October 19th - October 23rd
IMPORTANT REMINDER - EARLY CHECKOUT
Due to our staggered dismissal times this year, picking up your child early at the Middle School for an afternoon appointment can be a challenge. If you need to pick up your child before their scheduled dismissal time, this must be done NO LATER than 2:15. This will give you time to depart campus with your child before cars begin to line up for the Primary and Lower School dismissals. Please use THIS FORM to inform the office of early pickups.
DUKE TIP UPDATE
We received word that the Duke Talent Identification Program, aka Duke TIP, is suspending operations through the spring of 2021. As a result, we will not be nominating students in grades 4,5,6, and 7 to that program this fall. Please look forward to the program's return in the fall of 2121.
MONDAY ASSESSMENTS
With our shortened volleyball season (thank you COVID!!), tournament week is just around the corner. Semi-Finals will be Monday, October 19th and Finals on Thursday, October 22nd. With COVID cancellations and adjustments, this is all subject to change! In the Middle School, we will be shortening up assignments on the 19th with no homework on the 21st. To facilitate this, we will open up Monday, October 19th and 26th for assessments if needed.
TRIMESTER 1 ACTIVITIES AND EXAMS
The end of the first trimester is 3 ½ short weeks away. The conclusion of a trimester always brings an increased workload. In the past, students have had to prepare for 5 exams. Beginning several years ago we began the practice of having some classes have a summative activity and some classes will sit for an exam. The students have been told which will be offered in each class. We will post a chart in next week’s blog to parents to reference. Also next week, look for a chart detailing the schedule of activities in each grade. These activities take many forms: papers, speeches and projects. This will help you assist your child in organizing their prep/study time.
NOVEMBER LUNCH SIGN-UPS
November lunch sign-ups are now open! You can access sign-ups through your parent portal. Deadline is October 23rd.
8TH GRADE D.C. TRIP UPDATE
Normally, at this point in the year, we have everything in place and have met as a class to discuss our annual trip to Washington. Surprise, this year is different! Many of the venues we want to visit are still closed preventing us from scheduling our visit. However, that has not stopped the planning. Mrs. Sasser and Mrs. Robinson are hard at work researching activities we can schedule. The goal is to have everything in place by December 1. I do want to alert families that past trips have cost in the $850 range. Once this year’s fee is set, it will be due in two parts: deposit in November and balance in February.
PE & SCHOOL UNIFORM SCHEDULE
Reminder: students should follow the schedule below for uniforms during T1.
ASSESSMENTS CALENDAR
We have created a great way for students and parents to check for upcoming assessments. 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.
Different subjects will appear in different colors:
History is black, Science is green, ELA is blue, Spanish is red, and Math is pink.
Please bear in mind that Middle School Assessments may be added, removed, or changed at any time. This Sheet will always be up to date, however - once a teacher assigns or adjusts an assessment, this Sheet will reflect that change.
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.
This year in the LC Corner, I will be offering tips and strategies to support your work at school and home. Please reach out to me anytime you need assistance or have any questions.
Tip #9: LEARN TO DEAL WITH SETBACKS.
Identify the lesson that you can learn from it. There is always something that we can learn, even from difficult situations or when we think “everything is lost”. This means taking the time to analyze what happened, learn from mistakes, and find ways to make them less likely to happen in the future. Although this can (often) be a hard process, the lessons learned when dealing with setbacks are generally the ones that stay with us the longest. When you are dealing with a challenge or helping someone overcome a difficult situation, ask the question “what can I learn from it?”. by Lorea Martinez, PhD on January 16, 2014
Find someone who can offer you support to talk to about it
Reach out to the teacher whose class you’re having difficulty with and brainstorm strategies
Go to your Learning Coach, Mrs. Guggenheim, or your Counselor, Mrs. Maher, for ideas that may help
Think about where things “went wrong”, and find a plan to do it differently the next time.
October is National Bullying Awareness Month. One of the top ways to combat bullying is by encouraging inclusion and respect among students. This following article has some great ideas for raising children to be inclusive.
11 Ways for Teaching Kids to be Inclusive of Others
Allison Maher
amaher@hancockdayschool.org
ALGEBRA - MRS. SMOAK
In Algebra 1 this week, we worked on distribution problems (2.5-2.6). We are jumping into solving equations next and will advance from solving 1 step equations (3.1) to 2 step equations (3.2) to multi-step equations (3.3) next week. There will be a test on all of these skills on Thursday 10/22.
