RES Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop Success

The Thursday before November break RES families came together for the fourth year in a row to celebrate creativity and engineering at the RES Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop.
What is an Inventor’s Workshop? The workshop was a family-friendly event to MAKE, create, learn, invent, craft, recycle, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, science and technology.  Students worked with their families to create. Activities were facilitated by engineers and teachers. Families had an opportunity to learn together as they experienced the fun of making / building / constructing / designing and more.

I am so thankful for all of the school and community volunteers that made this evening possible. Volunteers from the Society of Women Engineers ran stations to build jitterbots, create rockets and lead our youngest makers in building marble mazes and floating objects for the wind tunnel. ECHO brought an amazing 34 foot Lego car racing tack and a 10 foot high wind wall that had students laughing and cheering all evening. Radiate Art Space brought a variety of spin art machines and created amazing art with students. CHMS educator, Quinn Keating brought a 3D printer and taught families how to use software that drives this tool. RES educators were on hand to support learning and challenge students as they learned to code in Scratch and build with various materials. Cardboard Tek donated some PinBox 3000s for the evening so students could get excited by the design possibilities they will get to have later in the school year.

Here is a video that captures some of the fun of the evening:

Kindergarten Enrichment Students Drive Their Learning

The Kindergarten enrichment programming is a play based exploratory environment that supports social and academic learning driven by student choice.  A key component of the program is that each kindergarten student gets an opportunity to create a station which other students in their class will visit during exploratory play. Each student conferences with Mrs. Rankin to discuss their interests, passions and ideas.  During that conference we develop a plan for their student driven center.  We develop a list of materials that will be needed and what students will 'do' when they visit.  Over the course of the rest of the year each student will have an opportunity to share their center with their class. 

It is truly amazing to see all of the topics that students come up with and how they want to learn with their classmates!  During their share week students have a chance to answer questions from the whole class about why they chose their topic and what we will be doing.  They really step up to present and classmates are respectful and excited to learn from their peers.  Student driven centers began two weeks ago, and we have already learned about horses, how to make snowflakes, art, stars, space, gymnastics and fairies!  It promises to be another amazing year in enrichment exploring and learning from and with each other.

Community Building and 3D Printing

Each year it is so exciting when I am asked to collaborate with other teachers on projects.  I am currently collaborating on a technology and community building project with our technology integration teacher.  It is exciting to collaborate because often I am learning a new skill along side students.  It is also exciting because I believe by modeling collaboration we teach students how to effectively collaborate themselves.

This project began as a discussion about how to best utilize a 3D printer in the elementary school setting.  We knew we wanted students to build something meaningful (not just a trinket)...but we also recognized that there would be a learning curve to utilizing a new tool and we did not want to make something so complex that success would be beyond some students.  Mr. Langevin had the brilliant idea of building something for younger students--perhaps a playdoh tool for use in the kindergarten classroom.  We settled on this idea and began to develop lesson plans that would get us to that end goal.  Our essential goals were to build community in our school and give voice and choice in student learning, while at the same time learning to use an awesome new technology tool.  During these lessons we wanted third graders to:
--Learn to 3D design in Tinkercad (https://www.tinkercad.com/)
--Develop a relationship with a kindergarten student
--Create a design for their new kindergarten friend that aligned with their interests
--See their iterative design process through to completion
--Give their creation as a gift and way to build community
We wanted kindergarteners to:
--Develop a relationship with older students in the school
--Feel welcomed by our school community
--Receive a personalized gift that they could use to play, explore and create at school

To date third graders have created Tinkercad accounts, met with their kindergarten buddies to learn their interests and began to design their playdoh tool.  It has definitely been an exciting month in enrichment! I am not sure if I enjoy seeing students stretch their learning and risk taking through the use of the new Tinkercad tool or watching the relationships in our school community grow---they are both awesome!  We hope to have playdoh tools completed in January.  I have also enjoyed listening to students make connections to the measurement unit that they are studying in math as they determine the correct size for the 3D printing.

Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop 2017 Success!

On Thursday November 30th the RES community gathered with volunteers from the Society of Women Engineers, ECHO Science Museum, Radiate Art Studio, and CHMS and JES educators to celebrate making, creating, building and learning.  Students and their families had an opportunity to try a range of hands on activities that encouraged them to Make, Create and Share!  The evening was a true celebration of collaborative learning and FUN. 
Here is a video that gives you a small peak into the great events of the evening.

This event could not happen without the help of volunteers inside and outside of our school community.  I am so grateful to be surrounded by people that believe in student hands on learning and are willing to give time to create this type of experience.

Special Thanks for all of their time and talent to:
Chef James-Awesome Farm to School Dinner
Chris Whitaker--ECHO Science Center, STEM Education Coordinator
Rebecca Garavan and Heather Drury--Radiate Art Space Founders and Marble Painting Artists
Basak Simal,Joan Hathaway (and family), Pam Gillis--Society of Women Engineer's Engineers and Rocket and Jitterbot Inspirations
Willie Lee-- BRMS Technology Educator and Vinyl Cutter Extraordinaire
Quinn Keating--CHMS Technology Educator and 3D Printing Master
Dave Bouchard--JES Enrichment Teacher and Little Bits Synthesizer Sound Enthusiast
Beth Redford--RES Library Media Specialist and Coding Guru
Tonya Darby- RES Third Grade Teacher and Lead Learner in all things Electronic
Katie Lefrancois--RES Fourth Grade Teacher and and All Around Student Creativity Supporter

Grade4 Makerspace Movies-Monday Class

Students in fourth grade enrichment have spent time this fall creating movies that share their favorite things about the RES makerspace.  This project has allowed students to dive into the makerspace, utilize movie making software as well as to use the equipment to teach others what is possible!  I love the diversity of makerspace choices and the way in which the students chose to share their info.  All of the created movies are students designed, filmed and edited.

Here is the fourth grade Monday class movies!

Green Screen

CD People "Come to the Makerspace!"

Take Apart Center

Take Apart Safety

Take Apart a Drone
**Coming Soon**
Make a Puppet

Take Apart a Printer

Grade4 Makerspace Movies-Friday Class

Students in fourth grade enrichment have spent time this fall creating movies that share their favorite things about the RES makerspace.  This project has allowed students to dive into the makerspace, utilize movie making software as well as to use the equipment to teach others what is possible!  I love the diversity of makerspace choices and the way in which the students chose to share their info.  All of the created movies are students designed, filmed and edited.

Here is the fourth grade Friday class movies!

Lego Wall Marble Run

Recycled Dudes

 

Marble Mazes

Green Screen

 

Green Screen Expectations

 

Yogurt Cup Babies

Coming Soon: Lego Stop Motion Video!

Grade4 Makerspace Movies: Wednesday Class

Students in fourth grade enrichment have spent time this fall creating movies that share their favorite things about the RES makerspace.  This project has allowed students to dive into the makerspace, utilize movie making software as well as to use the equipment to teach others what is possible!  I love the diversity of makerspace choices and the way in which the students chose to share their info.  All of the created movies are students designed, filmed and edited.

Here is the fourth grade Wednesday class movies!

Taking Apart a Computer:




Stop Motion Legos and the Green Screen



The RES Makerspace with Harry Potter





Marble Mazes

Rainsticks in the Makerspace

VCR Take Apart


Homemade Fidget Spinners


CD Player Take Apart

Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop--Save the Date!

Richmond Elementary School , in conjunction with

the Society of Women Engineers, ECHO Science Museum, Radiate Art Space and  MMUSD Educators is proud to present the third annual:

COUGAR CUB INVENTOR’S WORKSHOP

Thursday November 30th, 2017

5:30 – 7:30pm

RES Gym, Library and Art Room

Cost: 2$ per project (to cover cost of disposable resources, scholarships available)

 

Join Us Before for a Farm to School Dinner !

