General Announcements:
See you at the 5-8 Spring Stroll Concert Tonight! Details were sent via email - Concert begins at 7:00pm
Laptop Turn-In Preparation: 6th & 7th grade students be sure your Laptop End of Year Checklist has been signed and turned into your homeroom teacher. It is due by Wednesday, May 30th. 8th grade families need to let school know by May 21 if you plan to purchase your MacBook Air.
Summer Camps at ACS - Take a look at what is being offered this summer at ACS!
Fifth Grade:
5th Grade Celebration- Join us Fri June 1 at 2:20pm in the Commons for a time of singing and celebration.
Goat Care - Please sign up by clicking here. Instructions are linked here and also on the sign up. Goat helpers should come at noon to help bottle-feed the young goats. Please text Leah Sienkowski if you cannot come at that time. Her contact information is at the link above. Thanks to all of you for your help!
PowerSchool: During the final trimester of 5th grade, students and parents have access to student grades on PowerSchool. Click this link for instructions and more information.
Reproductive Education: At the end of May, after Spring Camp, the 5th grade team plans to begin a short unit on Reproductive Education. Mrs. Witte will be meeting with the girls while Mr. Hoo will be meeting with the boys. In addition to going over the physical aspects of puberty, we plan to include discussions on God’s design for our bodies and reproduction, as well as treating our bodies with dignity and respect. If any parent would like more information, let one of us know and we would be happy to talk with you.
Art: 5th graders are learning about Jackson Pollock and will be working in his action painting style. Old clothes and shoes on art days will be a must for this project.
Band: Yay band! Thank you for coming to see our concert! We will finish the year with fundamentals and skill building, using our method books. There is a summer music camp at ACS in June - see the Ada Connection for details about summer camps.
Bible: We are continuing to talk about the early church and Paul’s missionary journeys. This week 5S students began to memorize Ephesians 6:13-17 (due Tues May 22). We talked about what each piece of armor represented in Ancient Rome, as well as in our lives today. Students wrote down phrases and drew images to represent each piece of armor and how we as Christians must use it today.
Language Arts: We have a spelling test next Tue May 22. We are finishing up some grammar skills and spending time reading. Ask your 5th grader to sing the comma song!
Math: We have officially finished our math book! This week we are focusing on reviewing skills such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions and decimals to prepare for the MAPS test. Next week we will begin our taco food truck businesses.
Orchestra: We are so very thankful for each and every one of these 5th graders! They are so musical! Thanks for coming to hear our concert. We will finish our books soon and begin a book 2 AND learn more difficult music before summer! Rental $ for Ada instruments is due this week also.
PE: We’ve enjoyed playing Eclipseball this week! Next week we will head outside to play our disc golf course.
Science: Flowers and pollinators are on our minds these days. It has been cool to see how excited the 5th graders are about taking action to save pollinators like honeybees!
Spanish: Students have enjoyed acting and re-telling our class story in Spanish.
Sixth Grade:
Missing Work - Please check PowerSchool with your student and encourage him or her to complete and submit any missing work that has been accumulating.
Chicken Checkup - Please sign up by clicking here. Instructions are linked here and also on the sign up. Thanks to all of you for your help!
Preparing for Adolescence: This coming week, we will take some time to think carefully about changes that students can expect as they reach adolescence. Please click this link for a letter describing the Preparing for Adolescence curriculum. A book came home with your child last week. If you haven’t already, please take time to read chapters 1 and 2 together. Return the book to school this coming Mon, May 21.
Art: 6th grade are glazing their ceramic effigy bowls. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.
Band: Yay band! Thank you for coming to see our concert! We will finish the year with fundamentals and skill building, using our method books. There is a summer music camp at ACS in June - see the Ada Connection for details about summer camps.
Bible: Proverbs is still on our agenda. The Bible Memory work- Proverbs 3:1-12 is due THIS MON, MAY 21! There may be a few homework assignments between now and the end of the year...be on the lookout for them. :) Test will be the following week, Wednesday or Thursday, May 29/30.
History: This week we discussed the emperors of Ancient Rome - some of them were pretty crazy! We also looked into the lives of teenagers in Ancient Rome - what did it look like to be a 15 year old girl or boy? We wrapped up the week with uncovering the mystery of Pompeii. As a class we watched a simulation time-lapse of Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption, talking through the events and aftermath of the eruption.
Language Arts: The sixth graders did an OUTSTANDING job on their persuasive speeches. Thanks for encouraging them in this area. They have officially completed World Fair! Students will take home World Fair displays/folders/binders tomorrow. We will end the year by reading Gary Schmidt’s Wednesday Wars. This is an entertaining book about a boy in the 1960s who is able to make sense of his own world as he reads through William Shakespeare plays.
PE: We’ve enjoyed playing Eclipseball this week! Next week we will head outside to play our disc golf course.
