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Middle School Matters – 02.11.22

Middle School Matters

General Annoucements

Middle School Round Robin conferences - Come one, come all! 

All the 5th-8th grade teachers will be located in the ACS Gymnasiums on Tuesday, February 15 and Thursday, February 24 from 4:30-7:30pm. Parents are welcome to stop in at a convenient time of their choice during these time blocks in order to touch base with their child’s teacher(s) for a brief 3-5 minute conference. Simply join the line near the teacher(s) you would like to see. You are welcome to see any/all of your child’s 5-8 teachers. 

Important Dates: 
Feb 15 Parent Teacher Conferences in Commons and North Gym 4:30-7:30
Feb 17-21 No School -  Winter Break
Feb 22-25 5th Grade Mystery Week; 6-8th Grade Exploratory Week
Feb 24 Parent Teacher Conferences in Commons and North Gym 4:30-7:30
Mar 1 Orchestra Fiddle Concert
Mar 4 End of Trimester
Mar 9 T2 Report Cards on PowerSchool
Mar 14-18 Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week
Mar 23-25 Spring Book Fair
Mar 24-25 8th Grade Musical SchoolHouse Rock 

Exploratory Help Needed:
Feb 22-25 is a special week for our 5th-8th grade students and we could use your help to make it happen. Please review this list of needs to see how you can help. 

5th Grade

Valentine’s Day: On Feb 14, if students want to bring in a goodie or a card for Valentine’s Day, we kindly ask that they bring in enough for each student in their homeroom class (5R -18, 5S - 18, 5G - 19). 

Art: 5th graders will be learning about the artist Paul Seurat and his pointillism style next week and will then try out pointillism in the project we create. 5th graders should come to art with a place in mind that they would like to visit or travel to.  

Bible: This week we studied the healing of the paralytic. Students retold the story from a different perspective. Ask to read your child’s retelling! Matthew 5:3-12 due Mar 4.

Language Arts: This week completed Week 6 of BOB! Students have the weekend and a few more bonus days next week to finish up their reading goals. The last day of BOB is Wed, Feb. 16. If your child will not be at school on the last day of BOB, s/he needs to turn in all reading tickets before our last day. The last day to upload quiz points will also be Wednesday, so if your child is missing school, please make sure s/he has uploaded all quiz points to his/her Google Slides on Google Classroom before Winter Break adventures! 

Math: The test that was scheduled for Friday (Feb 11) is now scheduled for Monday (Feb. 14). All students have a review sheet, but answers and another copy of the review sheet can be found on google classroom. 

Music - Band: We have new music - ask for a mini concert! Ask to hear the Olympic Theme!

Music - Choir: We continue to sing, drum and learn theory.

Music - Orchestra: All of the pieces for the fiddle concert should be memorized. Continue to work on feeling confident in the songs. If you are interested in trying out for a solo that will be on Monday, Feb 14 at lunch recess.

The Fiddle Concert is Tuesday March 01 at 7:00pm. A flyer should have gone home about this last week. Students are to come at 6:40 and wear country/ cowboy apparel. We are so excited to show you everything we’ve been fiddling around with.

PE: 5th graders have just finished up their jump rope unit with some jump rope routines. We will be starting up some basketball over the next few weeks. 

Science: Students have been learning how to separate mixtures and solutions this week! They will continue their study on chemistry next week. 

Social Studies: Our 1st Colonies Test will be pushed to next week (due to the snow day). We will also begin learning about the 13 colonies!

Spanish: We will continue our unit on “El Niño Arrogante.”  We discussed the words “arrogance” and “proud”. What attitude of the heart does God want when we win, or succeed. Our story is about a boy who has an arrogant heart and it shows in his winning and losing.  We have played a lot of Rock Paper Scissors in Spanish this unit! 

6th Grade

Art: 6th graders will move on to drawing out their landscape pictures in preparation for adding torn pieces of the watercolor experiments into their drawings for the color. If students didn’t complete their watercolor experiment paintings in class today they will be working on getting this complete next week at lunch recess. Please check the homework calendar sketchbook and project due dates. 

Bible: This week we embarked on Paul’s 2nd journey. We’ve seen God move in powerful ways through Paul’s faithfulness in preaching the gospel. We’ve talked about scattering seeds (the gospel) and trusting that the Holy Spirit will tend to them. We also talked through the choice of being bitter or better when we are faced with challenges. Paul continually chose to get back up again, rejoice in his suffering, and preach the gospel. There will be a Journey 2 quiz Wed, Feb 16. For those leaving early we will make arrangements accordingly.

