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
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.