Shelburne Farms Field Trip

Shelburne Farms Video by Tonya Girouard

Spring Sailing on Lake Champlain

A sailboat from CSC and a ferry on Lake Champlain.

This spring, our third graders will have the opportunity to visit the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center in Burlington for their “Floating Classroom” program. During this program, students will experience sailing on Lake Champlain while learning about our watershed, lake ecology, wind, weather, geology, and more. We’ll connect this program to our weather and interdependence science units. 

 The CSC is a non-profit organization funded by the generosity of donors and grants. The overall cost of this program is $45 per student, but we’re able to offer this opportunity to our students for $30 per person. 

We know this is a costly field trip, but the education and experience of the program (including sailing on Lake Champlain) make it worthwhile for all students. There are several different ways that you might be able to support this program before we look into different fundraising options this spring.  Look for a pink handout in your child's home-school folder (they were put in mailboxes yesterday...).

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher.

Shelburne Farms Field Trip

 

We had a wonderful time at Shelburne Farms.  Thank you to the chaperones who were able to help us make this field trip successful!

TRY Lesson 6 -- Tree Jeopardy!

This week, we wrapped up our lessons with Ben, Finn & Will with the TRY program.

ClipArt From: http://clipart-library.com/clipart/ki8okpXbT.htm

We reviewed all of the things we learned about: how valuable trees are, how to identify them, and ways to protect them.  Ask your child what was one thing new they learned in this class.

Tree Challenge:  Can you and your family plant a tree in your yard or community?  Learn more about how to choose a tree and where to plant it at vtcommunityforestry.org.

TRY Lesson 4: Vermont Trees

Today we learned the basics on how to identify trees. We learned how to identify 5 Vermont tree species, based on leaf identification.

Ask your child what tree species they learned and how they can tell them apart.

Image from: http://clipart-library.com/clipart/leaf-clip-art-9.htm

Tree Challenge: Try to identity the trees in your yard or neighborhood! Use the Arbor Day Foundation’s “What Tree is That” online tool found at www.arborday.org.

TRY #3: What do trees need?

Image From: https://www.clipart.email

Lesson 3: What do trees need?

Ben, Finn & Will are back this week (Tuessday with Mrs. Girouard and Friday with Mrs. Ayer) to teach another lesson about trees.  This week's focus is all about what trees need:


This week, we learned what trees need to survive! Trees need space, water, nutrients, sunlight
and air.

At home, you could try a family Tree Craft: Search for tree crafts and create some tree art for your
home!

Photos from November & December

Just catching up from the end of the decade! Photos included in this slideshow include the following events at RES:

• Financial Literacy with Community Bank
• Author Visit with Diana Dunn
• MMUUSD Literacy Coaching with 3rd Grade Teachers
• SNOW!!
• Mystery Oreos -- What is that mystery flavor?
• Ice Skating (Thanks Mr. G!!)
• Small Moment & Graphic Novel writing celebration
• Mrs. Ayer's class leading the RES All School Meeting
• Dance Party PBIS Celebration
• Perimeter Exploration
• Pillow Polo Tournament in PE
• RES All School Holiday Sing-Along
• And so much more!!

 

TRY Lesson 2: The Parts of Trees

Will, Ben and Finn from CHMS returned yesterday to teach our students about the parts of trees.  They even had the opportunity to create costumes and act out the life cycle of a tree!  You can read below to see more information about the lesson taught:

Lesson 2: What makes a tree, a tree? In our lesson today we learned what sets trees apart from other plants. Trees have three main parts: woody stem, crown and roots. We also discovered the life stages of trees. Ask your child what makes a tree a tree and have him or her show you their tree costume! Tree Challenge: Do you want to know what the tree in your backyard provides? Check out the tree benefits calculator to see the economic and ecological benefits of your tree. Visit www.treebenefits.com/calculator/ to learn more!

Awesome Opportunity

Starting today, we have Ben, Will and Finn from CHMS teaching a science lesson to our class about trees and forests.  They are participating in the TRY (Teens Reaching Youth for the Environment) Program, through UVM Extension and 4-H.  They will be in every week through February break to teach a lesson to our students.  We are so excited to see former RES students take on this leadership role and to help support them grow as leaders.  Below you will find the overview of today's lesson so that you can connect with your child at home:

Finn, Ben & Will

Lesson 1: Why are trees important? 

Today we had our first lesson in the TRY for the Environment—Forests and Trees Program. TRY stands for Teens Reaching Youth and it is an environmental leadership program where teens teach younger youth about environmental responsibility. There are 6 lessons in this program and each one will help your child become a better environmental steward for our forest and trees.

