Date: 10/17/25

Hello Families!

I hope you’re doing well and that you’ve had a good week. As always, we’ve been busy here at Robinson!

Here are a few highlights:

• We continue to work on concepts of finding the difference between two numbers to 100. We learned two new math games - Race to 20 and Capture Squares.

• We conquered our first WIN Menu and Math Menu of the year. We completed “must-dos” and “have-tos.” I’d say that literacy packets and math games were the favorites!

• We sent off two boxes of penpal letters - one to Lincoln, Vermont and one to Waimea, Hawaii. 

• Our reading and writing this week focused on Monarch Butterfly migration and survival.

• Our class was awarded the “Snowy Chicken” award by Mrs. Sands for the work they did to plan, plant and tend to their dazzling pollinator garden.

• We worked on digraphs in our spelling and reading passages. Ask your student to explain what makes a diagraph. 

• We met with Deandra Jones of the Navajo Nation on National Geographic Explorer Classroom this week. We learned about her research on Black Bears and how it was inspired by stories her grandfather or acheii. We submitted many questions during the meeting but ours wasn’t selected this time. Did you know that Ms. Jones and her team use a combination of glazed doughnuts, sardines and liquid bear lure to entice the bears to visit her research site? Yum/Yuck!

• We read Not a Box and created our own masterpieces that are not boxes!

• We had glazed doughnuts as a treat on Friday afternoon. Yum!

• We learned about connecting words like because, but and so in order to make our sentences more interesting.

• Here are some of the “On the Road” segments from the week. We watched this one and this one. The students LOVE watching these stories. So do I.

Important Dates/Information:

10/19 Starksboro Gear Fundraiser Closes - Please consider ordering some RES Gear to show your support of our special school! Deadline to order has been extended.

10/22 Picture Day

10/24 No School

10/29 Scholastic Book Orders Due for October

10/30 & 11/4 - Fall Parent Conferences - here’s the link to sign up.

October Lunch Menu

Outdoor Classroom sketching was sublime!

Date: 10/10/25

Hello Families!

I hope you had a good week. Seems like soccer is winding down and there is a chillier breeze around! So great to see so many of you at our Open House Event on Wednesday. I LOVED seeing the second graders expertly leading you all around.

Here are a few highlights:

• We had our second 4 Winds session with Erin and Dan. We learned about grasses. Our scavenger hunt to find different types of grasses was fun. Some grasses were even taller than Mrs. Lake!

• We started working on concepts of finding the difference between two numbers up to 100. We built “trains” of different numbers and counted on and back to find the difference between them. 

• We had our first WIN Menu of the year. We are practicing making choices from a variety of activities that support our learning in reading and math.

• We read about leaves in the fall, why they change color, and we collected leaves in the Outdoor Classroom. We also made leaf rubbings.

• We logged on to EPIC! Reading to listen to and to read three books about leaves in the fall and the changing seasons.

• We received letters from our Second Grade penpals in Lincoln. They wrote us letters, gave us Skittles as well as personalized, decorated rocks.

• We wrote some letters back and Miss Carina will deliver them this week. We made them some leaf rubbing cards for our penpals and sent along M&M’s.

• We worked on -all/oll/ull as well as -ff, -ll, -ss, -zz in spelling and almost everyone aced the assessment! Wahoo!

• We found new (or familiar) Sit Spots in the Outdoor Classroom on Tuesday. We also read Up in the Garden, Down in the Dirt and sketched what we thought was “underground” in our Sit Spots.

• Here are some of the “On the Road” segments from the week. We watched this one and this one. The students LOVE watching these stories. So do I.

Important Dates/Information:

10/19 Starksboro Gear Fundraiser Closes - Please consider ordering some RES Gear to show your support of our special school! Deadline to order has been extended.

10/22 Picture Day

10/24 No School

10/29 Scholastic Book Orders Due for October

10/30 & 11/4 - Fall Parent Conferences - keep an eye out for a Sign Up Genius link to register

October Lunch Menu

Life by the Lake

Date: 10/1/25

Hello Families!

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well and enjoying the crisper temps. Fall is here, I think?!

Here are a few highlights:

• We had our first relocation drill and walked over to the Town Library. It was a successful practice.

• We completed a math assessment to top off our first math unit around “twenty buddies.”

• In math, we completed an apple picking problem solver that challenged us to generate as many different combinations of red and green apples as we could.

• We learned about how sequencing words help to keep our writing organized while we wrote about the cranberry harvesting process.

• We learned about different types of words - nouns, verbs & adjectives. This lesson helped us to create a list of describing words for fall that we used to create gorgeous fall leaf adjective decorations.

• We did an assessment to wrap up our community building and FLY Code work over the last few weeks. 

• We continued our work with a variety of short vowels in our UFLI work.

• We decorated handkerchiefs following the themes of “circles of support” and ripples of kindness. We used Sharpie markers that will become “tie-dyed” with a method that I will work on over the weekend. They look beautiful!

• We had an All School Celebration on Wednesday afternoon. We had 3 different photo booths, we got to make sidewalk chalk decorations in the parking lot and had delicious chocolate cookies made with love by Doreen and Amy.

• Here are some of the “On the Road” segments from the week. We watched this one and this one. The students LOVE watching these stories. So do I.

Important Dates/Information:

10/2 No School for Students - Teacher Professional Development Day

10/3 No School

10/8 Open House - 6-7pm - CHANGE

10/13 Starksboro Gear Fundraiser Closes

10/22 Picture Day

10/24 No School

October Lunch Menu

Date: 9/26/25

Hello Families!

I hope you’re enjoying the start to your weekend! We’ve had a fun and BUSY week in the Second Grade!

Here are a few highlights:

• We learned from a National Geographic Explorer Scientist and Photographer Anand Varma on Thursday via Zoom. He shared the photos and videos that he made to show the “invisible” of the animal kingdom. He showed us the camera system he made to connect a high powered magnifying system to his camera. You can see his work on hummingbirds here.

• We had our Lake Day Community Building Day at Button Bay. The rain held off and we had a total blast hiking, playing and crafting.  

• Our math lesson on a “Ferris Wheel” challenge allowed us to practice organizing information to show our work with problem solving.

• We learned about Cranberry Harvesting and practiced writing complete sentences about the subject using images remembering CAPS. Ask your student to describe the harvesting process and what a “water reel” does for the harvest. We also tried some dried cranberries - mostly a hit!

• We celebrated the International Day of Peace (9/21)  by reading The Story of Ferdinand and decorating peaceful pictures for our school.

• David Radcliffe from Virginia visited our classroom on Tuesday to share about the work he does around the world to care for the earth, its animals and peoples. Amazing photos, passion and expertise!

• We had our field trip to ECHO on Friday. We loved seeing the new exhibits and designing and testing a “boat” that used renewable energy as our STEM challenge. It was a gorgeous and super fun day!

• We had completed our Fast Bridge Math Assessment and our spelling inventory check.

• We decided voted to save our wormlings to spend them on a high level class celebration - YES! Day (afternoon). Stay tuned…

• Some students helped to plant mums in the window boxes in the front of our school - putting the FLY Code of “take care of the school” into action.

• We finished our Class Constitution. Look for it displayed at Open House!

• We finished Charlotte’s Web on Tuesday. Many students wanted me to read it again. 💙

• Here are some of the “On the Road” segments from the week. We watched this one and this one. The students LOVE watching these stories. So do I.

Important Dates/Information:

10/2 No School for Students - Teacher Professional Development Day

10/3 No School

10/8 Open House - 6-7pm - CHANGE

10/24 No School

September Lunch Menu

October Lunch Menu

Life by the Lake

Date: 9/19/25

Hello Families!

I hope you’re soaking up these last few gorgeous days! I know I am! 

Here are a few highlights:

• We finished our FLY Books about how We practiced  our 10 & 20 Buddies in a variety of ways - math games being the most popular.

• We had our first early release day and Common Morning Meeting rather than MARS. It was fantastic! 

• We had Community Games on Wednesday, too. Check out the pictures!

• We wrote our favorite ways to use positive self talk and added a self portrait.

• We had our Outdoor Classroom session on Tuesday and we created Andy Goldsworthy inspired pieces. See photos below.

• On Monday, we experimented with two different materials to see which captured bubbles the best. The wind was a factor in the process - even the slight breeze added an unexpected level of difficulty.

• We had our first spelling check in and completed our Reading Fluency Assessment as well as vocabulary and reading comprehension assessments in AimsWeb.

• We will complete the district math assessments next week.

• We read Seed Stash and wrote about what we learned. Ask your student to tell you about why red squirrels create a “midden.”

• Our read aloud is Charlotte’s Web - we are LOVING it!

• Here are some of the “On the Road” segments from the week. We watched this one and this one.

Have a really great weekend!

Important Dates/Information:

9/23 Mrs. Lake out for PM only -  District Training 

9/24 Lake Day at Button Bay State Park - All School Field Trip

9/26 1st/2nd Grade Field trip to ECHO - info included in Friday Folder - sign and return

10/1 Open House - 6-7pm

September Lunch Menu

Date: 9/12/25

Hello Families!

Our first full week is in the books! We were all tired and we loved all the outside time we had this week!

Here are a few highlights:

• We learned that speed isn’t important in Math and that we can use many strategies to show our math thinking.

• We practiced two sections of our Math Menu Routine - Math Journal and Windowpane.

• We wrote our favorite ways to use positive self talk and added a self portrait.

• We had our first Outdoor Classroom session where we learned the expectations of the space and had some free explore time.

• We wrapped up our experiment with different brands of black markers and chromatography and did an experiment On Monday, we will see which materials/conditions work best for capturing bubbles.

• We had our first 4 Winds session with Dan Baker and Erin Buckwalter. It was all about spiders. A big thanks to our volunteer teachers! So fun!

• We continue to work on learning and practicing the FLY Code. This week we focused on “take care of the school.”

• We talked about, read about and wrote about gratitude. The best part was reading The Thank You Book featuring Gerald and Piggie. 

• We logged onto our computers for the first time and finished our Lexia Placement test.

• Here are some of the “On the Road” segments from the week. We watched this one and this one.

Have a really great weekend!

Important Dates/Information:

9/16 Mrs. Lake out All Day - District Training 

9/17 Early Release Day - Students dismissed at 11:45

9/23 Mrs. Lake out for PM only -  District Training 

9/24 Lake Day at Button Bay State Park - All School Field Trip

9/26 1st/2nd Grade Field trip to ECHO - info included in Friday Folder - sign and return

10/1 Open House - 6-7pm

September Lunch Menu

Date: 6/13/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

* We worked on a sweet Father’s Day gift for our dads.

*We wrapped up our learning with Atria and Marissa. It was a great review of all the skills and knowledge we gained during the workshops.

*We had time to work with Lego Spike kits and our own creations with a goal of designing something to clean plastic from the ocean.

*We were featured on WCAX on Thursday morning for our work in the Seven Days’ Good Citizen Challenge. You will see that one of our classmates won the drawing for a $50 gift card to Phoenix Books. YAY!

*We practiced for our AMAZING concert on Wednesday night. It was such a great night to showcase all of the amazing musicians and performers at our school. Thank you, Miss Carina!

*We had a total blast at the Carnival on Thursday afternoon. It was so much fun. From face painting to bubble machines to a dunk tank - super afternoon. We love this new (year 2) tradition!

*We loved celebrating our own RES almost graduates during MARS on Wednesday. What a sweet tradition that is, too!

*We had our end of the year “field trip”/celebration with “YES Day!” on Friday. We did this list of activities and had a super time. Thank you to FOR for the funding to make this day of fun adventures possible.

*We all got a free book as part of the Project READ Summer Bookwagon. A favorite selection was The One and Only Ivan as we are reading it in class.

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Important Dates:

6/16 - Step Up Day; 6th grade graduation

6/17 - Last Day for Students - 11:45 Dismissal

June Lunch Menu

Date: 6/6/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

* We had an amazing multi session workshop with sixth graders, Will & Alex, to share their knowledge about coding robots. They are part of the Mt. Abe Robohawks team involved in the 2025 Lego First League competition called Submerged. It was super cool to hear about their engineering and teamwork.

*We learned more about healthy relationships during our Atria time. There was a focus this week on healthy/unhealthy choices when dealing with stress.

*We finished up our scripted work with the Lego SPIKE kits and will get to make some of our own, original creations next week.

*We worked on Measurement in math and discussed ways to measure a variety of items. From grams to milliliters to miles to tons, we discussed it all.

*We did an activity from Seven Days’ Good Citizen Challenge: # 11 - Write a Thank You Note. First, we discussed what “citizen” meant and compiled a list of the good ones we knew in our lives. We will submit our entry as a group. If you want to continue working on the challenge over the summer, use the link above. It’s a great program designed to inspire civic engagement and community involvement. You can even win prizes for the activities you do!  

*We observed our “Tomatosphere” seedlings. As part of the program, we were sent two samples of tomato seeds. One packet was in space during a mission and the other was not. We will observe to see if being exposed to the space environment effects plant. 

*We got to be part of the awesome graduate parade on Thursday morning. It was so fun to see all those students grown up and ready to fly to their next adventure. Many thanks to Mrs. Bell and her team for organizing such a memorable event.

*On Tuesday, June 10, the RES community will be celebrating the retirement of beloved first and second grade teacher, Jodi Lane. Please stop by the RES Pavilion anytime between 5:30-7:00 to share memories and best wishes with Jodi. There will be a graffiti wall to sign and popcorn will be served. Help us spread the word by letting former students and families know about the event.

