Coming Soon: RES Science Fair

RES SCIENCE FAIR

Thursday March 16th, 2017

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 and RES PTO COOKIES

Time: 5-6:30pm

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

We hope to see you on Thursday to support our awesome scientists!

Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences

Image from: http://www.clipartkid.com/parent-teacher-conference-cliparts/

Please be on the lookout for an email from Sign-Up Genius with a link to sign-up for spring conferences.  Scholars have made much progress this year and we are looking forward to sharing their accomplishments with you!

ABCD Brains! #brainresearch

Third graders were lucky enough today to hear about their developing brains from Hugh Garavan, Ph.D from the University of Vermont.  He shared a short slideshow with our students regarding the development of their brains and how THEY are able to change their brains right now!  He also wanted to share a new and very exciting research study currently in the recruitment stages at UVM.

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is the largest long-term study of brain development and health in the United States.  The research study is currently in the recruitment phase, looking for participants who are 9-10 years old.  That's us!  So...if you are interested in your child's participation in this study, you can contact UVM for more information.

Here's an article from UVM about the study:

Garavan, Potter and Team Launch UVM Recruitment for Landmark Adolescent Brain Development Study

And, to learn more about the overall brain study and how to sign up, visit: ABCD Brain Study.

Thank you to Dr. Garavan for stopping by today!

Jumping for Hearts!

For the last six weeks or so, Mrs. Berliner has led an after school enrichment group participating in "Jump Rope for Heart" with the American Heart Association. Through Jump Rope For Heart kids learn jump rope skills, how their heart works and raise money to help kids with special hearts. Have fun, learn how to stay healthy and make a difference in the lives of others! Today, jumpers demonstrated all of their superb jumping skills in an assembly before their celebration this afternoon! Way to go, Jumpers!

Fraction Conjectures

     
   
         As our third grade students were wrapping up their unit on fractions, they worked in partnerships to prove or disprove conjectures.  A conjecture in math is a statement that is made that appears to be true, but hasn't yet been proven.
   




      In partnerships, they worked to create models and examples to prove the statement true or to prove the statement false.  After spending time working on them they gathered in larger groups to share their ideas and put it all together.  Third graders persevered in this work and really solidified their conceptual understanding of fractions!

 

Snow Motion 2017

Another successful year at Cochran's learning and practicing skiing and snowboarding skills! Thank you Mr. Godfrey for organizing this wonderful program. A HUGE thank you to all of the donors who helped to make this program happen for our students!

S

Pet Sitters for February Break

Our classrooms are in need of pet sitters for the February break.  We have lovely cockroaches, hermit crabs, and fish.  Please email your child's classroom teacher if your family is able to pet sit for vacation!

Global School Play Day #gspd17

Last week, RES third graders participated in Global School Play Day along with nearly 300,000 other students around the world.  The idea of the day is to (re)discover how valuable unstructured play can be in student learning.  The rules were simple:  NO screens, NO rules (other than expected behavior) and NO directions regarding how to play the games!  As you might imagine, third graders were THRILLED!

Circus Night Shenanigans!

On Friday night, Mr. G hosted Troy Wunderle of Wunderle's Big Top Adventures at RES for a night of fun with the circus arts.  After enjoying a pizza party, 3rd graders joined the rest of the school for a welcome show where Mr. Troy wowed us with his juggling and balancing skills. And surprised us by stilt walking OVER all of the 4th graders!  Wowee!

We spent the evening rotating between various stations including: hand-eye coordination (juggling, lassoes, jump rope, spinning plates), balance (pogo sticks, stilts, balancing on a ball, pedalos, unicycles, etc.), a dance party and hand-made snow!  What great fun was had by all!  

A giant BIG TOP thank you to Mr. Troy and Mr. G for providing us with great entertainment on a Friday night!

Building Coding Connections

This post was cross posted on the RES Enrichment blog and is written by RES enrichment teacher, Darcie Rankin (darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org ).

