Feb. 3, 2017
It’s not what you do for your children,
But what you have taught them to do for themselves,
That will make them successful human beings.
-Ann Landers
Dear Tinmouth School Community Members,
We are in the doldrums of winter and yet Tinmouth School is bustling with activity. We
have 12 students at Pico each Monday afternoon learning to ski and snowboard. Roughly
30 students are also headed to Georgetti Arena at the same time to skate. Teachers take
advantage of this early release time to participate in professional development.
As part of the teachers’ professional development, we are designing our WIN (What I Need)
Program. This is where the entire school focuses for 40 minutes three times a week on
working with small groups of children to strengthen academics. Our focus this semester is
on English Language Arts.
Speaking of academics, the students completed the NWEA this week. This test helps us to
assess (rather than access as previously suggested) our students’ progress and determine
instructional needs.
Valentines Day is quickly approaching. Students will be taking the bus to Wallingford
Nursing Home on February 10th, to sing for residents and give each a hand-made valentine
and carnation.
February 10th is also the date of the Tinmouth School Valentine Dance. This will be held in
the Community Center from 6:30 to 8:00. Our live DJ, Jonah Edge, will keep students
stepping lively with a variety of music.
Friday, the 10th is a busy day. The Tooth Tutor is coming to Tinmouth at 9:00AM. This
program focuses on the importance of dental hygiene.
Our basketball team stats are currently 4:5 (wins:losses). We’re midway through the
season and our players are going strong. Look for the game schedule that goes home
weekly and come cheer the Tinmouth Tigers on! When you meet up with our coaches,
please take a moment to thank them (Anna Marjorell and Tracey Carey) for their selfless
contribution of time and leadership!
Finally, Winter Break Is from February 20th until February 24th. Students return to school
on February 27th.
Keep in mind that if we continue to get snow and build up a solid base, we will be crosscountry skiing during our scheduled PE time on Fridays. I’ll keep you posted!
Yours truly, Maureen Fitzgerald-Riker
Calendar of Events:
Feb 6 – Ski or Skate ( Winter Sports Program)
Feb 10- Valentine Dance 6:30 – 8:00
Feb 13 – Ski or Skate ( Winter Sports Program)
(early release day)
Feb 23 – School board meeting 7:00 at Mill River
Feb 20-24 Winter break – No School
Feb 27 – Ski or Skate ( Winter Sports Program)
No school - February 20-24
Lunch Bills
School policy states that lunches should be paid in advance.
Lunch bills are sent home every Friday and should be paid on
the following Monday.
Students receiving free/reduced lunch may receive a bill for
extra milk. One milk is provided with lunch, if students take
additional milk they are charged for it. Please speak with your
child about additional milks if you do not want to receive bills.
Student Council Valentine Dance
Friday, February 10th , 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Grades 4th – 6th
Grades PreK- 3rd are welcome with a chaperone
Dancing with DJ Jonah or join the games in the game room.
Admission is FREE !!!
Refreshments: popcorn, pretzels, juice
LIBRARY NEWS
Students can earn a Great Escape ticket to be used this summer by reading for six hours.
Reading logs have been passed out to students and more are available on the door of the
school library, or print one out from the school website under the student dashboard and
Library/Media. When kids read for fun, they can be rewarded with fun at the Great Escape.
Students K-6th can also be read to, for credit!
Reading logs are due back on FEBRUARY 15th.
Happy Reading, ~Mrs Carr
REMINDER: Library books can be returned any time to the Return Box.
The last Wednesday of the month students will be able to get a new book if they don't have
more than 2 books out.
Another opportunity for students . . .
The Vermont State Treasurer's Office is once again challenging students K-6th to learn
about money and basic financial concepts and to R E A D. If students read 3 books from a
recommended reading list and continue to read anything of their choosing for 340 minutes,
they will be entered into a drawing for a college savings account of $250! There will
be 20 winners drawn!! Reading logs must be returned to the State Treasurer's Office
by MARCH 15, 2017.
LOGS and the RECOMMENDED READING LIST can be obtained at the school library.
Directions and the address are found on the reading log if you wish to send your form in
directly. Mrs. Carr will be happy to send in forms for you if logs are returned by MARCH 13,
2017.
Money books that the Tinmouth library has on the recommended list will be displayed and
ready for students to bring home on February 15th, right before winter break.
On monthly calendar:
February 15
LIBRARY DAY
Reading logs for GREAT ESCAPE due to Mrs. Carr
Wee Folk News:
ASK ME ABOUT:
Focus Questions:
What are signs of Winter?
What do we do in the Winter?
What are the qualities of snow?
MEETING TIME
Songs/finger plays-This is the Way (Winter movements), We’re Shoveling the Snow, A
Chubby Little Snowman, This is My Trunk, I’m a Little Snowman
CENTERS
Dramatic Play-vet office
Toys and Games-pattern block snowflakes
Library-Winter books
Art-snow paintings, letter snowman
Computer-star fall using a laptop
Discovery-investigating snow
Sensory-snow
BOOKS
(These books are connected to our focus questions)
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow, Winter, Outside, The Snowy Day, Snow, Snow is Falling, Why
is it Cold? Frosty the Snowman
SMALL GROUP
Games/activities included the following areas:
Paper snowflakes, snowman letter search, signs of winter books, snowman play dough
mats, snowman letter hunt, Valentine mailboxes
OTHER THOUGHTS
Happy Birthday Aliza!