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Important Dates:

6/10 - Retirement reception for Jodi Lane - 5:30-7

6/11 - School Concert - 6:00pm

6/12 - All School Carnival - 1:00

6/16 - Step Up Day; 6th grade graduation

6/17 - Last Day for Students - 11:45 Dismissal

June Lunch Menu

Date: 5/31/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

* We had our fantastic wormling celebration on Friday. Ice cream sundaes and we watched YES Day! while chilling in our forts!

*We learned about healthy choices from Ceclia from the United Way. The presentation was about the consequences of vaping.

*We worked in teams to do some teamwork challenges and started coding some Lego machines. SO fun!

*We worked on Measurement in math. 

*We did a few book tastings from author Katherine Applegate. We read a few different titles and chose to read The One and Only Ivan.

*We had a Shout Out Party on Friday. It was SO sweet to read all the beautiful shout outs that each student wrote for one another. Your student brought them home in their folders. 

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Important Dates:

6/11 - School Concert - 6:00pm

6/12 - All School Carnival - after lunch/recess

6/16 - 6th grade graduation

6/17 - Last Day for Students - 11:45 Dismissal

June Lunch Menu

Dress Like your Teacher Day! 💚

Date: 5/16/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

* We had our final meeting with Ryan who studies Elephant Falls in South Africa this week. Here’s a link to learning pages from the experience. We learned so much and wrote thank you notes to Ryan that we will share virtually.

*We finished our MAP test in Math - testing for the year is DONE! We will be sure to celebrate next week! Wahoo!

*We worked in teams to do some challenges ahead of the coding work we will do in the last few weeks. 

*We continue working on fractions and this week learned about equivalent fractions. We also learned about algorithms on Friday to prep us for some coding of Lego SPIKE robots that will happen in the last few weeks.

*We continue to build our reading skills through reading a variety of passages about countries around the world.

*We read One Giant Leap about the first moon walk and compared this exploration to Jacques Cousteau’s exploration of the sea.

*Many thanks to the FOR for their continued support of students and fun at Robinson. We were gifted some money for an end of school event. I will share more details about the event in the coming days. Additionally, the sweet messages that students shared for each teacher at MARS were just adorable and touching. Thank you!

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Kids Bowl FREE this summer! 

This summer, we are thrilled to once again participate in the Kids Bowl Free program at all Spare Time Entertainment locations! 

Source: Spare Time Entertainment

https://search.app/gToPhzoLBkcR8cjD9

Important Dates:

5/29 - United Way Anti-Vaping Presentations

6/11 - School Concert - 6:00pm

6/12 - All School Carnival - pm

6/17 - Last Day for Students - 11:45 Dismissal

May Lunch Menu

Date: 5/16/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

* We finished our final draft of our opinion concerning the festival of our choice.

*We learned about the vowel teams "oa, ow & oe" this week. 

*We finished our MAP test in Literacy and will do Math next week.

*We saw a fantastic show at the Flynn Theater that highlighted the musical, storytelling and dance traditions in different parts of Mexico.

*We made some cards for our 4 Winds teachers after our last session about directions.

*We made thank you cards for our Hawaiian Pen Pals.

*We had Buddies with Mrs. Sands’ class on Wednesday.

*We had a visit with Jason Chin - a decorated and talented author and artist who lives in South Burlington. Many thanks to Project READ and the Pat Young Memorial for funding his visit.

*We had 2 birthdays in our class this week! Whoa! 

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Summer Meals Survey use the QR code or this link to help with planning.

Kids Bowl FREE this summer! 

This summer, we are thrilled to once again participate in the Kids Bowl Free program at all Spare Time Entertainment locations! 

Source: Spare Time Entertainment

https://search.app/gToPhzoLBkcR8cjD9

May Lunch Menu Link

Date: 5/9/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

* We are starting on our final draft of our Opinion Piece about a favorite festival to learn more about.

*We reviewed the vowel teams ee, ea & ey because they are tricky. 

*We continued learning about fractions in math and had fun with a few games to practice identifying and comparing different fractional values.

*We also reviewed time and money in small groups.

*We made some really special gifts for Mother’s Day.

*We went to the Fine Arts Festival in Bristol on Wednesday. It was so lovely to see all the amazing creativity that is alive in well in our schools!

*We had our first Atria workshop and learned about healthy/unhealthy relationships.

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Use this link to complete the Summer Meals Survey use the QR code to help with planning.

Important Dates:

• May 13 - All School Field Trip to the Flynn Theater - “Trekking Mexico” Show - we will be back in time for lunch.

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• May 15 - Project READ Author Visit - Jason Chin - 8:30-12:00.

• Spring MAP Testing - May 14 & 15

May Lunch Menu

Green Up Day! We worked so hard to tidy up our campus after the long winter!

Date: 5/2/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

* We reflected on what kind of “super hero” we would like to be and how we would use those powers in the world. 

*We started a new unit in spelling about long vowel teams. So far, we have studied ai/ay and ee, ea & ey. 

*We continued learning about fractions in math by labeling and comparing fractional parts on a number line.

*We “greened up” our school campus on Friday afternoon with our buddies in Mrs. Sands’ class

*We worked on an opinion piece about a global holiday - “La Tomatina” in Italy or “The Harbin Ice Festival” in China..

*Here’s the link to information about the Fine Arts Festival this week.

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Have a fantastic vacation!

Important Dates:

• May 7 - Field Trip to the Arts Festival at Mt. Abe - 8:30-11:15

• May 13 - All School Field Trip to the Flynn Theater - “Trekking Mexico” Show - we will be back in time for lunch.

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• Spring MAP Testing - May 14 & 15

May Lunch Menu

Date: 4/18/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*Thanks so much to those of you who were able to make it to see our Pinball Machines! It was so great to see students showing off their hard work!

*We learned practiced making inferences through the book The Gardener and this photo from the New York Times. 

*We also used a question string to guide our thinking: What is my inference? What information did I use to make this inference? How was my thinking about this? Do I need to change my thinking based on what I know now? 

*We played this riddle game to practice those inference skills in a fun way.

*We had an all school celebration where we had “Teacher Swap.” The third graders did a really cool art/literacy activity with Ms. Reid in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat. And, they got lollipops!

*We continued learning about “r controlled vowels” and are closing in on finishing another unit in spelling.

*We continued learning about fractions in math by labeling, comparing and matching different unit fractions.

*We had 4Winds on Tuesday - thanks J’Amy & Priscilla!

*We worked on a new opinion piece and are focusing on developing reasons and explaining the reasons for our preferences in a persuasive way.

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

Date: 4/11/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We have FINALLY put the finishing touches on our Pinball Machines. We’d love to showcase our work for you on Monday April 14th from 5:30-6:30 in our classroom. Come in any time to see what we’ve created!

*We learned practiced making inferences through the book The Barnabus Project and this photo from the New York Times.

*We joined the Reach the World’s livestream from the Explorer Series on Thursday highlighting the work of Ryan Helcoski in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. He joined us from the park and answered tons of our questions about his work with elephant carcasses in the park. It connects with what we learned after reading Jason Chin’s book Life after Whale. SUPER COOL opportunity!

*We continued learning about “r controlled vowels” and worked on our fact sheets to show more about our ocean animal research.

*We used natural materials in the Outdoor Classroom to make animals come to life. Some of us even made animals just like the ones we are studying from the ocean.

*We started learning about fractions in math and are excited for a new unit of study.

*We watched this video and this one from the CBS series “On the Road with Steve Hartman.” Great way to close our days together. 

* We had time with our buddy classroom on Wednesday and we learned a bit more about constellations. Then, we worked together to make our own constellations.

Important Dates:

• Week of April 21 - April Vacation

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

April Lunch Menu

Life by the Lake

Date: 4/4/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We celebrated the first day of April in style - finding over 125 Mr. Weis pictures around the school, a “quiz” that had really specific directions, and a Dunkin’ Doughnuts prank lead by Mrs. Lake. 😂

*We finished up our work with perimeter and area in math by creating “puzzles” for our classmates to solve.

*We practiced the er/ir/ur in our spelling work and read a passage with those skills embedded within.

*We are almost done with our Pinball Machines. They are amazing and we want to share them. So, keep an eye out for a chance to come and see them at school before se send them home.

*We revisited what we learned about Jacques Cousteau and worked in teams to collect evidence for how he inspired scientists and citizens through his work. 

*We had the MOST AMAZING experience on Friday thanks to the Tari Shattuck Education Foundation’s funding of a visit from Carrie Cruz, "The Planetarium Lady." She brought her portable planetarium to our gym and taught us all about the night sky and the wonders of the Universe. It was an incredible, memorable experience for all of us - big and small.  

Have a fantastic weekend!

Important Dates:

• April 9 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• Week of April 21 - April Vacation week

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

April Lunch Menu

STEM Cart Fun with Strawbees! 

We 💙 Strawbees!

3/28/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We completed the VTCAP testing in ELA and Math! Wahoo! I was so proud of how hard students worked through these tests.

*We continued working on perimeter and area in math. We even measured 2D shapes we made in the Outdoor Classroom. See more photos below.

*We read two great books this week. One called, The Watcher about Jane Goodall and another called Lilian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 about a courageous, 100-year-old woman who stood up to have her voice heard, for herself and a better future for all.

*We are tying up a lot of loose ends with projects like - pinball machines, sea turtle reports and self portraits - this worked perfectly with our wonky testing schedule..

*We started our work with Opinion Writing. We began by sharing our thoughts about homework at Robinson School in third grade. As you might imagine, it was a robust discussion!

*We completed an assessment on ar/or/ore and everyone did so well!

*We spent time decompressing from testing using our STEM Cart! It was so fun to have a new material - Strawbees! - to build and to explore with together!

Have a fantastic, long weekend!

Important Dates:

• March 31 - No School for Students - Teacher Work Day

• April 9 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• Week of April 21 - April Vacation week

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

March Lunch Menu

Date: 3/21/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We completed the VTCAP testing in ELA (reading & writing) this week. Everyone did so well of persevering through the long testing sessions and trying hard at the task.

*We began our short unit on area and perimeter by exploring those concepts using tiles and favorite books. 

*We read a great book, Fiona’s Wish, to celebrate the luck of the Irish on Monday.

*We worked on r-controlled vowels - or/ore this week and almost everyone aced the assessment on Thursday.

*We read about Malala Yousafzai and wrote about her courage to speak out for what she believed in.

*We had 4 Winds on Tuesday afternoon in the sunshine and learned about the properties of water and water around the world. It was so fun! Thank you, Priscilla and J’Amy.

*I have sent home notes for you to fill out and send back to me in the envelope provided with notes of encouragement so that I can hand them out during the testing window. There is still time to send a note in and it doesn’t have to be on the paper that I provided. We will be doing the Math VTCAP next week so there is still plenty of time to get that done.

*Please make sure to send a water bottle and a snack with your child each day. It’s super helpful in general and not just on Wellness days!

Sharing Day Schedule:

Mon: Zoey, Hadley, Skyler

Tues: Wilson, Mia, Cullen

Wed: Matthew, Camden, Mackenna

Thurs: Jase, Kaylee, Jacob

Fri: Sawyer, Ryder, Bodhi

Have a fantastic weekend!

Important Dates:

• Mid-March - VTCAP State Testing - Weeks of 3/19 & 3/24

• March 31 - No School for Students - Teacher Work Day

• April 9 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• Week of April 21 - April Vacation week

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

Parent/Caregiver Opportunity Announcement from MAUSD:

• Jenna Bisset (SEL and Equity Coordinator) and Anne McKinney (Bristol Elementary Assistant Principal) are facilitating a Community Book Group focused on the text Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey. There are two meetings: March 27 and April 17, from 3:30 - 5:00 at Bristol Elementary School.

March Lunch Menu

Date: 3/14/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*It was super fantastic to meet with so many families to talk over student growth over the last few months. Thank you so much for making the time to come in and meet with me.

*We are learning about data collection, reading and creating graphs and charts in math. I think our favorite graph to read was entitled “Burps in a Week.” 😉

*We learned and wrote about Saving Sea Turtles this week. We made reports about how we can help turtles to live and to thrive. Ask your student about what they wrote about in their report.

*We celebrated Pi Day on Friday with some yummy blueberry pie and learned what 𝞹 was all about.

*We followed a directed drawing of a Sea Turtle and painted them with watercolors.

*.We are starting our VTCAP testing window next week and it will continue through the following week. PLEASE help your student do their best by helping them to get to bed on time. This is always important but ESPECIALLY important during these sessions. 

*Along those lines, I have sent home notes for you to fill out and send back to me in the envelope provided with notes of encouragement so that I can hand them out during the testing window. Please see the handout with more details about this in the Friday Folder. It is a surprise for the students so, Shhh!

*We completed another chunk of our UFLI work and did another fluency check on Friday. 

*Please make sure to send a water bottle and a snack with your child each day. It’s super helpful in general and not just on Wellness days!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Important Dates:

• Mid-March - VTCAP State Testing - Weeks of 3/19 & 3/24

• March 31 - No School for Students - Teacher Work Day

• April 9 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• Week of April 21 - April Vacation week

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

Parent/Caregiver Opportunity Announcement from MAUSD:

• Jenna Bisset (SEL and Equity Coordinator) and Anne McKinney (Bristol Elementary Assistant Principal) are facilitating a Community Book Group focused on the text Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey. There are two meetings: March 27 and April 17, from 3:30 - 5:00 at Bristol Elementary School.

March Lunch Menu

Date: 3/7/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our short week:

*It was great to be back together and we were missing some of our classmates who are under the weather or returning from break.

*It was exciting to see so many students participating in the March Reading Challenge Bingo Boards. Keep it up and keep bringing the sheets in throughout the month.

