Invention Prototypes

In third grade students had an opportunity in enrichment to design and build some invention prototypes.Their creativity and inventiveness was inspiring!

Here are some examples of the excellent inventions made by third graders during enrichment:

For details on our process check out this blog post:  http://enrichmentatres.blogspot.com/2016/04/engineering-design.html.

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Rankin's Enrichment at RES blog.

Hatching Day is Almost Here!

Our third graders are so excited for next week.  The actual hatching day is Tuesday, May 24th.  As we all know, sometimes things arrive a little early.  Sunday night into Monday morning would be the earliest hatching.  Please keep checking the live stream to see if there is any movement.  Once all of our chickens have hatched we will move the camera into the brooder.  Spring is an exciting time in our classroom!

Mrs. Ayer's Live Cam

Mrs. Ankerson's Live Cam

Miss Darby's Live Cam

Google Expeditions!

On Thursday April 28th, RES students in grades 2-4, and CHMS students in grades 6-8 experienced virtual field trips through the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program. Google Expeditions is a new product that allows teachers to take their classes on virtual field trips, immersing students in experiences that bring abstract concepts to life and giving students a deeper understanding of the world beyond the classroom. These trips are collections of virtual reality panoramas — 360° photo spheres, 3D images and video, ambient sounds — annotated with details, points of interest, and questions.



Several months ago RES third grade teacher Tonya Darby applied for our students to get this opportunity to try a new and innovative technology! Students in second grade traveled to China, and even got to see pandas in the wild! This trip connected to their unit on cultural studies around the world and helped to further extend their learning about a country that they have been learning about over the last month. Students in third grade traveled west to support their social studies learning about life on the Oregon Trail. Fourth graders traveled to Mars, connecting to their solar system unit of study, and allowing them to see close up a planet beyond Earth!

We are thankful to the Pioneer program for their support as well as teachers and staff who gave time and classroom space to host this great experience.

Want to learn more about the Expeditions Program? Check out: https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions/
OR ask your student "Where did you go today?!"

 

(Thank you to Mr. Berry for sharing his video & blog post with us!)

Engineering Design

In third grade enrichment this year our classroom activities have been fairly well synched to the work students are doing in their regular classroom.  Our work has focused on enhancing and adding to the science and social studies curriculum.  However for the last four weeks, we left this lock step and students have been spending time in enrichment experiencing the engineering design cycle.  Time in the enrichment classroom is often spent making and creating, but for this challenge I wanted students to have a larger purpose.  Accordingly to the Engineering is Elementary website (http://www.eie.org/overview/engineering-design-process) in order to experience an engineering design cycle, students must ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve.

Ask--What is the problem?

We began our engineering design cycle by asking the question: What bugs you?  After we clarified that siblings did not count (!) and that students had to think about things in their daily life, or community or world problems that bothered them..the ideas began to flow! Each student began with an Inventor's journal in which they wrote down their 'bugs'. This was an odd experience for us...spending a large chunk of time just documenting negative things.....but we discussed the idea that often great inventions are born from necessity or the desire to improve something.  Many students wanted to jump right into creating, but to honor the design cycle we spent one class period simply asking questions.  I encourage you to talk to students about what bugged them.  The lists were thoughtful and interesting. Some students focused on one particular issue and spent time thinking about the constraints and how others have approached fixing the problem, while others listed many ideas!  Since students had just completed a persuasive essay, I encouraged them to try to think of physical things that they could manipulate, design or change.  A very few students really struggled to think of any issue that they felt worth working on and so they brainstormed with myself or a partner. (Can you imagine if nothing bugged you?  I think that sounds nice, so could not find fault in that feeling if they truly meant it!)

Imagine- What are some solutions?  Brainstorm and pick your best idea!

On the second day students read back through their problems.  Some added a new problem they had thought of since our last meeting too.  Then the creative process began.  Some drew pictures, others wrote down ideas, some talked to a classmate or me.  Students added an idea or ideas to their Inventor's Journal of how they would solve their problem.

Plan- Draw a diagram and make lists of materials you will need.

