Newton In A Nutshell

By Stefan Toi

Just this month, students in the fifth grade at Middle Gate School have started to learn about Sir Isaac Newton and his discoveries. To continue and learn more about him, students took a trip to Mrs Fagan’s science lab and did a few experiments.

Students placed a plastic plate on a miniature tarp. Students then had to pull the tarp as fast as they could so the plate would not move. Dan La Vega said, “My technique was to pull fast and straight or down.” But since Newton had so many great discoveries students had to do many more activities. Students then took two “smooth” magazines and put one page on top of the other until all was done. Mrs Fagan then asked for two strong volunteers. They then muscled up and pulled as hard as they could to rip the magazines apart. But it could not be done until…

Some students grabbed the corners and then they were successful. The last experiment students completed was similar to one using the tarp. Students placed a quarter on a card on top of a cup. Students then used the same techniques as the tarp to get the quarter in the cup. If the quarter slid they were not successful. These activities only scratched the surface to what the fifth graders at Middle Gate are really in for. All students are eager to continue on in our research of Sir Isaac Newton’s discoveries.

1,000 Paper Cranes

By Joanna Barry & Lauren Busser

At Middle Gate School, the fourth graders read a book titled Sadako and the Thousand Cranes. In the story, Sadako tried to make 1,000 paper cranes but she became sick and died before she could make them all. The fourth grade teachers decided to make 1,000 paper cranes since Sadako was not able to. This was a lot of work because each student in the fourth grade was supposed to make 10 paper cranes. Mr Sullivan, a fourth grade teacher, said that about 35 students finished making their cranes so there are about 350 cranes hanging outside of the classrooms. This project was a very interesting thing to do and it was all done by the fourth graders at Middle Gate School.

DARE Graduation

By Joanna Barry & Kathleen Brown

On March 14, 2001, fifth graders from Hawley School, Head O’ Meadow School, Sandy Hook School, and Middle Gate School in Newtown celebrated the DARE Graduation. In order to graduate from DARE each student had to write an essay about DARE. The purpose of the DARE graduation was to recognize the students who participated in DARE and what they accomplished. The graduation went well this year because students cooperated. At the end of the graduation, the students watched a slide show on DARE and showed pictures of the students who were in this program. DARE was a great program for all the fifth graders who participated in it.

100th Day!

By Nicole Benzinger & Natasha Kokoszka

Mrs Smith’s class really had a blast on the 100th Day! First, students completed a math worksheet that had 50 addition problems and 50 subtraction problems. For the first time, she allowed 100 seconds. Then she timed the students to see how long it took to finish all the problems. After students finished math, they had a scavenger hunt in the classroom. Each question had a 100 theme. One question was, “How many years in a century?” The answer was 100 years!

At the end of the day, grades 3-5 went to the gym and sang the “100th Day Song.” Mrs Popovich wrote the song and students sang it three times before popping balloons. The song was a blast! The 100th Day in our classroom was fantastic and was really fun!

Family Fun Night

By Christopher Parker

About two weeks ago, students from the first to fifth grade participated in Family Fun Night. Family Fun Night was a chance for children to play with their parents and fellow classmates in the winter. They played cooperative games like “Titanic” and “Make It Take It.” There was also a station where everyone could do aerobics.

For “Titanic,” there were several mats set up in a row not touching each other. Objects would be used to help the students get from mat to mat until they got to the back of the cafeteria. Objects like scooters, cones, and jump ropes were used.

“Make It Take It” was played in the gym and it was a basketball game. About five students, with their parents, had a basketball and they tried to shoot to the basket on the other side of the gym. They played against another team that was across from them. Each team had five pins. When a basketball was shot and made, the person who made it took the opposing team’s pin.

Last there was “Aerobics” in the Art Room. In “Aerobics,” we did sit-ups, hula-hoop hopping, push-ups, chair-ups, step-ups, jumping jacks, and stretching big rubber bands.

Family Fun Night was a great chance for kids and their parents to get out and do something in the middle of the winter.

Shadows Show A Lot!

By Taylor Boles

On Ground Hog Day, Mrs McCready’s class used flashlights to see their shadows. Everyone who has been in her class loves the activity. It’s great that the children learn and have fun. Shadows are part of science in first grade but she saves it to teach on Ground Hog Day. The children learn a lot from this activity. They learned that a surface is needed to see shadows. Also, an object has to block the light.

Madison, a first grade student, said it was fun to see her shadow on the wall. Also, she liked how it could shrink and grow.

What a great way to learn science!

Bubbling Over With Reading Excitement!

By Kristen Gucciardo & Kelsey Phillips

At Middle Gate School, Mrs Huitt, the reading specialist, has started her reading program again! This year, instead of earning spots for your class bug, each class earns a bubble to add to their cauldron. If a class reads 50 books, it earns one bubble. If a class reads 100 books, it earns two bubbles.

One night at her house, Mrs Huitt came up with this bright idea. “The reading program was started to encourage students to read,” Mrs Huitt said during our interview. “The point of the reading program is to earn bubbles to represent how many books you read during the school year. It is a friendly competition.”

So far the class that has read the most books is Mrs Torpey’s second grade class. They have read 1,650 books and have 33 bubbles! Who knows which class will stir up the most bubbles in the end.

100th Day!

By Melissa Dowd

Here at Middle Gate School, students celebrated the 100th Day by making a collection of 100 things. Projects were turned in to Mrs Fagan, the math/science specialist. In our classrooms, students enjoyed playing fun games that consisted of a 100 theme. In Mrs Sevarino’s class, students played fun math games like 100 multiplication facts, 100 addition facts, and 100 subtraction facts in a certain amount of time. It was really fun! Students had 100 minutes of reading to challenge how much time they could read without getting up or stopping. Students also made 100th Day stories just for fun. Everyone had a fun time and our celebration ended with singing the “100th Day Song” and popping balloons in the gymnasium.

Rockets For The 5th Graders Of MG

By Dan De La Vega

The fifth graders at Middle Gate School are studying Sir Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion. But now they have gone a step ahead by beginning to study how a rocket/space shuttle moves and works. The students in each of the four classes in the fifth grade have rockets, which were built with puzzle pieces.

Students wrote up 15 definitions of key terms involving rocketry. They used index cards and drew a picture with the definitions. A few students were excited about the assignments.

Chris Parker said, “I like it and it’s cool. It’s also neat to build rockets and experience the laws of motion by watching and studying about the three Laws of Motion Newton created.”

Soon, the fifth grade will be building rockets to see how Newton’s three Laws of Motion work in real life by launching them. Each class will get a turn. Overall, the students are enjoying studying Newton’s Laws of Motion.