January 4th - January 8th

  

February Lunch Sign-Up is OPEN!  

The deadline is FRIDAY, JANUARY 22ND! To sign up, you need to go onto your FACTS account, preferably on a computer, and click LUNCH from the menu bar.  Click on the monthly option on the right top bar, click on your STUDENT’S name, click on CREATE WEB ORDER, click on your STUDENT’S name again and the offerings should appear.  Click on your choices and make sure you do for EVERY week of the month for the days you are participating.  Scroll down and hit SUBMIT AND PAY.  Follow the same steps for your other child.  The order will not come through unless that SUBMIT AND PAY part is done.    

ST. VINCENT’S OPEN HOUSE

SVA will be having an open house this Sunday, January 10th. Please click HERE for more information.

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 have had great success at securing volunteers to escort HRB PK - 2nd grade students during morning carpool!  Because of this, we will limit one day a week per student for now.  Reminder: duty hours are 7:45 - 8:10.  ½ hour of community service credit each day.  Please keep track of the weather and dress appropriately. Students should keep a log of their hours on the community service form. If you are interested, email Mr. Crawford and Mrs. Mannarino.

WALKERS FOR THIS WEEK

Tuesday, January 5th: Ford D. and Madison B.

Wednesday, January 6th: Mills S. and Elle R.

Thursday, January 7th: Maggie A. and Sasha B.

Friday, January 8th: Carter H. and Coles B.

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 # 16: SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO MEMORIZE.

You may have used a mnemonic like Roy G. Biv to remember the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) or My Very Educated Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas to remember the correct order of the planets, back when Pluto was still considered the ninth one. Inventing your own silly mnemonic together works just as well and can lighten up a study session.https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/study-skills-for-middle-school-and-beyond/

• Quizlet and/or flash cards are great tools to help you memorize.

• Having someone quiz you aloud can be helpful

• Rewriting notes is a great way to revisit material and refresh your memory

Middle school is a time during which children face increased academic and social challenges.  As a parent of a middle school student, I know it can be tough figuring out how to support your child during these years.  Here’s a great article with some ideas on how parents can help!

15 Challenges Middle School Kids Face and How to Help

Allison Maher 

amaher@hancockdayschool.org       

ALGEBRA - MRS. SMOAK

Happy New Year! Before the break, the student took their test on linear equations. This week is a short one in which we will quickly review linear equation forms and graphing and introduce parallel and perpendicular slopes and lines (5.5). I am eager to jump into linear inequalities (chapter 6) next week and how to solve these equations graphically. 

GEOMETRY - MR. LANFEAR

This week in Geometry, we will begin Chapter 7 by learning about the Pythagorean Theorem and the Pythagorean Inequality Theorem (7.1-7.2), using similar right triangles to find segment lengths (7.3), and special right triangles such as the 45-45-90 and 30-60-90 right triangles (7.4).  There will be a quiz covering 7.1-7.4 on Friday.

ELA - MRS. BOYER

This week we will be watching the Animal Farm film and beginning a Literary Review Essay. We are going to begin the brainstorming a little bit differently this time around. Students will write the essay draft in one class period. We practiced this before the Winter Break, and they did phenomenal. Therefore, I want to take this practice into the real world in order for them to see that they can write an essay in one sitting. Students will then have the rest of the week to edit and meet with me before they turn in their final. 

*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.*

Upcoming!! 

We will begin Night by Elie Wiesel in the next few weeks. :) We will be partnering with the Jewish Education Alliance of Savannah for a Art/Writing project regarding the novel. 

Attention!! The T2 Reading Log is OPTIONAL; however, there is an option for up to three extra credit assignments on GC. 

HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH - MRS. SALE

Hola...Happy New Year!!!!  This week we will be working on weather and ‘’travel’’ vocabulary.  There will be worksheets throughout the week and a quiz on Friday.  Looking forward to the second half of the school year.  

PHYSICAL SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

       Welcome back from what I hope was a wonderful and restful holiday break!  All of our student science fair projects are finally completed and the projects look great.  A lot of effort and hard work went into the project triptychs and I enjoyed hearing the student presentations.  Over the next two weeks, we will be having our virtual HDS school science fair with judges from various schools in our community.  Congratulations to the following students who have projects that will be included in this remote judging:  Sadie Albert, Kate Barber, Jamison Beck, Laney Berman, Hannah Burt, Phoebe Lynch, Duncan Manning, Feriby McCorkle, Lane Middleton, Madeline Oldfield, Ailish Racicot and Liza Swan.   The next step for those who excel at this school level will be entering the virtual Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Savannah State University held at the beginning of February 2021.   