GEOMETRY - MR. LANFEAR
Next week in Geometry, we will continue Chapter 4 by learning how to prove triangles are congruent by different methods such as SSS (4.3), SAS and HL (4.4), and ASA and AAS (4.5). We will also learn properties of isosceles and equilateral triangles (4.6) as well as how to use congruent triangles in proofs (4.7). There will be a quiz covering 4.1-4.2 on Monday and a quiz covering 4.1-4.5 on Thursday.
ELA - MRS. BOYER
This week we are reviewing Chapters 22-31 of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Students are half way through with their Critical Analysis Essay over TKAM which is due on 10/26. (More details are on GC.)
Students will have their TKAM Unit Test on 10/23.
We will finish out their vocabulary for T1 with Unit 4. There will be a Unit 4 Quiz on 10/29.
Students will be starting their EXAM PROJECTS on 10/26 and they will have until the end of the exam period to complete this assignment. Specific details will be in GC by 10/26.
To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Schedule
**I try very hard to make sure that the only homework is vocabulary (over two weeks) and their reading. All other activities will be done (mostly) in class, especially if students manage their time well. *
Upcoming!!
Animal Farm!! Allegories!! Russian Revolution!!!
HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH - MRS. SALE
Hi…after reviewing the quiz, the students will begin working on verbs TENER & VENIR. The students will complete worksheets to assure their knowledge of these two verbs. Mid-week, we will play LO TENGO/bingo utilizing the new verbs and vocabulary. We will finish out the week reading and translating from a Spanish magazine and a story. I hope everyone has a great week….remember, I am here for you...Mrs. Sale.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN
Our eighth graders have been learning a lot about the Periodic Table of Elements including the history, trends, and information it contains. They also have a list of the names and symbols/ formulas of approximately forty elements and compounds they will need to memorize for our next assessment on Monday 10/26/20. This week each student randomly chose and researched one particular element to help create a portion of our HDS Periodic Table of Elements. This in-class project allowed them to use the periodic table and discover interesting things about elements and why they are considered the “building blocks” of matter. (See next week for photos.) We finished the week off with information about the three basic types of chemical bonds (ionic, covalent and metallic). We will have a variety of demonstrations and student labs leading up to our Unit Test on Friday 10/23. We will then finish the trimester with different types of chemical reactions and writing chemical formulas. The final Science in Comic for this Trimester is due on Friday, 10/30/20 and our exams will be during the end of the first week of November.
Science Fair Update: During the Science Fair Project assignment there has been minimal homework over class content for students to complete. This is to allow them time to work on their projects. Our next science fair progress check is on Wednesday 10/21/20 when the students will be emailing or sharing with me their rough draft of their background research information. All other due dates are listed below. Students have started to sign up to borrow equipment for their projects (if they need to do so) and I have given safety forms to those students using chemicals, fire or other potentially dangerous items. These MUST be completed and signed before project experiments begin. Students should email or meet with me with any questions or concerns about their science fair project. I am also available every morning from 7:30 - 8am, after school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays as well as during break and snack.
**Remember that along with numerous homework grades, this assignment will count as a test grade (formal report), homework grade (log book), classwork grade (class presentation) and Second Trimester project grade (triptych).
Remaining Science Fair Project Dates
(* Indicate Homework Grades)
Wednesday 10/21/20 Rough Draft of Background/ Research Info (email or share document)
Wednesday 10/28/20 *Log Book Check with Updates/ Revisions
Wednesday 11/11/20 *Final Draft of Background/ Research Info
(email or share document)
Wednesday 12/2/20 *Log Book Check with Data/ Results OR
Prototype/Solution
Wednesday 12/9/20 *Log Book Check/ Updated Results OR
Solution AND Sketch of Triptych
Completed Formal Report (printed)
Wednesday 12/16/20 All Completed Project Triptych & Log Book
Project presentations also this week
US HISTORY - MRS. ROBINSON
Next week, in American History & Government II, we will continue working on Unit Three: The Civil War. We will start the week with a small quiz over the material we have covered so far in this unit, the study guide is posted in Google Classroom and the quiz will be great prep for the upcoming test. We will then cover the final battles of the Civil War and examine Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg address. The end of the week will focus on a journal project where students will take on the persona of someone in the Civil War and write three journal entries from their perspective integrating the knowledge they have learned over the unt about the Civil War. This project will be completed mostly in class but may require minimal work at home. The Unit Three Test will be on October 27th.
