Middle School Matters - Mar 01, 2018

General Announcements:

Finish. Strong. Mar 02 is the final day of Trimester 2! Turn in everything and begin the new trimester with a great attitude!

Blue Lake - a large number of student auditioned for Blue Lake Summer Camp Scholarships. You should be receiving a letter about this in about a week if your student auditioned. Scholarships defray the cost of camp very nicely. Blue Lake does great things in the summer.

Knollcrest Music Camp - a lower cost and more local summer day camp option - - band, choir, jazz, orchestra, music theatre, bells, dance, music tech - - lots of great options at Calvin College. Many ACS students have attended and enjoyed this day camp.

Dates for your calendar:

Mar 02 - End of trimester 2
Mar 02 - “Faith. Strong.” Friday
Mar 02 - Mom/Son Night
Mar 02 - SEED Market
Mar 22 & 23 Dessert Theatre performances
Mar 28 - Last day of school before Spring Break
Jun 07 - 8th Grade Graduation at Thornapple Covenant Church

Fifth Grade:

GOSPEL THEATRE - Next week we will be performing our little plays in the commons on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. 5S will perform Good Samaritan on Tuesday and 5HW will perform their play on Wednesday. All the other plays will be the same both days.

NEW! Goat Care - We have updated the protocol for Chicken Checkup & 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!

SEED update: SEED market day is coming up tomorrow Fri Mar 02 from 2:30-4:00! If your child cannot stay until 4:15 (15 minutes to help clean up), please let us know. Any extra SEED Money was due to school today. If your student did not return his or her money, please have them do so ASAP. Please ask Mrs. Witte or Mrs. Westrate if you have questions. Here is a link to an update students received last week.

Art: 5th graders are learning about Georges Seurat and creating a pointillism still life painting.

Band: We continue to practice and work in our Band Method Books. Please continue to encourage practice at home - your students are doing great work - and practice is part of their success!

Bible: Tues Mar 6 and Wed Mar 7 the 5th graders will be performing their parable and Pilgrim’s Progress plays. If you wish to join us stay tuned for me information regarding times! Make sure that your child has his/her plays memorized. 5S--make sure to stay on top of Bible Memory (due the week of Spring Break).

Language Arts: Tomorrow is a quiz on the 23 Helping/Linking Verbs. This week and next week we are reviewing the parts of a friendly and business letter as well as writing an example of each.

Math: We are plugging away at adding and subtracting fractions. Next week will be the Chapter 9 Adding and Subtracting Fractions Test on Thurs Mar 8. The practice test is due Wed Mar 7. This week we also started working in small groups on ALEK’s--an individualized online math program. We will be focusing on cumulative review and extension problems with these math groupings as the year progresses.

Orchestra: This week we will focus on pages 32 and 33 so new notes on the G string and songs with slurs ( #107 and 108) There will be a playing quiz on this --Monday for the celli and Tuesday for violins and viola. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

PE: We will wrap up our floor hockey unit with a lot of game play! Students are encouraged to bring shin guards and gloves to provide extra protection.

Science: We have started a new unit on living systems. This week, the students are discovering more about God’s creative and complex world through the study of food chains and food webs.

Social Studies: We are headed south! We will be learning about South and Central American countries for the next couple of weeks.

Spanish: more short stories and readings. Students are really building a great base of vocabulary!

Sixth Grade:

NEW! Chicken Checkup - We have updated the protocol for Chicken Checkup & Goat Care. 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. Click this link for details and an opportunity to sign up.

Art: 6th graders are continuing to work on their torn watercolor landscapes. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.

Band: We continue to practice and work in our Band Method Books. Please continue to encourage practice at home - your students are doing great work - and practice is part of their success!

Bible: Wrapping up our “Incredible God/Genesis” unit: Psalm 8 memory work is due MONDAY, as are the panels for the Bible Cube Project.

History: This week we wrapped up our Culture Webs--the first assignment of the World Fair Project. Students were given work-time to catch up on LA Culture Poems. We also discussed the differences between Spartans and Athenians through articles, videos, and in class discussions. Next week (6W) Mon Mar 5/ (6K) Tues Mar 6 GSW #24 is due. Students will also receive revisions for their Culture Webs next week.

Language Arts:. Next week in LA we will have peer edit our culture poem and make suggestions before the final turn in on Wednesday. We will also work on collecting research about our World Fair country using pre-selected websites. LOOKING AHEAD: 04.26.18 is the ACS Fine Arts Night where the 6th graders showcase their World Fair projects. You won’t want to miss it!

Math: Geometry! Next week we will be working with shapes, lines, angles, triangles, protractors.

PE: We will wrap up our floor hockey unit with a lot of game play! Students are encouraged to bring shin guards and gloves to provide extra protection.

Orchestra: We continue to practice in our Muller Rusch brown book- pages 50 and 51 so encourage lots of practice on the new scale- B flat and the songs in B-flat.

Science: Density is an important concept related to weather. We will investigate density this week through demonstration and investigation.

Spanish: This coming week we will begin reading and writing with our unit 5 vocabulary. We will have in class assignments that will be taken for grades.

Seventh Grade:

Algebra (7th): We will continue to work with the quadratic equation, we will have a test on Tues March 13.

