Maker Mondays in 2019--Forms Coming Home Soon!

I am preparing the flyer to announce Maker Mondays for January and February 2019.

Here is the information that will be coming home soon!

The Enrichment Program at RES is excited to support a winter session of:

MAKER MONDAYS!

When: Monday Afternoons January 14th, 28th , February 4th, 11th, and 18th

Time: Immediately After School until 4PM

Where: The RES Makerspace

The Details:   Mrs. Rankin will work with students to design, create and make in the makerspace.  
During our time together we will have an opportunity to do guided tinkering projects as well as the
freedom to create from our own imaginations! If you are a student who loves to make and take apart
things, or wants to learn something new in a fun and exploratory environment, then this is the after
school program for you!

Cost:  This five week session will be $35 per student (Part 2 students are welcome to attend,
provided they pay this additional fee). Partial and full scholarships are available.

Students: All students in Grades K-4 are invited to attend, but class size is limited to 20.  Slots will be filled on a first come, first serve basis (with a lottery if I receive more than the amount on the same day). *Note last year I had over 75 applicants in the first two days!*

Hour of Code ar RES, December 2018

This week RES students will be participating in Hour of Code during enrichment classes. The week of December 3rd - 7th, 2018 all RES students in grades kindergarten through four will have a hands on introduction to computer programming with Hour of Code activities during their enrichment classes! 

Computer programming helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity in people of all ages. Kindergarten, first and second graders will use  Scratch Jr. app for iPads, while third and fourth graders will choose from a variety of tutorials on Code.org.

                                   

Introducing Hour of Code! Here is a great video explaining some of the benefits of coding:

STUDENTS:  Here are the links for Hour of Code at school this week....some great choices:
Dance Party
https://hourofcode.com/danceparty
Minecraft
https://hourofcode.com/mchoc
Star Wars
https://hourofcode.com/star-wars
Animate your Name
https://hourofcode.com/scratchanim

or choose your own challenge (make sure to note the grade level):
https://hourofcode.com/us/learn

FAMILIES and TEACHERS: Here are links to continue the learning beyond this week at school!  ALL of the included links and recommendations are FREE!
Scratch Jr. iPad app
Scratch Jr. Android app 
More ways to learn from Code.org
Scratch  


Do you have questions about coding?  Do you want to figure out ways to help your kids use computers and tablets to create things versus consume content?  I would be happy to chat with you about this...just reach out to Darcie Rankin at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org.

“The 'Hour of Code™' is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week [csedweek.org] and Code.org [code.org] to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.”

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.

Maker Mondays

Maker Mondays at Richmond Elementary school is an after school program that gives students an opportunity to design, create and make in our makerspace.  During our time together students do guided tinkering projects, such as lighting up their creations with LEDs (as shown in this video) as well as the freedom to create from their own imaginations!  Students also enjoy using our Take-Apart station to understand how things work as they dismantle and investigate broken keyboards, computers and more!  The makerspace offers an exploratory environment where students can make and learn through hands on discovery. Students of all ages work side by side--learning from each other--supported by their teacher-- and independently driving their own learning through choice.

Jeh Kulu us Coming to RES!!!

Richmond Elementary School is excited to WELCOME BACK Jeh Kulu--African Dance and Drumming Ensemble--for an Artist in Residency in April 2018.

All students in Grades K-4 will have an opportunity to dance and learn from Jeh Kulu during their PE classes on April 17th to 20th This residency was made possible by a grant from the Vermont Art Council, as well as fundraisers supported by the PTO (To donate to make sure every class gets this opportunity, please click here:  Go Fund Me Page:  https://www.gofundme.com/artistsatRES . Thanks!)

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.

Hour of Code 2017 at RES This Week!

The week of December 4 -8th, 2017, all RES students in grades kindergarten through four will have a hands on introduction to computer programming with Hour of Code activities during their enrichment classes! 

Computer programming helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity in people of all ages. Kindergarten, first and second graders will use  Scratch Jr. app for iPads, while third and fourth graders will choose from a variety of tutorials on Code.org.

Introducing Hour of Code! Watch this quick video to see some celebrities learning to code alongside students just like you!



