Fifth Grade Is

Constructing Rockets!

By Dan DeLaVega

The fifth grade students of Middle Gate School built their own rockets to wrap up Newton’s three Laws of Motion. Mrs Fagan, the science specialist, guided students in the construction of the rockets. Each of the classes had two sessions with Mrs Fagan. Now the whole fifth grade has completed building their rockets. The fifth grade teachers each set up times to launch their class rockets. Chris Parker said, “They are really fun.” Kathleen Brown said, “It is totally fabulous.” Launching conditions must be a clear day, low wind (it is better if there is no wind), and little rain. Mr Breyan’s class along with Mrs Conti’s, Mrs Smith’s, and Mrs Kuruc’s classes launched their completed rockets. Some of the rockets were retrieved. Some of the rockets were not retrieved because of the distance they were from the launching pad, and what direction they went in. The rocket project for the fifth graders really took off!

Market Day Helps Playground Fund

By Samantha Villa And Kelly Lindell

Middle Gate School is busy at work trying to raise money for its new playground for third, fourth, and fifth graders. One of the ways the school is trying to raise money is through “Market Day.”

A large variety of foods can be purchased from the brochure, such as pizza, chicken, and ice cream. The brochure is sent home with students, filled out, and brought back into school.

Purchases from the brochure are picked up in the school’s cafeteria. The Middle Gate PTA along with parent volunteers help run the event. The school receives a portion of each sale to help pay for the cost of the playground.

Interesting, But Slimy

By Kathleen Brown

Middle Gates fifth graders dug up all the information they could about worms! During the week of April 29, students started learning about worms. They did a series of experiments. Dan DeLaVega said that his favorite experiment was the temperature test. For that experiment, students needed to place a worm halfway between a towel with an ice pack below it and a towel with a heating pad below it. The worm then chose a side. Students then made a conclusion on what they had observed. Other experiments were similar, such as the light and dark test or the sand or soil test.

Experiments were only a small part of the worm study. Students also had to dissect the worms. They were asked to cut open the worm and find organs such as the heart and the intestines. It was thought of as a scavenger hunt! Worms may be slimy, but they are very interesting!

Earth Week At Middle Gate

By Chris Parker

Earth Week is more than just picking up trash and recycling bottles that you normally wouldn’t. Earth Week at Middle Gate is making earth bracelets, making little radish planters, looking at endangered animals and invertebrates, and learning about recycling and pollution. We made “earth bracelets” by taking rawhide or a pipe cleaner and placing six beads on it. The first bead was yellow for the sunlight, the second bead was clear for evaporation, the third bead was dark blue for ground water, and the sixth bead was green for plants. We then tied it to our wrists and wore them for the whole week to show our care for the earth. Then we made radish planters. Radish planters are little small tubes that we fill with dirt and put in one or two radish seeds. We watered it and took care of them. Most grew. Then a science bus came from the Connecticut Audubon Society and showed fifth graders endangered animals and invertebrates. Last, we learned about places to recycle, items that are recyclable, and pollution and how we can cut down on it. Earth Week was great at Middle Gate and we learned so much!

The Lion, The Witch And Mrs Kuruc’s Class

By Mary Alice Upshur And Taylor Bales

The talented actors in Mrs Kuruc’s class have had a blast reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The students were sad to finish the book but perked up again when they heard about the wonderful project they were about to work on. A play! Some students did plays and some did game shows or a talk show. The students were put into groups that were to put together a project about the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The students wrote their own scripts and also designed their own costumes. The students thought about the main characters and the important events in the book. They had two weeks to put it all together. Mrs Kuruc had many reasons to do this project. “I wanted the students to have a creative outlet to show me they had mastery of the text,” said Mrs Kuruc. “I wanted to encourage group team work, organizational skills, and let the students show off their creative sides.” Once they were all done it was time to present. Two teams performed each day (March 28 and 29). The parents came to the performance. Good job students from Room 31!

‘Bee’ Reporters Are Buzzing With Excitement

By Jennifer Tichon

Do you like writing about things that are happening in your school? The Bee club starts at 7:45 every Thursday. Mr Breyan is The Newtown Bee teacher.

