December 13th - December 17th

   

Next Friday, December 17th is a school-wide early dismissal.
No extended will be offered. The dismissal times are as follows:

Green Gate - 9:45 AM

Gold Gate - 11:15 AM

White Gate - 11:45 AM

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. TRIP IS ON!

We began to finalize our reservations for the 8th grade trip to DC March 7th - 10th.  While we will not be able to see some sites, specifically the Capital, White House and Pentagon, we are substituting new venues like Mount Vernon.  The cost for the trip will be $975/student.  Look for more specifics next week.  We will be scheduling a Zoom class meeting right after we get back from the Holiday Break to go over details.

 

BASKETBALL PICTURES

Team and individual basketball photos will be taken at school from 9:30-11:00 am on Thursday, December 16th in the gym.  Students should bring their uniforms to change into for photos. 

 

TARDIES

Please remember that students must check in with Mrs. Mannarino in the middle school office when they are tardy. 

 

TEAM JERSEY DAY!!

We are very lucky to have 12 basketball teams playing in the Savannah Parochial Athletic League this season!  There are games 4 days a week, Monday through Thursday.  Every day is a game day for one or two teams. In order to add some uniformity back to the concept of uniform, rather than wearing jerseys on many different days, we are setting aside Thursday for every player to wear their team jersey.  REMEMBER - THURSDAY (THURSDAY ONLY!) IS TEAM JERSEY DAY! 

 

JANUARY LUNCH REGISTRATION

Registration for January lunches is now open! We will close sign ups on Friday, December 17. Please remember to log in to your parent portal to sign up!

 

WATER BOTTLES

We have an increasing number of students coming to school without their water bottle. We are happy to supply an occasional cup, but many of the same students are coming to the office, and it is becoming wasteful. Please, please, please send your child to school with a water bottle with their name on it. 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Tuesday, December 14th - Middle School Student Government will be going shopping at Walmart for Toys for Tots during enrichment.

Friday, December 17th - 1/2 day with no academic classes. There will be Student Government organized winter festivities.

CARPOOL CHANGES

As a reminder, our carpool change form can now be found on your parent portal - it is no longer available on our school website. Additionally, all early checkouts should be done by 2:15. Thank you.

 

​​ASSESSMENTS AND PROJECTS CALENDAR

Parents and students now have an easy way to look at upcoming assessments and projects.  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.

 

Sign up for Robotics Club Here

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.

HERB RIVER BEND CROSSWALK SCHEDULE

Reminder: duty hours are 7:45 - 8:10.  ½ hour of community service credit each day.  Students should keep a log of their hours on the community service form. If you are interested, see Mrs. Mannarino in the middle school office to sign up!

Monday, December 13: Ela S. and Liliana C.

Tuesday, December 14: Ela S. and Ansley P.

Wednesday, December 15: Ela S. and Phoebe H.

Thursday, December 16: Katharine L. and Stella H.

Friday, December 17: Ela S. and Ansley P.

As Learning Coach, I will be working with students, parents, and teachers to offer support and strategies throughout the year. Please reach out to me if I can be of any assistance to you and your child/ren. I will share ideas and strategies often in this space. My email is: tguggenheim@hancockdayschool.org. I look forward to working with you as the year progresses. Tricia Guggenheim

What if the teacher doesn't give any written homework on a day? You should use the time to work on some other type of learning activity. Example: There’s always material to study, math problems to practice, a project to work on, and/or they may choose to organize their materials or work ahead. Using time then will help save time later. 

Traditions are an important part of families and can build lasting memories.  Furthermore, they strengthen relationships and create a sense of belonging.  Whether you have some long-standing traditions or are up to starting some new ones, the following article is an interesting read.

How Family Traditions Help Create Stronger Bonds

Please feel free to get in touch with me at amhaer@hancockdayschool.org if you have any questions or concerns.

ALGEBRA 1- MRS. TAYLOR

Students will take the Chapter 5 test Monday and they may have Tuesday for extra time if they need it. They will finish their Projected Savings for College project in class. Lastly, we will begin Chapter 6, which they are very familiar with. This chapter begins with solving inequalities. They are very familiar with this concept. Happy Holidays!!

ADVANCED ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will complete Chapter 4 by learning about triangle inequalities (4.7).  We will have a day of review on Wednesday and the Chapter 4 test on Thursday.  And then it’s Winter Break!

