Denali Peaks Team 

Parents please sign up as Canvas Observers!  This is a useful tool for helping your student stay on track - you can monitor past and upcoming assignments as well as  grades that come from Canvas. Q is the official grade of record.  Here is the link if you would like to sign up:   ASD Parent Observer

Science (Williams) -  During this first quarter in 6th grade science, we will be working on ecosystems. We will be starting with various ecosystems as a broad definition and then start to focus more on smaller details. We will be discussing various animals, plants, weather, and biodiversity. We will be focusing on research projects and written work as well as some hands-on activities that are available in the 6th grade science kits. 

Math (Taylor) - During the first quarter in math, 6th grade will be working on both the area and volume of geometric figures. Students will work together sharing results and methods/strategies used to solve problems.

Social Studies (Bain) - Welcome to 6th Grade Social Studies! This quarter we are familiarizing ourselves with the Inquiry Cycle that will frame our learning. In unit I, we will be inquiring into the Five Themes of Geography, maps and map reading skills (longitude & latitude). Unit II will focus on Alaska. We will begin our studies of North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean) in unit III which will be continued in the second quarter. 

English/Language Arts (Dillman) - This quarter in 6th Grade Language Arts we will be working on the theme of Stories of Change. We will be writing personal narratives and focusing on reflection and responding to the text.

P.E. (Stoops) - Welcome to Hanshew from the Physical Education Department. To start the school year off, we are getting used to the routine of being in the gym, outside, on the track, and the multi-purpose room. We have been handing out lockers and gym shirts. If you wish to order shirts, those can be purchased through Parent Connect, or in person at the Handshew office.  Our first units have been taking advantage of getting outside as much as possible, playing softball, basketball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and soccer. As it starts to rain and get colder we will move inside, eventually permanently.   “Fitness Tuesdays” will continue all year, with students completing a fitness challenge for the duration of class. We also have been asking students to bring appropriate gym attire while in all of our classes, including and especially no Crocs, sandals or slippers.  Only athletic, non-marking sneakers are permitted in the gym.  We look forward to a good quarter with all of our students!

Affective Education (Worrell) - Welcome to Affective Education! In Quarter 1 we will be focusing on our conversation and social skills.   We are beginning with skills such as active listening, starting conversations, and joining in with groups. These will be our building blocks throughout the year as we work towards more advanced skills, such as emotion regulating and interpersonal skills.  

Revelation Mountains Team 

Dear Team Revelation Students, Parents, and Guardians,

We have successfully started a new school year. We are so excited to have this opportunity to teach your child this school year. During the 1st nine weeks, our Team’s goals include teaching organizational, study, and problem-solving skills in order to increase student academic success across content areas. In addition to those skills, we will also encourage students to demonstrate their knowledge by explaining and supporting conclusions with evidence. 

Language Arts (Franklin):

We are beginning the year with a unit on narrative writing. So far, some of the best moments have been reading the creative resolution paragraphs they wrote for the  short story, The Elevator by Wiliam Sleator. Soon we will begin reading and analyzing a variety of short stories. 

Math (Forbes):

Our 7th grade students are learning how to apply ratios and proportional reasoning to real world problems in math this quarter. After a review of these concepts at the grade 6 level, students will begin in the second week to tackle scale drawings and find the distance between two points on a map. Scale factor between real and drawn representations, the constant of proportionality between related quantities and data sets, and the derivation of the formulas for circumference and area of a circle are upcoming topics for weeks 4 - 9 of Quarter I.

Science (Magnuson):

Our year of 7th grade science starts off with learning about the scientific process.  Students will start doing Laboratory experiments, and will continue to have more of these activities throughout the year.  Students will also learn about graphs and measurement in this first unit.  After that we will jump into learning about living things and cells!

Social Studies (Stewart):

Our 7th grade social studies curriculum centers around world geography. This quarter, our students will learn about the “5 themes of geography” which are the foundations of geography and map reading skills.  In addition to the 5 themes of geography, our units of focus will include the geography of Alaska and North America. Our other areas of focus will be writing, citing evidence to support a position, organizational skills, and test-taking skills. 