5-6pm, RES Cafeteria

Chili, Mac-n-Cheese, Salad and a Sweet Treat

Donations to benefit RES Farm to School Programming

What is an Inventor’s Workshop?

This workshop is a family-friendly event to MAKE, create, learn, invent, craft, recycle, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, science and technology.  Students will work with their families to create!  Activities will be facilitated by engineers and teachers, but tasks will be open ended and creative.  Families will have an opportunity to learn together as they experience the fun of making / building / constructing / designing and more! A variety of activities will be available to challenge students from Grades K – 8.

Activities planned for our workshop include:

Cardboard Challenge:  Create with cardboard! The possibilities are endless!

Making a keyboard with bananas!  MaKey MaKey Boards are electronic devices that convert many regular objects into keys on your computer to control programs like Scratch or videos games.  Objects that are conductive, even slightly, like fruit or people, can be used with the MaKey. 

*New this year*Build and Launch a Rocket!  Using makerspaces materials we will build rockets that reach for the stars as they travel several stories into the night sky.

Creating lighted artwork with throwies!  LED Throwies are LEDs connected to coin batteries to create artwork with light.  They can be added to greeting cards or origami, or used to create nightlights or glowing badges. We will have a station to add LEDs to our rockets

Creating interactive circuits with littleBits!  littleBits are electronic modules that snap together with magnets to make circuits.  Each bit has a specific function (light, sound, sensors, buttons, motors, etc), and modules snap together to make larger circuits. We will have a teacher on hand to use synthesizer Little Bits to create awesome sounds.

Checking out a 3D printer in action!  CHMS and RES students have been using a 3D printer during technology/enrichment classes. Come and watch a 3D printer in action and explore the Tinkercad software we use to make our designs.

Make it Fly!: Create objects to fly in the wind tunnel and fly gliders with BRMS middle schoolers and staff.

Creating abstract art with a digital microscope!  DinoXcope Art is artwork created using a digital microscope to photograph intentional arrangements of materials.  

Programming interactive games with Scratch!  Scratch is a visual programming language.  Use colorful interlocking building blocks of code like legos to build interactive games and programs.

Green Screen! Green screen technology is used to create background scenes for pictures in films and photographs.  Come and create your own awesome photo.

JitterBots!  Back due to popularity, you can create your very own jittery robot!

      SNAP Circuits, Art Creation with Radiate Art Space, ECHO Engineering Challenge, Keva Planks, Robots…and more!!!!

Please contact Darcie Rankin, RES Enrichment Teacher at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org with questions.

We hope to see you there!

Building Coding Connections

In December all students at Richmond Elementary School participated in an Hour Of Code during their enrichment classes.  This was an excellent chance for students to be exposed to the concepts of coding. After several years of Hour of Code at our school, as well as many teachers embracing coding for special projects in their classrooms over the last three years...students have developed great early coding skills.

This year I signed up to participate in the Vermont Robot Rodeo. My teaching goal was for students to have an opportunity to advance their coding skills as they made connections between hardware and software.  I feel that in elementary school the ability to connect coding to the physical manipulation of materials is an awesome way to build true and lasting understanding. I have also seen it increase student engagement as the sharing of results is so transparent (i.e. Robots roll across the floor or say something or react to something!). 

This year I chose to focus the use of robots to build coding connections in our third grade classes(younger classes got exposure to the robots less formally).  We began our investigation by giving every student a chance to explore what robots could do. During this period, we might use apps that were more like a remote control versus coding and kids were encouraged to play.  After this exposure I challenged students to use coding applications to control the robots and to make them 'do something' deliberate and expected.  Students jumped right in to meet this challenge.  They used Blockly and Tickle applications and developed cool project ideas: making a robot draw something, dance to music, greet others, create a light show, interact with another robot, pull a toy on a path, make it through an obstacle course...to name a few!  They wrote many lines of code, tested and iterated to achieve their goal, worked together and had a lot of fun.  Several students pointed out that this work was hard....but not because they wanted  to stop.....but I think they were just proud of themselves! And I was proud of their persistence and drive to learn. 