ADVANCED SPANISH - MRS. SALE
Hola estudiantes!!!! Beginning on Monday, the students will review their quiz that was taken on Friday (10-16). Also on Monday, the students will learn their second irregular verb…..estar. We will work on nothing but the verb estar for the next couple of days. On Thursday, we will bring in the numbers 40-100. Friday, the students will take a quiz. The quiz will focus on estar and the numbers 0-100. I hope you have a great week. And, remember I am here for you if you need me….Mrs. Sale
ADVANCED SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER
Hola estudiantes!!!! Beginning on Monday, the students will review their quiz that was taken on Friday (10-16). Also on Monday, the students will learn their second irregular verb…..estar. We will work on nothing but the verb estar for the next couple of days. On Thursday, we will bring in the numbers 40-100. Friday, the students will take a quiz. The quiz will focus on estar and the numbers 0-100. I hope you have a great week. And, remember I am here for you if you need me.
ALGEBRA 1 - MRS. SMOAK
In Algebra 1 this week, we worked on distribution problems (2.5-2.6). We are jumping into solving equations next and will advance from solving 1 step equations (3.1) to 2 step equations (3.2) to multi-step equations (3.3) next week. There will be a test on all of these skills on Thursday 10/22.
PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 3 by having a day of review and the Chapter 3 test on Tuesday. We will start Chapter 4 by learning about prime and composite numbers, prime factorization (4.1), and how to find the greatest common factor of numbers and monomials (4.2).
ELA - MRS. BOYER
Students have finished their in-class/homework based project, a Hero’s Journey Wheel. This was the final project over the Hero’s Journey.
We will end our T1 vocabulary with Unit 4 with a final quiz on 10/29.
Coming up! We will be diving into a Mini Poetry Unit which focus on Shakespearean Sonnets (18, 71 & 65), “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out” by Shel Silverstein, “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost, “English B” by Langston Hughes, “Felt a Funeral, in my Brain” and “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, “Oranges” by Gary Soto, “I carry your heart with me” by E.E. Cummings, “Miracles” by Walt Whitman and “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. We are going to try and write as many types of poems as we can!
Students will end this Unit with an Exam Project based on poetic figures in history. Students will be given one weekend and three days in class to complete this project before the end of the exam period.
ELA - MRS. SASSER
Students will get their children’s book drafts checked this week and be given extensive feedback. They will need to work with their partners to make corrections and put together their book, adding pictures. Their final books are due Thursday at the start of class.
Just a reminder: projects in my class are designed to help students think critically and not just memorize information. Rather, I want them learning how to apply what they’ve learned. They are given detailed rubrics with checklists and a breakdown of my expectations. They should consult their rubric regularly while working on their project. The bulk of ELA projects are completed in class; they are given ample time and multiple class periods where they are strictly working on their project. Therefore, if students use their time wisely, they should have only minimal parts to complete at home.
At the end of next week, we will begin our next novel study, reading Lord of the Flies. Because this is a complex novel, students will be given guided chapter questions and complete assignments in class to help them deepen their understanding of the text. As with every novel study we do, it is vital that students keep up with their reading and come to class prepared to discuss their reading. I am available every morning and during study hall if they ever have questions or want to have additional conversations about the book.
Students will also be working through their fourth unit in the new Sadlier vocabulary books. Their vocabulary quiz has been moved to Monday, October 26th due to volleyball. This will be their last vocabulary quiz until after exams in November.
Please take a look at a few of the Hero’s Journey Wheel projects below!
LIFE SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT
This week in Life Science, students have been working diligently on their Cellular Transportation booklets and are doing a great job as they review active and passive transport. They also participated in a very engaging lab - Gummy Bear Osmosis. Because we left the gummy bears soaking in the various solutions over the weekend, they were amazed at the results and this further reinforced the concepts of osmosis and diffusion. Pictures of this lab are below. Next week, we will begin our study of the cell cycle. We will spend the week discussing mitosis and participating in various activities to help students learn the stages of mitosis. I have planned an inquiry lab and students will also use the micro-slide viewers to view the stages of mitosis.