Study Skills (Barrett):

In 6th - 8th study skills, students will learn a variety of study skills such as metacognition, time management, note-taking, studying to understand material, and more. Students will complete virtual check-ins throughout the week to monitor their progress in their classes and keep Mrs. Barrett updated on their classes. They will have time to work on missing work or homework. Students will also learn how to get and stay organized by utilizing a binder and planner, as well as weekly grade checks to monitor their class progress.

Social Skills (Barrett):

In 6th -8th social skills, students will learn a variety of social skills such as conversational skills, asking for help, apologizing, understanding feelings of self and others, and much more. Students will complete virtual daily check-ins that ask how their day has been so that Mrs. Barrett gets an idea of where they are when they enter the classroom. The class will utilize videos, role playing, modeling, worksheets, and conversation as a group to practice these skills. We also have a weekly game day, where students get to organically practice their social skills with their peers utilizing games such as Uno, Sorry, and more.

Cascade Mountains Team 

We have had quite a few parents sign up as Canvas Observers!  This is a useful tool for helping your student stay on track - you can monitor past and upcoming assignments as well as  grades.  Here is the link if you would like to sign up:   ASD Parent Observer

Science () -  In Science 8, we have discussed lab safety, and are examining the proper way to set up experiments using the scientific method. This includes independent, dependent, and standardizing variables, as well as control groups and formatting a hypothesis correctly. 

Math (McKenzie) - In Math 8, we are continuing our study of exponents and scientific notation. Algebra 1 students are working on solving radical and rational equations. And the geometry class is finishing up a unit on surface area and volume.

Social Studies (Dyer) - In 8th Grade Social Studies we are studying civilizations before the time of exploration and colonization. We will then study European colonization and the formation of the British colonies, along with the effects these had upon the peoples of North America and Africa. We are also planning a dedicated day to celebrate Constitution Day on September 17. Students are also  keeping up with current events and learning to use tools such as Padlet to create projects and assignments that we will use throughout the year.

English/Language Arts () - In 8th Grade ELA we are learning about the Hero’s Journey and working towards writing and creating an illustrated narrative about an original hero using the Hero's Journey archetype. These stories will be presented orally in class. Later in the quarter we will be working and learning to write a multiple paragraph essay on how each defines a hero as an individual and develop their own definition of heroism.

MOUNT OLYMPUS TEAM

 Mr. Swiderski's Social Studies classes:

We are off to an awesome start in 7th grade geography, and have been busy building our classroom culture, creating our social contracts and delving into our Introduction to Geography Unit. After completing our Overview of Geography notes and presentation, students are currently applying the 5 Themes of Geography to their own lives and families, and working on their “10 Things About Me (Geography Edition)” slide presentations. We will be continuing our “Intro to Geography” Unit, and will explore basic map reading skills, such as using latitude and longitude. After that we will be exploring the human and physical geography of the Great State of Alaska! So far I have been really impressed by our 7th graders and am looking forward to a great year.

Mrs Heath 7th Grade Science classes:

Welcome to Hanshew, Hawks!

We are very excited for this upcoming school year. During this quarter in 7th Grade Integrated Science, we will have a strong focus on introductory biology. Students will have a culminating cell model project that will build on their prior knowledge of cells and cultivate creativity. We will also be dissecting flowers in our reproductive unit. Students should come prepared with a charged Chromebook, dedicated science notebook, and pencil every day. I look forward to working with and learning from your student as we discover how science drives our everyday lives. 

Mrs. Heath

Hello!

My name is Mrs. Noel Lake, and I teach English Language Arts (ELA) to 7th graders on Team Mt. Olympus.

ELA has five focal points:

1) Reading Literature

2) Reading Informational Text

3) Writing (for numerous purposes and to varied audiences)

4) Speaking & Listening

5) Grammar

Each day will be dedicated to focusing on one or more of these focal points. SpringBoard is our curriculum. I will supplement that with lessons that have proven to work well in my 27 years of experience.