Before the winter break the eighth grade students participated in a pendulum lab and heat transfer activity as they learned about potential, kinetic and thermal energy, as well as different energy transformations.  (See photos below.)  This week we will apply some of this information to our discussions on motion, speed, velocity and acceleration. Upcoming labs over the next two weeks that relate to this information include creating motion graphs, going outside to calculate students' actual running/walking speeds and stopping distances and building and testing roller coasters.  Our quiz on these topics will be Friday, 1/15/21.  We will then delve into the rest of our Force and Motion unit with discussions and activities about force, gravity and friction.  There will be another quiz on Tuesday, 1/26/21 and our Unit Test scheduled for Thursday, 2/4/21. The January Science in Comic is due on Friday 1-29-21.

US HISTORY - MRS. ROBINSON

This week in American History & Government II, students will begin studying the period following Reconstruction - The Age of Industry. 

ADVANCED SPANISH - MRS. SALE

Hola….Happy New Year to you all.  I hope everyone had a great holiday!!!  We are going to start the year off with a project.  So...by Wednesday you need to bring in a full size piece of white poster board, markers, scissors, tape and glue.  You will receive your assignment during class on Tuesday.  You will have all of the class period on Wednesday-Friday to work on and complete the project.  I’m looking forward to the fun start of the year.

ADVANCED SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER

Hola….Happy New Year to you all.  I hope everyone had a great holiday!!!  We are going to start the year off with a project.  So...by Wednesday you need to bring in a full size piece of white poster board, markers, scissors, tape and glue.  You will receive your assignment during class on Tuesday.  You will have all of the class period on Wednesday-Friday to work on and complete the project.  I’m looking forward to the fun start of the year.

ALGEBRA 1 - MRS. SMOAK

Happy New Year! Before the break, the student took their test on linear equations. This week is a short one in which we will quickly review linear equation forms and graphing and introduce parallel and perpendicular slopes and lines (5.5). I am eager to jump into linear inequalities (chapter 6) next week and how to solve these equations graphically. 

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

This week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue Chapter 5 by reviewing solving equations with fractions (5.6), and learning how to solve inequalities involving decimals and fractions (5.7).  We will have an activity on Friday to practice decimal and fraction operations.

ELA - MRS. BOYER

Students will be taking the next week and a half to apply their Voices of the World Knowledge in order to discuss the photos from the Faces of Innocence project. Students will be working in small groups, as well as working on an individual project. 

Once we have completed this journey, the students will then begin reading the theatrical version of The Diary of Anne Frank. 

Students will have a Vocabulary Unit Test on 4, 5 &6 on January 12th.

Attention!! The T2 Reading Log is OPTIONAL; however, there is an option for up to three extra credit assignments on GC. 

ELA - MRS. SASSER

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a restful winter break!

This week, students will be writing an argumentative essay on Lord of the Flies analyzing the true cause of the downfall of the island. Students will read Golding’s “Why Boys Become Vicious” as research and draw on their analysis of the novel to draft their essay. 

As with any writing assignment, students are welcome to come in early and drop off their writing for review/corrections. 

All essays are Wednesday, January 13th. 

We will resume  vocabulary next week with Unit 7. 

Looking ahead----we will begin our next novel study in the middle of next week. We will be reading the theatrical version of The Diary of Anne Frank.

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

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful winter break!  This week in Life Science, we will begin exploring the Muscular System. Students will begin learning the difference between voluntary and involuntary muscles, 3 types of muscles and their functions, and learn major muscles and muscle groups. We have an interesting and engaging lab planned for Friday in which students will dissect a chicken wing to see how the skeletal system and muscular system work together.  They will have a muscular system diagram quiz next Tuesday, January 12.  Pictures below are of our invertebrate/vertebrate specimen lab we conducted before winter break.

