October 28th - November 1st

PARENT CONFERENCES (NO CLASSES!)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST

SIGN UP WITH PTC WIZARD!

FOOD DRIVE
Each year Hancock families gather food supplies to support local needy families through Second Harvest.  This year we are joining forces with students from Savannah Country Day School and St. Andrews in this effort.  The food drive will focus on non-perishable protein rich foods (tuna, fish, chicken, plant based proteins, peanut butter, etc).  Food can be dropped off during carpool or in homerooms beginning on Monday, October 28th and ending on Wednesday, November 6th.  On Thursday, November 7th, students from Hancock, Country Day and St. Andrews will join to deliver the donations to Second Harvest and pack the food for distribution. 

***The Middle School spirit teams will be competing with eachother for most items donated!***

8TH GRADE WASHINGTON, D.C. TRIP - PARENT MEETING
We will be having a parent meeting on Tuesday, November 12th at 6:00pm in Hancock Hall to discuss the details of the 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C.  Please plan to attend.

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUCTIONAL MAKE UP - NO T1 EXAMS!

REMINDER - NEXT WEEK, MONDAY - THURSDAY IS A REGULAR WEEK OF CLASSES.  NO T1 EXAMINATIONS!!

HIGH SCHOOL ADMISSIONS
Click HERE to find the letter detailing the steps for selecting a high school.  Click HERE for the Hancock Guide to applying to high school.  Our next scheduled high school visit is November 4th - St. Andrew’s School.

MIDDLE SCHOOL DANCE - NOVEMBER 8TH

TALENT SHOW - NOVEMBER 15TH

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE - SPRING PERFORMANCE

THE VAPE TALK

Significant data is now being developed that detail the sometimes horrific effects of vaping.  Now is the time for families to discuss this emerging epidemic. See this link HERE for more information.

ASSESSMENTS CALENDAR

THIS LINK leads to a Google Sheet that will have the next 2 weeks of assessments.  The link below will lead to the 6th grade assessments, but by using the tabs in the lower left corner (shown below), you can navigate to 7th grade and 8th grade assessments as well.

History/black, Science/green, ELA/blue, Spanish/red, and Math/pink.

Dates are subject to change; teachers will keep the calendar updated.

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.

HDS Extended Day Care needs volunteers to help out after school.  We are currently limiting this opportunity to 8th graders, with a possibility of opening it up to 6th and 7th graders later on.  If a student is interested in earning some community service hours, they will need to sign up a week in advance using THIS LINK.  Please contact Mrs. Mannarino with any questions.

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.

The 7th grade students have been discussing how to be an “upstander” and promote a positive school culture.  Another topic we have been covering in 7th grade is how to manage your online reputation in the age of digital and social media.  

Take some time to speak with your child about managing time online.  In particular, highlight for your student the importance of thinking before you post.  We often see stories in the news about people who face consequences due to messages, videos or pictures they have posted in the past.  In fact, most universities, employers, and organizations regularly “google” applicants and look at social media accounts.  

-Allison Maher, School Counselor

Algebra 1 - Mr. Cargile

Next week in Algebra 1 we will complete our study of Chapter 3 concepts, Solving Linear Equations. We will start the week with the preview assessment, followed by a review of Chapter 3 concepts, and then we will take the Chapter 3 test on Wednesday. 

Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Geometry, we will continue Chapter 5 by learning about some special line segments in triangles such as perpendicular bisectors (5.2) and angle bisectors (5.3).  We will also learn about the properties of the points at which they intersect such as the circumcenter (5.2) and the incenter (5.3). There will be a quiz covering 5.1-5.3 on Wednesday.

Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will begin the 2nd part of Chapter 11 by learning how to solve radical equations (11.3), which are equations that have variables under a radical.  We will also learn about extraneous solutions and students will discover the mathematics behind why they exist.

Physical Science - Ms. Hoffman

This week in science we finished up all of our chemistry content with information on balancing chemical equations and discussing the various types of chemical reactions.  The students watched a demonstration called Yellow-Blue Skiparoo demonstrating an oscillating limiting reaction and the use of ions facilitating a reaction. Our student lab included observing examples of signs of chemical reactions, including changes in color and/or heat and/or the production of a precipitate. Mr. Crawford even joined us to sit in on all the Science Learning Fun?  (See photos below.) We also created a class study guide for our unit test, which the students took today, Friday, 12/25.  

Next week we will finish out our trimester with a brief section learning about acids and bases.  This will include the pH scale and the importance of these types of compounds, as well as, participating in an indicator lab testing pH levels.  Planned labs include participating in a titration and have a lab on the types of chemical reaction indicators and, if time, conducting flame tests for various chemicals.

The October Science Choice Board is due on Thursday, 10/31.  For this monthly assignment there are nine different assignments to choose from and  students must complete at least one Science in Comics, one practice science test/quiz and one study guide.  They can turn in a total of two of the same choice overall for the year. Additional choices include creating a science song/poem, wordsearch, crossword, and finding Science at the Movies.  Each student has a copy of all the grading rubrics (handed out in August) and they are also posted on Google Classroom. 

