River View Middle School

101 Oak Street

Kaukauna, WI 54130

Office 766-6111

Attendance 759-6159,

Press 6

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

PBIS Corner 2

Literacy Tips / March Mad-

ness

3

5th Gr Running/Walking Club

Track Sign Up

4

Summer School 2016 / State

Assessment

6

PE Force 7

2016-17 District Calendar 8

March & April Calendars 9-10

In December our Media Specialist, Mrs. Davis, came to me with an idea called One School, One Book, which in essence has all students and staff reading and discussing the same book. After she presented the idea we agreed she should take the next steps to get the project off the ground as it would be a great way to promote literacy and create a platform for a shared experience for all students and staff. Since that time, Mrs. Davis has worked to secure donations that allowed us to get each student a copy of Sharon Draper’s book Out of My Mind. She has also developed lesson plans that staff use during our Wednesday Community days to host conversations about the challenges the main character faces and how she overcomes her obstacles with persistence, assistance from others, and a can do attitude. Building on the strengths of the main character, students have worked through reflective questions about how they should be treating others in their lives. Are they showing understanding, compassion, or empathy toward others? Are they treating people the way they would want to be treated? In this world of Instagram, Facebook, etc., having conversations about how we are treating each other is more important than ever. I have no doubt that the conversations taking place about this book will improve the culture of RVMS for all students. Our school and community is made up of diverse individuals, and the more we can help students realize and appreciate this fact, the better off everyone will be. The Golden Rule needs to impact all of our conversations and actions, and this project has done well to support that idea. Thank you for supporting this project with your donations, but more importantly by reading the book with your child and reinforcing the very positive message that the book presents. Thank you for all you do. Dan Joseph Principal FORWARD Exam Later this month students will be participating in the state required FORWARD exam. All students will take math, English and language assessments and our 8th graders will also complete assessments for science and social studies. The assessment window begins March 20th and runs through May 5th. During this time thank you for making sure your child is in school so we can ensure they will complete their tests. If you would like to learn more about the FORWARD assessment please visit https://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward/sample-items. This site will give you specifics about the exam, and you can also see sample test items that you and your child could work through together.

From the Principal’s Desk

Page 2

PBIS

Corner

Student of the Month

- for February

Gr. 5— John Neumann

Gr. 6— Jake Lucas

Gr. 7 – Megan Kennedy

Gr. 8 – Abby Dreger

Teacher of the Month:

Hannah Baugnnet-8th Grade Math

River View is still collecting Box Tops for Education. Box Tops can be dropped off in the office at any time. The money collected will help pay for field trips and classroom supplies. Thank you and keep collecting those Box Tops!

Box Tops

The 7th grade staff are planning to take seventh grade students to the Milwaukee Public Museum on Wednes-day, April 26th. We are excited to include a multimedia component to the field trip for this year. We are rec-ommending that students bring a portable charger for their devices with them on the trip. The cost of the trip is going to be $7.00 per student. A huge thank you goes to River View PAC for their generous donation of the entire cost of the busses for our students to the museum! GO PAC GO! Permission slips will be coming home mid-March and will need to be returned by Fri-day, April 7.

7th Grade Field Trip

One School, One Book program

joins forces with PBIS!

Students continue to read our One School, One Book - Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. Our first PBIS lesson focused on empathy, understanding the world from other perspec-tives. Students viewed a short video clip - watching one of our 7th grade students act like Melody, the main character, and hearing another student read Melody's thoughts from chapter one. In another PBIS lesson, students participated in an ethics tug of war. Students reread a section from chapter six, and then students made an argument to sup-port or not support a secondary character's actions (Mrs. V). Throughout the month of March, we will focus on com-munication and positive attitudes. Students are encour-aged to finish the book by the end of March. We encourage you to join with us and read and discuss Out of My Mind at home. Here are some questions to spark discussions: Pink Wheelchairs - Melody says, “There is nothing cute

about a pink wheelchair. Pink doesn’t change a thing.” A very powerful way for Melody to express how she

feels about being disabled. How do you feel about that?

