April 20th - April 24th

T3 GRADES We have now finished our first month of eLearning. Students have completed a round of different assignments and have had their first assessments. Looking at how our grades are calculated, we noticed that our category weights for some courses did not work well in the eLearning model. Therefore, some courses made adjustments. In 95% of the cases this change enhanced student grades or kept them the same. In a few cases grades went down slightly. If you have questions about your child’s grade, please address the questions to the specific teacher.

NEXT WEEK IS SPIRIT WEEK!
Click here for more information.

8TH GRADE GRADUATION INFORMATION

Students should complete their reflection form by HR on Wednesday, April 22nd. Parents, please remember to complete the graduation information form for your child by Friday, April 24th.  

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 the 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.

SHELTERED IN PLACE COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

The best opportunities for service during these times come through supporting family.  Student service to family that goes beyond normal expectations will be recognized for community service hours.  This might include helping grandparents, tutoring younger siblings or cousins, or baby sitting so parents can work from home.  When these hours are earned please communicate that to Mrs. Mannarino following the standard protocol.  

Zoom Lunch Bunch Check Ins are happening after the regular school day between 12:15-12:45) with small groups of students. Next week, 7th grade students will have an opportunity to share what is working, what they miss, and how they are staying socially connected.  Emails are sent to students directly with the link for their Lunch Bunch.  

I am available to students and parents at amaher@hancockdayschool.org.  If needed, I can provide video support to you or your student.  Please feel free to reach out!  

-Allison Maher, School Counselor

For some, managing their time for assignments, due dates, and studying for assessments as well as chores, down time, and exercise - to name a few - can be challenging. What has been helping me this year is a daily calendar with 15-minute time increments. I’ve already suggested it to a few students since we have been schooling at home. Please feel free to reach out to me for copies of these calendar templates as well as student support: tguggenheim@hancockdayschool.org.

Please help remind students to check their school email and Google Classroom daily.

Algebra 1 - Mr. Cargile

Zoom has been going great and the students have been engaged, focused, and diligent. Next week in Algebra 1 class we will continue to define and use zero and negative exponents, and we will practice using scientific notation. 

Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, in Geometry, we will review Chapter 11 and then have the Chapter 11 test on Thursday.

Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, in Advanced Algebra, we will review graphing and writing linear equations of parallel and perpendicular lines.  Then we will have a day of reviewing exponent rules and linear functions.

Physical Science - Ms. Hoffman

The EM (electromagnetic) spectrum (radio, microwave, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays) is pretty amazing and involved in so much of our daily lives.  Parents may remember learning ROYGBIV for the colors of the rainbow in visible light and color is part of our focus for the next several class Zoom sessions. We will also discuss the properties of light, how we see and the parts of the eye.  We looked at some optical illusions and students will complete an at-home lab (Am I really that transparent?) to learn about light transmission and objects that are transparent, translucent and opaque. We will also have a take-home test on the EM spectrum and light/color/eye on Tuesday 4/28/20.  Students will adhere to the HDS Honor Code to take this assessment at home without using their notes, book or computer assistance. The last Science Choice Board of the year will be due Thursday, 4/30/20. Students need to submit this onto the Google Doc assignment already set up in Google Classroom. 

Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions or concerns.  Students are strongly encouraged to use the instructional time from 11:15 - noon M/T/Th/F and 8am to noon on Wednesdays to ask questions, review and complete make up work with teachers.  They will also be notified of any review sessions for upcoming assessments. For example we will have a review session a day or two before our next test. We are also encouraging students to check their HDS emails for any individual communication from teachers.  Since we are only seeing students a few times per week, this is an important way to contact students about missing/ incomplete work and/or clarification on assignments.

                 

English Language Arts - Mrs. Boyer

Students have finished Night, along with any summative assessments. We are now going to venture into our wrap-up weeks with a writing project which encompasses all of our learning from Fahrenheit 451, To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, Romeo and Juliet and Night. 

This assignment will take us to the end of the year. 

**THE READING LOG WILL BE AN EXTRA CLASSWORK GRADE FOR T3! IT IS OPTIONAL**

T3 Reading Log Project: Students will be given a choice of three different novels to read. They will read their chosen novel and complete a Google form, answering key discussion questions about their novel. All Google forms must be submitted by May 6th. 

History & Gov’t II - Mrs. Robinson

Next week, in American History & Government II, we will be starting our unit on the Cold War. Over the next two weeks students will learn causes of the war, investigate key players and talk about the lasting impact the war had on the world. Students will do some individual investigative projects as well as small group presentations during this unit. Looking forward to a great week!