In December all students at Richmond Elementary School participated in an Hour Of Code during their enrichment classes.  This was an excellent chance for students to be exposed to the concepts of coding. After several years of Hour of Code at our school, as well as many teachers embracing coding for special projects in their classrooms over the last three years...students have developed great early coding skills. 

This year I signed up to participate in the Vermont Robot Rodeo. My teaching goal was for students to have an opportunity to advance their coding skills as they made connections between hardware and software.  I feel that in elementary school the ability to connect coding to the physical manipulation of materials is an awesome way to build true and lasting understanding. I have also seen it increase student engagement as the sharing of results is so transparent (i.e. Robots roll across the floor or say something or react to something!). 

This year I chose to focus the use of robots to build coding connections in our third grade classes(younger classes got exposure to the robots less formally).  We began our investigation by giving every student a chance to explore what robots could do. During this period, we might use apps that were more like a remote control versus coding and kids were encouraged to play.  After this exposure I challenged students to use coding applications to control the robots and to make them 'do something' deliberate and expected.  Students jumped right in to meet this challenge.  They used Blockly and Tickle applications and developed cool project ideas: making a robot draw something, dance to music, greet others, create a light show, interact with another robot, pull a toy on a path, make it through an obstacle course...to name a few!  They wrote many lines of code, tested and iterated to achieve their goal, worked together and had a lot of fun.  Several students pointed out that this work was hard....but not because they wanted  to stop.....but I think they were just proud of themselves! And I was proud of their persistence and drive to learn. 

Kindergarten getting early exposure to coding skill through maze building and BeeBot

Third Graders putting their coding skills to the test!

The Vermont Robot Rodeo is an amazing opportunity to expose students to these coding connections and we are grateful to all of the sponsors who provided funds to give our kids the chance to advance their coding skills. We will be sad to send Dash and Dot to the next school--but we are sure that they will learn as much as we did--and we will be watching and checking out their work too.

I look forward to watching as our RES students use all of the skills they developed and applying this same persistence, thinking and collaboration to other learning.

Below is a video that highlights student work with robots, coding examples and student reflections.

RES Circus Night

Proceeds will go to support Artist and Residency Program and promoting the Arts at RES 

What: Troy Wunderle of Wunderle’s Big Top Adventure & Circus Smirkus will be helping Mr. G host a Kids Night Out Circus Night. Parents are welcome to volunteer or drop kids off for the evening. 

A pizza party will be included. Kids will have the opportunity to watch a circus show and explore lots of different types of circus equipment including Pogo Sticks, Moon Hoppers, Unicycles, Stilts, Juggling scarves, balls, rings, and clubs, Devil Sticks, Diabolos, Feathers, Plates, and Much More. 

When: Friday, January 27th at RES 5:30pm -8:00pm Cost: $20 per child (if you need a scholarship email diane.kane@cesuvt.org) 

 Sign-up: Online at http://tinyurl.com/gplchee or at Mr. G’s Blog 

 Contact: Brian Godfrey at brian.godfrey@cesuvt.org with questions

Terracyle Updates at RES

Here's an update to the items that can be TerraCycled at RES.

ITEMS WE CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT



FOOD WRAPPERS

PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS

Thank you to the students in Mrs. LeFrancois' 4th grade for producing these videos!

RES Snow Motion Fund!

During this Holiday Season give the gift of Movement and help support the RES Snow Motion Program! Donate to the "GoFundMe" here!

In the winter of 2012, the RES Snow Motion Program at Cochran's was created by RES Parents and  PE teacher Brian Godfrey.  Snow Motion's Mission is "to provide Richmond youth the opportunity to learn to ski and snowboard during the school day at no cost."  


Snow Motion is a fully inclusive program that occurs as part of the school day.  Students are provided free transportation, rental equipment, lift tickets, and ski/snowboard lessons. Your donation will remove all the barriers in order to promote a healthy and active lifestyle to every student at RES.   

