Happy Summer, RES!

Third Graders...er...um, Fourth Graders!  From all of us at RES, we wish you the best summer ever!

Fairy Tale Anthology

During this time of distance learning, third graders spent many weeks watching videos of lessons, workshopping their stories at home, and creating amazing fairy tales!  Students were given many choices throughout this unit: to write adaptations of fairy tales, to write in notebooks, to write and publish as a document, or even to publish in a story book creator application!  The result: MAGIC that truly captures the unique qualities of each writer!  Enjoy!

Third Grade Fairy Tale Anthology

End of the Year Celebration!

While we can't gather together and celebrate the end of our year as we would like to, we still wanted to take just a few minutes to reflect on ALL that we have learned and experienced together in this crazy year!   We will miss you!!!

Virtual Field Trip: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

 

Lake Champlain is a treasure trove of history and most of us would never even know!  The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (at Basin Harbor in Vergennes) is a wonderful place to discover the history of our lake and all of the mysteries hidden beneath the surface!

While you're staying socially distant this summer, try exploring underwater shipwrecks and learning even more about the history of our lake.  

Check out the website here: https://www.lcmm.org/

RES School Parade Video

THANK YOU all for coming out to see us last week.  Your smiles, waves & signs were definitely the highlight for each of us!  We miss you terribly!

RES Teacher Parade

RES Teacher Car Parade!

WHEN: Thursday, May 21st-starting at R.E.S. at 1:00

WHERE: Main roads throughout Richmond.
If you live on a side road you will want to come to the main road so we don’t miss you! 

WHAT: RES teachers will be chanting, cheering, and honking from our cars. 

We would love to see your waves, signs, posters, and hear you make some noise!
You can wear your R.E.S. gear or purple and yellow!

PLEASE NOTE: It is important for us to be mindful of social distancing and safety during this time.
Please do not approach the cars as they drive past.
Please follow all social distancing and safety guidelines provided by the state of Vermont. 

Distance Learning Family Adventures

Thanks from the USNS Comfort!

Image from:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Comfort_(T-AH-20)

Third and fourth graders were given an opportunity to write to nurses serving on the USNS Comfort in New York's Harbor during this pandemic to thank them for their service.  Lt. Margaret Taylor is the cousin of one of our RES third graders.  She says,

 I wanted to also thank you for sending my mailing address to Robert’s classmates & friends in Vermont. We love all the artwork & fun cards. They have brought joy to our ward. We look forward to mail call during the week to see if there are any new letters with fun jokes, cartoon stories, or drawings. We have posted them around the nurses station. The patients are able to appreciate them too as they walk around. I hope to be able to write some of them back as soon... 

Attached is a picture of some of my coworkers showing their appreciation. Just know that we are smiling under our masks. I hope you and the family are doing well, keeping safe and sane. 

Much love,

Cousin Margaret 

Lt. Margaret Taylor with pictures & letters from 3rd & 4th Graders

Nurses serving on the USNS Comfort.

Be a Summer Slugger!

Love baseball?  Want to challenge yourself this summer WHILE continuing to learn and practice reading, writing & math skills?   Check this program out:

MLB Summer Slugger Learning Program

Note: While the age range is 8-11 years old, the content is geared for students finishing grade 4.  Most of the work is likely accessible, there will be some work that will be challenging for third graders to complete (three-digit multiplication, among other topics!).  

First Aid for Feelings (from Scholastic)

We wanted to share with you a free resource from Scholastic & the Yale Child Study Center to help navigate and cope during this time.  The letter below gives more information about the development of this resource.  More information and a downloadable workbook can be found here.

Dear Families,

This is a stressful time for families and children. We want to give comforting answers, yet we are looking for comfort ourselves. At a time when we all need hugs and closeness, we are asked to maintain distance.

We’ve designed this workbook to be used flexibly so you can bridge the gaps created by our changing circumstances. Share it with your child for activities and as a conversational tool. You can also encourage an older child to work with a younger sibling, or go to a calming corner and reflect independently.

We believe that your family will form bonds through these shared activities that lead to greater resilience. And we hope that the emotional resources your children develop will serve them well in this time of crisis, and in months and years ahead.

It is our deepest hope that you find strength together. Please reach out to us with questions, and let us know how you are doing.

