December 11th - December 15th

 

Middle School Exams

Wednesday 12/13

6th: History then Math

7th: Math then History

8th: Math then Science

Thursday 12/14

6th: ELA then Science

7th: Science then ELA

8th: ELA then History

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

Wednesday, December 13th and Thursday, December 14th

White Gate dismissal will be at 12:15pm

Friday, December 15th

White Gate dismissal will be at 11:45am

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) 

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

15. Make academics a focus in your life.

Studying takes time and effort. Get organized, ask for help and put forth effort aimed at improving your study habits now.

The lessons taught in middle school are building blocks for high school and college. Starting good study habits now will help you later in life. It does take more effort to study and to become organized; however, academic success will make you feel good about yourself and make your parents smile.

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 are reviewing 1.5 chapters at a time in class. The goal is to recognize the sections that give them trouble, mark them, then review those sections. I created a mock exam that was given to each student. A copy is in Google Classroom but there is no key. We are going over each section together.

ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will review for the exam.

GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Geometry, we will review for the exam.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

We have completed our reading of Macbeth!! Woop Woop!! We are working through exam prep with creative activities such as One Pagers and Games, context clue activities such as Quote Matching, and Written Prep with Long Response Review with peer to peer commentary. The exam will be on Act I-V with a sprinkle of Act V. The format will be exactly like my usual assessments, but a bit longer. 

There will be a final test, mostly over Act V when we return from the Winter Break. In January, we will dive into an essay, a performance project, and maybe a few more analysis activities. 

Assessments: 

Macbeth Act V Test 1/8/24

PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman

It’s been so much fun having 8th grade chemistry! I am excited for physics in january. In the meantime, happy studying! All materials and a study guide have been posted to GC. 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas  

What an amazing year its been. We are finally finished with the Civil War and get to move on to the Industrial Revolution and the 20th Century. An incredibly exciting part of our history! Before that however, we have exams to finish. Next week we will be keeping up with our writing skills and reviewing material from this year. I have posted the study guide on google classroom along with the slides of notes we have taken. I wish them all the best and if you or your children have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH  - Mr. De Cardenas

I am definitely super happy to see how well all the students are responding to the Spanish lessons and how fast they are developing conversational skills in my first language. It is impressive. Next week will continue moving forward with the current unit we are covering to learn how to talk about age, origin and Nationality, in addition to this we will start using some new grammar items such as a new interrogative adverb (Dónde), the use of the preposition (de) to express origin and the meaning and conjugations of the verb (Tener) to refer the age. We will also expand our vocabulary, learning the countries and nationalities. We will have a quiz on Tuesday to check the students' master on these topics. We will also be practicing the previous topics we have already seen in class and keep up improving their communicative and especially talkative skills.

ADVANCED SPANISH - Ms. Brown and Mr. De Cardenas
Students’ Spanish exams occurred on Wednesday and Thursday (Speaking Assessment) and on Friday (Written Assessment) on 12/6, 7, and 8. 

Have a wonderful winter break!

Take it away Mr. De Cardenas!

I am definitely super happy to see how well all the students are responding to the Spanish lessons and how fast they are developing conversational skills in my first language. It is impressive. Next week will continue moving forward with the current unit we are covering to learn how to talk about age, origin and Nationality, in addition to this we will start using some new grammar items such as a new interrogative adverb (Dónde), the use of the preposition (de) to express origin and the meaning and conjugations of the verb (Tener) to refer the age. We will also expand our vocabulary, learning the countries and nationalities. We will have a quiz on Tuesday to check the students' master on these topics. We will also be practicing the previous topics we have already seen in class and keep up improving their communicative and especially talkative skills.

ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor

Students are reviewing 1.5 chapters at a time in class. The goal is to recognize the sections that give them trouble, mark them, then review those sections. I created a mock exam that was given to each student. A copy is in Google Classroom but there is no key. We are going over each section together.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will review for the exam.

ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer

Reminder: The VOW Novel and Journal are due January 16th. 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. 

In class/GC: 

Hexagonal Study Guide

GC Study Guide

IXL Links

Cinderella Single Story Activity

Literary Device Warm Up

Literary Device Definition Sheet

Literary Device Quiz

“Two Brothers” Short Story/Comp Questions/Long Response

“Seventh Grade” Short Story Comp Questions/Long Response

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. 

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

LIFE SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman and Ms. Insignares

Cell projects were AMAZING! We will be reviewing for exams next week. There is an extensive study guide on GC under exam prep along with all of the materials we have used throughout the year. Happy studying! 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas

Next week we will be reviewing and preparing for our exam. It is cumulative so we will be covering the Age of Exploration, the American Colonies and the American Revolution. I have created a simple study guide for use on google classroom and we will be working over the next few days to talk about it more and fill it in with useful details. We will also be doing some short writing practice to help students properly prepare for the writing on the exams. If you or your children have any questions, please feel free to email me. I am always happy to help.

US HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in American History we will continue preparing for the Semester Exam. Students will review Monday and Tuesday. Exams will take place Wednesday and Thursday. Students need to be reviewing everyday. Study guides have been handed out. 

ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor

Students are reviewing 1.5 chapters at a time in class. The goal is to recognize the sections that give them trouble, mark them, then review those sections. I created a mock exam that was given to each student. A copy is in Google Classroom but there is no key. We are going over each section together.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will review for the exam.

EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares

It’s the week of break! We are all so excited and counting down until winter vacation! This week we will review, review, review and prepare for our exam! There will be no Earth Science tests until January. 🙂 Hope you all have an amazing holiday break and see you in 2024!!

ELA - Ms. Ferkol

We are preparing for exams this week! We will be completing activities in class that will be directly related to the content of the exam, so it is critical that students are actively engaged in class this week! 

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 class activities, complete the IXL practice, and study identified materials and activities listed in the study guide posted in Google Classroom.

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

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’ Spanish exams occurred on Wednesday and Thursday (Speaking Assessment) and on Friday (Written Assessment) on 12/6, 7, and 8. 

Have a wonderful winter break!

WORLD HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in World History History we will continue preparing for the Semester Exam. Students will review Monday and Tuesday. Exams will take place Wednesday and Thursday. Students need to be reviewing everyday. Study guides have been handed out.

The theme of community is taking shape in the art studio. Students in 6th and 7th grades have portraits of self & leaders  in progress, students in 8th accomplished local entrepreneur signage and snowscapes and all students recognize the value of being united in a diverse global community.