Rivers Elementary School MAY NEWSLETTER - Rolling River ...

Rivers Elementary School
MAY NEWSLETTER
GRADE 6
As April closes, we are approaching
the May / June business of OUT-
DOOR LIFE at Rivers Elementary
School. Staff and students have
been planning and looking forward
to Field Trips and Year-End Activities
for the 08/09 school year.
In grade 6, students are working on
the ELA novel study ‘The Message
of the Mask’ by Elfrieda Ried. Also
in ELA, we are finishing our presentations
on the mini-unit for THE
OLYMPICS.
In MATH students have been working
on graphing and interpreting
samples of data.
Grade 6 students have started their
SOCIAL STUDIES unit on World
War I. The focus of the unit is on
Canada’s involvement in this conflict
and impacts of the war at home.
The SCIENCE unit on FLIGHT is
well underway as we have just completed
TEST #1. We look forward to
FLYING the full scale model that
has been displayed in the classroom.
THANK YOU to RILEY
McLEOD and his DAD for lending
us this working model.
BASIC FRENCH students in Grade
5 and 6 continue to work on parts of
the house and home, as well as
physical traits and characteristics.
As we strive towards the end of another
successful school year, we look
forward to seeing you at our OPEN
HOUSE at the end of May and
FIELD DAY ACTIVITIES between
now and year end.
GRADE 2
April has focused on “THE
EARTH” in Grade 2. It began with
an animal study on RABBITS with
many ‘Benjamin Bunny’, ‘Peter Rabbit’
and ‘Easter Bunny’ plays and
stories. These fiction pieces were
combined with more factual rabbit
research.
THE WATER CYCLE was studied.
The students retold the book ‘A
River Ran Wild’ in their own self
made books. A play about a
“Drought” introduced the students
to the writing “Tall Tales”. They
then enjoyed other tall tale characters
such as Paul Bunyan, Recos Bill and
Davy Crockett.
“EARTH DAY” saw them enjoying
books such as ‘Dear Children of the
Earth’ and ‘Children of the Earth
Remember’. From these, they were
reminded that each of us doing small
things becomes a BIG Thing To
Our PLANET.
TIME has been the newest area introduced
in MATH along with the
continual practice on facts, problem
solving and regrouping.
GRADE 3
Students in grade 3 are looking forward
to our FIELD TRIP to the
SPIRIT SANDS on May 8th.
They’ll feel like the Ancient Egyptians
after this desert trek!!
Our study of ANCIENT EGYPT has
included a look at ancient jewelry,
hieroglyphs, making paper, pyramid
building, inventions and inside the
tomb of King Tut. A BIG THANKS
to THOMAS MOROZ for sharing
Egyptian Papyrus with us! Students
really enjoyed their NEMES.
During LANGUAGE ARTS we have
also looked at INVENTIONS and
GREAT INVENTORS. Students are
asked to bring their OWN INVEN-
TIONS on May 14, which has been
proclaimed INVENTION DAY!The
Grade 3 class has spent the month of
April studying multiplication in
MATH. We discussed how it is a
simplified form of repeated addition
and combining items into groups.
The unit was concluded with a quiz
and we will be moving on to division
in May.
In SCIENCE we have been looking
at Soil – what it is, what lives and
grows in it and how soils differ from
location to location. We collected
some samples and added some organic
matter to them and hope to see
it broken down to compost before
long.
In HEALTH the students have begun
studying the human body. We
are examining ways to stay healthy
and strong, as well as looking at
some of the different organs within
our bodies. Keep brushing those
teeth!
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The month of April has seen the K-5
students working hard at improving
their JUMP ROPE skills. Not only
is this activity great for cardio, but it
also improves hopping and jumping
skills.
Students have had an opportunity to
work on individual tricks as well as
partner stunts and long rope activities.
Older students in grades 5 and 6 will
be preparing for Track & Field
events, while K-4 students will be
doing some gymnastic and baseball
activities.
