The Dolphin Splash

8/14/2019 The Dolphin Splash

1/18

How exciting it isto learn that an ALTalumna, 15-year-old

Allison Reed, is ice-skating for the coun-try of Georgia withher partner, Otar Ja-paridze during the2010 Vancouver Olym-pics!

When asked whatinspired her to become

an ice-skater, Allisonsaid, I started skat-

ing when I was threeyears old and I believewhat truly inspired meto skate were my twoolder siblings who also

attended ALT- - Cathyand Chris Reed. Ilook up to them so

much and they were agreat influence on me

when I first startedskating. Cathy andChris will be repre-

senting Japan in the(continued on page 3)

What do Mrs.Janasek, Mrs. Jaraand Mrs. Vernesehave in common? If

you answer that

they all have ex-treme, unique pets,then you answer cor-rectly.

If you ask Mrs.

Vernese about thebirth of her goats

babies on February6th, 2010, then you(continued on page 3)

ALT Alumna Goes for the Gold!by Feature Writer, Katie Brennan

The Dolphin Splash

Winter 2010

Inside this issue:

A Venezuelan

Tradition

2

Honoring Our

Veterans

4, 5

Outdoor

Classroom

8

Sports 9

Opinions 14, 15

Special points of

interest:

Feature Articles

News Articles

Editorials

Entertainment

Angelo L. Tomaso School

46 Washington Valley Road

Warren, NJ 07059

The Dolphin Splash

Allison Reed and partner, Otar Japaridze

performing a Georgian Folk Dance

Create

dby

ourstude

nts

Extreme Pets!by Feature Writers,

Karl Durant and Alexander Young

The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010 Page 1


2/18

As Seorita Rebimbasdescribes her family tra-dition, she is remember-ing happy times. She tells

reporters how her familytradition is makinghallacas each December.

Hallacas are a Venezue-

lan food and tradition.When reporters ask herto tell about the hallacastradition, here are herwords:

We gather at mymamas house and every-

one helps. First, we cut upall the meat and cook itwith lots of different sea-sonings such as garlic andmore. Then we clean the

plaintain leaves (similar tobanana leaves). My mamausually makes the corn doughwhich we spread over eachplantain leaf like a pancake.

Then we place the meat, ol-ives, onions, red bell peppersand raisins in the center. Af-ter that, they get wrapped in

the plantain leaf and tiedwith a string like a present.After they are done, we boilthem and finally, everyonesits to eat them.

Seorita Rebimbas sayseveryone has a job when mak-ing hallacas. But its not

just work, she tells report-

ers. We also get to tell sto-ries and jokes and see pic-

tures of us making hallacas inprevious years. Making hallacasis not just a job. Its a family

tradition handed down fromgeneration to generation.

honoring the spring equinoxwhen nature often can fool us

with weather that is not pre-dictable. The French can tracethis silly day back to 1856 whenthere were changes made totheir calendar. Anyone whowent against the changes wastricked by pranksters andcalled an April Fish!

The media sometimes joins

in on the fun on April 1st.

Look out for TV programs

about a pickle-picking farm

or spaghetti growing ontrees! Adele Rotondo re-calls a trick that wasplayed at ALT last AprilFools Day. Ask her to tell

you about a prank in whichstudents, staff and evenMiss Bond were fooled!

Remember that thisspecial day which probablybegan because of a calen-dar change is now a day offun and practical jokes!What fun prank will youplay on April 1st?

April Fools! by Feature Writer, Adele Rotondo

A Venezuelan Tradition by Feature Writers, Danielle Clarke and Brittany LaFace


The first of April is theday we remember what weare the other 364 days ofthe year. This quote is

written by Mark Twain andis about April Fools Day, or

All Fools Day, as it was

called years ago.

April Fools Day is only a

few weeks from now. Thisday has been celebrated formany years and in many

countries around the world.

This fun-filled day wasoriginally a celebration


3/18


4/18

An editorial ...

