ACS Middle School Matters: Middle School Matters: 2/3/14

Middle School Matters

February 3. 2014

General Announcements

Exploratories: We are working to reschedule Exploratories for Feb. 25-28. We have many details to work out, so watch for updates. Your prayers for us as we work to reschedule will be appreciated.

FroYo February 14: Student Council is offering a chance to order Spoonlickers Frozen Yogurt which will be served on Friday, Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day. We sent the order forms home before the snow days - and the order forms say they were already due. But do not fear!

If you would like to order FroYo for Feb. 14, you need to turn the order in to your homeroom teacher or to Mrs. Van Noord by Noon on Feb. 5. FroYo (or sorbet) will be $3 per person and will be served up in the hall by the kitchen on Feb. 14.

6th Grade News

Art: 6a has a pencil drawn Picasso portrait due. 6b will learn about Picasso and then the following week have their pencil drawn Picasso portrait due. Check moodle for due dates and an upcoming quiz date.

Band: We will begin to add to our arsenal of scales, and also the songs we can play. Ask your band student to play Edelweiss for you! :)

Bible: This week we will review our Bible unit (all purple packets) and have a unit test on Friday. Review sheet went home on Thursday, our one day of school last week. Review activities throughout the week. Test on Monday.

History: We will work on Mesopotamia projects at school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Final Mini project and extra credit due on Friday.

Language arts: Students received their tests back. Parents, please take a look at the test and sign. Students will need to return it by Wednesday, Feb. 5 for an assignment grade. Also, I hope that you received the World Fair Parent Letter yesterday. Thanks for taking the time to read it carefully. Please send in your child's country choice sheet by Thursday, Feb. 6 with a parent signature. We are beginning to learn about cultures and etiquette around the world through many interesting websites and stories. Your child will need a 1 inch binder with a plastic cover by next week. This will help to organize our World Fair information as well as serve as the portfolio for the World Fair night.

Math: We have come to a turning point in our year. Students just switched out their math books for Volume 2 and that moves us into Algebraic Expressions and Equations. We will spend the next few weeks working with order of operations, variables and expressions.

PE: This week in PE we will be starting our hockey unit. Students will be learning the rules for floor hockey.

Orchestra: This week we will review lessons 56 and 57 and also practice and perform some of our new songs for each other in small groups of 3 to 5 players.

Science: We will be moving into a new unit in Science. We'll focus on things that move...Why are they moving? How can their motion be impacted in different ways? What is a force? This unit will also provide a platform for us to develop our scientific writing skills as well.

Spanish: Our tests were rescheduled to this coming Friday for both 6A and 6B. Test will cover older material of adjectives and the verb SER. There are resources on Moodle for students to study, especially a set helpful online flashcards. There are two Quia exercises that would be great practice for them using the verb, SER, also. Those assignments grades have been entered, so students may now use these over and over as practice!

7th Grade News

Algebra: Continuing or study of chapter 8. In about a week we will have the chapter 8 test.

Art: 7th graders will continue to work on bird drawings and painting in their still-lives. We will be reviewing color theory with the still-life paintings. Please check moodle for homework and due dates.

Band: We are working hard in our band books - - we are on page 17 now. We are also steadily adding to our arsenal of scales.

Bible:

Sanderson: Students are working on projects that chronicle their personal journey with Jesus. The project is due on Thursday. Time will be given in class on Tuesday and limited time on Wednesday to work. Encourage your student to do some work over the long weekend if possible.

Van Noord: Daniel questions for chapters 1-12 are due Tuesday. Daniel projects are due Wednesday. There will be class time Tuesday to work on these. Everything is explained on Moodle.

Wanner: we will review for and take a test on first and second Samuel. Please be aware there will be a review sheet. Also, there will be a take home essay due on the day of the test. Tentatively plan on the test happening Friday 6.

History: This week in history we will be finishing up and reviewing our unit on Africa. I will be passing out a review sheet later this week. The test will cover cover the notesheets on the geography of Africa, the history and cultures of Africa, and a map of important landforms, rivers, and bodies of water. My hope is to take a test on our Africa material next week Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Language arts: This week we will continue our study of local author Gary Schmidt's Trouble.

