Middle School Matters – Sept 20, 2019

General Announcements

Dear Middle School Parents,

Our 56ers and 78ers enjoy fun and engaging opportunities to learn, serve, and grow throughout the school year. Some of the adventures take our students off campus. For example: 5th Grade Survival Camp, 6th Grade Service Projects, and 78er Exploratories. Parent drivers and chaperones help to make these opportunities possible.

If you are interested in being a driver and/or chaperone for 56er and/or 78er off-campus events, we are asking you to complete and submit the required “Background Check Authorization” form found on PowerSchool Today.

To complete the form:

Log into your PowerSchool parent portal.
Select Ecollect Forms.
Complete the form titled Background Check Authorization.

By submitting this form, you are authorizing Ada Christian School to perform a Michigan History Background Check through ICHAT.

Dates to know:

Sept 27 - 5-8 Gone on projects, serving, etc.

Oct 04 - Chapel #3 - response to opportunities to serve

Oct 11 - SG 01

Oct 18 - Chapel #4

Oct 24 - No School/CEA

Concert Dates:

Christmas: Dec 12, 5:00-8:00pm, here at school, 7:00pm start time

Spring: May 07, here at school, 7:00pm start time

Fifth Grade:

[IMAGE '1401' /]A New Face in 5th Grade: We are so excited to welcome Mr. Manny Schrotenboer to the 5th and 6th grade team starting in late October (after fall break) and continuing through February while Mrs. Westrate will be home with her new baby. Mr. Schrotenboer taught middle school Science at another school last year and is eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with our students. Currently, Mr. Schrotenboer helps in Covenant Care after school and also with students who receive Educational Support during the school day. Welcome, Mr. Schrotenboer!

Survival Camp: We leave school at 8:00am on Thursday and return by 3:00pm on Friday. Permission slips and $20 are due Tues, Sept 24. Your child will need a sack lunch Thursday. Packets went home today, please be sure to read in its entirety. Don’t forget to drop off your food items to your homeroom teacher (dry goods) or to the kitchen fridge (labeled “Survival Camp”). Chaperones, please be sure to check vehicle assignments.

Art: In art students are working to complete combining their abstract landscape paintings and their landscapes drawing that were drawn outside. Next up is an in depth printmaking project.

Bible: This week in Bible we continued Bible Journaling our way through the Tower of Babel, the call of Abram, promises of Abraham, and sacrifice of Isaac. We also went over Survival Camp packets today in FOCUS.

Language Arts: The fifth graders have been enjoying the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Through this novel we are learning and studying survival, story elements, vocabulary, figurative language, and descriptive writing. Students should be reading a survival book independently as well so that we can compare and contrast our class novel, our own survival experience (next week), and the one in our independent reading book.

Math: We just took our test on Place Value and will now look at Multiplying Whole Numbers. There will be some videos online for students to watch if they need a refresher. They can access these videos on their 5th Math google classroom page.

Music: We are learning to read notes/rhythms using some apps on our ipads, we are singing lots of songs and we are learning about Stomp.

Music - Band: Lots of progress is being made! Ask for a concert, we can now play pages full of music. We are working on p. 8/9 and of course next will be 10. Encourage regular, scheduled practice at home. This will help us to succeed. Practice calendars are due at the end of September.

Music - Orchestra: We are now using first fingers on all of the strings and will add 2nd and 3rd next week. Focus on all of page 17 and 18 especially on numbers 27 through 31 this week and be sure to practice most days - even if it is only for 15 or 20 minutes! Keep up the great work!

PE: We are focusing on the basic concepts and positions of football and working on applying this into a game setting. Next week we will begin an ultimate football tournament! Please remind students who have not written names on PE uniforms to do so and encourage students to bring a clean pair of PE uniforms every time they come to PE.

Science: We’re learning about shadows and how they can help us build a model for what causes day and night on Earth.

Social Studies: We just finished our Video Project on geographic features, be sure to ask your child what they learned!

