RES Kids Spring Fling

Sign Up Online: https://tinyurl.com/mru2j92

Contact: Wendy Touchette at wendy.touchette@cesuvt.org with questions.

PS: Rumor has it Mr. G will be there!

Celebrating Culture and Our Learning

A huge thanks to all the families that joined us today to celebrate the awesome learning of our students!  They worked hard to learn about how where you live impacts how you live by comparing and contrasting two countries.  Their writing was amazing and the breakfast foods this morning were very tasty.  

The RES Quest ~ Our New School Song

On Monday, fourth graders had the honor of working with Jon Gailmor.  Jon Gailmor is a talented songwriter, singer and educator.  We invited Jon Gailmor to RES to help us write a new school song!  Fourth graders focused on our core beliefs: Respect Yourself, Respect Others and Respect Your Environment. They thought about how these words that we live by make Richmond Elementary School such an incredible community and place to be.    

 

Link to video:

https://youtu.be/vJFJkLpXkAs

You can learn more about Jon Gailmor on his website:

http://www.jongailmor.com/

Flynn Trip: Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

Earlier this week, Susanna Olson, a teaching artist from the Flynn Center for Performing Arts came to RES to preview some of the acting techniques the actors will be using when we visit the Flynn to see the show Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters.  We also learned about some of the props that will be used in the show, especially spirit poles and masks.

If you find extra time over vacation, it might be fun to try out some of the additional activities available in the activity guide.  Of particular interest to third graders might be the exploration of the many variations of the Cinderella fairy tale, particularly since we will be diving into a writing unit after the break!

Breakfast Around the World!

Breakfast Around the World

Friday, April 21st

9:00-10:00 AM in the RES Cafeteria

For the past six weeks, students have been researching cultures around the world during Reading Workshop, and are using a variety of note taking strategies to gather and organize the information they've learned.  During Writing Workshop, students have been using this information to write articles about the cultures they've studied, working to find connecting ideas between two different cultures and writing to support their ideas with facts.  With all of this hard work under our belts, we're ready to celebrate!

If you're able, please volunteer to bring a breakfast (or snack) item from around the world on the Sign-Up Genius and join in celebrating all of the learning students have accomplished!

What Does Math Look Like in the Classroom?

In our current math unit, we are focusing on efficient strategies for addition and subtraction.  The goal is for students to strengthen their number sense, so the emphasis is on place value strategies.  That is why we don't rush students into learning the traditional US algorithm for these operations until 4th grade.
While every student develops along the path at their own pace (some might be learning the algorithm earlier), the following video gives you an idea of how it looks.

Learning to Type at Home

Technology continues to be another important tool that we are using to enhance the learning of our students.  One way that you can help them at home is to provide time to practice typing.  Students who are still hunting and pecking to type can find the technology frustrating.

We have been using the new version of Edutyping this year to teach students how to type. Students love that the new version moves quickly through the lessons.  Students can access this program through our school website and continue their practice at home.  

Also, the following is a website with various resources that your student could access to practice their typing:

Resources for Typing

Please encourage your child to spend some time at home each week practicing their typing skills.  It is a lifelong skill that will find they increasingly rely on as they grow!

Coming Soon: Flynn Field Trip! #FlynnAtMySchool

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Cinderella Story

On May 1, 2017, we'll be traveling to the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington to see a production of this traditional story.  It's a fabulous connection to our "Once Upon a Time: Fairytales" writing until that we'll be starting just after spring break, too.

Here's what the Flynn Center says about the show: 

An audience favorite, this beautiful adaptation of John Steptoe’s Caldecott Award-winning book reveals the splendor of Zimbabwe with traditional chanting, drumming, and dance. Unlike the Cinderella variants in many other cultures, this tale’s notion of beauty is more than skin-deep: goodness, generosity, and integrity prevail when kind Nyasha wins the king’s hand over her selfish and spoiled sister. Acknowledged by critics as a breakthrough book for inspiring African American children to take pride in their ancestry, the story is even more powerful onstage, performed by the stellar Dallas Children’s Theater. 

AND...on April 17th, each class will participate in a Flynn Companion workshop with Susanna Olson, a Flynn teaching artist.  A giant THANK YOU to Mrs. Rankin for organizing all of this for us!