This first lesson focused on how we value forests and trees for their aesthetic, cultural, ecological, economic, educational and recreational benefits.

Fact: Trees improve air quality, mitigate stormwater, provide shade and enhance aesthetic beauty, provide wildlife habitat, and increase property value. Visit www.vtcommunityforestry.org to learn more about tree benefits.

Watch our LIVE Chick Cams!

The chicks we've been watching grow for the past few weeks are getting ready to hatch...they may even hatch this weekend! You can always check in over the weekend with our live links to see the progress! Don't worry if you see one hatch early, they are born with enough food (from the yolk) to survive for quite awhile before being moved to the brooder. Once most of the chicks hatch, we'll move our camera over to the brooder to check in on them!

  Mrs. Girouard's Chick Cam

  Mrs. Ayer's Chick Cam

Looking Ahead: Embryology in the Classroom!

WCAX's "Across the Fence" program just highlighted the UVM Extension's 4-H Embryology Program with Martha Manning. Third graders are proud participants in this program and it remains a highlight of the year for many.  Check it out:




We look forward to starting this program after we return from April vacation.

Thanks to WCAX and UVM Extension for providing the link to this video.

Coming Soon: 19th Annual RES Science Fair!

19th Annual RES SCIENCE FAIR

Thursday March 14th, 2019

Students in Grades K- 4 will be sharing their great science projects in the RES gym!  The Farm to School program will be offering a dinner during the event so that both participating families and those looking for a night out can grab a great meal!   Raffle prizes will be awarded to students who ask great science questions! Everyone is welcome!*

RES Farm to School Dinner

Time: 5-6 pm

Location: RES Cafeteria

RES Science Fair

Time: 5:45 – 6:45 pm

(participants may set up projects any time after 5:15pm)

Location: RES Gym

*NOTE: All families are welcome, whether you have created a science fair project or not! This is a great night to learn and have fun as a community!  

Hope to see you there!

Questions?  Contact Darcie Rankin, Enrichment Teacher at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org

Reminder: Shelburne Farms Field Trip

Shelburne Farms Field Trip

(Image Credit: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/04/02/10/41/schoolbus-304249_960_720.png)

On Wednesday, third graders will be traveling to Shelburne Farms to explore Spring at the Pond & Forest, a hands-on link to our study of interdependence in Science.  We'll be leaving RES around 8:45 and returning around 2:00.  

Our plan is to be outdoors all day, so students should come prepared with the following:

• layers of clothing
• sneakers or sturdy shoes (no flip-flops or sandals)
• a snack
• a lunch from home (or let us know and we can order one from the cafeteria)
• a water bottle 
• sunscreen and/or bug spray (to be applied by your child)

We're looking forward to a day of outdoor learning at the Farms!

Chaperones:  Please plan to join us at school by 8:30.

A Chick is Born #uvmembryology

This week has been very exciting as 55 of our chicken eggs have hatched.  Here's a video of just one of our chick's making their appearance!

At the end of the week, our cornish cross chicks will be off to farm in Fairfield where they will live happily til the end of their days.

Upcoming Third Grade Events

Upcoming Third Grade Events

Mrs. Ayer, Mrs. Girouard & Ms. Poncelet

Week of May 14th → Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC)

• 

  Scholars will be taking these assessments each day (Monday thru Thursday) from 10:00-12:00.  
• Be sure your child has a healthy, hearty breakfast and comes to school with a snack.   (Helpful test-taking “tools” will be provided.)
• Make-ups will be on Friday, May 18 and the week of May 21st.

Afternoons, Week of May 14th  → Outdoor Science Activities

• Please send students with socks & sneakers, as well as a light pair of pants to wear while hiking outdoors.  There have been some ticks spotted already this season, so we want students to be dressed appropriately to avoid contact!
• Sunscreen and/or bug spray may be applied by students.

May 30, 2018 → Shelburne Farms Field Trip

• Permission slips were sent home last week.  Due Friday, 5/11.
• Please contact your child’s teacher if you need another form.

Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop

On Thursday November 30th the RES community gathered with volunteers from the Society of Women Engineers, ECHO Science Museum, Radiate Art Studio, and CHMS and JES educators to celebrate making, creating, building and learning.  Students and their families had an opportunity to try a range of hands on activities that encouraged them to Make, Create and Share!  The evening was a true celebration of collaborative learning and FUN. 

