Fourth Grade: Specials Spotlight
First Quarter 2017-2018
Exploratory Team
Music
I’m so excited to be teaching Music at Riverview! This is my 24th year in education, my 19th as a music teacher, and my 10th here as a Falcon! I graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Music Education, and I have Level 1 Certification for Orff-Schulwerk Music Education from Baker University. This year at RE, we also have a Music Student Teacher! During the Fall semester, Mr. Holthus is in our building several hours a week and is working with our K-2 grade students. In 4th Quarter he will be at Riverview every day working with all of our young musicians!
During the first quarter, fourth grade students have been working diligently to prepare for Riverview’s annual Veterans Day assembly! As I have told the students, this is a fantastic opportunity for them to give a special gift to say “thank you” to those who have given so much for all of us. This program requires a great amount of maturity from our students. I have high expectations for them, and I know they will do a spectacular job on November 9th! Looking into the rest of the year, students will be working on rhythm and note reading writing, singing, dancing, and playing. This year we will be playing recorders again! Look for information coming soon on when students should start bringing in their instruments and what new materials we’ll be using. Throughout the year, we will continue to build students’ listening stamina and discover new ways to describe the music we hear. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!
Art
Greetings! I am your child(ren)'s Art Educator at Riverview, this is my first year and I couldn't be happier. Your students are welcoming and have made me feel a part of the family. I student taught at Forest View Elementary (A Stephen Covey, Lighthouse school aka a 7 Habits school). I learned and loved the opportunity to grow, which lead to the position here at Riverview! I grew up, went to school, and still reside in Olathe. I received my Bachelors of Art Education in May of 2017 from the University of Kansas, Rock Chalk! In my personal time I enjoy exploring downtown Lawrence and Kansas City as well as, Netflix bingeing, coffee, art-making (duh), and taking my dog, Sausage, to the dog park!
Fourth Grade began art by up-cycling old art into something new with everyday items. We used paper plates, foil, and sharpies to make our own personal dot for International Dot Day. While reading, The Dot, we realized that we could inspire, persevere, and motivate our selves when our art process challenges us. Next, we studied Dutch Contemporary Artist, Ton Shulten, who creates cityscapes in warm and cool colors. We used rulers to make houses with diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines. We also learned how to create a tint and a shade by mixing black and white with our rainbow colors. We are now moving onto a continuous line drawing of an owl. Our crazy owls are so vibrant and are ready to take flight to second quarter!
PE
Hello! I am Kyndel Reeves, the Physical Education teacher, and this is my third year at Riverview! I absolutely LOVE getting to be the P.E. teacher to such amazing students. I grew up going to school in the DeSoto School District, so it is really an honor to be able to come back as a teacher. Growing up, my family was obsessed with KU, so of course that is where I went to college! Rock Chalk! In my free time, I love to be with my family and friends and do fun things together. I love doing things outdoors, going to the beach (when I am able to), going shopping, and going to my siblings’ different events. I am looking forward to another wonderful school year with our wonderful community!
During first quarter, the students reviewed all the rules of the gym and P.E., and why we have P.E.! Their knowledge and understanding of the importance of physical fitness and health is so exciting. We were able to learn about our different warm-ups that we do right when we get into class; warm-ups such as Skunk Tag, Running Club, Gladiators, Spelling Dash, and many more. We then reviewed and learned about the importance of being a helpful teammate, and working hard even when things get tough. We were able to do activities such as Hula Hut Relays, Scavengers, Mat Ball, and Sinkerball. All of those activities gave students the opportunity to work with their classmates and do some problem solving, and they did an awesome job! We also began reviewing our throwing skills, and have been practicing our form and technique. We have been able to play games to help our throwing form and technique such as Endzone Trappers, Castle Pool, Powerball, and Catching Relay. The fourth graders had their first quarter pacer test and did such a wonderful job! I am so impressed with their hard work and determination. I remind them every time that I am not worried about how many “laps” they get, but that I care about how hard they work, and I never have to worry about them not working hard enough, so I am very lucky! The students are doing such an awesome job, and I am really looking forward to the rest of the year with them!