Dear Editor of The Dolphin Splash,

When U.S. Army First LieutenantDane M. Hiltner wrote us a thank-younote for the holiday cards we (the chil-dren in Ms. Pellagrinos art classes) sent,

his words made me do a lot of thinking.

First, he said to us, The main reason

I joined the army was to protect my fam-ily and friends and sometimes I focus onthat sole fact so much that I forget

other people appreciate all that we do.So thank you for reminding me of that.

Wow! Here is a man who is fightingfor us in Iraq and he is thanking us forshowing our appreciation and remindinghim that many Americans are gratefulfor his efforts! It makes us feel goodthat we did something kind for our sol-diers.

We know that the holidays, no mat-ter what religion we are, are a time for

us to be kind to other people.

Lieutenant Hiltner uses descriptivewords when he talks about the area thathe is fighting in. He tells us, In case you

didnt know, Iraq is really not a whole lot

like I pictured it. There IS a lot of sandbut there are some straggly, deciduousand palm trees scattered mainly aroundthe rivers. Theres lots of rocks and

gravel. Mostly everything is flat, butthere are some hills and mountains hereand there, but generally there is adearth of landmarks. Now, Kuwait is ex-

actly what you picture a desert to be.Nothing but sand, sand, and more sand.Sometimes I just feel humbled because Iknow there are marines fighting every

day without hot food, hot showers, or adecent place to sleep.

Lieutenant Hiltner sent Ms. Pellagrinopictures of the cards we made for himstrung up in the soldiers work area. He

tells us that, They brought a very cheery

change to the environment around here andgot everyone in a festive mood.

We all think it was a nice idea that Ms.

Pellagrino encouraged us to do a projectthat reminded us about the real spirit ofthe season.

Sincerely,

Julia Marrie, Editorial Writer

WE HONOR THOSE


Tank you to

all veterans

JuliaMarrie


5/18

WHO SERVE US...

A Special Warren Township Veteran by Feature Writers, Rebecca Fenton and Gabriela Santos

Did you ever know that a veteran lives inWarren, New Jersey? Billy Sollobello,grandfather of ALTs Rebecca and Calista

Fenton, was in the Vietnam (v-et-nm)War. He was in Vietnam from 1965 to 1966,but the war was from 1960 to 1975.

When Mr. Sollobello was asked about

his time that he served his country he said,Over one million people went to that war

but 58,000 were killed or kidnapped. If youdont know how many that is, it is more peo-

ple than all the seats in the New York Yan-kees Stadium. Mr. Sollobello said that he

served under the leadership of GeneralWestmoreland and talked about the time

when he was overseas. He rememberedthat when he had a few days off to relax,he had to sleep underground because theenemies could still bomb him and the peoplearound him.

The war was fought in South Vietnam,Cambodia and Laos. This area is south of

China. The United States was fighting tohelp keep communism from spreading inSouth Vietnam. Mr. Sollobello said thatcommunism was a system of government

based on government ownership of privateproperty.

One thing that is special about Mr. Sol-lobello is that he went to war when he was

only 19 years old! It

is nice to hear storiesshared by veteranswho showed us howmuch they loved theircountry.

We love the veter-ans!


Photo on the leftshows Marines in

Iraq marching on

sandy terrain.


6/18

Spotlight On

Kindergarten

by Gabriela Santos

Mrs. Plagers class

and Mrs. Marinos class

are learning about pen-guins. Mrs. Plager re-ports that her class is

reading both fiction and nonfictionbooks. She says, One of our favor-

ite penguins is a fictional characternamed Tacky. Hes a penguin who ap-

pears in many books written by HelenLester, our Author of the Month.

Mrs. Marinos class is learning

that a father penguin has the diffi-cult task of balancing an egg on his feet fortwo whole months! That means no breakfast,lunch, or dinner until mother penguin returnsfrom her vacation. Mrs. Marino says, We

are all glad not to be male penguins.

