Middle School Matters – Nov 20, 2020

General Announcements

Stuff a Bus

Friday, Nov 20-24

Who: YOU! We are asking all ACS PK- 8th grade faculty, staff, and students to join us as we work to Stuff-A-Bus with food products!

It has been a tradition at Ada Christian each year to work with a local non profit and live out our mission of equipping our students for service in God’s world. ACS PK-8th grade students are asked to bring items for our food drive to support Degage Ministries, a local nonprofit that works with many who are homeless and low-income to provide shelter, food, hygiene resources, counseling, job search support, etc.

What: From Degage:

We currently have a number of patrons in housing isolation due to COVID and we suspect that number will only grow. We’re tasked with getting food to those in isolation so we’d LOVE for your school to help us meet that need. We need as many pre-packaged, nonperishable, and microwavable items for breakfast, lunch, and dinners as possible. Some examples of what we would need are below:

Poptarts
Granola bars
Canned fruit
Cereal
Beef Jerky
Cans of soup
Microwavable Mac & Cheese
Prepackaged dinners that don’t need to be refrigerated or frozen (Hormel Brand type meals)
Lots of bottled water
Oatmeal
Cheese that doesn’t need to be refrigerated

Where: An ACS bus will be parked in front of ACS for 3 days. When students bring food items, they are asked to enter the bus, drop off the food, and exit the back of the bus on their way into school in the morning.

When:
7:45am - 3:15pm Fri, Nov 20
7:45am - 3:15pm Mon, Nov 23
7:45am - 9:00am Tues, Nov 24

Why: Each year ACS works to partner with community organizations to make positive differences in tangible ways. Our desire this year is to provide food products to support the following dining services offered at Degage.

5th Grade

Water Walk: The Water Walk is Nov 24. Please make sure your child has an empty gallon jug with a handle to bring to school for the walk.

SEED Market: SEED Market is still taking place! However, due to the new COVID mandates, the market will take place virtually. We will provide more details next week - stay tuned! For now, we are collecting information for our virtual platform. Together, you and your child need to fill out a SEED survey (shared on the “5th Bible” Google Classroom). Please fill this out by Tues, Nov 24. We encourage students to keep working on their products!

Art: In art class 5th grade students will spend a final class printing next week. Then students will wrap up the project by selecting and mounting their best prints.

Bible: This week was rice week. Students reflected on hunger around the world through a variety of videos, articles, statistics, and through eating rice daily. Next week is the water walk

History: This week we wrapped up our project on the Great Plains and started learning about the Eastern Woodlands region. We even spent some time around a fire in the longhouse! Students are working on a project that will be due Tues, Nov 24.

Language Arts: This week we continued to read A Long Walk to Water, practiced vocabulary words, and wrote about our main character, Salva. Next week we will finish reading A Long Walk to Water and read some informational texts connected to the book.

Music - Band: Our next practice record will be due in December! Encourage your student to practice regularly at home and keep track of their work on their calendar - they will receive the new calendars on Mon, Nov 23.

Music - Choir: WOW - great Edmund Fitzgerald projects - SO GOOD….next up is Christmas Songs and more musical meanderings!

PE: We are wrapping up our volleyball unit with a newcomb/modified volleyball tournament that will conclude just prior to Thanksgiving break.

Science: We will wrap up our study of water before this coming (short) week.

6th Grade

Art: 6th grade students began a new project this week dealing with emotions with the ultimate goal of creating a visual representation of an emotion each individual artist struggles with. Please check the homework calendar for project and sketchbook due dates.

Bible: This week we learned about what it means to be prayerful, powerful, and committed. Ask your child about the different types of prayers they participated in and what they decided to commit to for a week.

History: This week students learned about Mesopotamian government, explored the code of Hammurabi, and researched what life was like for ancient Mesopotamians. They began a project which is due on Mon, Nov 23. They will also have a Mesopotamia Map Quiz on Tues, Nov 24. Students were provided blank maps to help them study.

Language Arts: This week we spent time revising our diary entries for the Tuck Narrative Writing Project. We also spent time in the editing stage of the writing process. Next week we will finalize our diary entries and start assembling our final projects.

Music - Choir: We have finished our Music Ace blitz….next up is Christmas Songs and more musical meanderings!

PE: We are wrapping up our volleyball unit with a modified volleyball tournament that will conclude just prior to Thanksgiving break.

Science: We have begun a study of Weather & Water on Earth. Students are recording weather data for Grand Rapids as well as different cities all over the world.

7th Grade

Art: 7th grade students are working to wrap up their texture painting project and will be transitioning into a project that is inspired by the work of contemporary British artist Julian Opie which draws in science class, OE, and language arts. Please check the homework calendar for project and sketchbook due dates.