US HISTORY - MRS. ROBINSON

This week in American History & Government, students will look at the timeline of Lewis and Clark’s expedition. We will also have a little fun with the very old Oregon Trail game. 

US HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER

Welcome Back Everyone. I hope your holiday break was great. This week we will finish our study of Life in the Colonies. Specifically, we will dive deep into Slavery in the Colonies and The Spread of New Ideas. We will not have any assessments this first week back. 

ACCELERATED MATH - MR. CARGILE

Next week in Accelerated Math 7 we will review our Chapter 4 Number Patterns and Fractions concepts. In addition to review concepts, we will have a lesson and a quiz on converting between fractions and decimals.

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

This week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue Chapter 5 by reviewing solving equations with fractions (5.6), and learning how to solve inequalities involving decimals and fractions (5.7).  We will have an activity on Friday to practice decimal and fraction operations.

EARTH SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

Welcome back from what I hope was a wonderful and restful holiday break!  All of our student energy projects are turned in and overall the projects look great. There were several creative 3-D projects and interesting posters.  (See photos below.)  We are taking the time, however, to discuss the difference between plagiarism, paraphrasing and writing things in your own words.  Some students are rewriting portions of their project to reflect a better understanding of the material using their own thoughts and vocabulary.  

The sixth graders will then continue their discussion about Earth’s layers in motion as they learn about continental drift and Pangea and participate in a Pangea puzzle activity.  Our quiz on this material will be on Tuesday 1/12/21.  Following this, we will explore more about the theory of plate tectonics with information on sea floor spreading, subduction and plate boundaries.  Our Plate Tectonic Unit Test will be on Wednesday, 1/20/21.  This will lead us into a short study on rocks and minerals.  Our January Science in Comics is due on Friday, 1/29/21.  

EARTH SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful winter break!  This week in Earth Science, we will begin to explore the layers of the Earth.  We will focus on the characteristics of each layer, and compare/contrast the continental crust vs oceanic crust.  Students will construct a mini model of the layers of the Earth on Friday.  They will have a quiz on Tuesday, January 12. Before winter break, the students did a wonderful job on their Energy Projects.  They made very creative displays and posters, and we will continue to present those this week.  They also did an amazing job on their topographic maps which was an in class activity.  Pictures of some of their maps are below.

ELA - MRS. SASSER

Welcome back! I hope everyone had an amazing winter break!

This week, students will be starting a new novel study: Refugee. This novel depicts the struggle and trials of three different characters in three different time periods all attempting to flee their home countries and seek refuge and safety elsewhere. We will be completing this unit using Literature Circles, which means students will be assigned a particular character to read about. They will NOT be reading the entire book. 

Each week, they will be assigned certain pages to read and be given a literature circle role to complete. They will have a week to complete the reading and guided questions. Reading assignments will be given at the start of each week, and they will meet to discuss their reading with their groups typically on the following Tuesday/Wednesday. It is imperative that students keep up with their reading, otherwise they will be unable to complete their literature circle roles and have discussions with their partners. 

We will resume  vocabulary next week with Unit 7. 

Check out some of sixth grade’s final New Kid projects! 

 

Reading Reminder: As with any novel study, students will have guided questions to complete for each section. These should be answered in complete, thorough sentences, as it will serve as their study guide for their quizzes and final test. 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. 

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. 

INTRO SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER

Welcome back everyone! We will begin the week with some no English review and conversation to help solidify what we have learned so far.  Also we will get some more practice with ‘Ser’ before moving into our ‘geografía’ and ‘estar’.

* Make sure to continue working on Duolingo and IXL everyday!

WORLD HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER 

Welcome Back Everyone!! I hope your holiday break was fantastic. This week in World History we will begin our next unit: The Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and Romanticism. We will start the unit by looking at the influences of great thinkers like Issac Newton, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbs, and John Locke anlong with the Enlightenment in France and how this movement influenced and changed how people think and how governments governed. Students will receive new Student Readers. Our first assessment of the new year will be Friday the 8th.

ART - MRS. COOKSON

“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.” - Descartes

Sketchbook Prompt: Draw an animal you consider unappealing, as cute.

8th: Will have an introduction to Pointillism and begin research and ideation

7th: Will spend the beginning of the year completing masks

6th: Will begin a creative analysis of the newly displayed “Faces of Innocence” pictures