Middle School Matters – Apr 30, 2021

General Announcements

Dates:

May 07 - Half Day

May 10 - No school, teacher work day

May 17 - 56 Band/Orchestra Concerts (more details coming)

5th Grade: 6:00-6:30pm, 6th Grade: 7:00-7:30pm

Band in the South Gym, Orchestra in the North Gym

What to wear 56: ACS Working for the Lord T-shirts on top, khakis or dark pants/skirts/shorts on the bottom.

Each student may have up to 6 total guests for the concert.

May 19 - 78 Band/Orchestra Concerts -

7th Grade: 6:00-6:30pm, 8th Grade: 7:00-7:30pm

Band in the South Gym, Orchestra in the North Gym

What to wear 78: White on top, black on the bottom, pop of color is ok - bright shoes or scarf or tie.

Each student may have up to 6 total guests for the concert.

5th Grade

Spring Camp: Spring Camp is just around the corner! Please make sure you have May 26-28 marked on your calendars for camp. Chaperones, please make sure that you have completed the form that Nate Kiser sent out earlier this month on PowerSchool. We plan to have all chaperones drive their child up to camp. More details regarding camp and chaperones will be sent out closer to camp.

Art: 5th grade students are learning about the work of artist Wayne Thiebaud and creating an piece inspired by his famous pies and cakes artwork.

Bible: This week in Bible we wrapped up Jesus’ Journeys around campus and began Gospel Theatre auditions!

History: Students completed their reading MAP tests. Next week, we will continue studying the Revolutionary War.

Language Arts: This week students finished writing their biography speeches! The video of their speech is due on Wed, May 6. Please read this letter for more information about our virtual Wax Museum. Next week, we will also start reading Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Math: Next week we continue our focus in geometry by classifying quadrilaterals, learning about 3D figures and how to find the volume of them.

Music - Band: Practice records are due for April! Concert May 17 - ask for a mini-concert at home of your student’s five favorite songs as of right now.

Music - Choir: Your student may access the GR Symphony concert - - ask them to show you their favorite piece that the Symphony performed!

Music - Orchestra: Practice Records for April were due today! If you didn’t turn them in make sure you do so on Monday. Also make sure that you have the correct uniform for the concert on May 17.

PE: We are finishing up a fun olympic week this week where students competed against each other in a variety of events and games. Next week we will start up ultimate frisbee.

Science: We’ve been studying flowers and pollinators this week and will continue to explore more about pollinators in the coming week.

Spanish: Our new story is Goldilocks and the three Bears. There is a lot of repetition in this story making it great for language learning! This week students were introduced to new words and enjoyed various vocabulary building activities.

6th Grade

Art: 6th graders have 1 week of class time left to work on their clay animal bowls. Students should also be learning and reviewing the ceramic terms - Study guide posted on google classroom. Be sure to check the homework calendar for project and sketchbook due dates.

Bible: This week students wrote creation psalms and a psalm of thanksgiving. Ask your child to share what they wrote!

History: Students completed their reading MAP tests. Next week, we will continue studying ancient Rome!

Language Arts: We are almost finished with our World Fair websites! Next week the websites will go live on Wed, May 5. Please read this letter regarding World Fair night. A paper copy was also sent home today.

Math: Next week we will continue learning about statistical measures. We will specifically look at the data that we collected when we measured the circumference of different kinds of trees on ACS property.

Music - Band: Practice records are due for April! Concert May 17 - ask for a mini-concert at home of your student’s five favorite songs as of right now.

Music - Choir: The Sound of Music Projects are about to commence.

Music - Orchestra: April Google Classroom Videos were due today! If you didn’t turn them in make sure you do so by Monday. Also make sure that you have the correct uniform for the concert on May 17.

PE: We are finishing up a fun olympic week this week where students competed against each other in a variety of events and games. Next week we will start up ultimate frisbee.

Science: We’ve seen many creatures under the microscope now - many that are native to ACS! In the coming week, we will deepen our understanding of plant, animal and protist cells in the coming week.

Spanish: I like it! This is the theme of the week as we look to see how to express our enjoyment of things like sports, music, food, and more.

