The Gator Gazette
April 2016
April Fools Disaster
A Story By Stevie S.
It was the morning of April fools. The house was silent except Max going through his prank book. This book was not any old prank book this was the book Max called his Ultimate Supreme Prank book. Just like every April fools day Max has lived through, he had a master plan. This was the year Max was sure nothing would go wrong.
Max got started setting up his pranks right way. He put a fake bug in his mom’s water and drew a mustache with permanent marker on his baby sister. The last two pranks Max was going to pull were his big ones. First, Max was going to take the cream out of his family’s Oreos and replace it with a squirt of toothpaste. And, last, he would fill a empty glue bottle with milk and say, “Oh my I’m thirsty!”, then drink from the bottle, tricking everyone into thinking he was drinking glue.
Creek! That was Max's mom’s door opening! Max sprinted up the stairs to his room then quickly got under the cover and closed his eyes. After he was sure his mom was settled on the first floor he slowly walked down the stairs. Suddenly, Max heard his mom scream. He knew it was because of the bug in her water. Max hid his smile and walked into the kitchen and calmly said, “What happened? Oh, geeze, what’s in your drink?”. Before Max’s mom could answer, Max’s dad came down the stairs with Max’s baby sister in his hands and his mom started screaming again. After that, things were a blur.
As Max’s mom tried to scrub the mustache off his little sister's face, his dad used milk for glue and his older sister gagged on one of the toothpaste Oreos. When Max could not take it anymore, he yelled, “APRIL FOOLS!” His parents did not find it funny. They grounded him for 2 weeks. Max never pranked his family again, but he secretly laughs every time his thinks of that wonderfully disastrous day.
LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWS!
A New President
Candidates For The Upcoming Presidential Election
by Lia U.
Candidates are people who are running for president. The major candidates for the Democratic Party are Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The major candidates for the Republican Party are Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
From the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton says, “As president, I'll work to ensure every child, from every zip code, has access to a world-class education, including access to high-quality preschool. We need to strike the right balance on testing—with fewer, fairer and better tests for elementary and secondary school students. And we must support teachers with the training and resources they need.”
Also from the Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders says, “As president, I will fight for comprehensive immigration reform that provides a roadmap to citizenship for the 11 million aspiring Americans living in this country. But I will not wait for Congress to act. I will take executive action to accomplish what Congress has failed to do and build upon President Obama’s executive orders to unite families.”
Ted Cruz, from the Republican Party, is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from Texas. As president, he wants to support Israel, economic growth, border security while allowing legal immigration, and a flat tax. When discussing equal pay for women, Cruz said, "The truth of the matter is, big government benefits the wealthy, it benefits the lobbyists, it benefits the giant corporations, and the people who are getting hammered are small businesses, it's single moms, it's Hispanics. That is who I'm fighting for, the people that Washington leaves behind."
Donald Trump, from the Republican Party, is an American businessman, politician, and has television reality personality. As president, he feels he can lead the country by being a non-politician. He said, "I believe non-politicians represent the wave of the future and if elected I would make the kind of president America needs in the new millennium."
There are a lot of tough and intense discussions going on with this election. It will be very interesting to see what happens in the future for our country.
WHAT'S THE LATEST AT THE SCHOOL THAT'S THE GREATEST???
Reading Rocks Assembly
By Mathilda R-W
March is full of reading! One time was when someone came in to talk about READING he did it in a very unique way… he’s a magician! Everyone loved it! He talked about all different books and stories that kids love and made us more excited to read! Kids got to be part of the show too! Students got to be part of funny little scenes and magic acts. The audience and kids in the show had a great time participating in the fun!
Kay H., from Mrs. Drewes's First Grade class got to be part of the big finale magic act. Check out this amazing video!
Clubs at Tollgate!
By Lily R. and Shelby R.
Gator Gazette News- Here at Tollgate Grammar School, we have lots of after school enrichments that are welcome to all the students here at Tollgate. These enrichments are held on different days during the school week. To sign up for one of these after school enrichments, with a parent's help, anyone may go to the hvrsd website, or any other place decided by the person running the club, to sign up.