8th grade Spanish - Ms. Hill

Vocabulary and grammar review: Using the present indicative of regular and irregular verbs and the use of the Imperfect tense verbs to describe something that you used to do, Reviewing adverbs of frequency, Daily routines, Reflexive verbs, School routine vocabulary, Telling when things happen or used to happen. 

Please see the Classwork Section labeled Online / Distance Learning Review for links and lists. 

We will be continuing our “Diary of an Enclosed Kid” visual journal. Please complete the questions as they are assigned on the same doc you shared with me with your example questions. 

Please check Google Classroom for your Google Voice listening and speaking assignments.

I have also posted a Classwork section labeled Online Resources (parts 1 and 2)  which will include links to helpful websites as well as access to supplemental materials (to be updated weekly) in google classroom. 

Algebra 1 - Mr. Cargile

Zoom has been going great and the students have been engaged, focused, and diligent. Next week in Algebra 1 class we will continue to define and use zero and negative exponents, and we will practice using scientific notation.  

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, in Pre-Algebra, we will begin Chapter 9, so it is very important that the students have their Chapter 9 Notetaking Guide ready to go BEFORE class starts.  If you have not done so already, please print the notetaking guide that was emailed to the parents last week. We will cover finding square roots of numbers (9.1) and simplifying radical expressions (9.2).

History & Gov’t I - Mrs. Robinson

Next week, in American History & Government I, we will continue our unit on the War of 1812 and lead into our unit on Andrew Jackson’s presidency. We covered the War of 1812 briefly this week and next week we will take what we know about the war and use it to understand how American changed after that war. We will review the growing sense of nationalism and how that affected the development of the nation. Looking forward to a great week!

7th grade Spanish - Ms. Hill

Vocabulary and grammar: Using regular and irregular present indicative verbs and using reflexive verbs to describe routines, Using adverbs of frequency to describe daily routines, school vocabulary, telling when things happen, and discussing meals and activities. 

Please see the Classwork Section labeled Online / Distance Learning Review for links and lists. 

We will be continuing our “Diary of an Enclosed Kid” visual journal. Please complete the questions as they are assigned on the same doc you shared with me with your example questions. 

I have also posted a Classwork section labeled Online Resources (parts 1 and 2)  which will include links to helpful websites as well as access to supplemental materials (to be updated weekly) in google classroom. 

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

Literature: During the next few weeks students will be engaging in a Short Story Unit where they will read “Flowers for Algernon”, “Two Kinds”, and “The Most Dangerous Game”. We will be reading, discussing, and analyzing together; however, it is imperative that students read before coming to class, they complete their questions, and they annotate in order to understand. A scanned story is online for all of the material that we will cover. 

“Two Kinds” and “Most Dangerous Game” and Vocab Unit 8 & 9 assessment will be on 4/24. 

Short Story Test will be on 5/1. 

Writing: Students will be closing out the year with a writing project which will focus on their creative techniques. 

Vocabulary: Students will be working through Unit 8 & 9.

**THE READING LOG WILL BE AN EXTRA CLASSWORK GRADE FOR T3! IT IS OPTIONAL**

T3 Reading Log Project: Students will be given a choice of three different novels to read. They will read their chosen novel and complete a Google form, answering key discussion questions about their novel. All Google forms must be submitted by May 6th. 

Life Science - Mrs. DuRant

I appreciate the tremendous effort our students are putting into making distance learning such a success. Please remember that I am available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during our Student Support Sessions from 11:15am-12:00pm and on Wednesdays from 8:00am-12:00pm.  I am also always available to you by email… so please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Please continue to check the google classroom daily for announcements and reminders. I have created a HOMEWORK topic and all homework is now listed under this category. Additional information such as videos and google slides are listed under the topic of study.  This week in life science, we will continue our investigation of bacterias and viruses to prepare us to study immunity and disease. Students will continue to work on their Bacteria/Virus Most Wanted Project.  This project is due Thursday, April 23. All instructions have been explained and are in the google classroom. An example is in the google classroom as well. Students will have a quiz on bacteria on Thursday, April 23.

Accelerated Math 7 - Mr. Cargile

Zoom has been going great and the students have been engaged, focused, and diligent. Next week in Accelerated Math 7 we will continue learning about Ratios and Rates.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week, in Pre-Algebra, we will begin Chapter 9, so it is very important that the students have their Chapter 9 Notetaking Guide ready to go BEFORE class starts.  If you have not done so already, please print the notetaking guide that was emailed to the parents last week. We will cover finding square roots of numbers (9.1) and simplifying radical expressions (9.2).