I believe it is imperative students not only learn the curriculum, but strategies to ensure they know how to best utilize that curriculum for their individual learning styles. In that, I will share with them many strategies throughout the year.

To keep the communication lines between home and school going strong, students will be required to write our class agenda in their Planners every day. (I will also type the agenda in Canvas daily, so parents and absent students can see what we’ve been doing.) Please feel free to email me at lake_noel@asdk12.org or (students through Canvas) if you ever have any questions or concerns.

Yours in education,

Mrs. Noel Lake

Mount Olympus ELA

Hanshew ELA Dept. Chair

Hello,

I am the Life Skills 2 teacher, and I am on team Mt. Olympus. Here is the hawk highlight for my classroom. I have never written one before, so if you have any suggestions or feel it needs changes, please let me know. 

"In the Life Skills 2 classroom, we are excited to embark on a new school year filled with growth and learning. This quarter, we've been focusing on mastering our routines and developing the skills needed to be successful both in the classroom and within the school community. We're also diving into our unit from the Unique Learning Systems curriculum titled "Our Leaders; Our World." Through this unit, students are exploring the roles of leaders and governments while also learning how to be leaders in our own school. This unit ties in all academic areas, life skills, and each student’s individual learning goals, making learning both meaningful and impactful."

Thank you,

Anna Foley

Life Skills 2 Teacher

Special Education

Hanshew Middle School

Patricia Garcia

Team Olympus

Math 7

Hello Hawk Families! Math 7 has started the year with a review of equivalent ratios and converting measurements to get students back into the practice of learning math skills. Most students completed their iReady Diagnostic in class this week, and next week there will be MAP testing on September 4, 5, and 6, so please sure students get plenty of rest. The rest of this quarter, students will be exploring proportional relationships and learning how to add and subtract rational numbers.

Welcome Wolverine Peak families! 

We are excited to be a part of an amazing team! 

● Arlene Chico - English Language Learners 

● Caleb Jurkowski - Math 

● Lisa Jackson - Health 

● Joseph Morrow - Language Arts

 ● Lynea Laws - Language Arts / Special Education 

● Nicholas Oliver - Science

 ● Paula Smith -  Social StudiesELL 

Ms. Chico

Newcomers Social Studies - This class is for ELL (English Language Learner) students who  are new to the country. Semester 1 is Geography and Semester 2 is US History & Government. English language skills development is embedded in this class. 

ELL Newcomers English Language Arts - This class is for ELL students who are new to the country. This class is heavy on English language skills acquisition and development, from phonological instruction using SIPPS to enhancing skills using the ASD's Springboard curriculum. 

ELL Newcomers Math - This class is for ELL students who are new to the country. It is for honing students' mathematical skills using the district's iReady Mathematics curriculum and practicing Math in the spectrum of English language. English language skills development is supported in this class. 

ELL Newcomers Science - This class is for ELL students who are new to the country. Semester 1 is Ecosystem unit and Semester 2 is Physical Science unit. English language skills development is incorporated in this class. 

Strategies of Success (ELL Support) - This class is designed to help students acquire skills that can help them become successful in academics. The skills focus include being organized, time management and study habits. This class' purpose is also to strengthen the reading and writing skills of ELL students using the CARE and IVF Summary strategies for Reading and the Step-Up-To-Writing curriculum for writing.

Mr. Jurkowski

Algebra-We are off to a great start with a new district-wide Algebra curriculum! Our first unit is a comprehensive look at single-variable statistics. Class time is often based around activities where (so far) students have been collecting and displaying data. Much of the rest of the unit will revolve around analyzing data. After our statistics unit, we will dive deep into what most remember of Algebra – equations! 

Math 8 – After some warm-up and review of some relevant math topics, we’ve jumped into the first unit on geometry. Specifically, we are focusing on transformations of figures. This is a great starting point for us as a class because all students will find success, and it will set us up for working more in the coordinate plane. This will be a packed year of math as students prepare for high school! 

