If you made a list of all the things you could be thankful for, the list would undoubtedly be longer than your misfortunes." Catherine Pulsifer

Dear Tinmouth School Community Members,

Leaves are falling, days are shorter, and mornings are a bit nippy…autumn has arrived! School has been in full swing for two months now. Our initial battery of tests has been administered. The children are using these assessments to design their goals both academically and socially. Many have shared these goals with parents during parent teacher conferences in late October. Teachers are using these assessments to inform their instruction and to critique and align components of curriculum.

This year we’re implementing two new curriculum programs district-wide. The first is an English Language Arts program entitled Louisiana Believes. The second is Eureka Math. You may have heard of these programs through conversations with your students or teachers. These programs are being implemented district-wide as recommended by legislators for merging districts. This common ELA and math curriculum allows both students and educators to move fluidly between elementary schools within the district. The goal is to create coherence among the four MRUUSD elementary schools so that these schools can be viewed as one entity spread out among four campuses. Each school of course, has it’s own unique character!

Speaking of characters, the children’s Halloween celebration was a huge success thanks to the thoughtful activities and treats coordinated by Tinmouth PTO. The staff and children appreciate the generous donation of time and talent!

The students had an opportunity at the board meeting on October 19th to showcase their talents. Our fifth and sixth graders presented their six-week study of engineering and physics principles learned through the National Starbase program. Third and fourth grade biologists demonstrated their scientific process for studying bees. We’re very proud of all of these children!

If you missed the presentation on the 19th, you can show support for our young scholars on November 9th when they will be participating in the Best Foot Forward Celebration at Mill River School from 6:00-8:00 PM. This event includes activities for young children (painting and movies), a showcase of student work throughout the district, and an opportunity for community members to build a vision of what our district will look like in five years. The class with the greatest parent participation on the 9th will receive a pizza party! Come and celebrate our students’ achievements!

Warm regards,Maureen Fitzgerald-RikerPrincipal, Tinmouth Elementary

Calendar of Events:

Nov 4: Talent show at Mill River 7 PMNov 6: Daylight Savings – Turn clocks back 1 hourNov 8: Election Day – Grade 5-6 Bake SaleNov: 9: BFF Night at Mill River Union High School 6:00-8:00Nov: 11: Veterans Day – NO SchoolNov: 14: Early Release – NoonNov: 23-25: Thanksgiving Break

Dress Warm

Please make sure your child has a warm jacket, gloves and a hat. Students that are dropped off in the morning are outside from 7:30 – 8:20.That is a long time to be cold. During the day we have recess, which is also outside, so please make sure your child has warm clothing. If you need help please let the school know.

Talent Show – November 4

Tinmouth, come cheer on your friends and family members at the incredible Show Me Gala Talent Show! The show will kickoff at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 4th in the Mill River Auditorium. A variety of talent will be showcased including music and dance. Musical numbers will cross the genres of rock, classical, pop and folk. Come be treated to sweet vocal duets and rich a cappella arrangements, upbeat and interpretive dance numbers and the music of piano, guitar, bass, and drums. There will be acts that will sooth your soul, knock your socks off and tickle your eardrums. Support local talent and Mill River. Admission is $5 at the door, $15 per family. A sale of mouth-watering homemade pies will be featured during intermission! Proceeds from this event benefit the Mill River Friends of Music organization, which supports the music programs at Mill River. Contact Peter Roach at proach@millriverschools.org or 802 775 3451 X 224 for more information.

Wee Folk News:

ASK ME ABOUT:

Focus Question:What are some characteristics of pumpkins?

MEETING TIMESecond Step Social Curriculum-Learning to ask what you want in a respectful way

Songs/finger plays - Dem Bones, Itsy Bitsy Spider, It’s Halloween Night, 5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate, Dingle Dangle Scarecrow, Alphabet rap, This Is My Trunk, We’re Raking the

Leaves, Gray Squirrel, Way Up High in the Apple Tree, This is the Way (Fall movements)

CENTERSBuilding - haunted house

Discovery - magnifying glass and pumpkin dissectionToys and Games - pumpkin seed number match

Art - shape pumpkins and spider websLibrary - Halloween books

BOOKS(These books are connected to our focus questions)

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, From Seed to Plant, It’s Pumpkin Time, There Was An Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything

SMALL GROUPGames/activities included the following areas:

Pumpkin dice/number match, pumpkin/ghost patterning, pumpkin lifecycle sequencing,observation of a pumpkin focusing on drawing details and labeling (4 and 5 year olds)

OTHER THOUGHTSThanks so much for meeting with me for conferences. It was great to visit with all of you.

Our next study will focus on families. Look out for our “Family Ties” letter coming home this week.

Kindergarten News:

It was wonderful to conference with parents last week. You have amazing children and it was with great satisfaction I could share with you the wonderful progress that is happening.

This week we began a mini-unit on trees. We are reading books to understand how a tree grows and changes through the seasons. We have observed and sketched an acorn and planted them. We will be monitoring what happens throughout the year in our science journals.

