November 9th - November 13th

 

HDS TALENT SHOW - TONIGHT AT 6:00PM

Don’t forget to tune in to the Talent Show at 6pm this evening! Please support our HDS Dramatic Arts by purchasing our 2020 Talent Show Merch! Fill out the Google Form and pay to Venmo @HDSExcellenceFund or opt to charge your FACTS account. The deadline for shirt orders is Monday, November 9th.

 

SAVE THESE DATES

There are a few upcoming dates with special events, irregular dismissal times, or no school for students. Understanding that these situations often require careful planning for many families, I want to draw special attention to the dates listed below -- 

• Friday, November 13th Parent/Teacher Conferences - no school for students

• Wednesday, November 18th Parent.edu “Safety and Security”  6:00 via Zoom

• Friday, November 20th Early dismissal with NO extended (11:45 Green Gate; 12:00 Gold Gate; 12:15 White Gate) Previously scheduled as our Grandparents & Special Friends Day, we will honor our loved ones virtually and dismiss early.

MASKS + WATER BOTTLES

Just a reminder that each student should come to school with:

• A mask on their face

• A spare mask in their bookbag

• A water bottle that can be refilled at our water bottle stations

We have been happily providing these during the school day in emergencies, but we have started noticing a pattern. We have certain  students coming in for a new mask or water cup frequently. We want to prevent unnecessary waste so the nurse will start emailing parents when we notice repeat visitors. 

CARPOOL - CONGRATULATIONS AND A BIG THANK YOU!

The Middle School students do not get dismissed until 3:15.  Many thanks for not arriving on campus until 3:15.  Your delayed arrival permits the gold zone families to move swiftly through their line which facilitates the safe and efficient pick up of our  Middle School students.  White Zone carpool starts promptly at 3:15 and is usually completed in 12 minutes!  Again, thank you for your support!

 

FOOD DRIVE

We will have our annual food drive to support Second Harvest.  The past months have strained many families. To support this increased need, our goal is to COLLECT A TON OF FOOD!  If every family will consider giving 6 pounds of food - seven 14 ounce cans; 7 boxes of pasta; 6 jars of peanut butter - this will be easy.  Volunteers will be at carpool beginning next week to collect your donations.  Look for more details next week!

                                                             

DECEMBER LUNCH

December lunch ordering is now open. The deadline is Friday, November 20th.

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.

COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITY!

We need escorts at morning carpool for the students coming from Herb River in grades PK - 2.  The escort walks the student around the Middle School into the back door of the primary building.  Duty hours are 7:45 - 8:10.  ½ hour of community service credit each day.  See Mr. Crawford or Mrs. Mannarino if you would like to help!

Walkers for Next Week:

Monday, November 9 - Kate K. and Charlotte G.

Tuesday, November 10 - Cullen D. and Jack L.

Wednesday, November 11 - Boots B. and Maggie A.

Thursday, November 12 - Cullen D. and Andrew W.

Friday, November 13 - No School for Students/Parent-Teacher Conferences 

This year in the LC Corner, I will be offering tips and strategies to support your work at school and at home. Please reach out to me anytime you need assistance or have any questions. tguggenheim@hancockdayschool.org

Tip #12: BE A SELF-ADVOCATE!

Self-advocacy is a very important skill for all students to understand and use as they progress through school. 

What Is Self-Advocacy?

“Self-advocacy is a skill that enables people to understand their strengths and weaknesses, know what they need to succeed, and communicate that to other people.” Andrew M.I. Lee, JD

Why is Self-Advocacy important?

Self-Advocacy is important because it helps kids learn by creating solutions for challenges in and out of school. Andrew M.I. Lee, JD

What does Self-Advocacy look like?

• Asking teachers for help when you don’t understand something

• Asking parents to help you study before a quiz or test

• Asking a teacher to repeat directions 

• Talking to a friend when they’ve hurt your feelings

One common concern that we often hear from parents is about how to help their students manage social media and the associated pressures.  For an eye opening look into how developers and social media companies attract users and keep them coming back for more, watch The Social Dilemma available on Netflix.  

While there are benefits to social media, preteens and teens need guidance and boundaries from parents to help navigate the challenges.  Check on this article for some tips on how to help your student find balance with social media and technology: Help Kids Balance Their Media Lives

Allison Maher 

amaher@hancockdayschool.org       

ALGEBRA - MRS. SMOAK

Moving forward in algebra 1, we are going to start graphing points on a coordinate plane (4.1) and graphing linear equations using domain and range (4.2).

GEOMETRY - MR. LANFEAR

Next week in Geometry, we will start Chapter 5 by learning about midsegments in triangles (5.1) and perpendicular bisectors in triangles (5.2).

ELA - MRS. BOYER

We are beginning Animal Farm!! Students will be reading the novel in two parts because it is only ten chapters. Chapters 1-5 will be due on 11/18/2020, and Chapters 6-10 will be due after Thanksgiving break. Students will be diving into the following topics: Russian Revolution, Propaganda, Types of Government, Symbolism, Characterization, Allegory, etc. 