Kindergarten getting early exposure to coding skill through maze building and BeeBot

Third Graders putting their coding skills to the test!

The Vermont Robot Rodeo is an amazing opportunity to expose students to these coding connections and we are grateful to all of the sponsors who provided funds to give our kids the chance to advance their coding skills. We will be sad to send Dash and Dot to the next school--but we are sure that they will learn as much as we did--and we will be watching and checking out their work too.

I look forward to watching as our RES students use all of the skills they developed and applying this same persistence, thinking and collaboration to other learning.

Below is a video that hilights student work with robots, coding examples and student reflections.

Robot Rodeo is coming to RES!!!!

One thing I am looking forward to sharing with students in January is that RES will again be a participant in the AWESOME Vermont Robot Rodeo.  After a great experience last year I requested another chance for students to play and explore with robots and this year we will be getting a DASH and DOT robot for the month of January.

Our robot, which has been visiting Newbury Elementary School in Newbury, Vermont in December  has already learned A LOT!  We are excited to meet our robots which they have named 'Harmony' and 'Nature Rocks'!

Students at Newbury Elementary learning with Harmony and Nature Rocks!

The concept of the Robot Rodeo is that students around Vermont get a chance to increase their understanding of robots and extend their Hour of Code experiences through the use of robots that travel from school to school.  Last year we were also honored to have students present their learning at Dynamic Landscapes--a local professional development conference for educators (it was so amazing to watch students teach and engage teachers!) You can see some of the great work going on around Vermont at the Vermont Robot Rodeo blog here:
http://robotrodeovt.blogspot.com/

And I will be doing guest posts on this blog as well as the Robot Rodeo blog as we share our experiences at RES!

Our robots will be arriving THIS WEEK! So stay tuned for updates.

Hour of Code 2016 Success

This week at RES students participated in hour of code.  I wrote a blog post describing our plans here:

http://enrichmentatres.blogspot.com/2016/12/hour-of-code-at-res-this-week.html

This is the third year in a row that educators at our school have worked to host this event.  It is great to see the learning and knowledge that students are gaining about coding!  It is also fun to watch those students that gravitate towards this learning to have the opportunity to be classroom leaders and support the learning of fellow students.

Coding is a language and creating code requires creativity, critical thinking and collaboration.  Some people may be surprised by the conversations, giggling and hands on learning that was a part of coding this week--it was awesome!  These pictures and video can provide a glimpse into the excitement!

Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop

On Thursday evening RES hosted the third annual Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop.  Three years ago this event began as a conversation between myself and a representative of the Vermont State Science Fair who had recently acquired materials via a grant to do engineering outreach at schools.  Each year I have been thrilled to add a diversity of learning experiences to our event that engage students and families in the creative process of making.  This event, attended by over one hundred students is made possible by a great number of people. I would like to thank RES teachers Beth Redford, Tonya Darby, Diane Kane, Katie LeFrancois and Illeen Gilbar for their amazing particpatory support.  I would also like to thank other MMUSD educators who gave their evening to support learning opportunities for our kids, including: Quinn Keating, CHMS TechnologyEducator  who brought a 3D printer and exposed students to Tinkercad design; Willie Lee BRMS Technology Educator who brought gliders to fly with students and Dave Bouchard JES Enrichment Teacher for bringing materials and teaching us about green screens and drones!  We also had members from outside our community....the Vermont Society of Women Engineers hosted centers as well as Mater Christi educator and friend Tricia Finkle.  And new this year ECHO STEM educator Chris Whitaker wowed students with a zip line! In addition we have an amazing 'behind the scenes' staff in Toby Beane, Jen West and Jeanne Adams that all help to make RES events successful!

As an educator I believe in the value of engaging students in learning through hands on exploration and learning.  I also believe that there is strength in education when we can build a community of learners in families and other amazing community members.  I feel lucky to have witnessed this type of learning on Thursday and I hope that everyone had a great time making and creating! I saw low tech creations as students built a massive house structure and space needle out of cardboard, high tech engagement as students coded and designed and everything in between.