For grade 6 students, a short Phys.
Ed. unit on Striking Skills is under-

P A G E 2
way in the gym before students
move outside again for Softball.
GRADE 5
Grade 5 students have been learning
about VERBS along with writing
Biographies in ELA. Students used
a computer application called
“Trading Cards” to represent their
biographical information on a person
of their choice. Students have also
been reviewing what they have
learned about NOUNS using text
from their SOCIAL STUDIES unit
on British in North America.
Learning Centers have also been underway
on Day 2, 4, and 6. Different
activities include Reading Comprehension,
Poetry, Math Problems,
Grammar, and Guided Reading.
The final unit test in SOCIAL
STUDIES on the British in North
America is approaching. Students
will complete a review next week to
assist them in their study preparations.
Students are also coming to the end
of their work with DECIMALS.
Our next area of study will be on
PROBABILITY and SHAPES.
In HEALTH, students are learning
about Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco
use.
T h e S C I E N C E u n i t o n
‘WEATHER’ is more than half finished
and we have completed our
mid-way unit test. The next element
is Precipitation and the formation
of Clouds.
GRADE 4
April was another BUSY month in
the grade four room. We wrapped
up our SOUND unit in SCIENCE
with presentations from each student
on their Home-Made Musical Instruments.
They DID AN AWE-
SOME JOB and I am PROUD of
each of them. THANKS to all those
who assisted in the preparing and
building of these musical instruments.
We are currently working on an author
study of Gordon Korman. Each
student is reading one of his novels.
MANITOBA HISTORY is our focus
in SOCIAL STUDIES right now.
Everyone is working hard during
MATH on multiplication and long
division.
GRADE 1~
MRS. PILLING
A highlight for me this month was
the AMAZING performances the
students did at FESTIVAL! They all
sang beautifully and recited their
poems so well.
This month we’ve been focusing on
contractions and ‘s/s’. We are also
reviewing word families to help
strengthen our independent spelling.
We have published 3 NEW
BOOKS: I Know It Is Spring, Signs
of Easter, and All About Rabbits.
We are currently working on a book
using EARTH DAY as the theme.
We will be sharing these books with
the Grade 7 class, Mrs. Common and
Mr. Taylor this month!
In MATH, we continue to create and
solve story problems and practice
adding and subtracting facts. The
kids love our MATH TAXI game!
We will be starting a unit on 2-D and
3-D Shapes. This will be a FUN,
HANDS-ON unit!
In SCIENCE, we are learning about
changes as we finally have SPRING!
SOCIAL STUDIES has us learning
about maps, our community and how
we belong.
GRADE 1 ~ MRS. LEPP
Students have been VERY BUSY in
their Companion Reading program
this month. We have learned about
contractions such as I’ll; can’t;
shouldn’t; etc. We have been reinforcing
rules about words with long
vowels. We’ve learned about the
‘MAGIC’ or ‘SILENT e’ in words
like cute, bike, Pete, tote or gate.
We’ve learned “when two vowels go
walking, the first one does the talking
~ and it says it’s name! We see
that in words such as sail, team, goat
and rain. Students have completed
many writing assignments about
Easter, rainy days, mud puddles,
and Spring. Students are learning a
Reader’s Theatre entitled ‘Mud
Puddle’.
We continue to work on our PHON-
ICS and NIP THE BEAR books.
Congratulations to all Grade 1 students
for their SUPER JOB in
SPOKEN POETRY at Festival.
MUSIC
It’s finally looking like spring outside,
and hopefully the cooler
weather and snow are finally behind
us for another year. April has once
again been a busy month in Music
with all classes beginning a number
of different units of study.