Students will be working on multiple group activities regarding this novel. Class discussion will be key to understanding the material. Students will receive two study guides throughout this unit; one will be more focused on simplistic comprehension, and the other will focus more on thematic and symbolic elements.

Projects: 

Perfect Society Creation

Essay/Literary Review

Assessments: 

Pop Quiz the week of 12/1

Unit 5 Vocab Quiz 12/4

Animal Farm Test 12/11

*It is critically important that all 8th graders stick with the timelines I give them for reading and projects. Also, if students are spending more than 25-35 minutes on ELA homework, please send them to me in the morning. Students in the 8th grade really need to pay attention to their time management skills before moving forward to 9th grade.*

HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH - MRS. SALE

Hola...Bienvenidos a trimester 2!!! :) We will begin the second trimester with ‘’pastimes’’ & the verb IR/to go.  We will complete worksheets, play games and wrap up the week with a quiz. Before signing off...I just wanted to say thank you all for your  hard work this first trimester.  Let’s keep up the good job/work...

PHYSICAL SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

          What a busy first trimester learning all about Chemistry. All the students should have a good foundation of both content and lab procedures for high school.  We are actually starting off our second Trimester with a short introduction to acids and bases to finish up our Chemistry topics for the year.  Students will participate in a lab to learn about pH and various indicators.  They will also receive their new syllabus to be signed by a parent for an easy 100 homework grade.  The following week we will begin the physics portion of physical science.  This will include kinetic and potential energy, the Law of Conservation of Energy, and various energy transformations.  There will be no Science in Comic assignment due for November and December.  The next one will be due on Friday, January 29th.  We are in the last month of Science Fair Projects, so please check below for science fair information.  Students should be already starting to conduct their experiments and gather data (or are planning to do so within the next week or so).

Science Fair Update:  

All the students have turned in and received feedback from me on the background information rough draft for their project. This will be included in their formal report, which they should already be starting to set up and organize on a specific Google Document.  (The outline of what is to be included in the formal report and how it should be set up is found in their Science Fair Packet and we have reviewed it in class several times.)  The final copy of the background/ research information is due on Wednesday, 11/11/20.  *See the Google Classroom assignment for directions on turning this in. 

All remaining 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 be starting to conduct their experiments (or build their prototypes) at this time.

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                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 begin our unit four on Reconstruction. We will spend the week examining the plans proposed to rebuild the country after the end of the Civil War through a class debate. Students will be assigned a particular plan and spend the week researching their plan, and others, to argue that the plan they were assigned is the best plan for the United States to move forward. The debate will be held in class on Monday the 16th.

ADVANCED SPANISH - MRS. SALE

Hola….Bienvenidos a 2nd semester!!! :)  I cannot believe that we are through a whole semester of school...YIPPEE!!  Before I move on...gracias for all of your hard work the past several weeks.  You are a great group and I’ve enjoyed working with you all….looking forward to semester two!  We will start off the week by receiving new vocabulary/adjectives...and we will start work on the family.  We will complete worksheets and play a couple of games.  We will finish the week with a quiz.  Have a fun week and for now….HAPPY FIN DE SEMANA.

ADVANCED SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER

We will start off the week by receiving new vocabulary/adjectives...and we will start work on the family.  We will complete worksheets and play a couple of games.  We will finish the week with a quiz .

ALGEBRA 1 - MRS. SMOAK

Moving forward in algebra 1, we are going to start graphing points on a coordinate plane (4.1) and graphing linear equations using domain and range (4.2).

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will begin the second half of Chapter 4 by learning about exponent rules (4.5), zero exponents, and negative exponents (4.6).

ELA - MRS. BOYER

This week we will dive into our Voices of the World Unit (a project based learning/research writing unit). Students will be able to choose from the following novels: The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz, A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman, The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani, The Breadwinner Trilogy by Deborah Ellis, All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg. 

Students will be researching their novels while also engaging in a video activity which will introduce them to their novel choices. 

Students will begin their first project of the trimester with a Google Sites activity. Students will create their own website about their novel’s country. They will focus on culture (food, dress, entertainment, etc.), religion (gods, holidays, etc.), government (leaders, political issues, allies, conflicts, etc.), and best tourist sights. Students will engage with this project in class for three days, plus a weekend, and two nights for homework for 15 minutes, the other 15 minutes should be spent reading their novel.

Students will have three weeks to finish their novels. They will receive the novel on 11/11 and will be expected to have the novel completed by 12/2. 

We will be working with Unit 5 Vocabulary, with a quiz on 11/20.

ELA - MRS. SASSER

Students did a great job on their T1 Exam Project! Their critical thinking skills blew me away!

We will spend this week diving back into our novel unit on Lord of the Flies. Students will resume their guided questions and read chapters 2-5 this week. While reading, students will have discussions on how the boys in the novel try to create and maintain a working society. We’ll also unpack the use of symbolism behind the conch shell, the “beastie”, fire, and shelters. 