Before leaving our class on the second day, students had to create a materials list. They let me know what they might need to build a prototype.

Create-  Follow your plan and create a prototype.  Test it out.

Last week students began building their prototypes.  We had many successes and many failures.  We learned that sometimes  making something is harder than imagining how to make it!

Improve- What works? What doesn't? What could you do better?

We are finding that improving and creating are happening all together as students iterate on ideas as they complete their prototypes.

By next week our goal is to have a working prototype that students can bring home to share with families.  I also challenged students to think of a name for their invention!

As we wrap up, stay tuned for a video of their awesome prototype inventions!

Original Post on Mrs. Rankin's "Enrichment at RES" blog.

Tomatoes in Space?!

(Originally posted on Mrs. Rankin's "Enrichment at RES" blog.)
This year students from Richmond Elementary School are participating in the TomatoSphere project in third grade to connect with their interdependence science unit. This is an amazing opportunity to participate in a real citizen science project. Last Friday we planted our blind study seeds as well as made predictions as to which seeds would yield the best tomato plants. Over the next few weeks we will watch and record our findings.

Here is information about this project as described on the TomatoSphere website http://tomatosphere.org:
____________________________________________________
What is Tomatosphere™?

Tomatosphere™ uses the excitement of space exploration to teach the skills and processes of scientific experimentation and inquiry. Students investigate the effects of the space environment on the growth of food that will inevitably support long-term human space travel.



Pictured above is NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly with 600,000 Tomatosphere™ seeds. These space-faring seeds will be distributed to about 18,000 classes in Canada and the US during the 2015-16 school year. The seeds were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on board SpaceX’s Dragon on April 14, 2015 and will return to Earth after spending 5 weeks in space.
What does the program involve?

Each classroom is sent two packages of tomato seeds. One package contains seeds that have been sent into space or treated in space-simulated conditions. The other package will contain "control" seeds, which have not been in space. Through the Tomatosphere™ project, students will learn how to conduct a scientific experiment and compare the germination rates of the two groups of seeds. Tomatosphere™ relies on a "blind test" in which educators and students will not know which of the two packages are the "space" seeds and which are control seeds until the germination process is complete and results have been submitted.Watching these seeds germinate and grow will encourage classroom dialogue about the elements of life that support the requirements for space missions:- food, water, oxygen and the need to consume carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts. Traveling to and from Mars could take more than two years, therefore it is vital to know how to grow food while astronauts make the journey to the Red Planet, spend time on Mars and make the return journey back to Earth.
The results from your Tomatosphere™ science experiments will help Canadian scientists understand some of the issues related to long-term space travel. It’s an out-of-this-world opportunity for your students!
Why grow tomatoes in space?

Tomatoes are practical and valuable plants for space applications. They provide wholesome nourishment, as well as purified water through evaporation from their leaves.
____________________________________________

All the seeds are planted! One tray for each Grade 3 class



Tiny precious experimental seeds and careful scientists at work!



Students predicting which seeds will grow the most tomatoes



Thinking about ensuring this is a fair experiment.

Changing our World #tcrwp #comments4kids

For the last few months, third graders have been working on opinion/argument writing in workshop.  We first began by developing opinions about the characters or themes in the books we were reading.  Now, we're writing to convince others about changes we think need to be made or people we think should be recognized.

During writing workshop for the past few weeks, students have been revising and editing a speech that they felt particularly passionate about.  Some students will be presenting these speeches in front of others.  Others chose to present via VoiceThread to a more global audience.  Please listen and leave a comment to these convincing speeches!

Miss Darby's Class










Mrs. Ankerson's Class











Mrs. Ayer's Class

Where, Oh Where Has Our Hermit Crab Gone...

       

Yes, it is true!  We believe that our beloved hermit crab, Freddie, has escaped.  He may very well be wandering through our classrooms in search of a new home.  Yesterday, students made wanted posters to place around the building.  For the safe return of Freddie we are offering a reward of chocolate to the person or people that locate him.  Be aware that he can pinch!  The RES community has been advised to call Mrs. Ayer's class to enlist the help of some expert hermit crab catchers!

