Middle School Matters: 3/29/14

Middle School Matters March 29, 2014 General Announcements Student Appreciation day is fast approaching.  Click here to read more about your part in this fabulous day.  Your letter is due before Spring Break.  Thanks. Spring Break: 11:30 dismissal on Thursday. 6th Grade News Art:  Students are continuing their work on creating a torn watercolor landscapes.  These artworks will be due shortly after spring break.  Also student will be getting an email assignment for me after spring break.     Band:  We will have a quiz on the C major scale next week Monday and Tuesday. March Practice Records are also about to be due.   Bible:  Hebrews 11:13-16 is due on Wednesday.  Also Bible open notes test on The Patriarchs Unit on Wednesday.   If you are going to be gone on Wednesday, your child may come after school Tuesday and take the test in my room.   History:  Jr. Scholastic Current Events activities this week.   Math: Students have done very well with Functions and Inequalities. To be ready for Monday's test students have been working to complete a practice test which is due at the start of class Monday.  Tuesday we will switch our focus from Algebra to Geometry.   Orchestra:  We have several new pieces that we will perform soon after Spring Break- --Sonata Vivant, Beach Spring and Shaker Fantasia-- so try to get all of the notes learned very well by Monday!  Thanks for all of your great work!   Science: Energy!   Spanish:   We are learning how to talk about family members, and will use much of what we have learned so far this year in conversational Spanish. Back to Top  7th Grade News Art: All class are working on creating their birds from science out of clay.   Students are working hard to create form and texture.     Band:  Dessert Theatre is such fun for us!  Hooray!  We have a quiz on the Chromatic Scale next week Monday and Tuesday.  March Practice Records are also about to be due.   Bible:   Sanderson: Bible memory Isaiah 40:27-31 due April 3 (Thursday) OR before you leave for spring break, whichever is earlier. VN: We have finished Micah.  Next, Joel.  Due dates are on the Google Calendar for Bible class. Wanner:  We are working on an art project related to the jealousy that King Saul experienced.  After this project is complete we will continue in our study of 1 and 2 Samuel.      History:  We have been working through our unit on Latin America.  Next week we will be specifically looking at how a few Latin American countries are doing today.   Language arts: We are wrapping up the last days before the final version of the Paideia outline is due! Today, students had the first drafts of their outlines returned to them, with comments, questions, suggestions and corrections made to them. The final outlines are due next Wednesday, so if there is any conflict with leaving early for spring break, students or parents should contact me immediately to avoid any last minute stresses before vacation. I will be sending another, more thorough email describing the outline that was just returned to the students, and the steps to take before handing in the final draft and receiving their final grade. We also finished Trouble last week; however, with our focus now intently on Paideia, we will return to the book after spring break. I will be creating a very comprehensive review for when students return.   Pre-Algebra (Sanderson): We're working hard on graphing linear equations and are looking into scatter plots and lines of best fit.   Pre-Algebra (Kiser): Monday student have a test on Chapter 10 and Tuesday we will switch our focus to Angle Relationships.   Orchestra:  Dessert Theatre is a wonderful event for the 7th grade string orchestra!   Thanks to each and every one of you for showing up to play both  nights.  You are sounding just great and  have learned sooo much!  We have such great small groups playing also.   Bring in snacks for an orchestra party on THURSDAY- APRIL 3!   Spanish:  Our current unit is a combination of review and new vocabulary regarding areas in and around houses, along with taking a look at what is considered "home" to people around the Spanish-speaking world.   Back to Top 8th Grade News Dessert Theatre:  What an amazing group of students!  We are so thankful for their hard work on a very challenging show; and even more thankful for their ever-positive and encouraging attitudes throughout the process.  You can be very proud of your talented AND sweet-spirited children!  We also must thank YOU, parents, for working your schedules around rehearsals, volunteering countless hours to help with the production in a myriad of ways, and providing generous quantities of food to keep their strength and spirits fed!   Algebra (Witte):  We are working on understanding quadratic equations.  This past week we introduced the graphs of quadratic equations and the quadratic formula.  We will be finishing this study up next week.     Art: All 8th grade students are working on glazing their ceramic pots.  The glazing of their pots needs to be completed by the end of next week.     