The program is entirely run by parent volunteers and RES teachers.   The 1st year of Snow Motion was piloted with the entire 4th grade class of 50 students.  Since then the program has expanded each season to allow additional grades to participate.  Last winter all students in 1st- 4th grade were able to participate.  In the past we have been able to fundraise for the program through grants and community events like Mr. G's Gymboree, Big Truck Day, and Circus Night. 

This year we need to raise $10,000 to fund the RES Snow Motion Program at Cochran's.  This season we would like to expand the program to K-4th grade.  In addition, as part of Snow Motion each student will get to ski/snowboard 5 consecutive weeks at Cochran's.  Your donation will provide the opportunity for nearly 300 RES Students to experience the unique treasure that is Cochran's Ski Area.

Winter is upon us and we need to raise funds for this year’s Snow Motion by January.  The program will occur from mid January through February.  This season we are looking at going twice a week so that the slopes are not overcrowded.   1st/4th/and half of K will go on one day and 2nd/3rd/and the other half of K will go on a different day.  

By supporting the RES Snow Motion program you are ensuring that Richmond Youth have a positive first experience with a sport that can keep them active throughout their lifetimes.  You are giving kids the tools and positive experiences that will help shape them into physically active adults.  Not only does your donation help local kids but every dollar goes to Cochran's Ski Area which is the nation's first IRS 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt ski area. "No child will be denied the opportunity to ski or ride".

RES Snow Motion Fund on GoFundMe can be found here!

Researching Issues within the Lake Champlain Watershed

Third graders have been learning about the Lake Champlain Watershed and its ecosystems during this bend, Organisms and their Environment, in our Interdependence Science Unit.

As our concluding work in this unit, we worked in small collaborative groups to research specific issues in the Lake Champlain Watershed.  The issues we researched include:

• Storm water runoff in developed and urban areas (pavement, storm drains, roofs)
• Storm water runoff in areas with agriculture and farms
• Invasive species spread by boats and fishermen
• Invasive species introduced by the canals
• Invasive species from gardens or pets

Our goal was for groups of students to design a project to communicate ecological issues of Lake Champlain's watershed, the causes of these problems and possible solutions with the community.

Here's a website with all of our projects: Lake Champlain Watershed Issues.

We hope you learn many ways that YOU can help protect Lake Champlain and its Watershed!

Reading Without Walls Celebration!

On Thursday, we invited all students who participated to enjoy lunch in the classroom to celebrate!

Happy Turkey Day! #thanksgiving2016

Third graders want to wish you luck in finding a turkey for your Thanksgiving table...they've been sneaking around the halls of RES for the last few weeks...

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

See you on November 28th!

Games to Practice Telling Time

Telling time to the minute on an analogue clock and determining elapsed time are key math skills for 3rd graders.  Here are a collection of online games students can play at home to help learn and practice this skill!

• ABCya Telling Time
• Making Hands Match Time
• Elapsed Time
• Telling Time to the Minute
• Site of Many Games

Our Place in this World!

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

Third graders have spent the beginning of the school year in enrichment thinking about their place in this world. Geography and understanding sense of place is an important part of the third grade curriculum.  This study also supports our enrichment goals of continuing to learn about ourselves while giving us a context for our passions and interests.  I love beginning the year with this project because it gives students a chance to be creative and work in groups as we learn. 

Students selected a place, and then worked in groups to show this place.  Next the class used an iPad to film and create an iMovie.  Below are the finished results!  Students celebrate our place in his world and we hope you will enjoy their creations.

  

Coming Soon: Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop

Richmond Elementary School , in conjunction with

Vermont State Science Fair and the Society of Women Engineers is proud to present the third annual:

COUGAR CUB INVENTOR’S WORKSHOP

Thursday November 17th, 2016

5:30 – 7:30pm

RES Gym, Library and Makerspace

Cost: 2$ per Student (to cover cost of disposable resources, scholarships available)

What is an Inventor’s Workshop?

