MS students are tasked to read three books of interest. Humanities faculty recommend titles from Maryland’s Black-Eyed Susan and Newberry nominees and award winners. While students are not required to generate a product (e.g. book report, poster, etc.), English classes are launched with conversations about students’ favorite summer reads. There is no need to bring in these titles in the fall; faculty encourage families to utilize their local libraries for books and suggestions.

Don't forget to check out the Scholastic Bookfair, open online all summer! Find reading lists for your student's age and reading level, and support the School, too!

Global Languages REQUIRED summer work for NEW 7th or 8th grade students: Click here for PDF, or see below.

Welcome to Sandy Spring Friends School! We hope you are excited to learn French or Spanish! In order for you to feel comfortable and be familiar with the material you missed in our program, we ask that you complete EACH Quizlet set created for you (below), in either French or Spanish.

Everything given below is optional and is meant to be used to help students be successful when they come back in the fall. If you have questions please reach out to heidi.duff@ssfs.org. Download PDF version of this information here. 

Below are the skills that students need to be proficient in so that they are successful in the class they are entering in the fall.

Sixth Grade Math

•  Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with whole numbers
•  Understanding of fractions
• Understanding of place value and decimals

Pre-Algebra

• Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with fractions
•  Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with decimals
• Understanding of negative numbers

Bridge to Algebra

• Solving one and two step equations
• Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with fractions, decimals and integers
•  Understanding slope
• Combining like terms and distributive property

Algebra

• Combining like terms and distributive property
•  Solving equations, including putting an equation in slope-intercept form
• Graphing a line in slope-intercept form
• Solving a system of equations by graphing

Geometry

• Solving equations and systems of equations
•  Evaluating expressions and using formulas
• Simplifying and evaluating radical expressions and equations
• Understanding scale factor
•  Applying area and perimeter to figures with algebraic side lengths

General websites to use to strengthen the skills above are listed here. Some of the websites have games, some are meant for students to do the work on them, and some allow for printing of worksheets to be done with paper and pencil.

• https://www.mathsisfun.com/
• https://khanacademy.org/
• http://www.math-drills.com/
• http://www.mathworksheets4kids.com/
• https://www.youcubed.org/resource/number-sense/
• https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55961/how-sidewalk-math-cultivates-a-playful-curious-attitude-towards-math
• https://ixl.com – if you have an account or want to create an account
• http://kutasoftware.com – for students entering Algebra or Geometry

Under normal operating conditions, the DC metro area is ripe with summer events and opportunities for enrichment in Science. All of the museums in the following list have great regular exhibits; in addition, we are providing some of the calendars and websites the Middle School Faculty use to find special events with our families. With the possibility that museum closures and event cancellations due to the risk of Covid-19 may continue through the summer, we are including some virtual suggestions as well. See below, or download the PDF.

For 6^th graders, who will study Earth’s systems and structures, some great options might be:

• Events at Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (usually free)
• The Irvine Nature Center
• Events at the National Aquarium

For 7^th graders, who will study Sustainability, some great options would include the above places as well as:

• Events at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (visits and talks are free, but classes, camps, and some events require tickets)
  Note: the Smithsonian is postponing or canceling all public events, programming and gatherings at least through July 1, 2020. In the meantime, they invite the public to explore the Zoo online by visiting nationalzoo.si.edu for more online collections, live animal webcams and educational resources.

For 8^th graders, who will center their study on the Human Body, some great options might be:

• The National Museum of Health and Medicine
• Events (including virtual opportunities) at the Maryland Science Center (also runs camps and classes)

Because of our spiraling curriculum in which every year of Middle School Science explores multiple scientific disciplines, there may be particular events or exhibits at all of the above locations that would interest students. In addition, there are a few event calendars that are not particularly tied to our curricula but often have things that are of interest to our students.

• DC STEM Network calendar
• Events at the National Building Museum (NOTE: all public programming has been canceled through the end of  September.)
• Events at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (usually free) 
  Note: the Smithsonian is postponing or canceling all public events, programming and gatherings at least through July 1, 2020. In the meantime, explore the Museum's online resources through the Air and Space Anywhere page and K-12 Learning Resources portal.
• National Geographic Museum Calendar

Virtual Opportunities for Enrichment:

• Varsity Tutors Virtual Summer Camps (enrollment is free!)
• Chemistry of Cookies
• Chemical Bonds
• Molecules
• Gregor Mendel

(Click here to download PDF of info below)

Under normal operating conditions, the DC metro area is ripe with summer events and opportunities for enrichment in the Humanities. All of the museums in the following list typically have great regular daily exhibits to visit. With the possibility that museum closures and event cancelations due to the risk of Covid-19 may continue through the summer, we are including links to their websites so you can check availability before venturing out. Many are offering virtual opportunities and activities.