- Paideia will be introduced this week. Students should be ready to have a topic picked out by next Monday (Feb. 10)

-We will have our second verb quiz on Wednesday, Feb 12.

PE: This week in PE we will begin our hockey unit. Students will be reviewing terms and rules for playing floor hockey.

Pre-Algebra (Sanderson): We'll continue to fill our "algebra toolbox" with more skills related to equations and graphing in the upcoming week. A small quiz is tentatively scheduled for Friday over lessons 1.7-1.9 in the book. NOTE: The Examples and Guided Practice section in each lesson are great places to look for great help if your student is stuck (answers are given in the back of the book). These sections explain and offer extra practice on the same types of problems that are on the assignments. Encourage your student to look there to "troubleshoot" if they get stuck on their homework. Our book will be "going digital" on moodle in the near future. Stay-tuned for more info.

Pre-Algebra (Kiser): We continue to solve multi-step equations. Please know that in order to help your student become confident with the process, I am requiring them to show each step as we solve these equations. (Any operation done on one side of the equal sign must be done on the other. )

Orchestra: Practice pages 61 and 62 in your books. Playing quiz will be on 310,311, 313 and 314. Also work on the 16th and 8th note parts of Pachelbel Canon and the accidentals and flats in Heavens are Telling.

Science: Bird identification test on Friday. Feeder project due February 11. All the Lord willing.

Spanish: We continue to work on conjugating regular verbs and using them in sentences. Next week we will review for a quiz to be taken the following week (7D - Feb. 10th, 7E - Feb. 11th). 7F will not have this quiz yet.

8th Grade News

DESSERT THEATRE: Your weekly link: http://acsdesserttheatre.weebly.com/

7th/8th Algebra: Continuing or study of chapter 8. In about a week we will have the chapter 8 test.

Algebra(Witte): This week in our Algebra class we will be working through chapter 7 on Solving Systems of Equations.

Art: 8th graders will be working on creating our ceramic slab pots.

Band: We continue to work on a number of pieces of music. Such fun to hear them play!! Ask your band student to play some of the old hymns we are learning.

Bible: This week is flip week in Bible. 8th graders will be switching teachers to start the other half of their Bible curriculum for the year. Mr. Witte's class will focus on the Gospels while Mr. Huttenga's will focus on Acts and the Epistles.

Geometry: We are finishing chapter 8 on area and will have the chapter test next week. We will then move on to three-dimensional figures for a thorough study of volume, surface area, and plane sections.

History: Unit 3 Test on Tuesday. Timelines should be completed and turned in. Some of them will be posted in the halls! They look great!

Language arts: We will continue our study of The Giver. The rough draft of "Book of Memories" chapter 1 is due on Thursday. The topic of chapter 1 is "Who Am I?" Ask your student about this topic: find out how they have described themselves so far, and consider offering suggestions as well!

PE: This week in PE we will begin our hockey unit. Students will be reviewing terms and rules for playing floor hockey.

Science: On Monday, Lord willing, we will start our unit of volcanoes.

Spanish: 8th graders will continue working on learning the Lord's Prayer in Spanish, and we will add helpful irregular verbs and more foods to our vocabulary.

Athletics

Parent Athletic Meeting:

There will be an athletic meeting for parents on Tuesday, February 11 at 7:00pm in the commons. This meeting will cover pure play athletics, our 5th and 6th grade programs, and our 7th and 8th grade programs. Please plan to attend this meeting.

5th/6th Grade:

Basketball:

Reminder, up to date game schedules are always posted at http://www.graceac.com/schedules.htm

Soon we will be starting the end of season 5th and 6th grade basketball tournaments. Brackets are currently being worked on and schedules will be emailed out as soon as they are completed.

7th/8th Grade:

Basketball:

Monday, the 27th of January you should have received an updated basketball schedule from Mrs. VanDuyn. You will notice on these schedules that for the most part the dates of the games did not change. However, a couple time and location changes were made. If you did not receive an updated schedule please email her.

Reminder, up to date game schedules are always posted at

http://www.graceac.com/schedules.htm