A Day on the Courts

This fall, third graders have been practicing tennis skills in PE with Mr. G.  Today, we had the opportunity to hone our skills on the clay courts at the Burlington Tennis Club.  Scholars were able to practice their racquet and ball handling skills including practicing balancing a ball on a racket while moving around the court, tapping & bumping a tennis ball alone and with a partner, practicing underhand serving across the net and hitting the ball baseline to baseline, and practicing their forehand shot.  As you can see from the video, we had a fantastic time!

 

A huge thank you to the United States Tennis Association for their generous support of new racquets, balls, and nets for our school.   Thanks, also, to the BTC for allowing us the use of their courts...what a great experience to play on real courts! Thank you to Alex, a USTA Tennis Pro, for donating his time to help us learn and practice our skills, and to Mrs. Ankerson for helping to arrange the trip to the courts at the BTC today.

Summer Reading Challenge Success #RESreads

Way back in June when we first met this year's third graders, we issued them a summer reading challenge:
Try to read as many genres of literature as you can over the summer and keep track on a reading log.

Here are the results:




As you can see, third graders love the fantasy genre! We look forward to a fabulous year of reading and learning together!

Summer Memories

As we introduced Chromebooks and Google Classroom, this was their first assignment!  Third graders were able to start learning about their Chromebooks and Google, while completing this project.

Investigating Streams #resvt #stem

Investigation Stream Source

In Science this week, 3rd grade scientists used their observation skills to investigate how a steady stream source would impact the erosion on a land model.  As a class, we developed a testable question and then students worked in small groups to investigate the topic.  We'll be continuing this work in the coming weeks with further investigations.  Stay tuned!

Open House! #resvt

Thank you to all of the families who came to Open House this evening...it was great to see you!  We're excited to work together to create a fantastic year of learning in our community!  Be sure to keep an eye out on this blog for classroom updates and use the "Family Communication" page to find classroom communications that may have gone missing...including the weekly homework planner!

Emily Ankerson, Tonya Darby, Marie Ayer

Launching Chromebooks in Third Grade #resvt

It has been an exciting time in third grade, as we launched our new one-one initiative!  Each scholar has been assigned their own Chromebook to be used only here at school.  Scholars are learning how to properly care for them, how to log into their computer, and how to safely navigate the internet.  By the end of the week, you will see that your child will have their login information and passwords in their homeschool folder.  As we slowly launch this program, we ask that scholars only access their google accounts during school time.  Eventually, they will also be able to use their google accounts at home.



 

This year, their new morning routine will be complete FASTT Math lessons prior to morning meeting.  Scholars will be coming home with other ways in which they can practice their basic math facts.



Scholars are so excited to welcome you into our classrooms for Open House on Wednesday night, where you can learn more about what we are doing on Chromebooks!

 

 

 

A Stoplight of Internet Safety #resvt

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="255"] Clip Art from: http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/Kin/MEE/KinMEEReT.jpeg[/caption]

As third graders prepare to begin using Chromebooks for the first time, we are working to establish routines and expectations with students.  Mrs. Rankin stopped by each of our classrooms this week for a conversation about internet safety using the metaphor of a stoplight.  Each class discussed their ideas of what websites and activities might fall into each category of the stoplight.

Green Light: These are websites that are approved by teachers, parents/guardians or other adults and students can use these websites with confidence knowing they are safe.  Examples include: Fastt Math, Edutyping, PebbleGo, or anything on the CESU "Great Sites for Kids" page.

Yellow Light:  These are websites that should be used with caution.  Perhaps they require a sign-in or email address, or there is a "chat" feature that can be used.  These are sites that students should use carefully, under the supervision of an adult and stopping to ask questions if necessary.  Examples include: Penguin Jump.

Red Light: These are sites that should not be used by students because the material is inappropriate or unsafe for students.  If students happen upon one of these sites, they should either shut off their computer or find an adult immediately to help.

As we continue throughout the year, we will continue to revisit this discussion.  Please feel free to use this analogy at home, too, as you have your own family discussions about online safety.

Learning to Use a "Storyteller's Voice" #resvt #tcrwp

On Wednesday, 3rd graders welcomed a surprise guest to our classrooms during Writing Workshop: Superintendent Alberghini!  In our first writing unit, we are writing true, small moment stories and learning to use a "storyteller's voice" in our writing.  We want our readers to see a mental movie of our moment in their minds while they are reading our story.  Lucky for us, Mr. Alberghini is an expert storyteller and jumped at the chance to help us out!



 

Even better, Mr. Berry was there to caption the entire story so that we'll be able to refer back to it as a "mentor text" throughout the year.  All students were eager to head back to class and get started writing (or continuing to write) their own small moment stories using their "storyteller's voice."

Thanks for the inspiration, Mr. Alberghini!  We can't wait until you return to tell us the muskrat story.


You can find a video of  Mr. Alberghini's story here.  And an interview about the story with Mr. Alberghini here.

And, the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education at the University of Vermont heard about our storytelling special guest and wrote their own blog about it!  Check it out here on their blog: The power of transmedia storytelling.

Spotlight on: Grade 3 Library Classes #RESvt #CESUvt

A guest post from our teacher librarian, Beth Redford

 



Third graders have been learning new skills to help them use the library independently. They are practicing how to search the library computer catalog

• if you know what a book is called (that's a title search),


• if you know who wrote the book (that's an author search)


• if you know what a book is about (that's a subject or a keyword search)

They will be able to use these search skills in other libraries as well, and also for their third and fourth grade research projects. The most exciting part of the day was when a scholar used his new skills to look for a book about building forts. He was thrilled with the book he found, independently!



 

Four Winds Nature Education Program At Richmond Elementary Seeks Volunteers

Four Winds is a fabulous curriculum that is offered in many schools throughout Vermont, including grades 1-4 at Richmond Elementary School. If you love nature and inquisitive minds, then this is a great way to share your passion and curiosity with local schoolchildren. No special knowledge is necessary, and you don't have to be a parent of a child at the school to participate -- you don't have to be a parent at all! Click on the link below to get more information and to sign up! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0c48a9ac2ba13-4winds

Homework! #resvt

 

Today, third graders brought home their first homework of the year!  Each Monday (or Tuesday), students will receive a YELLOW newsletter in their mailboxes to bring home.  This newsletter includes a little information on each of the subject areas we are covering in class and should provide a nice starting point for conversations at home.  Instead of asking "How was school today?" you may want to try asking about the game played in math or the strategy learned during reading workshop!  (More ideas can be found here!)

On the other side of the newsletter is a recording sheet for students to keep track of the books read during the week, the activities used to practice for word study, etc.  An empty calendar is included at the top of this page to help students plan their week.  It is a great opportunity to help students learn time management by helping fill in the week's events.  By doing so, students will be able to see when they should work on their homework to make sure it is completed on time.  This recording sheet needs to be signed by an adult and returned to school on Friday.

Each week, the newsletter will be added to the "Family Community" tab on our blog -- it's located at the top of the page.  A blank recording sheet will also be posted here, in the event that the family dog does actually each your homework (by accident!) one week!

If your child ever encounters any difficulty with homework, please encourage them to seek help early in the week from their classroom teacher.  We're more than happy to help sort out any misunderstandings or to give them a little boost of encouragement.  If it's not possible, simply include a little note with the week's homework.

Weekof9.2.14

9.2.14homeworkrecord

(Clipart from: http://myclassroomnotes.com/resources/holiday-homework-clipart-i1.jpg.opt772x153o0,0s772x153.jpg)