This workshop is a family-friendly event to MAKE, create, learn, invent, craft, recycle, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, science and technology.  Students will work with their families to create!  Activities will be facilitated by engineers and teachers, but tasks will be open ended and creative.  Families will have an opportunity to learn together as they experience the fun of making / building / constructing / designing and more! A variety of activities will be available to challenge students from Grades K – 8.

Activities planned for our workshop include:

Cardboard Challenge:  Create with cardboard! The possibilities are endless!

Building a fort with Bloxes!  Bloxes are life-sized cardboard building blocks. They're used as furniture, walls, and forts by Google, Twitter, Mozilla, and many more.  Now you can try building with this elusive construction material.

Making a keyboard with bananas!  MaKey MaKey Boards are electronic devices that convert many regular objects into keys on your computer to control programs like Scratch or videos games.  Objects that are conductive, even slightly, like fruit or people, can be used with the MaKey.  

Creating lighted artwork with throwies!  LED Throwies are LEDs connected to coin batteries to create artwork with light.  They can be added to greeting cards or origami, or used to create nightlights or glowing badges. We will have a station to create LED candles.

Squishy Circuits:  Make three dimensional artwork with lights and moving parts out of play dough!  

Creating interactive circuits with littleBits!  littleBits are electronic modules that snap together with magnets to make circuits.  Each bit has a specific function (light, sound, sensors, buttons, motors, etc), and modules snap together to make larger circuits. Just as LEGOs allows you to create complex structures with little blocks, littleBits are small, simple, blocks that make creating sophisticated electronic circuits a matter of snapping pieces together.

Checking out a 3D printer in action!  CHMS students have been using a 3D printer during technology classes, and you can see some of this work.

Make it Fly!: Create objects to fly in the wind tunnel, check out some drones courtesy of JES and learn and fly gliders with BRMS middle schoolers.

Creating abstract art with a digital microscope!  DinoXcope Art is artwork created using a digital microscope to photograph intentional arrangements of materials.  

Programming interactive games with Scratch!  Scratch is a visual programming language.  Use colorful interlocking building blocks of code like legos to build interactive games and programs.

JitterBots:  Back due to popularity, you can create your very own jittery robot!

                                                                                                                                                                                            …and more!!!!

Please contact Darcie Rankin, RES Enrichment Teacher at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org with questions.

We hope to see you there!

Rules about Words!

In word study, students are studying groups of words and learning about the "rules" that help us to know how to decode and spell words.  As we all know, the English language is filled with rules, and most of these rules have many exceptions!

The students in Miss Darby's class are working with Mrs. King to dig into these rules...and have created this video to help teach YOU about just a few of these rules...

May we present to you...Word Study Rules, Episode 1!

RES School Store!

Welcome to the Richmond Elementary School Storefront. We are excited to offer this feature to our Richmond families this year. Your support through purchasing items on-line will benefit the PBIS Committee to help support school wide celebrations and a positive school culture at RES.

Richmond Elementary School Store 2016

Don't Forget: RES Lantern Parade

Please join us for the...

Richmond Elementary School

Lantern Parade

Thursday, November 10th 

What:  Parade on the RES/CHMS grounds followed by a sing-along and hot cocoa

When:  Thursday, November 10th

Where:  Students will pick up their lanterns inside RES between 6:00 and 6:15 pm

Parade:  Students and families will meet behind the CHMS basketball courts and parade as a group around the back fields.

Family Sing-along:  Bring your singing voices and afterwards, we will enjoy some hot cocoa!

To Bring: Dress warmly with shoes for walking on the outside fields.  Chairs and blankets for the sing-along are encouraged!

We hope to see you there!

Dough Needed for Squishy Circuits!