STUDENTS:  Here are the links for Hour of Code at school this week:

Some great choices:
Code Crazy Creatures:  https://hourofcode.com/cacrazy
Animate your name: https://hourofcode.com/scratchanim
Moana: https://hourofcode.com/moana
Monster Maker: https://hourofcode.com/grokmonster
Lego Robot: https://hourofcode.com/bits
Minecraft: https://hourofcode.com/mchoc
Star Wars: https://hourofcode.com/star-wars
Flappy Bird: https://hourofcode.com/flap
Frozen: https://hourofcode.com/frzn

Choose your own Coding (but check the grade level and how hard it is):
https://hourofcode.com/us/learn

FAMILIES and TEACHERS: Here are links to continue the learning beyond this week at school!  ALL of the included links and recommendations are FREE!
Scratch Jr. iPad app
Scratch Jr. Android app 
More ways to learn from Code.org
Scratch  

Need more motivation to keep kids coding? Watch this short film encouraging coding!




Do you have questions about coding?  Do you want to figure out ways to help your kids use computers and tablets to create things versus consume content?  I would be happy to chat with you about this...just reach out to Darcie Rankin at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org.

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!

A Great Start

Every teacher spends time over the summer thinking about how to make the school year great....and we all know that a great start goes a long way towards helping students get excited about the year and invested in their learning.  In the enrichment classroom I am lucky to see students once a week as we plan and learn together.  Even though I spend a lot of time over the summer reflecting on the previous year and learning about new ways to engage and work with students, I believe strongly in the idea of using the first days of class to meaningfully reconnect with all of the students.

When you enter my classroom the first few days of school, we aren't going over rules or jumping in to curricular content.  What you will see is students playfully exploring a huge range of materials.  You will observe me meeting individually with every student.  Our discussions will give me a chance to make sure every voice is heard as we discuss: What have you been doing since I last saw you?  Do you have new news or ideas to share with me?  What are your goals and ideas for this year that will make learning awesome for you? Do you know how important you are to me as a teacher, and to our learning community?

These conversations are invaluable to me as a way to connect with students, but also because they provide a backdrop for how and what we will learn.  Of course lots of conversations are based around a students trip to the fair, or time they spent with extended family...but they are also a time for students to share grief or worries.  I want students to know that we are teaching the whole individual person and my investment in time to listen to them is intended to provide a safe and welcoming environment.  I believe that relationships and mutual respect are the cornerstones of meaningful education, and I want my year to begin with those values front and center! 

Now those first few classes are behind us...I have met with hundreds of kids and talked...but mostly listened.  Now we will begin exciting learning in a huge variety of areas. Student input has helped me to get a vision of what our year of learning will look like--and it is going to be great!

If you have ideas about how to make enrichment programming at RES better----please reach out to me.  Community voice is also important as we plan our great year.

Fourth Grade Capstone Project Celebration! Save the Date!

Fourth Grade Capstone Project Celebration!

All RES fourth graders will be sharing their

Capstone individual research projects

From Enrichment Library class on

June 14, 2017

8:50-9:30 am

RES Library

Families are welcome to join us!

(this is right before the start of Field Day)

We will also be posting all these awesome projects

on our Enrichment Library class blog,

thinkcreatecollaborate.blogspot.com

Sincerely,

Darcie Rankin, RES enrichment teacher

Beth Redford, RES library media specialist

RES Ambassadors of STEM

A few months ago I blogged about an opportunity that Richmond Elementary School was part of through a grant from the Vermont After School Program and Montshire Science Museum. That Tinkering Grant award allowed us to have some awesome materials for engineering exploration both in school and in an after school class that I hosted.  The relationship that RES established with the Vermont After School program has led to excellent learning for students as well as professional development for myself as the RES enrichment teacher. It also led us to an opportunity to visit the Vermont State House in Montpelier last week and talk to state representatives about all of the great engineering activities, and the amazing makers and scientists that we have at RES.

I was proud to bring six students to Montpelier to participate in a day that included engineering design challenges, a visit to floor of the State House (where our Richmond representative called out our students by name!) and time to engage representatives in making through our RES marble maze display (Students designed elements and created on the spot).

It was great to share about the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)---and to see RES students SHINE!  At RES this year we are on a journey to bring making, creating and engineering to all students through the creation of a Makerspace.  It is a journey as we figure out how this work fits into our curriculum as well as our after school programming.  Connecting to the Vermont After School program has been an excellent way to engage in dialog about how we can provide multiple avenues for all students to access these skills and opportunities.




If you have ideas about this topic--I would love to hear from you. This journey is a collaborative one that invites all of us to think about how to provide awesome opportunities for our kids!