Rising Sixth Graders: Movement and Activism

Local Day Trips:  The following Smithsonian museums on the Mall in Washington: National Museum of African Art, Freer Gallery and Sackler Gallery (Asian Art), The National Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, National Museum of the American Indian, National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of African American History and Culture. Also, the National Geographic Museum.

Book Suggestions:

• The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas  - Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

• Smile by Raina Telgemeier - Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir. Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.

• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Hunt - Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities.

Rising Seventh Graders: U.S. History from Colonization through the Civil War

Local Day Trips: In Washington D.C.: Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of American History, the National Archives, Frederick Douglass House (Anacostia), President Lincoln’s Cottage (Rock Creek Church Road, NW), Ford’s Theater (10th St., NW)

In Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia: Mount Vernon (Alexandria); Monticello (Charlottesville); Manassas National Battlefield (Prince William County); Antietam National Battlefield (Sharpsburg); Monocacy National Battlefield (Frederick); Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (West Virginia); Fort McHenry (Baltimore); the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (Washington DC to Cumberland, MD), USS Constellation (Baltimore).

National Parks: The National Park Service has many historical sites across the country. If you are traveling, check their web site for parks around the country.

Book Suggestions: 

• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - An orphaned young woman moves from the Caribbean to live with her aunt and uncle in the Puritan settlement of Wethersfield, Connecticut and struggles to find her place in a very different world.
• A Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials by Ann Rinaldi - While waiting for a church meeting in 1706, Susanna English, daughter of a wealthy Salem merchant, recalls the malice, fear, and accusations of witchcraft that tore her village apart in 1692.
• Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson - A yellow fever epidemic wipes out 10% of Philadelphia's population in three months. 16-year-old Matilda, separated from her sick mother, is forced to cope.
• The Fighting Ground by Avi - Thirteen-year-old Jonathan goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and discovers the real war is being fought within himself.
• The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss - Each of the girls in a middle-school clique reveals the strong, manipulative hold one of the group exerts on the others, causing hurt and self-doubt among the girls.

Rising Eighth Graders: U.S. History from the 1870s to the present

Local Day Trips: Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of American History, Baltimore Immigration Museum (Locust Point), Baltimore Museum of Industry (Key Hwy.), B & O Railroad Museum (Baltimore).

National Parks: The National Park Service has many historical sites across the country. If you are traveling, check their web site for parks around the country.

Book Suggestions: 

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - A classic coming of age story of an Irish American adolescent girl struggling to survive life in a tenement in early 20th Century New York.
• Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix - The story of the shirtwaist factory strike and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 from the perspective of two immigrant girls and the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Excellent history about industrialization and labor in early 20th Century America.
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse - The hardships of living in Oklahoma during the dust bowl in the 1930s told in a series of poems.
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor - The story of the children of an African American family living in rural Mississippi during the Depression. An instance story of the horrors of growing up in the Jim Crow South.
• Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells - As the Civil War breaks out, India, a young Southern girl, summons her sharp intelligence and the courage she didn't know she had to survive the war that threatens to destroy her family, her Virginia home, and the only life she has ever known.
• True North: A Novel of the Underground Railroad by Kathryn Lasky - Because of the strong influence which her grandfather, an abolitionist, has in her life, fourteen-year-old Lucy assists a fugitive slave girl in her escape.
• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt - The unforgettable story of young Jethro Creighton who comes of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War.
• The Cold War Pigeon Patrols and Other Animal Spies by Danielle Denega - How animals are used for espionage in a setting that deals with war.
• Crash by Jerry Spinelli - Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.
• The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss - Each of the girls in a middle-school clique reveals the strong, manipulative hold one of the group exerts on the others, causing hurt and self-doubt among the girls.
• The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers - An illustrated biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali that addresses his politics, his fight against Parkinson's disease, and boxing's dangers.
• Guts by Gary Paulsen - The author relates incidents in his life and how they inspired parts of his books about the character, Brian Robeson.
• Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson - Sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks inherits her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana in 1917 and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war in Europe.

• 2020-2021 Fall Sports and Electives Information
• 2020-2021 Arts Information

If your child is looking for something fun to do this summer, they can try their hand at making some of the recipes from our Virtual Baking Elective. Click here for a cookbook that includes step-by-step instructions and how-to videos. Bon Appetit!