Here is a video that gives you a small peak into the great events of the evening.


This event could not happen without the help of volunteers inside and outside of our school community.  I am so grateful to be surrounded by people that believe in student hands on learning and are willing to give time to create this type of experience.

Special Thanks for all of their time and talent to:
Chef James-Awesome Farm to School Dinner
Chris Whitaker--ECHO Science Center, STEM Education Coordinator
Rebecca Garavan and Heather Drury--Radiate Art Space Founders and Marble Painting Artists
Basak Simal,Joan Hathaway (and family), Pam Gillis--Society of Women Engineer's Engineers and Rocket and Jitterbot Inspirations
Willie Lee-- BRMS Technology Educator and Vinyl Cutter Extraordinaire
Quinn Keating--CHMS Technology Educator and 3D Printing Master
Dave Bouchard--JES Enrichment Teacher and Little Bits Synthesizer Sound Enthusiast
Beth Redford--RES Library Media Specialist and Coding Guru
Tonya Girouard- RES Third Grade Teacher and Lead Learner in all things Electronic
Katie Lefrancois--RES Fourth Grade Teacher and and All Around Student Creativity Supporter

A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Rankin for organizing such a great event every year!  
(And thanks for allowing us to repost your blog!)

Animal Research Clubs

Third graders spent much of the month of May in book clubs during Reading Workshop, studying two different animals while practicing reading information book skills independently in small groups.  At the culmination of the units, groups were asked to create a Google Slides Presentation comparing and contrasting the two animals they studied in whichever ways made sense to them.

These are the final products from this intense research and collaboration project!

Live Streaming: 2017 Chick Hatch

Over the weekend, the eggs that we've been incubating since May 2nd will be entering their final growth phases and may be ready to hatch.  You can keep up on all the action over the weekend and next week LIVE by checking out the following links:

Miss Darby's Chick Cam

Mrs. Ayer's Chick Cam

Mrs. Ankerson's Chick Cam

We use "Ustream" which is also an app -- look for it in your online store!

Hatching Chicks: Candling the Eggs

Today, our classes "candled" our incubating chicken eggs to check in on their development.   To candle the eggs, we hold a bright light up to the eggshell and take a peek inside to see the details of the embryo's growth and development.   When we candle, we are looking for a nice clear air cell at the larger end of the egg, veins, and an embryo.  If we look really closely, we might even be able to see the embryo move within the shell -- especially now that they are getting bigger and there is less room in the shell.

We are looking for three different kinds of embryos/eggs.

Winners

Winners are normally developing embryos.  You can clearly see the air cell on the right side of the egg.  The embryo is toward the left (the biggish black blog).  When we candled this particular egg, we could see clearly developed veins all around the shell and the embryo moved quite a bit.  We're expecting this egg (#25) to hatch.

Quitters

This embryo stopped developing at some point in the last two weeks.  In this picture, there is a clear bloodline indicating that the development of the embryo has stopped for some reason.

Yolkers

This egg was never fertilized.  There is no embryo to develop.  The eggs we buy at the grocery store are usually unfertilized eggs. 

We want to take the quitters and yolkers out of the incubator at this stage because we don't want the eggs to crack/break in the incubator or get in the way of the hatching chicks next week.

RES Ambassadors of STEM

A few months ago I blogged about an opportunity that Richmond Elementary School was part of through a grant from the Vermont After School Program and Montshire Science Museum. That Tinkering Grant award allowed us to have some awesome materials for engineering exploration both in school and in an after school class that I hosted.  The relationship that RES established with the Vermont After School program has led to excellent learning for students as well as professional development for myself as the RES enrichment teacher. It also led us to an opportunity to visit the Vermont State House in Montpelier last week and talk to state representatives about all of the great engineering activities, and the amazing makers and scientists that we have at RES. 

I was proud to bring six students to Montpelier to participate in a day that included engineering design challenges, a visit to floor of the State House (where our Richmond representative called out our students by name!) and time to engage representatives in making through our RES marble maze display (Students designed elements and created on the spot). 

It was great to share about the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)---and to see RES students SHINE!  At RES this year we are on a journey to bring making, creating and engineering to all students through the creation of a Makerspace.  It is a journey as we figure out how this work fits into our curriculum as well as our after school programming.  Connecting to the Vermont Afterschool program has been an excellent way to engage in dialog about how we can provide multiple avenues for all students to access these skills and opportunities. 

post originally appeared on Mrs. Rankin's blog Enrichment at RES.  Reposted with permission.