Lesson of the Week Winner for 2/27/2023 - 3/3/2023
Congratulations to Mrs. DePietro!
Ready, Set, Van Gogh!
Creativity starts here.
Our latest highlighted lesson of the week comes from one of the teachers in our talented Visual and Performing Arts Department.
Mrs. DePietro continually encourages her students that they are "Sm-ART" despite any doubts about their perceived artistic prowess. She is always searching for ways for students to embrace their inner Bansky or Basquiat and showcase talents they didn't know they had. This week's lesson was no different. Students were encouraged to "just roll with it" as they used painter's tape to design a graffiti-style mural representing Women's History Month. Students "stuck together" and worked collaboratively as they designed each letter of the equality mural, which can be seen outside of our High School Art Room and across from the cafeteria.
Not all lessons are created equal, and this lesson was definitely a masterpiece.
Lesson of the Week Winner for 2/20/2023 - 2/24/2023
Congratulations to Mrs. Marker!
Cue up the mystery theme song for this week's Riverside L.IV.E., elusively known by the alias Lesson of the Week. Our administration was on the hunt to find the true Whodunit. Would it be RES, RMS, or RHS? Who would epitomize the academic pillars we were on the search for:
Learning...
Including...
Valuing...
Engaging...?
What subject matter or grade level would it be?
As we perused through the evidence of our selections, there was one clear suspect worthy of this accolade, and helped us solve the mystery of who won the best lesson of the week.
This week, students in Mrs. Marker’s 2nd grade class were acting like Word detectives. Specifically, they were using close reading kits, including their detective magnifying glasses, to use a variety of strategies to find the meaning of words they didn't know. As students read through their non-fiction texts, they built their skills in using context clues to develop an understanding of new words.
During the reading portions, there was flexible seating and decision-making on the student’s parts. Students could choose between using Epic online for their reading selection or choosing from their book bin.
It’s no mystery that this was some seriously great learning.

Lesson of the Week Winner for 2/13/2023 - 2/17/2023
Congratulations to Mr. Cesare!
Learning to love and respect your strengths is critical to building your personalized future paths. We may not all be natural public speakers or data researchers or be comfortable showcasing our outgoing personalities. What makes each of us unique is what makes us special. Biomes can be described similarly. There are five major types of biomes, all of which are characterized by their differences in vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife. This week, in Mr. Cesare’s class, students explored, researched, and presented slides prepared on selected biomes. Not only did students honor the strengths and challenges of each biome in their presentations, but Mr. Cesare made sure to celebrate the personal strengths of the students as well. As students worked through reporting out on their content, Mr. Cesare infused positive reinforcement to each individual student noting their personal strengths and how those strengths were directly beneficial to their presentation styles and strategies. This act definitely helped build the confidence and the efficacy of his students and helped to prepare them to dive in and respond to the deep explanatory follow-up questions he asked at the conclusion of their presentations as well. Mr. Cesare and his class are commended not only for their research on biomes but also for their asset-based perspective on knowing, using, and celebrating individual strengths.

Congratulations to Ms. Ruggieri!
With so much going on this week, it was hard to pick just one lesson to shout out, but there was no way we could SKIP this activity!
This week, in Ms. Ruggieri's class, students were drawing four, skipping, and combining like terms…. Hold up, Reverse! Reverse! Combining like terms in Uno? !?
That may not be how we remember Uno, but in Ms. Ruggieri’s 6th Grade Math class, students played a customized game of Uno that was reflective of the content they have been learning in class- combining like terms. In this game-based learning review activity, students used the familiar game of Uno to match colors or match like terms. Classmates could sabotage their opponents with the familiar cards of Draw Four, Wild, Reverse, and Skip. Students were actively engaged and demonstrated their knowledge of the content with enthusiasm. If we asked the students, they would be sure to say this lesson was Numero Uno!

Lesson of the Week Winner for 1/30/2023 - 2/3/2023
Congratulations to Mrs. Garvin!
Swoooooooooosh! Picking the lesson of the week winner was a
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for our administrators!
Mrs. Lawrence is a gamer.
She's a baller.
A playmaker.
A shot caller!
At the sound of the buzzer, or in this case, at the sound of the school bell, Mrs. Lawrence was MOVING & GROOVING in her basketball uniform from high school. Mrs. Lawrence started by sharing personal stories about her experiences in the sport and then came out of basketball retirement as the GOAT to show the students dribbles, passes, finger rolls, and a crossover (or two). Students warmed up, both answering questions in their Google Classroom and doing actual basketball warmups, before Mrs. Lawrence introduced the novel the students would be beginning- "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander.
Over the next few weeks, students will be introduced to SLAM poetry, spoken word, and other forms of poetry through this novel, and the kinesthetic exercises that were introduced in the classroom are just as active as the words in this book.
After hooking the students with her personal connections and her basketball moves, Mrs. Lawrence had students take turns reading the poetry in the book’s first chapter, aptly named “Warm Up.” As students read, they physically passed the ball and were encouraged to "take a shot". Students eagerly participated and were engaged throughout the entire period. Mrs. Lawrence made the learning accessible to all students by incorporating multiple modes of the novel - paper book, PDF, and audiobook, as well as by providing a figurative language cheat sheet for students to reference through the novel.
While this lesson was only the warm-up, Mrs. Lawrence shattered the mold. It's definitely a "W" in our books! Congratulations Mrs. Lawrence, not only for still being able to rock your basketball moves but for rocking this lesson!