Art: 7th graders should have completed their Lego self-portraits today. Next up is learning about and working with assemblage sculptures inspired by Louise Nevelson. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.

Band: We are working on our performance for Dessert Theatre on Mar 22 and Mar 23 - we will be playing during the dessert portion of the evening.

Bible(Huttenga): Students are working through a unit exploring the effects of thoughtful thankfulness and gratitude in their lives.

Bible(Wanner): We continue to learn about the Lord’s Prayer and next week students will write an updated version of the Lord’s Prayer. Bible Memory Quiz next Friday Mar. 9 over Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 117.

History: We are starting a new unit on Latin America. We are also taking a little time each day to read through a historical-fiction book called Refugee. We will take a map quiz on Central and South America next week Friday.

Language Arts: 7th graders are reading through The Westing Game, an award-winning mystery book by Ellen Raskin. Students will be keeping meticulous track of the 16 main characters to participate in regularly scheduled small-group and whole class discussions. We’ll discuss the writing and technique of the author, including narration, plot, character voice, etc.

PE: We will wrap up our floor hockey unit with a lot of game play! Students are encouraged to bring shin guards and gloves to provide extra protection.

Math: We will begin a new geometry unit!

Pre-Algebra: We will continue solving multi-step equations and inequalities.

Orchestra: Our focus is on the music for Dessert Theatre!

Science: We will wrap up our unit on chemical interactions with an I-Check on INV 7-9 on Mon March 12.

Spanish: This coming week we will begin reading and writing with our unit 5 vocabulary. We will have in class assignments that will be taken for grades.

Eighth Grade:

Dessert Theatre: Here is the sign up sheet where parents may sign up to help with all things related to our show. You will see spaces for name and phone number. Any non-perishables could be brought to school whenever convenient for you and Mrs. VN will store them here for you. The week of the show we have meals on Mon/Tue and then for the Fri cast party. Tricia Hedlund graciously volunteered to captain the cast party - THANK YOU SO MUCH! :)

Summer Session. At Grand Rapids Christian Schools, we believe a student’s learning and growth does not stop when second semester ends. Summer Session is an exciting new way at Grand Rapids Christian High for students to participate in fun enrichment and immersion activities during the summer and earn high school credit. Incoming 9th – 12th grade students can participate in Courses, Workshops, College Prep Activities, and even Drivers Training.

There are loads of great reasons to take a class during Summer Session:

For new students – get a taste of academics at Grand Rapids Christian High School. Make a few friends before high school starts!
Get ahead on graduation requirements.
Make room in your normal school-year schedule for electives and Advanced Placement classes.
Take unique classes that aren’t offered during the school year.
Demonstrate to colleges that you invested in summer enrichment.
Prepare for college entrance exams.

All summer offerings are posted online at www.grcs.org/summer. Registration for Summer Session goes live on March 1. Don’t miss out!

NorthPointe Christian Schools - Enrollment Now Open - Any 8th grade family interested in enrolling in NorthPointe for the 2018-2019 school year may begin the application process by completing the online application at: http://www.npchristian.org/admissions/process.cfm Students interested in NorthPointe Personalized Learning Community are asked to fill out the NPLC supplemental application at: http://www.npchristian.org/academics/nplc.cfm. Space for NPLC is limited.

Questions? Please contact Brittany Noll at nollb@npchristian.org or 616.942.0363 x276.

Algebra: We are continuing our study of Chapter 9 on quadratic equations and then we will prepare for a test by the end of the week.

Art: 8th graders will spend the next 4 class working on glazing their ceramic pots. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.

Band: We played at Cascade Christian Church today - what a blessing it is to share music and faith with others!

Bible(Huttenga): Students conclude T2 Bible with reflections on The Case for Faith, and an essay given a written articulation of their faith. For T3, the 8th graders will be in a combined class with Huttenga and Van Noord co-teaching. Stay tuned for updates on the important project students will be focusing on during this final trimester.

Bible(Van Noord): We had our final test today and will round out our time together with a verse/rock and mezuzah project. For T3, the 8th graders will be in a combined class with Huttenga and Van Noord co-teaching. Stay tuned for updates on the important project students will be focusing on during this final trimester.

Geometry: Students will have a test on Tuesday on Chapter 10.

History: We will be working through Chapter 14 next week and then getting ready for a final, end of the chapter project by the end of the week. This is an interesting and important chapter that focuses on the final events that divide the nation before the Civil War.

Language Arts: 8th graders are doing a novel study of The Giver, by Lois Lowry. In the meantime they will continue working on the Book of Memories creative nonfiction project.

PE: We will wrap up our floor hockey unit with a lot of game play! Students are encouraged to bring shin guards and gloves to provide extra protection.

Pre-Algebra: We will continue solving multi-step equations and inequalities.

Science: We will continue our investigation of waves. This week we will be investigating light waves and communication waves.

Spanish: Students are working with Senor Wooly videos. These are short music videos aimed to intrigue Middle School students. There is an online curriculum for them that helps students learn new vocabulary and the flow of the language.

Athletics:

Uniforms should be returned to Mrs. O’Brien as soon as possible.

7th and 8th postseason basketball tournaments have begun. Check out the tournament schedules posted on the GRACEAC website and go cheer our teams on! Go Wildcats!