*Ask your student about “Desk Pets” and what they are doing to earn one.

*I’m looking forward to meeting with families for our parent conferences next week. Please use this link to sign up if you haven’t already.

*Please make sure to send a water bottle and a snack with your child each day. It’s super helpful in general and not just on Wellness days.

*I was out on Th/Fr to support my son as he competes for Team Vermont in the Eastern Championships for Downhill Skiing in New Hampshire. Very excited for him and proud of his hard work on the slopes this season.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Important Dates:

• Parent Conferences - 3/11 & 3/13

• Mid-March - VTCAP State Testing

• March 31 - No School for Students

• April 9 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• Week of April 21 - April Vacation week

• May 14 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

Parent/Caregiver Opportunity Announcement from MAUSD:

• Jenna Bisset (SEL and Equity Coordinator) and Anne McKinney (Bristol Elementary Assistant Principal) are facilitating a Community Book Group focused on the text Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey. There are two meetings: March 27 and April 17, from 3:30 - 5:00 at Bristol Elementary School.

March Lunch Menu

Practicing measuring during Math!

Date: 2/21/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our short week:

*We had a good short week at school. I was out sick on Tuesday so it will be a short newsletter.

*We finished the second to last unit in our current spelling skills. Everyone did a good job practicing fluency and spelling.

*We learned about “unknown” parts of equations and used what we know about how multiplication works to figure out the value of the missing numbers.

*We practiced measurement with standard and non-standard units.

*We worked on our Lexia goal and almost EVERYONE reached their goal.

*We made final copies of our “two sentence love stories” to submit to the CLIF to be considered for their contest. Fingers crossed that we will have some winners from our class!

*Please see the note below about Parent Conferences happening in March. I will be out of school on 3/6 because my son is competing in a ski race in New Hampshire. So, I won’t be available on 3/6. I will be available on 3/11 and 3/13 instead.

Have a super break! See you in March!

Important Dates:

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

Parent Conferences for Third Grade are going to be held on Tuesday March 11 and Thursday March 13 for third grade. Please use this link to sign up for the 3/11 slots. If you ‘d prefer the 3/13 date, wait for a separate email with a sign up which is only for our class. DO NOT sign up for slots on 3/6. Thanks!

Date: 2/14/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our short week:

*We had an awesome 4 Winds session all about sound. Super fun and super gorgeous day for it. Thank you, Priscilla & J’Amy. 

*We had time with our big and little buddies on Wednesday morning. We created a large heart that was cut into pieces to show “Pieces of My Heart.” It was a super sweet time.

*We had a super fantastic party today for Valentine’s Day! Thank you ALL so much for contributing such a spread for our party. It was delicious and special. 

*We made a gratitude rainbow today to highlight different aspects of our lives that we’re thankful for. I will post them on the wall in the hallway next week. 

*We learned about hearts of a variety of animals through this scavenger hunt.

*I hope you are able to make it to the Spaghetti Dinner tomorrow! It is a really fun event to benefit the Friends of Robinson. 

*Please see the note below about Parent Conferences happening in March. I will be out of school on 3/6 because my son is competing in a ski race in New Hampshire. So, I won’t be available on 3/6. I will be available on 3/11 and 3/13 instead.

Important Dates:

• 2/15 - FoR Spaghetti Dinner - 5:30 pm at Robinson School

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

• Parent Conferences for Third Grade are going to be held on Tuesday March 11 and Thursday March 13 for third grade. Please use this link to sign up for the 3/11 slots. If you ‘d prefer the 3/13 date, wait for a separate email with a sign up which is only for our class. DO NOT sign up for slots on 3/6. Thanks!

February Lunch Menu

Date: 2/7/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We learned a new math game called “Multiplication Squares” and read Sea Squares about sea creatures that supported multiplication scenarios. 

*We worked on our Self Portraits. They are turning out so well! I will post a slideshow of the final products when we are done. 

*We wrote short reports about an animal of our choice from the animals highlighted in the “Scat and Tracks” Program.

*We FINALLY did our tracking walk outside in the Outdoor Classroom. Lots of rabbit tracks…and children tracks! ;)

*I was happy to receive a grant from Foundation for Rural Services and Waitsfield Champlain Valley Telecommunications for our school in November. It provided a SmartBoard for our classroom and it was installed last week! SO exciting! 

*A group of us are working on developing a list of ways to help regulate our feelings and emotions. Some pictures below show some students working really hard to work on the “List 3 Things” strategy. This method helps students to get back on track and approach learning in the green zone.

*We were able to connect with Scholastic Read Aloud Program called Story Voice on Friday to watch a read aloud about Lunar New Year read by the author herself.

*I hope you are able to make it to the Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday. It is a really fun event to benefit the Friends of Robinson.

Important Dates:

• 2/12 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45.

• 2;/15 - FoR Spaghetti Dinner - 5:30 at Robinson

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

Skyler's independent project to translate all of our names into Mandarin was a super special treat!

Date: 1/31/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We learned a new math game called “Array Cover Up” and read multiple stories that highlighted multiplication/division concepts. The Doorbell Rang was the favorite.

*We wrote paragraphs to highlight our understanding of the sun’s role in life in the sea. We learned about transition words to keep our writing clear and organized.

*We had our last session with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. This week we learned about the raccoon and had the opportunity to learn from a Vermont scientist, Brehan Furfey, who studies them. We learned a lot from this free program and we will write about our favorite animals next week.

*We had a Class Celebration on Thursday - the hot cocoa and the Rice Krispie Treats (thanks to Ryder’s Family!) were a delicious way to wrap up the month and the testing window.

*We had a Guest Teacher on Friday - Thanks, Miss. Pat! - and we learned about Lunar New Year celebrations that happened all over the world this week.

Important Dates:

• 2/12 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45.

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

February Lunch Menu

Ramp and domino construction crew. SO MANY thanks to the Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering for sponsoring our STEM carts. This is only the start of lots of creativity, exploration and FUN we will have thanks to your support of our project.

Date: 1/24/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*Students did an AMAZING job with the Winter session of MAP Testing. We are all done! 

*We read about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and discussed what he is remembered for and wrote about what we wanted our legacy to be. We also used water color paints to adorn a handprint to go along with those reflections. Look for them in the hallway by our classroom soon.

*We continued learning with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. This week we learned about the snowshoe hare and had the opportunity to learn from a Vermont scientist, Alyssa Bennet, who studies them. 

*We began painting our self portraits. We can’t wait to share them with you!

*While some students go to Cochran’s on Thursday afternoons, some of us stay at school. We are making ocean themed cardboard pinball machines! See assembly work below in the photos!

*We are going to have a Class Celebration next Thursday (1/30). If you’d like to send in a treat to go with our hot chocolate, let me know! 

Thanks for considering it.

Important Dates:

• 1/31 - January Scholastic Book Orders Due - Online or paper Link to order. 

• 2/12 - Early Release Day - Students Dismissed at 11:45

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

January Lunch Menu

Date: 1/17/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*Students did an AMAZING job working through the first session of the MAP testing. I was so, so proud of their focus, attention and perseverance with it. 

*We continued learning with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. This week we learned about bobcats and had the opportunity to learn from a Vermont scientist who studies them. Next week, we will look for deer, bobcat and snowshoe hare tracks.

*We added to our knowledge of the ocean habitat using a book called Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas to explore plant life in the sea and how that plant life impacts oxygen production for the earth.

*We started a project where we will research an ocean animal and create a cardboard pinball machine that highlights our learning. Stay tuned!.

*We have transferred our self portraits to a canvas this week and will start painting them next week. 

*This week in 4Winds, we learned about molecules and matter! Thank you, Priscilla & J’Amy!

*We will continue our second round of computer-based MAP testing on Wednesday and we will continue to work through math and literacy portions through 1/24. Please continue helping students to be well rested for these tests. Thanks for your help with this.

Important Dates:

• 1/20 & 1/21 - No school

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

January Lunch Menu

Date: 1/10/25

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We began making self-portraits that will be shared with our Pen Pals in Hawai’i and on display here at school. This project was funded through the Donors Choose Program which provided funding for the paints and canvas to make the creations.

*We continued our learning with Multiplication through exploring different ways to see groups of numbers and equations - we used diagrams, words and equations to share our thinking.

*We began four sessions of learning with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. This program is called “Scat & Tracks” and provides tons of information about native animals, promotes outdoor education, hands-on learning and is super interesting to this group. We will do the tracking portion of the experience this coming week as it was just too cold to go out on our usual Tuesday time for Outdoor Classroom. We will look for deer tracks and bobcat tracks.

*We FINALLY finished The Wild Robot Escapes - the second book in the series. We will move away from this series to focus on an ocean themed book for our read aloud now. In fact, we started a new, longer picture book called Life after Whale on Friday. Thanks for sharing this title, Ms. Ackerman, we’re loving it already! And, the book showcases the work of local, award winning illustrator, Jason Chin.

*We started learning about the power of the ocean and the multitude of creatures that inhabit it. Our studies will turn toward learning about how scientists study the ocean. We watched this video to kick off our learning.

*We are learning about the Zones of Regulation with Ms. Natalie which will help us to notice and name our feelings, find just right ways to manage our feelings and get really good at staying in a state that helps us be our best! Here’s a link to more information about the zones if you’re interested.

*We wrote paragraphs to show evidence about “The ocean is an important part of the earth.” It was great to see how many supporting details students have already learned through our small group reading opportunities.

*We will begin our second round of computer-based MAP testing beginning on TUESDAY and we will work through math and literacy portions through 1/24. It is super helpful for students to be well rested for these tests. Thanks for your help with this.

Important Dates:

• 1/20 & 1/21 - No school

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

Date: 1/3/25

Hello Families!

I hope your New Year is off to a great start! I’m glad the snow is back! It was a short week here in third grade. Everyone was happy to see one another and reconnect in the classroom.

Highlights from our week(s):

*We received pen pal letters from a class in Hawai’i and were able to begin writing back! That was such a highlight. Most kids couldn’t wait to start their letters!

*We wrapped up writing about Boris & Amos to see what we’ve learned about writing a strong paragraph.

*We started learning about multiplication through a new game called Loops & Groups and worked on an assessment to see what we already know about concepts that we will work on in the upcoming weeks.

*We will begin our second round of computer-based MAP testing beginning on 1/13 and we will work through math and literacy portions through 1/24. It is super helpful for students to be well rested for these tests. Thanks for your help with this.

Important Dates:

• 1/20 & 1/21 - No school

• 2/24 - 3/4 - February Break

January Lunch Menu

Spirit Week was full of bright cheer!

Date: 12/20/24

Hello Families!

I hope you’ve all had time to appreciate the season even with how busy things can get around this time, too. We have been working on a number of things in third grade this week so please read on!

I hope you all have a lovely winter holiday and break with friends and family. Thanks for sharing your students with me and with our school community at Robinson.

Many thanks for the class gifts - we are stocked and I really appreciate it! 💚

Highlights from our week(s):

*We are continuing to work in smaller groups with Miss Sara and Miss Kris’ help to boost our learning in math and reading.  

*We met with our buddies on Thursday and made a candy cane craft. We read the book The Candy Cane Fiasco, too. It was a sticky tale and we learned what a “fiasco” was all about.

*We worked on gifts for our family - we hope you enjoy them and cherish them for years to come!

*On Wednesday, we had some carolers knock at our door and we were treated to some holiday songs! The only thing missing was a snowy backdrop. Thanks, Miss Carina for organizing this!

*In Writing, we rehearsed a central message piece orally with a partner using a visual organizer and then wrote a final copy.

*We had an all school celebration on Friday! It was a “Drop Everything and…” celebration. So, first we dropped everything and we read a book, later on we dropped everything ate a sweet treat made by Miss Doreen & Amy, following that we dropped everything and had a dance party and finally, we dropped everything and watched a movie (Inside Out). Fantastic celebration! Thanks to the leadership and PBIS team for organizing this event!

*We worked with Miss Natalie to create a kindness tree. The students were so focused, involved and proud of their work with this sweet activity - thanks Natalie!

Important Dates/Events:

• 12/23 - 1/1 Winter Break

• Tutoring begins - Week of 1/13

• 1/20 & 1/21 - No school

January Lunch Menu LINK

Fresh Tracks and Rosy Cheeks in the Outdoor Classroom this week!

Date: 12/13/24

Hello Families!

So sorry to have missed the newsletter last week. It has been a very busy start to the month and I was out presenting about our amazing programming here at Robinson last Friday at the Vermont Alliance for the Social Studies statewide conference. 

I hope this newsletter finds you well and managing amid this up and down weather! 

Highlights from our week(s):

*We are reading content-rich, individualized books during our literacy time. One group is focusing on endangered ocean animals, another is learning about powerful magnets and yet another about nutrient dense soil. 

*We met with our buddies during the Morning Meeting on Wednesday to learn and share about what we do to take care of ourselves during busy and hectic times. It was a great session for young and old alike. Some kids like to garden while others watch TV and play games. The great news is that all students identified ways that work for them to combat stress and slow down.

*The Used Book Fair and the Scholastic Book Fairs were a success! Thanks so much for your support of these fantastic events. Many thanks to Project READ, Friends of Robinson and Mrs. Ackerman for spearheading and supporting these opportunities.

*In Writing, we converted our “central message” paragraphs about Amos & Boris into a Google doc using the voice text feature on the platform. 

*We started a unit in Science about Forces & Motion. We began learning about push/pull and balanced/unbalanced forces. We practiced these forces by pushing, pulling, twisting and rolling clay into a variety of creatures which are on display in our classroom. (See photos below.)

*We finished our Spelling Unit with a fluency check and will move on to the next unit in January.