Mrs. Pellicanos class is learning how water

can take many forms. She reports that thechildren have watched how a water bottle leftoutdoors on a chilly night changes from liquidto solid ice. She says that when water is

poured into two containers-- one with a lidand the other one left open--the children no-tice that the water level in the open containergoes down. If you want to find out where

the water is going to, Mrs. Pellicano says

with a smile, just ask a kindergartener!

First Grade

by Bobbie Waugaman

Mrs. Larew reports that thefirst graders in room 22 will

The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010 Page 6The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010

be making valentine holders with the help

of the fifth graders in Miss Andrews class!

She says, On Friday, February 5th, we will

get together for one-half hour to do this

craft. When we have our Valentines party,the first graders can put all of their valen-tines in the holder to take home.

Mrs. Bagan says that her first gradersmade Valentine Heart Animals with their

fifth-grade buddies in Mrs. Andrews class.She reports that the fifth graders helpedthe first graders to cut and glue their ani-mals together and she says, A wonderful

time was had by all the children!Read Mrs. Wilkenings news on page 8

about what first graders are doing in theoutdoor classroom.

Second Grade

by Danielle

Clarke and

Brittany LaFace

Mrs. Pillingersays that herclass is very ex-cited about writing. She says, The chil-

dren are writing many different types ofstories. Recently, the second graders havebegun to team up to write books together.

Second graders in Mrs. Woods classare learning all about soil in their science

unit. She says, Students began by observ-ing soil samples and drawing pictures ofwhat they observed. This week they will betesting samples of clay, soil, and sand.

Mrs. Rusnak says that her class is very


7/18

Our Classrooms ...

busy learning many reading comprehensionstrategies! She says that their favoritestrategy is wondering and questioning. She

reports, The children are practicing this skillas they read independently. They are also ex-cited about writing so many stories this year.Currently, the writingpieces are fictional ani-mal stories. Everyoneenjoys sharing and con-ferring with eachother.

Third Grade

by The Dolphin Splash

third-grade reporters

All third graders areexcited about the newSmartBoards in ourclassrooms. This new

technologyis allowing us

to learn in differentand memorable ways. Our third-grade sci-entists are performing tests to help them fig-ure out some properties of five unknown sol-ids. The students are learning the value ofusing tables to record observations and or-ganize results.

In Language Arts, each student has chosenand memorized a poem about winter to share

with the classes. In writing, the children arelearning how good writers revise their writingby making better word choices.

Fourth Grade

by The Dolphin Splashfourth-grade reporters

Our fourth-grade mathematicians are

The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010 Page 7The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010

learning about prime numbers and geometry.

In Language Arts, each fourth graderhas been busy working with a partner on a

report about a country. Information for thecountry report has been collected frombooks and from the internet.

Ask any fourth graderabout the laws of motion,the current Science chap-ter, and you will discoverthat he/she is an expert!

Fifth Gradeby The Dolphin Splash

fifth-grade reporters

In Language Arts,fifth graders are workingon nonfiction writtenpieces. They have beendoing literature circlescentered around one of

five books. The books in-clude: (1) Holes; (2) The House Of DiesDrear; (3) Is Anybody There?; (4) Harrietthe Spy and (5) The Mixed Up Files of Mrs.Basil E. Frankweiler.

The Colonial Fair was recently a big hitwith our fifth graders! Each student madean item that was similar to an item that wasmade in our countrys colonial days. Some

items included soap, cookies, candles, andtoys. On Friday, February 19th, the studentwill be bartering by trading his/her item foranother students item.

In Science, fifth graders are learning howto measure time.


8/18

If you ask Mrs. Wilkeningto talk about the first-gradescience unit, she will tell you

news about our OutdoorClassroom: The first-gradechildren are beginning a sci-ence unit on plants and gar-dening. They will learn whatis necessary to grow healthyplants. Two easy-to-growplants will be chosen (lettuceand snap peas) to grow in ourgarden. Soil will be placedalong the new fence as well asnetting for the deer so they

dont eat the

vegetables.