RES 17th Annual Science Fair Success!

Last Thursday evening over one hundred people gathered at Richmond Elementary School to celebrate science and learning!  The RES Family Science Fair is a tradition at our school that brings family and friends together to share their learning.  There are no awards, or winners......just students learning and sharing and excited about all of the great and amazing concepts that science brings to life.  Each year I am inspired by students--the extra work they do and the depth of their thinking is awesome!  This year we had a large range of projects. The below video is an attempt to capture some of their great work.

Science Fair Resources

The science fair is coming! On Thursday March 16th RES students in grades K-4 are invited to come and share their great science fair projects with our community.  The science fair is a great way for students and families to work together to explore and learn about topics that interest them.


Entry forms will be sent home Friday February17th and will be due back by Friday March 10th.

Not sure where to get started?  I highly recommend starting with your interests! Is there a topic you studied in school that you would like to learn more about? Is there something you have always wondered about--maybe how it works?  Do you have a special collection you would like to share?

The RES science fair is a non judged family event...which means adult help is welcome and appreciated..AND kids can work together to create projects too!

Not sure where to get started? Here are a few resources!

I love this website. It has tons of great project ideas and even lets you answer a survey to narrow down the choices to your interests!
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/

This site also has great examples, and includes some great videos which will support visual learners too! Although they are also a business trying to sell science materials, it includes many great free resources in the 'Experiments' section:
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

And one more of my favorites!
https://sciencebob.com/category/science-fair-ideas/

In addition, the RES school  library is full of science project ideas and resources.  Did you know you can check out additional books with a family account?  See Mrs. Redford to set this up.

And lastly, I have several science project idea books, and am happy to discuss and brainstorm ideas with kids or families....just stop by and see me, OR email me to set up some time.

Happy Experimenting, Discovering and Learning!
Have FUN!

Media Literacy in Elementary School-- An Educator's Reflection

Often my enrichment blog posts are letting people know about upcoming awesome events, or to highlight amazing student work that is going on in our classroom at all the different grade levels.  Occasionally though I use this blog to share some of my reflections on education as a professional that is striving to support students each day.

For the last several months the news, especially the educational news, has had many articles about the realization that in the constant deluge of media that surrounds all of us...some information, and sometimes quite a bit of information is 'FAKE'. Educators around the country are asking how they can help students to be prepared for this world of media where sources are not verified, random tweets can go viral with no basis of truth , where fact checking is not a mandatory part of published work (after all anyone --even I-- can publish a blog!!).  They are worried that if adults are falling victim to false media...what does this mean for our children and students?

These are important questions, and for several weeks I have been reflecting on how this impacts my students and myself as an elementary educator. It is important to me that my educational practice is not only meeting the prescribed 'have tos' of our district, or state, but that we are supporting students in being world and digital citizens and that we are thinking about these big questions. Some people may think that perhaps this topic is not really one for elementary education----after all students can learn about media bias in middle or high school when they are actually using those tools--right?  In a recent discussion with a fellow educator she posed a great question to me: Are these questions really the questions about FAKE news developmentally appropriate for elementary students?  Is this something that our students are going to come across in their learning and be able to make concrete connections to?

I believe that they are important, AND that we need to look at them through a developmentally appropriate lens.  We need to think carefully about what foundational skills students need to be media literate in this fast paced 'information overload' society. We need to accept that our students even at ages 6 and up are exposed to social media (some through looking at older family member accounts, some through their own accounts despite best effort age restrictions, and MANY through word of mouth).  We need to accept that students are participating in their own forms of social media through texting.  I have been having discussions for four years with nine and ten year olds about internet safety.  In that short time the number of students exposed to or connected to someone exposed to online forums (games, chat rooms, social media) has gone from a handful to about %85.  Children are digital natives--technology is prolific and our acceptance of this needs to come with thoughtful educational practices that support their navigation of this awesome, amazing and sometimes FAKE new source of information.

I want my students to embrace all of these great new avenues for learning..BUT...I want my students to be able to critically evaluate media and consume media thoughtfully.  In a recent School Library Journal on this topic (See Full article here:  http://www.slj.com/2017/01/industry-news/the-smell-test-educators-can-counter-fake-news-with-information-literacy-heres-how/#_   Author: Linda Jacobson, Downloaded on 1/3/2017) they share that 

"Media literacy experts stress that children should begin acquiring these questioning skills long before they are old enough to use social media. Even in the early years, they can begin to question the messages in signs and TV commercials."