There is a wide variety of enrichments at Tollgate. One of these enrichments is STEAM. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math. There are different kinds of STEAM programs for different grade levels. The Minecraft Java STEAM program is held in room 203 for grade levels 4th through 5th. The Scratch STEAM program is held in room 204 for grade levels 2nd through 5th. The Nano Bots robotics STEAM program is held in room 201 for grade levels 1st through 2nd. And the LEGO robots STEAM program is held in room 204.
Other enrichments are also at Tollgate. The yoga club takes place in the music room. In yoga that precipitates bring yoga mats and playing games and doing yoga. In the chess club players may play chess with the guidance of Mrs. Finn. In the drama club the participants acted out things and sometimes they do poses that represents objects. In yearbook club the participants take pictures during the fun things students do at school and display them in the yearbook. They also make the layout of the yearbook for all the students to see.
In conclusion, there are a lot of fun enrichments to join after school. The clubs let students do the fun things things they enjoy with friends. I can be a great opportunity for everyone.
Yoga enrichment - Music Room
Drama - Room 204
Steam (Minecraft Java) - Room 203 4th and 5th
Steam (Scratch) - Room 204 2nd and 5th
Steam (Nano Bots robotics) - Room 201 1st and 3rd
Steam (LEGO Robots) - Room 204
Yearbook club - Computer Lab
Chess club - Library 2nd and 5th
3rd Grade Discovers Colonial Life
By Mathilda R-W
The third grade visited Howell Farm for a field trip on Friday March 4. They went there to learn about Colonial life. It was really fun and interesting!
One of the things that we did was go to the sugar shack. In there, it was
warm and cozy… the perfect place to make old fashion tree taps! We made them
out of a branch and a nail. We put the nail in the branch until the nail was on both sides.
And we were working to the smell of sugar and maple tree sap. (Which smelled good)
Another thing we did was help the farmers get the sap. First, we found a bucket which
had sap inside it and were already hung on the trees. Then, we ran it over to the horse sleigh and put it in. We kept doing this until the farmer called us over to start identifying maple trees. Here are some of the things we learned...they might be helpful to you if you want to know what a Maple tree looks like. First, the bark on a Maple tree looks like a cat scratched it. And secondly you can identify a Maple tree by the color and shape of its’ leaves.
Also we went to the pancake house (which was good because we were freezing!) In the pancake house was an old fashioned stove that the woman used for cooking. Then we saw a woman making the pancake batter. She actually was grinding the flour into the grain and churning the butter that the school who visited the day before had started to make. Then, our class had a turn to prepare the flour and the butter for the visiting class the following day. After we did that we got to eat our own pancakes! They tasted differently than the ones you might have at home, but they were still good. And we also used the maple syrup that we made.
The last part of our field trip was spent outdoors again. We split our class into two groups. And one group went to the cutting wood area where you got to wear safety glasses and hammered the wood. They use this chopped wood for their firewood. The other group went to the area where the Farmer sat in the middle of a large log and two people on either end pushed and pulled a saw to eventually slice the wood in half.
In conclusion I really liked this 3rd grade field trip. Even though all the stations were extremely fun my favorite was eating pancakes because I got to see an old fashioned kitchen and eat pancakes the way maybe one of my favorite authors ate them: Laura Ingalls Wilder!
Math Night 2016
TEACHER PROFILE: Our Kindergarten Teachers
by Chloe D. and Charlotte B.
We are going to tell you about the kindergarten teachers and what they think about their jobs at Tollgate.
Q: Miss Canavera, what do you like about your job?
A: I absolutely love working at Toll Gate. The staff was very welcoming and Ms. Smith is an awesome principal. My favorite part about my job is teaching my students new things and watching them grow. I also like meeting with our 3rd grade buddies and the Gator Gatherings.
Q: Miss Seery, What do you like about being a kindergarten teacher?
A: I love watching the kids learn and grow throughout the year. They come in to kindergarten so young and leave as confident first graders! It’s amazing to see how much they learn in just one year. I like helping them learn how to be a good friend to others and watching them take pride in the things that they do each day. Teaching kindergarten rocks!
Q: Mrs. Schlette what do you like to do with your Kindergarten class?