The snap peas

can be plantedoutside in themonth of March.The lettuce willgo in during lateApril. Mrs.Wilkening tellsus , The first graders will

have to see how long it takes

for each vegetable to grow sothey can be picked beforeschool ends in June. Since

there is an obesityproblem among childrenin our country, this pro-

ject will teach studentsthat a healthy lifestyleincludes both exercis-ing and eating a nutri-tious diet.

The first gradershope to make a salad

for each of them in the spring.If it works well, Mrs. Wilken-

ing says, the entire school maytry to grow a vegetable gardenin the future.

Perennials Will Pop Through Soil Soon!

Students will soon be looking for the re-appearance of our crocus, daffodil and irisplants. The bulbs were planted by all ALT stu-dents in the fall of 2008. Since the flowers are

isms that recycle leaves andother plant parts need aneven mix of brown stuff andgreen stuff to munch on.They also need air and waterto live and work.

Ask Mrs. Hoffman aboutour compost bin and she will

Our ALT students con-tinue to collect fruit andvegetable scraps to place inour ALT compost bin on Tues-days. The compost bin helpsto recycle plant materials andis located in our OutdoorClassroom. The microorgan-

let you know about the richsoil that our compost binhas helped to create! Com-post, or dark, earthy-smelling stuff rich in nutri-ents will help our plantsgrow in a healthy way!

The Dolphin Splash Winter 2010

Collecting for the Compost Bin ...

Growing Healthy Vegetables

in Our Outdoor Classroom ... by Reporter, Bobbie Waugaman

More Outdoor Classroom Happenings ...

Page 8

First Graders will

grow peas like the

ones above.

perennials, it means the bulbs will bloomeach year. Bulbs spend fall sendingsprouts toward the ground surface, so it is

usual for plants to pop up through the soilafter very few warm days. Crocus com-monly sprout during the last snowfalls ofwinter.


9/18

Mr. Clark volunteered to

teach the rules of the game

during gym so that everyonewould know how to play.

The rules of the court

include that only two chil-

dren play at one time.

Here are some other rules:

Other kids need to wait

to play and sit politely on

the curb near the playing

area.The courts have to be

divided equally.

No cherry bombing!

Hit the ball around the

pole with hands only!

Gym,tetherball, on the radio

Gym Activities

by Reporter,

Matthew Tankel

Many activities are tak-

ing place in the ALT gym!

In the ALT gym, stu-

dent just completed their

jump rope tests. On the

white board, Mr. Clark

wrote types of jumps for

the jump rope tests. Mr.

Clark demonstrated and

named some jumps, such as

the single jump, the bell

skier, the straddle, and the

straddle cross and twister.

Next, the students will

be starting their fitness

unit. Mr. Clark says that

the fitness unit will cover

activities to work on

strength, endurance andflexibility. Endurance is

the ability to continue an

activity for a long period

of time.

Some classes were

practicing basketball to

prepare for the Harlem

Wizards basketball game

that was played on Sunday,January 31st, 2010 at

Watchung Hills High School.

The Harlem Wizards are a

professional entertainment

basketball team inspired by

the Harlem Globetrotters.

When asked what sport

was the students favorite,

Mr. Clark stated that many

students think soccer is the

most popular game played so

far this year.

Whether the favorite

sport is basketball, soccer

jump roping, or fitness ex-

ercises , the kids say they

are really enjoying the ac-tivities in the gym with Mr.

Clark.

If you want to guess

what everyone is chanting

for on our playground, acorrect guess would be if

you said tetherball. Dur-

ing the warmer weather,

many students are enjoying

the three tetherball courts

which, Miss Bond tells re-

porters, were donated by

our schools PTO about a

year ago. Many studentssay that the tetherballs are

a welcome addition to the

playground for the students

to enjoy at recess.