Math 6 – We have had an exciting start to our math class as for most students, this is their first opportunity to change classrooms for different subjects. We have been working to set expectations for the year by reviewing some past topics that will quickly be used in our first unit - Expressions and Equations: Area, Algebraic Expressions, and Exponents. This seems like a hodgepodge of topics, but it is a good review and overview of grade-level math. Much of our time this year will be in the development of operations of numbers: decimals, fractions, integers, and percents!

Mr. Oliver

Advanced Science 8 - In Advanced Science 8, we are beginning our forays into naturalism and scientific observation by studying plants and fungi from the boreal forest ecosystems outside of the classroom. Soon, we will dive into the scientific method and metric measurement. 

Science 8- In Science 8, we are beginning our forays into naturalism and scientific observation by studying plants and fungi from the boreal forest ecosystems outside of the classroom. Soon, we will dive into the scientific method and metric measurement. 

Biology- Animals of the World In Biology, we are beginning our study of animals by analyzing cells - the building blocks of life - under the microscope. Soon, we will begin our studies of bugs and small Alaskan rodents and vermin.

Mr. Morrow

Language Arts -  In 8th grade Language Arts, students will engage in the Alaska State Standards, which build on the concepts, skills, and activities of 7th grade. Throughout the course, students will have the chance to read material of their choosing in addition to assigned texts. Students will complete major writing assignments in the genres of narrative, informational/research, and literary analysis. Students will also be instructed on 8th grade language standards. This course is designed to engage and challenge students in order to prepare them for the rigors of high school.

Ms. Jackson

Health - Welcome to 8th Grade Health. During our Semester we will be covering Social, Physical, and emotional health. To include Human Sexuality. The courses will teach students the importance of healthy living and exercise. Increasing health knowledge and developing healthy behaviors in our students to become well-rounded individuals. Students will be introduced to and participate in activities that will help them learn to set and achieve health-related goals and work with others in multiple situations. During the Health portion of the class, students will have an opportunity to explore health-related topics in detail and learn positive decision-making skills. 

Ms. Smith

Social Studies -  8th grade Social Studies will be studying the first unit Three Worlds Meet.  The “I Am From” project will end with a celebration to be announced with a potluck.  I will be using historical narrative, “Blood on the River” to introduce the colony development in America.  If you have any questions, please contact me, smith_paula@asdk12.org.

Dr. Laws

Language Arts -  Hi, welcome to ELA!  I'm Dr. Laws, a teacher new to Hanshew MS. This year, we will be working on reading comprehension and analysis, writing skills, language and vocabulary, critical thinking, and media and research. Most assignments will include the use of technology. Intergrating technology enhances engagement, personalized learing, collaboration, access to resources, and prepares students with essential 21st - century skills.

TEAM ALYESKA

Ms. Straley

In Math 6 and 7, we've successfully created a social contract, maintained our daily routines, and delved into engaging math games like Blooket and Gimkit. We’ve also started using Steve Wyborney’s Esti-Mysteries, which the students are really enjoying. Additionally, we’ve been concentrating on diagnostics to monitor our progress and then moving into working toward a class reward by earning a set number of 100% scores on MyPath in iReady.

Ms. Harper

The students have done wonderful getting used to the routines and behavior in class.  They are so awesome!  In 6th grade Integrated Science the students have gone outside and studied Energy Pyramids.  Next week, starting the 3rd, they will view cells through the microscope and study plants.  I am hoping they get to the planting as well.  The week after that we will study food chains and food webs.

     In my Biology class the students studied the cell and its organelles.  Next week they will view single cells under a microscope.  Then, they will begin studying insects.  When the dissection specimens get here, they will begin dissections with the grasshopper.

     Please remember that everything presented in class, like videos and powerpoints, are on CANVAS for them to refer to if they are absent.  I still need Kleenex for class.  I loved meeting everyone at the open house.  I am so excited to be teaching science here at Hanshew Middle School.

Ms. Labadan

The 6th Grade LA classes have been showing potentials both in reading and writing. We started exploring the first story of Unit 1 in the Springboard. They were immersed in multiple skills in reading like summarizing, asking questions, evaluating the story and citing text evidence. The LA classes are also doing independent reading activities every Monday and home readings for the rest of the days.They were thoughtfully following their seat charts and answering the bell work. Independent and collaborative  table group activities are in place and the kids are adjusting to these procedures very well. 