Image From: http://www.bethellibrary.org/event/squishy-circuits/

Recently, third graders have begun an exploration of electricity as one of our science units during Enrichment classes with Mrs. Rankin.  "Squishy Circuits" are one activity that Mrs. Rankin hopes to explore with students.  In order for this to happen, we need YOUR help to make conductive and insulating dough from an easy-to-follow recipe.  If you are willing to help us by making conductive playdoh, either leave us a comment OR email your child's classroom teacher and we'll be sure to get the easy-to-follow recipe to you quickly!

Thanks for your support of our science curriculum AND enrichment!

Subtraction on a Number Line

Over the next week in math students will be learning about how to use the number line to model the distance between two numbers when solving subtraction problems.  This video on LearnZillion actually gives you a nice overview, so can learn more about the subtraction strategy your student will be using in math class.

LearnZillion Video on Using the Number Line for Subtraction

Lantern Parade is Postponed!!

Image From: http://cliparting.com/free-umbrella-clip-art-12274/

The RES Lantern Parade & Sing-Along has been postponed due to the rain!

We look forward to seeing everyone on 

Thursday, November 10th, 

to help celebrate the changing of the seasons!

Makerspace Materials

We've been enjoying the makerspace at RES for the first few months of the school year.  Just a reminder, we need YOUR help to keep our makerspace filled with materials ready for us to use when we are making!

Image From: https://www.theartofed.com/2016/03/16/extending-art-room-making-makerspace/

Recyclable/Free Items You Can Collect:

• Cereal Boxes
• Paper towel & toilet paper rolls
• Yogurt containers
• plastic lids
• Old electronic toys (for the take-apart station)
• Large cardboard boxes

Valuable Making Items You Can Donate:

• Straws
• Pipe cleaners
• Masking or Duct Tape
• Ribbon
• String
• Wooden Dowels
• LEDs
• Coin Batteries
• Material (scraps are fine!)
• Hot Glue Gun Sticks
• Legos (small)
• Tinkertoys
• Keva Blocks
• Kinex
• $$ (Check in with Mrs Rankin for more ways to support!)

RES Lantern Parade!

Please join us for the...

Richmond Elementary School

Lantern Parade

Thursday, November 3rd 

What:  Parade on the RES/CHMS grounds followed by a sing-along and hot cocoa

When:  Thursday, November 3rd (Rain Date November 10th)

Where:  Students will pick up their lanterns inside RES between 6:00 and 6:15 pm

Parade:  Students and families will meet behind the CHMS basketball courts and parade as a group around the back fields.

Family Sing-along:  Bring your singing voices and afterwards, we will enjoy some hot cocoa!

To Bring: Dress warmly with shoes for walking on the outside fields.  Chairs and blankets for the sing-along are encouraged!

Mr. Alberghini's Storytelling Extravaganza!

This week, we worked hard to publish our very first stories as third graders -- small moment stories about one time in our life.  Throughout the unit, writers were working to use a storytelling voice instead of a new reporter voice.  So, in celebration of all of our hard work throughout this unit, we invited Superintendent Alberghini in to our classrooms to share his own small moment stories!

You see, Mr. Alberghini grew up in Derby Line, Vermont, and he has LOTS of stories to share from his childhood shenanigans with his two older sisters.  Today, our writers were honored to hear his retelling of his run-in with an old, forgotten bear trap near a hunting cabin in the woods around Derby.

Here is Mr. Alberghini's impression of a gray squirrel...

And here is the moment Mr. Alberghini accepts his sister Gina's dare to jump over the bear trap...uh oh!

Mr. Alberghini's gift of storytelling certainly had us all hooked from the very beginning...we really felt like we were hiking through the woods with him on an adventure!

And, in case you were thinking that maybe Mr. Alberghini is a big fibber (!), here's the scar to prove it!

What a wonderful way to celebrate our work as storytellers!  Thank you, Mr. Alberghini, for inspiring us to continue our work as writers...we look forward to hearing more of your stories in the future!