 

Breakfast for Lunch Realized #tcrwp

  
A few weeks ago, third graders wrote speeches to Chef James requesting breakfast as a lunch option more often.  Chef James listened to our convincing arguments and decided that he could make some changes by offering more breakfast choices!

Today was the day...

The RES Breakfast for Lunch Menu

• Pancakes with mixed berry compote or local maple syrup


• Potato hash brown 


• Blueberry muffin bars


• Broccoli cheddar soufflé 


• Local apple cider

Thanks for listening to us, Chef James!!

Scenes from #GSPD2016

Friday afternoon, we joined hundreds of thousands of students around the world for Global School Play Day 2016!  We had a variety of activities happening in our classrooms for students to choose from including: legos, board/card games, Calico critters, arts & crafts, origami, paper airplanes, No Endz, squishy circuits, Little Bits, Snap Circuits, and more!

Global School Play Day is coming! #gspd2016

Third Graders at RES are participating in the second annual Global School Play Day on Friday, February 5, 2016.  On this day, students will have an opportunity to PLAY -- all afternoon -- with board games, dolls, Legos, blocks, trucks, cars, racetracks, playing cards, empty cardboard boxes, markers, jigsaw puzzles, blankets (for forts), social games (charades, Pictionary, etc.) The only rule:  no electronics (except a board game that has an electronic timer, an electronics play kit, or similar).

***

Press Release from GSPD:

Last year, a small group of 6 educators, took action and created Global School Play Day after continuing to see things encroaching on play time for children. They did this because they were angered by the increasing number of schools eliminating recess for children. They were also inspired to take action by the TEDx talk, Dr. Peter Gray, who argues the case that today's kids do not grow up playing and this has led to increases in childhood depression, increased stress related issues and the highest suicide rates in history. Over 65,000 participated after only 4 weeks of social media promotion from those 6 educators.

This Year, over 131,000 (As of 1:00 on January 29th) have been registered by their administrators or teachers to participate in Global School Play Day.  Schools from around the world will stand together to say unstructured play for children is a vital part of their development.

Global School Play Day is for public schools, private schools, and homeschool families! Let's spread the word about the benefits of play. If anyone asks why you're doing this, just tell them, "...because kids have forgotten how to play!"

For more information or to interview a teacher involved Contact the GSPD Leadership -

email - Global School Play Day @globalschoolplayday@gmail.com

Twitter - @GSPlayDay

 

Brave, Bold Opinions #tcrwp

We've embarked on a new Writing Unit of Study...writing our opinions in order to change the world!  Alas, before we get too carried away, we're trying our hand at small, little changes in our local world -- RES.

So, after a class conversations about little changes we'd like to see to make RES a better place, we struck out to write mini-speeches in order to convince Mr. Berry to see our side of the issue.  At the end of our first class, Mr. Berry happened upon our classroom and listened in on our opinions, and even gave us some excellent advice to make our speeches even stronger!

We think that the RES Cafe should have breakfast as a lunch option more often!



After listening to Mr. Berry's sage advice, we put the finishing touches on our speeches and sent them off with Mr. Berry to give to Chef James...

[embed]https://youtu.be/CSf0gTifCwA[/embed]

We're anxiously awaiting Chef James' thoughts on the subject...stay tuned!
UPDATE January 25:

  
Chef James stopped by to check in with us regarding our speeches about more breakfast.  We were quite pleased to hear Chef say that we have convinced him to not only offer breakfast more often, but to also offer more choices when breakfast is served for lunch!!  Woohoo!

Coming Soon: RES Science Fair

(Posted on behalf of RES Enrichment Teacher Darcie Rankin)

The RES Enrichment Program is excited to announce the annual

FAMILY SCIENCE FAIR  !COMING SOON!

Thursday March 10^th, 2016

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="476"] Photo Courtesy: Bartelso Elementary[/caption]

We look forward to the excellent projects presented by students in grades K-4!  Please mark your calendars and start thinking about how you would like to participate.