A: When we can, I love to turn our lessons into games. Kindergarteners love to move around and they have great senses of humor. They like it when we mix things up and step out of our routine. I enjoy teaching my kindergarten class songs and games that I liked when I was little. For example, we play “Button, Button” with the number grid which is a version of a game I used to play with my cousins on the stairs. We also sing a song that spells the word “Lollipop”, which makes us laugh a lot!
Upcoming Spirit Days!
Reporting from the Toll Gate Student Council. Here is a list of the spirit days for this school year. Kids love these days and everyone should enjoy participating!
April 14: Tie Dye Day
May 17: Crazy Hair Day
June 15: Idol Day
HAPPY SPIRIT DAYS!
by Liam R. and Colin H.
Cool Things in the Cafeteria
by Dean M. and Landon H.
The students have had a great time! For the past five weeks, we had five winners in the raffle. In 3rd Grade was Luc H., Dean M., and Koga T. Dean M. won a basketball, Luc H. won a tennis racket, and Koga T. won a free lunch and free snack.
TRY SOMETHING NEW!
What To Do When You Are At Sleepovers!?
By: Anya T
Listen to music and play your favorite music
Go to Six Flags Great Adventure and ride all of the rides (if you can)!
Go in the basement if you have a indoor gym (not real gym) and exercise
Go in the pool in the summer and maybe you can find an indoor pool for the winter
Talk and play Truth or Dare
Watch movies at movie theater or On Demand
Stay up all night (if allowed)
Go outside and play in the yard
Go on a hike
Bake and eat your treats later
Make art
Play with pets (if have)
Sports You Should Try
By Talia B. and Anya T.
GIRLS:
Soccer
Football
Basketball
Softball
Lacrosse
Gymnastics
Swimming/Diving
Track
Ice Hockey or Field Hockey
Ice Skating
Volleyball
BOYS:
Soccer
Football
Basketball
Softball
Lacrosse
Gymnastics
Swimming/Diving
Track
Ice Hockey or Field Hockey
Ice Skating
Volleyball
Harry Potter Recommendation
By John V. and Juliana L.
We really enjoyed the book Harry Potter. It is about a boy who has a magic wand and gets education at a magical school called Hogwarts. He made some friends there. Their names are: Hermione Jane Granger and Ron Bilius Weasley.
FACT:
Harry’s full name is Harry James Potter.
His parents were killed by Lord Voldemort and he went to live with his muggle aunt and uncle and cousin. They were very cruel to Harry. At first, they did not want Harry to attend Hogwarts, but in the end, they got frustrated and let him go. After Harry got all of his stuff, his friend Hagrid bought him a messenger owl for a gift. You need to read this book to find out much more!
Music Monthly
By Izzy B. and Stevie S.
Here's what's trending in pop music this month!
Seven Years Old by Lucas Graham
Love Yourself by Justin Bieber
No by Meghan Trainor
Cute Stuff Monthly
by Stevie S. and Izzy B.
Red Pandas use their bushy tails as blankets to keep them warm
Baby elephants suck on their trunk for comfort
Baby pandas are surprisingly small they weigh about as much as a cup of tea
- a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance
Baby Animals
Do you have a favorite animal? Is it cute? If you don’t, this project will help you decide between a cat or dog,or a hamster and a bird.
Cats
As you know, cats are one of the most popular house pets and also one of the longest living companions. Sometimes, these cute, little critters can get into mischief. They are also claimed to have “9 lives” because they have no collarbone so they can quickly turn while falling. Also, cat babies are called kittens and are very cute.
Puppies
Puppies are really cute and energetic. They love to play games like Hide ’n’ Seek. The average body temperature for a dog is 101.2. Also, a dog’s sense of hearing is more than 10 times more accurate than a person. Did you know that more than 1 in 3 families in the United States owns a dog? Did you know that baby dogs are called puppies?Who Loves Cupcakes?
Apparently about 770,000,000 were eaten in the U.S in 2012
In Britain Cupcakes are called fairy Cakes
The largest cupcake ever made was 1,224 pounds, 4 foot tall by 10 foot wide, and had 2 million calories
Cupcakes were originally called “number cakes” or “1234 cakes”
Cupcake Recipe (ASK AN ADULT FOR HELP)
Ingredients
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375f
2.Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time
3.Add flour (mixed with baking powder and salt) alternating with milk beat well; Add vanilla
4. Divide evenly among pans and bake for 18 min