*First snow of the season in the Outdoor Classroom on Tuesday was superb!

*We are working on a few special projects that you should keep an eye out for next week! 🎄

Important Dates/Events:

• 12/16 - 12/20 Spirit Week

• 12/23 - 1/1 Winter Break

Here's the link to the Sign Up Genius for the Friends of Robinson Giving Tree.

💙 Rainbow over RES! 💚

Date: 11/22/24

Hello Families!

Thanks for all you do to help your student to be the strong and healthy learner that they are! Also, many thanks for all the support of our school and staff. I am so thankful for the community of learning, connection and growth that we are all able to be a part of here in Starksboro. It is a special treasure.

I hope you all have a chance to rest, recharge, relax and connect with family and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday. 

See you in December! ⛄

Highlights from our week:

*We closed the loop with our fluent reading practice with an oral reading assessment and I’m SO happy to report that everyone improved as a result of the teaching and practice. Please take a look at your student’s “Reading Brain” diagram in the Friday Folder and ask them to explain how the brain works during the reading process. It’s pretty cool!

*We all made a “Thankful Turkey” which highlighted all that we’re thankful for these days - we needed more feathers we have so much gratitude!. If you’re at school, take a peek at the wall near the gym - it’s a sweet display. Thank you to Mrs. Bell for organizing this project.

*We learned more about empathy and kindness with Natalie during her class block on Tuesday.

*The Turkey Dinner on Thursday was SO SUPER delicious and the ambiance in the dining room was pretty special - votives and table centerpieces - WOW! So many thanks to Amy and Doreen and all the celebrity servers who made the meal so special, like always.

*In Writing, we continue to work on the structure to create a topic sentence, evidence example and elaboration. This week, we focused on the Evidence & Elaboration part of the structure. We applied it to the topic of the outdoor classroom and this painting. I am so proud of what our class has learned and is able to do with this writing unit.

*In one of our mentor texts, Amos & Boris, we discussed new vocabulary (words like phosphorescent, luminous, and gazing) and did a scavenger hunt for different kinds of words - nouns, verbs and adjectives.

*In Math, we continue to learn strategies to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. This week, we applied these skills in a variety of problem solving activities. We also learned a few math games and our favorite so far is Salute! It is a fun way to practice math facts. Maybe you could play after Thanksgiving dinner - ask your student to explain the directions. All you need is a deck of cards and three players.

*Attendance at school is so critical to student learning and consistent connection to our community. When students are absent for a day or two, they miss A LOT of learning. Our work here is paramount to their success now and in the future - even in third grade!  Obviously, there are reasons that students will be absent, like if they are sick. However, all time at school is valuable and in order for your student to learn as much as they can, they NEED to be in school.   

Important Dates/Events:

• 11/25-29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

• 12/2 - Picture Retake Day

• 12/4-6 - Scholastic Book Fair at RES

• 12/5-6 - Used Book Fair - sponsored by Project READ (see below for more info)

Information from Project READ about the Used Book Fair:

The Used Book Fair is right around the corner! Project READ is preparing for it and we need your help. We are collecting gently used children's books to be sold at the book fair for 25 cents each. If you have some books that you are interested in donating, please bring them to school and leave them right outside the office. We will be collecting books beginning on Monday 11/18 and will accept donations until Tuesday 12/3. 

The book fair will be on Thursday and Friday that week, 12/5 and 12/6. Thanks so much for helping to make our used book fair a success! If you have any questions, please contact Beth Sands at beth.sands@mausd.org.

Please note: We are not collecting any adult books, videos or books with a religious theme. 

Scholastic Book Fair Information from Mrs. Ackerman:

The RES Scholastic Book Fair is coming on Dec 4th - 6th. Students visit the fair during library class and when there is open library time. It will also be open for a Friends and Families Night from 3:15 - 6:00 on Thursday 5th.

In-School Schedule

Wednesday Morning & Thursday All Day: Open Library - individual students

Friday: Library Class - 6th Hopper, K Cogswell, 5th Reid, 3rd Lake, 1st Sands & 2nd

Lane, and 4th Hahr.

Familes can also shop online at https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/robinsonelementaryschool 

If you don’t want to send your student with money, you can use eWallet.  It is a safe, cashless way for your child to shop at the Book Fair.

The goal of the book fair is to promote reading. In addition, a portion 

of all purchases will benefit our school by generating books for the 

school library and funds for library projects.

Friends of Robinson is donating one book to every student in the school. If you want to help purchase a book for a student, please donate to our RES Library eWallet.

Please email erin.ackerman@mausd.org if you have any questions.

Kindness conversations on Wednesday - World Kindness Day, 2024

11/15/24

Hello Families!

We walked to the Food Shelf today. Robinson is donating more than 1,100 items to stock the shelves for the upcoming holiday season - and beyond.

Highlights from our week:

*We watched this video and also this one on Monday. We wrote our own letters of gratitude to Veterans and colored some pictures that we will send to an organization that supports soldiers in the military.

*We learned about rocks and geology during our 4 Winds session on Tuesday.

*In our Buddy Morning Meeting on Wednesday, we celebrated World Kindness Day by reading Each Kindness, discussing in small groups acts of kindness that we have done or that we have appreciated, and colored small cards to thank others who have been kind to us. 

*We learned about what makes a family with our school counselor, Natalie.

*In Writing, we used the painting “The Boating Party” by Mary Cassatt for inspiration to explore a writing structure called TEE - Topic sentence, Evidence, Elaboration. We will use this structure to share our ideas about this famous painting.

*We read a new book, Amos and Boris, which allowed us to explore rich vocabulary, a theme of friendship and some ocean information. And, we saw this video to get our brains thinking about life in the ocean. WOW!

*In Math, we continue to learn strategies to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. We practiced and shared about strategies that work for us.

*In Literacy, we continued practicing our fluency with a “milk & cookies” routine. EVERYONE in third grade improved their reading accuracy and reading rate during this two week session. So, obviously, we will celebrate next week with an actual milk & cookies party! 

Hope you have a super weekend!

Kerry

Important Dates/Events:

• 11/15 - Book Orders Due - Paper or Online - code is H2M3D

• 11/25-29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

• 12/4-6 - Scholastic Book Fair at RES

• 12/5-6 - Used Book Fair - sponsored by Project READ (see below for more info)

Information from Project READ:

The Used Book Fair is right around the corner! Project READ is preparing for it and we need your help. We are collecting gently used children's books to be sold at the book fair for 25 cents each. If you have some books that you are interested in donating, please bring them to school and leave them right outside the office. We will be collecting books beginning on Monday 11/18 and will accept donations until Tuesday 12/3. The book fair will be on Thursday and Friday that week, 12/5 and 12/6. Thanks so much for helping to make our used book fair a success! If you have any questions, please contact Beth Sands at beth.sands@mausd.org.

Please note: We are not collecting any adult books, videos or books with a religious theme.

Date: 11/8/24

Hello Families!

Many thanks for sending in so much food for the Food Drive. It is so generous. We will be collecting until Thursday of next week and delivering on Friday. We really appreciate your contributions.

I’m looking to replace the bread machine I use to make each students “Birthday Bread” in the classroom. Mine conked out this week so we couldn’t make a loaf for Skyler or Matthew. 😢 If you have one kicking around the basement that you’d like to offload, let me know. I’d love to continue this tradition!

Highlights from our week:

*We hosted Sen. Ruth Hardy and Rep. Mari Cordes on Friday morning. They shared about their jobs in our state government. It was cool to hear about the branches of government from people who actually work there! We also made a poster to show what our own platform would be if we were president. See the sketches below.

*In Writing, we used the painting “The Wave off Kanagawa” by Hokusai for inspiration to write a story about what was going on in the painting. We also made a directed drawing of our own wave this afternoon.

*Along those lines, we began a new unit about the ocean with a “book tasting” event on Wednesday. We “tasted” all the books that we will learn with in the upcoming weeks. And, we really tasted some sea-themed treats! 

*In Math, we began our unit on learning strategies to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. We practiced expressing our math thinking in words, visuals and numbers in a few problem solving activities, too.

*In Literacy, we continued practicing our fluency with a “milk & cookies” routine. It was fun to read with a partner, to reflect on the text, and learn new ideas from our reading. Thanks to Miss Bove and Miss Sara for sharing their expertise with this!

*We read a poem called “The Sea Wind” to explore new vocabulary and poetry structure. We also uncovered the main idea of the poem was to show how the sea can be both terrible and beautiful. Ask your student to tell you what “shoon” and “stately” mean. 

Hope you have a super weekend!

Kerry

Important Dates/Events:

• 11/13 - Early Release

• 11/14 - Last Day of the Food Drive

• 11/15 - Food Delivery to Starksboro Food Shelf

• 11/15 - Book Orders Due - Paper or Online - code is H2M3D

• 11/25-29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Special Class Schedule:

Mon: Music

Tues: Outdoor Classroom/4Winds (once per month beginning on 10/1)

Wed: Art & Wellness (sneakers needed)

Thurs: Wellness (sneakers needed)

Fri: Library

Date: 11/2/24

Hello Families!

Many thanks for coming in for Parent Conferences this past week. It was so great to share about our learning at school with all of you! I know it is one more thing on the list, but, I appreciate your time and the support of your student. If you weren’t able to attend on the days offered, I’d still like to meet with you so keep an eye out for an email from me.

Thank you so much for sending in goodies for our Halloween Party yesterday! It was just perfect. We had a total blast having treats, seeing the different scarecrows and parading around the gym. I hope that everyone had a great night of trick-or-treating and a quiet Friday.

Highlights from our week:

*We met with our 1st Grade Buddies on Tuesday and made Halloween-themed puppets.

*In Writing and Science, we worked on communicating what we’d learned about bats. We studied all about them and then created short paragraphs to tell what we learned. We included visuals, too. 

*In Math, we wrapped up our work with rounding numbers, expressing numbers in different ways, and understanding larger numbers.

*In Literacy, we continued practicing our fluency and spelling skills. We were able to complete the first unit in our UFLI program. Wahoo!

*To celebrate Halloween, we learned how to fold origami bats and we did an experiment about dissolving Candy Corn. Turns out, water and white vinegar facilitated dissolution the fastest!

Hope you have a super weekend!

Kerry

Important Dates/Events:.

• 11/25-29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Special Class Schedule:

Mon: Music

Tues: Outdoor Classroom/4Winds (once per month beginning on 10/1)

Wed: Art & Wellness (sneakers needed)

Thurs: Wellness (sneakers needed)

Fri: Library

Date: 10/25/24

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*What FUN Wheels Day Celebration was on Wednesday! Not to mention the Scarecrow building event that occurred after MARS on Wednesday. It was phenomenal. Please see the pictures below.

*In Literacy, we worked on learning about captions, creating our own captions, and answering comprehension questions about a bunny named Poppy Rose who loves to hike. 

*In Math, we worked on comparing numbers, explaining our thinking using words and visuals. We also practiced different ways to show numbers.

*In Reading, we continued practicing our fluency and spelling skills.

*We used watercolors to paint our three line landscapes. Be sure to check them out when you come in for conferences next week!

*We learned about how words matter and treating people the way we want to be treated makes all the difference.

*This inspired a STEM challenge to use simple materials - a toothpick, a paperclip, a coffee stirrer, a small tube of toothpaste and a popsicle stick - to try and get toothpaste back in a tube after it’s gotten completely squeezed out. It was a fun activity and reminded us that once our words are out in the world, it’s hard to get them back in. So, best to think before we talk and make repairs when we need to.

Hope you have a super weekend!

Kerry

Important Dates/Events:.

• 10/28 & 10/30 - Parent Conferences (sign ups here) The access code is: 489023.

• 11/31 - Halloween Parade & Party - starting at 1:45. Please sign up to send in a treat per the information above if you’re able.

• 11/1 - No School for Students

• 11/25-29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Special Class Schedule:

Mon: Music

Tues: Outdoor Classroom/4Winds (once per month beginning on 10/1)

Wed: Art & Wellness (sneakers needed)

Thurs: Wellness (sneakers needed)

Fri: Library

Date: 10/18/24

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*We had our 4 Winds session for October with our amazing volunteer teachers, J’Amy and Priscilla. We learned all about erosion and even tried to slow erosion by building our own creations out of natural materials. 

*In Literacy, we worked hard to practice writing complete sentences and linking those sentences into a paragraph about our ideal Saturday.

*In Math, we worked on reading, writing and building large numbers and learned a new math game called, “Round and Add 10.”

*In Reading, we continued practicing our fluency and spelling skills. We worked on our Lexia goal and almost half of us completed our goal for the week.

*Many thanks to Miss Jill and Miss Kristen for being our guest teachers on Wednesday so that I could go to the Vermont Science Teacher Association Conference at Sugarbush and share about a STEM Project our current sixth graders worked on last year. It was so fun to represent Rockin’ Robins at the Conference. Go, Robinson!

*We participated in a National Geographic Explorers Zoom with Fernando Trujillo on Thursday afternoon. We all learned a lot about a unique species of Pink Dolphins in the Amazon rainforest. 

PLEASE send back the 3rd Grade Behavior sheet back with your child next week. Or, you can use this sheet.

Hope you have a super weekend!

Kerry

Important Dates/Events:.

• 10/21 - Picture Day (flier in Friday Folder)

• 10/25 - Book Orders Due - Paper or Online Orders

• 10/28 & 10/30 - Parent Conferences (sign ups here) The access code is: 489023.

• 11/1 - No School for Students

10/11/24

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*The Wild Robot movie was the thrill of the whole week! We had such a blast at the movie. What a way to celebrate our first six weeks together!

