (8.8) and learning how to graph linear inequalities (8.9).

History & Gov’t I - Mrs. English

This week we will continue our study of Chapter 8.1-2 and Chapter 9.1. We will expand on our discussion of the checks and balances in the Constitution and see how the early presidents did (and did not) abide by it. Looking ahead we will have a quiz on Chapter 8.1-2 and Chapter 9.1-2 on Tuesday, April 16th. Looking forward to a great week!

Spanish - Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish the 7th grade will begin Chapter 9B. This chapter focuses on technology and communication in the Spanish-speaking world. Students will learn the difference between the verbs saber and conocer , review some stem-changing verbs, and discuss the importance of cibercafes for travelers.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer
Literature: Students are two weeks into their final theme for the year: Sportsmanship. Students are reading one of the following novels:

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Writing: Students will engage in a research paper which will be covering the topic of sports medicine. This paper will correspond with their book club reading.

Grammar: For the remainder of T3 students will be reviewing parts of speech, the writing of dialogue, irregular verbs, citations, comma and semicolon usage, etc.

Vocabulary: We have begun Unit 8; there will be a quiz on 4/16. We will finish out the year with Unit 9 & 10.

Reading Log: Students will have a choice between turning in a Reading Log (like T1) or a Reading Card (like T2). Either one will be due on 5/14/19. This is a project grade.

Life Science - Ms. Hoffman

What a wonderful week! The seventh graders had a super great Frog Dissection.  They observed and labeled the external anatomy the first day and then the internal anatomy the second day.  All of them worked well with their partner and were enthusiastic to learn. Also, to learn more about fish, they created a Gyotaku print in Art and labeled the five different types of fins and some of the other external parts of its’ anatomy.  A special THANK YOU to Mrs. Cookson for helping with this assignment. (Please see all the photos below.) We finished our week with a quiz on these two groups found in the Phyla Chordata. Next week, we will learn about reptiles and birds, including specific characteristics and adaptations.  This will lead us to our final group of vertebrates for the following week, the mammals. The vertebrate unit test on all five groups will be on Thursday, 4/18 before our Easter holidays. The last Science in Comics for the year will be due Tuesday, 4/30 and students may complete up to two extra ones for additional homework credit.

 

Accelerated Math 7 - Mrs. Reardon

Next week, we will continue the students’ recipe proportion projects throughout the entire week. On Thursday, April 11, students will be able to bring their baked recipe into class to share for extra credit on their proportion project.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, we will continue the 2nd part of Chapter 8 by practicing solving systems of linear equations by graphing (8.8) and learning how to graph linear inequalities (8.9).

ELA - Mrs. Guggenheim

LITERATURE: In-class project that will be a test grade on The Giver.

VOCABULARY: List 10 Greek/Latin and 7 SAT words will be distributed. Quiz on 4/18.

GRAMMAR: Pronouns! We will continue learning about and practicing eight types of pronouns. There will be a quiz on 4/16.

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.

Earth Science - Mrs. Taylor

ERB Week. We are beginning a small, in class project using measurements of a scale drawing of the solar system Tuesday-Friday. We will review the test from Friday and jump to Astronomy on Tuesday. Check out the finishing touches to the Ocean Floor landforms. Play dough heaven. See pictures below.

Ancient Civ -  Mr. O’Hayer

This week we begin our last Unit of the year- The Development of Rome. We begin the Unit with Chapter 12, The Early Romans. This chapter will help us analyze the geographic, economic, religious, and political structures during Rome’s development. We will have a Quiz on Wednesday over Lessons 1 and 2. Our Chapter test will be Friday over Lessons 1,2, and 4 (We will have an in-class assessment on Lesson 3)

Spanish - Ms. Dubick

The 6th graders will be working on their family tree project next week!

Because of ERB week the project will not be officially due until Tuesday April 16th though many students may finish early.

It is important for them to work on this diligently and to check in with me regularly.  They are required to check in twice, but they are welcome to check in more often.

Art - Mrs. Cookson

“I don’t say everything, but I paint everything.” - Pablo Picasso

8th: Will work on Pointillism

7th: Will do the artistic gyotaku printing

6th: More wet felting; most will start rolling today