US HISTORY - MRS. ROBINSON
Next week in American History & Government, we will continue working on our third unit, Faith & Religion. This unit has been challenging for students as I am working on stretching their research and critical thinking abilities, but they have been rising to the challenge well as a group! Next week, we will continue to examine modern day examples of religious tolerance and freedom, or lack thereof. Students will again engage in outlining a paragraph from their research which will count as a small project grade. We will then spend the end of the week talking about the overall structure of a history research paper, outlining the entire paper, and writing portions of it. The Unit Three Test will be Oct 29th.
US HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER
Next week in American History we finish our journey with the explorers that discovered lands and changed lives. We will then begin our examination of how Colonies Take Root. We will begin our American journey by discussing how Geography shaped regions by studying each of the following: The first English settlements, The New England Colonies, The Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. We will have a Chapter assessment on October 27th.
ACCELERATED MATH - MR. CARGILE
Next week in Accelerated Math 7 we will start a new unit, Chapter 3 Data and Statistics. We will start the week off with a review of our Chapter 2 Test, and then we will learn about Mean, median, and mode and we will have a quiz to assess our understanding.
PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 3 by having a day of review and the Chapter 3 test on Tuesday. We will start Chapter 4 by learning about prime and composite numbers, prime factorization (4.1), and how to find the greatest common factor of numbers and monomials (4.2).
EARTH SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN
This week in sixth grade meteorology, we have been focusing on air masses and fronts and reviewing how to interpret weather maps. We also had a short quiz on this information and the most commonly missed information from our last weather quiz. Next week the students will use their weather knowledge to work on an in-class group project to research a weather disaster and create a weather newscast about it. Our Weather Unit Test will be on THURSDAY, 10/22. (*Due to sports playoffs, this is one day earlier than previously assigned.) The October Science in Comics is due Friday 10/30/20.
EARTH SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT
Next week in Earth Science, we will continue our study of weather. We will use the classroom weather station to monitor the various changes in our daily weather. Students will study air pressure, air masses and fronts, and predicting weather patterns. They will learn to interpret weather maps. Students will also complete a dichotomous key for clouds. At the end of the week, we will discuss various types of storms and weather disturbances.
ELA - MRS. SASSER
This week, students will finish up their “Hitchhiker” Twitter group assignment. For this assignment, students were asked to “step into the character” and examine our narrator’s thoughts, feelings, and actions in the form of tweets. They have done a great job of being precise and creative with this!
Students will have their Unit 2 test on Wednesday, October 21st. They should be studying and reviewing nightly for 15 minutes in order to be successful on this test. It will cover all of the notes on plot and suspense along with the stories “All Summer in a Day,” “The Monkey’s Paw,” and “The Hitchhiker.” They will play a Kahoot to review; it will also be posted to Google Classroom. I will also host a morning review session on Wednesday, October 21st from 7:10-7:50.
Students will also be working through their fourth unit in the new Sadlier vocabulary books. Their vocabulary quiz has been moved to Monday, October 26th due to volleyball. This will be their last vocabulary quiz until after exams in November.
Please check out the amazing “Monkey’s Paw” project below!
INTRO SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER
Oral TEST on the following Monday (10/26). Next Monday, the oral test will cover all the dialogs and vocabulary from Chapter ‘Para Empezar’. The book pages can be found on Google Classroom but students should be pretty comfortable with all of this by now; but we will do some activities and exercises to help prepare. Also this week, we will begin learning how to express likes and dislikes as well as learn some new vocabulary related to hobbies and interests.
WORLD HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER
Reminder: We will continue to pick up the pace in World History. Make sure you keep up with your readings and outlines. Next week we will finish our (long) chapter on the Golden Age of Athens. We will have a Quiz on Chapter 6 (open-notes) on Tuesday the 20th. From there we will dive into Greek Philosophy studying the greats like Socrates and Plato.
ART - MRS. COOKSON
“What really matters is what you do with what you have.” - Shirley Lord
Sketchbook Prompt: Draw what it looks like sitting in the front of your car, make it look normal, but put something crazy in the mirrors.
8th: Will continue to refine the Self-Portrait and add elements of true self-expression
7th: Will work on a pattern drawing exercise with a sub
6th: Will continue working with a sub on the possibilities with the form of a name
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