  In an article on Common Sense Media (an amazing website I utilize as an educator and a parent frequently) they warn: 

"If you get your news online or from social media, this type of headline sounds very familiar. What's real? What's fake? What's satire? Now that anyone with access to a phone or computer can publish information online, it's getting harder to tell. But as more people go to Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and other online sources for their news and information, it's even more crucial that all of us -- especially kids -- learn to decode what we read online"

 ( See full article here:  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-spot-fake-news-and-teach-kids-to-be-media-savvy  Author: Sarah Filucci, Downloaded on 1/3/2017).

So...what can we do to build critical thinking skills, to help our kids decode media? Here are some of my ideas:

--Use developmentally appropriate context to show students that not all media is true
----In younger grades this, as Jacobson suggests in her article, is as simple as pointing out that some stories are true and some are not (fiction versus nonfiction)
----In second grade enrichment we learn to blog and blog comment.  As we explore this medium we learn that anyone can write anything online and that we have a responsibility to ourselves and others for our content as we share with our school and family community.
----In our fourth grade library enrichment class we expose students to brand association (they are amazed how many candies they can identify just with a single letter!), share commercials and the preparation of commercials (did you know that there are 'food artists'?), think about how toys are advertised and then how they actually are in real life applications, teach students advertising strategies and watch them search these out in magazines, posters, books, and videos.  We also share some fake internet websites and provide tools for students to question the validity of their resources.  (Check out: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/).
----Persuasive essays are part of all grades K-4 writing requirements---but how far can we go to persuade someone? Can we modify the truth?  Perhaps students should have time to play with this idea!

--Give students opportunities to CREATE media as well as to consume it
----Through creation of media I believe that students gain a direct understanding of what they are consuming.  It allows them to more quickly understand the connection between author, media message and purpose.  As students in fourth grade create book trailers to advertise a favorite book they are challenged to use at least two advertising strategies....and suddenly they are analyzing their own work and have more agency to analyze the work of others! When a second grader shares something through blogging and receives comments from someone in Florida, they witness how a message travels online.

--Provide students with strong role models
----I believe that we have to be critical thinkers and creators of media in order to  model digital citizenship. If students see us as a person they can rely on to help them digest and evaluate media then as educators we can support their learning journey more successfully.

--Develop stronger community conversations around media literacy
----This is one I have not quite figured out how to do yet in my role.  I think it would be great to build a community conversation about how we can help students to be critical consumers of media not just for school projects but ALL of the time.

Here are a few resources that I really appreciate about media literacy (this is not exhaustive and not intended to be exclusionary):

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
http://mediasmarts.ca/media-literacy-101
http://www.medialit.org/

Do you feel media literacy is an important part of elementary education?  What can I do as the enrichment teacher to further support this  work?  What changes are you seeing around media creation and consumption--do you have questions, concerns, excitement?  I would love to hear from you!

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.

RES Family Science Fair--Save the Date!

The RES Enrichment Program is excited to announce the annual

    FAMILY SCIENCE FAIR  !COMING SOON!

Thursday March 16^th, 2017  

We look forward to the excellent projects presented by students in grades K-4!  Please mark your calendars and start thinking about how you would like to participate.

Do you have a science fair project in mind?  Here are some ways to make a plan:

•   Expand upon an interesting topic you have studied in class
•  Think about a topic that interests you, or a science question that you are curious about
• Talk to family and friends to brainstorm ideas for a project
•  Stop by the enrichment room and borrow a fair idea book and talk with Mrs. Rankin
• Check out science project resources in the library  (Did you know that your family can check out additional books from the library beyond your weekly two? See Mrs. Redford if you would like to take advantage of this!)

The RES Science Fair is a non-judged family event.  Students are encouraged to work together with family and friends to develop a project they are proud of presenting to our community.  Your entry does not have to be a science experiment. It may be as simple as a display of your leaf collection or as complex as an experiment on how the circulatory system works.  Look at the world around you. What are you curious about? What interests you?  Ask why something is the way it is. Do experiments, demonstrate a scientific principle, make observations of the world around you, or collect and analyze data. 

                            

Most importantly- be creative and HAVE FUN!

In a few weeks Science Fair entry forms will be sent home.  At that time you will be asked to share your planned science fair topic as well as any special display requirements you have. 

Questions? Contact: Darcie Rankin, Enrichment Teacher by email at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org