Do you have a science fair project in mind?  Here are some ways to make a plan:

ü  Expand upon an interesting topic you have studied in class

ü  Think about a topic that interests you, or a science question that you are curious about

ü  Talk to family and friends to brainstorm ideas for a project

ü  Stop by the enrichment room and borrow a fair idea book and talk with Mrs. Rankin

ü  Check out science project resources in the library

The RES Science Fair is a non-judged family event.  Students are encouraged to work together with family and friends to develop a project they are proud of presenting to our community.  Your entry does not have to be a science experiment. It may be as simple as a display of your leaf collection or as complex as an experiment on how the circulatory system works.  Look at the world around you. What are you curious about? What interests you?  Ask why something is the way it is. Do experiments, demonstrate a scientific principle, make observations of the world around you, design and make something or collect and analyze data.  Most importantly- be creative and HAVE FUN!

In a few weeks Science Fair entry forms will be sent home.  At that time you will be asked to share your planned science fair topic as well as any special display requirements you have.

Questions?

Contact: Darcie Rankin, Enrichment Teacher by email at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org

Happy Winter!

From the Third Grade Team to you and your family, we wish you the winteriest of winters.  Enjoy your vacation and we'll see you in 2016!!

From Impossible to Possible

In wrapping up our Global Read Aloud book, "Fish in a Tree" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, scholars worked with Mrs. Rankin in enrichment.  In the book, Ally keeps a journal of impossible things.  As she learns more about herself as a learner, she comes to realize many of the things are possible and changes or creates new sketches.  Inspired by the book. third graders made their own sketchbook pages!  Watch the videos to see what our RES scholars find to be impossible and possible.

 

Computer Programming This Week with Hour of Code #resvt #vted

The week of December 7-11, RES third graders will have a hands-on introduction to computer programming, or coding, with Hour of Code activities. They will be using the Star Wars: Building a Galaxy with Code tutorial from Code.org. This programming activity and many more are also available for free for families to use at home.

• Scratch Jr. iPad app


• Scratch Jr. Android app 


• Star Wars: Building a Galaxy with Code


• More ways to learn from Code.org

RES scholars during the 2014 Hour of Code

Computer programming helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity in scholars of all ages. RES is joining over 190,000 other Hour of Code events around the world to introduce our scholars to this important skill. Please watch our Twitter feed this week for updates from Hour of Code!

Image and information courtesy of code.org

RES Flight School: Cougar Cub Air

We celebrated the end of our information reading and writing units of study by taking flight!  Future flight instructors from Vermont Technical College joined us to talk about the forces of flight (thrust/drag, lift/weight) and to try out our skills by building our own (paper) airplanes.  Each classroom held a test flight competition to see which pilot could land their airplane closest to the "airport"...great skill was involved in the flying!



A giant THANK YOU to our friends at VT Tech for the mini-flight school and for helping us celebrate our accomplishments by learning even more!

Pilot Project: Minecraft

Mrs. Rankin worked with a small group of third graders recently to try out Minecraft (the oh-so-popular building video game) as a possibility for sharing research related to our recent World Geography research project.

Here's an excerpt from Mrs. Rankin's blog about the project:

Due to the small group nature of our project we were able to team students together so that experts could support novice players.  Next, we explored the application.

When students understood the tool useage expectations, they got right to work! I could clearly see their informational knowledge as they designed, built and created!  Students had to problem solve how to create animals, stop ice from melting, and more.  They also collaborated on how to add labels (most settled on capturing a screenshot of their biome and then editing it in Explain Everything, but then others found a way to make signs inside of Minecraft!)

This project was a way to share already understood information.  Students could have certainly drawn a picture or written a description of their understanding...but I believe the Minecraft tool added three additional components to their learning:  a need to collaborate and learn from each other, high (very high!) engagement, and problem solving.
Below are two images created during our small group pilot.

We're hoping that we can bring this experience to ALL third graders next year!  Thank you, Mrs. Rankin, for helping us to pilot this project.  You can read Mrs. Rankin's entire post here on her Enrichment at RES blog.

