Friday, January 12, 2018

January News




January 9, 2018

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

Happy New Year! January is an energizing time of year when classrooms dive deeper into rigorous learning activities, and students start to show great gains in their progress.  Across the district teachers will be giving mid-year assessments that tell us whether students are keeping up with the class, or need extra help. The tests will also determine new areas for teachers to work on between now and spring. 
Over the next few weeks, our PK, kindergarten, first and second grade students will be taking the winter CPAA assessment, and our third, fourth and fifth graders will be taking the winter NWEA assessment. These computerized tests in reading and math are generally not anxiety producing for students and do not take much time to complete. The information from the tests is very detailed and identifies student’s strengths and weaknesses in both reading and math. 
Also, during January all ELL students will be taking the ACCESS test. This test measures the domains of speaking, listening, reading, writing and comprehension in English.  In March the third, fourth and fifth graders will take the MEAs, which is the state’s required standardized assessment. 
These assessments are yardsticks that teachers, schools, and school districts use to measure what and how they teach and how well students are learning what is taught.  There are a number of ways that you can maximize your child's learning capabilities throughout the school year, which can lead to confident test-taking. Some of these strategies include:
  • Talk to your child about taking a test. It’s helpful for children to understand why schools give tests and how it’s an important way for students to show what they know!
  • Encourage your child. Praise her or him for the things that she or he does well. If your children feel good about themselves, they will do their best on a test. Children who are afraid of failing are more likely to become anxious when taking tests and more likely to make mistakes.
  • Assist your child with homework and ensure that your child is completing all homework assignments. Help your child learn how to follow directions carefully!
  • Make sure that your child attends school regularly. Remember, tests reflect children’s overall achievement. The more effort and energy your child puts into learning, the more likely it is that he or she will do well on tests. 
  • Stay in communication with your child's teacher. Ask the teacher to suggest activities for you and your child to do at home to help prepare for tests and to improve your child’s understanding of schoolwork.
  • Provide a quiet, comfortable place for studying at home and make sure that your child is well rested on school days, especially on the day of a test. Children who are tired are less able to pay attention in class or to handle the demands of a test.
  • Encourage your child to read as much as possible, and to increase her/his vocabulary - even reading magazines, newspapers, and comic books regularly will help improve your child’s reading skills.
Math and Tech Night
Thank you to all who attended our Math/Technology Night. We hope you were able to get the math apps downloaded to your device so that your child can practice math at home. If you are having trouble with your Apple ID, you can still access these programs via Safari.

     That Quiz https://www.thatquiz.org/
Kahn Academy:    https://www.khanacademy.org/
     Reflex Math (3rd Grade) https://www.reflexmath.com/

Also, it is very important to supervise children using ipads. Here are some links to get good tips on how to support your children and keep them safe when using technology: 


You can also set parental controls on the ipad by following these directions:


A Note From the Nurse
There has been a confirmed case of Pertussis (whooping cough) in the Riverton School community.  Pertussis is caused by a bacteria and looks like a cold or virus, but then develops into a severe, persistent cough that often lasts weeks.  Your child can get the disease, even if fully vaccinated.  It is particularly dangerous for infants and young children to get Pertussis because they have not been fully vaccinated and have immature immune systems.  Pertussis is not a pregnancy threat, but pregnant women should check with their medical providers about being vaccinated. If someone in your household has a severe, persistent cough, please see your medical provider and ask if it might be Pertussis.  It is easily treated with antibiotics when diagnosed. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school nurse or your medical provider. Let’s keep the Riverton community healthy!

New School Secretary
Please welcome Ms. Coleen DiPhillipo as our new school secretary. Coleen has previously worked at Reiche School and Catherine Morrill Preschool.  We are so happy to have Coleen join our office staff. Please stop by to say hello!

Music News from Ms. Nunelley
As we enter 2018, Riverton's music program is engaging students in a variety of exciting activities! Pre-schoolers are exploring the music of the winter season through song and dance, including Vivaldi's "Winter" from The Four Seasons. Kindergarten and first grade students are reviewing popsicle stick rhythms, which includes quarter notes, quarter rests, and eighth notes. With these, students are composing and improvising rhythms with African drums. Further, second grade is reading "Freddie the Frog: The Thump in the Night." using this book as a launching point, students are learning how to read and write pitches on the treble clef. 

Upper elementary students have begun preparing for their spring concerts. Third grade is composing body percussion rhythms before they begin their Recycled Percussion/Bucket Drumming unit. Fourth grade has started learning how to play the recorder. And fifth grade has dived into the music of the American Revolution using songs from the musical Hamilton, which will lead us to creating our own revolutionary fife and drum corps!
The Portland music teachers are putting on a fundraising concert on Feb. 6 at PHS at 6:30 pm! We will all be performing solos and as a group!

New from the Library
Over the past few months 4th graders learned more about using our amazing library resources, both books and those online. Starting first with Maine weather, they are now increasing their skills as they find more ways to learn about Maine Government. They have become experts on using the Riverton homepage to open our library catalog, and from there to find books and trusted websites. Students are excited about the resources they have added to their own personal online reading lists. There are great resources on the library catalog homepage - and students are encouraged to use them at home.

In just about eleven weeks many classrooms will be voting for their favorite book from the 2017/2018 Chickadee Book List. We started with a bang today reading, Hammer and Nails, by Josh Bledsoe. It’s a humorous and heartwarming story of Darcy and her dad as they alternate choosing activities for their day at home. The first classes we have read it to laughed out loud, over and over. You will have to read it to see how dad ended up wearing a tutu for the day, and glamour girl Darcy successfully fixed the fence. How does it get better than laughing, while also seeing that, “sometimes things you have never done before end up being fun!” In March students will vote for their favorite of the ten chickadee books.

Find out more about the Chickadee Award Program and our Library Catalog from the Riverton home page, riverton.portlandschools.org. Use the quick link, “Library”.
Did You Know? 
  • Riverton School has formal partnerships with Theater for Kids, Portland Ovations, Side x Side, Learning Works, Portland Recreation, CPort Credit Union, Center for Grieving Children, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and the Locker Project. 
  • Twenty-eight different languages are represented at Riverton School. 
  • Every school day begins at 8:05 with a healthy breakfast. Classes begin at 8:25.
  • The Box Top’s you donate earns us cash for our school! Keep clipping and sending them in!
  • Riverton’s Family Handbook is located on our website’s homepage at http://riverton.portlandschools.org
Special Reminder- Martin Luther King, Jr Day -There is no school on Monday, January 15, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Upcoming Dates
January 10: Early Release, 1:50
January 10: Family Math Night, 5:00-6:30
January 15: Martin Luther King Day, NO SCHOOL
January 16: ACCESS Testing Begins
January 17: Early Release, 1:50
January 18: PTO meeting, 5:30 Media Center
January 19: 5th Grade All Star Basketball Night 
January 23: Math Meet, 9:00-12:00
January 24: Early Release, 1:50
January 26: Riverton School Spirit Day! Wear your Riverton Colors!
January 31: Early Release, 1:50

Please feel free to reach out to me, or Assistant Principal David Turner if you ever have questions about how we can best support your student(s) at Riverton School (874-8210). 

Sincerely, 
Mrs. Ann Hanna
Principal

Mr. David Turner

Assistant Principal

April Newsletter

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