Bible: In Bible we are working through the devotional unit. We have started working through a research project where students are learning different devotional methods. Next week will be presentations where we will take turns teaching each other about the methods we researched.

History: As an introduction to our unit exploring the diverse ways that different areas of the world develop, we spent this week confronting our assumptions and stereotypes about people and places of the world. Students wrote and conversed sensitively and maturely about the danger of stereotypes as part of the work of moving beyond them in the ways we think and act. Next week, we’ll pause this unit to discuss the history of Thanksgiving, and we’ll pick up after the break with a simulation on the role that natural resources play in world development.

Language Arts: We will continue our study of The Witch of Blackbird Pond, characterization, and reciprocal reading.

Math - Algebra: In Algebra, we are learning how to write linear equations using different forms. On Tuesday students will have a quiz that will cover the first 3 sections.

Math - Pre-Algebra: In Pre-Algebra we are continuing on proportional relationships and ratios. Right now we are working on graphing ratios and finding the constant ratio of proportional relationships. This will set us up for graphing equations when we need to find the slope of a line on a graph.

Music - Band: SOLO DAY is Tues, Nov 24! Wear Black and White. Ask your student to play their solo for you. We will not be able to stream performances so please ask for a live concert at home. Our next practice record will be due in December! Encourage your student to practice regularly at home and keep track of their work on their calendar - they will receive the new calendars on Mon, Nov 23.

Music - Choir: GREAT Erie Canal projects - wonderful to see/experience!!! Yay! Next up: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers musical. Welcome to 1850...Oregon Territory.

PE: We are wrapping up our volleyball unit with a volleyball tournament that will conclude just prior to Thanksgiving break.

Science: Little, big things happening in 7th science. Our babies came this past Tuesday! Salmon, of course. We have love observing, counting, and talking about them. We also started our chemical interactions unit off and are diving into solids, liquids, and gases at a particle level.

8th Grade

GRCHS Virtual Showcase - Thurs, Dec 03 - Live via Zoom @ 7:00pm

Join us on Zoom for this live glimpse into life at Grand Rapids Christian High School, hosted by current students and staff and designed to show you how our Christ-centered, student-focused approach to learning has made us one of West Michigan’s top-performing high schools — and a place where each student is prepared for more. Please RSVP by Dec 01 to get the link to this live Zoom event and to submit questions for our principal and student panel. Please contact Vickie Fischer at 616.575.5605 or vfischer@grcs.org with questions.

8th Grade Pictures: Both baby and yearbook photos are due Dec 01. Please email or send in a copy of your students picture to Dani Buchanan (gro.naitsirhcada@nanahcubd). Questions? Read the details.

Art: Most 8th grade students have transitioned into the final stages of completing their ceramic pot project. The goal is to be wrapped up with the building of the ceramic pot by next Tuesday or shortly after Thanksgiving break Please check the homework calendar for project and sketchbook due dates.

Bible Huttenga: We will be swapping sections this coming week. At the beginning of the trimester, we will be introduced to the norms and expectations of the class as well as beginning a discussion of the Reformation.

Bible Sloterbeek: We wrapped up our first trimester of Bible class this week. Students completed a paper synthesizing our discussions and learning from the fall and articulating how and why they find a sense of hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

History: This week, we started our study of early American history by learning about the importance of seeking a nuanced understanding of our nation’s past. We learned from a TEDTalk about “the danger of a single story” and carried this learning into critical thinking reflection on our textbook readings on the Age of Exploration. Next week we’ll be making connections between the danger of a single story, American colonialism, and Thanksgiving. After the break, we’ll look further into the development of the American colonies.

Language Arts: We will continue our study of The Giver characterization, and reciprocal reading.

Math - Algebra: Next week we will spend a couple days looking at how to translate lines on a graph.

Math - Geometry: We are studying congruent triangles. It’s a fun chapter that includes finding missing angle measurements, understanding different triangles and solving proofs involving triangles.

Music - Band: Festival is Tues, Nov 24! Wear White and Black (and a pop of color is allowed)...2 songs to perform for the judges!

Music - Choir: We continue with our Fiddler on the Roof Unit.

PE: We are wrapping up our volleyball unit with a volleyball tournament that will conclude just prior to Thanksgiving break.

Science: We started our waves unit this week. We are starting by looking at various wave properties and types of waves.

Athletics

The 5th-8th grade girls basketball sign-ups are now officially open. Please follow this link to register, ACS Girls Basketball Sign-up.

All boys basketball practices and games are cancelled through December 8 due to the order from the MDHHS.