*In Literacy, we finished our last practice lesson with Thank You, Mr. Falker before we start our first Humanities Unit all about the Ocean.

*We generated a list of issues that matter to 3rd graders that went along with our work on rights, laws and the government processes. Then, we created questions to pose to the lieutenant governor candidates in their debate on VPR on Wednesday. One of our questions actually made the broadcast! You can hear the question and mention of our class and school within the first few minutes of the start. Can’t wait to share it with the class tomorrow.

Important Dates/Events:.

• 10/21 - Picture Day 

• 10/25 - Book Orders Due - Paper or Online Orders

• 10/28 & 10/30 - Parent Conferences (sign ups here) The access code is: 489023.

• 11/1 - No School for Students

10/4/24

Hello Families!

Highlights from our week:

*THANK YOU so much for coming to Open House last night! It was so fun to see students confidently leading you around our learning so far this year! I really appreciate your support and involvement. It means a lot!

*In Math, we continued work on place value by learning about rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and nearest 100. We also learned a cool game called, “Keep, Flip, Turn” and a two others called, “Round Ball 10 and Round Ball 100.”

*In Literacy, we all learned how to use the voice typing feature in Google Docs to turn our written work into a professional piece. It was exciting. We continued with our spelling practice and burned through a few more chapters of The Wild Robot Escapes. We also worked on fluency and comprehension using our UFLI spelling resources.

*Instead of Outdoor Classroom this week, we were lucky to welcome our 4 Winds Teachers, J’Amy & Priscilla. We had the kickoff session for our year-long study: "EARTH: Exploring Our Physical World.”

*We met with David Radcliffe on Wednesday who was visiting from Virginia. He has traveled the world to help people and the natural world coexist with respect and ease. His stories are SO interesting - especially all the animals he’s encountered. From grizzlies in Alaska to orangutans in Borneo, we loved his presentation.

Have a super weekend!

Kerry

Important Dates/Events:.

• Wednesday, October 9th- Early Release - Dismissal at 11:45

• 10/10 and 10/11- No School for students

• 10/21 - Picture Day (flier in Friday Folder)

• 10/25 - Book Orders Due - Paper or Online Orders

Special Class Schedule:

Mon: Music

Tues: Outdoor Classroom/4Winds (once per month beginning on 10/1)

Wed: Art & Wellness (sneakers needed)

Thurs: Wellness (sneakers needed)

Fri: Library

Date: 9/27/24

Hello Families!

Here are a few highlights from our week:

*Our trip to Button Bay was so super fantastic! The weather was divine, the activities were engaging and fun! 

*In Math, we continued work in place value by learning new games to practice our skills and learned about how to express and to manipulate numbers in expanded form.

*In Literacy, we finished our MAP Testing, started our first “Humanities” Unit with the mentor text, Thank You, Mr. Falker. Ask your child to share the plot, setting, problem and solution of this book. We worked on spelling and fluency, too.

*In the Outdoor Classroom on Tuesday, we discussed the natural resources that are represented in that part of our school. We also had some Free Explore time.  

*In Community Building, we continued our work with the Constitution by talking about the Bill of Rights and the first 10 Amendments. We touched on some of the major amendments - freedom of speech, religion, assembly, abolition of slavery, women’s right to vote, and so on. We played a game called “Fair, Unfair or It Depends” which fostered rich dialogue around a variety of scenarios. Then, we discussed privileges, rights and the limits on those rights. 

Important Dates/Events:

• Thursday, October 3rd- Open House 6 - 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, October 9th- Early Release - Dismissal at 11:45

• 10/10 and 10/11- No School for students

• 10/21 - Picture Day (look for a flyer coming soon)

Special Class Schedule:

Mon: Music

Tues: Outdoor Classroom/4Winds (once per month beginning on 10/1)

Wed: Art & Wellness (sneakers needed)

Thurs: Wellness (sneakers needed)

Fri: Library

Date: 9/20/24

Hello Families!

Here are a few highlights from our week:

*In Math, we began our work with Place Value. Using a variety of manipulaties, we explored number values to the 100’s and beyond. We learned a few games that we will help strengthen and challenge our number sense knowledge during WIN Menu and Math Menu times that will *hopefully* start next week. 

*In Literacy, we continued reviewing the “silent/magic e” in spelling. We started the Reading portion of our MAP test and hope to finish it next week. We wrote about what brings us peace as talked about where we don’t find peace in the world. We colored peace signs and peace doves after reading Ferdinand about a peaceful bull who just wants to sit and smell the flowers not enter the bullfighting circuit.

*In Wild Robot news, we worked on transforming our animal research into a paragraph format and starting with a “hook” to get our readers interested. A personal favorite that was created in our class was: “Have you ever had trouble with a bear getting into your trash?” We all wanted to read the rest of that paragraph! 

*In the Outdoor Classroom on Tuesday, we used our all weather science notebooks to sketch something of meaning from our sit spots and shared them around the fire pit. We were practicing the skills of observing and communicating - just like Roz did when she arrived on the island in the Wild Robot. 

*In Community Building, we finally attempted to “Save Fred” from sure demise and we were all successful. It was fun to see students working together on a challenge. Also, we talked about the Constitution of the United States and how it is upheld by the three branches of government in honor of Constitution Day on Tuesday. We participated in an online workshop with the Eisenhower Foundation about the branches. Then, we wrote our own rules and expectations as “We the students in 3rd grade, in order to be safe, have fun and learn MUST…” As you can see from the pictures below, we collaborated with a friend to illustrate our idea for the Class Constitution.

*The 3/4 Technology Contract went home last week. I have received a few but I’m missing quite a few. It’s important for you to discuss the contract with your child and send it back with your signature. If you need another copy, please let me know.

*I have sent home some volunteer registration forms. If you are interested in helping out in the classroom or on field trips, it’s important that you go through the paperwork requirements so that you can join us.

*Thanks for returning the book orders on time. The book box should arrive next week. I appreciate your support of this program - I was able to get 3 books for our class thanks to your family orders!

*We are excited to have our first Field Trip of the year coming up Wednesday, September 25th. 

*I sent home a lunch order form for the trip. Please return it on Monday September 21st!

The entire Robinson School will be traveling to Button Bay State Park by bus, leaving at 9:15 and returning at 2:30. At this time, we would like to extend an invitation for families to join us there. We are getting a discounted fee to the park, so the entrance fee on that day is 50 cents per person. More details to follow!

Have a super weekend - Happy Fall! ☀️🍁

Other Important Dates/Events:

• Wednesday, September 25 - Button Bay Field Trip

• Thursday, October 3rd- Open House 6 - 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, October 9th- Early Release - Dismissal at 11:45

• 10/10 and 10/11- No School for students

Special Class Schedule:

Mon: Music

Tues: Outdoor Classroom/4Winds (once per month beginning on 10/1)

Wed: Art & Wellness (sneakers needed)

Thurs: Wellness (sneakers needed)

Fri: Library

VISION SCREENING on 9/23/24 Monday

The Addison County local Lions Club will be at Robinson Elementary school to screen the vision of students in Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Please Make sure to have your child wear and have their glasses with them on Monday if they use them. 

The Lion's Club members will be using a technology that allows them to simply take a ‘picture’ of your student’s eyes using the Welch Allyn Spot Vision Screener (SPOT) from a distance of 3 feet. This device measures the student’s pupils and alignment.  The device then compares the student’s eyes against the same age norms and will tell us if the student’s vision is within comparative norms, or if the student has one of six common vision impairments. If an impairment is detected it will indicate which impairment and make a recommendation to seek a full eye exam from a professional. 

If a student’s vision is within normal range, the results will be written in their health file and no further action will be required. If a student does not pass a printout will be sent home with the results. 

Thanks….I’ll be seeing you Monday

Nurse Leah

Date: 9/13/24

Hello Families!

Here are a few highlights from our week:

*In Math, we learned about the MAP Assessment and practiced using the tools available on the test. We will wrap up Math testing next week and begin ELA Testing. The MAP is administered three times per year. 

*In Literacy, we completed our first week of UFLI Phonics/Spelling instruction with great support from Ms. Sara. We even had our first spelling test today! We wrote about people in our lives who are brave, strong, and helpful after reading the book Fireboat. This book highlights the important role the John J. Harvey fireboat played during the days following 9/11. 

*In Wild Robot News, we learned how to access Google Classroom and the World Book Online Platform to research an animal of our choice from the book. I think this was a highlight of the week for our class. 

*In the Outdoor Classroom on Tuesday, we selected a third grade sit spot and shared some unique features of our spots.

*In Community Building, we wrote about our Hopes & Dreams for third grade and beyond. We had our first class meeting on Tuesday.

*We made final copies of our “All About Me” posters and we can’t wait for you to see them at Open House on 10/3.

*We went over our 3/4 Technology Contract. Please take some time to read it over with your student and send it back to school with your signature.

*I have sent home some volunteer registration forms. If you are interested in helping out in the classroom or on field trips, it’s important that you go through the paperwork requirements so that you can join us. I’m hoping to get something together for when the Wild Robot movie comes out so it’d be great to have that sorted out in advance!

*Please return book orders to me or submit them via the Scholastic Book Order Website by 9/20. 

*We are excited to have our first Field Trip of the year coming up Wednesday, September 25th.

The entire Robinson School will be traveling to Button Bay State Park by bus, leaving at 9:15 and returning at 2:30. At this time, we would like to extend an invitation for families to join us there. We are getting a discounted fee to the park, so the entrance fee on that day is 50 cents per person. More details to follow!

Have a super weekend - enjoy the sunshine! ☀️

Kerry

Other Important Dates/Events:

• Thursday, October 3rd- Open House 6 - 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, October 9th- Early Release - Dismissal at 11:45

• 10/10 and 10/11- No School for students

Special Class Schedule:

Mon: Music

Tues: Outdoor Classroom/4Winds (once per month beginning on 9/17)

Wed: Art & Wellness (sneakers needed)

Thurs: Wellness (sneakers needed)

Fri: Library

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

News from Ms. Natalie, Our School Counselor:

Counselor’s Corner

Hi Parents,

I have spent the past three weeks getting to know your students and have had a great time doing so. This week, I started guidance lessons in the class, where we discussed what a school counselor does, how they can get in contact with me, and started thinking about ourselves in the future. I will continue to be in their classes, teaching or observing throughout the year. 

Now that your students know how to get in contact with me, you should too! I am available in many different ways: you can email me at natalie.lynch@mausd.org, you can call my direct line at 802-453-3069, and feel free to leave a voicemail. You can reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have about your student, or just to say hi!

I look forward to hearing from you!

Ms. Natalie

Date: 6/14/24

Thank you so much for sharing your children with me this year. We had fun learning together in fifth grade! 

Last week, we had an amazing visit with Marek Bennett, who lead us through a mini comic workshop all about the Civil War Era. If you missed the slideshow, here it is!

This week, we wrapped things up by:

*writing some thank you notes to Marek, Tucker at the Rokeby and Mike from the Reenactment Event

*creating Potato Athletes with Opening Ceremony outfits and competition uniforms in order to participate in the Potato Olympics 

*participating in an AMAZING carnival on Wednesday - popcorn, fortune tellers, face painting, bubbles, games, snow cones - it was phenomenal.

*eating french fries with lots of ketchup & watching a movie

*honoring and appreciating one another through a “3 Kind Words” activity

*watching this slideshow to remember the highlights of our year in fifth grade

Have a safe and happy summer! 

Don’t forget to check out the Bookwagon when it’s in town! 

Love,
Mrs. Lake

Robinson in the News::

Amy Johnston’s Spotlight in the Addison Independent.

An article from the Christian Science Monitor about small schools in Vermont. Great photos from Robinson.

6/7/24

What an amazing experience for our class last week. 

Marek Bennett finished his residency with us on Wednesday afternoon by handing out signed copies of his first book in the Freeman Colby Series to our class.

While he was with us, he led us through the process of creating a mini-comic from start to finish.

Each student got personalized feedback, pointed encouragement, and unlimited inspiration as they created their mini-comics around our Civil War Study.

It was truly a gift for all of us. The students were engaged, enlivened and enthusiastic throughout the whole process. 

The class set of mini-comics will go home with each student and will be available at the Robinson School Library, our Starksboro Public Library and on the Project READ Bookwagon this summer. 

This project wouldn't have happened without the funding provided by the 5 Towns Friends of the Arts and the Tari Shattuck Education Foundation.

Important Events:

Tuesday   ELP/MILO Bus Final Celebration, 3-5; Retirement Party, 5-7

Wednesday   6th grade Card Ceremony; Carnival/Picnic Lunch

Thursday       6th Grade Graduation, 6:00

Friday      Last School Day - 1/2 Day; Step Up Day, 10:00-10:30; 11:45 Dismissal

Date: 5/31/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• During our short week, we learned about primary sources used to piece together historical information like letters, diaries, photos and maps.

• We read letters from Oliver Johnson to Newell Robinson discussing helping a freedom seeker named “Simon” come to Ferrisburgh. 

• We learned about adding and subtracting decimals.

• We have quite a Typing Club Class Competition going on.

• We completed an activity using our Makey Makey circuits to test what is conductive and non-conductive. 

• We had a FANTASTIC time on our field trip on Friday to Rokeby Museum and to the Civil War Reenactment. It was such a gorgeous day full of fun learning. Many thanks to our chaperones Ali, Lisa and Leah! And to Tucker at the Rokeby and Mike with Champlain Valley Historical Reenactors Group.

• A few of the Kindness 101 clips from this week were this one and also this one. 

