What's Happening This Month:
Our One School, One Book Kick Off was on Friday, March 1, and students were given their OSOB activity/book packet for Zoey and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows! We are excited to read our book this month!
Our second graders have been preparing for their spring music program which will be held on Thursday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Parents, remember to also mark your calendars for Lifetouch spring pictures on Monday, March 11. Lifetouch packet information can be found in this newsletter, on our school webpage, and will also be available in the school office.
On Wednesday March 13, we will have our Kindergarten Round-Up for the 2024-2025 school year! Please read our Kindergarten registration information below to learn more about scheduling your child for Kindergarten Round-Up. If you have any questions, please call the school office at 507-847-5963 at anytime. *Current Riverside Kindergarten students will not have school on March 13.
A huge thank you for supporting our PBIS spring fundraiser! Your donations continue to help us fund our schoolwide PBIS activities, events, Husky Pride Room, and so much more! Fundraiser items can be picked up on March 22 between 3:00-6:00 p.m. at Riverside. We will be sharing the total fundraiser sales once we have the completed donations turned in! If we reach our $10,000 goal, I will get slimed again this year! I believe we have already reached our halfway goal of $5,000, and I will be getting duct taped to the wall by a few students as well. We will be sharing more information about that as the time gets closer!
Go Huskies!
Kim Meyer,
Riverside Principal
This month we will continue to focus on showing Husky Pride in the gym and on the playground. Classes who earn the most points each week will will the Golden Trophy, along with a class prize of their choice such as a pajama party, special lunch, etc. We will continue to focus on sharing, being kind, showing good sportsmanship, and following directions.
What is self regulation? It can be defined as the ability to manage our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. This means regulating our emotions by staying calm in times of stress and making positive choices when we sometimes want to do something else. Self-regulation skills are one of the biggest keys for success for students in the classroom. Below are a few classroom practices that we use at school to build self-regulation skills.
1. Think-Alouds - Before a transition, an adult or teacher may say, "I know that we're going to have library in just a few minutes. How can I get ready for that? I'm going to begin putting my materials away, even if I'm not finished. I'm going to get my library book and get ready to line up."
2. Teaching and Practicing Coping Skills - These may include positive self-talk, mindful breathing, coloring, movement breaks.
3. Brain Breaks - Breaks are essential to success. A brain break is a short pause between tasks. Some ideas may include playing calm music, breathing exercises, movement breaks, stretching.
4. Creating a Class Schedule - Schedules provides structure and routine into everyday life and visual schedules provide a place where students can view what is happening each day. Not to say there aren't changes to the schedule, but it is always something that students can look at and teachers or an adult can refer to. This especially helps students who struggle with change and transitions.
5. Providing and Emotion Check-In - Morning check-ins, SEL time, calendar time, etc. or anytime throughout the day can be opportunities to check in with students about their emotions and validate how they are feeling.
6. Practicing Transitions - Setting timers, playing music, having fun strategies or themes for transitions is what we practice everyday at school to help make transitions go smoothly for students as they change from centers, classrooms, specials, lunch, recess, etc. The smoother the transitions go, the more time we spend learning!
7. Developing Routines - Practicing multi-step directions turn into habits for students. Getting routines in place make a difference for students and help them feel comfortable as well. It not only provides the teacher with a more organized and efficient classroom, but provides a safer and more productive learning environment.
8. Problem Solving - As students face problems or get upset, we can help support them by asking questions, and working with them to help solve the problem. We may ask, "How big is the problem?"; or provide different scenarios or help them think of strategies to try fix the problem.
March 1
- First Day of Women's History Month
- One School, One Book Kick-Off
March 2
- Dr. Seuss' Birthday
March 7
- Second Grade Music Program: 9:30 a.m. Dress Rehearsal at HS
- 1:00 p.m. Parent Program at HS
March 11-15 National Americorps Week - Thank you to our amazing PK-3 Reading Corps Tutors! You truly make a difference!
March 11
- Lifetouch Spring Pictures
- Kindergarten Field Trip (Henning and Lucht) - spring pictures will betaken before they leave for field trip
March 13
- Kindergarten Round-Up (There will be no Kindergarten classes on Wednesday, March 13 - please plan accordingly)
March 17
- St. Patrick's Day
March 18
- Kindergarten Field Trip (Hein, O'Connor, Pratt)
- St. Patrick's School-Wide Activity
March 19
- First Day of Spring
March 22
- Terrific Kids Program 2:20-2:50 p.m.
- Club's Choice Fundraiser Delivery/Pick up at Riverside
- End of Third Quarter
March 25
- Fourth Quarter Begins
March 26
- Third Quarter Report Cards Go Home
March 27
- No School/Flex Professional Development Day
March 28
- No School/Comp Day
March 29 - April 1
- Easter Break
February was filled with fun book activities for I Love to Read Month! One student's name from each grade level was drawn to win a large stuffed Bookworm. We also found a lot of our own "bookworms" reading around the school throughout the month. Thank you to all of our Mystery Readers who came to visit our classrooms and read to our students!