Spanish: Students are working on a language and nature project. They are creating a slide show that demonstrates the use of gender in nature in the Spanish language. For example, a rock is a female noun in Spanish and a tree is a masculine noun.

Sixth Grade:

[IMAGE '1401' /]A New Face in 6th Grade: We are so excited to welcome Mr. Manny Schrotenboer to the 5th and 6th grade team starting in late October (after fall break) and continuing through February while Mrs. Westrate will be home with her new baby. Mr. Schrotenboer taught middle school Science at another school last year and is eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with our students. Currently, Mr. Schrotenboer helps in Covenant Care after school and also with students who receive Educational Support during the school day. Welcome, Mr. Schrotenboer!

Service Project:6th Graders will be serving in our community on Thur, Sept 26 and Fri, Sept 27. We really need and value your help! We still needs some drivers/chaperones for Friday morning (8:00-12:00). If you’re willing to help, we’d love to have you join us! Please email Heather Westrate if you’re able to join 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

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!

Art: 6th grade students are all working on creating unique and creative pattern for part 1 of their project. All 6th grade students have also started the process of creating a visual representation of how the artist see God in their life. Please check the homework calendar for sketchbook and project due dates.

Band: We are working on 2 new concert pieces and lots of method book songs as well. Encourage regular, scheduled practice at home. This will help us to succeed. Practice calendars are due at the end of September.

Bible: This week in Bible we began to study characteristics of Christ. We are writing as detectives, collecting evidence from the Gospels to “prove” that Jesus was compassionate, loving, prayerful, a servant, and so forth. This week we focused on the traits “compassionate” and “loving.” We also spent time putting into practice showing compassion by writing encouraging letters to parents, teachers, and friends.

History: We just finished our Brochure Project on world regions! Next week students will be studying our third theme of geography: place.

Language Arts: We continue to read and enjoy Tuck Everlasting. Next week we will find similes, metaphors, and personification examples in the novel.

Math: We just took our test on Computing with Multi-Digit Numbers and will now look at Fractions, Decimals, and Percents. There will be some videos online for students to watch if they need a refresher. They can access these videos on their 6th Math google classroom page.

Music: We have learned the story behind the song “It is Well With My Soul” and will begin a project about the song next.

Orchestra: We are working on several pieces of sheet music as well as our technique books . Our focus is on dotted rhythm and tied notes! We need to have more practicing by everyone in the book!

Science: We will share some of our favorite science tools with Kindergarteners this week and participate in some OE activities in addition to using our microscopes for looking at living creatures.

Spanish: Monday there is a vocabulary quiz and Wednesday Sept 25 will be our first test. Students should take home their Spanish folders in order to study or they may use Moodle if they have access to the internet at home.

Seventh Grade:

Service Project: We are eagerly awaiting the service project next week Thu and Fri Sept 26 and 27. Just a few reminders. Make sure you go over the letter and permission form that was handed to your child today. This has a lot of valuable information for the trip and can answer many questions as well as a permission form which needs to be signed and handed in to Mrs. Quist on Monday.

More Service Project: Some of you may be familiar with the news story from southwest Michigan regarding the EEE virus. While infection is pretty serious, but rare, we would like to share that our work sites are located further north than any known infection. We would like to ask you to send bug spray or lotion that you prefer along with your student on the Service Project. We will remind students to apply and reapply after each of our meal times to create another barrier of safety.

Art: 7th graders are working on sculpting their Henry Moore forms. Please check the homework calendar for sketchbook and project due dates.

Bible: Thank you to all who came in to share with our 7th graders about devotions! Students will be reflecting on the 4 speakers and their methods over the weekend - a packet of reflection questions will be due at the beginning of class on Mon, Sept 23. Next week we will be working on a token of thanks to our speakers, and students will begin a project in which they’ll develop an anthology of devotionals that will be available by the end of the school year (perhaps sooner).

