Riddle Reporter Riddle Elementary School May 2013 One of our key goals at Riddle School is to establish and maintain a pleasant, calm, positive envi- ronment that allows the children to be comfortable, confident, and ready to learn. Our primary focus is to help children solidify basic academic skills and establish problem solving and analytical thinking skills. To achieve this, the staff must work as a coordinated unit to implement consistent behavioral and performance expectations for the children. The only thing that overshadows this staff’s collec- tive skill and dedication is their cooperation and ability to work together. The focus and motivation of each staff member is, “What do we need to do to be as helpful as possible to every child?” Every person is willing to do anything necessary if it will help the children. As you have heard me say many times, educational research clearly indicates the more parents are involved in their children’s education program, the faster the children learn and grow. Being an administrator in this district for twenty-one years, I know what kind of parental support I can expect from you for the children and the school. You are great. Parental participation must never be taken for granted. It must be encouraged and supported. Opportunities for input must be numerous and easily accessed. Educators must always remember they are your children and you not only love them, you know them. When we work together, the children benefit . . . And that means we must do it and do it well. Having this many children to care for and manage and teach means problems come up every day. Any problem is quickly overshadowed by the “bigger picture”. Looking at these students, I am truly inspired. Their kindness, willingness to try, and inherent goodness makes me wish all of us were more like them. I am lucky to be around them everyday. It has been a challenging year. It has also been a very rewarding and productive year. I cannot thank you all enough for your support. I am very proud of how consistently and effectively stu- dents, faculty, and parents come together to make Riddle Elementary School a place where every student, everyday, learns and grows and feels like a real human being . . . And that is the whole point. Sincerely, Bruce E. Barnard Bruce E. Barnard, Principal From the Principal’s Desk . . . Mrs. Boyd’s 2nd Grade County Market Max $ 2 Mrs. Blackwell’s Kdg Mrs. Salmon’s 1st Grade 3 Mrs. Lane’s 2nd Grade Mrs. Condron - Speech/Path 4 Mrs. Lawrence - Art Mrs. Stewart’s 5th Grade 5 Special Dates 6 Inside this issue: Virtue for May: Humility May 13 Mattoon CUSD #2 217 238-3800 (p) Mr. Bruce E. Barnard, Principal Riddle Elementary School 217 238-3805 (f ) Mrs. Christine Bough, Assistant Principal 4201 Western Avenue Mattoon IL 61938 5th Grade Student Awards Day The Fifth Grade Student Awards Assem- bly is at 2:00 pm, Thursday, May 23. This is the last student attendance day. We dis- miss at the regular 3:10 pm time. American Cancer Society Penny Drive Riddle School donated $600 to a great cause! We have generous, compassionate children!
Transcript
Riddle Reporter
Riddle Elementary School
May 2013
One of our key goals at Riddle School is to establish and maintain a pleasant, calm, positive envi-ronment that allows the children to be comfortable, confident, and ready to learn. Our primary focus is to help children solidify basic academic skills and establish problem solving and analytical thinking skills. To achieve this, the staff must work as a coordinated unit to implement consistent behavioral and performance expectations for the children. The only thing that overshadows this staff’s collec-tive skill and dedication is their cooperation and ability to work together. The focus and motivation of each staff member is, “What do we need to do to be as helpful as possible to every child?” Every person is willing to do anything necessary if it will help the children. As you have heard me say many times, educational research clearly indicates the more parents are involved in their children’s education program, the faster the children learn and grow. Being an administrator in this district for twenty-one years, I know what kind of parental support I can expect from you for the children and the school. You are great. Parental participation must never be taken for granted. It must be encouraged and supported. Opportunities for input must be numerous and easily accessed. Educators must always remember they are your children and you not only love them, you know them. When we work together, the children benefit . . . And that means we must do it and do it well. Having this many children to care for and manage and teach means problems come up every day. Any problem is quickly overshadowed by the “bigger picture”. Looking at these students, I am truly inspired. Their kindness, willingness to try, and inherent goodness makes me wish all of us were more like them. I am lucky to be around them everyday. It has been a challenging year. It has also been a very rewarding and productive year. I cannot thank you all enough for your support. I am very proud of how consistently and effectively stu-dents, faculty, and parents come together to make Riddle Elementary School a place where every student, everyday, learns and grows and feels like a real human being . . . And that is the whole point. Sincerely,
Bruce E. Barnard Bruce E. Barnard, Principal
From the Principal’s Desk . . .
Mrs. Boyd’s 2nd Grade County Market Max $
2
Mrs. Blackwell’s Kdg Mrs. Salmon’s 1st Grade
3
Mrs. Lane’s 2nd Grade Mrs. Condron - Speech/Path
4
Mrs. Lawrence - Art Mrs. Stewart’s 5th Grade
5
Special Dates 6
Inside this issue:
Virtue for May: Humility May 13
Mattoon CUSD #2 217 238-3800 (p) Mr. Bruce E. Barnard, Principal Riddle Elementary School 217 238-3805 (f ) Mrs. Christine Bough, Assistant Principal 4201 Western Avenue Mattoon IL 61938
5th Grade Student Awards Day
The Fifth Grade Student Awards Assem-bly is at 2:00 pm, Thursday, May 23. This is the last student attendance day. We dis-miss at the regular 3:10 pm time.
American Cancer Society Penny Drive
Riddle School donated $600 to a great cause! We have generous, compassionate children!