Our very best,

Denise Daniels RN, MS
Creator of The Moodsters, child development expert

Karen Baicker
Executive Director
Yale Child Study Center–Scholastic Collaborative for Child & Family Resilience

PJ Day Celebration Friday

This Friday's Celebration is PJ Day! Share a picture (1) or a short video (under 30 seconds) with Mrs. Touchette (wendy.touchette@mmuusd.org) or Ms. Spaulding (danielle.spaulding@mmuusd.org) on Friday by 3:00 PM to be included in our virtual, video celebration!!

Happy Pet Day!

CCE Florida Virtual Creativity

Some of you may remember Mrs. Ankerson, she taught at RES for several years before moving to Florida with her family in 2018.  Currently, she is the Arts Integration Curriculum Specialist working with teaching artists as they design lessons for their Artists-in-Residency programs in the Palm Beach County schools.

Schools in Florida have also closed, but that doesn't mean that the Arts have to stop!  Check out these activities and lessons, many using simple household materials (toilet paper rolls anyone?)...Check it out!

CCE Virtual Creativity

We Miss You, Too!

School Wide Celebration FRIDAY (4/10) -- Pet Day!

Mrs. T reminds us of our schoolwide expectations and how we can continue to follow them at home. And tells us about the next school wide celebration -- check it out!
 

More Cartooning Resources!

Friends!  Fantastic news...Toon Books is providing a TON of valuable cartooning tools on their website.  You can now access:

• Comics: Easy as ABC --> This one of the books we used in class when making our graphic novels in the fall.
• Professor Garfield Toon Book Reader --> Read (or listen to) a variety of fun, comic books!  You can even listen in multiple languages...check it out!
• A couple of cartoon makers (there are options for one-panel & three panel)
• Crafts, puppets, and more!

Tomorrow's Big Reveal

At some point Friday, you and your child will receive a learning template from us.  This will be our format moving forward to help organize the essential learning and activities for students.  We will include a video to show everyone how to best utilize this.
Our goal for the next two weeks is to establish learning routines and allow students to be more comfortable (and ourselves) utilizing long-distance learning.  This is really important!  We don't want students feeling uncomfortable using a new format and also trying to learn new skills and concepts.
Our goal will be to post this in our blog, in an email to families, and to students via Google Classroom.  Every Friday moving forward, your families can expect a new template so that when ready, you can plan and schedule out your following week.

As always, Tonya and I are always here to help and support you and your families.  Anything you need, just ask!  We miss being in the classroom with your children.  It's okay if there is a day that your child wants to just reach out to chat via video.  We are here for them!  You are not alone as we are all in this together!
:)Marie and Tonya

Family Wellness Website

The nurses of MMUUSD have gathered resources for students and families as we navigate this time in our community.  Please check out the new webpage here. 

If you or your family are in need of support, you may always reach out to RES Nurse Jen Hadley. 

Cartooning and drawing and comics, oh my!

<a href="http://clipartmag.com/comic-book-clipart">Comic Book Clipart</a>

There are sooo many wonderful opportunities to interact and learn from children's book illustrators, graphic novelists, and authors and we wanted to share them with all of you.  This is a perfect opportunity to take a "course" from one of these instructors and improve your skills -- perhaps it could be a family learning project even!

• Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems -- The author/illustrator of the Elephant & Piggie and Pigeon books invites us to join him every day at lunch for a new activity.  The activities are archived for access later, too.  New episodes arrive every day at 1:00 ET.
• Draw Everyday with JKK -- Author/illustrator of the "Lunch Lady" series and "Hey, Kiddo" provides daily drawing lessons on YouTube Live (archived after).  These lessons will have one focus for the week which continues to build skills each day.  Special guests will appear on occasion, too.  New episodes everyday at 2:00 ET.
• Ed Emberley's Drawing Blog -- This is a great spot if you are just looking to learn how to draw specific items.  Posts include "thumbprint" drawings, too.  Check it out!
• Jarrett Lerner's Comic Activities -- A plethora of activities are available on Jarrett's site.  (Jarrett is a Massachusetts author and graphic novelist -- he's been to Vermont several times for workshops & events.)  Activities include blank comic book pages and "finish this comic" activities to encourage creativity.  Bonus: Share your comics with him and he might even post on his social media accounts!

ICYMI: Family Distance Learning Survey

As MMUUSD navigates our move to distance learning, we want to be sure that we are meeting the needs of each of our students and their families.  IF you have not already seen this survey via district email, please take just a moment to fill it out.  It will help us to better meet your needs as we continue to make plans.  Distance Learning Survey

Thank you!