Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School @wimpykid #JeffKinney #BookTrailer #Read #TechED

Check out Leo's hilarious trailer for Diary of a Wimpy Kid Old School!!!  This book is from a series that kids just fall in love with!  Enjoy!

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire @jk_rowling #BookTrailer #HarryPotter #Read #VTED

Check out Tessa's suspenseful trailer for Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire!  You won't be able go a day before diving into this incredible book!!!

Too Many Toys: A Book Trailer #BookTrailer #DavidShannon #Read

Check out Makayla's fun book trailer for David Shannon's masterpiece, Too Many Toys!

A Wonderful Afternoon! #BuildingCommunity #WinterWonderland

We had an awesome day!  We got to paint Estelle's bathtub AND have a Fourth Grade Sledding Party that ended with hot chocolate and marshmallows!  Life is good!!!
Link to Slideshow: https://sharalike.com/s/p3vN

We Had A Very Magical Assembly Today #SchoolSpirit #Community #RESVT

We ended our day by coming together as a school community.  Fourth Graders lead the assembly by dancing and singing and leaving many of us in tears!  It was truly magical!

Did You Know You Can TerraCycle Many Care Products? @TerraCycle

Did you know that you can TerraCycle many care products in your home?  The TerraCycle program at RES  accepts makeup containers, shampoo bottles and much more!  Check out this video to learn more!

What Food Packaging Can You TerraCycle At RES?!?! @TerraCycle

Check out this awesome video my students made to help you understand what we TerraCycle at RES!  Remember to save these items from the trash by sending in the packaging/wrappers with your child!
Your thoughtfulness helps the earth and our local food shelf!

Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist: Lunch Walks Among Us @JimBenton #BookTrailer

Check out Estelle's awesome book trailer for a favorite Franny K. Stein book!

Volunteering in Haiti #Haiti #Volunteer

Finn's mom and brother traveled to Haiti to volunteer at an orphanage.  Finn made a video to share their in credible experience with all of you!  Enjoy!

Working Through Math Problems #Perseverance #Math #ProblemSolving

Many students worked on a math problem for over a week during math menu.  When students found the answer after such perseverance, there was an incredible feeling of pride and joy that swept through our classroom!  One student explains how he finally found his way to the correct answer!

Dance Break! #Movement

Learning About Hanukkah #Celebrations

Estelle's dad, Rich, came in to teach us about the story of Hanukkah!  We learned about the symbolism of light and enjoyed spending time together playing the dreidel game.  Rich, thanks for coming in and sharing a part of your life with us!

Link to slideshow: https://sharalike.com/s/p3dN

We Had The Best Surprise Today! #ASL #Signing #VTED

One day we were at an assembly and noticed Gia signing with a student.  We were mesmerized!  Because we have been learning to sign, I invited Gia into our classroom as a surprise to my students.  Everyone was so excited!  We signed together and learned new signs and techniques!  It was AWESOME!  We loved learning from Gia so much, she promised to come back and teach us more!  We can't wait!
Thanks for sharing your passion and expertise with us Gia!!!

Link to slideshow--Watch it fullscreen: https://sharalike.com/s/p2QD

We are fascinated with fingerspelling.  We asked Gia if she could show us how to fingerspell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! 


Gia said that we can get really strong in fingerspelling by saying simple words as we sign them.  A great way to start is by signing and saying words within a word family like: bat, cat, mat, sat, etc.

Items We No Longer TerraCycle at RES! @TerraCycle

TerraCycle sometimes takes us off brigades, which means we can no longer accept certain items.  Please watch this video to learn what we are no longer TerraCycling at RES!  Thanks for your support!


To stay on top of what we TerraCycle at RES, you can go to our TerraCycle website: http://terracyclerichmondvt.weebly.com/what-we-collect.html
You can find a link to this site on our class blog, and on the school blog under the link for parents.
Thank you for helping to support our earth and our local food shelf by TerraCycling!!!

When You Say Thank You To Someone As Innovative As Mrs. Rankin... @darcierankin #iPod #Makerspace #Innovation #VTED #Gratitude

you can't just write your typical love note.  We knew we had to really use our brains and be creative to truly express how deeply excited and grateful we are for OUR NEW IPOD!!!!!!!!
Students brainstormed all the incredible ways they could show their gratitude, then broke into groups and started creating.
Mrs. Rankin, We hope you feel our love!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!