Please join your friends and neighbors for a party to thank Principal Edorah Fraser and Guidance Counselor Amy Johnston for their wonderful service to the children of Robinson School, and to wish them well in the future. We and our children have benefited so much from Edorah's and Amy's help and advice over the years and we will miss them greatly. The party will be in the Robinson School Multipurpose Room on Tuesday, June 11th, from 5-7pm. We'll celebrate with cake, cookies, lemonade, and a short program at 5:30. Please come one and all - children, parents, grandparents, and community members - to show our appreciation for these two dedicated educators who have been such an important part of our Robinson School community. Please save the date and join us on June 11th!

Important Dates:

6/4         Robinson All-School Concert, 6:30 at Mt. Abe

6/12 Card Ceremony; Carnival/Picnic Lunch

6/13 6th Grade Graduation

6/14 Last School Day - 1/2 Day; Step Up Day

Date: 5/17/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We (almost) finished the MAP test for ELA and everyone worked hard.

• We had our final 4Winds session at Baldwin Pond up on Big Hollow Road. A million thanks to Jared and Priscilla for teaching us all year in all types of weather. 4Winds is such a fantastic program. Additionally, thanks for including us in the Puppet Show Performances every month. It was a highlight for sure!

• We continued reading the novel called The River Between Us which connects to the Civil War Study.

• We made “hard tack” which is a “bread” that was commonly eaten by soldiers in the Civil War. It needs to harden for a few days so we’ll try it and report back next week. Thanks for helping us to bake it, Doreen!

• Using the Canva designed posters, we learned how to use Makey Makey circuit technology as well as the Scratch online coding program to add audio to our Food Waste Poster.

• Limitless thanks to the Toshiba Foundation for Education that funded my grant proposal for these Makey Makey Circuit Kits. They are going to inspire Robinson students for years to come!

• Our First Grade Buddies came to see the Fruit Piano and Bongo Drums we created using the Makey Makey Technology and we shared our posters with them. Super fun!

• This week, we watched the Tomatosphere Project tomatoes sprout and grow! The “Y” seeds seem to be growing more quickly. Does that mean they were in space or not?!?!

• As part of our Food Waste Project, we are collecting data about how much food we waste after lunch.

• We had a visit from David Radcliff who works with people around the world to care for the world. We learned so much about the environment and amazing animals and plants from his visit. Thank you!

• We will see if the amount changes as we become more informed about the impact that food waste has on our environment.

• A few of the Kindness 101 clips from this week were this one and also this one. 

Important Dates:

5/27 Memorial Day, No School

6/4 Robinson All-School Concert, 6:30 at Mt. Abe

6/12 Card Ceremony; Carnival/Picnic Lunch

6/13 6th Grade Graduation

6/14 Last School Day - 1/2 Day; Step Up Day

Date: 5/17/24

Thank you so much for all the appreciation this week! From yummy meals to a free teacher supply store, we all felt appreciated and celebrated! Thanks!

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We finished the MAP test for math and everyone worked hard.

• We continued reading the novel called The River Between Us which connects to the Civil War Study.

• We learned how to use the Canva online design platform to make posters highlighting learning and action advice about Food Waste.

• We worked in partner groups or alone using a variety of online resources to research significant battles of the Civil War. Next week, we will present them to one another. 

• We worked on ordering decimals and rounding decimals to the tenths, hundredths and thousandths place. 

• We completed the Written Expression Assessment with Mrs. Cray on Thursday.

• We planted tomato seeds from the Tomatosphere Project. We are hypothesizing about if space travel will effect the growing process.

• A few of the Kindness 101 clips from this week were this one and also this one. 

Important Dates:

5/21 4Winds Hike to the pond on Big Hollow Road

5/23 Golden Dome Tournament

5/27 Memorial Day, No School

We made this class painting to connect with our whole school reading of the book, Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race.

Date: 4/19/24

Other highlights from our week:

• We are still working on decimals in math and learning how to put decimals in order from largest to smallest. It is helping us to practice using the place value after the decimal point.

• We had a blast at the STEM Festival put on by ECHO on Tuesday morning in our own gym - it was so much fun!

• We continued to work on classroom community and our capacity to be positive and productive students. This week, we worked hard with composure or self control.

• We finally watched “The League” which is the documentary of the NBL to wrap up our work with We are the Ship. We wrote our final claim piece with direct quotes or evidence from resources we’ve used throughout the unit.

• We made a class painting to connect with our whole school reading of the book, Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race. We loved seeing everyone’s response to the book during MARS on Wednesday. You can see our painting below.

• Our Kindness 101 clips from this week were this one and also this one.

Important Dates:

4/22-26 Vacation Week

5/1 Early Release Day

5/1-8 Atria Collective (formerly Womensafe) Lessons

5/6 All 5/6 Chorus rehearsal at Mt. Abe - 10:00 departure with Miss Carina

5/7-9 Fine Arts Festival 

5/23 Golden Dome Tournament

5/27 Memorial Day, No School

Date: 4/12/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We read the book Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson which led us to working with prefixes and suffixes and how they work with roots/base words to inform word meaning.

• We started working on decimals in math specifically place value with decimals.

• We continued to work on classroom community and our capacity to be positive and productive students. This week, we reflected on empathy and engagement.

• We had the opportunity to learn from author Natalie Kinsey Warnock and our class showed great composure and respect during the presentation.

• We are wrapping up the posters we are making to highlight notable changemakers in the world. Next week, we will install the circuits to bring them to life.

• Our Kindness 101 clips from this week centered on the idea of empathy. We saw this clip and also this one.

4/15 Pizza Delivery Week

4/16 ECHO Stem Festival; Budget Revote (at the Town Office)

4/22-26 Vacation Week

5/1 Early Release Day

5/1-8 Atria Collective (formerly Womensafe) Lessons

5/7-9 Fine Arts Festival 

5/23 Golden Dome Tournament

5/27 Memorial Day, No School

Life by the Lake

Date: 3/22/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• How is the “Read to Feed” Fundraiser going? Click this link.

• We finished the ELA Portion of the VTCAP! 🎉 

• This week, I’d like to show “The League” in our class as a culmination of our work with Kadir Nelson’s text, We are the Ship. It is rated PG and here is more information about the documentary from Common Sense Media. Please let me know if you have questions about this resource.

• I sent home notes for families to fill out in support of their students during testing. Here’s a link to the letter if you didn’t see it. If sending an email is easier, just send me an email and I can print it out.

• We continued working with the standard algorithm in math using multi-digit numbers. 

• We began letters for our Hawaiian Pen Pals since we got a new shipment recently!

• We used a few online research platforms - Gale in Context & WorldBook Online - to do some preliminary searching through a list of people that we will pick from to craft a speech about in the coming weeks. Here’s the list of people we are selecting from.

• Literacy Game Night--Project READ will be hosting a fun evening on April 4th from 5:45-7:15. There will be a free dinner provided followed by time to play games with family and friends. The evening will end by raffling off nine fun new games. Hope you and your family can make it!

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Other information:

*It is REALLY important that students get good sleep during our testing window - and always - but especially during this month. It will TRULY help them to do their best and feel more accomplished with the experience!

*During VTCAP Testing, I give out Hershey Kisses and Mint Lifesavers as well as provide extra, healthy snacks. If you’re able, we’d love donations of these items to get us through the testing window which runs from March 18-29 (we don’t test on ALL those dates, don’t worry!)

*Little Cesar’s Pizza Fundraising Flyers went home in last week’s Friday Folders. Please help the cause if you can. All the funds raised just go right back to our student body activities and materials thanks to the amazing organizing and support of the  Friends of Robinson Group.

*Here’s the link to buy tickets to the Addams Family show at Mt. Abe that’s coming up next week!

Important Dates:

3/18-29 VT CAP State Testing Window

3/25 All School Flynn Trip - Peking Acrobats

3/26 Principal Candidates at RES - 5-6:30 in the Library Community Forum

4/16 Budget Revote (at the Town Office)

4/3 Early Release Day

4/4 Literacy Game Night

4/8 Half Day - Solar Eclipse

Date: 3/15/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We met with our first grade buddies to learn about and to get started on our “Read to Feed” Fundraiser that we’re going to do for the month of March. Check out the flier in the Friday folder or click this link.

• We finished reviewing the format and tools of the three VTCAP tests we will be doing in the coming weeks. 

• We had our 4 Winds Session all about birds. As always, our amazing grade 5 actors presented a puppet show for the ages. Complete with fancy voices and all.

• We learned about integration of Major League Baseball and Jackie Robinson. Along these lines, in the next week or two, I’d like to show “The League” in our class as a culmination of our work with Kadir Nelson’s text, We are the Ship. It is rated PG and here is more information about the documentary from Common Sense Media. Please let me know if you have questions about this resource.

• We used this photograph to practice evidence finding and inference skills. 

• Since we begin our VT Cap Testing next week. I’m sending home notes that I’d love you to fill out to let your student know you’re behind them for this time, like always. Here’s a link to the letter if you didn’t see it. And, if you can’t find the sheet you can fill out to send back, you can always email me and I can print out your note of encouragement.

• We began the design process to address the physical systems in the cafeteria as we try to limit food waste further in our school. Stay tuned to see some of our AmAzInG designs!

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Other information:

*It is REALLY important that students get good sleep during our testing window - and always - but especially during this month. It will TRULY help them to do their best and feel more accomplished with the experience!

*During VTCAP Testing, I give out Hershey Kisses and Mint Lifesavers as well as provide extra, healthy snacks. If you’re able, we’d love donations of these items to get us through the testing window which runs from March 18-29 (we don’t test on ALL those dates, don’t worry!)

*Little Cesar’s Pizza Fundraising Flyers went home in last week’s Friday Folders. Please help the cause if you can. All the funds raised just go right back to our student body activities and materials thanks to the amazing organizing and support of the  Friends of Robinson Group.

*Here’s the link to buy tickets to the Addams Family show at Mt. Abe that’s coming up next week!

Important Dates:

3/18-29 VT CAP State Testing Window

3/20 Cochran’s (weather permitting)

3/22 In-Service Day - No School

3/25 All School Flynn Trip - Peking Acrobats

3/26 Budget Revote (at the Town Office)

4/3 Early Release Day

4/4 Literacy Game Night

4/8 Half Day - Solar Eclipse

Date: 3/8/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We met with our first grade buddies for some reading time. 

• We had a safety drill on Wednesday and the kids did a great job.

• We had a sneak peek at The Addams Family Musical from some performers from Mt. Abe at MARS. Here’s the link to buy tickets to the show!

• We began practicing the math section of the VTCAP testing since that is coming up later this month. This upcoming week, we will familiarize ourselves with the ELA and Science sections of the assessment.

• We participated in a workshop given by Arlee to learn about microaggressions and slurs as well as protected classes. The session helped us to further understand how words hold power and it reminded us of our responsibility to offer words that welcome, affirm and support everyone.

• We created a compare/contrast claim to share our new learning about life as an African American baseball player in the Latin American leagues. This writing involved synthesizing a lot of our skills and I was SO impressed with the work students produced!

• In Science, we brainstormed some ways that we can curb food waste and be leaders around this topic at school. Stay tuned…

• We had an All School Celebration on Friday afternoon in the warm sunshine - way to FLY Robins!

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Other information:

*It is REALLY important that students get good sleep during our testing window - and always - but especially during this month. It will TRULY help them to do their best and feel more accomplished with the experience!

*During VTCAP Testing, I give out Hershey Kisses and Mint Lifesavers as well as provide extra, healthy snacks. If you’re able, we’d love donations of these items to get us through the testing window which runs from March 18-29 (we don’t test on ALL those dates, don’t worry!)

*Little Cesar’s Pizza Fundraising Flyers went home in Friday Folders. Please help the cause if you can. All the funds raised just go right back to our student body activities and materials thanks to the amazing organizing and support of the  Friends of Robinson Group.

Important Dates:

3/18-29 VT CAP State Testing Window

3/22 In-Service Day - No School

3/25 All School Flynn Trip - Peking Acrobats

Date: 2/29/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• Thank you ALL so much for making the time to connect about your student - it is always so great to share all the amazing things we do at school in a more detailed and individualized fashion.

• We moved on to a new unit in math - Wahoo! - It’s all about multiplication and division with multi digit numbers.

• We got new Fluency passages and dove into new vocabulary words we found in the passages. After researching the meanings of the new words, we shared them in a double circle routine. See photo below.

• It has been so exciting to have some students independently asking to access the thesaurus as they write in any subject so that they can make their writing stronger and more interesting. 

• We learned about a variety of NBL players in a new chapter of We Are the Ship that highlighted the amazing athleticism of players in the league. We wrote about their accomplishments through a Baseball Card format.

• In Science, we talked about and food waste and ways we could reduce the amount of food that we waste at school. We acknowledged that we do a pretty good job of it but we can always be a positive influence for change to do better. 

• We learned about annotating text to remember information as we write and to practice picking out connected information for our work.

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Important Dates:

3/2 Starksboro Town Meeting

3/6 Early Release Day

3/22 In-Service Day - No School

3/25 All School Flynn Trip - Peking Acrobats

Practicing fluency in 5th Grade. (above)

Date: 2/16/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We had an awesome Valentine’s Day Party on Wednesday. Thank you SO much to Aiden, Jayden and Jackson’s families for sending in yummy treats for us to have!

• We continued working on division strategies with fractions. This week, we practiced finding fractional pieces of values larger than one.

• We emailed our shout outs this week. This week, we added appositives, conjunctions - both correlative and subordinate and included a fact about Cool Papa Bell. Read more about him here. 

• We worked on creating Infographic Google Slides about Food Insecurity using a variety of text structures for impact.