GEOMETRY - MR. LANFEAR

Next week in Geometry, we will complete Chapter 6 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 6 test on Tuesday.  We will do some Algebra I review on Thursday, and then it’s Winter Break!

ELA - MRS. BOYER 

 This week students will be working on their Reader’s Theatre Performance! Students will be creating a written summary and originally adapted script of their scene. Students will be paired and grouped and assigned a scene on which they will have almost a whole week in and out of class to prepare. Students will present their scenes on Wednesday and Thursday of next week! :)

It is incredibly important that students understand that although Shakespeare is challenging, it is supposed to be FUN!! Most students will be reading Shakespeare next year in their 9th grade course. This 8th grade unit is designed to introduce students to Shakespeare with a SAFETY net. :) 

Act III-V Quiz on 1/18 OPEN WORKBOOK

**Reminder: The Workbook is a TEST grade which will be collected on 2/1/22.** We are reviewing the workbook pages in class, and students are allowed to use their workbooks on announced quizzes. 

Final Macbeth Test on February 1st, 2022

We will also be working through three major projects: Reader’s Theatre (Dramatic Work-Group), Body Bios (Group), and a Narrative Writing Piece (individual)

**As students continue into their 8th grade year, it is imperative that they keep up with their reading, annotate their novels, and come in for extra help. The foundation of this class is heavily based on discussion and the sharing of ideas; students will need to participate to be able to engage with the material in a productive manner.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

The eighth graders have had a great time during our Forensics week!  This cross-curricular week of crime-related forensics relates to the novel MacBeth the students are reading in ELA and the study of historical assassinations in history class. We started off discussing crime scenes and observations and on Wednesday had a guest speaker from the forensics unit of the City of Savannah Police Department.  Thank you to Kelly Peak and Ms. Southerland for all their expertise and information.  These two forensic specialists demonstrated multiple examples of fingerprinting including using magnetic powder and a type of sticky-putty called microseal, taking shoe prints and swabbing for DNA.  They also discussed blood spatter and gun ballistics. (See the photos below.) Other classroom activities this week included a fingerprinting lab, a flame test with the bunsen burners and a hair and fiber analysis.  (See photos below.)  Next week we will look at blood spatter and how it is calculated on Monday.   Then the last parts of our science fair projects are due.  These are the completed log book (quiz grade) and science fair triptych (2 test grades).  They are both due on Tuesday, 12/14/21. We will also begin our science fair project presentations on this day to finish them before the long winter holiday break.  Have a safe, fun and restful time off school!  

Science Fair:

We are in the last week of the science fair!  The students have been working hard and have turned in some GREAT project reports.   On Tuesday, 12/14/21 students will turn in their completed log book for a quiz grade, along with their completed science fair triptych which counts as two test grades.  This triptych board must be cardboard and 36” tall X 48” wide and will contain all the same information as the formal report except for the abstract, acknowledgements, background research and bibliography.  Details on how to organize this are also found in the science fair packet and on Google Classroom.  We will begin class presentations (classwork grade) on Tuesday, 12/14/21.   Our HDS science fair school judging will be on Tuesday, January 11, 2022.  Approximately 6 - 8 local teachers and other educators from the area will come to Hancock to help determine who will advance to the Regional Science and Engineering Fair (RSEF) at Savannah State held in February, 2022.

I am available for any questions students may have each morning (7:30 am until 8 am) and several afternoons per week.  Students may also come see me during our end-of-the day tutorial and/ or email me questions.

US HISTORY- Mr. Gauthier

Next week in US History we will be finishing Reconstruction.  There will be a test on Thursday. 

SPANISH - MRS. SALE

Hello...the students will continue to work on stem changing verbs. At this point, e>ie, o>ue, u>ue & e>i stem changing verbs will have been introduced.  The students will wrap the week up with a quiz on their stem changing verbs.  Merry Christmas to you all.

ADVANCED SPANISH - MRS. SALE 

This week the students will start off with a study guide for their test (given on Wednesday).  The students will work on their study guide on Monday.  Tuesday, the classes will review the test material.  On Wednesday, the test will be given.  The test will include:possessive adjectives, -er & -ir verbs, tener and personal expressions with tener.  I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas & has a Happy New Year.

