By Julie Keys on 10/28/2007

    Happy Halloween to all of you celebrating this year.  With Halloween upon us, as well as the start of Keystone trips - have fun Ms. Embry and Ms. Root's classes - we're entering an even busier time than usual!  However, as always, we start with some homeroom-related announcements!

    If you have not already, please make sure that you send in all Keystone forms and payments as soon as possible.  If you have not already handed in your forms, and feel any hesitation whatsoever in doing so, please get in touch with me!  I can promise you, as someone who had this experiences many (we won't say how many) years ago, it is one of the most memorable educational experiences your child will ever have!

    Another reminder - we are still collecting for our "Great Outdoors" gala basket.  Please, if you have not already, please ... Read More »

By Julie Keys on 10/20/2007

    Here we are again, ready for another exciting week.  Before we get into the academic side of the agenda, we just have a few quick reminders regarding upcoming events.  Let's begin with Keystone Science School, which is only a few weeks away!  Please remember to hand in all forms as soon as you can.  If you are in need of finanacial aid, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can start the process right away.  If you have any other questions related to KSS, please feel free to touch base with me.

    Also, don't forget to make your donation to our homeroom's Gala basket.  As you know, our theme is "The Great Outdoors," so we are asking that your donations relate to this theme.  If you have any questions regarding this, please contact either me or Shana Zonies, our contact parent for this project.

... Read More »

By Julie Keys on 10/18/2007

Hello all!  I just wanted to post a reminder to you about our Gala basket.  Our basket's theme is the Great Outdoors.  We would truly appreciate you taking the time to find a fitting donation for this basket.  If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me or Mrs. Zonies, who is our point parent on this project.  Thanks to those of you who have already donated to the cause!

By Julie Keys on 10/16/2007

Hello to all once again!  It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to meet so many of you during conferences.  It is wonderful to work in a place where the parents are so vested in their children's success.

Please do not forget to complete and return all forms for KSS.  A note about the packing list - please make sure that your child brings EVERY item on that list.  This is to ensure your child's health and safety, not to mention warmth.  If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to touch base!

On to the academic side of things...we have a very busy week planned in Theme.  We will be finishing our unit on inventions with the distribution of the Make-Your-Own-Invention mini-project.  This is an at-home assessment project which will be due in class on Monday, 10/29/2007.  Also, I am happy to announce the OFFICIAL beginning of our trimester project.  Students will be ... Read More »

By Julie Keys on 10/5/2007

Hello again! With conferences upon us, our week is a bit short, but important goings-on will occur. Most importantly, the Keystone Science School information packet is being sent home in this week's Monday folder. It is of the utmost importance that students bring them to class on Tuesday, as we will have the chance to discuss these documents in detail. Please make sure to look these documents over carefully yourselves. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch! I will also be in touch with the chaperones in the next couple of weeks. I truly wish we could bring all of the generous parents who volunteered their time, but we are unfortunately limited to two! THEME: On Wednesday of this week, students must be prepared to present the I Am an Atom oral report and 3-D model. We are spending the majority of this day in Theme, so I expect to get through all projects. As for the rest of the week, we will tie in the concept of inventors with thinkers, examining how this combination would influence ... Read More »

By Julie Keys on 9/28/2007

Hello again! Well, another week of fun and learning has come and gone, and another one is upon us. Just a quick update - I still am unable to edit the Language Arts and Math tabs on the team's homepage, so I have again updated those classes' happenings here. Now, on to the important stuff! One of the many exciting, and challenging, features of teaching gifted students is our ability to find a topic fascinating enough as to throw us onto a different track. THEME: So it went last week in our Theme class, when we became caught up with atoms and elements. As part of this study, students have been assigned to complete two projects from the Matter Experiments worksheet at home. These experiments are due this Wednesday. Our study of this topic will then draw to an end in the classroom; however, by the middle of the week, students will have been assigned an atom on which to report in the mini-project I Am an Atom. Students will be expected to research the features and history of an assigned atom. Research ... Read More »

By Julie Keys on 9/20/2007

What a fun week last week was! After shaking off the effects of jet lag, I was able to really get to know my students. They are truly an outstanding group of young people! Now, of course, we have finished with the preliminaries, and the real work can begin! Just a quick note - the edit function on my Language Arts and Math tabs is a bit dysfunctional, so these updates will be listed here along with our theme update! Our theme class this week will conclude our unit on matter, and continue focusing upon inventors and inventions. Be on the lookout for the Inventors project information, which should be introduced late this week or early next week. On the social studies side, we will be examining the early roots of representative government, and how these roots influenced early colonial governments. Students have been preparing in-class reports on a specified colony to present as newscasts. The Language Arts class has begun its study of vocabulary; our root words this week are hyper and super (or supr, sur ... Read More »

By Julie Keys on 9/16/2007

Hello again! I hope last week treated you well, and this week is even better! As many of you know, I went to Florida to spend time with my family over the holidays. Unfortunately, I ran into a bit of a snag on my way home. It seems that the plane upon which I was to travel was missing a piece of the wing. All thought it was best to delay the flight, but the result is a one day delay in my return. My apologies for this, as I much rather be with my students than on a plane! However, life, and school, does go on! So, this week will see many new beginnings. In honoring Constitution Day on Monday, September 17, our Theme Social Studies class will begin the week with a quick glance at the roots of the U.S. Constitution. Our Theme Science class will focus more on inventions, and our trimester project should be introduced towards the end of this week. In Math, our class will begin its unit on money and related mathematical functions. Math books will be going home on Tuesday. Please make sure that your stu ... Read More »

By Julie Keys on 9/8/2007

Welcome to Week 3. I'm sure as the past weekend began, your students came home and finally exhaled, relieved to have another round of testing complete. I congratulate each and every one of these students, who behaved and performed admirably over these past two weeks. Now, we move on to a more normal schedule. Wednesday of this week will see the beginning of our Literacy and Math groups. In our social studies-based theme class, we will embark upon a review of the colonization process in what would become the United States; our science-based Theme class will also commence this week, as we begin our study of matter. (Associated homework can be found on my calendar.) Just a quick note - I will be out of school Thursday, September 13 and Friday, September 14 to observe the Jewish holidays. If you have any questions, I will make sure to do my best to answer them; however, I will be out of contact for those two days. Thanks for all of your support and assistance; have a wonderful week!

By Julie Keys on 8/31/2007

***By Friday, September 7, each student should choose a book appropriate to his or her own reading level and bring it to class for silent, sustained reading.  Also, please make sure that your student has a planner ready to go no later than Friday, September 7!