Miss Bond tells us,


The ALT Sports Page ...

Top-Choice Tetherball by Stelio Kanaras

Page 9

No double hits!

Dont catch the ball or

stop the ball.

The game stops if a

foul happens. You need to

be honest if you commit a

foul. A player wins when

he/she wraps the ball and

rope around the pole. The

winner plays against the

next person seated on the

curb and waiting to play.Mr. Clark said that

when he was a kid, he

played tetherball. Hope-

fully, this sport will be

around for a long time.


10/18

This year the fifth-gradeshow is called GO WEST!

ALT Fifth graders have anitch to get rich as they travel

west to Sutters Mill. Sut-ters Mill was a sawmill owned

by a pioneer named John Sut-ter who lived in the 1800s.

In the play, we will see howSutters Mill was busy during

the California Gold Rush! Thegold was discovered by acharacter in the play (and in

real life!) named James Mar-shall. As the fifth-grade pio-neers say goodbye to their

folks back home, they startoff on their journey byhorses, wagons, trains, and bya steamboat. Everyone is re-

quired to wear an old westernoutfit and all different thingsthat they wore in the days ofthe Wild West.

A study of America whenit was pushing westward was arich chapter in our countrys

history. When we hear thewords, "The Old West," pic-

tures of cowboys, NativeAmericans, pioneers, and goldseekers immediately spring tomind. Acting and singing in

the play helped ALT fifthgraders learn about the his-tory of the United States.

The singing is amazing,

says Morgan Provato. Nowthey are starting to choreo-graph the songs as they getcloser and closer to full-dayrehearsals and the show. Theshow is February 25, 2010.

This is the last time thefifth graders will be puttingon a show at ALT, so all our

fifth graders promise tomake the show a great one.

See you there!

stars are on the shirts be-cause this year our schooltheme is that we are all

stars. Our Spirit Day shirts

were given to each of us inthe beginning of the year.When I see everyone wearingthe same shirts, it makes mefeel like we are part of a

A few times during theschool year, our principal,Miss Bond, will announce thatSpirit Day is coming. Shetells us that when it is SpiritDay, we should all wear ourSpirit Day shirts. Our SpiritDay shirts are blue and grayand have a star on them. The

school community.Sometimes we have as-

semblies or other activitieson Spirit Days. I look for-ward to Spirit Days becausepeople are happy.

We all love Spirit Days!

Page 10

Spirit Days Are Special by Reporter, Gabriela Santos

Fifth Graders Go West! by Reporter, Lara Gavagan


During the week of February1st, 2010, fourth graders vis-ited classrooms dressed intheir carnaval costumes,dancing and shaking mara-

cas. Carnaval celebrations inSouth America end on Febru-ary 16th (Mardi Gras), the daybefore Ash Wednesday.

Photo to the lefshows SeoritaRebimbas and

fourth gradersin Mrs. Novaksclass.


11/18

The BG Market is a storerun by third graders and openfor business during ALTs

second and third-grade re-

cess. Rebecca (Bex) Fentonand Gabby Santos manage it.No real money is used. Itemsfrom nature that smell greatare traded for items forschool. This is called

bartering.

BG Market is located nearthe bus drop-off door. It isonly open on Tuesdays. Here

are Rebeccas words abouther store: I hope this will

bring more people to the BGMarket. Now, here are

Gabbys words about her

store: I know people enjoy

this market, and if we losethe market, it is going to besad for the kids who like com-ing every Tuesday.

Why is the store calledthe BG Market? Only Gabbyand Bex know for sure.

Please come and barter atthe BG Market!

Bartering at the BG Market by Reporters, Rebecca Fenton and Gabriela Santos

the 5 Ws (who, what, when,

where and why). Mr. Kellysaid that he liked the name of

our newspaper, The DolphinSplash, because the name saidthat we were giving readers aspray of information.