ADVANCED SPANISH - MS. CROCKER

Students have a test on Monday over vocabulary lists #1A and #1B (including describing where others are from and their ages, possessive adjectives, numbers 1-101) This week we are doing a mini-unit on the verb “querer” (to want!) just in time for la Navidad! 7th grade will have a quiz on Thursday on querer conjugation. The week will be filled with candy, skits, and holiday songs in Spanish! ¡Felices fiestas! 

ALGEBRA 1 - MRS. TAYLOR 

Students will take the Chapter 5 test Monday and they may have Tuesday for extra time if they need it. They will finish their Projected Savings for College project in class. Lastly, we will begin Chapter 6, which they are very familiar with. This chapter begins with solving inequalities. They are very familiar with this concept. Happy Holidays!!

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 4 by having the Chapter 4.5-4.7 test on Monday.  We will then begin Chapter 5, which is all about rational numbers (fractions and decimals).

ELA - MRS. BOYER 

We are finishing up our mini-unit on The Most Dangerous Game this week! Students have four to five study guides and their notes to study for their final assessment on the story. The test will be on 12/16. Also, students will be working through a Final Project where they have chosen between creating a map of Ship-Trap Island, a sequel to the story, or creating a comic strip based on the plot of TMDG.

Upcoming: 

Novel Study when we come back! Voices of the World! A multicultural research dive into reading! :)

Strategies for Home: 

-Students should be reviewing for a few minutes each night. Students should ask for parent/guardian help as a study buddy!

-Students should also annotate the rubric for projects and activities.

-Students should have a calendar of ‘chunking’ due dates for projects and studying. 

-Students should be coming in from 7:35-8:15 am to review/ask questions/take more time on their homework. 

**As students continue into their 7th grade year, it is imperative that they keep up with their reading, annotate their novels, and come in for extra help. The foundation of this class is heavily based on student reading and the sharing of ideas; students will need to participate to be able to engage with the material in a productive manner. All class activities are based on the reading completed prior to class time. **

ELA - MRS. SASSER

This week, students will work on their final project for A Christmas Carol. They will create an ugly sweater that depicts various symbols that represent a character of their choosing and write a five paragraph essay explaining each symbol’s importance/connection to their chosen character.

As always, students are welcome to drop off their writing in the morning to receive feedback. Feedback is optional! They should follow the schedule below: 

Thursday night: 

Complete outline (drop off Friday morning for feedback)

Friday in class/over the weekend: 

Complete introduction (There is a sample intro on GC. Drop off Monday morning for feedback)

Monday in class/homework: 

Draft body 1 and body 2 (drop off Tuesday morning for feedback)

Tuesday in class/homework: 

Draft body 3 (drop off Wednesday morning for feedback) 

Wednesday in class/homework: 

Draft conclusion (drop off Thursday morning for feedback)

Thursday in class/homework: 

FINAL EDITS!! 

Friday: 

Final essay due! 

Student class time will be devoted to writing their essay. Mrs. Cookson will be working with students on creating their ugly sweater. Their homework this week will be to finish any incomplete work from class. If students will be absent on Friday, their final projects/essays are due Thursday. 

I am available every morning and during tutorial if students would like to review the reading or ask questions. Because I make sure to be consistently available for the students, I expect them to walk into our class discussions and quizzes prepared and ready. I am here to assist the kids with their overall comprehension of the novel and expect them to reach out if they have questions. 

It is imperative that students keep up with their reading. They will be unable to complete our class discussions and activities without completing the reading. All reading assignments and homework are posted on my classroom board and on Google Classroom daily. Students should check Google Classroom every single day. All reading should be ANNOTATED. 

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

Next week, we will continue our study of the skeletal system.  Blocks A and F will have a quiz on the bones of the skeletal system on Tuesday and Block C will have their quiz on Wednesday.  Students will also complete a lab comparing vertebrate and invertebrate specimens. Please remind your student to check the google classroom daily for assignments and study materials. Wishing everyone a safe and joyful Christmas break!

US HISTORY - MR. GAUTHIER

We will continue to discuss and examine the Articles of Confederation and the years right after the American Revolution.   There will be an assessment on Wednesday the 15th  

US HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER

Next week in American History students will complete their work on the American Revolution. We will continue to examine important events, battles, and outcomes during the War. Events like the Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, The Shots Heard Around the World. We will also discuss the strategies both sides used and how these impacted the War. We will have an assessment on Wednesday the 15th. 

