Giving Thanks

We have been busy in enrichment, and I have many pictures and posts to share....for now though, I just wanted to wish you ALL a fantastic break.  I shared with students last week that one of the things I am ever-thankful for is them.....and I truly mean it! I am so lucky to be able to learn alongside talented students and staff.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(artwork by Grade1 student)

Traveling with Tori: Challenge 3

Tori took another great trip and so this week students in Mrs. Ankerson's class will try to figure out where she went!  

Check out the clue!  Can you figure out where Tori went?

I am a tower,

1,063 feet tall.

Take an elevator to the top,

From there you can see it all!

The Sienne River runs below me,

But there is much more in my city!

Here they say Bonjour to say hello,

And there is much more that you should know.

My neighbors are the Louvre and Notre Dame,

All of France knows my name!

I twinkle every hour at night,

Many people come to my city just to see the sights!

What and Where am I?

Enrichment for All After School Program FUN

Students are breaking, cooking, creating art, Celtic dancing, performing, creating newspapers and more in a fun filled after school enrichment session.  Students spend an hour once a week after school with parent volunteers, teachers and community members in a variety of great classes!  These classes would not be possible without all of the great adults who spend time sharing their passions with RES students.  Special thanks also goes out to Andrea Greeley for jumping in this year to take over coordination of this program.  The second after school session will take place in the new year, so watch out for flyers home and sign up!

An Amazing Teacher Librarian

Our school is lucky to have a teacher librarian that brings not only a passion for books and technology, but also a true love of working with children.  Last week I had a student in kindergarten make a purple purse.  I assumed that she had read a Kevin Henkes book about this topic, but it turned out she had never heard of it!  I called down to the library to ask Mrs. Redford if we might borrow a copy of the book for the enrichment class period.  Not only did Mrs. Redford rush the book down, but she also stayed with our class and read---giving up her teacher planning time to share her love of books with us!  Students were overjoyed to have her visit our class (and so was I)!

Reading 'Monsters' Taking Shape

Second grade enrichment students have been working hard to create stuffed monsters which they plan to gift to kindergarten students to use during their reading time.  This week students finished adding  details to their monsters and began the books which will accompany their creations.  Students are taking great care to make this special gift and are proud of their work!

Grade 3 Amazing Race Goes to Asia

Students in third grade enrichment were challenged to find their next destination with the use of longitude and latitude lines.  After a lot of teamwork and perseverance they landed in Tokyo Japan!  The team format of the race is driving many great challenges and triumphs.  Students are starting to see the benefit of working together as they receive challenging clues that take all of their combined brain power and ideas!  After discovering their destination, students could choose to learn about katakana, a Japanese form of writing...and then decode a message OR learn about origami and then create three paper folding challenges.  

Garden Winterizing and Collaboration

I was excited at the beginning of the year to find out that the school garden committee was working with students at the University of Vermont, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources to implement a community based project.  Through their course, these UVM students self selected RES as the recipients of their time and talent to support our garden as well as our first grade plant scientists!  

This week one first grade class had an opportunity to visit the garden and see progress on the winterization of several beds in our garden.  We discussed what plants need to grow.  We also had an opportunity to plant several varieties of spinach which we will watch grow over the next few weeks.  First graders worked in teams of four with UVM students to plant the beds.  This trip to the garden helped to solidify our understanding of what plants need and it was a great example of how the UVM students' work will extend outdoor learning at our school.  We found several worms which were busily helping our garden to grow and the snow swirled around us as we planted our crop.  My favorite moment of the class was when the entire class helped to roll out the new winterization 'tent' on a bed. There was an automatic teamwork as everyone rolled out the newest addition to the community garden.

We look forward to more learning with our community partners in the next few weeks. A special thanks goes to Joanna May, who helped coordinate this great experience!

Preparing for a Celebration of Thanks!

Students in kindergarten enrichment spent some time this week creating tablecloths for our school wide thanksgiving dinner celebration.  We made hand turkeys, and talked about all of the people that we are thankful for....the cooks, the farmers, our families, our classmates...the list was long!