 

 

Andes Manta Visits

This is a guest post from RES Enrichment Teacher Mrs. Rankin.

 

Today third graders had the amazing opportunity to make musical instruments with the musical group Andes Manta.  Students visited the Flynn for a performance this morning. Students and chaperones got to experience quite a show.



Here is an example of a similar performance of one amazing part of the show, when the Lopez brothers create a rainforest:



We were very lucky to not only see this great performance, but to welcome Andes Manta to our school to create payas, an Andean musical instrument.  Each student created their very own paya and participated in small group discussions with the artists.  Students talked about music, creating instruments, Ecuador (culture and geography) as they worked alongside great musicians!



 

This work connected to students study of South America in Spanish classes as well as their third grade geography unit (biomes, landforms, and culture!).

This great opportunity was made possible by the Flynn Education Department, collaboration between enrichment, Spanish and third grade teachers AND a very generous donation from Cumbancha (http://www.cumbancha.com/). Thanks to everyone who supported this effort to bring an enriching experience to our school!

Making Andean Musical Instruments!

RES ENRICHMENT and SPANISH PROGRAMS  in collaboration with the FLYNN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT are excited to announce an: AMAZING THIRD GRADE OPPORTUNITY!

After our attendance at the Flynn theater on Monday November 2nd to watch Andes Manta perform,   ANDES MANTA WILL BE COMING TO RES!!!  

 

(photo courtesy of Andes Manta)

The four Lopez  brothers will spend an hour and a half in the afternoon creating authentic Andean musical instruments with our students. Each student will create an instrument to bring home!

This opportunity has been sponsored in part by World Music Record Label, Cumbancha (based in Charlotte Vermont), http://www.cumbancha.com/ and we are very thankful for their support of music and making at RES.  

This is a unique opportunity for students, and we know it will be memorable!  if you are interested in coming to support students as they build and make their instruments (from 1-2:30 on 11/2) please contact Darcie Rankin at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org.  

 

An Expert Talk #tcrwp

We are soooo lucky!  Katie Webster, a 3rd grade parent AND a published information writer, came in yesterday to share about her writing process.  She shared her cookbook, Maple, with us and even made us a little treat from her cookbook, Maple Sour Cherry Shirley Temples!




 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

We were surprised to learn that she uses some of the same strategies that we use when writing our information books.   For instance, when Katie first started writing her cookbook, she began by writing the Table of Contents.  We were just working on that last week!  She also had to use elaboration strategies to introduce each recipe to her reader...she shared some her favorites and our mouths were watering!  She also shared her struggles with introductions; boy, can we relate!  We'll certainly be referring to her advice as we continue our work in this unit!

Here's just a snippet of what she shared with us!  (Thanks to Mrs. Redford for recording and Mr. Berry for putting together the video!)



A huge thank you to Katie for taking the time from her busy book tour & cooking schedule to come in and talk with us!  We learned a LOT!

A Celebration of Writing! #tcrwp

Last week, we completed our first unit of writing and celebrating by sharing our true, small moment stories.  We invited families and friends to join us in the Library Media Center to share our stories...and listen to those of our peers.  Superintendent Alberghini & Board Chair Mr. Milazzo joined us, too!  What a special day!

Here's a slideshow of our journey throughout this first writing unit:



After the celebration, Superintendent Alberghini shared another of his childhood tales...what a treat!  Here's the story of "Big Bad Bob, the African Bullfrog!"



 

How lucky we are to have a storytelling treasure in our midst!

The Global Read Aloud Begins... #gra15 #grafiat

Today is a very exciting day in 3rd grade!  We're beginning The Global Read Aloud with more than 500,000 other students all over the globe.  A fellow participant created this map to show other classes around the world that are also reading "Fish in a Tree"...we added our pin to the map!



Pernille Ripp, the founder of The Global Read Aloud, has welcomed us to this year's project with this message:



AND...Lynda Mullaly Hunt, the author of our read aloud story has also welcomed us and even read the first chapter of the book to us.  We're sooo lucky and can't wait to start the journey...