Orchestra: I am so thankful for each one of the super 6th grade string players in our group- and for all of the support and encouragement that they receive from parents! We will let all students bring in a snack to share on Monday to celebrate. Bring in ALL music to turn in. We will finish the year strong with lots of sight reading skills and working on new sheet music. If you are renting an Ada instrument please send in a check for next year!
Science: 6th graders will share their weather forecasts this week. We’ll also think about the ocean’s impact on climate and do some analysis of the weather data we’ve been collecting over the past several months both in Ada and in our World Fair countries.
Spanish: TEST over our novel, chapters 6-10, on May 30. See Moodle for more information.
Seventh Grade:
Algebra (7th): We will continue working through radical expressions, pythagorean theorem, and wrap up with a chapter 12 test on Fri.
Art: 7th graders must have their ceramic robot tile ready for firing tomorrow and artist statements complete by next Thursday. Next we will be doing some graphite drawing. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.
Band: Yay band! Thank you for coming to see our concert! We will finish the year with fundamentals and skill building, using our method books. There is a summer music camp at ACS in June - see the Ada Connection for details about summer camps.
Bible(Wanner & Huttenga): Students have begun work on/in various forms of service and this week we start with writing letter to service member of our armed forces. If you know of an interesting service opportunity that all or some of the 7th graders could be involved in please talk/email to Adam Huttenga or myself.
History: We will be preparing for and taking a test on Chapter 3 next week--The First Colonies. The test will take place next Thursday.
Language Arts: Students will be transitioning to the final portion of the ProCon research-writing unit - the persuasive essay. This will be the final major assignment of the year. We’ve been having a good experience so far, and the other day we got to talk about persuasion in a Christian context - ask your child: “What’s the difference between Fighting and Arguing?”
PE: We’ve enjoyed playing Eclipseball this week! Next week we will head outside to play our disc golf course.
Orchestra: I am so thankful for each one of the seventh grade string players! They learned so much this past year. We will all bring in a snack to share on Monday as we turn in ALL of our sheet music and then try some new music to work on over the summer!
Science: We will continue investigating rocks and landforms. This week we will closely look at the rock cycle and learn about metamorphic rocks. Our next i-check will be June 5.
Spanish: TEST over our novel, chapters 6-10, on May 23. See Moodle for more information.
Eighth Grade:
Laptops: All 8th Grade parents need to complete this survey regarding the MacBook Air that your student has been using.
Class Trip Permission Forms: Please turn in the class trip permission forms and money by Friday. Thanks!
Algebra: We are in Exam Review mode! This week we have been creating a note sheet to use for studying and we have started working on review problems. These students are going to do great next Thursday.
Art: 8th graders must have their calligraphy project completed by next Wed May 23. All 8th grade artwork will come home in a paper bag on Tue May 29 you might want to consider picking up your 8th grader that day, because some of the students work was very large this year. Please check the homework calendar for project due dates and sketchbook homework.
Band: Yay band! Thank you for coming to see our concert! We will finish the year with fundamentals and skill building (and our final exam), using our method books. There is a summer music camp at ACS in June - see the Ada Connection for details about summer camps. All 8th grade ACS instruments and music and books need to be turned in to the band room by Tue May 29.
Bible(Huttenga/Van Noord): In our short time remaining together, 8th graders will be wrapping the Plumb-Bob projects and work on their Bible take-home “exam” (an essay to be added to the Book of Memories Project).
History: We are reviewing for our exam and also working on a Decades Project to finish up the year. Students have sets of flashcards on moodle to help with studying and reviewing. I am excited to see how they do putting together the last three chapters of the year on our exam.
Language Arts: Students will be finishing Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and begin drafting thoughts for essays about the past trimester’s literature to prepare them for their upcoming exam.
PE: We’ve enjoyed playing Eclipseball this week! Next week we will head outside to play our disc golf course.
Orchestra: We are so thankful that we are able to honor the 8th grade string and band players at the concert. You have blessed us with your musical talents and gifts and we pray that you will continue to bless the world with your music! Thanks for 4 fun-filled years in orchestra!
Science: We will wrap up an investigation of the senses and memory. Exam review will be sent home on 5/18.
Spanish: May 29 if the Spanish Placement Test. Test will be given in class.
Athletics:
Fall 2018 Sports: As the spring 2018 sports season is wrapping up we are now looking ahead to the fall 2018 sports season. Sign-ups are now available on the ACS Athletic Webpage. Sign-ups will take place now thru August 5. Please remember, the earlier you register your child, the faster we are able to work on finding coaches and figuring out practice days and times for all teams. This fall we will be offering boys soccer, girls volleyball, and boys/girls cross country for students in grades 5-8.
Golf Opportunity. Follow this link to sign up for Middle School Golf Club through Grand Rapids Christian. It is a pay to play golf "club" with a tournament at the end of the season in early October.
Calvin College Basketball Camps. Follow this link to explore all of the basketball camps this summer at Calvin.
Girls and Boys Basketball Players: Sign up for summer basketball camp and skills and drills workouts at grcssportscamp.org There are so many opportunities to help you improve this summer! We are excited to see you!