History: We are finishing up our introductory chapter on Geography. We are reviewing in class and I am hoping to have the class ready for a test on Wednesday.

Language Arts: Reading Inventory for Week 4 is due Sept 23. Because of the short week we will NOT be having a spelling quiz. We will be learning about imagery and sensory details in writing as we continue to develop a strong voice.

Math - 7th Math: We continue working with rates and proportions. Next week we will solve proportions with cross products.

Math - Algebra: We are working hard to master skills such as the distributive property, combining like terms, and linear equations. We will have a test on Tuesday.

Math - Pre-Algebra: We are working on chapter 2 which focuses on operations with positive and negative integers.

Music - Band: We are working on fundamentals using our method books and sheet music. Excellent quizzes were heard last week, wow. Encourage regular, scheduled practice at home. This will help us to succeed. Practice calendars are due at the end of September.

Music - Choir: 15 miles on the Erie Canal! So many great projects for this unit! They did really great work on this. We are also singing songs about service and the school theme.

Music - Orchestra: Wow! Great work on this challenging music! Thanks to all who turned in practice records! Continue to try for 20 minutes a day! It shows.

Science: We are finishing up our first few investigations with a test about habitats, ecosystems, and our Ada Lake ecology Tuesday.

Spanish: Students are learning about the Spanish tradition of bullfighting. It will be informative yet generalized so as not to be disturbing to students. Tuesday Sept 24 will be our first vocabulary quiz.

Eighth Grade:

There is an additional permission slip for 8th graders as they are going to Camp Henry and Camp Scottie.

MAP testing has begun. 8th Graders will be taking the LA and Reading tests this coming week. Please help them to be sure to have plenty of rest and good food and come with fully charged computers each day. Thank you!

Art: 8th graders are working on cutting their block designs, proofing the cut designs, and getting ready for final printing. Students should have their designs cut and proofed by the end of class Wednesday, Sept 25. Please check the homework calendar for sketchbook and project due dates.

Bible Huttenga: We are continuing our way through The Last Battle and making connections to our theme. Comprehensive quizzes along the way.

Bible VN: We are working on the Parable Project from the book of Matthew. We will share Parables with Preschoolers next week.

History: We are finishing up Chapter 5 on the Road to the Revolution. We are going to continue reviewing in class this week and I am hoping to have the students ready for a test on Wednesday.

Language Arts: Reading Inventory for Week 4 is due Sept 23. Because of the short week we will NOT be having a spelling quiz. A schedule for major NHD due dates will soon be available once Mr. Huttenga and Mr. Witte have proofread and confirmed them.

Math - Algebra: We are working hard to master skills such as the distributive property, combining like terms, and linear equations. We will have a test on Tuesday.

Math - Geometry: Next week we will wrap up Chapter 1: Basics of Geometry. Due to the service project our test will be the following week Wed, Oct 02.

Math - Pre-Algebra: We are working through Chapter 2 on positive and negative numbers.

Music - Band: We are working on festival music. It’s going well! Encourage regular, scheduled practice at home. This will help us to succeed. Practice calendars are due at the end of September.

Music - Choir: We completed our first unit about music choices. Next up: more singing, listening to a variety of genres and choral music too.

Music - Orchestra: We are working on several pieces for Solo and Ensemble festival. Tackle the fast parts as well as the 3rd position sections! Playing quiz next week on Vivaldi and English Carol Collage.

Science: We finished talking about the Earth and sun relationship and are moving into looking at the moon and Earth’s relationship.

Spanish: Students are learning about idiomatic expressions in Spanish. We are also reading a lot in Spanish this unit! Our first vocabulary quiz is Tues, Sept 24.

Athletics

If you have any questions regarding your child’s sport season please contact: Angela VanDuyn (gro.naitsirhcada@nyudnava)

For all up to date announcements, schedules, sport sign-ups please visit our ACS 5th-8th Grade Athletic Website.