I will continue to work to support making at RES and I welcome all feedback and comments about this evening and/or ideas for future projects.

Thanks to all who attended this event!

Lantern Making

For the last two weeks the art room has been alive with creativity as students created lanterns with Mrs. Aucter and our 2016 artist in residence, Gowri Savoor.  Each class was engaged and worked hard to make a piece of art to share at our Lantern Parade.  I am proud of our students  and so thankful for our awesome art educator.   The Lantern Parade is tonight, and I cannot wait to see all those beautiful scultures bobbing across the field to the beat of a drum! 

The art community is also supportive of our efforts, as the materials and residence fees were made possible with the support of the Vermont Art Council and Huntington Valley Arts Organization.

"Breaking Out" to Create New Learning Opportunities

This summer I tried a new experience for me. I went to an "Escape Room".  This was an hour challenge. I worked with five strangers and my husband (who grudgingly went along!) to solve a series of puzzles that allowed us to escape from a really amazing theatrical set up.  It was a fun and unique experience, and I have recommended it to friends...but it also started my thinking about how the engagement I witnessed and felt in this environment could be transferred to my classroom teaching practice.  During my 'escape' I noticed that despite the styles and personalities of everyone there, we were all engaged in this team effort to escape.

I went home and started researching the concept of escape rooms.  I found that there was a large community of fellow teachers around the country who felt the same way I did about this concept.  There was already a professional community of learners creating educational break out games, and espousing the practice as some of the most engaging activities they had done with students across a whole year of learning!  I began purchasing locks and signed up to be a beta tester on the breakout.edu site...where I could access games and ideas from other educators (http://www.breakoutedu.com/).

One of my main teaching goals in enrichment is for students to collaborate. In order to collaborate effectively I believe we must all be given many chances to work together.  The idea of a whole class working together to break out is very exciting to me and I wanted to try a game.  The fact that games already existed gave me the additional support I needed to get started early in the school year. I am very thankful for the online community who is creating these examples, especially game designer and librarian Amy Williams, whose game I adapted for my first break out teaching experience.

In our fourth grade enrichment/library class we focus early in the year on skills that students will need to work on capstone projects in the second half of the year. One important skill is the ability to find nonfiction resources in the library. This was a perfect skill for a break out!

It is a few days since I tried the break out with students and I am already considering how and when I will use this new methodology to introduce and teach other concepts.  Students are coming up to me in the halls asking to do another one....and telling me how much they loved learning this way.  Taking a risk and trying a new teaching methodology has reminded me of why I love teaching so much....to learn alongside students, to show them that I want them to learn but also that I want them to try new things, to take risks in their learning, and have fun....

I took many pictures of our first RES break out, and I hope this video helps to capture some of the engagement and excitement students experienced.

Makerspace Plans and Information

Coming to RES

in the 2016-17 school year

THE RES MAKERSPACE!

A makerspace is an environment that encourages designing, making, building, and creating through hands on exploration. The RES makerspace (located in the existing computer lab space) will be  available for classrooms and small groups during the school day as well as endless opportunities for our kids!

 

Want to learn more about makerspaces? Check out some resources posted on the RES enrichment blog at:

http://enrichmentatres.blogspot.com/p/coming-soon-res-makerspace.html

Every makerspace is unique and ours will grow, develop and change as students, staff and community ideas and suggestions come alive through use and exploration.

Love this idea?

WAYS YOU CAN HELP TO GET THE RES MAKERSPACE UP AND RUNNING:

Recyclable/Free Items You Can Collect over the summer:

Cereal boxes

Paper towel and toilet rolls

Yogurt containers

Plastic lids

Old electronic toys (for a take apart station)

Large Cardboard Boxes

Valuable Making Items You Could Donate:

Straws

Pipe Cleaners

Masking Tape

Duct Tape

Ribbon

String

Wooden Dowels

LEDs

Coin Batteries

Material (scraps are fine)

Hot Glue Gun Sticks

Legos (small)

Tinkertoys

Keva Blocks

Kinex

$$ If you are interested in investing in the infrastructure of the space with a monetary donation, please contact me and we can find an item that would benefit all!

