General Announcements
Dates for your calendar:
Please share the MS Christmas Concert livestream link with your family members who cannot attend on Dec 12.
Concert Call time on Dec 12: 6:30pm. Concert begins at 7:00pm.
Concert Dress:
56 - Retreat shirts, black or khaki pants or skirts on the bottom.
78 - White on top, black on the bottom (all the way to the floor, dark legs/hose, socks, dark shoes, etc)
Fifth Grade:
SEED Market: Applications are due this Wed, Dec 11 - parent signature is needed.
Water Donation: The 5th grade is raising money to help build wells for clean water around the world. Students were told that they shouldn’t just ask parents for money, but should find creative ways to collect money and practice being generous with the gifts they’ve been given. Donations are due Mon, Dec 16.
Christmas Auction: Our Christmas Auction will take place right before Christmas break. If you have any items at home (toys, games, balls, coloring books, fun pillows, blankets, etc) that you don’t want anymore, but think a 5th grader would enjoy, we love donations! Please bring items to your child’s homeroom teacher. Thanks for your help!
Art: 5r has completed the printmaking project. 5S and 5G are continuing their progress through the printmaking unit.
Bible: This week in Bible we talked about fair trade through a banana simulation. We also worked on our country newspaper projects. The newspapers are due Wed, Dec 11.
History: Students will celebrate their learning with a test on the Age of Exploration (Tues., Dec. 10). They have a study guide and their social studies notebook to help them prepare!
Language Arts: We finished A Long Walk to Water this week. Students loved the ending. In class next week, we will continue to discuss and analyze the literary elements in the story such as types of conflict, theme, character traits. We will also be working on a project related to the book. Students will have some spelling assignments in the next week as well and a spelling test on Thurs Dec 19.
Math: Students have been rounding, estimating, and adding decimals. There will be a quiz next Monday on adding and subtracting decimals followed by a test on Wednesday. Ask your 5th grader about our “decimal bean auction” and how it applied to adding decimals.
Music - Band: Full Band Mon, Tue, Thur this coming week, due to the concert. All instruments and music will be needed. Concert dress is black or khaki pants and retreat shirts.
Music - Choir: We are excited to sing for you Dec 12! Concert dress is black or khaki pants and retreat shirts.
Music - Orchestra: Christmas concert is Thur, Dec 12. All string players need to be in the orchestra room at 6:30PM to tune and proceed to the stage!
PE: Students have been working through volleyball skills and applying it the game setting!
Science: In Science we are continuing our unit on systems. We looked at the vascular systems in celery this week and next week we will begin looking at animal systems.
Sixth Grade:
SEED Market: Applications are due this Wed, Dec 11 - parent signature is needed.
Christmas Caroling: On Fri, Dec 20 the 6th graders have a wonderful opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas with the residents at Hope Network and Emerald Meadows. We will sing Christmas carols with and for them. In between our singing, we will enjoy lunch at Culver’s. An order form/permission slip will come home early next week.
Devotion Sign-up: Sign up to lead devotions for our 6th Graders on a Thursday (8:00-8:10am) this school year. We love to have parents and guests come to share a story, song, verse, prayer or devotional with us!
Weekend Chicken Checkup: Check to to see when your family is on the schedule for weekend chores. If you have a conflict on your assigned weekend, please work in advance to switch with another family. Click here for the instructions for Weekend Chicken Checkup. Questions? Contact Bill Hoo at 616.250.0089
Art: 6th grade continues to work on portrait drawing. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.
Bible: This week in Bible we finished learning about ancient Rome and how Christians were treated during the reign of this empire. We discussed the power of the Roman empire, the empire’s persecution of Christians, and the spread of Christianity despite their suffering. Romans 8:35, 37-39 is due Tues, Dec 17 and the illustrations are due Thurs, Dec 19.
History: Next week, students will continue working on their Sumerian Invention Projects (due Tues, Dec 10).
Language Arts: We continue to learn so much about people with different abilities.This week we learned about life in a wheelchair. We read stories, watched videos, and wrote reflections. We also had the wonderful opportunity to hear from Mike Perry and his work as an architect. Mr. Perry was instrumental in designing the Mary Free Bed YMCA and desires to create buildings so that they are accessible for all people. His presentation was fascinating, informative, and challenging. Next week we will learn about visual impairments and autism. Students should continue to read the disability awareness novel (due Mon Dec 16).
On Wed, Dec 18 students will be given a disability for a day. Do you have a wheelchair or (kid-size) crutches that you would be willing to let us borrow? If so, please email Bethany Koetje (gro.naitsirhcada@ejteokb).
Math: The students just finished their unit on ratios and rates. Next week we will begin our unit on integers and the coordinate plane.