Band:  We will be giving a concert on Fine Arts Night, April 24. Please mark your calendar - - you will really enjoy hearing your 8th grade band play!   Bible: Huttenga: Now that we have finished the second semi-annual Paul Film Festival, we will now return to normal lessons regarding the growth of the church. Students have a map assignment due on Tuesday, but no quizzes or big projects. Witte:  We continue to study different stories from Jesus's early ministry.  No quizzes this week.   Geometry: We have completed our study of analytic geometry in chapter 11 and the test on this unit will be given on Monday and Tuesday, March 31st and April 1st.  We will pick up our study of size changes and similarity after spring break.  The students are doing well at integrating their algebra skills with new geometry concepts.   History:  Civil War Project # 3 due on Wednesday or before you leave on Spring Break.  If you are going to leave early, you need to turn it in BEFORE you leave.  Also working on a Jr. Scholastic activity as well this week.   Language arts: Next week we continue our study of conflict and imagery in Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt. Next week, students have a Lizzie Bright assignment due on Monday. Students also have their second chapter (essay) of the Book of Memories project due (uploaded to Moodle) on Wednesday. If there are any conflicts regarding spring break that will prevent students from uploading their essays on time, either the student or parents should contact me as soon as possible so that we can work out an accommodation. After spring break, students will begin working on the 3rd installation of the Book of Memories project. I will be sending out more thorough information to parents and students this weekend in an email, in case folks want to start preparing ahead of time.   Orchestra:  Mark you calendar--- WE WILL PLAY-- FINE  ARTS NIGHT-- APRIL 24th!     Spanish:  We resume our study of lunch and dinner vocabulary.  Students will be heading to an authentic Hispanic restaurant on May 20th!  (mark your calendars).  We will need some parent volunteers to accompany us, so if you like REAL Hispanic food, you might be the volunteer for the job.  Contact Mrs. Weaver for more information. Back to Top Ada Christian School Faith.Strong In This Issue General News 6th Grade News 7th Grade News 8th Grade News Quick Links Homework Calendars 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade *To see homework, click on the link above and then select "login as guest." Student Grades PowerSchool View Previous MSM MSM Archive School Newsletter Ada Connection 2013 Theme

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Middle School Matters: 3/21/14

Middle School Matters March 21, 2014 General Announcements Dessert Theatre: This Thursday and Friday evening. Please send any questions about Student Appreciation day to Jan Carpenter.  jcarpenter@adachristian.org.   Click here to read more about your part in this fabulous day. Great job to the eighth 8th graders who participated in the 2014 Michigan History Day competition at Grand Valley University with their NHD essays (all contestants above, from left: Emily Schellenboom, Julia Kessel, Abigail VanderVliet, Erica Wolfe, Kelly Reitsma, Sophia Parolini, Amy Osterbaan, Audrey Ondersma). Emily Schellenboom and Sophia Parolini will be continuing to the state competition; congrats, girls! 6th Grade News     Art: 6th graders are working on completing their torn watercolor landscapes.  Please check the homework calendar for homework.   Language arts:  We are busy, busy, busy writing in L.A.  Students have been working through the writing process to create well-written, informative paragraphs.  These paragraphs will eventually go into a newspaper.   Paragraph #2 is due on Monday.  Also, please continue to have your child work on his/her display board.  I am offering extra credit to students who turn in displays before spring break.  PLEASE review the display board requirements and grading rubric with your child before turning it in. Science: Motion Test is Tuesday.  Students have a note packet and several labs to refer to as they study.   Back to Top  7th Grade News   Click HEREfor the 7th Grade Dessert Theater serving schedule.  Please note that students must be picked up at 7:30 when their service ends.  Students should not expect to stay to watch the play.  An exception will be made for students whose parent(s) will be attending the musical on the same evening.  If this is the case, a teacher will sit with the student in the gym to watch after dessert clean-up is completely finished. Algebra 7/8: Starting Chapter 10 next week. Art: 7th graders will begin work on creating clay sculptures of their birds for science class this week.  Please keep in mind that the flower still-life paintings are due for 7th graders the week of March 31st - please check the homework calendar for this and sketchbook homework.   Bible:   Sanderson: We have just finished studying the Shema & foundations for Judaism.  We are now focusing on cycles and patterns in the relationship between God and his people.  