ACCELERATED MATH - MRS. TAYOR

Students began Integers last week. We are modeling addition and subtraction of integers with number lines and counters. This will help build a concrete understanding of the concept. We will review again when we return what we learned this week.

Happy Holidays!!

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 4 by having the Chapter 4.5-4.7 test on Monday.  We will then begin Chapter 5, which is all about rational numbers (fractions and decimals).

EARTH SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

The sixth graders are currently working on their Energy Project with the option of completing ONE of the following:  a written report, or a poster board or a 3-D display. The students have completed their progress check, but the entire project will be due on Wednesday, 12/15/21 and counts as a test grade.  The students will begin their class presentations this day as well.  (See the specific rubric for details.) This past Monday, Mr. Grimes from Georgia Power came to visit and teach the students more about energy resources.  The students compared renewable and non-renewable energy and were able to build simulated examples of solar and wind energy. (See photos below.) This week we also began our Geology/ Plate Tectonics unit.  We started off with reviewing some basic geography, latitude and longitude and the layers of the earth.  Next week we will continue this information and present our energy projects before the long winter holiday break.  Have a safe, fun and restful time off school! 

EARTH SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT

Last week, in Earth Science we had a wonderful, engaging guest speaker from GA Power. Students also participated in a Cookie Mining lab and built a Solar Oven.  Students should continue to work on their Energy Project. The instructions and rubric have been given to students and posted in Google Classroom under the topic “Energy”. Students are to select an energy source and make a poster or diorama/demonstration/display about their energy source. Projects are to be completed at home and are due December 15. Next week, we will work on mapping skills and use various types of maps including topographic maps.  Please remind your student to check the Google Classroom daily for assignments and study materials which have been posted for daily review. Wishing everyone a safe and joyful Christmas break!

ELA - MRS. SASSER

Students will work on their final project for our novel study. They will be asked to complete an extended metaphor poem. They will draft the poem in class and complete an art component with the poem in Mrs. Cookson’s class. All projects are due NO LATER than Friday, 12/17. 

Students may drop off their poem for feedback/review any morning on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. They will have the full class period to work on their poem and the art component in both ELA and Art. Please check your child’s poem and help them go through the rubric. Too often, students lose major points because they never reference their rubric. They will be given a hard copy of their rubric and there is a copy on Google Classroom. 

REMINDER: In order to find success with novel studies in middle school ELA, it is essential that students keep up with the assigned reading, annotate their novels, and THOROUGHLY answer their guided questions. Students will be assigned a set number of chapters and have a week to complete the reading/questions. All of our in class lessons will center around the assigned reading and failure to keep up with the reading will have a drastic effect on their ability to complete in class assignments/projects. I expect students to pace themselves and be reading each night, come to class prepared to discuss our reading, and come see me if they have questions. 

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

Students MUST follow my writing formula for all formal writing assignments and should follow the MLA formatting guidelines I gave them. The students have a handout on how to do this and we have practiced together multiple times. Any paper not formatted correctly or color-coded will not be accepted. 

INTRO SPANISH - MS. CROCKER

This week we are doing a mini-unit on the verb “querer” (to want!) just in time for la Navidad! 6th grade will have a quiz on Wednesday on how to conjugate querer and ask for things we want. The week will be filled with candy, skits, and a Burrito Sabanero dance! ¡Felices fiestas! 

WORLD HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER 

Next week in World History students will continue our work analyzing the major players during The Enlightenment. Our next group of thinkers include those from France like  Montesquieu and Voltaire. E Block will have a quiz on chapter 5 on the 15th. A and F Block quiz will be the 16th.         

ART - MRS. COOKSON

“Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion.” - Martha Graham

Sketchbook Prompt:

8th: Draw a found treasure chest and all of the stuff inside.

7th: Draw the inside of a spaceship.

6th: Draw some made up underwater creatures.

Classwork Challenges:

8th: Will begin work on their chosen subject for pointillism

7th: All will continue to work on cross-collaborative projects with ELA, however some will work on graphic layout while others will explore shadow boxes

6th: Will continue to work on an ELA collaboration with extended metaphor and illustration