PARENTS AS READING PARTNERS '16(March 7 - 18, 2016) Riley Avenue hosted its annual Parents as Reading Partners (PARP) over the course of two weeks this year. The 2016 Reading theme was "Reading Lights the Way to Learning". Parents were asked to read with their child for at least 15 minutes each evening and to fill out a "light bulb" worksheet. On each light bulb, the students wrote the title of the book and the main idea of the book they had chosen to read. The light bulbs were posted in the hallway to "light the way to learning".
Each day had its own theme. The theme days included: Read My Shirt Day, Word Search Wednesday, Family Game Night, Hats Off to Reading, Mad Lib Monday, Author Illustrator and Riley Family Reading Night, and Limerick in your Pocket Day on St. Patrick's Day. Members of Riley Avenue's Student Council were instrumental in coordinating and encouraging these events throughout the week. During the first evening event, the Riverhead Robotics Club, along with high school Technology teacher and Robotics Club advisor Luke Ferland, visited Riley Avenue as part of Riley’s science emphasis during PARP. The Robotics Club introduced third grade students to their custom made robot and demonstrated how the mechanical, electrical, and computer components work together. Most notably, the Robotics Club gave students a taste of computer science by having students change the computer coding which programmed the robot to launch a ball into one of three hula-hoops at varying distances. Additionally, students got to see how the Robotics Club competes by observing the robot retrieving balls and then launching them into the hula-hoops. It was a true display of how the STEM subjects work together.
On Thursday evening of the second week of PARP, several Long Island authors (Linda Frank, Patti Gailetta, Tim |
Hoppey, Orel Protopopescu, Philip Pecoraro, Paul Rodriguez, Darien Sardelli, Wendy Wax, Joe Scalia, James Perez and Brian Heinz) set up tables in the gymnasium and shared books they had written, brought to read, discuss and sell.
Meanwhile, in the library, these LI authors took turns reading one of their books to those who attended the readings. One of the authors, ROSE NIGRO, donated autographed copies of her book , entitled "A Duck's Tail", to each of the classroom libraries. A Duck's Tail tells the story of The Big Duck, which sits in Flanders, a hamlet of Southampton, NY. Because this year's reading emphasis was on science, scattered throughout the week were events like rocket building in the library and bridge building in the classroom. In addition, fourth grade teacher Terry Messina coordinated Riley Avenue's annual science fair. The student experiments were on display during the Family Reading Night. (See the list of winners in each of these events below.) Once again, this year's winning science experiments will be entered into Brookhaven National Labs' Science Fair. Two of last year's winners from Riley Avenue at the BNL science fair will once again be entered this year. Last year, Mark Burns won first place at BNL as a second grader. Mark won a blue ribbon again this year as a third grader for his experiment entitled "Storm Troopers". He discussed the best ingredients for making bags to stop flooding, which are normally filled with sand. Mark's measurements showed that a better choice might be peat moss. According to Mark's data, peat moss is lighter, absorbs and blocks water equally well, and is a safe and organic alternative to sand. Logan Levesque won honorable mention at BNL last year as a kindergartner. Now in first grade, Logan came in first at Riley again for his experiment on flight, which centered on the "ailerons" on his planes. According to the dictionary, "ailerons are a movable part (such as a flap) of an airplane wing or a movable body apart from the wing for giving a rolling motion and as a result providing control sideways". Mark concluded that his paper planes would fly further if the ailerons were "slightly up". The week concluded with School Spirit Day and a Mad Scientist Assembly. The Mad Scientist engaged students in experiments and shared information about solids and gasses, which are part of the elementary science curriculum. |
SCIENCE FAIR EXPERIMENTS AND BRIDGE BUILDING COMPETITION AT RILEY
The Science Fair was coordinated by 4th grade teacher Terry Messina. Here is a list of the SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS :
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Here is a list of all the winners from each class entered in the SPAGHETTI BRIDGE BUILDING COMPETITION.
Ms. Vengilio- Carly Pavuk, Ashley Kenter and Abigail Sullivan Ms. Brennan- Payton Choma, Kim Cerifico and Carlos Valesquez Ms. Gaare- Alexi Re, David Funfgeld, and Ethan Caskie Ms. Messina- Teddy Gosker , Paige Rider and Michael Romeo Ms. Seal- Santiago Cardenas, Rudy Goodale, Philip Boulier* *Santiago, Philip and Rudy now hold the school record weight of 1,838 grams held. And the class with the Highest Average Weight held goes to……….Ms. Seal’s class with an amazing average of 991 grams. A wonderful job was done by all! Coordinated by Linda Wallace, Riley Avenue-Math Specialist |