December 4th - December 8th

 

DC Trip Reminder
When purchasing 8th grade school lunches, do not sign up for the week of March 11th - March 15th.

UNIFORM POLICY REMINDERS
- Skirts should be no shorter than 3 inches above the knee
- Sweatshirts should not fully cover skirts, shorts, or skorts
- Only HDS outerwear is to be worn while inside the building
- Wednesday, December 6th, will be an ALL-SCHOOL ASSEMBLY (no PE uniforms)

Extended Reminder
Parents should not walk into the school without checking in at the office, even after school, during extended care.  If your child has lost an item or forgot a book, lunch box, sweater, etc, please email your teacher.  

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.

Congratulations to Coach Greg and the HDS Swim Team for placing second at their first meet.  What a great start to the season!  Go Eagles!  Good luck at the meet on Monday @ 5:30 PM, Chatham County Aquatic Center!

8th grade boys Basketball teams will be competing in a Basketball Tournament this Saturday @ Lee Roy Myers Middle School.  They will play Myers @ 1pm and Rice Creek @ 4pm.  Let’s cheer on our Eagles!

The HDS Athletic Calendar is loaded with all of the upcoming basketball games and swim meets.  The Athletic Department is looking for volunteers to help with the Entry Gate and Concession Stand at our home games.  Please go to SignUpGenius to find an open spot.  

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CAFAB2BABF5C34-46393022-home

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) 

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

14. Try harder in the classes that are not your favorite. Chances are, you have at least one class that is a struggle for you. Try harder in that class, or those classes, and you’re less likely to fail.

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 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 will take a test on Chapter 5 Monday. We will visit a small topic that will not be on the exam and begin studying for exams by the end of the week.

ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will complete Chapter 4 by learning about medians and the centroid (4.6) and triangle inequalities (4.7).  We will have a day of review on Wednesday and the Chapter 4 test on Thursday.  Then we will begin reviewing for the exam.

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 then begin reviewing for the exam.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

We are in our fourth week of Macbeth! I am so proud of these kiddos! They have been working incredibly hard on their notes! We will complete the play this week. There will be a final test, mostly over Act V when we return from the Winter Break. 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. 

Exam: 

The Exam will be on Macbeth Act I-IV, with a sprinkling of V. Students will be asked questions on plot and characters. There will be a heavy emphasis placed on literary devices, reading comprehension, and written expression. 

Students will receive a study guide by Friday, December 1st. 

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 Act III & IV Quiz 12/4/23

Macbeth Act V Test 1/8/24

**It is incredibly important that your child stays on top of their ANNOTATIONS for Macbeth. My room is open every day at 7:30 am for readers if they are unable to read in the evening. Please help your child by reading and discussing with them! :) **

PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman

We have finished up our last unit of chemistry! I am so proud of these kids and I am amazed by how far they have come with chemistry. They have continued to work hard and I encourage them to maintain that through exams. Next week, we will be reviewing for exams and writing an APA paper. The design of the paper is to allow them to review for their exam by writing a paper based off of an experiment that will help them review content from the previous few months. They have been given a physical copy of their exam study guide and there is an electronic copy on GC. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to support your students as I know this is a stressful time of year for them! 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas  

Another exciting week down, two more to go! We have just finished talking about the Civil War so next week we will have our test on it. It will be on Monday (12/4) and will cover from 1863 till 1865. That’ll be events like Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Sherman’s March to the Sea and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Students will receive a study guide which should help them. This material will also show up on the exams after next week, so I will strive to get the tests graded quickly so students may use them to review. The rest of the week will be going over exam material. The exam is cumulative and will focus on the broad topics seen throughout the year thus far.

HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH  - Mr. De Cardenas

We will be still improving their vocabulary and verb conjugations, also enuring they master the different forms of possessive expressions and to work on proper enunciation and conversational Spanish skills. We will be working on formal and informal introductions in Spanish such as the courtesy phrases to make them use the proper language at every opportunity. We will also be practicing how to identify and use the defined articles of Spanish language and how to combine them with the preposition (de) to express possession. Also the possessive adjectives with practical and very fun exercises.. All of this together with their abilities in greeting conversation will lead them to be ready to learn how to introduce themselves and others, request and provide personal information like age, origin, nationality and  jobs fluently in Spanish. We will also be having the trimester oral exam on Wednesday 6th and the written one on Friday 8th to ensure the students have totally mastered all the content previously taught.

ADVANCED SPANISH - Ms. Brown and Mr. De Cardenas
Students have begun review for our December Exam. The exam will be split up into multiple days as listed:

• Wednesday, Dec 6: Speaking Exam (½ of students in class)

• Thursday, Dec 7: Speaking Exam (the second ½ of students in class)

• Friday, Dec 8: Written Exam (extremely similar to the other tests taken through the year.

Thankfully, all tests in our Spanish class are cumulative. This is done to help alleviate the difficulties of the exam. I am confident that they will do well given the time that is dedicated to review and preparation. 

Take it away Mr. De Cardenas!

We will be still improving their vocabulary and verb conjugations, also ensuring they master the different forms of possessive expressions and to work on proper enunciation and conversational Spanish skills. We will be working on formal and informal introductions in Spanish such as the courtesy phrases to make them use the proper language at every opportunity. We will also be practicing how to identify and use the defined articles of Spanish language and how to combine them with the preposition (de) to express possession. Also the possessive adjectives with practical and very fun exercises.. All of this together with their abilities in greeting conversation will lead them to be ready to learn how to introduce themselves and others, request and provide personal information like age, origin, nationality and  jobs fluently in Spanish. We will also be having the trimester oral exam on Wednesday 6th and the written one on Friday 8th to ensure the students have totally mastered all the content previously taught.

ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor

Students will take a test on Chapter 5 Monday. We will visit a small topic that will not be on the exam and begin studying for exams by the end of the week.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 5 by learning how to solve equations and inequalities with rational numbers (fractions and decimals) (5.7).  We will have a day of review and the Chapter 5 test on Thursday.  We will then begin reviewing for the exam.

ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer

This week we are working through Nonfiction pieces that will help our students connect to the true stories of people who truly live the stories that are being read. 

Reminder: The journal entries are critical to this unit. Students should be spending time on these entries, perhaps 10-25 minutes. They can also always go back and add more as they learn and engage with topics. These journal assignments are assigned to build writing stamina while reading through the lens of specific literary devices! THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO STUDY FOR EXAMS!

Exams: 

The 7th grade exam will be based on reading comprehension, literary devices, written expression, thesis creation, and attention to detail. Students will focus on two short stories in class that will help them practice these skills. It is critical that students truly engage in the exam prep, complete the IXL practice, and engage with their journal entries as a means to studying for this assessment. 

Journals and the completion of the novel are due January 16th. 

This unit will be continue over 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

It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of the first half of the year. The students have been working hard learning about cell transport and the cell membrane. Their cell projects also look SO. GOOD! We are so happy with the effort of these kids and we encourage them to keep that energy through exams. They will be given their exam study guide on Friday, 12/1. There will also be an electronic copy on GC. Next week on Monday and Tuesday, we will be talking about physical manifestations of issues/happenings at the cellular level. This will help them review the cell! Then, we will have a quiz on cell transport on Wednesday 12/6 followed by more cell review. Thursday will be a movie day with snacks provided where we will watch Our Secret Universe about cells being attacked by viruses. Friday we will begin our review of each unit that will continue the Monday and Tuesday before exams. This will allow us to comprehensively review each unit we have covered in this part of the year. 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas

Hello again! Next Monday (12/4) we will be having our test over the causes and early years of the American Revolution. Students will be getting a study guide this week so they can prepare and be ready by Monday. So far we’ve covered the early colonial period, the French and Indian War and the first couple of years of occupation and fighting that characterized 1775 - 1777. For the rest of the week we will be preparing for the exams. The exams are cumulative and we will focus on the main points of our lectures up till now. Students will be given study material and ample time to review and refresh this knowledge.

US HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in American History we will finish up our study of the events leading up to the American Revolution with a test on Tuesday. The rest of the week we will begin our review for Trimester Exams. Students will receive study guides on Monday. We will have multiple sessions of review. We will begin our review in chapter 2. 

ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor

Students will continue with Chapter 6, integers next week. They will take a quiz Wednesday. The exam will cover Chapter 1-5 only. We will begin reviewing Thursday.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 5 by learning how to solve equations and inequalities with rational numbers (fractions and decimals) (5.7).  We will have a day of review and the Chapter 5 test on Thursday.  We will then begin reviewing for the exam.

EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares

This week we learned more conduction and convection science and also had bread and butter to go with it (who doesn’t love that?). Next week we will continue working on our atmosphere chapter and dive into weather patterns. Besides our science exam, students will not have a test until after Winter Break. Enjoy! 🙂

ELA - Ms. Ferkol

Next week, students will continue designing their own dystopian communities and create a trifold presentation. This will be an in-class project and be due Wednesday, December 6th. This project will allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the foundational concepts within dystopian societies while also encouraging them to think outside the box and be creative and persuasive! Also on December 6th, students will have a short quiz covering the strategies and tools utilized in persuasive writing. We began looking at these this week and will be doing short warm-ups to keep this information fresh in their brains. These warm ups CAN be used as study guides for the quiz!

Exam: 

The 6th grade exam will cover content that we have worked on throughout the year. Students will be expected to know and understand thesis structure and creation, reading comprehension strategies, literary devices, content from The Outsiders, and structures present in dystopian fiction novels and societies. It is critical that students truly engage in the exam prep, complete the IXL practice, and study identified materials and activities listed in the HARD COPY EXAM STUDY GUIDE that will be handed out on Monday!

Students are expected to be FINISHED with their novels by January 5! 

Please remind students to keep up with their nightly assigned reading and regularly check Google Classroom for homework assignments and updates! Many of this unit’s homework assignments do not require students to formally submit their work, but instead “Mark as Done”--this should be done nightly once they’ve finished their assignments!!

This unit will continue after Winter Break. It is NOT expected that your child read over the break…but that your child stays on top of their reading during school days. 

INTRO SPANISH - Ms. Brown

Students have begun review for our December Exam. The exam will be split up into multiple days as listed:

• Wednesday, Dec 6: Speaking Exam (½ of students in class)

• Thursday, Dec 7: Speaking Exam (the second ½ of students in class)

• Friday, Dec 8: Written Exam (extremely similar to the other tests taken through the year.

Thankfully, all tests in our Spanish class are cumulative. This is done to help alleviate the difficulties of the exam. I am confident that they will do well given the time that is dedicated to review and preparation. 

WORLD HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in World History we will begin our preparation for Trimester exams. Students will receive study guides on Monday. We will have multiple review sessions. This exam will cover all chapters covered in our Ancient Greece and Rome Unit.