Middle School Matters - Apr 19, 2018

General Announcements:

Thank you so much for all the lovely blessings this Teacher Appreciation Week - thank you, thank you, thank you from the Middle School Staff.

Dates for your calendar:

Apr 26 - Fine Arts Night and World Fair 6:30-8:00pm
Apr 27 - 6th grade field trip to DeVos Hall
May 04 - Grand Friends Day, half day, dismissed at 11:30am
May 07 - No School - Prof. Dev Day
May 17 - 5-8 Spring Concert
May 23-25 - 5th Grade Spring Camp
May 24-25 8th Grade Exams
May 31-Jun 01 7th Grade Class Trip
May 30-Jun 01 8th Grade Class Trip
Jun 07- 6th Grade Class Trip
Jun 07- 8th Grade Graduation at Thornapple Covenant Church
Jun 08 - Last day of school (half day)

2018-19 GR Christian JV Hockey Tryouts - Current Middle School 7th & 8th Graders Welcome Mon 5.7.18: 8:00-9:00pm, Wed 5.9.18: 8:00-9:00pm Eagles Ice Center

Birth years 2000-2006 welcome
Attending GRCHS is preferred -but NOT a requirement
No Games on Sunday
Preseason: @SEP-OCT 2018
Reg. Season @NOV-18-MAR-19
Practices M&W 4:00-5:00pm
Coach Peter Tiemeyer, Contact Manager Gregg Betz with any questions 616-453-4429 or moc.loa@ztebdg

Fifth Grade:

Spring Camp: We are compiling a “waiting list” of moms who are interested in attending Spring Camp. This could be in addition to having chaperoned survival camp. Please let Ms. Slauer or Mrs. Witte know if you are interested in attending for the whole time and we will add you to the waiting list. Hopefully we will let you know next week.

Goat Care - 5th grade families will be in charge of goat care only. There won’t be a need to coordinate with another family on time, but you’re welcome to do so if you’d like! Please click here to sign up. Revised instructions are linked here and also on the sign up. Thanks to all of you for your help!

PowerSchool: During the final trimester of 5th grade, students and parents have access to student grades on PowerSchool. Click this link for instructions and more information.

Reproductive Education: At the end of May, after Spring Camp, the 5th grade team plans to begin a short unit on Reproductive Education. Mrs. Witte will be meeting with the girls while Mr. Hoo will be meeting with the boys. In addition to going over the physical aspects of puberty, we plan to include discussions on God’s design for our bodies and reproduction, as well as treating our bodies with dignity and respect. If any parent would like more information, let one of us know and we would be happy to talk with you.

Art: 5th graders are working on a cupcake project inspired by Wayne Thiebaud.

Band: We will be performing on May 04, Grandfriend’s Day at 11:00am. Anyone is welcome to come and hear us play! We are practicing for this performance and working through our books too. Practice records are due every Thu.

Bible: What happened after Jesus’ ascension??? This along with a year end project - Biblical maps.

Language Arts: We are finishing up our biography essays. For this writing, I will be asking for your help as a parent/adult to help review your student’s essay. Look for the typed essays and checklist coming home next week. Please return them by Thursday so that we can make the necessary corrections. Thanks for your help with this! Also, please encourage your 5th grade to work on our “Spring into Reading” Project. There are many simple activities to choose from! We are enjoying seeing our bulletin board fill up with pictures of kids reading.

Math: Our Chapter 11 Measurement test is Wed. Apr. 25. Students may use a conversion chart on the test. Practice tests are due the day of the test. All missing math assignments must be in by the test in order to receive credit.

Orchestra: We are preparing our music for Grandfriend’s Day on May 04. We play at 11:00 in the south gym. Please remind your child to work on these songs since we will play some pieces with the 6th grade orchestra also!

PE: We will wrap up our pickleball unit and begin to play tennis next!

Science: How plants produce and transport their own food is our focus at the moment. Students are growing wheat and some bulb plants on the windowsill and in the cupboard to help us consider what elements are important for plant growth.

Social Studies: Back to US History…..Civil War. The simulation is the Yankees (boys) vs. the Dixie Chix. Test already next Tuesday…..we have to keep moving to cover that material you know.

Sixth Grade:

Field Trip to DeVos Hall Apr 27 - Please give your permission for your 6th grader to attend by filling out this digital permission slip.

Chicken Checkup - 6th grade families will be in charge of chickens only. There won’t be a need to coordinate with another family on time, but you’re welcome to do so if you’d like! Please click here to sign up. Revised instructions are linked here and also on the sign up. Thanks to all of you for your help!

Devotions: Please sign up to lead our class in devotions on a Wednesday this year. There are still a couple of dates available. Click this link for details and an opportunity to sign up.

Art: 6th grade is working on creating animal effigy bowls. Students have roughly 3 more classes to complete the building of this project. Please check moodle for homework assignment and project due dates.

Bible: We have finished out study of Job and will now do a unit on Psalms. The first memory work is PSALM 23. Students are re/learning it and writing a modern, personal version of that Psalm.

History: The Greece test tomorrow is the final olympic event! Students competed in long and short distance runs, relays, javelin, “wrestling,” and discus events. Next stop- Rome!

