First 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!
Students have covered a lot in our first quarter in Music. We have been working with long and short sounds with quarter notes (“beat”), eighth notes (“beat-and”) and quarter rests, reviewing classroom instruments (drum, woodblock, tambourine, rhythm sticks, triangle, maracas), high and low sounds, music moving up and down, and moving to the steady beat using locomotor and non-locomotor movements. I also try to incorporate different musicians or styles of music in our lessons. This year we started with Ray Charles! Students listened to some of his music, like “Hit the Road Jack,” and learned that he was an amazing pianist even though he was blind. What a great example of a "never stop trying" attitude! Whew - It’s been a busy and fun time in the music classroom! 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!
First Grade has being exploring science and dissolution with our dot day art! Using markers and water on a coffee filter, we were able to make our marks spread with just a spray. When we read, "The Dot," we learned how to be an artist and to persevere when we are unsure what to do next in our art journey. During our line unit we are discussing outlines and different patterns that artist, Peter Diem, uses with his cow paintings. Students have been exploring their expressive side with paints and collage! We also read the book, Lines That Wiggle, by Candace Whitman where all types of lines bend, sprout, and tickle--we even found lines not in the book. We explored our art room to find lines in our ever day lives! I am so impressed with their excitement for art and skills with cutting, collaging, painting, and drawing. Their creative process is entertaining to watch and make it easy to love my job.
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, Silly Bananas, Gladiators, and many more! We then began reviewing the locomotor movements; movements that move us from one place to another, such as walking, galloping, skipping, jogging, sliding, leaping, jumping, and hopping. Learning these movements is very important because they are the movements we do all the time, and they are so helpful for all the other activities we will do throughout the year. We will continue practicing our locomotor movements throughout the year. We also began working on our rolling and throwing skills, with games such as Popcorn Machine, Catch me if you Can, Throw Up, and bowling. The students are doing such an awesome job, and I am really looking forward to the rest of the year with them!
Technology
In First Grade, we began the year learning about the rules in our districts Acceptable Use Policy. We learned about home row and where our hands need to be when typing. We started typing practice with Dance Mat Typing.
Our next project was creating a self portrait in MS Paint, adding it to a web in Kidspiration and then adding pictures from the library and text to tell everyone about ourselves. Be on the look out in the next few weeks for a finished project!
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 the book’s spine label, what it means, and the different sections of the library. We are practicing using shelf markers correctly in the Everyone section and are looking forward to looking for books in the other sections of the library next quarter. We talked about how best to take care of our books. 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 discussed the acronym “I PICK” when choosing a good fit book to check out and had fun learning an “I PICK” rap. We identified the author, illustrator, and publisher and discussed their roles. We watched a preview of some of the books coming to our Scholastic Book Fair which will be in the library on October 26th and 27th.
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.