Hands on Help:

I am looking for space design and construction help. (We would need to meet in mid June).  I am looking for people to brainstorm ideas as well as people to make items that would be placed in the space (this would be a great family project for the summer).

Questions? Want to help? Please email darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org

 

Westward Expansion Projects

Throughout the school year the third grade team and myself collaborate to create connected learning experiences that bridge the enrichment classroom to the topics that students are studying in their classroom. Sometimes the learning in enrichment is preparation for extension in their classroom--for example we explored many materials useful for learning about electricity during enrichment time and then students expanded on that use in their classrooms.  This year for students' study of Westward Expansion we decided that their enrichment time would be spent creating  projects that would be a culmination  of the learning that happened in their classrooms. Students spent three enrichment classes creating and making something that would share their learning about the Westward Expansion topic of their choice.

We had students cooking, creating green screen videos, making 3D projects from wagons to models of gold rush panning and the Alamo.  I love giving the students freedom to create anything that showcases their learning and to see what they produce.  I also really valued that students wanted to include reports and information that they had collected in their classrooms during their research. I think that creating a project at the end of a learning process can be a great way to give students creative freedom and to help them synthesize the knowledge they have acquired.

Sharing their learning in a project was great, but what gave it additional meaning was the knowledge that they would also share their projects with second graders and in the display case at the front of RES....as well as online in this blog post. As second graders prepare for grade 3....this connection at the end of the year is meaningful for all!

Here is a glimpse into the share with Grade 2:

Google Expeditions at RES!

 On Thursday April 28th, RES students in grades 2-4, and CHMS students in grades 6-8 experienced virtual field trips through the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program.  Google Expeditions is a new product that allows teachers to take their classes on virtual field trips, immersing students in experiences that bring abstract concepts to life and giving students a deeper understanding of the world beyond the classroom. These trips are collections of virtual reality panoramas — 360° photo spheres, 3D images and video, ambient sounds — annotated with details, points of interest, and questions.

Several months ago RES third grade teacher Tonya Darby applied for our students to get this opportunity to try a new and innovative technology!  Students in second grade traveled to China, and even got to see a national park with peacock blue/green water. This trip connected to their unit on cultural studies around the world and helped to further extend their learning about a country that they have been learning about over the last month.  Students in third grade traveled west to support their social studies learning about life on the Oregon Trail.  Fourth graders traveled to Mars, connecting to their solar system unit of study, and allowing them to see close up a planet beyond Earth!  In addition to these curricular connections we also explored Everest and the ocean.

We are thankful to the Pioneer program for their support as well as teachers and staff who gave time and classroom space to host this great experience.

Want to learn more about the Expeditions Program? Check out:  https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions/
OR ask your student "Where did you go today?!"

Student Driven Inquiry

What do you wonder?  Is there something you really want to learn about?  Be curious, be creative....school is a place to find answers to your questions!  

School is a place to learn about things you care about and new things you are just hearing about for the first time!

The above is the message that I want enrichment students to receive. One of my professional goals this year is to increase student inquiry and exploration of their curiosity in the enrichment classroom. In an effort to support this goal I will be working with second graders to support student driven inquiry projects.

We began these projects with a quick survey.  I asked students to think about whether they felt choice was important in their learning.  I asked them to think generally about the idea and then also to come up with some examples of times they have received full choice in their learning or no choice in their learning.  This survey gave us a starting point for our inquiry work together.  In general, students felt choice was important and had many reasons for enjoying choice in learning.  A few students mentioned that they preferred when the teacher selected their subjects, because sometimes they had a hard time choosing themselves and that they liked what teachers selected!  Students were very reflective in this process and it helped me to make sure that as we move forward we consider those students that desire additional structure as well as those that are ready to jump in!  This survey also supported my original thinking that students could benefit from inquiry projects and that many students are frustrated with learning things they already know, or that are in their words 'boring'.

