General Announcements:
Exploratory Week: Exploratory Week is coming Tuesday, Jan 26 - Friday, Jan 29! This is an exciting week where all 6th - 8th grade students will participate in a variety of different courses exploring their unique gifts and talents while seeing how God can be honored in their work and play. An Exploratory Week Brochure will be sent home this week (or early next) that explains the courses and gives students the opportunity to request which courses they would like participate in. Parents need to sign the Course Sign-Up sheet as this will also serve as the Permission Form for several of these activities. We will sign-up 8th grade students first, followed by 7th, and then 6th grade. Questions? Contact Henry Witte.
Geography Bee: The Geography Bee will be Thursday, Jan 07 at 10:30am in the commons. Please feel free to join us.
Spelling Bee: The 2016 Spelling Bee will be held Friday, Jan 08 at 8:15am in the commons. Parents, feel free to come in and enjoy the healthy competition between the 4th-8th graders of our school. The competition will go until roughly 9:45. If you have any questions, please contact Adam Huttenga.
Fifth Grade:
Band: We are reviewing the first 16 pages of the book, then working forward. Dec Practice Records are due - Jan records come home this week.
Bible: The Jesus Project starts soon!
Language Arts: Today we started BOB. Look for information and books coming home today and tomorrow. We are finishing our Biography Reports this week and will start working on our speeches soon.
Math: All things fractions - comparing, ordering, simplifying, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing fractions.
Orchestra: We will have a few days of review and have a short playing quiz on Thursday.
PE: We will begin a short fitness unit this week. We will focus on the 5 components of fitness and how we can improve our personal fitness.
Science: Inventions.
Social Studies: Lewis and Clark.
Sixth Grade:
Band: We have completed book 1 and turned it in. YES! DONE! Now, on to book 2!
Bible: Bible cubes are due on Thursday. We will assemble them in class, so make sure everything is glued on and ready to put together in class. Bible Memory - Philippians 2:1- 11 due next Wed - Jan 13.
History: Continuing our unit on Mesopotamia.
Language Arts: We will continue our study of short stories and capitalization this week. In addition, there will be several vocabulary words for the 6th graders to work through on Moodle. Looking ahead: “My Words” Spelling Test on Jan 15, Short Story & Capitalization Test on Jan 22.
Math: Welcome back! This week we begin to study expressions.
PE: We will begin preparing for the Super Snow Bowl this week!
Orchestra: We will review the last 2 pages in our book and begin new sheet music.
Science: We’ll study covalent bonding this week to prepare us for a study of chemical interactions.
Spanish: 6th graders will be reciting our memory verse in Spanish next week Monday and Tuesday (6K on Jan 11; 6D on Jan 12.) There are both written and audio resources for the students to study on Moodle under their currently highlighted unit.
Seventh Grade:
Algebra (7th): On the 6th there will be a cumulative test over ch 1-6.
Band: We are beginning Dessert Theatre Music.
Bible: We’ll be studying the exile of God’s people in Babylon and Isaiah’s messages to them. Our next memory work (due Friday) is Isaiah 55:1-2. We will add verses 3-7 in pieces over the next month with students being responsible to have memorized Isaiah 55:1-7 by Feb 5.
History: This week we will continue our study of Africa. There will be an opportunity for some students to re-take the Africa Map quiz on Thursday.
Language Arts: 7th graders are starting their third novel on the story Trouble, by Gary Schmidt. A quick summary of the book has been sent to parents via email - please take 10 minutes to read this summary. The 7th graders will also be introduced to the big Paideia project! This week, they will only be getting the broad information and will be guided towards picking a topic for their research. Much more detail will be sent to parents soon.
PE: We will begin a short flag football unit this week.
Pre-Algebra (Kiser): We continue with percents. Mark-up and Discount is our focus this week.
Pre-Algebra (Holtrop): This week we continue to study area, perimeter and the pythagorean theorem!
Orchestra: We will review in our technique books and begin new sheet music.
Science: Presently we are studying butterflies and will be raising the cabbage white butterfly from egg to egg again.
Spanish: 7th graders have a TEST on the sala/dormitorio unit (living room/bedroom) NEXT week Tuesday, Jan 12. We will review in class, and a practice test will be given later this week.
Eighth Grade:
Dessert Theatre: Believe it or not, we are already well into the costuming aspect of the show! Since there are items specific groups are being asked to bring, PLEASE check the new tab on the website, called “Costumes” for details regarding your thespian’s needs: http://acsdesserttheatre.weebly.com/
NorthPointe Christian High School: 8th Grade students and families are invited to discover what sets NorthPointe Christian High School apart at our upcoming events:
- Tuesday, Jan 12 - Information Night at 6:45pm (RSVP Appreciated) Discover more about NorthPointe's high performing athletics, college prep academics, award-winning fine arts, vibrant spiritual community, and much more!
- Thursday, Jan 28 - Preview Day: shadow a student 7:35am - 2:35pm (RSVP required) Experience firsthand what it is like to be a NorthPointe student. In the words of a recent Preview Day attendee, “Everyone was welcoming and kind. I felt like I actually went there.”
Please contact Brittany Johnson with any questions or to RSVP: johnsonb@npchristian.org or 616.942.0350 x276
Algebra (Witte): We are finishing up Ch 6 this week. After a couple of review days, we will plan on taking the chapter test next Monday morning.
Algebra (8th): Ch 5 Test (Writing Linear Equations) on Thursday. Practice test and other review materials are on our Ch 5 Algebra Moodle page.
Band: Fundamentals. Chorales. Scales and scale quizzes. Charge!
Bible: Finishing up the Case for Christ final projects due on Thursday. Begin working on the January Bible memory verses.
Geometry: This week we will be wrapping up Ch 7. We will have our chapter test next week.
History: This week we are covering Ch 10 in class. Among several things, we will focus on the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the removal of more Native Americans in the west, the Trail of Tears, and more debates about States’ Rights. Students will be completing “Exit Ticket” assignments at various times during this chapter as their homework.
Language Arts: 8th graders will be more formally introduced to the long-term “Book of Memories” writing project and will be given time to analyze the schedule and work on the first chapter. This week the students will also turn their focus in literature away from the self and toward the idea of community. This will the the trajectory the students will follow in LA until their graduation, when they come for fully to understand the mission statement of “equipping students for service in God’s world” (“world” will be a synonym for “community” in our discussions). This unit will begin with an introduction to utopian and dystopian societies. Closing the week, students will be working in groups to try and create a perfect society - a utopia. Once the project is finished, we will begin reading The Giver. I will be sending a summary of the book and its purpose in our curriculum to parents.
PE: We will begin a short flag football unit this week.
Orchestra: We will review in our books and begin new sheet music.
Science: We are beginning a new unit called “Planetary Science.” This unit includes a study of God’s biggest creations - moons, planets, stars and galaxies.
Spanish: We start a new unit this week on table settings, fruits, possessive pronouns, and verbs using direct object pronouns.
Athletics:
Basketball: 5th and 6th grade basketball season is off to a great start! The 7th and 8th grade basketball teams will start games soon. We are looking forward to watching the teams compete!