Middle School Matters – Aug 29, 2019

General Announcements

56 Mixer T-Shirts will be used throughout the year for 56 concert wear. Please keep track of the retreat shirt your child received today! They will need to wear this shirt for events at school, dates will be announced.

Concert dates for your Calendar:

Dec 12 - 5th-8th Christmas Concert 7:00pm at ACS
May 07 - 5th-8th Spring Concert 7:00pm at ACS

Girls Who Code @ Calvin University:

5th-8th graders, join middle and high school girls to program and learn about technology in a fun environment. Beginners are welcome – no prior knowledge required!

learn how technology works
meet and get to know other girls with similar interests
enjoy social time and learn-about-technology time each week
create real-world software programs, including mobile apps and games
design and build a software system that will make a difference for someone in your local communityGirls and their families can register online.

Session A: 6:00–8:00pm on Monday evenings, starting Sept 18

Session C: 6:00–8:00pm on Tuesday evenings, starting on Sept 19

Session B: 6:00–8:00pm on Wednesday evenings, starting on Sept 20

Fifth Grade:

Survival Camp: Please be sure to attend Parent Night Sept 10 to receive information on camps. This year Survival Camp is Sept 26-27.

Art: 5th grade for our 1st project are learning about and making some abstract art. In addition students will also be drawing landscapes.

Band: Tue Sep 03 - Woodwinds: flute, oboe, clarinet and saxophone players should come to band. Thu Sep 05 - Brass/Perc: trumpet, trombone, baritone, percussion players should attend. In the future: Mondays will be brass/percussion and Tuesdays will be woodwinds, Thursday will be full band. Can’t wait to get started! School instruments will be handed out the first day we play. Students will need a place to practice at home, a music stand, and if you would like to us the optional free app to practice, a home device like an ipad would be great too. See the band book for details about this.

Bible: We are getting organized and getting to know each other! Students are creating Who Am I? books as a way of sharing a bit about themselves. The Who Am I? brainstorm questions were due today and the book is due Mon Sept 09.

Language Arts: We are getting organized, learning classroom routines/procedures, and beginning to read, Hatchet, a survival story. Next week students will also receive ipads and learn about their many useful features as well as digital responsibility.

Orchestra: Welcome to all of the new string players.We are looking forward to many wonderful string things this year in orchestra! Be sure to plan a time to practice each day. Bring your instruments and books to school every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

PE: We are working on learning class rules, procedures, and daily routines for when coming to middle school PE! Additionally, we will be focusing on games that keep us active and require the use of good teamwork. Please remember to have the names of students written on PE uniforms across the front of the shirt/shorts on the white line.

Science: We’ve been learning about being safe in the Science lab this week. We’ll continue thinking through safe science practices as well as do some iPad learning next week.

Social Studies: We are getting organized, learning class procedures, and starting to talk about geography. We will continue our geography unit next week. Students will be exploring geographic features and landforms.

Spanish: Dear parents, please read over the course information sheet that was sent home with your student. Ask them for it if you have not seen it yet :) This will help you know more about our 3rd-5th grade Spanish classes (curriculum, grading, expectations and more). Thank you!

Sixth Grade:

Chicken duty: The 6th graders will be responsible for caring for our chickens here at ACS. Parents must read the instruction sheet/parent letter, and schedule for the first 9 weeks of care. Please sign the letter and have your student return it to the homeroom teacher. Thanks for your help in this wonderful opportunity.

Picture forms: 6th graders who noted that their families were interested in ordering pictures will bring their picture forms home on Tuesday of this coming week.

Art: 6th grade students will be learning about pattern and how to visually display how they see God’s hand in their life in the 1st project. Please check the homework calendar for sketchbook # 1’s due date.

Band: We are beginning with review. Students have band every Mon/Tue/Thu and they need their instruments and books every day we meet. Help your student set a schedule for regular practice at home. 15-20 minutes at least 3x per week is great. Every day is even better - - frequency is better than duration, especially at the beginning of the year to build muscle/stamina/endurance. Kind of like a sport. GO BAND!

Bible: We are starting our year talking about our identity in Christ focusing on whose we are so we can be confident in who we are. Students will be creating Outside In Bags over the next month. Psalm 139:13-14 is due Fri Sept 06, Outside In brainstorm sheet is due Fri Sept 20, and the Outside In Bag is due Tues Oct 01.

History: We are getting organized and learning class procedures. We will begin our world geography unit next week. Students will start by learning the themes of geography.

Language Arts: We are getting organized, learning classroom routines/procedures, and beginning to read, Tuck Everlasting. Through this novel, we will study characterization, plot development, vocabulary, and figurative language (similes, metaphors, and personification). Students will also receive their ipads and learn how to organize their documents, access email, the importance of digital responsibility, and the proper way to compose an email.