7th Grade

Art: 7th grade students are learning about the art form of collage and will be working with old postcards, magazines and various other papers to refresh and add to these postcards. In Language arts students will then be doing creative writing about the new postcard that has been created. Be sure to check the homework calendar for project and sketchbook due dates.

Bible: In Bible we are spending time outside learning about the life and ministry of Jesus. Students spend time learning about Jesus and the topics of our world that relate to his life and then reflecting on how they can use our discussion in their own lives.

History: We finish up our study of settling the American colonies next week. We’ll wrap up with a test on Thursday over just the Middle and Southern colonies.

Language Arts: We will continue our study of The Westing Game, and students will have their organism monologues wrapped up. In the meantime, we are also kicking off the ProCon research/persuasive writing paper. Parents will receive more information about this in a separate email. The Language MAP test will be on Tuesday, May 11.

Math - 7th Math: We ended our unit on measurable figues by making 3-D cities and calculating the volume and surface area of each building that was constructed. Students will take their last session of MAP testing next week before moving in to our very last unit on statistics and probability.

Math - Algebra: We are wrapping up our chapter on Data Analysis and Displays. There will be a Test on Tuesday. Next week we will spend a little time on probability before jumping into radical functions and equations.

Math - Pre-Algebra: Chapter 10 on Probability and Statistics is completed. We are beginning Chapter 11 on Translation, Congruence, and Similarity.

Music - Band: Concert: Wed May 19 6:00pm, wear Black/White - South Gym. Each student may have up to 6 guests.

Music - Choir: We are playing chimes, listening to music by Grieg and Prokofiev, and composing some music as well.

PE: We are finishing up a fun olympic week this week where students competed against each other in a variety of events and games. Next week we will start up ultimate frisbee.

Science: We are working on understanding the subatomic level of the matter by which we are surrounded. We are looking at various ways to write and represent elements of the periodic table. Next week we will be releasing our salmon- an email was sent out yesterday for your permission. If you have not yet responded please fill out this form. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Spanish: We are nearing the end of Unit 8 and focusing on the cultural topic of food - always a student favorite! There will be a vocabulary quiz this coming week.

8th Grade

Art: 8th grade is learning about street art and the artist who create this work. Student will be focusing on one artist named Slinkachu and will be creating a street art installation based on his work. Be sure to check the homework calendar for project and sketchbook due dates.

Bible: The 8th graders will continue working on their Plumb-Bob projects. This coming week will be the last one to prepare before actually delivering our speeches!

History: We begin our final unit next week, studying the Civil War.

Language Arts: We will be continuing our study of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. We will simultaneously be preparing for the upcoming LA exam; students will be given a series of exam essays prompts ahead of time and will be expected to carefully create their responses and build their cases in the weeks leading up to the big test (May 26 & 27). The Language MAP test will be on Tuesday, May 11.

Math - Algebra: We are getting into Chapter 9- Quadratic Formula. Students will be first mastering radicals and then be using them to solve equations.

Math - Geometry: We have started a new chapter about area and perimeter!

Math - Pre-Algebra: We finished up our unit on solving systems of equations with a test before moving in to our last unit: statistics and probability. Students will also see some elements of review for their upcoming Math exam (May 26) over the next few weeks. MAP testing will take place next week Tuesday and Wednesday.

Music - Band: Concert: Wed May 19 7:00pm, wear Black/White - South Gym. Each student may have up to 6 guests. We also have a band exam due in May.

Music - Choir: We are learning the Graduation Song, and working on our final choir projects.

PE: We are finishing up a fun olympic week this week where students competed against each other in a variety of events and games. Next week we will start up ultimate frisbee.

Science: We have said our farewells to our rats. Keynotes are due on Thursday, May 6. We will have a quick unit on heredity starting next week.

Spanish: Students received their tests back from unit 11 and we began a new unit about Argentina and the Dirty War (La Guerra Sucia). This tragic silent war occured in the 1970’s and 80’s. It demonstrates what happens when extreme political polarization and the depravity of man collide. It is a good topic for maturing student’s to learn about as we pray that this history will not repeat itself.

Athletics

All spring sports have officially started practice by now and will be competing in games/meets/matches soon.

All 5-8 graders must have a Physical Examination Form completed before they can participate in sports for the 2021-2022 school year. This physical examination should be completed on or after Apr 15, 2021 to valid for next school year.