In math we are beginning a unit on geometry. We have been discovering the attributes of different shapes, constructing and drawing them and locating them in the real world.

As I shared at conferences, kindergarteners are becoming beginning readers. We have five sight words under our belts that we use daily in reading and writing. We are focusing on making meaning in the books we read to help us figure out those words we do not know.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered time and goodies for our Halloween celebration today!

Message from Mrs. Coupe:Grade 1 & 2

Thank you to all the parents for coming to Parent Teacher Conferences. We had 100% participation.

We have had a busy October. We have learned many routines and procedures of our room and most days we run very smoothly.

We are finishing our Frog unit. Make sure that you ask your child to tell you some interesting facts!

Thank you to the parents club for the fun games and yummy treats from our Halloween celebration.

The kids did many fun academic things about Halloween as well.

In November we will be learning about our homes and traditions that families have.

A few important dates in November:

o November 9th from 6 – 8pm will be the Best Foot Forward event at Mill River Union High School. Our third and fourth grade class and our fifth and sixth grade class will be sharing what they have done in science.

o November 11, there is no school in observance of Veteran’s Day.o November 14 is our November half dayo Our Thanksgiving recess is from November 23 – 25. o The end of the first trimester is also in November. More info to follow about our

new report cards. Remember, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Thank you for your continued support! Happy Halloween Mrs. Coupe

3/4 News:

Happy Halloween Everyone! Thank you to the Parents Club for providing refreshments for the celebration on Friday.

Thank you to all the parents and students who participated in October parent/teacher/student conferences. Kris and I enjoyed discussing the progress everyone has made so far this year and setting goals for the rest of the marking period. I have put a copy of each student’s goal and the plan for achieving their goal in the back pocket of their homework folder. Some students have ideas for how parents can help with the goal at home too.

On October 24th students attended a magic program at Clarendon Elementary. The magician introduced many ideas about respect for property, yourself, and others in between some amazing magic tricks. He even seemed to float one student volunteer in the air!

Last week in math we began a fluency program for the multiplication and division facts. Students study facts with various activities for 10 minutes each day during our math time. We are introducing the activities a few at a time. Once we have introduced all the activities, students will be bringing home a set of facts and a list of the activities so they can work on their facts at home too. Some important aspects of this program are that students have math strategies for figuring out their facts and that they get “division for free.” “Division for free” means that if you know 8 x 4 = 32, then you also know that 32 ÷ 8 = 4. Once students learn the multiplication facts for a given number, they also know the division facts for that number.

Fourth graders have just begun a new unit that will include multi-digit multiplication and division, area and perimeter. I will introduce these complex ideas gradually and in different formats. This unit will last through November and December. Third grade students are continuing their study of place value and problem solving with units of measure.  They are continuing to practice their time telling skills to the nearest minute and have been introduced to measuring weight in metric units.  They will be measuring liquid volume in the first week of November.

In reading both grades will continue the study of trees through fiction and nonfiction. We will be focusing on the skills of vocabulary, main idea, referring to examples in the text to answer questions, and narrative and opinion writing.

The fourth grade students have been writing a persuasive essay on their own specific topic of choice.  Their ideas range from wanting to convince their parents that they should spend the entire summer at a camp or on the beaches of Maine to why the weekend should be five days long and the school week two days long.  They have been working diligently on their pieces.  

The first trimester ends on November 27th and students will be bringing home their first report card soon after. The report cards have a different format this year. If you have any questions about the new format please call or stop by and I will be happy to go over your child’s report card with you.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Message from Mrs. Wetzler:

Fifth and Sixth

It is hard to believe how quickly the school year is flying by and we have already had our Halloween Parade. The fifth and sixth graders would like to express their appreciation to the Parents Club for providing refreshments and games at the celebration. Thank you very much.

On October 24th, the students attended a drug free program at Clarendon Elementary School. While performing magic tricks, the magician spoke about the importance of respecting oneself and others. We actually had a star, Jermaine, picked to help the magician with his tricks while discussing how important it is to treat everyone with respect.

The students have finished reading Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance, written by Jennifer Armstrong. They have been writing an essay on why Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was a phenomenal leader. Their essays also include a counter argument, an additional requirement this year. Again, we would like to thank Mrs. Ruth for obtaining the books for us through Vermont READS sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council Statewide One-Book Community Reading Program. Thank you, Mrs. Ruth Drachman. The students really enjoyed learning about the courageous efforts these twenty-eight men had to find within themselves to endure such hardships.

At the Mill River Unified Union School District's board meeting, some of the fifth and sixth graders presented a slideshow presentation on their participation in STARBASE, a STEM activity-based program that is funded by the Department of Defense. I was extremely proud of the students as they expressed to a room full of adults about the different activities they were exposed to at STARBASE. It was evident to everyone in attendance that the students appreciated this opportunity to attend. We'd like to give a huge thanks to Pam for arranging bus transportation and the district for allowing us to attend.