ELA - Mrs. Sasser

On Monday, students will have a test of chapters 1-12 of The Giver. We will have an early morning review session from 7:30-8:15 Monday morning (the Zoom link will be posted to Google Classroom). This test will be taken via Google forms during class on Monday. I am having the kids take the test on Monday during class so they can easily ask questions or get clarification if needed. They have taken quizzes via Google forms before, so this should be comfortable for them! 

We will continue to work through The Giver, analyzing characters and moving on to the overall theme. In the coming weeks, students will have a couple of individual and group projects to complete. They’ll need to check Google Classroom regularly for information. 

Students will also need to complete IXL Sections FF 2, 3, and 4.  This will be due on Friday for an averaged classwork grade.

T3 Reading Log Project: Students will be given a choice of five different novels to read. They should have a copy of their novel in class by March 9th. They will read their chosen novel independently over the course of the trimester and complete a Google form, answering key discussion questions about their novel. All Google forms must be submitted by May 6th. 

Earth Science - Mrs. Hoffman

Students have been working hard with their partners on their Ocean Pollution Storybook Project due on Monday, 4/20/20. This book will include types of ocean pollution, the problems it causes and how we can help solve this issue.  We had a progress check this week and some of the ideas the students had for the assignment include a rhyming book, a choose your own ending story, an activity book with puzzles and several colorful basic stories with animal characters sharing information on pollution.  

Next week will begin our last unit of the year...Astronomy.  We will begin by learning about the moon and sun. Additional topics for this unit will include our solar system, the galaxies and space travel.  We have a quiz planned for Thursday, 5/7/20 and our last Science in Comic of the year will be due Thursday, 4/30/20. Students need to submit this onto the Google Doc assignment already set up in Google Classroom. 

Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions or concerns.  Students are strongly encouraged to use the instructional time from 11:15 - noon M/T/Th/F and 8am to noon on Wednesdays to ask questions, review and complete make up work with teachers.  They will also be notified of any review sessions for upcoming assessments. For example we will have a review session a day or two before our next quiz. We are also encouraging students to check their HDS emails for any individual communication from teachers.  Since we are only seeing students a few times per week, this is an important way to contact students about missing/ incomplete work and/or clarification on assignments.

Earth Science - Mrs. DuRant

I appreciate the tremendous effort our students are putting into making distance learning such a success. Please remember that I am available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during our Student Support Sessions from 11:15am-12:00pm and on Wednesdays from 8:00am-12:00pm.  I am also always available to you by email… so please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Please continue to check the google classroom daily for announcements and reminders. I have created a HOMEWORK topic and all homework is now listed under this category. Additional information such as videos and google slides are listed under the topic of study. Next week in Earth Science, we will be studying ocean currents and tides. We will focus specifically on the Gulf Stream as students complete a webquest to learn about this  ocean current which is so close to where we live. They will have a quiz on Thursday, April 23 on Chapter 16, Lesson 2, Waves and Tides.

Ancient Civ -  Mr. O’Hayer

We are back to our regular schedule this week: Tuesday and Friday. This week we will finish Ch. 12. Next, we examine Roman Expansion (3) and The Republic Weakens (4). As we discussed in class last week, we will focus on what led Rome to expand and the wars that resulted from their expansion and why the Republic experienced problems. We will also focus our studies on Julius Caesar and his influence on the Roman Republic. I will outline the parts of these two lessons that you will be responsible for. Outside material will be included. Our Lessons 3-4 Test will be Friday the 24th.

Spanish - Mr. Alexander

We will continue reviewing and strengthening grammar points and vocabulary already discussed.  We are working from the site studyspanish.com which has many valuable yet free resources. We will be creating a short dialog/skit this week using what we have learned.

Art - Mrs. Cookson

“If I were called upon to define briefly the word Art, I should call it the reproduction of what the senses perceive in nature, seen through the veil of the soul.” - Paul Cezanne

ALL: Keep working on an idea from the Matrix (or one you have already cleared with me) and keep up on your weekly sketchbook prompt. Check out Google Classroom for some links to fun online art inspiration.

INSPIRATION: The Globe Theatre is streaming Shakespeare’s greatest plays for free this month https://hellogiggles.com/news/globe-theatre-streaming-shakespeare-plays-free/