October 30th - November 3rd

 

Dear Parents,

Parent-Teacher Conferences are just around the corner, and we can’t wait to see you! This year you will have the opportunity to schedule a 10-minute appointment with any or all of your child’s teachers on:

• Thursday, November 9th from 1:00-3:30 PM, and/or;

• Friday, November 10th from 8:00-3:15 PM

The sign-up form for each teacher will be open from Monday, October 23rd through Wednesday, November 8th at 5:00 PM. Click the link to make appointments with middle school teachers:

Boyer: https://forms.gle/1GRvx75d7WbDaJ847

Ferkol: https://forms.gle/no3hvekVGyQivZik9

O'Hayer: https://forms.gle/nBEA1YT4g46s4QYA7

Saviskas: https://forms.gle/niSxz9Th2TiWR3aA7

Lanfear: https://forms.gle/R7MCyjaoWhCtdwpM7

Taylor: https://forms.gle/qcchqtZP5ipYx5Sc7

Hallman: https://forms.gle/afH9PhJzxVStGb8c8

Insignares: https://forms.gle/orwgX3dMVCAUfoQU9

Brown: https://forms.gle/pBZowPMsX5g92JZv5

Byrne: https://forms.gle/EZbfnAD1J4ZyqemeA

Parent-Teacher Conferences are a great way for you and your child’s teachers to talk about how your child is doing academically, socially, and emotionally in school. Check out this short article with tips for what you can do to help make your meetings successful and productive.

Kind Regards,

Jack Cargile

Head of Middle School

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.

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.

1. Below is a volunteer opportunity, organized by the PA, for our Middle Schoolers outside of school!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CAFAB2BABF5C34-second

2. Coastal Pet Rescue - email Emily Piette (emilyp@coastalpetrescue.org) 

3. Savannah Camellia Planting Project (10/27/23  @ 11:30 am – cleanup)

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CAFAB2BABF5C34-44654115-savannah

Learn more https://savannahcamelliafestival.com/

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

9. How Much Do We Need to Read?

Read through related sections of your textbook, but don’t read every word. Read headings, diagrams, and captions to photos and illustrations to get started. Set your timer and spend one 30-minute block reviewing a textbook chapter. Your enhanced comprehension will help you sail through your homework.

This month, we invite parents to partner with us in teaching our students about both responsibility and respect. Middle school is a crucial time to continue the development of virtuous behaviors. 

Here are some strategies that you can use to at home:

How to Teach Your Child to Be More Responsible

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

Students test Monday on Chapter 4. I gave them a practice test Friday and posted it for support if anyone loses it. I am available Monday morning 7:30 if they have further questions. Hint…The practice test looks very similar to the test. We will finish 4.7 and begin Chapter 5 focusing further on linear equations.

ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will complete the first part of Chapter 11 by having a test on 11.1-11.2 on Monday.  This will be the last test of the first trimester.  We will then begin the second part of Chapter 11 by learning how to solve radical equations (11.3) and how to use the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse (11.4).

GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Geometry, we will begin Chapter 5 by learning about midsegments in triangles (5.1), perpendicular bisectors and the circumcenter (5.2), and angle bisectors and the incenter (5.3).  There will be a quiz on Friday covering 5.1-5.3.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

This week we are writing Letters to Celebrities! Your child will need a stamped envelope sent to school on Monday, October 30th. :) I can’t wait to see what responses we get back! 

We will begin Macbeth OFFICIALLY on November 2nd. We will be reading the week of November 6th and 13th. If your child misses a reading day, they will be responsible for reading on their own. They may come in and listen to the dramatic reading on my computer from 7:30-8:10 am. Your child will NOT have Reading Checks for HW, but they will have WORKBOOK PAGES each night. 

Your child will not have original reading to complete at home, but they will be asked to interact with the text after in-class reading. 

Assessments: 

Macbeth Mini Quiz (Characters Act I - II) Monday, November 13th

Macbeth Act I - II Quiz Friday, November 17th

**It is incredibly important that your child stay on top of their ANNOTATIONS for Macbeth. 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

We have had a great week in Physical Science! We will be continuing to work through Chapter 11 and 12 as we study electrons, chemical bonding, and chemical reactions. On Halloween, we will be doing a blood splatter lab that should be very fun! There will be a quiz on Friday (11/3) and the following week, we will have a test on Chapter 11 and 12 (date TBA) before beginning our last chapter on Acids and Bases! I am very proud of all of their hard work and I am looking forward to some very awesome labs that come with these last few chapters. 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas  

Next week we will be bringing Civil War era food in for our project on MONDAY! Students were given the chance to plan and work on their project essays last week, so they should be nearly done with the writing portion. This weekend they will need to find some time to gather their ingredients and prepare their dishes for class. Be sure to grab pictures! After Monday, we will be focusing on the battles of Shiloh and Antietam which serve as turning points for the Civil War’s brutality. These critical battles set the tone for the rest of 1862-1863 so its important that we focus on them.

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!

• We will be doing a project on the 1st of November that will include having the opportunity for us to decorate an entire bulletin board in our hallway!

ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor

Students test Monday on Chapter 4. I gave them a practice test Friday and posted it for support if anyone loses it. I am available Monday morning 7:30 if they have further questions. Hint…The practice test looks very similar to the test. We will finish 4.7 and begin Chapter 5 focusing further on linear equations.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue the first part of Chapter 4 by learning how to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of monomials (4.2), writing equivalent fractions (4.3), and how to find the least common multiple (LCM) of numbers and monomials (4.4).  There will be a day of review on Thursday and a test covering 4.1-4.4 on Friday.

ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer

This week we will continue to review for the unit test, which will be in two parts and completed on Thursday, November 2nd and Friday, November 3rd. THIS IS A CHANGE in schedule! 

On Monday, October 30th we will have a few mini activities to take a brain break: HDS Gauntlet (tricycle ride), Origami, Novel Reflection. :)

We will begin our third unit of the year on November 3rd: Voices of the World. This will be a Book Club Unit. Students will be asked to choose a book from the following list: Thirst, The Breadwinner, The Night Diary, The Only Road, Just a Drop of Water, and Amal Unbound. Within their Book Clubs, students will be asked to create a reading calendar, complete mini lessons, complete activities and assessments based on their books. 

This unit will be over Thanksgiving and Winter Break. It is NOT expected that your child read over breaks…but it is expected that your child stays on top of their reading during school days. 

As we continue with our 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. 

Please stay on top of the assessment calendar and Google Classroom assignments. 

LIFE SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman and Ms. Insignares

Next week, we will be testing over Chapter  6 and 7 on 10/30. Halloween will be a fun day where we explore some of the physical manifestations of some bacterial and viral infections. An exploration of “Monsters Inside Me.” Then, we begin the cell! One of our larger units! 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas

Greetings! We are moving into the foundations of our country, the American Revolution. To help teach this lesson we will be finishing up and presenting the “Build your own Colony,” project. The due date for which has been moved to Thursday, Nov. 2nd. We will not have any more class days to work on it, so any finishing up will need to be done at home. Then we will be focusing on the pre-Revolutionary fervor brought about by the Seven Years War, more commonly known as the French and Indian War. To wrap up we will touch on the various tax acts and the Boston Massacre.

US HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week we will continue our study of the American Revolution. Students will examine events that led the American Colonies to declare independence, events as they unfolded during the war, and how the war shaped the lives of Americans in the new nation. Students will also continue working on the project: Building Your Colony. Please checkdue dates in GC.

ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor

These students have an excellent understanding of place value and fractions. They really make teaching very easy. Students will take Chapter 4 test Monday after reviewing with me this past Friday. Chapter 5 will begin Tuesday and the focus will be on fractions/mixed numbers addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I will be working closely with them on word problems and key words to identify the operation needed to solve them. First quiz for Chapter 5 will be the following week, possibly Monday or Tuesday.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue the first part of Chapter 4 by learning how to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of monomials (4.2), writing equivalent fractions (4.3), and how to find the least common multiple (LCM) of numbers and monomials (4.4).  There will be a day of review on Thursday and a test covering 4.1-4.4 on Friday.

EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares

What a great week discussing the differences between fresh and saltwater. Next week we will have a nice calm week as we celebrate Halloween! Students will be guessing my costume and even designing an idea of what they think I should wear. I am excited to see their creativity! Students will have a project that will be discussed this week. They will need to create a water filter that will purify dirty “sewage” water and have it come out clear on the other side. We have learned how difficult it is to have access to clean water in many parts of the world, so this will be a nice way to show students how people in other countries do what they need to do to survive! Students will need to prep the filter at home and test it out at school..Students will have their final test for trimester 1 on 11/2! The water filter test will be on 11/3

ELA - Ms. Ferkol

This week we will be taking their final assessment covering the entire novel, The Outsiders. To celebrate our learning, we will also be finishing our movie viewing and comparing it to the novel! 

Wednesday will be the official start to our third unit – Dystopian Book Clubs! Students previewed the four novel choices for this unit: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Giver by Lowis Lowry, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, and Divergent by Veronica Roth. This unit will be highly engaging and allow students to critically analyze different types of societal structures as well as interesting text structures that relate specifically to this genre. All of these books have film adaptations–please don’t let your child watch them YET! :) Part of this unit will be analyzing and critically comparing portions of the novel with clips of the movie; to help with authenticity and discussion skills, it’s best if students have not yet been exposed to any “spoilers”!

This unit will be slightly different than our last as students will be placed into book club groups. This means that while we will do mini lessons covering structures and skills to utilize in their reading, their assignments, projects, and assessments will be based on their specific books as opposed to the same unified material. As the lengths of these books vary, students will be given benchmark reading dates (half way, end date) with which they will collaboratively create a reading calendar. 

This unit will be over Thanksgiving and Winter Break. It is NOT expected that your child read over breaks…but it is expected that your child stays on top of their reading during school days. 

INTRO SPANISH - Ms. Brown

Please see below for details coming up!

• Project on the 2nd of November.

• TEST WAS RE-SCHEDULED!! Due to the end of the trimester and all of its stressors as well as the spooky holiday coming up, the test for our current unit will be on the 7th of November. 

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 shift focus from Greek Philosophers to one of the most influential people of the Ancient World: Alexander the Great. We will also be starting our examination of one of the most dominant empires in the ancient world: Rome.