Expressing Gratitude:

Link to Slideshow: https://sharalike.com/s/p2d8

We Had An Awesome Time Shopping At The Book Sale Last Week! #Read #Books

Not only did we walk away with some interesting books, we also made a lot of money that will help pay for our awesome upcoming field trips!  Thanks for all of the books you donated!

Dance Party!!! #PBIS @RESPEVT @TouchetteWendy

RES earned a dance party with Mr. G! Fourth graders had an awesome time trying out new dance moves!

Reading Party!!! #Read #VTED #ReadingParty

Today we built forts then curled up with our favorite books!  Reading parties are the best!!!

Link to Slideshow: https://sharalike.com/s/p2bP

Cam Jansen & The Mystery Of The U.F.O. #BookTrailer #DavidA.Adler #CamJansen #Read

Check out Namo's thrilling book trailer for one of our favorite Cam Jansen mysteries!

Having A Growth Mindset

Please watch this video!  It can help you feel better about yourself and your child as a math student.  It can also help you understand why our focus in math today is less about memorizing algorithms and more about understanding, seeing patterns and finding multiple ways to approach a problem.
This is a great video to watch and discuss with your child!

Duck, Duck, S-P-E-L-L #Wordstudy #KinestheticLearners #LearningThroughPlay

This week, we have been studying spelling rules in the English language and how to decode syllables.  Today, students applied their learning by playing "Duck, Duck SPELL"!  What better way to get the rules into our bodies and minds and apply them to different words?  It was fun to see kids get creative with CVC, CVCe, CVVC words!  We spelled awesome words like chicken, bulldog, recess and gait!

Link to see slideshow fullscreen: https://sharalike.com/s/pYMf

Ingenuity At It's Best!!! @darcierankin #Makerspace #CreativeThinking #Vlogging

As we gear up to start vlogging, we realized that we needed to create a stand for our new iPod!  In order for students to take long shots for time-lapse and be able to set the iPod down during filming, the iPod needed to be able to stand up on its own!

One student went straight home and created the perfect stand!!!! Wow!  I am so inspired by my passionate, creative, hardworking students!!!

We Just Won An iPod!!! #makerspace #Breakout @darcierankin

So it all started when we received this challenge:

We, of course, were up for the challenge!  We went to the makerspace and thought about all of the things that make it an incredible space.  We talked about all of its possibilities and then began designing our movie. Students broke into groups to film different parts.  Then they collaborated to put the pieces together to tell the story of the RES makerspace.

I am amazed by their talents and creativity!  The film turned out beautifully!  

After submitting our film to the competition, we soon heard that WE HAD WON THE iPAD!!!  We were beyond excited!!!

We are lucky enough to have a number of iPads that people donated to my classroom last year.  Sooooo, I asked Darcie Rankin if we could have an iPod instead.  I needed to get an iPod so that my kids can start vlogging!  Do you know what a vlog is?  It's a video blog.  I want to give my kids the opportunity to share their lives with each other through a vlog.  Here's an example of a vlog one of my students made last year:

Darcie was excited for our project and bought us an iPod!!!  But, Darcie is too creative to just hand over the gift.  So she surprised my students with an AMAZING Breakout Session!  Scholars had to solve division problems to break codes that allowed them to unlock the surprise!

Link to slideshow: https://sharalike.com/s/pYnP

We are so thankful to Darcie Rankin for our incredible RES makerspace and for our class's new iPod!  Thank you for all you do to support creativity at Richmond Elementary School!!!!

Ripples of Kindness #Kindness #RipplesOfKindness #Gratitude

One day my students were talking about how kind my son Teo is.  That lead me to tell them about how he had comforted his sister the night before when she realized her treasured bracelet had been taken.  As you know, I have the most thoughtful, kind, generous students in the world; so it should come as no surprise that they got together and bought Amelie a new bracelet!  The very one she had lost.  Their top secret gesture brought both Amelie and me to tears.  

The next day she couldn't eat, all she could do was write and write as she tried to put her deep gratitude into words.  I tried to explain to my students how AMAZING they are, and how their kindness will create ripples of kindness.  We talked about how we have the power to create ripples of kindness all through the day, each and every day!  

Students then traced their hands and wrote words inside that represented what they could do to create more love and kindness in the world.

I am very thankful to be your children's teacher!

   

We Like To Move It, MOVE IT! #MovementBreaks