March was very busy for second graders. Certificates were presented for all of the fantastic stories that everyone wrote for the Young Author’s Program. After reading Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert, the children arranged two sets of Chinese tangram puzzle pieces to create their own interesting creature. Fractions were the topic of dis-cussion in Math class as we worked with each piece and discovered three different shapes in the puzzle were equivalent. Animal dioramas were proudly displayed at the Curriculum Exposition as a culminating activity after studying about animals and their habitats. We have been observing three different types of rocks and trying to identify some of the miner-als. Also, it is always exciting to examine fossils and try to understand how long ago the plant or animal existed.
Thank You to our Community and County Market for providing the opportunity for Riddle School to receive $1000 from the Max Dollars program. The donation will be used to provide supplies for our students, help fund field trips, and help fund special assemblies. Thanks again! The donation is greatly appreciated and will bene-fit all of our students. County Market’s Don Taylor presented the $1000 donation to Bruce Barnard, principal at Riddle Elemen-tary School.
2nd Graders Were Busy! Submitted by Mrs. Boyd
Thank You County Market!
P a g e 2 Ri d d le Re port er
Kindergarten Learns About Space Submitted by Mrs. Blackwell
Gr 1 - Learning About Continents Submitted by Mrs. Salmon
P a g e 3 Ri d d le Re port er
Kindergarten students have been working hard learning about space these past few weeks. They have learned about the sun, stars, planets, and the moon. On Tuesday, April 16th, we had a special visitor (Mr. Dave from the planetarium at Parkland College) come to talk to us about space and show us a space suit. Mr. Dave also brought a real meteorite for us to see and touch. One of our friends was even able to try on the space suit. Wow! We went to visit Mr. Dave at the planetarium on Thursday, April 25th. Students really enjoyed our first field trip.
Mrs. Salmon’s first graders are having fun learning about the continents. They studied the habitats, animals, people, celebrations, art, etc. associated with each continent. They are pictured here with their African mask and Asian origami projects. The students enjoyed learning where some of their favorite foods come from and even did some tasting. Bread dipped in olive oil was a big hit. They learned that most of the world’s olive oil comes from Europe. If you want to know about a continent, find a first grader!
Weather in Grade 2 Submitted by Mrs. Lane
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month
Submitted by Mrs. Condron
P a g e 4 Ri d d le Re port er
Second graders in Mrs. Lane’s and Miss Newbold’s classroom have been learning about the water cycle, Earth Day, different types of weather, why we have four seasons, and types of tools to measure weather. The students have been learning through hands-on activities, science experiments, creative writing, and art projects. Our classroom has been full of questions and observa-tions during our science activities. We’ve been having a magnificent time exploring the seasons, weather, and the water cycle, and look forward to learning the states of matter.
More than 5 million children in the United States currently have a speech, language, or hearing disorder, and many of these children receive speech-language services in the school setting. However, parents often feel unaware of what to do if they suspect their child is demonstrating a speech, lan-guage, or hearing disorder. In order to provide information about communication disorders to par-ents and the public, The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has designated May as Better Hearing and Speech Month. It is important for parents to understand that speech and language problems can oc-cur at any time during a child’s life. Common speech and language problems include: stuttering, articulation disorders, language disorders, and voice disorders. If you suspect your child is demonstrating difficulties in any of these areas, contact a speech-language pathologist and visit ASHA’s website at www.asha.org for more information as well as for fun activities for kids to do during Better Hearing and Speech Month!
Riddle Artists Featured in “Arts and Activities” National Magazine! Submitted by Mrs. Lawrence
Intervention Groups Submitted by Mrs. Stewart
P a g e 5 Ri d d le Re port er
If you are a visitor to Rid-dle Elementary School, one of the first things you will notice about our school is our life-size animals. Our 5th grade team leaders create these animals every year in Art. I am always very proud of my stu-dents and love to show them off, so I asked Ron Ghere, retired 5th grade teacher and professional pho-
tographer, to take photos of our animals. I wrote an article about my Art students and the animals, enclosed the photographs, and mailed it to the editor of “Arts and Activities” magazine. That was in 2009. What a surprise when the editor, Maryellen Bridges, contacted me over four years later, stating that the article will be published in the May 2013 issue. “Arts and Activities” magazine is the nation’s leading art edu-cation magazine for the past 80 years. A copy of the magazine can be seen in the Riddle office or ordered from www.artsandactivities.com.
Everyday from 2:30-3:00 Riddle 5th graders have Response to Intervention (RTI) groups. At this time, Title 1 paraprofessionals assist classroom teachers in small group instruction in areas of Reading and Math. Groups are formed by specific skills that the stu-dents need extra practice on. These groups are able to focus on individual needs based on data gathered from Discovery Testing and classroom assessments. In Mrs. Stewart’s classroom the intervention groups rotate through centers. The centers vary depending on the skills being ad-dressed for the week. A few examples of the centers are computers, tablets, smart board, word work, and Weekly Reader Activities. The students enjoy the technology based activities!
We’re on the Web! www.mattoon.k12.il.us
Special Dates
Respect+Responsibility+Relationships=Results
Riddle Elementary School
May 1 Summer School Permission Forms due 6 Teacher Appreciation Week 3:15 Brownie Troop 2251 7 10:30 Smith/Hyland to Lytle Park 8 11:00 Travers/Campbell to Lytle Park 9 10:30 Maleske/Poorman to Lytle Park 10 1:00 Tornado Drill 13 Virtue - Humility 14 6:00 PTA - Vote for Officers 7:00 School Board Mtg 15 2:45 Grs 4-5 Birthday Assembly 16 2:45 Grs 1-3 Birthday Assembly 17 Dental Services 2:30 Grs 4 & 5 “Girl Talk” “Boy Talk” 21 10:00 Gr 5 Field Trip 12:00 1st Grade to Lytle Park 23 2:00 Awards Assembly Last Student Attendance Day 24 Last Teacher Day MHS Graduation
