Thursday, February 23, 2017

Introducing "Empathy".....



Here it is!  The world premiere of our video!  We hope you enjoy it!  Thanks again, to Mr. L and Mrs. D for their caring and support with putting it together! And kids.....you rock!
Your Forever Fan,
:)Mrs. B.


Tuesday, February 21, 2017

We're at the finish line!

Our class is completing our Social Issues Book Club work this week.  Students are constructing Literary Essays based on their reading, this time digging a bit deeper.....and exploring bigger themes and messages in their books.  How are characters handling the struggles and conditions of their situations?  What are the underlying social issues that are being described in their books?  Are there lessons to be learned?

We're also wrapping up our special video project this week, and hope to share it with you all before the break!  We're excited to show you our hard work and creativity! Stay tuned....

Recently our class was mentioned in a literacy blog called "Two Writing Teachers" where our district literacy coach, Beth Moore, and others post literacy work from teachers, celebrations and instructional strategies.  Our recent work with Empathy caught Beth's attention, as did our writing and posting outside our classroom.

Here's a link to her blog, and the picture/caption she posted.

Two Writing Teachers




Monday, February 13, 2017

Momix Field Trip Update!

A note from Mrs. Rankin about TOMORROW! (February 14th)

Hello 4th Grade Families!
As you all know we were scheduled to go to the Flynn theater on Monday to see an awesome show--MOMIX. Due to the snow the show has been rescheduled to Tuesday.  Due to the switch we have a few spare chaperone seats available. Please email Darcie Rankin at darcierankin@cesuvt.org if you would like to attend (8:30school departure and noon return time--12 dollar fee).
Thanks Everyone!

Thursday, February 9, 2017

MUSIC TO OUR EARS..... :)

Thanks, Ben, for your hard work and for so thoughtfully creating the soundtrack for our class project! Fantastic! We're looking forward to putting all the pieces together over the next week and bringing everyone's talents and heart together into one wonderful product!  Thanks so much to Mrs. D and to Mr. Langevin for their time, energy, and expertise in teaming with us, too!  
Stay tuned for more news and updates in the week ahead!



RES Jumpers

There's lots of 3rd and 4th graders who are jumping every Wednesday after school and they are looking forward to showing their talents at an assembly on February 22nd!   These kids are also fundraising to support the efforts of the American Heart Association to help people keep their hearts healthy and strong! Thank you to the community for their support and for encouraging kids to develop positive and healthy habits early in their lives!  Great job jumpers!







Kinderbuddy Time !!!!

What a wonderful afternoon we had with our Kinderbuddies on Wednesday!  The 4th graders prepared materials to lead a Valentine's activity where the kids made rainbow heart cards for their families!  Inside the cards they even added some special thoughts about "Things they Love....." Big buddies wrote words for their Kinderbuddies, who then illustrated their ideas! Here's the song we sang that inspired the project.  Enjoy!

I Like Hearts
(to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Red hearts, white hearts,
Pink hearts, too.
I like purple hearts.
How about you?
Green hearts, yellow hearts,
Blue hearts, too.

I like rainbow hearts.
How about you?














To celebrate our friendship and a project well done, the Sweet Tooth Bakery staff frosted up some sweet treats for everyone!  Delicious!  It was a great afternoon!





Our Book Club Reading is going GREAT....

I'm so proud of the intensity in our Reader's Workshop!  Kids are really getting into their books and discovering all kinds of truths, themes, and authors' messages.  Their conversations and "stop-and-jots" are getting more sophisticated and thoughtful - full of interpretation and personal reflection.  Super job, kids....











Our Peaceful Classroom Community

These first few days of school we will have lots of conversations about setting up our classroom community so that everyone feels and is abl...