As always, it is important that students keep up with the assigned reading. All reading is posted on my board in my classroom and on Google Classroom. They must come prepared to class prepared to have a conversation over the reading and complete classwork assignments. 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 be working on Unit 5 in their Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary books.They will have a vocabulary test on Thursday 11/19. 

A reminder about any and all projects in ELA: 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. 

LIFE SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT

Students did an excellent job on their first trimester exam projects!  They created board games to review material we have covered during the first trimester.  Their creativity and critical thinking skills revealed through these projects amazed me. They had to create a self evaluation on their game,  and then a peer evaluation after playing another student’s game.  Students have given very positive feedback that this was a great way to review our first three units. Next week in Life Science, we will dive into Genetics and Inherited Traits. Students will begin to use Punnett Squares. 

US HISTORY - MRS. ROBINSON

Next week in American History & Government, we will begin our unit four on Expansion. Students will start with a discussion about why countries expand and what they gain from it. We will then dig into the tactics used by some of the early European explorers as well as introduce the long term research project for the unit. Students will receive a rubric and timeline for the project. Students will be provided scheduled work days for the project but will also be expected to complete portions of it at home. On nights they are expected to work on their project at home this will be the only homework assigned. 

US HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER 

Next week begins a New Trimester. Where did the time go? Next week in American History we dive deep into the development of the colonies. First up will be the New England Colonies. Here we will discuss how the Puritan’s religious beliefs shaped the colonies. We will then move to the Middle Colonies and how they developed and influenced the growth and development of the overall changes that occurred there. Finally we will settle in with the Southern Colonies. Geography will be a focus of this unit as well in how the colonies developed and were built. Our Chapter assessment will be on November 18th. 

ACCELERATED MATH - MR. CARGILE

Next week in Accelerated Math 7 we will begin a new chapter, Number Patterns and Fractions. To start this unit will revisit prime factorization and finding greatest common factors in preparation for operations with fractions.

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will begin the second half of Chapter 4 by learning about exponent rules (4.5), zero exponents, and negative exponents (4.6).

EARTH SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

The sixth graders have finished their unit on Meteorology with a culminating exam project on Severe Weather. They researched, created and presented Google Slides on a specific weather event, including how it formed, a detailed example, related vocabulary and its impact on humans and the environment.  Topics of choice were blizzards, droughts, tornados, thunderstorms, hurricanes and floods.  They all did a wonderful job!  Next week will begin studying about the various forms of energy, renewable and nonrenewable energy sources and their impact on our environment.  They will also receive their new syllabus to be signed by a parent for an easy 100 homework grade.  There will be no Science in Comic assignment due for November and December.  The next one will be due on Friday, January 29th.  

EARTH SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT

Last week in Earth Science, students completed their first trimester exam project. They enjoyed researching various types of severe weather such as tornadoes, blizzards, floods, and hurricanes.  Students created and presented slides on their assigned topics. This led to great class discussion and generated many questions about these severe weather events. Next week in Earth Science, we will begin our unit on Energy. We will study renewable and nonrenewable energy as well as their impact on the environment. 

ELA - MRS. SASSER

This week, students will start a new unit on realistic fiction by reading the graphic novel New Kid by Jerry Craft. This amazing book examines bias, stereotypes, and bullying. We will dig into various conversations about desciritmination and use the novel as a springboard to unpack some challenging concepts. 

As with any novel study, students will have guided questions to complete for each chapter and they will have chapter quizzes at least twice a week. It is essential that students keep up with the assigned reading if they want to be successful on our in class assignments. 

All reading assignments are posted on my classroom board and on Google Classroom daily. Students should check Google Classroom every single day. 

Students will be working on Unit 5 in their Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary books.They will have a vocabulary test on Thursday 11/19. 

A reminder about any and all projects in ELA: 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. 

Please check out some of the amazing monster projects below!

 

INTRO SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER

This week we will continue expressing likes and dislikes.  We will work on our pronunciation - focusing on vowel sounds. Students will learn how to express negatives in Spanish as well as express agreement/disagreement. We will discuss culture in Spain and learn about the Dominican painter Jaime Colson as well as sample various styles of music from the Spanish-Speaking world (tango, salsa, flamenco, merengue, cumbia).

WORLD HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER 

Next week we begin a New Trimester! Where did the time go? In World History we begin winding down our study of Ancient Greece and begin our dive into Ancient Rome. Next week we will be introduced to Alexander the Great. We will study his impact on the ancient world and see why his influence as one of the greatest generals in history changed the course of history in the Mediterranean region. We will have a quiz on Chapter 10 on Thursday the 12th.

ART - MRS. COOKSON

“It’s plain hard work that does it.” - Thomas Alva Edison

No Friday classes due to Parent Conferences

Sketchbook Prompt: Draw an object that makes noise. Also draw what you imagine that noise might look like if it could be seen.

8th: Will have an introduction to PSAs and begin ideation

7th: Will continue to work with clay building Fantasy Design structures

6th: Will begin three-dimensional exploration with Restricted Sculpture