Music - Band: Our concert is Dec 12. We are so excited to play for you! Call time is 6:30pm. Concert dress is black or khaki pants and retreat shirts.
Music - Choir: Our concert is Dec 12. We are so excited to sing for you! Call time is 6:30pm.
Music - Orchestra: ACS Christmas Concert is Thursday, Dec 12! All string players need to be in the orchestra room at 6:30PM to tune and proceed to the stage.
PE: Students have been working through volleyball skills and applying it the game setting!
Science: The students just finished the unit on push/pull forces. The rest of this week and next we are exploring the forces of magnets!
Seventh Grade:
Art: 7th grade is working on the organism sign project inspired by the artist Julian Opie. Students have been working on designing the sign and will soon work to actually create the painted sign. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.
Bible Huttenga: 7th graders are studying the concept of sanctification. This week they are working on a project blends this idea into their own strengths and weaknesses, using haiku poetry as a focus.
History: We are starting a unit on world religions. We are learning about how some of the different world religions began and comparing different worldviews that these religions hold.
Language Arts: Reading Inventories are a bit more involved in T2. Now students will be expected to do weekly textual analyses of the books they read, focusing on citing specific textual evidence to back their points. Weekly reading conferences are going nicely! We just finished The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and will be wrapping a brief documentary about the real Salem witch trials. As we prepare for a small test on the book, we’ll be using information from the book and the documentary to discuss “prejudice”, and how that topic may blend into the theme of the story (hint: prejudice is a recurring topic in our classroom literature this year).
Math - Algebra: Our final topic of chapter 4 is piecewise functions. We will be completing chapter 4 with a test next week Thursday.
Math - Pre-Algebra: We are learning about using proportions to solve ratio problems. We will have a quiz early next week on the first half of the chapter.
Music - Band and Choir: Our concert is Dec 12. We are so excited to play and sing for you! Call time is 6:30pm. Concert dress is black and white.
Music - Orchestra: ACS Christmas concert is Thursday, Dec 12! All string players need to be in the orchestra room at 6:30PM to tune.
PE: Students have been working through volleyball skills and applying it the game setting! Additionally, each student has set a fitness goal for the year and strategies on how they are going to achieve it. Ask them about it and encourage them to stay on top of this.
Science: We started looking at solids, liquids, and gases today. We will investigate further into the properties of each state next week.
Eighth Grade:
Yearbook Pictures and Baby Pictures:
Thank you to those who have submitted photos. We will be sending out an email next week to those who have not yet submitted baby and or 8th grade photos. Yearbook pictures should be vertical in orientation and mostly a “head and shoulders” or “waist up” style picture. For the Baby Picture, you may submit those either as digital images or as printed photos. Please email images to Dani Buchanan (gro.naitsirhcada@nanahcubd).
Art: 8th grade students have a ceramic terms quiz on Mon, Dec 09. Study materials should be in the students binder or are located on the 8th grade art moodle page. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.
BibleHutt: Students have taken a quiz on the reformed worldview that is connected with our school’s theme. Now they are unpacking it further in reading/studying CS Lewis’s The Last Battle. At the end of the week, students can expect a small, comprehensive quiz on the reading so far.
BibleVN: We are working steadily through the book of Matthew. We read the Sermon on the Mount outdoors on the ACS Mount...and Mr. Mittens joined us. #OE
History: Next week we are reviewing our unit on the U.S. Constitution and preparing for a test tentatively planned for Thursday.
Language Arts: Reading Inventories are a bit more involved in T2. Now students will be expected to do weekly textual analyses of the books they read, focusing on citing specific textual evidence to back their points. Weekly reading conferences are going nicely! The first draft of the NHD is done. In the coming week, we’ll be asking students to show parents their work so far - a separate email with info will be sent to parents. 8th graders will be introduced to weekly conventions (grammar, mechanics) work, starting with capitalization review. We will also begin our first classroom novel study with The Giver.
Math - Algebra: Our final topic of chapter 4 is piecewise functions. We will be completing chapter 4 with a test next week Thursday.
Math - Pre-Algebra: We are learning about using proportions to solve ratio problems. We will have a quiz early next week on the first half of the chapter.
Music - Band and Choir: Our concert is Dec 12. We are so excited to play and sing for you! Call time is 6:30pm. Concert dress is black and white. The band went on a wonderful field trip to play for our friends at a local church. It was wonderful to be with them, to share lunch, life and music.
Music - Orchestra: ACS Christmas Concert is Thur, Dec 12. All string players must be in the orchestra room at 6:30PM to tune.
PE: Students have been working through volleyball skills and applying it the game setting! Additionally, each student has set a fitness goal for the year and strategies on how they are going to achieve it. Ask them about it and encourage them to stay on top of this.
Science: We have spent much of this week getting comfortable with waves and their properties. We will begin looking into sound waves next week.