September 18th - September 22nd
Dear Middle School Families,
We are so excited about our trip to Camp Merri-Mac, in Black Mountain, North Carolina in just 12 short days!
On the morning of Tuesday, September 26th, parents will drop off their student/s at the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot at 5:30 AM so that everyone can stow their baggage and get settled into their grade-level bus for our 6:00 AM departure. In addition to their baggage for the trip, each student will need to bring his or her lunch and a full water bottle on the bus for the trip up to Merri-Mac. We will stop at a rest stop at lunchtime and provide the opportunity for students to eat their lunch and use the restroom before we complete the last part of our road trip.
For our return trip, we will leave Merri-Mac prior to lunch on Friday, September 29th, and expect to arrive between 4:30 PM and 5:30 PM at the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot in Savannah. Parents will be notified after we have hit the road to get a more accurate return time. We will stop for lunch on the way home at the Westgate Mall food court in Spartanburg. Students will need to bring money with them to pay for their lunch in the food court. The food court has multiple options for lunch, including Chick-fil-A and Sbarro.
If your child needs to take any medications while on the trip, including over-the-counter or prescribed, please provide the medication in an original container. Either the bottle/package from the store with your child's name written on it or a prescription with your child's information from the pharmacy. Please provide only the exact amount needed for the trip if possible. Please do not send the following medications with your child, as they will be provided as needed while on the trip: Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Tums, and Benadryl.
You may refer to this packing list for a complete inventory of items your child needs to bring on the trip. (With regard to water shoes: students may wear Crocs except for rafting. When rafting, they will need a shoe or sandal with a good tread and back strap (Chaco's are an OK option for this)). Students will have four fun-filled days of activities that provide opportunities for them to build character and grow as leaders through play, teamwork, risk-taking, and adventure. In addition to items on the packing list, students will need to bring their own lunch for the trip to Merri-Mac, a water bottle, money to pay for their lunch on the trip home, any necessary medications, and some students may want to bring extra money to purchase souvenirs from the Merri-Mac gift shop.
Follow all the fun on our Middle School Instagram account!
Parents and students 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.
Homecoming was a GREAT success! Thank you to everyone who came out to the games and supported our many wonderful athletic teams. The outlook for next week is below. Please take note of the green out next Tuesday for volleyball- let’s pack that gym! Please also take note of football pictures on Thursday and their times. As always if you have any questions, please reach out to me at bbellairs@hancockdayschool.org. Go Eagles!!
Saturday 16th Basketball open gym
5th - 8th
9am to 10:30
Monday 18th
HDS Volleyball vs. Country Day at Hancock
5th Green: 5:00pm
6th: 6:00pm
7th: 7:00pm
8th: 8:00pm
Tuesday 19th (GREEN OUT) all teams
7th vs CDS @ HDS 5pm
5 White vs SAS @ HDS 6pm
6 th. vs 5 green @ HDS 7pm
8th vs SPCS @ HDS 8pm
Thursday 21st
3rd Flag football @HDS 4:30
4th Flag football. @HDS 5:30
JV FB vs CDS @ BC 6:15
V FB. vs CDS. @ BC 7:30
Jv pictures 4:45pm.
Varsity pictures 6:15pm.
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. Click HERE for a log form or see Mrs. Mannarino in the office.
Below is a volunteer opportunity, organized by the PA, for our Middle Schoolers outside of school!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CAFAB2BABF5C34-second
As Learning Coach, I work 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. My phone extension is 327. I look forward to working with you! Tricia Guggenheim
Tip #4 How Long Should We Work on Homework in One Sitting?
Set a timer and limit each study or work session to 30 minutes. Challenge yourself to finish a certain amount of work within that time. The adrenaline rush of the challenge will improve your focus. Take a 5 minute brain break - physical activity - and, if needed, continue to set the timer to keep working.
For middle school students and families, this is a busy time of the year. Juggling school obligations, after-school activities, and squeezing in some family time can be difficult, if not impossible at times. However, middle school is also a crucial time to reinforce virtues that will last a lifetime.
Kindness is our virtue of the month and takes both practice and intention. Being kind involves thinking beyond yourself, which is not necessarily aligned, developmentally, with the middle school brain.
While modeling virtuous behaviors is crucial, you can also help your student think ahead about situations that they will encounter. Find time to squeeze in “what-if” scenarios with your student while driving in the car or at dinnertime to help them visually practice kindness. Start with common situations like a student dropping items on the way to class or tripping in the hallway. Move up to situations that are more difficult such as a student who is sitting alone at lunch or appears to feel left out at recess. By having these conversations, your student will be more equipped and more likely to demonstrate acts of kindness.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns that you may have this year at amaher@hancockdayschool.org.
ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor
ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will complete the first part of Chapter 10 by having a test on 10.1-10.3 on Monday. We will then continue the second part of Chapter 10 by learning how to solve quadratic equations by completing the square (10.5). We will have a quiz on Friday covering completing the square. Students that will be busy Thursday night with the football game should prepare ahead and study earlier in the week. We will be away the following week at Merri Mac!
GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Geometry, we will complete Chapter 2 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 2 test on Tuesday. Since we will be away at Merri Mac the following week, rather than starting a new chapter, we will use the rest of the week to review some important concepts from Algebra I. We will also have the STAR Math assessment on Friday.
ELA - Mrs. Boyer
This week…we are working…Students will have many days to catch up on their reading, work through Reading Checks, and review for their 12-19 Test, September 22nd (This test will not be moved. Please have students begin studying! We tried out two new study games this week, so they have more tools in their pockets.).
The 1-11 TEST has been CHANGED from Friday, September 15th to Monday, September 18th!! We have REVIEWED FOR A FULL THREE DAYS!!!!
MOCK TRIAL after Merri Mac!! This will be a project & TEST grade with the History Department.
During this week, your child will be reading 25-30 minutes a night. I highly suggest your child use Audible.com or Youtube readings. (When using Audible.com, your child can adjust the reading speed to their liking.)
With each night of reading and class, your child can expect Reading Checks multiple times throughout the week. Your child may use their book/annotations to help them. REMINDER: Students may come in and **check** their annotations against mine.
Upcoming Assessments:
9/22 TEST Ch. 12-19
**It is incredibly important that your child stay on top of their reading. My room is open every day at 7:30 am for readers if they were unable to read in the evening. Please help your child by reading and discussing with them! :) **
PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman
Today is the last week before we head to Merri Mac so we will be wrapping up our first official unit on the foundations of chemistry. This is chapter 7 and 8 in the textbook. They will have a quiz over chapter 7 on Monday 9/18 and a test on Chapter 7 and 8 on Thursday 9/21. I will make sure they are amply prepared for their test with review in class. This is a change to our usual Friday assessment to accommodate for late night football games. We will do a fun lab on Friday and there will be no homework over the week of Merri Mac- we will have reached a natural break. I am continually impressed with student’s engagement in class and their commitment to labs and studying. As always, please reach out to me with any questions and concerns you might have.
US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas
This coming week we are discussing the early years of the Civil War. We will go over the first few years, 1861 - 1863, some of the early battles and important leaders. This will include habeas corpus, the political changes during the war and technological advances that made the fighting so deadly. On Wednesday we will have a quiz over this material. The last part of the week will be prep for a Civil War project that we’ll start after the Merri Mac trip.
HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH - Ms. Gonzalez
¡Hola! We have completed our first Spanish project - Introducing family and friends. The students presented their Google Slides, introducing themselves, a family member and a friend. Next week we will begin reviewing conjugating verbs!
ADVANCED SPANISH - Ms. Brown and Ms. Gonzalez
For students enrolled in Ms. Brown’s class, please see the following bullets to know what we have on our agenda for the coming week!
Quiz on the 20th (vocab part one for our Unit Three)
LOTS of class work coming up that will be homework for student who do not finish in class (find these posted on the day of assignment on Google Classroom though they are handed out in person in class to be completed by hand)
Let’s finish off strong next week and set a good foundation for the unit since our trip to North Carolina will occur right in the middle of it.
Take it away Ms. Gonzalez!
¡Hola! We have completed our first Spanish project - Introducing family and friends. The students presented their Google Slides, introducing themselves, a family member and a friend. Next week we will start our new unit: Regular & Irregular Verbs! We will be conjugating verbs!
ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor
Students had to begin Chapter 3 (2 sections) before testing Monday, 9/18 Chapter 2. This was done to move the test and HW Thursday and Friday. We reviewed on Chapter 2 Friday and completed 3.1-3.2 HW in class. There will be another quiz cover 3.1-3.4 Friday 9/22.
PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 2 by having a quiz on Monday covering 2.1-2.3. Then, we will learn how to solve one-step equations by addition/subtraction (2.5) and multiplication/division (2.6). We will also learn how to solve equations that have decimals (2.7). There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 2 test on Friday. Students that will be busy Thursday night with the football game should prepare ahead and study earlier in the week. We will be away the following week at Merri Mac!
ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer
We are on our third week of Posted by John David Anderson! Students will spend this week working through their pg 118-224 discussion packet, and we will be reviewing for the quiz on 118-224 on 9/22. Their ‘Anchor’ Writing/Art assignment is due on Monday at the beginning of class.
Reading Checks are being graded and sent back to the students through their email. It is our suggestion that students create a Posted folder in their Gmail for these checks, so that it is easier to find them for study purposes. The discussion questions will all be checked and graded for a test grade the day of the final unit test.
When we begin novel studies, it is expected that your child will read for 20-25 minutes at home each night. This will be the majority of their homework. Some nights they may also have Reading Checks to go along with their reading; we will also be working on these Reading Checks in class. These Reading Checks will be CW/HW grades that will be averaged into one quiz grade. Students may always use their beautiful annotations to help with these reading quizzes.
Posted is filled with an immense amount of literary devices, world connections, and character development. These are topics which will allow for us to dive deep into our reading comprehension skill building.
Please stay on top of the assessment calendar and Google Classroom assignments.
LIFE SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman and Ms. Insignares
As you all may know, we are beginning our biome projects next week! We are very excited to embark on this process with students where they will become experts on their biome and build a visual representation of it. Please gather supplies this weekend and I can’t wait to show everyone the final products! They will teach one another about their biomes and this is what the assessment will be based off of. The assessment for these two chapters will not take place until after Merri Mac with plenty of review beforehand.
US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas
Next week we have our first test! Yay! It’ll be on Thursday (9/21) over chapter 2 in the textbook, the Age of Exploration and early colonies. Think Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortez, John Cabot and Henry Hudson. This will cover the Spanish colonization efforts and the English and French explorations into North America. We will have a study guide and a review day for it early in the week. That way the kids should have enough time to prepare for it. Once that’s done we will move on to chapter 3 after Merri Mac. That’s over the first proper English colonies in North America. Jamestown, Plymouth and the reasons the people who founded the colonies were there in the first place.
US HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer
Next week in American History students will continue examining how the English Colonies began to take shape. Specifically we will begin comparing and contrasting life in the different colonies. Students will also wrap up their Interview projects.
ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor
Student’s finished up last week very happy. I could just tell. They start Chapter 3 Monday and will assess Sections 3.1-3.3 Friday. We study as a class Thursday.
PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 2 by having a quiz on Monday covering 2.1-2.3. Then, we will learn how to solve one-step equations by addition/subtraction (2.5) and multiplication/division (2.6). We will also learn how to solve equations that have decimals (2.7). There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 2 test on Friday. Students that will be busy Thursday night with the football game should prepare ahead and study earlier in the week. We will be away the following week at Merri Mac!
EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares
Hello all! This week we learned all about the sun and objects that orbit it. We watched videos of how a meteorite can make such a huge impact on Earth and compared them to an asteroid! Earth space is such a fun topic and the students truly seem to enjoy it! We will also begin talking about creating a 3D model of the Solar System! Students will work on this in class with a partner and then present! We love hands-on projects in this class so this is a great way to do it! Next Monday Sept. 18th we will have a quiz on the layers of the sun and the objects we’ve studied! It should be a fun time!
ELA - Ms. Ferkol
This week we will continue our novel study with The Outsiders. We will be diving into Chapters 3 and 4 this week and be looking at how
As we move further into this unit, students should expect to have between 25-30 minutes of solid work each night. This work will often include reading or re-reading portions of the book, comprehension work, and vocabulary. As we move through the unit, this may also include other work such as art projects, Google Form reading checks, or note-taking in preparation for a Socratic seminar.
**Please note that the first quiz for this unit will be this Friday, September 22 and will cover characters descriptions, vocabulary, and key events through matching, multiple choice, and short answer questions.
INTRO SPANISH - Ms. Brown
The 6th graders are the highlight of my day! They are a studious bunch who are eager to learn; their cute sense of humor doesn’t hurt either! As we get closer to the next unit centered around bring Spanish to life though the leds of their everyday lives here at school, they will have the following:
A vocabulary quiz on the 20th
LOTS of classwork to help them develop their skills build in our current grammar unit and put them into motion.
A few in-class games to serve as brain-breaks that are secretly met to trick them into becoming verb conjugation machines!
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
WORLD HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer
Next week in World History students will continue their examination of Ancient Greece by traveling to Sparta. We will study the impacts on government and society as well as the militaristic nature of the Spartans. We will then benign our comparison of Athens and Sparta. Next we will also study the history of the Olympics in Greece. Students will also bwork on their project: Conducting Historical Interviews. This project will help students see how impactful they can be in writing history.
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