August Newsletter
WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY!
Museum Updates
Our museum is getting ready for the Open House Showcase on Friday October 4 from 5:30-6:30 pm! The Museum Contract with all of the important museum dates can be found here. There are several opportunities to help us get ready, including signing up for build days! Click the link here. You can also donate various needed supplies. The list can be found at the end of the newsletter.
We are so excited to highlight some amazing National Parks to Hall County 5th graders who will be able to come through our museum on their field trips!
Math Corner
In Enhanced Algebra, we have had a blast solving equations, and we have recently moved to graphing linear equations. In Geometry, we are beginning a unit on quadrilaterals and transversals through parallel lines! All of our students have been focusing on a growth mindset- please take some time at home to ask your kids to explain "progress over perfection"!
IMG_0286.MOV
IMG_0287.MOV
English Corner
With our theme of "Journey Into the Unknown," Ninth Grade Literature has started the year with a dual focus: museum research and the Hero's Journey. Museum wall text has given students a chance to work on their informational writing, while our study of Greek roots has helped develop vocabulary skills. Students have also been analyzing short stories using the Hero's Journey and delivering presentations about the heroes of ancient civilizations.
Ga. Studies Corner
Our year began with learning all about Georgia's 5 geographic regions. Students were busy studying maps and visuals for our state. The pre-historic time period was our next stop, and students learned about the Mississippian Indians who were the first to encounter Europeans, specifically Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer who journeyed through Georgia. This week students completed their first Socratic Seminar over Christopher Columbus. Lots of learning and creativity happening in Social Studies!
HS Physical Science Corner
We kicked off the year with Science Process Skills and our first lab - Density Lab! Then we rolled right into Unit 2: Motion and Force with another lab and more activities to understand the relationship between displacement, velocity and acceleration.
September will continue with learning the concepts of Force through Newton's Laws, Free Fall, and Work/Mechanical Advantage of Simple Machines. The initial unit test will be Friday Sept 13. At this point, students will pursue a portfolio as they prepare for the final test or an enrichment project. The final test will be on Sept 24. At that point, we will begin Unit 3: Energy and Heat.
At home, students should be discussing these concepts of motion and force to enhance their understanding - adding the vocabulary terms learned in class to everyday activities like driving, sports, etc. Discussing their learning with friends and family and finding every day examples at home can really help solidify the concepts!
The First Day we did a human coordinate grid to learn more about each other!
Pictured above: Students learned about density, lab supplies and lab skills through various ways to find density. They plotted data of various amounts of volume and mass of marbles to find the linear regression to determine density, found density of regular objects through measuring volume of density blocks with a ruler, and the density of irregular objects through Archimedes Principle and finding volume by submerging them in water in graduated cylinders.
Pictured above: The motion lab where students measured distance and time and then calculated velocity. They did this by hopping on one foot, walking backwards, and rolling various sized balls down a ramp they designed on the sidewalk outside. Students also explored these concepts of displacement, time, velocity and acceleration through a motion card sort the did in class to understand motion graphs. They then created their own graphs with the activity My Graphing Story!
Unit Celebration: Journey Into the Unknown
On Friday, the students enjoyed a fun-filled day of discovering various Journeys into the Unknown through stations in the morning. We had representations of this journey in math, science, social studies and ELA. In the afternoon, students organized scripts and costumes and put on skits in the afternoon highlighting their hero's' journeys.
Updates:
Remember to follow our DVA Facebook page to see your children learning, exploring, and creating this year! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562546417654
Picture Day is Friday Sept. 13th, and we would love to have your help with this event.
We need five volunteers for each of the following times:
8:00am - 12:00pm and 1:15pm - 2:30pm.
If you would like to help, please reach out to Griselda Silva at the front office or by email at griselda.silva@hallco.org
Museum Build Days coming up NEXT WEEK! Sign up for build days! Click the link here.
More details will be coming soon about the Savannah Trip! The trip has been submitted to the board for permission. It does look like it's going to be March 10-12 and be approximately $650 (before fundraising). Chick-fil-a biscuits are underway to help decrease the costs. You can volunteer here. If you have other fundraising ideas, we would love to set up some more fundraisers this year! If anyone has a cabin or something similar to donate toward a raffle, that would be great! Please email Coach Greene for suggestions or if you'd like to head up the fundraising committee: holli.greene@hallco.org
For all volunteering opportunities, go to our DVA website volunteering page here.
Save the date: Veteran’s Day
Monday November 11th
We invite our students to bring any family member that is a Veteran to breakfast at SHMS.
We will send out a formal invitation and sign-up list for breakfast items in late September.
Museum Wish List
We are looking to borrow a Life Size Fake Deer (yard décor or Christmas yard décor)
Christmas Trees - without lights! Thinking of getting a new artificial tree? We will take your old one--particularly if it doesn’t have lights permanently attached.
We need someone with a truck to pick up five sheets of Owens Corning 2” x 4’ x 8’ insulation foam. I can pay for it in advance and have it at pick-up or you can purchase it and I will reimburse you (+ $250) when you bring it to school. kelly.schollaert@hallco.org
We are looking for someone handy with tools to make us this STREAM TABLE for our upcoming museum. We will happily pay for materials but need it ready by the end of September.
https://www.mrhollisterphoto.com/stream-table.html
THE DVA Sponsored Tech Club & Chess Club are so popular--we need parent help to supervise.
Volunteer hours while having fun with students!
Tech Club is Wednesdays 3:15-4:30 (edwin.rosado@hallco.org)
Chess Club is Thursdays 3:15-4:30 (matt.wildeboer@hallco.org)
For Full Updates from Ms. Schollaert, click here.