This study is rooted in the book of Judges, but we've also made interesting and meaningful connections to the New Testament and our lives today. Wanner: We have made it through the book of 1 Samuel.  Next we will be working on an art project related to Saul's jealousy towards David that is very present in 1 Samuel.  Please don't forget that there is a Bible Memory quiz on Tuesday March 25 over Psalm 25: 1 - 5. Language arts: Next week we will continue reading Trouble, by Gary Schmidt. We are nearing the end of the novel and will soon begin preparing for the test that will come with it. Next week Friday, the final Paideia outline will be due. Pre-Algebra (Sanderson): Our Holt textbook is now posted on our class moodle page for students' convenience.  A quiz over graphing equations with slope-intercept form (10.5, 11.1-11.3) will be coming up on Thursday 3/27. Science: Frog identification and frog calls test on Thursday.  PPT on Moodle Back to Top 8th Grade News   Algebra 7/8:  Presently in chapter nine studying quadratic equations.  Test on chapter 9 near the end of next week. Art: Students are work on creating a family portrait in the style of Frank Stella just using shape.  Ask your child what shape your are and what it represents about you.  Also we will be working on glazing their ceramic pots.  Please check the homework calendar for sketchbook homework.   Bible: Next week, students will wrap up filming for their video project based on the adventures of Paul in the book of Acts. On Friday, we will be viewing and explaining our videos in the second semi-annual Paul Film Festival. Language arts: We will continue studying the novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt.     Students will also be introduced to the third chapter of their Book of Memories project. Stay tuned for emails including specific details.     Do not forget that the due date for the second chapter of the project is March 20; remind students to keep working on those family stories! Science: Continuing our study of the Atmosphere.       Back to Top Athletics 8th grade girls heading to Grand Rapids Christian High School next fall: Due to MHSAA regulation changes and GRCHS exams being scheduled at the end of May, tryouts for the Junior Varsity and Varsity Sideline cheer teams will be earlier this year than they have been in the past.  These tryouts will take place on Thursday, March 20 and Monday, March 24, 2014 in the Quest CenteAttentionr at Grand Rapids Christian High School, from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. There are no cuts for the JV Sideline Team.  If you are new to cheer, come and experience what it is all about!  Sideline cheer is a great way to meet girls, make friends, and become a member of a high school team before classes even begin in August and the best way to learn about Competitive Cheer, the fastest growing MHSAA sport in the state!  Questions?  Please call Varsity Coach Jacquie DeJonge @ 949-7516. Back to Top  Ada Christian School Faith.Strong In This Issue General News 6th Grade News 7th Grade News 8th Grade News Athletics Quick Links Homework Calendars 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade *To see homework, click on the link above and then select "login as guest." Student Grades PowerSchool View Previous MSM MSM Archive School Newsletter Ada Connection 2013 Theme

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Middle School Matters: 3/14/14

Middle School Matters March 14, 2014 General Announcements Student Appreciation Day is fast approaching.  Your letters are due three weeks from now.   Click here to read more about your part in this fabulous day. The Blue Lake representative will be at ACS on Thursday of this week to hear ACS students play.  He will visit all three grades of the Middle School.  Scholarships are offered to those who audition for him.  This is a great opportunity! 6th Grade News The Forest Hills Expo is tomorrow, March 15, if you can come!  (Not a required event).  Band plays from 11-11:10, choir sings 11:10-11:30.  Arrive at ACS by 10:45 and come to the band room.  Hooray! Art: Both sections will be working on taking their watercolor experiments, tarring them up and using them to add color to their landscape drawings.  Sketchbook assignment coming next week. Check moodle for the due dates. Band:  Whoever can come will play tomorrow, March 15 at ACS for the Forest Hills Expo.  Fun! (see above for further info) Bible:  Exodus 20:1-17 due on Friday.  Continuing our study of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. History:  Studying Ancient Greece, and participating in the 6th grade Ancient Olympic Games starting on Monday.  Teams will be announced, and competition activities will begin on Tuesday. Language arts:  We have been working hard on our informative World Fair paragraphs.  I was able to conference with students this week and classmates gave feedback through a peer edit.  Paragraph #1 final copy (and process) is due on Monday.  Many students already handed these in and have begun working on paragraph #2.  This paragraph is due on Thursday.  I hope that your child has started working on the display board at home.  