He talked about how ex-

cited he was about many ofhis articles. He was espe-cially proud about being able

to have a picture ofPresident Obama inthe January 14thedition. PresidentObama was in the

paper because hewas giving a diplomato a Navy man, En-sign Douglas Stahlof Warren, who wasgraduating fromthe United StatesNaval Academy inAnnapolis, Mary-

land. Mr. Stahlwent to high school atWatchung Hills Regional HighSchool. Mr. Kelly said it wasnot often that he would havea chance (continued on page 18)

On January 19th, 2010ALTs Newspaper Club was

happy to welcome the editorof the Echoes~Sentinel, Mr.Denis J. Kelly, asa speaker. It wasa talk we will allremember.

Mr. Kellytalked about whathis job as editorof the Ech-oes~Sentinelwaslike. He told ushow he becameinterested in be-ing a newspaper

editor. We learned a littlebit about his background andhis other jobs.

We learned how importantit is to have a good article ti-tle and a lead that contains

The Dolphin SplashReporters Welcome Guest Speakerby Reporter, Kelly Fitzgerald



12/18

Our ALT newspaperclass wrote news storiesafter learning about the 5Ws (Who, What, When,

Where and Why) and howto create a title and a leadthat will make our friendswant to read our articles.We each chose anursery rhyme andadded imagination.Look at our mas-terpieces!

called the police! Thepolice arrested Petersonand got Mary out of thepumpkin shell.

Peter Peterson had abig problem with his wife,Mary Peterson. He put her ina pumpkin shell on February1st, 2010. Mr. Peterson kept

the pumpkin in his backyardon King George Road in War-ren, New Jersey. Mr. Pe-terson put a phone in thepumpkin shell so Marycould call people. Mary

9:00 a.m. Sundaymorning. Afterone hour when

they returned to eat break-fast, a small girl was found intheir home. She had eatentheir breakfast, broken theirchairs and slept in their beds.When the Bearboos woke her,

Just two day ago, onFebruary the 22nd, 2010, Mr.and Mrs. Bearboo and theirnine-year-old son, Barty, re-ported that they had gone outfor a walk at approximately

she ran all the way to herhome. Sources say that herfamily sent a check for$10,000 dollars to repair alldamages. Warren policestate that the intruders

name may not be revealed,since she is a juvenile.


From the Warren Police Blotter:

Our Writers Learn -- One Nursery Rhyme At A Time

Wife Put in Pumpkin Shell! By News Reporters Rebecca Fenton and Gabriela Santos

Page 12

Odd Happenings

by News Reporters,

Danielle Clarke

and Brittany LaFace

Many Warren residents re-ported that weird things hap-pened on Friday, February the13th. Miss Danielle Clarkestated, My cat, Pudding

Tater, was playing the fiddle!

Miss Brittany LaFace saw hercow, MooMoo, jumping high.Mrs. Benveniste reported that

MaryPete

rsonSurvi

ves

PumpkinOr

deal

Porridge Theft in Woodville Forest

By Reporter, Jordyn Zitman

her dog, Lola,was laughinghysterically andMatthew Tankel

told police thathe saw a spoon

running away with a dish.

Could these odd happen-ings have been becausethere were spooky spiritslurking on Friday the 13th?Warren police are continuingto investigate.


13/18

skating, do you ever getnervous?, Allison replied,

Nervousness is probably

the hardest thing for me to

deal with at any competition.I recently got back fromthe European Championshipsin Tallinn, Estonia where weplaced 19th overall and, atthis competition, I was ex-tremely nervous. The hard-est time is right before Iskate. When I start warm-

ing up and when Im putting on

my costume and my skates,my stomach is basically in atight knot! What helps my

nervousness is to have some-one to talk to and to laughwith. Talking helps distractme and forces me to thinkabout other things that arenot skating-related. Once Iget on the ice, all the nerv-ousness and butterflies in mystomach disappear. I see the

crowd and I just smile,wanting to impress them andto show them what my part-ner and I have been workingon tirelessly for months! I

just focus on what I have todo and everything else justfalls into place.