Throughout the next six weeks, we'll be following along to a specific plan for The Global Read Aloud.  We don't want to read ahead of our connected classrooms or fall too far behind.  So, if you're following along with us at home, be sure to follow our game plan!  Also, Mrs. Redford has purchased a few extra copies of FIAT for our RES Library that parents will be able to check out...feel free to join us on our Global Read Aloud journey!!

Week 1:  Chapter 1 – 8 (October 5-9)

Week 2: Chapter 9 – 17 (October 12-16)

Week 3: Chapter 18 – 24 (October 19-23)

Week 4: Chapter 25 – 33 (October 26-30)

Week 5: Chapter 34 – 42 (November 2-6)

Week 6: Chapter 43 – end (November 9-13)

 

Mystery Skype!

This morning, we participated in our very first Mystery Skype!!  A mystery skype is when one class meets up with another class somewhere in the world.  Each class asks a series of yes/no questions to try to determine the location of the mystery class.  Because the Skypers can be anywhere in the world, we had to start with a broad question like:  Do you live in the Northern Hemisphere?   Given that answer, we could then ask about the continent, then the country, and so on.

Eventually, with our cunning detective (& geographic) skills, we were able to locate our new third grade friends at Beechwood Elementary School in Fullerton, California!



They are also reading Fish in a Tree for the Global Read Aloud project and we're hoping to connect again in the future!

"Fish in a Tree" Predictions #gra15 #grafiat

The Global Read Aloud begins next week...we're sooooo excited!  This week, we prepared ourselves by thinking about the title of the book (Fish in a Tree), looking at the cover and hearing the quote below from the book to be able to make predictions.

"...a wise person once said, 'Everyone is smart in different ways.  But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking that it's stupid." (Chapter 29)

Created with Padlet

RES Fun Run -- Saturday!

On Saturday October 3rd, 2015 Richmond Elementary School will host a FUN RUN  at the Volunteers Green in Richmond!  This awesome family event will include a kid friendly half mile obstacle course, and a 5K and 5K relay!

5K and 5K-RELAY and Kids ½ Mile FUN run

Saturday October 3^rd, 2015 --  9am

Location:  Richmond Volunteer’s Green

Bring the whole family and enjoy a morning of being outside with friends and neighbors running to support students at Richmond Elementary School.  All money raised at this event will support enrichment opportunities for students at RES.

Pre- Registration is now open on line until October 2^nd 2015.

To Pre-register go to:

http://tinyurl.com/2015RESFunRun

Pre-Registered Racers Sign in at 8:30 am

Race Day Registration Sign in at 8:15 am

Kids Race: 9am Start

Kids ½ mile will begin at the park and loop around the soccer field.  All entrants will receive an award.

5K Race: 9:15 am Start

5K will consist of three loops around the park area.  Relay teams will be allowed, so consider running with your spouse and making them do two loops while you do one!

Please note: This is a FUN RUN!  The course is narrow in some areas, which will not cater to passing, AND times will not be recorded!   Raindate (if severe weather):  Sunday, October 4^th, 2015

If you have questions about the event, or are interested in volunteering to help organize this great day, please contact Darcie Rankin at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org.

Writing Celebration! #tcrwp

It's time for a celebration!

 

We're celebrating the conclusion of our first Writing Unit of Study: Crafting True Stories in a big, big way!!

 

Thursday, October 1st, 2015

10:30-11:30 am

RES Library

Our 3rd grade authors will be sharing their stories from 10:30-10:50...listen to as many as you can to celebrate the fabulous writing (& learning) that has been accomplished in our first six weeks of school!

Then, Superintendent Alberghini, our storytelling mentor throughout the unit, will share another of his childhood tales with us...it's sure to be a great celebration of words!!

 

Global Read Aloud 2015 #gra15 #grafiat

 

This year, our 3rd grade classes will be participating in a project called the Global Read Aloud.  This project will start October 5th and will run for approximately 6 weeks.  The idea behind it is very simple; teachers around the world read the same book aloud to their students and then use technology to share the reading experience with these other classrooms.  

