Making Science Posters

Take a look at our Science Class as we worked on completing part of our final projects about the structures and functions of animals.....check it out!
 Great job, kids!

Capstone Presentations!

This is a guest post from our enrichment teacher, Darcie Rankin and our library media specialist, Beth Redford.

These Capstone Presentations were created in Enrichment Library class by RES fourth graders in Mrs. Berliner's class. The scholars developed their own research questions, which are shown above the presentations that answer them. We are very proud of all our fourth grade scholars!

Why are things named the way they are?



What happened in the Battle of the Bulge?

How do songwriters write their songs?



Why would someone make an instrument?

How do guitars, pianos, and drums make their sounds?



What is a CAFO cow's life like, from birth to death?

What lives in the deep sea?



How do U-boats work?

How was the Taj Mahal built?



Are illusions real magic?

How do inventors come up with their ideas?

How do architects make their plans?



How does coral grow?

What was it like in England on the home front during World War II?

How do people get evidence of monsters?



How do people create good doodles? Three pages from a book

Great job, VT Historians!!!

Great job, kids!  What a beautiful collection of VT History projects!  This morning, children came to school with their final VT Projects.  It was a very exciting day, as kids looked at each others' representations of a piece of VT's history.  Thank you to all of the families who supported their student's work efforts with time, materials, and encouragement.  Kids are clearly proud of themselves, and confident about the upcoming VT History Fair this Wednesday morning.  We hope you can join us! (7:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.)

RES Reads!

Today we kicked off RES Reads in 4th Grade!  This is a reading program that is designed to get kids excited about reading over the summer as they fall in love with some of their favorite authors and books.  Thanks to the generosity of Bill Jennings and The Cheryl Jennings Reading Programs, each child will get to start the summer with a brand new book they get to keep and read!

Today we sent kids home with more information about RES Reads and a reading log to start filling out as they read at home! This reading log should be turned in on MONDAY of next week (6/12).  They'll get a new reading log on that day, lasting one more week!  

Please help us reach our reading goal by having your child read AT LEAST 20 minutes each night, seven days a week.  Our hope, of course, is that kids will read well beyond the expected 20 minutes of reading each night!  

On June 19th, we'll tally up our 4th grade total, with each student's contributions, and we'll have a reading celebration!  Stay tuned for more about this wonderful day!

Memorial Day Thoughts

Students reflected on the true meaning of Memorial Day recently and did some writing to express thoughts about "Why Memorial Day is an Important Day" to celebrate......their pieces are hanging up in the front hallway for all to share and think about....great job, kids!

The MMMUSD Track Meet Today!

It was quite a day at MMU today!  The 4th graders from all over the district came together and met at MMU Track for a track meet!  It was a beautiful day, and the kids did an amazing job! They gave it their all, and were great sports along the way, cheering for old friends and new!  I was very proud of them! Keep your eyes open for some great "action shots" coming soon!!!

Our Principal, Mr. White joined in the fun and cheered us on!

Thank you to Mr. G., who came back today to lead the Track Meet and make it a fun and memorable day for us all!

CHMS Move Up Day!!!

Tomorrow is Move Up Day for students at RES and CHMS!  This means that our 4th graders will be spending the WHOLE DAY at CHMS!!!  I'm so excited for them all!
Kids - have a wonderful day and soak it all in!  It's a time of celebration and fun as you get to know your teachers and the CHMS school!  I look forward to hearing all about your day when I see you on Monday!  Have a nice weekend!  Stay awesome!
-Mrs. B.

Creating Capstone Presentations in Enrichment Library Class

This is a guest post by our library media specialist, Beth Redford and our enrichment teacher, Darcie Rankin.

Fourth graders are creating presentations to share what they have learned over the course of their Capstone Projects in enrichment library class. Below are a few examples of the presentations-in-progress and the research questions they answer. We are incredibly proud of all of our fourth grade scholars for their thoughtfulness and hard work on these projects! - Darcie Rankin, enrichment teacher and Beth Redford, library media specialist.

Video of computer components

How do computers work?

Model of treehouse with labels

How do you build a treehouse?

video game, programmed with Bloxels

How do you code a video game?

Trifold poster and iMovie

How do volcanoes erupt?

How did Harry Houdini do his magic tricks?

Time-lapse video of LEGO model being constructed

How and why was the Taj Mahal built?

Graduation Announcement and Sign Ups!

Here's the invite for our 4th Grade Graduation on June 20th!  Please go to the link and sign up for a Breakfast Reception Pot-Luck item!  We appreciate your help in making this a day for kids and families to remember with joy and celebration!

4th Grade

Graduation

Celebration

Tuesday, June 20th, 2017

In the RES Gym

8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Please join us for a celebration of our 4th grade students, as they complete their days of learning and fun at RES and prepare to travel to CHMS!  

Children will be sharing memories, songs, and accomplishments with families and friends!