Before he was a teacher, he worked as a reporter for the Connecticut Post. Mr Breyan wanted to stay involved with reporting because he had a lot of wonderful experiences being a sports reporter for seven years.

Mrs Ambrosio, a former teacher at Middle Gate, asked Mr Breyan if he wanted to take over the program. She had taught it for two year before Mr Breyan. Mr Breyan truly thinks that being a Bee reporter is good for students and it will help them because it is a different genre of writing. Mr Breyan thinks it is important that kids write about what they like or enjoy. The Bee is fun and Mr Breyan is helpful.

RRD And CP

By Kathleen Brown

Respect, responsibility, and understanding diversity are extremely important, and that was the exact reason for the assembly held at Middle Gate School. A puppet show was held for students and teachers called “Kids on the Block.” The assembly was about cerebral palsy or CP. Three students from Quinnipiac did a puppet show sponsored by Middle Gate’s RRD (Respect, Responsibility, and Diversity) Committee. The puppet show involved two friends named Melody and Mark. Mark had CP and throughout the performance Melody learned more and more about CP and they soon became close friends.

The assembly was very informative. Melody learned the CP caused some of Mark’s muscles to be stiff, so he talked differently and he had to use a wheelchair, or as he called it a “cruiser.” The show taught students to treat everyone equally. It can be hard to have a disability.

The celebration puppet show taught students a lot. Respect, responsibility, and diversity should be applied to everyone, including people with CP!

Learning About Explorers

By Dan DeLaVega

Fifth graders at Middle Gate School constructed time lines on explorers recently. Mrs McGough, the media specialist, was the students’ guide.

Students chose explorers such as Neil Armstrong and Ponce De Leon. Some students even picked Michael Jordan.

Each student had to research their chosen explorer through the use of two or more resources such as the Internet, books or magazines. Students had to include a bibliography.

Stefan Toi said the activity offered him an opportunity to sharpen his technology skills. All of the time lines were due during the first week of May.

Morning Book Club

By Katie Aiello And Candice Woods

The first meeting of the Breakfast Club was May 4. The students in Mrs Kuruc’s fifth grade class plan to read the book The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.

The students attended the meeting with their parents to discuss the book before school. Taylor Boles said that she is looking forward to reading and talking about the book with her father.

“I want to have the parents get involved with reading so this is where the book club comes in,” Mrs Kuruc said.

Creating Yearbook Pages

By Marissa Bobkowski And Zach Richter

Since it is the fifth graders’ last year at Middle Gate School, Mrs McGough, the media specialist, and the Yearbook Committee decided to have the students make their own yearbook pages.

For the past three years, Mrs McGough has been teaching fifth graders how to design yearbook pages. Students had to put all of the technology skills they learned to use during the activity.

The fifth graders had a lot of fun working on their yearbook pages. “It was a really interesting way to do it,” Mia Malin said. Chris Parker added, “It was cool that we got to make our own yearbook pages.”

Mrs McGough said that the winning yearbook pages for each of the four fifth grade classes came out great. “I think each class will be proud of their work,” she said.

Look for the fifth grade pages in the yearbook!

Trip To The Circus

By Katie Aiello, Missy Dowd, Candice Woods, Mary Alice Upshur & Taylor Boles

Middle Gate fifth graders got a chance to clown around… at the circus. Students attended Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus May 18 at the Hartford Civic Center as part of the study of animals.

Students watched as tigers, zebras, camels, llamas, miniature ponies, and elephants trotted by. Of course there were trapeze artists and plenty of clowns filling the floor.

After the circus, students had plenty to say about the wonderful event. “The circus was awesome,” Samantha Villa said. “They make dreams come true.”

It was truly a fun field trip!

Jump Rope For Heart Fun

By Lauren Busser

Earlier this year, students had a ton of fun participating in “Jump Rope for Heart.” Students helped to raise money for the American Heart Association by jumping rope in the school’s gymnasium.

Mrs Laura Cooper, the school’s physical education teacher, ran the event for the students. She said that the students thoroughly enjoyed jumping. The students were able to use all of the jump rope skills learned in physical education class, such as single rope, long rope, double Dutch, and more.

Mrs Cooper worked with a teacher from another school and that is were she came up with the idea of bringing “Jump Rope for Heart” to Middle Gate School.