What’s HOT at Lincoln...

HOT News HOT News HOT News HOT News

March/April 15 , 2011

Lincoln Middle School

DAR Essay 2

Physical Education

Update

2

Teacher Spotlight 2

LMS Book Drive 3

PTSL Meetings 3

Science News 3

Hot Schools Info 4

Inside this issue:

Please Mark Your Calendar

• April 19-22: NO

SCHOOL Spring Vaca-

tion

• May 9-23: MDA testing

• May 30: No School Me-

morial Day

• June 20: Last Day of

School

Higher Ord

er Thinkin

g

Higher Ord

er Thinkin

g

Higher Ord

er Thinkin

g

LMS Welcomes New Staff! Each edition a new staff member to Lincoln will be highlighted here.

Volume 4, Issue 6

Lincoln Middle School warmly welcomes Mr. Dan Smith

to our staff. Before coming to Lincoln Mr. Smith worked

as a custodian at Nathan Hale School and Hanover

School. He has worked for the Board of Education as a

custodian for almost 10 years. In his spare time, he en-

joys working on projects around the house and yard. He

loves to golf and is a big Nascar fan. He goes to the Do-

ver Nascar race every year in September with his friends.

Lincoln Middle School warmly welcomes Mrs. Raechel

Gulick to our teaching staff. Before arriving at Lincoln,

Mrs. Gulick taught at Memorial Middle School in Mid-

dlebury, CT. She earned her Bachelors Degree from Cen-

tral Connecticut State University in Art Education and

her Masters Degree in Math Education from the Univer-

sity of Bridgeport. Mrs. Gulick enjoys teaching, travel-

ing, cooking, photography, scrapbooking, and spending

time with her husband and her two year old son, Chase.

Welcome Officer Felton!

Lincoln Middle School warmly welcomes Officer

Glenn Felton to our staff! Officer Felton will be

Lincoln’s School Resource Officer, replacing Offi-

cer Welles who has gone to Iraq. Officer Felton

has worked for the Meriden Police Department for

27 years. In addition to being a School Resource

Officer, Officer Felton is a Field Training Officer,

a Hostage Negotiator, and rides Mountain Bike

Patrol. He also is a Cultural Diversity Instructor as

well as a Hate & Bias Crime Instructor. We look

forward to working with him here at Lincoln!

HOT News Page 2

At a recent staff meeting we recog-

nized Ms. Robin Wolk as the LMS

Teacher of the Month for March.

Ms. Wolk is a Speech & Language

teacher at LMS. She is one of the

outstanding members of LMS who

make up the faculty.

Teacher Spotlight—March/April

HOT News Page 2

HOT Happenings…. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY AR POINTS YOUR CHILD HAS?

Daughters of the American Revolution

American History Essay Contest

Congratulations to Tyler DeCosta! Tyler is the Lincoln Middle

School winner of the annual American History Essay Contest spon-

sored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Tyler will rep-

resent Lincoln at an upcoming state competition. Good Luck Tyler!

At a recent staff meeting we recog-

nized Mrs. Shelley Chordas as the

LMS Teacher of the Month for

April. Mrs. Chordas is a Reading

Specialist teacher at LMS. She is

one of the outstanding members of

LMS who make up the faculty.

Physical Education Update

We have selected Olivia Carbone and Anthony Nieves as

Physical Education student stars for terms 2 and 3 respec-

tively. Luke DeMay was chosen for Health Education

term 1. Students were chosen based on their outstanding

character, consistent effort and respect towards others.

Olivia, Anthony and Luke are great Lincoln Middle

School role models. Congratulations and continued suc-

cess.

Lincoln Middle School will participate again this year in

Project A.C.E.S. (All Children Exercising Simultane-

ously). Project A.C.E.S is part of National Physical Edu-

cation and Sport Week, (May 1-7, 2011).

Further details will be provided after spring break.

The spring athletic season is now underway. The softball

and baseball teams have been selected and practice is

underway, weather permitting. The season opener is a

home game Monday April 11 against Dag of Walling-

ford. Listen to announcements for further details.

Track and Field has begun try-outs and a team will be

announced soon. They will have their first meet April 15

at Cheshire High School against Dodd and Washington.

Have a great season players and coaches.

Sixty minutes a day of physical activity is recommended

for adolescents. The activity may be completed in seg-

ments or all at once. Students are encouraged to practice

curl-ups, push-ups and stretching on a regular basis at

home. Walking, jogging, cycling, jump rope, dance and

swimming are excellent activities to improve aerobic en-

durance. A few examples of outdoor activities include

tennis, golf, hiking, basketball, softball, baseball and soc-

cer. An excellent site for further information is

mypyramind.gov.

Activities students participated in this past term included

volleyball, fitness testing for grades 6 and 8. Grade 6 and

7 also participated in a circus and cup stacking unit.

Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 3 Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 3

PTSL Meeting Calendar May 10, 2011

ALL MEETINGS START AT 7:00pm and are

in the LMS Office Conference Room

News from Science

Steps in the Scientific Process

by Reading Rockets (2011) http://www.readingrockets.org/article/40493

One way parents can help children become interested in science is by explaining the scientific process. The scientific process

is the way scientists go about asking and answering scientific questions by making observations and doing experiments.