Mr. Deckert

Welcome to the start of the school year from the Physical Education Department. To start the school year off we are getting used to the routine of being in the gym, outside, on the track, and the multi-purpose room. We have been handing out lockers and gym shirts. If you wish to order shirts get a hold of the Handshew office! To start off the year we have been going outside and playing softball, basketball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and soccer. As it starts to rain and get colder we will move inside and do more things in the gym. We also will be having “Fitness Tuesdays” where students will be asked to do a fitness challenge for the duration of class. We also have been asking students to bring appropriate gym attire while in all of our classes. We look forward to a good quarter with all of our students!

Ms. Grant

Students watched CNN 10 news and wrote a summary on one of the segments. Students were also engaged with physical geography activity as they identified what physical or human geography is. They also color a world map by placing the continents with its correct color. 

MONTES ROOK TEAM

BAND

In sixth grade band, we are learning instrument families, genres of concert band repertoire, and how to assemble instruments. Students are learning embouchure and breathing techniques as well as making the first sounds on their instruments. 

ORCHESTRA

With 6th grade orchestras we learn how to hold bows and instruments. Also, we learn names of each string for different instruments, different clefs and places of every string note on five-lines staff. 

CHOIR

Students in Choir are beginning their Choir Ninja training journey! They are working towards completion of their first belts for Choir Karate and are also becoming acquainted with Solfege as well as hand signs for singing.

UKULELE

Students in Ukulele are in the preliminary stages of getting comfortable navigating the instrument! Families, please remember that the Ukulele Loan Agreement form and rental fee receipt must both be on file for students to take ukuleles home to practice.

ART

We welcomed 6th graders to the Hanshew Hawk family this year and we are excited to see their creativity. How can your imagination be used to see letter forms as important design elements? Digital art students are answering this question with their whimsical letter character designs. How does art help delicious recipes be enjoyed? Art Survey students are exploring this with food contour line illustrations. Some student artists will alternately investigate landscape art contour lines.  See their work shining out soon in the upper halls. Looking forward to a great year of creating!

SPANISH

Spanish 1 classes will be learning basic introductions and pronunciation.  Their culminating activity will be a presentation in which they will use basic sentences to describe themselves.  From there we will be moving into our our 1A and 1B specific units of study.  1A will work on the alphabet, basic numbers and present tense of the the be verbs.  1B will be jumping into travel and vacation and continuing working on present tense verbs. 

Highlights - CTE-Career Technology Education

What is CTE - CTE is Career Education Technology and it covers a broad range of skills and knowledge related to real world workplace and careers. As a teaching team, we strive to prepare students for decision making and participation in middle school, high school, and beyond.

Family Consumer Science : Mrs. Cam

New equipment arrivals for Family and hand sewing starts on Monday. Students will be learning to use different stitches to sew buttons and to make a hand sewn stuffy. Mrs. Cam requests clean and lightly used or new socks for the stuffy project. 

Computer Technology: Mr. Bolling: 

6th graders are enjoying their new ChromeBooks and they are working on the digital learning platform on Canvas. 7th and 8th grade is enjoying the new Dell Computer Lab and advanced Coding on New Dell Computers. 

Applied Technology: Ms. Johnston: 

Engineering process with our first project of designing a skimmer with the goal of having CO2 race cars by the end of the year. Ms. Johnston attended Hanshew Middle School and has since completed two Masters Degrees in International Fisheries Science and Geophysics. She will be with us as a long term guest teacher  until the end of 1st Semester. 

Computer Technology and Video Production: Mrs. Price

Classes are working on design and engineering process skills: problem solving, asking questions, and developing academic collaborative skills. We are working with real world materials and digital applications. We are beginning with Google Applied Digital Technology units on Google Drive File Management and Google Animations

Mrs. Dallas Price, M. Ed

Hanshew Middle School, CTE

907-742-9930