Following the celebration in the gym, there will be an informal reception in the RES Cafeteria.  We are asking all families of our 4th graders to please sign up on our Sign-Up Genius to contribute to this Breakfast Themed PotLuck!  (go to the link below)

Thank you so much for helping us to make this a special and memorable day for our students and families!

Link:     

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4fadab23a6fc1-fourth

Maribeth Berliner, Portia Senning & Katie LeFrancois

Kinderbuddy Time

This past week we got together with our Kinderbuddies to make some pretty special May Flowers!  They're proudly displayed outside the Makerspace Room - along with the Kindergartners' plans for how they should look!  Our little buddies designed them earlier in the day, and in the afternoon they called upon their big buddies to help them make a lifesized version of their vision!  Such fun!  Hopefully the beauty and happiness of these flowers will help us to push Spring along its way......we sure home it comes soon! (for real!)

More pictures to come soon!  Such a busy time it was hard to get everyone's pics before our little buddies flew back to their classroom! haha!

The Spitfire......

Our class has started reading an exciting story about some young people who found themselves wrapped up in the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776.....  and these two silly classmates stumbled upon the treasures from these events at the Vermont Historical Museum in Montpelier recently.....pretty exciting to start making the connections and knowing that we've been in the company of the genuine artifacts from these men and their adventures.....all of which were an important part of the history of Vermont and the entire United States!

Did you know that Benedict Arnold's cane is right behind you?  ....and musket balls from the Spitfire?  Cool!

Thank you, Miss Rewinsky!

Today in our classroom we said goodbye to our friend and St. Michaels's undergrad, Miss Rewinsky, who has worked in our classroom each Tuesday during our math block for the past few months.  We have been grateful for her time, her caring, and her skills!  Best to you, Miss Rewinsky, and we wish you well in your future educational adventures!  It's been wonderful to get to know you!

Some GREAT Eco-Friendly Ideas for Earth Day 2017

Our class did some pretty fancy and thoughtful homework this week!  They came up with some great ideas for our school and local community to help protect the Earth and keep our environment healthy!  Everyone chose a way to share and it was pretty exciting to see and hear about things that matter to them....
Here are pictures from our presentations!

Lila shared the power and benefits of buying in BULK!

Carter talked to us about the benefits of putting solar panels on RES!

Great idea from Hannah --- recycle crayons and make them new again!

Finn told us some excellent ideas about how to reduce our use of paper!

Eben shared ideas about light sensors and saving energy! 

Ben reminded us to not litter and showed us pictures of his OWN Green Up efforts in town!

Malia created a flow chart explaining how we can plant trees after having a bottle drive to raise money!

Solar Panels are on Miles' mind and he thinks they would be a great addition to RES!

Zander explained how kindness can lead to positive behaviors.

Aurora shared her thoughts about how important it is to reuse plastic bags.

Sarah had some great ideas about how to reuse paper and use it with care at RES!

Jordan believes that hydropower should be used more in Richmond and built a model to help talk about it!

Here's Our School Song!

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.

Jon Gailmor Day at RES

Thank you to Jon Gailmor for a very fun day at RES!  The 4th graders worked all day on a new school song!  It's called "The RES Quest"  Have your student sing it to you!
Here's some student feedback about the day:

• "It was fun to meet Jon Gailmor and write a song with him! I feel special." - Aurora
• "It was exciting to be writing, learning, and performing a song for the whole school!" - Ben
• "It was cool to learn about songwriting!" -Lila
• "I liked performing, it was just fun! It felt good!" -Sarah
• "Thank you, Jon Gailmor!  I liked the songs you sang!  It was really fun to write and sing the new school song!" - Jordan
• "Learning how to write songs was fun!" - Malia
• "(Jon Gailmor) You're the best!" - Eben
• "Writing lyrics was my favorite part!" - Zander
• "It was amazing and exciting!" - Carter
• "I'm proud that we made the song because it's a good one!" - Miles
• "I didn't know we were actually going to make a song!" - Ethan
• "It was incredible that I got to meet Jon Gailmor!" - Finn
• "The day was awesome!" - Malachai
• "When we say the lunches are legit, we mean it! Thanks Jon Gailmor for coming to help us write a new school song!" - Haley
• "I'm excited that we all got to see Jon Gailmor! It was cool to see him!" - Hannah

Good Morning, Jon!

Writing our verses......and chorus....

Rehearsal.....

Sharing with the whole school!

Enjoying an afternoon concert!!!

Audubon "Untapped"

So, what happens when your Audubon Sugaring Trip gets postponed and happens a full month after it was originally scheduled? Well, of course you learn an awful lot, as we always to at the Audubon (thanks, instructors!) but you ALSO get to take the taps and buckets OFF of the trees! haha!  The kids had a wonderful time yesterday, learning about lots of things....the bird friendly environment at the Audubon, climate change, tapping trees, forest & sugarbush diversity, and how syrup is made.  Of course, we also did some taste testing.....yummy!

All in a full day's work!  Nice job, 4th graders!