• We watched a puppet show from the Puppets in Education group that presented about anxiety. Thanks to Amy for organizing this event for us!

• We started putting together our essays around the topic of how life in the NBL was challenging and joyful. We are synthesizing all of our practice with writing - it is HARD but the students are doing well with the task.

• Here is a link that includes information about local Summer Camp offerings. Now is the time to sign up!

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Important Dates:

2/19-23 February Vacation

2/29 No Ski Program

3/1 Parent Conferences - a link to sign up will be sent via email this week

3/2 Starksboro Town Meeting

3/6 Early Release Day

Date: 2/9/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We turned our learning about systems toward our own systems in the lunch room and continued to build our knowledge about positive and negative impacts humans can have on our earth’s systems. 

• We had a pizza party class celebration for our wormling earning power! Again, many thanks to Wilder’s Mom, for the pizza delivery. Many happy pizza smiles as you can see in the photos below!

• We had an awesome visit with Jaina Hall, a member of the Vermont National Guard who shared all about her job and her career path to the position. We really appreciate her visiting us. Our class LOVED it.

• We continued working on division strategies with fractions. This week, we practiced dividing fractional pieces of cakes and quilts.

• We emailed our shout outs this week. We practiced using an online thesaurus to find synonyms to adjectives we were choosing to shout out our friends. 

• We had 4Winds all about animal tracks and had some more student performers for the puppet show. Special shout out to Wilder who did a fantastic job projecting his voice in the outdoor setting. Thankfully, we had a bit of snow left in the cornfield to explore some real tracks! Many thanks to Jared and Priscilla for sharing their expertise and the hot chocolate!

• Using our mentor text, We are the Ship, as a starting point, we dove into the topic of racism and how it caused the segregation that NBL players experienced in the book. We had meaningful and rich discussions on the topic.

• We will be having a small Valentine’s Day Party on 2/14 at 1:30. The list for cards is below and please let me know if you want to send in a treat for the party. Can you send me an email if you’re able to send in a treat so I can be prepared? Thanks!

• Here is a link that includes information about local Summer Camp offerings. Now is the time to sign up!

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Important Dates:

2/19-23 February Vacation

2/29 No Ski Program

3/1 Parent Conferences - link to sign up here

3/2 Starksboro Town Meeting

3/6 Early Release Day

Date: 2/2/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We continued our learning about systems through a series of stations to investigate simple systems and their components. See photos below.

• This systems work connected to a group brainstorm about positive and negative human impacts on our earth’s systems.

• We practiced our fluent reading using passages from our spelling program and our Wit & Wisdom workbook. 

• We got to participate in a math lesson with Carly Epstein of All Learners Network who supports teachers in our district with math curriculum and instruction methods.

• We used two online dictionary resources,  Merriam-Webster and Longman, to learn about how they are organized and how we can read the entries to best understand new words.

• We are using our mentor text, We are the Ship, to explore text structures employed by the author, Kadir Nelson. Our focus was on chronological, descriptive and compare/contrast structures.

• We focused on the text structure of compare/contrast in a few chapters about the MLB and the NBL. We practiced paraphrasing as well as locating direct quotes to back up our claim.

• Here is an article I received about the importance of sleep for students. It is a reminder about how critical sleep is for learning and growing at this age.

• If your student wants to help out with the Friends of Robinson Spaghetti dinner on 2/10, please use this form to sign up. We really need your help!

• We responded to letters from our Hawaiian Pen Pals and made FlipGrid Videos to share, too.

• We postponed our Pizza Party until this coming week since we had so many students out on Thursday.

• Here is a link that includes information about local Summer Camp offerings. Now is the time to sign up!

• We will be having a small Valentine’s Day Party on 2/14 at 1:30. Please let me know if you want to send in a treat for the party.

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Important Dates:

2/7 Early Release Day

2/10 Spaghetti Dinner to benefit the Friends of Robinson; 5:00 & 6:30 seating

2/19-23 February Vacation

2/29 No Ski Program

3/1 Parent Conferences - a link to sign up will be sent via email this week

3/2 Starksboro Town Meeting

3/6 Early Release Day

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• The concert at MARS on Wednesday was spectacular! The fifth and sixth grade band and chorus really did a wonderful job showcasing their skills and talents for the whole school. Many thanks to Miss Carina for her hard work, guidance and support!

• We had 4 Winds on Tuesday and learned all about snow - we hope the snow returns at some point soon…

• We worked in table groups to research the biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere and presented information to the class.

• We wrote “6 Words About…” poems to highlight our learning about one of the “spheres.” See example above.

• We all finished our Literacy & Math MAP Assessments for the Winter.

• If your student wants to help out with the Friends of Robinson Spaghetti dinner on 2/10, please use this form to sign up. We really need your help!

• We received letters from our Hawaiian Pen Pals and wrote some in return.

• We would like to have Pizza Party Class Celebration next week. If you’re able to run to Bristol to pick up our pizza order at Cubber’s, please let me know so we can coordinate!

• Please watch our Kindness 101 from this week! We saw this story and also this one. 

Important Dates:

2/7 Early Release Day

2/10 Spaghetti Dinner to benefit the Friends of Robinson; 5:00 & 6:30 seating

2/29 No Ski Program

3/1 Parent Conferences

3/2 Starksboro Town Meeting

3/6 Early Release Day

Date: 1/12/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We signed our names to the Viper craft going to the moon through this NASA site.

• We learned about homophones through a book called Eight Ate, Then, through peer teaching and group work, we researched the definitions of a variety of homophones on the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

• We began work with food chains, food webs and energy flow in the world. We learned about the different roles and levels of producers, consumers and decomposers. 

• We worked through an online slideshow to gather information about energy flow from sun to hamburger. In pairs - like Ella & Taylor above - we answered a variety of questions on the topic in partners.

• In Humanities, we considered a new focusing question “How can sports create opportunities for change?” by remembering the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the characters in “Raymond’s Run,” and new learning about by Rube Foster in 1920 with the NBL.

• In writing, we used evidence from our focusing text, We are the Ship, to back up our claims about Rube Foster as a leader in sports.

• We connected these ideas through also learning about Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs’ famous tennis match and Megan Rapinoe and her continuing to push for equal pay for women athletes in our daily slideshow on Friday - 1/12.

• We participated in a writing assessment with Mrs. Cray. It was fun! We hope to continue the stories we started with her prompt!

• Our Self Managers had Twizzlers on Friday as well as participated in a number of jobs around the school.

• We had our first xc ski session with Courtney Dickerson on Thursday.

• We had a spelling test and almost everyone met their Lexia goal this week!

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one. 

Have a great long weekend and hope the weather isn’t too extreme (again)?!?! We just got our power back on this morning at my house…😑

Important Dates:

1/15 No School - MLK Day

1/16 No School Teacher In-Service; FoR Sponsored Free Family Swim at MA.

1/19 Report Cards Home

2/7 Early Release Day

The photo above is one of only two I snapped this week! Can you say busy return to school? The poster shows student synthesis of the theme of "Raymond's Run" which we read during Humanities this week. Enjoy!

Date: 1/5/24

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• We started out our week learning about the Doce Uvas de la Suerte (12 grapes of good luck) tradition done in Spain (and other Latin American countries) to start the New Year. We wrote our own hopes, wishes, dreams and goals for 2024 on this Padlet. Check it out! 

• We created a swath of stars on our bulletin board to show our most shiny new hopes for the year, too.

• We began a new unit in Math which focuses on multiplication and division of fractions.

• We learned about how Nelson Mandela used the 1995 World Cup Rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand to inspire South Africans to cheer as one people and put apartheid aside.

• We read “Raymond’s Run” about a spunky athlete named Squeaky to explore character traits, find connected text evidence and consider author’s craft. 

• We learned how to use appositives to make our descriptions of nouns more interesting and informative in our writing. We wrote appositives for one another - see list below.

• In Science, we started a unit on Earth Systems, Human Activity and Food Waste. Students had a choice to complete a pre-assessment online or on paper. Most students picked the online version.

• Next Wednesday (1/10) at MARS, there will be a casual 5/6 performance by the 1st year Band, the 2nd Year Band, the String Band, the Chorus, and some instrumentalists sharing solos and duets. All 5/6ers are a part of at least one group!

• Everyone got a new table spot, and a new UA class.

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one. 

Please read the letter below from Amy Johnston.

Dear Robinson Families,

I am excited to announce that this semester, Arlee Hiskey will be joining me in my work as a School Counselor Intern. Arlee is finishing their Master’s Degree program at UVM in Counseling with a specialization in schools. You may remember Arlee’s time at Robinson in the past few years when they worked as a paraprofessional in various grades. RES students enjoyed watching (virtually) Arlee's trek along the Appalachian trail a few years ago-some in record time, by the way!! Arlee brings compassion, kindness, humor, great knowledge in child development and skill in working with children. Arlee will be joining me in all of my work in classes, in groups and with individuals; in addition, they will see some children for issues both in small groups and individually. If Arlee is going to work directly with your child, we will let you know and seek your permission. Otherwise, plan to welcome Arlee to our Robinson team on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. 

Sincerely, 

Amy Johnston

School Counselor 

Important Dates:

1/4-3/21  Cochran’s 

1/11 Catamount Trail XC Begins at school

1/15 No School - MLK Day

1/16 No School Teacher In-Service; FoR Sponsored Free Family Swim at MA

1/19 Report Cards Home

2/7 Early Release Day

The Appositive 5th Graders:

Jackson, an artistic fan of ducks who makes cool and great art…

Dom, the current class clown who enjoys basketball and baseball…

Ally, a kind-hearted person with a funny personality…

Wilder, the man with stylish hair…

Reed, an extremely good basketball player…

Taylor, a funny, cool, smart, silly, funny person…

Jayden, who likes art projects…

Aidan, a smart, lego-building, fun person…

Aiden, who is good at basketball…

Samara, who loves the outdoors…

Zoey, a fun and caring person…

Zachary, a funny and nice friend…

Taelyn, a kind and compassionate friend…

Ella, a great field hockey player…

Simon, a person good at reading…

Kyrie, a friend to all who loves basketball…

Mrs. Lake, a 5th grade teacher who is also a comedian…

Date: 12/21/23

Here are a few highlights from our week:

• Our last STARBASE was on Tuesday. We learned about chemical and physical reactions, customized our space stations using a CAD program, flew some more planes and had a sweet graduation ceremony. 

• We finished our fractions unit! Yeehaw!

• We prepared some of our writing for publication - be on the lookout for it in the hallway in 2024!

• We completed a small gift and a card for our families - we hope you like them!

• We used an online questionnaire from “Time for Kids” to pinpoint our individual skills and strengths. Then, we received a print out of our strongest skills and some career suggestions that matched them. A preview of an activity coming our way in January!

• We had an All School Celebration on Thursday where we got to pick from a variety of shows to watch with friends from all grade levels.

• We raised over $140 for the Wreaths for Veterans Project as a school.

• We had a small party and had hot chocolate before Wellness.

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one. 

Winter Break Continuing Education Opportunities for 5th Graders:

I hope your student will have some time to work on the reading and math challenges that I sent home last week. There are four levels of math activities and a reading schedule (linked below) for December and January. While these are optional, they are a great opportunity to continue learning even on break from school. Here’s a link to the online version of the math challenges:

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Here’s the link to the reading challenge recording sheet.

ALSO, if your student wants to keep working on their Lexia or IXL goals over break, that works, too! They all know how to access these platforms online. If you have questions, let me know.

Important Dates:

12/22-1/1 Winter Holiday Break

1/4-3/21  Cochran’s Begins

1/11 Catamount Trail XC Begins at school

1/15 No School - MLK Day

1/16 Teacher In-Service; FoR Sponsored Free Family Swim at Mt. Abe

1/19 Report Cards Home

2/7 Early Release Day

Life by the (Mrs.) Lake

Date: 12/15/23

• We had another amazing day working with STARBASE. This time, the STARBASE teachers came to our school and worked with us here in advance of the Rocket Launch after lunch. We learned about forensic science through finger prints and practiced our math skills using data from the session. 

• We prepped our rockets and learned the safety practices before we launched our creations. It was SO fantastic! What an amazing opportunity! I can’t say that enough!

• We are wrapping up our work with fractions in Math. This week, we worked on creating multiplication equations to match the area of a shaded region. 

• We edited some of our writing through partner work to listen to and to offer feedback to get our work to a clear and powerful place.

• We shared our climate friendly solutions using inspiration from the Lego Education Foundation with one another and submitted our creations to the Lego - “Build the Change” Institute. Hopefully, some of our ideas will be featured on their website.

• We met with our First Grade Buddies this week to make decorations for the Holiday Party that’s happening here TOMORROW in the gym. Please come out and enjoy some holiday cheer from 10-12 on Saturday - 12/16.

• We met via Zoom with Jenna Kunze, an award-winning journalist from the Pulitzer Center who covers news impacting indigenous people in the US and Canada with a special focus on how climate change is effecting native people and traditions.

• We finally created our Traveling Mural which will be divided up and mailed across the country to be added to murals at other schools. I will post a picture when all the pieces arrive. So far, we’ve received pieces from New Hampshire, West Virginia, Georgia and Pennsylvania so far.

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one. 

Holiday Party Request:

We are planning to have a holiday party next week. If you can send in any of the following for our snack of “physical change trail mix”, let me know and thanks in advance!

*one box of any Chex style cereal

*one box of Cheerios

*two small bags of mini marshmallows

*one bigger sized bag of M&M’s - NOT peanut

*two bags of the smallest sized pretzel twists

TWO pieces of information to note:

I am sending home a permission slip to get a library card from the Starksboro Public Library so please send it back ASAP. We will be walking down to the library in the New Year and I want to make sure your student is all set to get their card if they want to. It’s a great opportunity to support our town, your student’s literacy goals and reading in general.