During the project, our class will be reading Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt and connecting with students around the world who are reading the same book.  We will use technology tools such as Skype, Padlet and our team twitter (@RESGrade3) to facilitate these connections and conversations.  In fact, our first connection will be on Friday when we "Mystery Skype" with a 3rd Grade Team from somewhere in the world!!



Here's a link to a book trailer we watched about the book.  FIAT Book Trailer

We are very excited to connect with others, especially since more than 200,000 students are already signed up to participate.  This project will allow for our students to use technology tools in a meaningful way, as well as learn about other cultures, all while listening to a fantastic read aloud.  


If you would like more information about the Global Read Aloud, feel free to visit the website www.theglobalreadaloud.com.

Self checkout station at the RES library

This is a guest post from our library media specialist, Beth Redford.

The RES library has a new self checkout station! Third and fourth graders have new library cards that they keep in their classrooms. They have learned to use the station and check out their own books.  Now they can come to the library any time and check out new books, even if I am out of the library or busy teaching a class. This means the library is accessible for the whole school day, every day, whenever our fantastic RES readers need new books. Second graders will be learning to use the self checkout station later this year as well.

Did you know that family members can get accounts at the RES library? This is a great thing to do especially if your child is a new reader who may go through several "skinny books" in a week. Parents can get library cards and check out books at the self checkout station as well. Stop by the library and I will make you your own library card! - Beth Redford, RES Library Media Specialist

We're featured on the RESVT Podcast!

Last week, Mr. Berry joined our 3rd grade writers during Writing Workshop to hear a mini-lesson from Mrs. Ayer and listened in while Superintendent Alberghini shared his "Bear Trap" story with us.

Listen in...

Superintendent Storyteller, Extraordinaire! #tcrwp

Last week, we were surprised to welcome Superintendent John Alberghini into our 3rd grade to tell us a story from his childhood.  In writing workshop, we're learning to use our "storyteller's voice" instead of the usual "news reporter voice" of our previous writing.  Lucky for us, Mr. Alberghini has lots of stories to share from his childhood growing up in Derby Line, Vermont.

We noticed that Mr. Alberghini used a funny lead in his story and shared a lot of information about the characters, mostly his sisters, Gina and Debbie.  We certainly remember which sister was the trouble-maker!

We're using Mr. Alberghini's story as a mentor for our own story writing, referencing it for the various pieces of our 3rd grade checklist and working to make our stories the best they can be!

Thank you, Mr. Alberghini, for taking time from your busy day to visit with us and support us in our writing!

And, thank you, Mr. Berry, for coming to our classrooms to video this story for our future use!

Writing Workshop

We use the "Writing Workshop" approach for writing instruction in 3rd grade.  The following slideshow will explain how and why we do what we do for writing instruction.  It will also provide answer to frequently asked questions AND provide families with ways to talk about and celebrate writing at home!

 

(Slideshow adapted from Two Writing Teachers blog, with permission.)

The Stoplight of Internet Safety!

[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.

Building a Powerful Reading Life

Today we launched our reader's workshop and third graders were so excited!  They shared where their favorite places to read were and why they love to read.  Our third grade readers eagerly jumped into some books, either rereading old favorites or discovering new ones.  We are so excited by the enthusiasm for reading displayed by all!

It's a New Year!

We have successfully completed our first day of the 2015-2016 school year...and it went by sooooo quickly!

  
While getting to know new friends and teachers, we also reminded ourselves of our school-wide expectations and routines.  Our favorite, of course, is recess!!

   
  

We look forward to a fantastic year together.  Welcome to 3rd Grade!!

Mrs. Ankerson's Class: 

   
Mrs. Ayer's class:

  

 

Miss Darby's class:

  

   

  

Sneak a Peek to the New School Year

We're soooo excited to start the 2015-2016 school year and we're going to give you the chance to see a sneak peak on Friday, August 21st, from 2:30-3:30 pm.   We're opening the doors to our classrooms (before they're ready!!) in the hopes that you'll come in and say hello!

Hope to see you!

 

Looking forward to a new year...