The Power of Words - Melody says, “Most people don’t realize the power of words.” Now that is just to true— even if it takes Melody’s missing words to truly appre-ciate it. Explain how powerful words are to you—positively and negatively?

Frustration Symphony—Melody describes her frustra-tion as “a symphony exploding in her head with no one to hear it by me.” Use your imagination. Can you em-pathize? Have you ever felt frustration like that?

In Melody’s Head—Melody realizes that Mrs. V can’t know everything in her head. This happens when she is trying to describe her associations of color with different composers ( Mozart = blue; Beethoven = purple.) Is there stuff nobody understands about the way you see the world? Tell us about it.

Who Do You Ignore? - Why do the students at Spauld-ing Street School, for the most part, ignore students like Melody? Who do you ignore?

Refunds for Children? - In a rare moment of despair, Melody admits, “ I wonder if ( Mom) ever wished she could get a refund for me.” Have you ever felt that way?

Dignity—So what exactly is dignity? It’s a question Out of My Mind asks on nearly every page.

Retarded—Talk about the word “retarded”. What does it mean? What did it mean? Is Melody retarded? Can you ever use it? When? Why not?

9 REASONS TO READ MORE - Builds knowledge - Improves achievement - Increases motivation - Increases vocabulary - Improves writing - Builds background knowledge - Improves the understanding of text structures - Develops empathy - Develops personal identity ALL nine reasons are great reasons to read!

Page 3 Literacy Tips

On February 20th and 21st, the River View School bands hosted Brian Handeland, a professional saxophone, clarinet, and flute player from Minneapolis. Over the two days Brian had clinics with the 7th grade band, the 8th grade band and the jazz band and he worked with woodwind soloists and ensembles in preparation for their Solo and Ensemble performances. Students will be performing their work either at a recital on February 28th at RVS or at the Solo and Ensemble Festival at Appleton North High School on March 4th.

Brian Handeland is a saxophonist/woodwind doubler and a native of Minneapolis, MN. He has won a Downbeat award for his recordings with the UW- Eau Claire Jazz 1 Band and was nominated for a Grammy for his work with the prestigious UNT 1:00 Lab Band. In recent years, Brian has toured internationally with such Broadway musicals as Flashdance The Musical, Elf The Musical, and Shriek The Musical playing saxophones, clarinet and flute. Most recently, he performed in a holiday tour with piano player Lori Line. Brian currently resides in Minneapolis whenever he is not on the road, and performs regularly with the folk/rock band Machinery Hill, as well as with various jazz/rock/ska groups around the Twin Cities.

Page 4

Sports Physicals for 2017-18

Scheduling a child's sports physical can be a tricky task

if put off until the last minute. You can schedule these

exams with a date of April 1st or later which will be val-

id for two school years.

River View follows the Wisconsin Interscholastic Ath-

letic Association requirements and physicals are re-

quired for students involved in athletics. A physical

form signed by a physician/physician assistant must be

on file at River View before he or she is able to partici-

pate in sports practices or events.

Reminders. . .

InService Day-No School

on March 15

Track Sign Up Sixth through eighth grade students

who are interested in track can sign up

in the office. Participants need to have

all paperwork handed in to the office

before practice starts on April 3rd (3:30-

5:00 pm). Shorts are available for pur-

chase in the office for $10.

Thank you goes out to the following parents for providing

dinner to the staff on conference nights! Kerri Schaefer,

Kristin Djupstrom, Karla Verboncouer, Abbey Adrian, Ka-

ren Ritzke, Tammi Bartels, Jane Eiting, Vicki Zipperer,

Katie Hietpas, Linsey Krueger, Diana Paulson, Katina Fran-

zen, Sara Effa, Beth Schaefer, Megan Brouch, Jennifer

Wippich, Autumn Grimm, Suzie Isselmann, Jennie Gries,

Kim Reardon, Caryn Rosenbeck, Megan De Valk, Darrelee

Kinas, Crystal Hietpas, Dawn Fieck, Alison Johnson, Stacy

Maass, Temeka Hill, Christina Hartjes, Paula Isaacs, Becky

& Matt Duel, Janis Bowers, Linsey Krueger, Kay Hofmann,

Jessica Hurst, Shawn Treichel, Lee Cleveland, Carrie

Campbell, Sarah Piette, Jenni Kluever, Carrie Owen, An-

drew VandeHey, Stacy Knapp, Cheryl Mader, Beth

Sanderfoot, Monique Mader, Tara Dakins and Amy Bloch.