Next I shared my process of wondering about a topic I am curious about (using robots in an educational setting).  I also shared a website called Wonderopolis ( many have used this in my classroom before) so students could see a variety of 'I wonder' questions. After we discussed the importance of our ideas and curiosity, students were asked to come up with at least three 'I wonder' statements.  Initially I was worried that students would struggle to come up with topics and ideas.....but I should not have been.  Their ideas were amazing!  

Before our next class I was able to group the wonders into bigger topics.  Many student questions had themes that I could pull together.  I had resources available for all of these topics.  In each class we ended up with about eight to ten major topics.  I challenged students to select a topic that they really wondered about and then to spend time with resources about this topic.  Students were told that they could work in groups or individually to develop a question based on their topic.  Some students stuck with the question they had written originally (even if it was not one of the more common themes, they could elect to continue following their own path), while others worked with the resources and a group to develop a new question that they all agreed would be worth investigating. Sometimes the resources drove their question formation, and sometimes the group discussion led to an idea.  Several students changed their topic selection after the initial selection, and after seeing what some groups were learning.  Students expressed some sadness in missing what others were learning about...until we had a discussion about the idea that we would all be learning from each other and sharing in the end! I took it as a great sign when students wanted assurance that they could learn something else next!!  

As we close out February, we have begun using our resources to find answers to our questions. Students are reading, listening, watching and then taking notes.  When we return to school in March we will begin thinking about how to share our new knowledge!

Notes for educators:

This process requires quite a bit of management and I have found several things to be helpful so far:

-A folder for each inquiry group to keep all of their information together

-Resources that can be listened to ( in particular when topics are not typical second grade reading material).  My current online resources include: Pebble Go ( funded by our school library), World Book Online, Wonderopolis (free website), You tube videos (curated and reviewed by me first), online articles from Scholastic and Highlights that include a text read aloud feature.

-Lots of books from the school library to spark questions and ideas AND to help find answers.

-Writing notes from the teacher to each group about what they should consider doing for their next task. This allows me to meet with small groups, and limits the number of students who have trouble self starting at the beginning of each class.

Andes Manta Visits RES Third Graders

Today third graders had the amazing opportunity to make musical instruments with the musical group Andes Manta.  Students visited the Flynn for a performance this morning. Students and chaperones got to experience quite a show. 

At the Flynn Ready for the show

Here is an example of a similar performance of one amazing part of the show, when the Lopez brothers create a rainforest:


We were very lucky to not only see this great performance, but to welcome Andes Manta to our school to create payas, an Andean musical instrument.  Each student created their very own paya and participated in small group discussions with the artists.  Students talked about music, creating instruments, Ecuador (culture and geography) as they worked alongside great musicians!

This work connected to students study of South America in Spanish classes as well as their third grade geography unit (biomes, landforms, and culture!).

This great opportunity was made possible by the Flynn Education Department, collaboration between enrichment, Spanish and third grade teachers AND a very generous donation from Cumbancha (http://www.cumbancha.com/). Thanks to everyone who supported this effort to bring an enriching experience to our school!

Andes Manta to Visit RES Third Grade

RES ENRICHMENT and SPANISH PROGRAMS  in collaboration with the FLYNN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT are excited to announce an: AMAZING THIRD GRADE OPPORTUNITY!

After our attendance at the Flynn theater on Monday November 2nd to watch Andes Manta perform,      ANDES MANTA WILL BE COMING TO RES!!!  

The four Lopez  brothers will spend an hour and a half in the afternoon creating authentic Andean musical instruments with our students. Each student will create an instrument to bring home!

This opportunity has been sponsored in part by World Music Record Label, Cumbancha (based in Charlotte Vermont), http://www.cumbancha.com/ and we are very thankful for their support of music and making at RES.