Science Fair:   Students shared or printed out for me a rough draft of their science fair background information.  They will receive my comments and suggestions by Monday, 10/28 and the final draft of this is due on Wednesday, 11/6/19.  They also gave me their log books to check on updates. Data and Results are due 11/20/19. Students should already be conducting experiments if they need several weeks of data (i.e. growing plants, building a prototype) or collecting materials to ensure they have everything they need to conduct their experiment.

*NOTE:  I am still missing some of the Risk Assessment Form to complete for the use of chemicals and/or other hazardous/ safety concerns.  These MUST be completed and turned in to me BEFORE you begin your project. 

Finally, limited lab equipment is also available for students to borrow from the school.  Parents should not be spending large amounts of money to purchase materials for this project.  Students will, however, need to be providing their own large cardboard triptych display board for their final completed project due on 12/11/19.

 Below is the list of all the due dates for our project.  I am available for specific project questions by email, during the 8th grade independant time 1 - 1:30pm each day and  each morning (especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 7:30am until 8am.  

Science Fair Project Dates

(* Indicate Homework Grades)

Monday                       8/26/19                        Science Fair Packets Home

Friday                           8/30/19                        *Signed Science Fair Proposal Form AND Parent

   Approval Form (1B) Due

Wednesday                9/4/19                          *Log Book Check/ Science Fair Topic and

   Question or Problem Due

Wednesday                9/18/19                        *Log Book Check with detailed Science Fair

                                                                               Materials and Procedures Due

Wednesday                10/02/19                     *Log Book Check with Research Notes Due

Wednesday                10/16/19                     *Rough Draft of Background Information Due

                                                                               (email or share document)

Wednesday                10/23/19                     *Log Book Check with Updates/ Revisions Due

Wednesday                11/6/19                        *Final Draft of Background Information Due

                                                                               (email or share document)

Wednesday                11/20/19                     *Log Book Check with Data/ Results OR

   Prototype/Solution Due

Wednesday                12/4/19                        *Log Book Check/ Updated Results or Solution AND

                                                                               Sketch of Triptych

 Completed Formal Report (printed) Due

Wednesday                12/11/19                     All Completed Projects Due

(Triptych, Log Book and completed Abstract Form)

            Complete abstract on-line or use form in the packet 

                                                                     Project presentations will also occur this week

                         

English Language Arts - Mrs. Boyer

Students have completed their reading of To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM). 

TKAM Assessments

Final Creative Project (10/21-10/25)

Final Novel Test 10/24

Final Essay 10/28-11/6

Reading Log Due 10/23 (This has been on my homework board since the first week of school.). 

All class materials have been scanned into GC for students to use as study aids. :)

We will begin Animal Farm during the second/third week of November. :) 

History & Gov’t II - Mrs. Robinson

Next week in American History and Government Part II, we will be starting our unit on the Industrialization of America. We have started the unit off by working through the myth of the Wild Wild West. Students are working in small groups to create a video that debunks one of the hollywood myths about the Western Frontier. Students should be working at home as well as in class on this project. We will continue this unit with a study of the removal of Native American’s from their western land, and a study of what inventions and changes industrialization brought to the east coast of the United States. The final test of the trimester will be an in-class essay on Tuesday, Oct 29th. Students have already received the prompt, it is posted on Google Classroom, and students will have Monday in class to work on an outline for their essay that they will be allowed to bring into the test. 

8th grade Spanish - Ms. Hill

Vocabulary Quiz Tuesday, October 29th. (all information in your notes as well as posted in Google Classroom) 

Culture: Discussion of Día de los Muertos and its significance in Mexican culture. 

Vocabulary and grammar (continued): School schedules and activities. Using verbs to describe daily activities. 

Review of telling time in Spanish.

Algebra 1 - Mr. Cargile

Next week in Algebra 1 we will complete Chapter 3, Solving Linear Equations. We will start the week with the preview assessment, followed by a review of Chapter 3 concepts, and then we will take the Chapter 3 test on Wednesday.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete the 1st half of Chapter 4 by learning how to find the least common multiple of numbers and monomials (4.4).  There will be a day of review on Tuesday and a test covering 4.1-4.4 on Wednesday.

History & Gov’t I - Mrs. Robinson

Next week, in American History & Government Part I, we will finish our Unit on English Colonies in North America. The Unit 3 test will be on Tuesday Oct 29th. We will spend the class period on Monday the 28th reviewing, I will be holding a review session right after school on Monday the 28th and will be available both Monday and Tuesday morning to answer questions or review. The study guide is already posted to Google Classroom for students reference. After our Unit Three test we will be doing a small project on Colonial Life to start off the second trimester!