Orchestra: Welcome back to orchestra! Remember to practice 3 days- 3 times each song or scales for this week - 50 minutes and you may turn your practice minutes in on Tuesday or Thursday. Thanks so much.

Science: We’ve refreshed our minds about being safe in the Science lab as well as making observations and inferences this week. We’ll begin our first unit involving the classification of living and non-living things next week as well as do some iPad learning.

Spanish: Dear parents, please read over the course information sheet that was sent home with your student. Ask them for it if you have not seen it yet. This will help you know more about our 6th - 8th grade Spanish classes (curriculum, grading, expectations and more). We make a big transition to our Spanish 1 curriculum this week! Thank you!

Seventh Grade:

Algebra (7th): We are off to a strong start in Algebra. We are already moving through chapter one and crushing it! I am so proud of your students for the work they did this summer and already this year. We will continue working through chapter 1 this upcoming week.

Art: 7th graders will have art for the 1st time next Friday. 7th graders will be working on sculpture project dealing with form, line, and color for their 1st project. Please remember to check the homework calendar for sketchbook and project due dates.

Band: Band meets every Mon/Tue/Thu - instruments are always needed these 3 days. Help your student to set up great practice habits right away - help them find a place to do their work, and set a schedule so it all gets done. Need a greater musical challenge? Let Mrs. VN know!

Bible: We spent the first few class periods working on an activity for the Retreat. Next week we will begin unpacking our school theme and have an introduction to our unit on devotions.

History: Welcome to a new year in history. In 7th grade we spend a good part of the year learning about the geography of the world. This week we started asking the question “What is geography?” and “Why do we study geography?” We will finish these conversations next week and then proceed into learning about the 5 themes of geography.

Language Arts: I am asking that students have a separate 3-ring binder for NHD material by Friday. A Reading Contract will be due that day as well.

7th Math: We are currently brushing up on our integers skills.

Pre-Algebra: Welcome to a new year of math! This past week we started getting set-up, learning class procedures, and we started our first lesson. Starting next week, we will really start moving through Chapter 1. I will be posting daily homework assignments on the moodle homework page and students can even look ahead by looking at our class moodle page.

Orchestra: Welcome back to orchestra! Practice the pieces that we worked on this Tuesday and be sure to bring in instruments and books on Mon, Tues and Thur.

Science: This fall we will start with the kits ‘Populations and Ecosystems’. Students made habitats for the praying mantids we are anxiously awaiting. Next week we will be working out by Ada Lake to do a case study on the way the water and organisms living in the water change throughout the year.

Eighth Grade:

Algebra: We have already been working hard and starting chapter 1. We will continue working through the first chapter next week.

Art: 8th grader will be working on a printmaking project using their initials for their project in art. Please check the homework calendar for the sketchbook and project due dates.

Band: Band meets every Mon/Tue/Thu - instruments are always needed these 3 days. Help your student to set up great practice habits right away - help them find a place to do their work, and set a schedule so it all gets done. We have books to work with now, and will receive copious sheet music as the year goes. Need a greater musical challenge? Let Mrs. VN know!

Bible Huttenga: We only had one class this week, but we had an overview of what the trimester holds as well as the expectations for the class. Students have their first assignment due on Google Classroom by the beginning of class on Tuesday, Sept 03.

BibleVN: We are beginning by memorizing the school theme verse, and thinking about the theme for the year corporately as well as personally. We made a plan for daily devotions in class, then we will begin a study of the book of Matthew.

Geometry: We will start by reviewing some Algebra Foundations before beginning chapter 1.

History: This past week we looked back at a few topics from the end of last school year that help us better understand the time and setting of the American Revolution. Next week will include learning about the French and Indian War, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party. Special note: Tuesday is an OE day in history. All 8th grade students should come dressed to work outside. Shoes or boots that can get a little dirty and work gloves would be strongly encouraged.

Language Arts: We’ve eased in to the National History Day project. Students need to complete a Reading Survey (with parent participation) by Sept 03. I am asking that students have a separate 3-ring binder for NHD material by Friday. A Reading Contract will be due that day as well.

Pre-Algebra: Welcome to a new year of math. Next week we will really start getting into some routines as we get moving through chapter 1 of our textbook.

Science: We are starting this year by studying Planetary Science. We have started by spending some time to admire how vast this universe is and how much greater our God is- yet he made us and he loves us. Check out this video. We will continue by looking specifically at the Earth next week.

Spanish: Dear parents, please read over the course information sheet that was sent home with your student. Ask them for it if you have not seen it yet :) This will help you know more about our 6th - 8th grade Spanish classes (curriculum, methodology, placement tests, and more). Thank you!