Spotlight on Specials
Kindergarten- 4th Quarter 2015-2016
Exploratory Team
Art
During the fourth quarter, kindergartners completed four projects. Students started by makings a flower collage inspired by Andy Warhol. Next students, created an art hat which allowed students to see that art can not only be beautiful,but also functional. For the next project, students made a clay rose from a coil. Finally, students listened to a story about Mother's and Father's Day. Students chose a parent to create a drawing of. Students reviewed how to draw a portrait and where to place facial features. As you can see, fourth quarter has been a very fun and busy time for kindergartners in the art room! It has been amazing to watch your child's art skills dramatically progress from the beginning of the school year to the end of the year. If you would like to learn more about each project, please read the note that accompanies your child's art portfolio! To receive updates about the art room follow me on twitter @RiverviewArt.
Library
In our library classes this quarter we talked about how when we “research”, we are looking in books to find the answers to our questions. We wondered if people in other countries play games with their children. We found that people in Thailand like to play Peek-a-Boo and Hide-and-Go-Seek just like we do! We found Thailand and Japan on the map and read a story about a Japanese girl’s first day at school in America. We discussed the role of the author, illustrator, and publisher. We looked at the call numbers on books and identified the order in which books are placed on the shelf. We had fun reading a circle story If You Give a Pig a Pancake and created our own titles that we thought would be good choices for our own circle story creations. We discussed “point of view” and read the story of the Little Red Hen from the hen’s point of view, and then from her friends’ point of view. We discussed similarities and differences in their points of view. We enjoyed stories read by members of the Screen Actors Guild online.
We also enjoyed hearing some of the new books that have been added to the Riverview collection. Please keep reading and enjoying books from the public library over the summer!
Music
This year we have learned so much about music and how much fun it is to sing and play to create our music.
Students have played lots of instruments – rhythm sticks, tambourines, wood blocks, maracas, triangles, egg shakers, scrapers, and drums!
Hopefully students had fun while learning about how music works.
Movement is always a big part of music – showing what we hear and reacting to the different sounds and changes in music.
We put instruments together with singing, poetry, and movement to create a beautiful performance of "Rain, Rain, Go Away"!
We also spent some time doing some yoga lessons to focus on movement and body control!
I hope you have a wonderful summer and take some time to sing and dance along the way!
P.E.
This year has certainly flown by! It has been such a joy teaching the kindergarteners during their time in PE. We were able to learn and do a lot of fun activities during the 4th
quarter. The students were able to use the parachute and do many fun activities such as making waves, jello, popcorn, circus tents, and the list goes on. After spending some time with the parachute, we moved on to striking. The students learned about striking, and how you can strike many different objects (striking means hitting an object to make it move to another place). We got to practice striking balloons off of different parts of our bodies, and even learned some sequences. The students were also able to practice hitting objects off tees. It was neat to watch them learn what to change or what worked for them. They are all very talented! Towards the end of the semester, we spent a lot of time talking about Field Day, and practicing some different activities for the big event. We talked a lot about sportsmanship and why it is so important. This year was a great success and I am looking forward to the years to come!Technology
Counselor
In guidance the last nine weeks have been busy ones. We continued to work in our Too Good for Drugs curriculum learning about good decision making, consequences, peer pressure, peer pressure strategies and ending with the harmful effects of tobacco and alcohol on the body. We also had lessons on Careers, Trustworthiness, and Citizenship. Have a wonderful summer and I can’t wait to see you back in August.