Student Newspaper Nov. 2013 - Totoket Valley Elementary School

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
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.
*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!
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...
Hi readers, this is Mikey and
Trent writing about the school
(continued from p.1)
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
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.
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 4th Grade
and taught for 11 years.
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.
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!
3
Jackie Robinson
by Mikey Ricci
Kate
DiCamillo...
(continued from p. 3)
by Mikey Ricci
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born
Januar y 31, 1919 in Cairo,
Georgia. He was the youngest of
five children raised by his single
mother.
He was the
first AfricanAmerican to
play Major
L e a g u e
Baseball.
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.”
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
Pe n n a n t . H e a l s o l e a d t h e
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 AfricanAmerican 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
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 impor tant
product t hey 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
“I think it’s good the way it is because
we have security guards and teachers
we have all the doors locked and
everywhere.”
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