The students are busily learning about the Bill of Rights now. They are very intrigued with why they believe our founding fathers decided that these ten amendments were of utmost importance.

In math, the fifth graders continue to learn about the place value system. They are developing their understanding of the relationships between and among the adjacent places on the place value chart. Students continue to explore the multiplicative patterns of the base ten systems using a place value chart. They have also worked with the naming of decimal fraction numbers in expanded, unit, and word forms. The students have been able to use their new place value knowledge to solve problems with metric conversions. Now they are using these relationships of adjacent units to solve various algorithms for decimals.

The sixth graders continue to work on understanding rational numbers as a point. They have also been working with understanding the ordering and absolute value of rational numbers. They are now able to order and compare integers and other rational numbers while writing and interpreting inequality statements involving these numbers.

The students are learning about our universe in science. It is amazing the knowledge they have already acquired.

On November 8th, the fifth and sixth graders will be holding a bake sale at the election site here at Tinmouth Elementary School. The money will be used for the next end of the year class trip. We appreciate any monetary or baked goods donations people are willing to give to help support the students.

Have a safe and fun Halloween,Mrs. Gayle Wetzler

News from the NurseCold and flu season will be here soon! Here's what you and your family should know to be prepared:Wash hands often!

Review with your children to wash hands before eating, after using the bathroom, after sneezing/ coughing/ nose blowing and whenever they are dirty to prevent the spread of germs that cause illness.

Also teach and remind children to cover up their coughs and sneezes to prevent spreading germs!

Routinely clean counters, sinks, and frequently touched surfaces at home. Cleaning with soap, water, and scrubbing removes most dirt and germs. Using a disinfecting cleaner (either bought at the store or homemade with vinegar)

removes and kills germs!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Vermont Department of Health recommend everyone 6 months of age and older be vaccinated against the flu.

Talk with your family's primary care provider(s) about getting a flu vaccine. Adult flu vaccines are available at most pharmacies too! The nasal flu vaccine (Flumist) is not available this year because it was found to be less

effective than traditional flu shots. For flu shot clinics offered by CHCRR offices, visit http://www.chcrr.org/chcrr-flu-shot-

clinics/

Most importantly, avoid being around others that are sick with cold or flu symptoms and stay home if you are sick!

It is recommended that children should be kept out of school for 24 hours after a fever is gone, without the use of fever-reducing medicine (Tylenol/ Advil/ Motrin).

Children do not need to be kept out of school for simple cold symptoms without a fever (cough, runny nose) as long as they are able to participate in a full day of school activities.

For more information on flu, please visit these websites: http://healthvermont.gov/prevent/flu/ http://www.cdc.gov/flu/parents/index.htm http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/center/flu-center.html

Alyssa Arlen, MSN, RN, School Nurse

BFF (Best Foot Forward)

CelebrationDate: Wednesday, November 9th

When: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Who: MRUUSD Families(Tinmouth, Wallingford, Clarendon, Shrewsbury, & Mill River)

Where: Mill River Union High School

Come celebrate our school successes and join in the festivities. There will be activities for the younger family members while parents have an opportunity to see school projects on display. Additionally, parents and guardians will have an opportunity

to share their vision of what Mill River district schools will look like in 5 years.

Pumpkin Painting * Mask Making * Movies * Dancing

Student Breakfast $1.50 Adult Breakfast $2.25

November Breakfast Menu

MondayEnglish muffin w/Jelly, Fruit & Milk

TuesdayBagel w/Cream Cheese, Fruit & Milk

WednesdayCinnamon Sugar Toast, Fruit & Milk

ThursdayBreakfast Burritos, Fruit & Milk

FridayHomemade Baked Good, Fruit & Milk

**Breakfast Substitute**

Cheerios, Fruit & Milk

November Lunch Menu

Student Lunch $2.75 Adult Lunch $3.75

Tinmouth School Lunch Menu 2016

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Broccoli Cheese & Rice Casserole, Veggies. Fruit & Milk

2 Chicken Quesadillas, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

3 Macaroni & Cheese, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

4 Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

5

6

7 Ground Beef & Spanish Rice, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

8 Broccoli Quiche, Fruit & Milk

9 Spaghetti & Meat Sauce, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

10 Meatball Subs, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

11 NO

SCHOOL

12

13

14 *1/2 Day* Toasted Cheese Sandwich, Tomato Soup, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

15 BBQ Chicken, Rice, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

16 Chicken Caesar Salad, Bulky Roll, Fruit & Milk

17 Sloppy Joes, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

18 Chicken Vegetable Soup, Bulky Roll, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

19

20

21 Chicken Tenders, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

22 Turkey Dinner

23 NO

SCHOOL

24 Thanksgiving

25 NO

SCHOOL

26

27 28 Goulash, Mixed Greens, Fruit & Milk

29 Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

30 Pizza, Veggies, Fruit & Milk

Here is the basketball schedule for November. Any questions please contact Tracy Carey or Anna Majorell