Language Arts: This week we compared cultures around the world by exploring different resources that will be used for World Fair. Our findings will help us brainstorm and plan our poems about culture which will be added to our final World Fair project. 

Math: The test that was scheduled for Friday (Feb 11) is now scheduled for Monday (Feb 14). All students have a review sheet, but answers and another copy of the review sheet can be found on google classroom. I would encourage 6th graders to work on “Quiz 1”, “Quiz 2”, and “Before Test” IXL’s. The list of these specific IXL’s can be found on the front page of the notes packet. 

Music - Band: We have a number of new pieces including Edelweiss from The Sound of Music. Students should practice their books and sheet music at least 3x per week.

Music - Choir: We are watching The Sound of Music. We also are singing and drumming as well.

Music - Orchestra: All of the pieces for the fiddle concert should be memorized. Continue to work on feeling confident in the songs. If you are interested in trying out for a solo that will be on Monday, Feb 14 at lunch recess.

The Fiddle Concert is Tuesday March 1 at 7:00pm. A flyer should have gone home about this last week. Students are to come at 6:40 and wear country/ cowboy apparel. We are so excited to show you everything we’ve been fiddling around with.

PE: 6th graders have just finished up their jump rope unit with some jump rope routines. We will be starting up some basketball over the next few weeks. 

Science: Students have been studying the rock cycle through hands-on labs. We will continue our study on geology next week. 

Social Studies: Students will begin researching their assigned country for the World Fair Project next week. A World Fair letter was sent home on Tuesday to provide parents with more information about this project.

Spanish: We are having a short unit about taking classes and speaking languages at the University.  Our class stories all feature Dwayne the Rock Johnson taking opera class, speaking Elvish and becoming a famous dancer… always a fun one to act out! No quizzes this coming week due to snow day and a shortened week.

7th Grade

Art: 7th graders continue to work on their Lego self-portraits. In the next class most 7th graders should get to working on adding clothing and work on adding shadows and highlights. Please check the homework calendar sketchbook and project due dates. 

Bible: We are focusing on the Bible and the basic overview and timeline of it to help us better understand the message that it gives us. We will begin our final project on Sermons when we return from Exploratories.

History: Now that we’ve seen how and why cotton began to dominate the South, we’ll spend the next few days looking more deeply at the lives of the slave who produced that cotton. 

Language Arts: We are entering the final third of Gary Schmidt’s Trouble. We will continue playing around with semicolons and also refreshing on dependent and independent clauses. 7th graders have a cumulative Reading Inventory due on the 16th. 

Math - 7th Math: We have been taking time this week to review concepts covered during the first half of the school year. Starting next week, we will begin a unit on geometric figures.

Math - Algebra: We are wrapping up Chapter 6 about exponents with a test this coming Wednesday! It was a big learning curve at the start, but students have really grasped the new concepts. I will be at Parent Teacher conferences this coming Tuesday (Feb 15). I hope to see you then! 

Math - Pre-Algebra: We expect a test on Wednesday, February 16, on solving Equations. Students have received a Review Guide to study over the weekend.

Music - Band: Wow - the solo quiz was outstanding. We played it together….as a family. It was grand. We also have some Jazz music.

Music - Choir: We are singing and drumming and watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It is Truly Scrumptious.

Music - Orchestra: All of the pieces for the fiddle concert should be memorized. Continue to work on feeling confident in the songs. If you are interested in trying out for a solo that will be on Tuesday, Feb 15 at lunch recess.

The Fiddle Concert is Tuesday Mar 01 at 7:00pm. A flyer should have gone home about this last week. Students are to come at 6:40 and wear country/ cowboy apparel. We are so excited to show you everything we’ve been fiddling around with.

PE: 7th graders have just finished up their jump rope unit with some jump rope routines. We will be starting up some basketball over the next few weeks. 

Science: We are making our way into studying trees. We will be starting with the very beginning: seeds. 

Spanish: We have started a new unit.  Please check the homework calendar and Google Classroom for information, due dates, and materials/assignments posted.

8th Grade

High School Scheduling:

Mar 03 GRCH Scheduling Night @ GRCHS

Mar 04 High School Scheduling w/ Counselors @ ACS  

Grand Rapids Christian and NorthPointe Christian High School Counselors will be at Ada Christian on March 04 to map out schedules with any interested students.  

Grand Rapids Christian High Scheduling Night:

Please join us on Thursday, March 03 at 6:30pm in the Garage at Grand Rapids Christian High School. Students and their parents are invited to 8th grade scheduling night with the Grand Rapids Christian High School counselors. We are so excited to show you what GRCHS has to offer! We will begin with an information portion followed by a Q & A where you will be assisted in selecting your child’s classes for their freshman year.

