Animal Research Clubs

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

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

Reading Without Walls Summer Bingo! #RESreads

Phoenix Books, a local independent bookseller in Burlington and Essex has an awesome summer reading program  -- The Reading Without Walls Bingo Challenge!

To "play," simply read books that meet the challenge requirements on the bingo board and then return it to Phoenix Books for a chance to receive an ARC (advance reader copy) of a yet-to-be-published book, or even gift certificates for MORE books!  What can be better than that?

Click here for YOUR bingo board!

Get Outside! #summerfun

Hey, soon-to-be 4th graders...check this out!


This Saturday, June 10th is National Get Outdoors Day, but even better...4th graders can participate in a federal program "Every Kid in a Park."

From the website:

By introducing fourth graders to public lands in their backyards and beyond at an early age, the innovative Every Kid in a Park initiative delivers a nationwide call to action to build the next generation of outdoor stewards of our country’s spectacular and diverse federal lands and waters. Connecting our nation’s youth to the great outdoors is even more important at a time when 80 percent of American families live in cities and most children spend more time on computers and smartphones than exploring nature. The initiative is slated to continue with each year’s group of fourth graders to inspire successive generations to become responsible stewards of our nation’s natural and cultural heritage. Every Kid in a Park invites children of all backgrounds to discover their public lands and all they offer, including opportunities to be active and spend time with friends and family. As living classrooms, these outdoor places and historic sites also provide hands-on, real-world opportunities to develop critical skills and learn about the natural world.

To get YOUR free pass for this summer, just visit: www.everykidinapark.gov!

Coming Soon: RES Summer Library Book Checkouts

Once again this summer the RES library media center will be holding summer book checkouts! Scholars in kindergarten and grades one, two, and three will be able to check out up to 10 books from the library media center and take them home for the summer. Starting on Wednesday, June 14th, scholars will be bringing home “Carry Out a Good Book” bags with their summer library books. Each scholar will also get a note explaining the program and a list of books he or she has checked out for the summer. The books will be due back when school starts in the fall. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our librarian Mrs. Redford at 434-2461 or beth.redford@cesuvt.org

Saying Goodbye!

Sending Our Chickens Off

        On Thursday, all of our third grade classes said their final farewells to our baby chicks!  Students learned so much about life cycles from witnessing it firsthand.  While lots of students were thinking they wanted a pet chicken, they quickly learned that they require a lot of care (or they can really stink).

Friday's Shelburne Farms Field Trip

Dear Families and Students,

On Friday we will be leaving RES at around 8:50 for Shelburne Farms.  We will spend the majority of our time outside near the lake and with the rainy weather forecast, please help your child dress accordingly.

Students will need to wear:

• Warm layers
• Hats and light gloves
• Pants
• Mud boots
• Rain gear (no umbrellas)
• Extra socks and shoes for after

Students will also need to bring:

• Lunch from Home, no glass (or already pre-ordered RES lunch)
• Snack (to eat there)
• Water bottle

Thanks so much for all your support and cross your fingers for light to no rain!!

Sincerely,

The Third Grade Team

Shelburne, Vermont, weather forecast as of Wednesday afternoon.

Live Streaming: 2017 Chick Hatch

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

Miss Darby's Chick Cam

Mrs. Ayer's Chick Cam

Mrs. Ankerson's Chick Cam

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

Hatching Chicks: Candling the Eggs

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

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

Winners

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

Quitters

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

Yolkers

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

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

Coming Soon: RES Scholastic Book Fair

RES is having one final school wide Scholastic Book Fair for the 2016-2017 school year. NOW is the time to stock up on great summer reads!

 

The RES Scholastic Book Fair will be open in Room 10 at these times:

Wednesday,  May 31, 7:15-8:15am & 2:45-5:45pm.

Thursday, June 1, 7:15-8:15am & 2:45-5:45pm.

An Opportunity for Parents to Spend Some Time on the Golf Course

     Do you enjoy spending time on the golf course?  Have you ever wondered what golf really is?  We need parent volunteers to make our day at Cedar Knoll Country Club both fun and successful.  You don't have to know anything about golf to help us out.  We need parents to chaperone groups as they take part in stations and parents to help supervise stations.  No worries, we will give you everything you need to run a station.

    Our trip is on Tuesday, June 6 with the rain date being on Thursday, June 8.

    Please email Marie Ayer at marie.ayer@cesuvt.org if you are able to help out on either of those days.  

Some Changes in the 3rd Grade Unified Arts Schedule

Starting next week, Barry Churchill, the golf pro from Cedar Knoll, will be at Richmond to help students with their swings!  Since he is only able to spend two short mornings a week with us for the month, we had to rearrange our schedule.  This will allow all students a chance to have his expertise in perfecting their golf swings.

Please look at the attached calendar,  especially as it pertains to PE times.  Students will need sneakers on their PE days to participate and should the weather cooperate, they will be outside for PE.  If it says “No Change” or their class is not listed, students can expect to follow their normal schedule.  We have gone over this in class and will also be giving them reminders.

Calendar Link

RES School Gear!

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 2017

Please place your order by May 12 for spring delivery!

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!