Allison tells students andstaff at ALT that it is

great to know I have all ofALTs support going into the

2010 Vancouver Olympics.

ALT Alumna Goes for the Gold (continued from page 3)

When the fourth graderswere introduced to the songsthey sang ,Ms.Myers dis-cussed with them how thesesongs related to what was go-ing on in peoples lives. Fourth

-grade students learned thatthe Great Depression was atime when people had losteverything, yet used music tosee the positive side of life.

A few of the songs thatwere sung were about peoplebeing away from home be-cause they were fighting dur-

ing wartime. The songs thatour fourth-grade studentssang were On the Radio,

Aint We Got Fun, The

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,

Hound Dog, Sergeant Pep-

pers, and Footloose.

The girls in the song,Hound Dog, wore poodleskirts. Elvis wore a leather

jacket. In addition,

The Beatles wore their suits.

Each student in the fourth

grade helped to make theproduction an amazing one.Whether helpers were sing-ers, actors, dancers, soundcrew or stage crew members,all contributions were

important in making the showa memorable one. It is impor-tant to include the role of the

producer and our vocal musicteacher, Ms. Myers. Withouther amazing help, On the Ra-

dio would not have been such

a hit.

Every morning, every eveningAint we got fun!Not much money; oh, buthoneyAint we got fun!The rents unpaid dear; wehavent a carBut anyway, dear, well stay

where we are

These were a few of thewords in On the Radio, one

of the songs in Angelo L.Tomasos fourth-grade show.The unforgettable presenta-tion was on January 14th, 2010in ALTs school gym. The

shows theme was how the ra-dio helped people throughgood times and hard times inthe history of the UnitedStates such as The Great De-pression or when family mem-bers were away at war.

On The Radio by Jacqueline Chang, Neha Lall, and Maia Stephenson



14/18

A Book Review

by Lola Constantino

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

by Peg KehretSmall Steps, The Year I

Got Polio is a loving storyabout a twelve-year-old girl,Peg Kehret, who gets polio.Polio is a virus that attacksthe nerve cells that controlthe muscles of the body. Be-fore a polio vaccine was devel-

oped, polio killed or crippledthousands of people each year.

There are three typesof polio: spinal polio, respira-tory polio, and bulbar polio.

Peg gets verysick, and needsto go to the hos-pital for medicalattention. Atthe hospital, shegets diagnosedwith polio andfinds out thatshe has all threetypes!

The bookis inspiring be-cause it tells about how Pegmeets some other patientswith the same disease andhow she fights to recover.

Small Steps: The Year

I Got Polio haswon manyawards, includ-ing the 1996Golden KiteAward for Non-fiction, the1998 DorothyCanfield FisherAward, and the1998-99 MarkTwain Award.

I recom-mend this book because youcan think about and appreciatethe things Peg went through.

sands of clip art images from whichyou can choose and import into yournewsletter. There are also several

tools you can use to draw shapes andsymbols.

Once you have chosen an image, placeit close to the article. Be sure toplace the caption of the image nearthe image.

This story can fit 75-125 words.

Selecting pictures or graphics is animportant part of adding content to

your newsletter.Think about your article and askyourself if the picture supports orenhances the message youre trying

to convey. Avoid selecting imagesthat appear to be out of context.

Microsoft Publisher includes thou-

The Opinion

talk. Read the book to see if

the family is able to findTrixies toy bunny.

Mo Willems should con-

tinue to write more books like

this one. I think this book is

funny and a great book!When Trixie is having hertemper tantrum because herfather doesnt understand

her, the author describesher as boneless. The

book won a 2005 Calde-cott Honor and I like theway the illustrations are

drawn on top of black-and-white photographs.

I think you willdefinitely enjoy readingthis book!