Conferences

If you like running or jogging this club is for you! They meet three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Our goal is to build our running endurance from a half mile to 4 miles in time to run the Cellcom 5K on May 20th. Parents will be expected to bring their own child to the Cellcom 5K if they chose. Students will need to have a physical form, medical form, and concussion form on file before the start of practice. Paperwork can be picked up in the office. We start on March 27th and will go until May 20th and then have a party on May 22nd. More information to come in March.

5th Grade Running/

Walking Club

361 minutes of learning are

lost each day your student is

absent from school.

Page 5

Student Council Update

No One Eats Alone River View School is continuing to grow as a community. On February 10th, during lunch, students participated in the National No One Eats Alone Day. The purpose behind the event is to promote inclusion; ensuring that everyone is in-cluded at lunch and students sit with new friends and classmates. This is a perfect addition to our “One Book, One School” activity that involves all students reading the book, Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper. The book shares the story of Melody, a student identified with Cerebral Palsy, and her struggles as a child who is left out of many social ac-tivities because she cannot speak, move or communicate her wishes. During lunch on February 10th, students participated in the a few of the following activities:

Students had the opportunity to play Bingo and win prizes Sixth grade students had the opportunity to listen to the middle school jazz band Eighth grade PBIS leaders ate lunch with the sixth grade students Students signed a character trait pledge The lunch activities built off the “One book, One School” activity and promoted the need to include others, regardless of their differ-ences Staff members ate with students New friendships were made

Wristbands Justin Johnson memorial wristbands were ordered and distributed during the month of February. Due to the generosity of many stu-dents, staff members, and community members, Student Council was able to raise enough money to purchase the memorial tree. When

the weather improves, a Justin Johnson memorial tree will be planted. Thank you, River View students, staff and com-munity members. Spread the Word to End the Word On March 22nd, students, staff and community members will be spreading the word to end the word. One might ask, what is this cam-paign about? A bit of background information, collected from the website http://www.r-word.org, informs the public that… “the R-word is the word 'retard(ed)'. Why does it hurt? The R-word hurts because it is exclu-sive. It's offensive. It's derogatory. [The Spread the Word to End the Word] campaign asks people to pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and commu-nities for all people. Language affects attitudes and attitudes affect actions. Pledge today to use respectful, people-first language.”

Therefore, on March 22nd, students, staff and community members will be wearing Spread the Word to End the Word t-shirts; promoting respect and acceptance in the community. Citation "Your Stories." R-word | Spread the Word to End the Word. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2017.

Believe it or not, it’s almost time to register for Summer School! We’ve just final-ized the 2017 Summer Course Catalog. Please visit our Summer School page on the Kaukauna Area School District Website at http://www.kaukauna.k12.wi.us/district/summerschool.cfm to learn more about Summer School, course offerings and when to register.

2017 Summer School Facts Page 6

The Wisconsin Forward Exam will be given in schools between March 20 and May 5, 2017. The Forward Exam is a state

mandated summative assessment which provides information about what students know and can do in relation to the

Wisconsin Academic Standards. Students receive a score based on their performance in each content area.

There are sample or practice test questions available for students. An Online Tools Training (OTT) is available for stu-dents at http://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward/sample-items. The OTT is intended to give students the opportunity to practice with tools available on the Forward Exam, as well as allow them to familiarize themselves with the testing platform. The OTT is not scored, nor is it intended to provide practice on the test content. Students will be exploring these tools and training at school prior to testing. The Forward Exam will be administered online and be given to:

Grades 3-8 in English Language Arts (ELS) and Mathematics

Grades 4 and 8 in Science and,

Grades 4,8 and 10 in Social Studies

The Forward Exam includes several question types:

Multiple-Choice (MC): Question that has four answer choices, including three

distractors and one correct answer.

