For the Week of 11/27 - 12/1

A Message from Dr. Clapp
Classroom Peeks
Counselor's Corner
Happenings
Get involved!
Community Clicks
and Upcoming Events

Dear HKMS Families,

Trimester 2 started today! Unbelievable that we are now officially 1/3 of the way through the school year. T1 report cards will be finalized next Thursday and report cards will be accessible on Monday 12/11. At a PTO meeting Wednesday night I delivered a presentation about some of the more nuanced and detailed information available on PowerSchool. I have linked the slide deck below this message. This weekend is the perfect time to review PowerSchool with your child. The last thing any of us want is a grade lower then expected. Mistakes happen and teachers can make those correction now. After grades are finalized on Thursday, it is much harder to get a grade changed.

Other than grades (and the slippery passage of time), the other major difference between T1 and T2 will be a new FPA for all students. Whether your child took PLTW, Art, or Health, they will be on to a new one of these courses this trimester. This is very exciting as they delve into some of our most creative, compelling, and necessary classes at HKMS. Note: the music and PE rotation remains the same throughout the year.

It was a busy return from the Thanksgiving break! We had a great PTO parent coffee on Tuesday as we discussed part one of Smart but Scattered Teens. Our discussion was both enlightening and challenging. We look forward to circling up again for our next book club coffee on January 24 when we will discuss part 2 of the text. If you're interested, but couldn't make it, please let me know and I will send a copy of the book your way. We also held auditions for the spring Musical Finding Nemo Jr, with nearly 40 actors trying out! Our critical friends from the Tristate Consortium were in the district this week, investigating how effectively we have implemented the district's strategic plan. Teachers, students, and parents were interviewed and visitors observed many of our classes. We look forward to the feedback they will provide to help us grow!

This busy week is not over yet! Tomorrow is the 48th annual HKMS Pancake Breakfast! Please come over to HKMS between 8:00 - 10:00 for breakfast and help support the 8th grade end of the year celebrations! All proceeds go to the 8th grade council. I hope to see all of you there tomorrow!

Hoping you all have a fantastic Friday and wonderful weekend (with pancakes)!

Sincerely,

Steven Clapp, Ed.D.

PTO Presentation Powerschool Parent Portal November 2023 (2).pdf

A glimpse inside of the terrific teaching and learning going on this week at HKMS!

Grade 6

Mr. Bernardi's students are studying the first interactions between the Indigenous Americans and the Europeans, namely the Spanish. Students are reading Encounter by Jane Yolan. The essential question for the day was: “What was the first encounter between indigenous Americans and the Spanish like?” By reading and discussing this short story, the students are presented the perspective of the Native Americans to help them empathize and understand how the Taino felt about the explorers coming to their land.

Mrs. Maggi's scientists are completing reports on the thermal diffusion of liquids. Interdependent groups are seen here preparing their reports. We really love the WIN approach to organizing their independent work time!

Grade 7

Up in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood students are planning out their narrative writing using sophisticated techniques. They are using a core novel to examine character development and the use of figurative language that they will utilize in their own writing.

Dr. Baca's scientists researched and created these beautiful diagrams of ionic and covalent bonds! Each diagram describes the properties, similarities, and differences. More importantly students uncovered WHY these bonds happen and WHY they are important. That's so Baca!

Grade 8

Civics education has never been more important or more interactive! Mr. D's historians are in their civics unit and running through simulations that expose them to the challenges and tough decisions on big issues, like paying off the deficit, maintaining the balance of power between the 3 branches, and passing laws.

P8 Uglies RT.mp4

Mr. Jockers' students presented their original reader's theater scenes. Each performance was recorded and the students watched the recording and self-assessed their work using a rubric.

Gr. 8 Personal Interest Project (or PIP)

Dear 8th Grade Families,

Today, Friday 12/1, students started a new part of eighth grade advisory, called PIP (Personal Interest Project). The PIP "provides an opportunity for students to follow their passions and complete a project where they can “learn, solve, make, or do” while mastering high leverage skills necessary for school and beyond" (Skills21).

Please talk with them over the weekend and help them brainstorm some ideas they might want to explore for this project.

Things to consider:
- What issues are important or matter to me?
- What skills do I want to improve upon?
- Is there a new skill or hobby I want to learn more about?
- What are problems in my community and how can I help?
- How I connect with friends, family, and/or community members, to help with this project?

Some Real PIP Examples:
- Learning American Sign Language to sign a children's book
- Create an interactive map of the historical sites within town
- A video series based in the family kitchen cooking with Nonni and learning about her past.
- Create own lures and baits to use in fishing competitions.
- Researching how to obtain a boating license, studying, and successfully earning the license
- Tapping Maple Trees to Make Maple Syrup
-Creating Comic Strips to Improve My Drawing Skills

This is a project that will take several months so it is important students are invested in it.

The best way for students to stay motivated is to ensure they are truly interested in the topic.

Parent Info Sheet for PIP.docx

FPAs

EGGS AWAY! The end of the trimester marks the awesome experience of the EGG DROP CHALLENGE in PLTW. Student-created vessels were put to the test and the results were impressive! This was so eggs-citing!

Mrs. Burnham, our school counselor, teamed up with Mrs. Tiani to help students set smart goals related to their learning growth. They worked on the step by step process of drafting a goal that is specific, relevant and attainable.

Sixth grade health students presented their "Choose Your Own Nutrition Adventure" projects this week. They were able to select a nutritional topic of interest to them, research it and present their new learning to the class.

S.M.A.R.T Goals
By Kristen Burnham, HKMS School Counselor

Congratulations on completing the first trimester!

This marks a perfect opportunity for you to have a reflective discussion with your child about the celebrations and challenges they have experienced thus far this school year. It would be beneficial to review the challenges and come up with a plan for improvement in the upcoming trimester.

At school, we are working with the students to help them formulate SMART goals to strive towards for the remainder of the school year.

SMART stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Timely

By setting goals, your child is essentially providing themselves with a target to aim for. A SMART goal is a valuable tool used to guide goal-setting endeavors.

Learning about goal setting and achieving goals is a life skill. Goals play a crucial role in every facet of life, offering a sense of direction, motivation, a clear focus, and clarity of importance.

This week in health class, Mrs. Tiani and Mrs. Burnham have been working with students on setting an academic goal, a social/personal goal, and a career-focused goal. Each student's goals are unique to their personal growth journey. Students are encouraged to save these goals on their Google Drive, allowing them to refer to them at various points throughout the year

Events, activites, and other occurrences that happened at HKMS this week outside of the classroom.

The First Edition of The Keller Courier is out!

Click on the image to the left or past this hyperlink into your browser:

https://sites.google.com/er9.org/thekellercourier?usp=sharing

Nearly 40 students auditionsed for Finding Nemo Jr on Thursday! We hope everyone breaks a leg (in the theatrical sense).

Finding Nemo will be performed on March 8th (evening) and 9th (matinee).

Last year all current 7th and 8th graders received Easton Public Library Cards on their spring visit. We wanted to be sure all our students have access to this wonderful resource! If you are a "new" to Easton family or a 6th grade family, please fill out the form above and we will arrange for your child to receive their card in the next few days!

Extra-Curricular Activities

Below are all the planned clubs and activities we will be offering this year.

CLICK ON THE CHART BELOW TO OPEN THE FULL DOC.

As each activities start date approaches, we will publish flyers of each club with more details below.