Technology
I am Traci Seyb and I teach your children skills in technology. This is my 23rd year of teaching and my 16th year at Riverview. I've taught 4th grade and 5th grade in the regular classroom and was a Literacy Learning Coach in the Lawrence Public Schools. I received my Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Kansas State University--EMAW! I feel privileged to be a part of the Riverview community and count myself as a lucky individual who gets to work with the fabulous children who attend our school.
Fourth graders started the year reviewing our Acceptable Use Policy.
Next, we worked on exploring our online typing program, Type to Learn. Students are always welcome to practice typing at home. If your student is homework free one or two nights a week, ask them to head to www.typetolearn.com and work on typing for 15 min or so. A little practice goes a long way in building this skill!
This year, our district upgraded to Windows 10. Along with that upgrade came new features. We took time to explore a few of the new things Windows 10 offered and changed our settings to meet our individual preferences.
In fourth grade we also started to work on our "footprints" . Each class learned how personal information is tracked about their preferences, family, etc....throughout their life. We discussed why it might be important to think about what kinds of things we post on social media and how that might affect our future. In groups, students came up with a brainstorm list of places they enjoy going on the web, apps they use and game systems. Students created a footprint of logos to represent entities that could be tracking personal information.
Library
I truly enjoy being the Library Media Specialist here at Riverview Elementary! We have an amazing school filled with eager-to-learn, wonderful students and dedicated, caring staff! It is so much fun getting to work with former students again and getting acquainted with all the fantastic kindergarten through fifth graders here at Riverview. I love getting kids excited about reading, introducing them to new books and authors they may not have read before, and researching with them! My goal is to develop lifelong readers!
This year is my 27th year of teaching. I taught second grade a total of 12 years, first grade for 2 years, and Tutorial Math Grades 3-6 for 1 year. I also was a substitute teacher for 5 years after taking time off to raise my own children. This is my twelfth year as the Library Media Specialist at Riverview.
In our library classes we talked about our five rules: Respect Books and Library Property, Use Quiet Voices, Respect Yourself and Others, Use Library Time Wisely, and Wait Quietly in Line. We also discussed our safety procedures at RE, where we would go, and what our jobs are. We identified ways to care for our books and discussed using a shelf marker or a neighbor book to mark a book’s place on the shelf. Students were introduced to our new school-wide Award Winners reading program. Information about the program and a reading log can be found on my website at: http://riverviewlibrary.weebly.com/ We talked about different strategies to help us in choosing a “good fit” book such as “I PICK,” using lexile ranges, and using the color dot system found on the spines of many of our books in the library. We watched a preview of some of the books coming to our Scholastic Book Fair which will be in the library on October 27th and 28th. Students worked with a partner to complete a Scavenger Hunt in the library.
Counselor
Hello and welcome back to a new school year! My name is Toni Munsey and I am your Riverview School Counselor! I’m pleased to start another year at Riverview. This is my eleventh year in the Desoto school district. My previous 18 years were spent in the Kansas City, Kansas school district. I received my Bachelor’s degree from Kansas State and my Masters in Counseling from Emporia State where I also completed K-12 building level Administrative certification. I’ve taught in the classroom for eight years before becoming a school counselor and am excited about my 21st. year as a school counselor. The counselors’ role is to help students be successful in academic achievement as well as social and emotional health. I will be teaching guidance lessons in the library this year as part of the special’s teacher rotation on a regular basis. I will also be available for small group and individual counseling. The counseling curriculum consists of Character Education, Bullying Prevention, Drug and Alcohol Prevention just to name a few. My goal is to find more time in my schedule for students who just need to drop by and talk out a problem. I am an advocate for all students and a resource for staff and parents. Please feel free to contact me anytime if there is anything I can help with. My phone number is 441-0808 ext. 4124 and my e-mail is tthurmanmunsey@usd232.org. I would also like to remind you the importance of community service and encourage you to join the Falcon Volunteers and track your community service hours throughout the year. I’m so excited about this school year and look forward to working with you and our wonderful Riverview students.
First quarter has been a blast! We have reviewed the role of the school counselor. We have also done several getting to know you and team building activities. We have learned Habit 1 “Be Proactive” from the book The 7 habits of Happy Kids we are learning to be in charge of ourselves and think with a positive growth mindset.