Thanks so much for sending in an extra bag to keep your child’s snow gear. It has been a
huge help with keeping things organized.
Valentine’s Day-over the next couple of weeks we will have a post office in our room. We
encourage your child to bring in Valentine’s - a great way to practice names! Our party will
be Tuesday, February 14th at 2:20. There is a class list going home in their folders if you
would like to start working on your Valentine cards! We will be sending home a sign up
sheet for special snacks.
Kindergarten News:
We have had so much fun on our “trip” to China! From learning about family life we
have been able to compare and contrast how we live to those in another part of the world
and have found out that we have the same needs, but different ways of meeting those
needs. We learned to count to ten in Chinese and practiced the ancient art of calligraphy.
The Chinese New Year began last weekend. Students made banners to welcome in the New
Year as they do in China. We found out that there are twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac
and that they are celebrated in a cycle. This year is the year of the rooster. Many thanks go
to Madden and her family for gifting us with Chinese presents from their recent trip. We
proudly hang a Chinese rooster in the hallway with our banners. Each student found out
what animal was featured during his or her birth year and read his or her horoscope! Our
read-alouds have included Chinese folktales and stories. Students are now working on
writing their first informational piece after researching pandas. Even math has featured
problem solving around our Chinese theme.
Next Thursday should be our 100th day of school (no more snow days please!). We
often bring in items to count as part of our activities about the number 100. This year I am
asking students to bring in five to ten small items from home made in China for this
activity. It provides us with an opportunity to discuss economics as well as counting
practice. Zài hùi!
Grades 1/2/3 News:
Wow! It is already February. I hope everyone has been enjoying their winter. Personally I
could go for a little more snow. At least we have enough to go sledding most days at recess.
I just wanted to send out a friendly reminder that students should be bringing all
five pieces of winter gear every day. Those pieces are a hat, gloves, coat, snow pants, and
boots (with socks). We go out to play many days. The students really need to get outside
and get fresh air. This helps them to be ready for their academics in the afternoon. Also,
label each piece they bring in, that way if it is misplaced we can return it to its rightful
owner.
Our winter sports program is going strong. Students seem to be enjoying either
skating, skiing, or snowboarding. It is nice that we have the opportunity to go to Giorgetti
Arena to skate this year. A couple of friendly reminders: skating students will be back at
school by 3:20, in time to ride the bus home or be picked up by parents, but the skiing
students will not return to the building until between 4 and 4:30. The rest of dates for the
winter sports program are 2/6, 2/13, 2/27, and 3/6.
We are having a Valentine’s dance on February 10th. Student Council is putting on a
Valentine’s Dance. Pre – 3rd grade will need a chaperone; 4th – 6th may be dropped off.
Admission is free. There will be dancing and a game room. Hope you all can make it.
We will also be going to the Wallingford House for a singing Valentine trip on
February 10th. It’s another way we can reach out to the community.
27th.
February Break will be from February 20th – 24th. We will return to school on the
Hope you all have a safe and Happy February.
-Mrs. Coupe 
.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade News
January has been an extremely busy month. The students worked very diligently as
they completed their NWEA testing. Scores from these went home with your child on
Friday, February 3rd. I will be going over the results with parents at Parent/Teacher
conferences in March or you may call me at school if you have questions.
Many of our students are participating in the basketball program. We would like to
thank Tracy Carey and Anna Majorell for giving of their time to coach the students who
have signed up to be part of the team. The team works really hard to learn the
fundamentals of the game. These young women and men are a pleasure to watch if you
have an evening free and are able to catch one of their home games.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth graders have been very busy this month. They have
started a new unit that integrates their literature book with science. They are reading The
Templeton Twins Have an Idea, by Ellis Weiner and illustrated by Jeremy Holmes, while
learning to think like scientists. Learning the difference between what is really an
observation versus an inference through experiments was a fun activity. Unbelievably they
had no idea what film canisters were!
As part of their reading unit, we are studying our solar system. We had the privilege
of having a guest speaker come into our classroom and talk with the students. Dr. Jamie
Lomax, an astrophysicist from the University of Washington, spoke to the class. The
students had many questions concerning the solar system, what an astrophysicist actually
does, and why and how she became qualified in this field. They were shocked at how much
education one would need.
In January, the fourth graders have been working on a geometry module. They are
drawing and labeling lines, line segments and rays, and measuring and drawing angles.
During the rest of the module, they will be solving problems with angles and symmetry,
and classifying triangles and quadrilaterals.
Fifth graders continue to work with Module 2 in Engage New York that focuses on
using different operations for multi-digit whole numbers and decimal fractions. They are
learning to use the patterns of the base ten systems as they solve problems using addition,
multiplication, and division algorithms.
The sixth graders are continuing to strengthen their mathematical skills as they
develop their understanding of the four operations as they study division of whole
numbers, division by a fraction, and operations on multi-digit decimals. They are learning
how to divide fractions by fractions.
Our winter sports program has started. The students are enjoying either
skiing/snowboarding at Pico or ice-skating at Georgetti Park in Rutland. Everyone is very
excited about being able to participate in these programs.
The class and I will be looking for volunteers to help out with our upcoming
fundraisers. On Saturday, March 4th, the fifth and sixth graders will be selling lunch at
Tinmouth’s annual town meeting. The following Tuesday, March 7th, they will be running a
bake sale at the election polls. If parents can help out during the sale or provide baked
goods, we would greatly appreciate your help. There will be a flier coming home with
students prior to the sales. Thank you.
Gayle Wetzler