Language Arts: Students should be working on the display board at home. I believe that they have all of the necessary items printed and ready to glue on. The display board is due next week Wednesday (04.25). This coming week we plan work on our newspapers and bibliographies in class as well as compiling our portfolios.

A few details about World Fair during Fine Arts Night on Thursday, April 26:

The night begins at 6:30 and ends at 8:00.
Students should arrive to north gym around 6:15 wearing nice clothing.
Parents often help students set up and put food in SMALL portions (homemade or store purchased...recipes on Country Reports). Any extra “stuff” can go under the table. (Students/parents should let me know if they need an outlet. If so, please bring an extension cord.)
Students will need to stay by their boards from 6:30-7:30.
At the end of the night, all food and artifacts can go home, BUT PORTFOLIOS AND DISPLAY BOARDS MUST STAY AT SCHOOL.

Side note: We will not have our persuasive papers ready and in the portfolio for World Fair night. However, next Friday, after the World Fair night, we will begin discussing the elements of persuasion and will write introductory paragraphs with thesis statements, several persuasive paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. We will use this 3-4 page paper as a guide when giving a speech to our classmates during first full week in May. :)

Math: Next week we will be calculating Surface Area and Volume.

PE: We will wrap up our pickleball unit and begin to play tennis next!

Orchestra:We are working on the pieces that we will play on Grandfriend’s Day, May 04 at 11:00am in the south gym. Come to hear us play!

Science: A test over Investigation 5 and 6 (heating of Earth & Earth’s atmosphere) will take place on Wed Apr. 25. A review sheet was handed out and is linked on moodle. Students should use their notebooks to help them complete the review sheet in order to prepare for the test. We will review in class on Tuesday.

Seventh Grade:

Algebra (7th): We will begin problem solving through rational expressions and equations. Students will spend time working with proportions, graphing variations and solving rational equations.

Art: In 7th grade art the students are working on a positive and negative space project by making robot stencils that will be slipped (a clay paint) over on a red clay tile. Please check moodle for homework assignment and project due dates.

Band: We will be performing on May 04, Grandfriend’s Day for the opening chapel time at 8:15am. Anyone is welcome to come and hear us play! We are practicing for this performance and working through our books too. Practice records are due every Thu.

Bible(Huttenga): 7th graders will be preparing to join together as a co-taught class once again. The main area of focus for students will be service for the spring.

Bible(Wanner): In class we are working to complete our prayer unit with writing and adding an A.C.T.S themed prayer to the end of their personal devotionals written at the beginning of the school year.

History: We are working through a unit on the Age of Exploration. Next week we will finish covering the unit and then we will prepare for a test at the end of the week.

Language Arts: 7th graders will continue learning about research writing in the ProCon project.

PE: We will wrap up our pickleball unit and begin to play tennis next!

Math: We will have a test on Tuesday about area and volume. The remainder of the week will be on probability!

Pre-Algebra: We start with Statistics and Probability next week.

Orchestra: We are playing at the opening chapel for Grandfriend’s Day, May 04.

Science: We will continue investigating how limestone is formed, and what sedimentary rocks are. We will have an I-Check in investigations 1-3 the week of May 1.

Eighth Grade:

Sports Physicals: Current 8th graders planning to play high school sports in 2018-19 school year need to have an MHSAA physical form on file with the high school athletic office before they are allowed to participate. A valid physical for 2018-19 must be completed anytime after April 15, 2018. You can print out a physical form here. This form must be completed with all signatures in order to participate in sports in high school. You may attach your doctor's office physical form for the doctor portion of this form but the parent portion and signatures need to be completed on this form.

Willing to Wait: Our 8th grade students began this program this past week, and the program continues through Mon Apr 30.

Algebra: We just finished up chapter 10 this week and took a test on it on Thursday. Next week we will be jumping into chapter 12 (we will come back to chapter 11) and work with radical expressions and equations and the Pythagorean Theorem.

Art: 8th graders are working on their graffiti project and planning for the installation of their artwork in and around school. Please check moodle for homework assignment and project due dates.

Bible(Huttenga/Van Noord): Willing to Wait classes continue this week and next.

Geometry: We will begin learning about trig ratios!

History: Next week we will be finishing our study of the Civil War and then preparing for a test on the material. Highlights of the week include studying the Gettysburg Address, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Grant and Lee’s showdown.

Language Arts: 8th graders will be wrapping up with the unit on The Diary of Anne Frank and begin preparing for a test. Work on the Book of Memories project continues.

PE: We will wrap up our pickleball unit and begin to play tennis next!

Pre-Algebra: Test on Tuesday over Functions. A practice test will be given to students on Friday and a study guide/review can be found on p.430 in the textbook.

Orchestra: We are working on our performance pieces for Grandfriend’s Day, May 04. We will play at the opening chapel in the south gym. Be sure to come hear us play!

Science: We will continue investigating the way organ systems interact in the human body as well as how our cells get the energy they need to function properly.

Athletics:

Uniforms: Please return basketball uniforms to Mrs. O’Brien as soon as possible.