Permission slips were sent home on Monday, April 3rd and need to be returned by April 14th.  Please let us know if you need a new permission slip!

Brain Breaks in 3rd Grade

Third graders presented an assembly today to all of RES sharing some of our favorite "brain break" activities in the classroom.  We're pretty proud of our work today...check it out!

Brain Breaks! -- An Assembly by 3rd Grade

The third grade classes will be leading a school-wide assembly on Brain Breaks! 

Friday, March 31st

RES Gym

1:30-1:50(ish)

Feel free to join us!

Mrs. Redford, RES's very own Superstar!

Mrs. Redford is being recognized as a Social Media Superstar by the American Association of School Librarians for the way that she shares the voices of her students via social media.  

Third graders can practice writing brave, bold opinions and help out Mrs. Redford by visiting the AASL website and sharing how Mrs. Redford has helped students share their voice with the world!  As a family, plan and draft a well-crafted opinion paragraph sharing ways that Mrs. Redford has helped students.  Then, post your opinion (testimonial) on the AASL website here to share RES' own superstar with the world!

Way to go, Mrs. Redford; we're soooo proud of you!

From the MMMUSD-CESU Blog:

Richmond Elementary School librarian Beth Redford has been recognized as a finalist by the American Association of School Librarians for her contributions in using social media to empower student voice. Here's an excerpt from the AASL post (to see the full article click here):

Beth Redford is the Teacher Librarian at Richmond Elementary School, in Richmond, Vermont. She is a regular on Twitter, with both personal and school accounts, and her library blog and Twitter feed include sensational library class happenings and student created book trailers. She even gets her Director of Curriculum, Communication, and Innovation involved! She has connected her students via online videos with students in China. She has also helped 2nd graders create blog posts about their animal research.

You can visit Beth online at any of the below:

@RESVTlibrary | RES Library Media Center News | @bethredford | Theconnectedlibrarian

Congratulations go out to Beth for her dedication to our scholars and contributions to student voice.

World Geography and Cultures

Our third grade team is immersed in learning about world geography.  During reading, writing, and theme times we are working to answer the following question: How do geography, climate, and natural resources affect the way people live?

Mrs. Ayer's students are so excited about everything they are learning about cultures in various countries that they created a movie to share.  Listen to some of what they've learned.

Miss Darby's class is working to teach others in their group about what they've learned about a culture.  They are using the teaching to help them make sense and synthesize all that they are learning!

More Landforms

Students in Mrs. Ankerson's class created landform slides to teach one another about various landforms and terminology. Check it out!

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.

Bold Opinions: Persuasive Speeches from Mrs. Ankerson's Class

Third graders recently wrapped up their opinion writing.  This week and last they finished recording VoiceThreads for their favorite piece. They worked hard to express their opinions and to be as convincing as possible! Some wrote speeches to raise awareness or to make a change, while others wrote to try to get people to recognize someone or something they feel is noteworthy. Please listen to what they have to say! You can also leave a comment for students at the bottom of this post. 

Brave, Bold Opinions from Miss Darby's Class

Third graders wrapped up their opinion writing unit prior to February break.  This week they finished recording a VoiceThread for their favorite piece.  I am so proud of the great work and risks they took in developing their opinions.  Please take the time to listen to their awesome writing and respond via a voice, video or text comment on their thread!  You can also leave a comment for students at the bottom of this post.

Learning about Landforms

This week, third graders at RES embarked on a new adventure that will be taking us around the world to study how the geography of a country's land impacts how the people in that country live and their culture.  But first, we had to refamiliarize ourselves with maps and geography...

After a quick refresher, students in each class created their collective Landform Dictionaries to use for future reference.  We'll be looking back at these in upcoming weeks as we travel around the globe.

Check them out:

Our Brave, Bold Opinions--Mrs. Ayer's Class

   Third graders wrapped up their opinion writing unit prior to February break.  This week they finished recording VoiceThreads for their favorite piece.  I am so proud of the great work and risks they took in developing their opinions.  Please take the time to listen to their awesome writing!  You can also leave a comment for students at the bottom of this post.

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!