The Kindergartens began work on a
new unit of Animals, based on the
song/book Sitting on the Farm. We
have focused on counting skills, recognizing
beginning word sounds and
letters, beat and rhythm activities
using singing, movement, listening
and playing instruments. In Grade 1
the students have reviewed their
knowledge of so, mi, and la as well
as recognizing beat and rhythm in a
unit of Rabbits. They learned several
songs, accompanied themselves
on the classroom Orff instruments,
and played some non-pitched instruments
as well (tambourines and
wood blocks). Grade 2 saw the beginning
of a very long and involved
unit based on the Russian folk-tale of
Peter and the Wolf, which will introduce
them to various instruments
of the orchestra. In Grade 3 we focused
on songs featuring the last of
their pitch-syllables, known as ti. It
R I V E R S E L E M E N T A R Y ~
M A Y N E W S L E T T E R

is the seventh step in a major scale
and one of the trickiest to sing and
identify. We sang several songs that
feature this pitch and finished it all
up with a quiz. As a special treat we
also watched a short segment of the
movie The Sound of Music, the part
where they sing the song Do, Re, Mi,
as it was one of the songs we sang in
class.
The Grade 4s spent the month learning
about syncopation as a rhythm
that messes around with the beat.
We had great fun singing songs with
this jazzy, exciting type of rhythmic
energy! In Grade 5 we continued
working on our compositions for
next month’s trip to Brandon to hear
the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
The students rehearsed and polished
their selections and will be ready to
present them to an audience of students
and teachers at the Westman
Centennial Auditorium. The Grade
6’s took a break from their preparations
for the WSO concert and began
a study of The Music of Newfoundland
and have learned and sung a
number of folk songs from Canada’s
easternmost province. This unit also
includes a study of the island and
many of its cities and towns as well
as some of the history and culture of
the province.
Our two choirs performed at the
Rolling River Festival of the Arts on
April 16 and 17 and both groups did
extremely well. Their participation
was non-competitive but they were
well received by the adjudicator who
was constructive and helpful in her
comments.
LEGION
PRESENTATIONS
P A G E 3
Maureen Farrant, Legion Zone Commander along with local Legion members
presented Matthew Morrison and Leandra Anderson with first and second
prize in the Black & White Poster Category and Beau Bridgeman with first
prize in the Colour Poster Category. Matthew and Beau were also District
winners and their posters will now compete at the Provincial Level.
SUPER SPRING SALE!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Thank you to students, parents and staff for once again supporting Rivers Elementary
School’s SPRING BOOK FAIR. Total sales exceeded $1500.00!
From this, approximately $900.00 remains at the school to help supplement
our Central Library and Classroom Collections.
A BIG THANK YOU to Mrs. McMurachy, Rosanna Common, Debbie
Sherman and Janell Sherman-Wood for all their help.
Mrs. Common
Parents
Make the difference!
Studies Show Missing School Affects Success
At the end of the year, it may be tempting to keep your child out of school for
a few days. But studies show that missing days in elementary school can lead
to problems.
When kids miss school, they miss out. They aren’t there when the teacher explains
how to multiply fractions. Or they miss the first chapter of the book the
class will read.
When they come back, they have to work hard to catch up. Sometimes, they
feel like they can’t get back to where their classmates are. So they give up. Or
they drop out.
A research study at Johns Hopkins University found that sixth graders who
miss about one day of school a week have a 75 percent chance of never making
it to graduation. Make every effort to get your child to school every day ~
even as the school year winds down. You could be heading off big trouble
later.

May 2009
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
Day 2
2
3 4
Day 3
5
Day 4
6
Day 5
7
Day 6
8
Day 1
9
Hot Dog
Day ~ $1.00
10 11
Day 2
12
Day 3
13
Day 4
Qualifying
Track Meet
— RCI
14
Day 5
15
Day 6
Mac ’n
Cheese ~
$1.25
16
17 18
Victoria
Day
No School
19
Day 1
20
Day 2
21
Day 3
22
Day 4
Hot Dog
Day ~ $1.00
23
24 25
Day 5
J.H. Track
& Field
Brandon
26
Day 6
27
Day 1
28
Day 2
29 Day 3
Spring Open
House
Spaghetti &
Sauce $1.50
30
31