Knuffle Bunny, A Cautionary Taleby Mo Willems

Knuffle Bunny: A Caution-ary Tale is an easy-fictionbook about a little girl namedTrixie who has a toy bunnynamed Knuffle Bunny. Trixieand Knuffle Bunny go to thelaundromat with Trixies

daddy. When they leave,Trixie realizes that sheleaves Knuffle Bunny at thelaundromat. Trixie tries totell her dad, but she is so

young, she isnt yet able to

A Book Review by Olivia Roberto



15/18


16/18

Entertainment Pages


Word Search: Names of Staff Pets

Hidden in the word search below are the names of 18 pets. Each

of these pets belongs to an ALT staff member. See if you canfind all 18 names and then figure out the owners of all the pets.

A S X R V R J S W M I R E A P

L C S R D L R B G N O K I S G

D I X I E W L Q R S U K L U W

W A L O L M C A S Q C Y L N WV C O U R T N E Y U I X A N C

A W X V Z I F W H R N O C Y X

G B S M T O F C D U U R A Q F

A W U A R L A R U H T R A E Z

Y R R P V A A G E Y U T E Z L

Y C E J I J T C T E U W E R G

F H A M C C G W S U D K M I Z

T A X L T S A M J A B O F T T

H I Y Z O F A V I M R Z M P O

M G K W R I F S A S A A Y P J

B D S B I J Y Z M K K M N E T

ARTHUR CALLIE CHUCK

COURTNEY DAISY DIXIEFREEDOM LACY LOLA

MIA RANITA RASCAL

ROXY SAM SUNNY

THE PROFESSOR TUBZY VICTOR

Word Search created by Jorden Wilen


17/18

Entertainment Pages


Phonics Tic-Tac-Toe(adapted from Mrs. Pellicanos homework sheet)

This game is played like regular tic-tac-toe, but instead of using Xs and Os, you will

use words. Player 1 and Player 2 will think of words beginning with their own special

letter. Words should not be repeated. Try to get three words in a row for a win!

Player 1

Letter: b

Player 2

Letter: m

Player 1

Letter: r

Player 2

Letter: b

Jokes:

Why didnt the grizzly walk on the gravel road?

She had bear feet!

How do we know there are telephones on Saturn?

Because of all the rings!

What do frogs like to eat for breakfast?

Hoptarts!


18/18

to have a picture of our na-tionspresident in the Ech-oes~Sentinel!

We were encouraged tocontinue to write. Mr. Kelly

said that the more you

work. I wanted them to be ex-cited about reading! In Paws

for Reading, specially-traineddogs wait patiently while stu-dents read to them. It is a posi-tive experience because dogs donot give negative commentsabout childrens reading. The

dogs boost the students confi-dence levels.

After children have partici-pated in this program, results

have shown an increase in read-ing levels and word recognition.Paws for Reading has even givenchildren a desire to read more!

Dogs from the Paws forReading program will be visitingour school once a month andworking with students in the

ASAP reading program. Lookfor the next visit from our ca-nine guests in Room 23 on March9th, 2010!

Mrs. Perlman has started anew program at our school calledPaws for Reading. After read-

ing a few articles about the Pawsfor Reading program in my localpaper and the Star-Ledger, Ithought it was a great idea tohave at ALT, said Mrs. Perlman,

writing to reporter JordanWilen. I thought it would be a

wonderful experience for thereading students with whom I

Paws for Reading by Reporter, Jordan Wilen


write, the better writeryou become.

It was nice to have Mr.Denis J. Kelly as ourspeaker!

The Dolphin SplashReporters Welcome Guest Speaker (continued from page 11)

A Note from Mr.Gant and Mrs.NimmoAll students who were busilypreparing for Gold Band arenow in Gold Band. Congratu-lations to all new Gold Band

members!Gold Strings will also bewelcoming new memberssoon. Congratulations to allnew Gold Strings members!

The Dolphin Splash

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