On move-up day in June, we asked our future third graders to share with us things they were looking forward to in the coming school year and they provided many.  We're looking forward to all of this (and more!) as we begin gearing up for the start of the new school year.

In the coming weeks, you'll receive a summer letter (we'll post it here, too!) with information and a shopping list for the beginning of the school year.  And we'll begin organizing and preparing our classrooms for the first day of school, August 26th.  See you then!

Created with Tagul.com

Memories of 3rd Grade

As the year came to a close, we had an opportunity to reflect on our favorite memories from the school year...



Our last day of school was a celebration from beginning to end.



 

Thank you ALL for a wonderful year of learning and celebrating together.  Be sure to stop by and see us next year!

Fairy Tale Read Aloud! #tcrwp

This afternoon, 3rd graders gathered on the lawn of RES to share the fairy tales that they've been writing and illustrating over the last few weeks.  A few of our families and a class of kindergartners stopped by to hear the stories...

We're really proud of our 3rd Grade Authors!

2015 Field Day

Yesterday, we celebrated the Annual RES Field Day & Walk-a-Thon (raising money for the Snow Motion program at Cochran's next year!)...we were exhausted by the end of the day!!

 

Cedar Knoll Golfing -- Postponed to 6/4

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="291"] Clip Art from: http://images.clipartpanda.com/demo-clipart-7iapykjiA.jpeg[/caption]

Dear 2nd & 3rd Grade Parents/Guardians,

 

Due to the rain and wet grass, the 2nd & 3rd grade golf trip to Cedar Knoll Country Club will be rescheduled for Thursday June 4th.  If you were unable to volunteer for the June 2nd date and wish to help out with the June 4th date, please email Mr. G.  All lunches ordered through the school will be moved to Thursday.  Please make sure your child wears appropriate footwear (no flip flops  or sandals) and apply sunscreen at home.

 

• 2nd Grade will leave RES at 8:30 and return at 11:30


• 3rd Grade will leave RES at 10:30 and return at 1:45

 

Thanks,

 

Brian Godfrey

P.E. teacher

brian.godfrey@cesuvt.org

Sharing Westward Expansion Projects

A Guest Post from RES Enrichment Teacher Darcie Rankin.  This post originally appeared on the Enrichment at RES

blog.

Westward Expansion Projects

This year I have had the great opportunity to collaborate with the third grade teachers on many of their science and social studies units.  Last month, we worked together to elaborate on student learning about westward expansion by utilizing our enrichment time, and some library time to create student interest projects.  Students spent time learning about some westward expansion topics--everything from clothing, to dangers on the trail, to the Gold Rush was explored using books and online resources!  Next students selected an individual topic that they wanted to learn more about. Students took notes and found images to support their learning.  In their classrooms students wrote a research report on their topic.  During enrichment time students created a project.  The guidelines for this project were broad, and students were encouraged to be creative as they thought about what type of project would best share information about their topic with others. It was really great giving students a chance to explore something they wanted to learn more about, and it provided depth to their in class curriculum learning about westward expansion.

The projects that students designed were as varied as their topics and included: clay models, cooking, wooden models, Google presentations, green screen movies, songs, posters, cartoons, drawings and more!

One important aspect of any project is knowing that your work has an audience.  On Friday, third graders were thrilled to share their great work (reports and projects) with the second grade classes.  Third graders set up their projects and then answered questions as second graders visited each of the classrooms. I was really impressed with the conversations that I witnessed that showed that second graders were truly interested in learning about a new subject and that proved that third graders had become topic experts! This was a great connection for second graders who are starting to think about becoming third graders next year and our third graders were really proud to share their learning.

The below video shows the westward expansion project share so that you too can celebrate this great learning. Enjoy!

Sample Green Screen projects:

A Special Thank You for Our Parents

In an effort to find a way to thank you for all your support, here is a little something for you to watch:



Again, thank you!!

Live Webcast of Hatching

Spring has finally arrived!  Our chickens are due to hatch anywhere from Sunday to Wednesday.  You can click on the link to take a peek at any new arrivals.  It is an exciting time in the third grade classrooms.

Mrs. Ayer's Class