Step 1: Ask a question: For the first step, help your child form a question, hopefully one that can be answered! Good ques-

tions start with question words: How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where? For example, which cup holds the most

water? Which of these four objects do you think will float in water?

Step 2: Do background research: For young kids, background research can include talking together about what they already

know about the question they're asking. Maybe you have a book or have seen a show about the topic. The goal for this step is

to engage your scientist in some thinking.

Step 3: Construct a hypothesis: A hypothesis is nothing more than a good guess at an answer to the question from Step 1. Ask

your child, "Do you think the red cup or the blue cup will hold more water?" "Do you think the nail will sink or float? Do you

think the tin foil boat will sink or float?"

Step 4: Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment: Here comes the part you and your child have been waiting for! Help

your scientist carry out the experiment. Encourage your child to be a careful observer of everything that happens. Talk about

the steps to the experiment. "First, let's fill up our pitcher with water. Then, slowly pour the water into the cup." Step 5: Analyze the data and draw a conclusion: This step is all about results. What happened in the experiment? Ask your

child, "Did the foil sink or float?" "Which cup held the most water?" At this stage, help your child answer the question devel-

oped in Step 1.

Step 6: Share your results: Encourage your child to talk with siblings and other caregivers about the experiment. Have him

talk about the steps used to conduct the experiment and what he learned.

Science experiments can be quick and fun to do at home. Sharing the scientific process with your child will help him begin to

think and plan as scientists do.

LMS Book Drive: An Amazing Success!

LMS students collected an astonishing 3, 500 books to donate

to our local Community Book Bank. The Book Drive was run

by 6th grade Student Council members, McKensi Gudrian and

Kailey Ryan. They diligently encouraged LMS students to do-

nate books to this worthy cause and it paid off. What was their

trick? Pizza! We owe a big thank you to Illiano's for donating

pizza to Mrs. Desroches' winning homeroom. Their class col-

lected over 700 books! Lincoln Middle School students did an

amazing job helping to put books in the hands of many chil-

dren!

H.O.T. Schools Philosophy

The Lincoln Middle School Mission

Lincoln Middle School supports the mission of the Meriden

Public Schools: success for all students. The LMS community

places a special focus and emphasis upon the arts and media

curriculum. We believe each child should have a well-rounded

educational experience that will allow learning through the

exploration of arts and media. The arts and media curriculum

offers special opportunities to fulfill the human need for self-

expression.

Students are motivated and challenged through an academic

program that engages their imaginations in dance, dramatic

arts, musical arts, visual arts, broadcasting and video, and

creative writing. Incorporating the arts in education promotes

the learning of life skills and develops critical thinking. The

arts generate the excitement that motivates student involvement

in the school community. Participation in the arts, with its

multicultural foundation, offers a wide range of human experi-

ences fostering respect for others, building self-confidence,

nurturing self-esteem, and developing self-discipline.

interdisciplinary curricula that promote

deep learning of subject matter, higher-

order thinking, creativity, adaptability, and

teamwork.

The HOT Approach to teaching and learn-

ing is comprehensive. It considers the

whole child, teacher, artist, administrator,

and school community. Professional devel-

opment supports teacher growth and paren-

tal involvement, and leads to personal re-

newal. The strong presence of teaching

artists and parents is a distinctive feature of

the HOT Approach.

HOT Schools has developed its whole-

school change approach by weaving best

practices in arts in education with the needs

and experiences of urban, suburban, and

rural school communities. Through careful

planning, application, reflection, and redi-

rection, the HOT Approach to teaching and

Strong Arts—In HOT Schools, the arts are

rigorous academic subjects, each with its

own sequential curriculum conveying

knowledge not learned through other aca-

demic disciplines.

Arts integration—HOT Schools integrate

the arts across disciplines, creating arts-rich

environments that motivate students to

make connections between and among sub-

ject areas and ideas.

Democratic Practice—HOT Schools culti-

vate a democratic school culture that em-

phasizes individual leadership and encour-

ages all members of the school community

to contribute.

HOT Schools strategically link learning in

the arts to learning across the curriculum.

HOT school arts teachers and classroom

teachers work collaboratively to structure

learning has emerged to enhance the

growth and development of each participat-

ing school.

Lincoln Middle School

Learning in and through the arts!

Phone:203-238-2381

Fax: 203-238-7258

Info_lms@meriden.k12.ct.us

164 Centennial Avenue

Meriden, CT 06451

We’re on the webWe’re on the webWe’re on the webWe’re on the web

http://www.meriden.k12.ct.us/http://www.meriden.k12.ct.us/http://www.meriden.k12.ct.us/http://www.meriden.k12.ct.us/

lincoln/lincoln/lincoln/lincoln/

FLASH!!! Spring is here! Students

must continue to adhere to the BOE’s

dress code policy. Please see page 58 in

the Meriden Public Schools Code of

Conduct book.