Don't forget to mark Fine Arts night on your calendars (Thursday, April 24). Math: Our current topic of study is functions and inequalities.  Students will use their equations solving skills and their knowledge of greater than and less than values to plot and descriptives this week. graph lines.   Orchestra:  Continue to polish the set of songs for the Good Friday Chapel  prelude music.  Also  increase the tempo on Do-Si-Do and  work through Korean Folk Tune. You have learned so much new music - keep up the great work! Science: Our motion test is coming on Tuesday, March 25.  Review early, review often!  We'll be working with Newton's Laws this week. Spanish:   We start a new short unit on making comparisons based on the last two units of     Back to Top  7th Grade News   Thank you to parents and students for signing up to help with dessert theater.  We are now putting together a table plan and musical groups for each evening.  Miss Sanderson will be communicating with students and parents in the coming weeks regarding individual schedules for the event. Art: We are nearing the end of painting their still lives and will move on to working with clay again.  Please check the homework calendar there is a sketchbook due next week.   Band:  We will be playing in small groups for dessert theatre.  Each section will play 2 numbers. Bible:   Sanderson: We're kicking off the trimester with a short study of the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9).  Students have an assignment due on Wednesday and a quiz on Friday. VN: We began with some introduction to the prophets and a study of Micah.  Micah questions are due at the end of class Tuesday and Micah memory work(Micah 6:6-8) is due Thursday. Wanner: We have begun our study of 1 and 2 Samuel.  Bible memory one is March 25 and the verse to learn is Psalm 25: 1 - 5.   Pre-Algebra (Sanderson): We've wrapped up a unit on multi-step equations.  This week we will build on this knowledge by graphing linear equations. Pre-Algebra (Kiser): We are working with statistics and probability.  Ask your student if they know the "Measures of Center" and "Measures of Variability" They have a note page with them listed if they don't remember. Orchestra:  We will continue putting all of our musical selections together for  the Dessert Theatre Performances.   Thanks for learning so  many songs so quickly!  We can't wait to perform for everyone! Spanish:  We are starting a new unit on rooms in the house and things outside our homes. Back to Top 8th Grade News Dessert Theatre Link:   http://acsdesserttheatre.weebly.com/  Less than two weeks to showtime!  We are working hard, but students need to be working at home on lines and song memorization, too.  All music (both vocal and non-vocal tracks) are available on Mrs. VanNoord's Choir Course on Moodle.   Art: All should be completed with their ceramic pots.  We will be working on a project inspired by minimalist artist Frank Stella.  Please check the homework calendar for due dates of the sketchbook handed out this week.   Band:  We continue to work on a wide variety of music. Geometry: We are finishing chapter 10 this week.  The test is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, March 17-18.  We will begin our study of analytic geometry in chapter 11 and learn how to justify geometric conclusions using algebraic formulas. History:  Continuation of our study of the Civil War.  Project # 2 due on Friday. Orchestra: This week Thursday we will have a visit from a representative from Blue Lake Music Camp so  come prepared to play scales and a few measures of a solo.   Our students always receive scholarship money towards a summer camp session!   Spanish:  We move to the new unit on lunch foods, some more irregular verbs, and use of 'gustar.'     Back to Top Athletics Attention 8th grade girls heading to Grand Rapids Christian High School next fall: Due to MHSAA regulation changes and GRCHS exams being scheduled at the end of May, tryouts for the Junior Varsity and Varsity Sideline cheer teams will be earlier this year than they have been in the past.  These tryouts will take place on Thursday, March 20 and Monday, March 24, 2014 in the Quest Center at Grand Rapids Christian High School, from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. There are no cuts for the JV Sideline Team.  If you are new to cheer, come and experience what it is all about!  Sideline cheer is a great way to meet girls, make friends, and become a member of a high school team before classes even begin in August and the best way to learn about Competitive Cheer, the fastest growing MHSAA sport in the state!  Questions?  Please call Varsity Coach Jacquie DeJonge @ 949-7516. Back to Top  Ada Christian School Faith.Strong In This Issue General News 6th Grade News 7th Grade News 8th Grade News Athletics Quick Links Homework Calendars 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade *To see homework, click on the link above and then select "login as guest." Student Grades PowerSchool View Previous MSM MSM Archive School Newsletter Ada Connection 2013 Theme

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