7th grade Spanish - Ms. Hill

Vocabulary Quiz on Tuesday, October 29th. (all information is in your notes as well as on Google Classroom)

Culture: Discussion of Día de los Muertos and its significance in Mexican culture. 

Vocabulary Continued: describing yourself and others using SER and adjectives

Grammar Continued:  Adjective and noun agreement and placement in Spanish.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

Literature: Students have completed their reading of The Hobbit. 

Usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are Literature Days. 

Students will have a final novel test on 10/30. 

Reading Logs are due on 10/23. This has been on my homework board since the first week of school. 

Vocabulary: Students will begin Unit 3; the quiz is TBA. Students have their vocabulary workbooks; this workbook will be collected in May and used during their 8th grade year as well.

Grammar: We have been in our first grammar unit for about two weeks, and students are learning about transitive and intransitive verbs, direct and indirect objects, and predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives. Our grammar units will begin this week; therefore, please send your child in for morning help if needed. Also, I always post extra resources in GC such as practice sheets, IXL links, Youtube videos, etc. Grammar is a difficult concept to grasp which means your child needs to identify their learning style and use that to succeed in regards to these concepts. 

There will be a test on Indirect and Direct Objects/Transitive & Intransitive/Predicate Nominative and Predicate Adjectives on 11/6.

Usually Tuesdays and Thursdays are Grammar and Vocabulary Days. 

Assessments can be any day Tuesday-Friday! :)

Life Science - Mrs. DuRant

Next week in Life Science we will continue to discuss cell division, specifically focusing on meiosis. We will complete a station lab on mitosis and meiosis early in the week.  Students will have a quiz on the cell cycle and mitosis on Tuesday. I have added a quizlet in the google classroom to help them review vocabulary terms to prepare for the quiz. For the quiz, students should know the vocabulary and be able to list and describe the stages of mitosis.  Our monthly writing assignment, Science in the News, is due on Thursday.

Accelerated Math 7 - Mr. Cargile

Next week in Accelerated Math 7 we will complete our study of Chapter 3, Data and Statistics. We will start the week with the preview assessment, followed by a review of Chapter 3 concepts, and then we will take the Chapter 3 test on Wednesday.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete the 1st half of Chapter 4 by learning how to find the least common multiple of numbers and monomials (4.4).  There will be a day of review on Tuesday and a test covering 4.1-4.4 on Wednesday.

ELA - Mrs. Sasser

Students’ final unit project, the Monster Project, is due on Monday. Students will display their projects and the entire middle school will vote on the winner! Students will also have their Unit 5 Greek/Latin and SAT word vocabulary quiz on Wednesday. Starting Wednesday, students will begin learning about thesis statements and how to draft a persuasive essay. We will discuss the stages of writing process, beginning with the prewriting and drafting stages. We will discuss how to research appropriately and develop solid reasons around a key topic. Students will spend this week organizing their research and drafting their four paragraph essay. We will work on this for two weeks, going through the writing process before submitting a final draft on November 13th. 

Earth Science - Mrs. Hoffman

  This week the students have been working on their in-class group project learning about severe weather.  Each small group of students used their chromebooks to research one type of storm (blizzard, hurricane, tornado, flood/drought or thunderstorm).  After answering seven research questions to narrow down the content of their project, they created a google slide presentation, decided on an activity/ demonstration and produced assessment questions for the class covering this material.  All the Google Slide presentations they created are also posted on Google Classroom.  

They these groups became “storm teachers” as they explained this information to the other students in the class who took notes from the Google Slides.  Each group also shared their activity, demonstrations and/or review games to help the class better understand the information. Some of these strategies included playing hangman or jeopardy, showing a tornado, blizzard or hurricane simulation and completing a wordsearch. The project itself counts as one test grade and one classwork grade.  Each class will take the combined student written assessment questions for their quiz on all of this severe weather material.  

Earth Science - Mrs. DuRant

Next week in Earth Science students will conclude their group projects researching various types of storms such as tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes, droughts/floods and thunderstorms. The following week, students will present their projects to the class.  Science in Comics is due 10/31/19.

Ancient Civ -  Mr. O’Hayer

Next week we will dive into Chapter 7: Changes for the Jewish People. In this chapter we will discuss and analyze the religious, economic, and social structures of the Hebrew people. We will also discuss the impact of the Babylonians and the Persians on the Jewish people. This is a short week coming up. Students are out Friday for conferences. We will have a Quiz on Lesson 1 on Tuesday. No other assessments this week for AC. 

Spanish - Mr. Alexander

This week, we will be reviewing our previous grammar points and vocabulary in order to prepare for the cumulative test on Wednesday the 30th.

SPECIALS

Art - Mrs. Cookson

“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” - Leonardo da Vinci

8th: Will catch up with our schedule and have a lesson for a surprise project (no class on Thursday due to Halloween special schedule)

7th: Will continue ideation on Hobbit Houses and have a demo on slab technique

6th: Will continue 1-point perspective drawing