Totoket Valley News Kate DiCamillo Visits TVES! by Ava Candelora NOVEMBER 2013 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1 Kate DiCamillo came to our school on October 17, 2013. We had a whole school assembly in the gym. She talked about the time when she was young, and she also talked about some of her books. Kate talked about the book The Tale of Desperaux and other favorite chapter books. We also had a book signing in our library for anyone who purchased a new Kate DiCamillo book. After the book signing I had a chance to talk with Kate. During our interview, Kate talked about the book signing. She only signed The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses. I sat down to ask her some questions. Read my interview with Kate inside this edition of Totoket Valley News! TVN Reporters Ava Candelora, Grade 3 Carolyn Heffernan, Grade 3 Alex Astorino, Grade 3 Mikey Ricci, Grade 5 Trent DeFrancesco, Grade 5 Mia Deloughery, Grade 5 Mr. Amodio, Grade 3 Teacher The Totoket Valley Newspaper was written and designed as part of a special project of our After School Enrichment Newspaper Club. Article ideas, artwork, and other features in this newspaper are all original ideas of our student writers, editors, and designers. The following newspaper is a result of their hard work over the last 6 weeks. We hope you find this information useful! Inside this issue: Inside Scoop on Dr. Lindsay Feature Teacher: Mr. Carpenter Comic Corner School Safety 2 3 5 6
Upcoming Events: Early Dismissal November 27th Thanksgiving Break November 28th-29th TVES Band Ensemble December 20th Report Cards Issued December 20th First Day of Winter December 21st Holiday Vacation December 23rd - January 1st Martin Luther King Jr. Day January 20th Health and Wellness Fair January 24th Jump Rope for Heart January 24th *compiled by Mikey Ricci Magic Mailbox Holiday Photography Contest Submit a photo that captures one of your favorite holiday season traditions. Include a title that describes the photo and/or engages the viewer by Wednesday, December 18th! The Inside Scoop on Dr. Lindsay Written by Mia Deloughery, Grade 5 I wanted to get some inside scoop on Dr. Lindsay because no one really knows how she feels about working at our school. I was wondering if it s a hard or easy job so I interviewed her on October 18, 2013. Dr. Lindsay is honored to work at this school watching kids learn, play, and make new friendships. She wants to add Spanish into our schedule because she thinks it s an awesome talent to speak the language. Also, she wants to add fourth grade band because then you can play for two years instead of one. She doesn t think it s really hard to run a school. She actually finds it fun. She said it is not too hard, and not too easy, but just perfect. Dr. Lindsay enjoys TVES because she gets to work with great people and amazing kids every day. She thinks her staff members are amazing, and even better than amazing. As you can see Dr. Lindsay is a great person because she has a big heart and runs an amazing school! 2
Fifth Grade Band by Mikey Ricci and Trent DeFrancesco Kate DiCamillo... About Mr. Carpenter by Carolyn Heffernan Mr. Carpenter wanted to be a gym teacher when he was little and he went to gym. He liked gym and his gym teacher because they were fun and exciting. He was inspired to be a gym teacher because he played a lot of sports like football, basketball and lacrosse. Also, he wanted to help kids with health. Mr. Carpenter worked at JHS and TVES from 2007 to 2010. Now he only works at TVES. This year it is going to be his sixth year working here. Hi readers, this is Mikey and Trent writing about the school band. We interviewed Mrs. Tedeschi and found out there are 28 trumpets, 24 trombones, 35 clarinets, 28 flutes, and 5 drums in our school band. Mrs. Tedeschi loves her band students and hopes that the students will like playing and will enjoy learning about their instrument. Here are some facts about Mrs. Tedeschi: She plays the French Horn and she loves listening to music. Also, she has played since 4 th Grade and taught for 11 years. 3 (continued from p.1) Ava: Do you enjoy wri1ng books? Kate: I enjoy the finished product. Ava: How do you get your ideas for wri1ng? Kate: I listen and look and carry a notebook. Ava: Do you like gedng interviewed? Kate: I do not mind. Ava: How does it feel to be an author? Kate: It s the best feeling in the world. Ava: What job do you have besides wri1ng? Kate: Nothing else. Wri1ng is my full 1me job. Technology Corner www.xtramath.org Check out this free website where you can practice your addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Complete fact quizzes, keep track of your progress, and try to race the teacher!
Kate DiCamillo... (continued from p. 3) Ava: How do you feel going to TVES? Kate: I had a spectacular 1me. Ava: What inspired you to write? Kate: I love to read and wanted to tell a story. Ava: How do you feel about wri1ng? Kate: It s hard but I am glad to do it. Ava: How did you feel when you got denied 437 1mes? Kate: It hurt my feelings. Jackie Robinson by Mikey Ricci Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of five children raised by his single mother. He was the first African- American to play Major L e a g u e Baseball.! In 1944, he began playing in the Negro Leagues. He joined the white Montreal Royals, which was a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was booed and received threats because he was black. In his first year, he hit 12 home runs and helped the Dodgers win the National League Pennant. He also lead the National League in stolen bases and was selected as "Rookie of the Year." He retired on January 5, 1957 with an amazing career batting average of.311. In 1962 he was the first African- American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He died from heart problems and diabetes on October 24, 1972. In 1972 the Dodgers retired his uniform number 42. Major League Baseball retired the number 42, so the last person that will ever wear the number 42 is Mariano Rivera and he retired at the end of last season. INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT LEGO by Mikey Ricci Since I love to play with my LEGO sets, I thought I would share some information on the LEGO company. In 1932 Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded the company that would later be famous for the plastic bricks. LEGO is the abbreviation of two Danish words "leg godt" which means "play well." The first toy they made was a small wooden duck but the most important product they developed was eventually the plastic bricks, which were twice named "Toy of the Century." In 1949 the company developed the plastic bricks, calling them Automatic Binding Bricks. Eventually in 1958, the company changed the name to LEGO and sold them in many countries around the world. They eventually came to the United States in 1973 and LEGO USA was established in Brookfield, CT. In 1975 LEGO USA moved to Enfield, CT where they still are today. In 1964 people were finally able to purchase LEGO sets which had all the parts you would need to build a certain model. Later on LEGO created themed sets like towns, space, pirates and even Harry Potter! A fact about LEGO that I found interesting is that they are the fourth largest manufacturer of toys in the world. The best thing about LEGOS is that "all you need to have fun: some blocks and imagination!!"! 4
COMIC CORNER by Trent DeFrancesco 5
Do you think TVES is a safe place to learn? by Ava Candelora Drew Girardi, Grade 3 Dalton Rice, Grade 5 TVES is a safe place to learn because we have security guards and teachers everywhere. I think it s good the way it is because we have all the doors locked and security guards at the door. Brandon Fratta, Grade 5 Anna Fratta, Grade 4 Yes, because we have security guards at the front desk. I like it because we have cameras. 6