Enhanced Selected Response (ESR): Question which may contain combinations of MC, short-answer, and technol-

ogy-enhanced.

Evidence-Based Selected Response (ESBR): Question which has two parts. The student answers Part A, then pro-

vides evidence in Part B to support answer in Part A.

Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA): Question used on the ELA test. The TDA is a text-based analysis, based on a pas-

sage that is read by the student during the assessment. Students must draw on basic writing skills while inferring

and synthesizing information from the passage in order to develop a comprehensive, holistic essay response. Stu-

dents have up to 5000 characters to formulate their response.

Technology-Enhanced (TE): TE questions allow for a more engaging, interactive assessment.

Accommodations and supports for students with disabilities and/or English language learners are built into the system

so that the progress of students can be accurately measured.

The estimated time for the test administration in each grade is approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes for ELA, 1 hour

and 45 minutes for Mathematics, 1 hour and 40 minutes for Science, and 1 hour and 30 minutes for Social Studies.

These are estimated times, as the WI Forward Exam is not a timed test so students work at their own pace.

If you have any questions or concerns about the new assessment, please contact the office.

New State Assessment Launches the Spring

Page 7

8th Grade 8th grade students will be receiving information about sui-cide prevention during their ELA classes. During this state mandated curriculum, students will become aware that biological, precipitating, and triggering factors may contrib-ute to suicide. Student will learn about the signs of suicide and be encouraged to ACT if they are concerned about a friend. ACT stands for Acknowledge, Care and Tell. These steps are from an evidenced based school wide interven-tion program, “Signs of Suicide.” Student will be encour-aged to reach out to a pupil service member or adult they trust if they are having thoughts of suicide or concerned about a friend. Students will be also be provided with area referrals of hotlines that they or their parents can contact for assistance if needed. We want students to be aware suicide is permanent and there are other options. I will be in the following classrooms on these dates: February 28th - VanDreese March 2nd - Hansen March 3rd - Lindberg March 6th - LaBorde March 9th - Hoff Please take the time to talk with your child about the presentation. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact at 766-6111 ext. 4213 or hill-jo@kaukaunasd.org . 7th Grade Hello parents, Mrs. Hinz will be having a school counselor intern working with her on Monday and Friday's from now until the end of the school year. The intern is Heidi Krause. Ms. Krause is a graduate student at UW-Oshkosh working towards earning her Master’s in School Counseling. During first semester Ms. Krause worked in both the Kimberly and Menasha school districts and is excited to be at Kaukauna for this semester. Ms. Krause will be working with students at River View un-der Mrs. Hinz's supervision. Several of the responsibilities Ms. Krause will be involved in are running classroom guid-ance lessons for 5th and 7th grade, running two groups for seventh grade students and offering individually counseling to students. The groups that will be offered are an Organi-zational group and a Mood Management group. The Or-ganizational group will focus on helping students find strat-egies to complete homework on time and become more organized. The Mood Management group, will focus on

A shout out to Carson's Ace Hardware Store in Kaukauna

for the great discount on batteries for our pedome-

ters!!! Huge thank you!!

Students are right in the midst of the 3rd quarter par-ticipating in units involving rackets, net games, tum-bling, and the fitness lab. All classes have the oppor-tunity to spend 3 weeks in our school fitness lab learn-ing the cardiovascular machines, medicine balls, physio balls, and selectorized equipment. The 5th graders are working strongly with pedometers and learning about muscular and cardio endurance and the 8th graders are required to complete daily fitness logs of their steps while working out. We are looking ahead to 4th quarter which will hope-fully provide some warmth in allowing us to go outside and utilize the track and field equipment, disc golf course, bikes, and tennis courts. Stay Active!

PE Force

School Counselor’s Corner strategies to cope with the range of emotions teens

may experience.

Group members have been self identified to have been

identified by staff members. If you would like your son/

daughter to participate in either of these groups please

contact Mrs. Hinz at 766-6111 ext. 4211 ASAP as

groups will be starting soon. If you wish that your son/

daughter not be in a group or meet individually with

Mrs. Krause please contact Mrs. Hinz.