Meeting with a counselor and selecting courses is an important step toward becoming a GRCHS student. We ask that both students and parents attend this meeting to receive information about high school curriculum, graduation requirements and freshman courses. If you are not sure which high school you will be attending but want to be sure you have the courses you desire at GRCHS in freshman year, we advise you to still attend and fill out all the appropriate forms. If you register for courses by the beginning of March, you will have the very best chance of getting the courses you select.

Counselors will also meet individually with each student the following morning at ACS to review each student’s course choices and answer any other questions your students may have.

We appreciate your attendance at our scheduling meeting as you contemplate this transition from middle school to high school! If you cannot attend the meeting, you may call the GRCHS Counseling Office, 574-5651, or email Jill Anderson () and we can assist you in finding another night to attend. If you have any additional questions about the enrollment process or variable tuition, please contact our Director of Admissions, Vickie Fischer ().

We recognize there are many choices of high schools in our area. We would be thrilled if you would join us for this event, to find out if GRCHS is a great fit for your students. We are here to support you in learning more about our school, and we cannot wait to welcome the Class of 2026.

NorthPointe High School Scheduling:
Have additional questions?  Please reach out to our Admissions Team at .

Art: 8th graders are working on plastering their Frank Stella inspired family shape projects. Projects need to be plastered and ready for gesso and painting by the end of next week. Please check the homework calendar sketchbook and project due dates. 

Bible: We have begun to read The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. We have talked about suffering - - why would a Good God let people suffer? What do we think about miracles?

History: We are wrapping up our quick look at post-Civil War Reconstruction with an open note quiz on Tuesday. After that we’ll get an overview of the Age of Industry and big business.

Language Arts: We have completed The Giver: both the novel and the 2014 film. Students are analyzing the differences between the mediums, and will be determining which is superior based on theme. After a whole-group discussion, we will be discussing supplementary articles that may be used to fine-tune their understanding. We will discuss exam prep (still a long ways off!) which will allow us to segue into our study of Anne Frank, which we will fully dive into after the break. We will also be writing a memoir soon.

Math - Algebra: We are beginning a unit on exponential functions and learning the properties of exponents, how to simplify radical and rational exponents, and how to identify an exponential function. We will have a quiz on Monday on 6.1 and 6.2.

Math - Geometry: We have finished up Chapter 7! Next week we will work on some course review and begin Chapter 8. This chapter is a short chapter about similarity. I will be at Parent Teacher conferences this coming Tuesday (Feb 15). I hope to see you then! 

Math - Pre-Algebra: We expect a test on Wednesday, February 16, on solving Equations. Students have received a Review Guide to study over the weekend.

Music - Band: We are trying some jazz and rock numbers.

Music - Choir: Work on the musical continues….performances are March 24 and 25.

Music - Orchestra: All of the pieces for the fiddle concert should be memorized. Continue to work on feeling confident in the songs. If you are interested in trying out for a solo that will be on Tuesday, Feb 15 at lunch recess.

The Fiddle Concert is Tuesday March 1 at 7:00pm. A flyer should have gone home about this last week. Students are to come at 6:40 and wear country/ cowboy apparel. We are so excited to show you everything we’ve been fiddling around with.

PE: 8th graders have been working on their basketball skills through small basketball games. They will soon start a basketball tournament within their classes. 

Science: We have been mastering the theory of additive and subtractive light. Today we used subtractive light to make a color wheel. Wednesday, Feb 16 we will have our final test of the waves unit. 

Spanish: We have started a new unit called The Dirty War.  This unit takes a look at Argentina’s Dirty War during the 1970’s.  This is a topic many do not know about but there is so much to learn that applies to our society today.  Students find this unit intriguing.  There are some deep topics that come with war.  We will largely discuss the topic of the “Disappeared.”  These are the adult children and their infant children that went missing - kidnaped by the government.  We will talk about the mothers and grandmothers who bravely fought to find them. 

Athletics 

Girls basketball games have officially begun. Please check your TeamSnap for your team’s full schedule. 

The 2022 ACS Spring Sport Registration is now open. Please click here for more information on each sport opportunity for your son/daughter. More specifics dates and details will be sent out once sign-ups close. Follow this link to sign up.

We are in need of some 5-8 spring coaches for boys baseball and girls soccer. If you or someone you know may be interested, please contact Mr. Meyaard ().

Athletic Opportunities with GRCMS