And, if you're curious, here's the RES Podcast of Mr. Alberghini's Bear Trap story from a previous year!

Or a YouTube video from another year:



As you can tell, this is a favorite story of our RES 3rd Grade authors!

Echo Field Trip

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit Echo Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in order to further our learning about watersheds and the issues that impact them. First, we listened to a presentation from the Lake Champlain Basin program about invasive species in Lake Champlain, why they are troublesome, and what is being done and how we can help. Then, we helped to tell the story of Lake Champlain's history with fossils and artifacts. Did you know...that a beluga whale was found in Charlotte? How did it get to Vermont? We also built our own model of a watershed with a housing development, roads, a farm, and thought about ways we might be able to prevent the farm runoff from getting into our lake. We talked about impervious surfaces and absorbent surfaces, too.

 A HUGE thank you to the chaperones who helped us make this trip successful. Thank you, also, to Echo for providing us with this field trip (and the bus!) at no cost! (Third grade teachers took a class at Echo this summer to write the curriculum; Echo gave us a field trip as a thank you for helping to further develop the education program offerings at Echo.)

Open House Selfies!

Thank you all for coming to Open House last week! It was such a delight to see all of your smiles...

Coming Soon: RES Artist-In-Residence & Lantern Parade

Image from ClipArt Today

SAVE THE DATE:
Richmond Elementary School Lantern Parade
Thursday November 3rd, 2016 at 6pm 

(Rain Date: Thursday November 10th)



 We are EXCITED to announce that students from Richmond Elementary School will be working with talented visual artist Gowri Savoor, during a six day artist in residence in mid-October. During this residency every K-4 student will create a paper lantern during their weekly art classes. Students will have a chance to create something beautiful, using varied materials and will be supported by Ms. Savoor and art teacher Mrs. Kim Aucter as they create.

 The lantern parade will allow us to showcase our work to families and each other and we hope you can support this great artistic opportunity for students by saving the date and attending! The parade will include a lighted walk, music and hot cocoa.

 We are so thankful for our community partners who support amazing opportunities for our students! This Artist in Residence was made possible by grants from the Vermont Arts Council and the Huntington Valley Arts.

Are you interested in helping to support the arts and this event at RES? 

1.  We are looking for a few recyclable items for the lantern making (drop off at school by October 14th):

• Large Yogurt Containers (32 Ounces) 
• Shallow Plastic Containers 
•  Small Bubble Wrap 
• Yarn Scraps or rolls 
• Plastic Tablecloths (Perhaps a birthday party leftover?) 

2. We need to borrow: Small Handheld Pruning Shears (label and we will return)

3. We need as many adult helpers as we can get—! If you have some time to come in and create with a class (or two) or could help us to organize materials and the parade. Parade organizers include helping set up materials, serve hot cocoa, and sharing your musical talent! Please sign up here: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/805084FABAD292-lantern

Family Newsletter Week of October 3

This week's newsletter should be appearing in your child's home-school folder tonight.  Important news to note:

• Field Trip to Echo on 10/14 -- Email your child's teacher to chaperone; order a lunch from school if necessary.
• Information about Conferences will be coming home early this week -- be on the lookout for an email.

Reading without Walls ~ a Challenge!

In the month of October, third graders at RES will be participating in the "Reading Without Walls" Challenge by  National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Gene Luen Yang!

During the challenge, third graders are encouraged to expand their reading horizons by reading a book outside of their comfort zones!

1. Read a book about a character who doesn't look or live like you.
2. Read a book about a topic you don't know much about. (STEM, history, sports)
3. Read a book in a format you don't normally read for fun. (picture book, comic book, book in verse)

Throughout the entire month, third graders will get to check out an extra book from the RES Library to help meet the goals of this challenge.  We hope you have fun and enjoy finding new books to read with your family!

For more information, check out the website here!