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?