ALSO - I’m sending home a winter break reading challenge and some math activities that can be worked on during break and beyond. There are three levels of math activities and a reading schedule for December and January. While these are optional, they are another great opportunity to continue learning even on break from school. Here’s a link to the online version of the math challenges:

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Important Dates:

12/19 Final Starbase Trip

12/22-1/1 Winter Holiday Break

1/4-3/21  Cochran’s and Catamount Trail XC Skiing on Thursdays

1/15 No School - MLK Day

1/16 Teacher In-Service; FoR Sponsored Free Family Swim at Mt. Abe

1/19 Report Cards Home

2/7 Early Release Day

Date: 12/8/23

Here are a few more highlights from our week:

• We had another amazing day at the STARBASE campus. This time, we did some experiments about energy, designed a colony on MARS using a CAD program, did some coding using Lego robots and of course used a new vehicle in the flight simulator!

• We collected the money for the Holiday Wreath Project and will let you know how much we collected in next week’s newsletter when we’ve had time to count it! Thanks to everyone who contributed!

• We designed climate friendly solutions using inspiration from the Lego Education Foundation.

• We read with our First Grade Buddies and are looking forward to working with them again next week.

• Many of us are almost done with our whole group read, Thunder Rolling in the Mountains.

• Our class earned the “Snowy Chicken” for the work we have done to give back to our school and our town community - so proud of us!

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one. 

Important Dates:

12/12 Starbase Rocket Launch at Robinson - 12:30 Start time

12/19 Starbase Trip

12/22-1/1 Winter Holiday Break

Date: 12/1/23

One word to describe our week is SCIENCE! Between 4WINDS and STARBASE, we have been steeped in it! It has been a phenomenal opportunity for us! The highlight of today was that we got to build rockets. We will launch them later this month at school.

Here are a few more highlights from our week:

• We continued to explore fractions with some video progressions using 3 Act Tasks with chocolate bars and sugar in Mountain Dew. These progressions helped us to notice, wonder, ask questions and practice recording our detailed math thinking.

• The Scholastic Book Fair and the Used Book Fair sponsored by Project READ was awesome. Each child was able to pick a book from the Scholastic Book Fair thanks to the sponsorship of the Friends of Robinson. Additionally, each child got at least one book thanks to the generosity of the Project READ Team. Many thanks to everyone who worked on these opportunities for our students. 

• I sent home a permission slip for a cross country skiing workshop that we will have going in 2024. Sessions will happen during the usual Cochran’s time on Thursday afternoons for 3-6 grade students who are at school. It is optional and it is free. Thanks to Courtney at the Catamount Trail Association for including us again this year.

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one. 

Important Dates:

12/4 Picture Retake Day

12/5 Starbase Trip

12/6 Early Release Day

12/12 Starbase Rocket Launch at Robinson

12/19 Starbase Trip

12/22-1/1 Winter Holiday Break

November 17, 2023

Hello Families!

We have been BUSY this week! We’ve had a blast following the Engineering Design Process to create balloon characters like the ones that will soar over NYC next week. We even did a parade of our own down to our buddy classroom to show Mrs. Sands’ group our creations. I was SO impressed with every student’s capacity to take on this challenge, to pivot when their plan didn’t work as expected, and to be proud of work well done. Here’s the link to our balloon parade! The students learned about balloon engineering and I learned about green screen recording and video editing! In this season of gratitude, I’m thankful for Canva!

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• A representative from the Starksboro Food Shelf let us know that our food drive provided so much for the pantry that they only need to purchase turkeys for this year - all the other items are covered for the holiday! Way to go, Robinson!

• The Friends of Robinson raised over $800.00 through the Turkey Raffle - great news for supportive programming for Robinson Students!

• We shared our letters of gratitude with the school at MARS on Wednesday and shared the details of our “coin drop” fundraiser to help provide wreaths for veteran graves in Vermont. (See flier for information below.)

• We continued to explore fractions with a focus on the connection between fractions, multiplication and division.

• We worked on creating organized and detailed paragraphs that will eventually become a class created informational piece surrounding westward expansion specifically its effect on Native American tribes in the West.

• We continue to read Thunder Rolling in the Mountains and I introduced a new read aloud called How I Became a Ghost which is written by a Choctaw author and tells about the Trail of Tears from a Native perspective. We learned about “foreshadowing” and “personification” since the author uses these mechanisms in his writing.

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one. Every child got 3 pennies to take home, too.

• We tested a variety of acids/bases and recorded data to determine which produced the most robust reaction to fill balloons. Ask your student what they thought should be used to fill a balloon the best.

• If you’d like to get tickets to Cinderella there is still time! Click this link to reserve yours today!

• Robinson swag is still on sale through this site! Today is the last day to order!
  
  

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

--Kerry

Important Dates:

11/20-24  Thanksgiving Break 

11/28 Starbase Trip

11/29-12/1  Scholastic and Used Book Fairs

12/1 Starbase Trip

12/4 Picture Retake Day

12/5 Starbase Trip

12/6 Early Release Day

12/12 Starbase Rocket Launch at Robinson

12/19 Starbase Trip

12/22-1/1 Winter Holiday Break

COIN DROP to Honor Veterans in Vermont

Our school is sponsoring a coin drop to collect money that will go toward wreaths to honor veterans who have passed away. The Fifth grade shared about a mother from Vermont that lost her daughter who was a veteran. The mom named Susan started a project to honor veterans by putting wreaths on each veteran’s grave. We put a jar in each classroom to collect money to help cover the cost of some of the wreaths. Each wreath costs 17 dollars so maybe each class can collect enough money to buy one wreath. Please donate to our project to honor Veterans. If you have any questions, ask 5th grader you know or Mrs. Lake.

Used Book Fair: We will be collecting gently used children's books through Wednesday, November 29th. If you have any to donate, please drop them off by the office. Thanks so much!

11/10/23

This week was short for me as I was out helping my folks after my Dad’s knee replacement. He's on the road to healing which is good! Even though it was a different kind of week for us, we managed to fit a lot in. We did a good job to make our guest teachers feel welcomed. 

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• We delivered Food Drive to benefit the Starksboro Food Shelf on Friday morning. Thank you for all your support of this effort.

• We wrote letters of gratitude to Veterans that some children will share at MARS on 11/15.

• We participated in a virtual workshop with Maryel of the Pulitzer Center to learn about the “Local Letters for Global Change” program. The class got to consider some issues that mean something to them and write about it. A few students chose to submit their letters to the contest.

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one.

• We investigated bread and tortillas to practice scientific observation and recording skills. It will also serve to jump into a study of the chemistry of baking with yeast. This video helped us to practice hypothesis writing, too.

• If you’d like to get tickets to Cinderella there is still time! Click this link to reserve yours today!

• Robinson swag is still on sale through this site! Only 7 more days to order!

Important Dates:

11/20-24  Thanksgiving Break

11/28 Starbase Trip

11/29-12/1  Scholastic and Used Book Fairs

12/1 Starbase Trip

12/4 Picture Retake Day

12/5 Starbase Trip

12/6 Early Release Day

12/12 Starbase Rocket Launch at Robinson

12/19 Starbase Trip

12/22-1/1 Winter Holiday Break

Another fun and busy week at school. The highlight was certainly the Halloween Parade and Party! Not to leave out our parent conference meetings! Thanks for taking the time to come and discuss your students progress. Finally, thanks for making our party, parade and conferences possible with your support and contributions! You made it special for all of us! 

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• We learned about the difference between chemical reactions and physical reactions through a variety of experiments - mixing a variety of acids - lemon & lime juice, vinegar with bases like baking soda and Borax (not to be confused with Botox, as one student let us know!?) 😃

• We learned about the pH scale and made a rainbow using testing solution.

• We re-read a piece about “Indian Country, 1800, A Brilliant Plan for Living” and worked to determine the main idea of the paragraphs.

• We wrote down the main idea of a few short texts to practice the work we’d done last week around simple, compound and complex sentences.

• We practiced our main idea and supporting details skills through a variety of readings - the best one was about Mt. Rushmore - and a quick round of “Main Idea Stations.” See pics below.

• We are having a Food Drive to benefit the Starksboro Food Shelf. If you can contribute, we will be collecting items until late next week. Thanks in advance!

• We got a sneak peek into the fall musical at Mt. Abe with a performance at MARS. The show is Cinderella. Click this link for tickets!

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one.

• Robinson swag is still on sale through the FoR site! See information down below.

Important Dates:

11/3  No School 

11/6-11/8 - Mrs. Lake out

11/8 Early Release Day - 11:45

11/20-24  Thanksgiving Break

We witnessed some chemical reactions on Friday! It was COOL!

10/27/23

Hello Families!

What a gorgeous day we had for an all school hike on Wednesday! It was the perfect temperature and the views from the top were amazing. Thanks to the parent volunteers who joined in the trek with us! We got so many compliments about our trail etiquette that we had a doughnut hole and cider party on Thursday morning. But, we had to figure out how many doughnut holes each person could get with the quantity we had. It was delicious!

Here is a letter to share about our Humanities study this fall. Feel free to take a peek and see what we’re going to be learning about at school.

Please use this link to sign up to send something in for our Halloween Party on Tuesday afternoon. The party will start around 1:50. The Parade through the gym starts at 2:30.

A few reminders about costumes:

*We will wear our costumes in our classroom - masks included.

*When we do the parade in the gym, masks won’t be worn so that the younger students aren’t startled.

*No accessories or costume parts should contain any sort of weapon. I usually advise kids to leave any parts that might get lost or left behind in the excitement of the day at home.

*Send the costume in their backpack as we will put them on for the party around 2:00.

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• We began talking about the states of matter, what makes each type of matter the way it is and we are beginning some work with chemical reactions. We made lava lamps on Friday. See photos below!

• We organized our thoughts and wrote them into coherent, clear writing pieces about westward expansion and Native American Tribes like the Nez Perce.

• We read a piece about “Indian Country, 1800, A Brilliant Plan for Living” as well as began our whole class read called Thunder Rolling Through the Mountains.

• We wrote shout outs for the adults who planned our Mountain Day Field Trip.

• We had our summative assessment on Volume and began our new math unit all about fractions. The first few lessons have highlighted “sharing sandwiches.” Yum!

• We participated in a Greg Tang Math Workshop on Tuesday all about exponents. It was challenging and fun!

• Self managers got to help out in other locations around the school as part of their reward system. See the pictures below! 

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one.

Important Dates:

10/30 & 11/1 Parent Conferences, 3:30-7:00 - Click this link to sign up.

11/3  No School 

11/6-11/8 - Mrs. Lake out

11/8 Early Release Day - 11:45

11/20-24  Thanksgiving Break

Here’s some exciting news from the Friends of Robinson:

Dear Robinson Families,

Friends of Robinson (our parent-led group that focuses on supporting and enriching the lives of the students here at Robinson) has partnered with 802 Print to bring a variety of apparel and accessories to support our school and show our school spirit! 

Be sure to click on the item to see your product choice in the alternative color - a dark green. Friends of Robinson earns a small commission from each sale. 

This sale ends 11/18 at midnight.

Click this link.

Thank you for your continued support.

~Friends of Robinson

The Friends of Robinson is also sponsoring a Turkey Raffle ahead of Thanksgiving. Raffle tickets were sent home today in Friday Folders. If you need more, please let me know. Thank you in advance for your support of our Parent/Teacher Organization

Date: 10/20/23

Hello Families!

Another busy and fun week is in the books ahead of another busy week next week. First of all - PICTURE DAY is on MONDAY 10/23. I sent home the order forms on Monday so if you don’t have one and want to order photos, please let me know so I can get you an order form ASAP. Next, we have Mountain Day on Wednesday (10/25) which is our hike up Mt. Philo. PLEASE complete the lunch order form and return it to school on Monday so I can let Doreen & Amy know who will need a bagged lunch. There is no charge for the trip and if you’d like to hike with us, you can meet us at Mt. Philo. The younger students are leaving earlier but we are leaving Robinson at 10:45 so we will likely get to the parking lot at Philo around 11:15. Finally, the sign up for parent conferences went out in an email earlier today. Please sign up on that website but if you can’t find something to match your schedule, please let me know so we can work out an alternate time.

I sent home a small homework assignment that I’d love for you to help your child fill out about culture. Don’t spend a ton of time on it - five or ten minutes should work!

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• We completed our apple or enzymatic browning experiment. We collected data and revisited our hypotheses to see what advice we could offer to the apple farmer that is trying to make their apples stay fresh at the farmer’s market display. We wrote a letter to the farmer with our recommendations.

• We learned about the Lewis & Clark Expedition and started talking about how westward expansion impacted Native American cultures in the West. 

• We considered the importance of asking questions before, during and after reading.

• We wrote shout outs for one another as always.

• We did some final review of Volume ahead of our summative assessment next week.

• We wrote and answered questions that can be answered by looking right there in the text as well as other questions that we have to dig a bit and think more deeply to craft an answer.

• We experienced a piano concert of David Feurzeig playing in all 252 towns in Vermont. It was fun!

• Kindness 101 this week included this story and also this one.

Have a great weekend!

–Kerry

Important Dates:

10/25 Mountain Day Field Trip

10/30 & 11/1 Parent Conferences, 3:30-7:00 - Click this link to sign up.

11/3  No School 

11/8 Early Release Day - 11:45

11/20-24  Thanksgiving Break

Date: 10/6/23

Hello Families!

Unfortunately, it was a short week for me as I was out sick until Thursday so I don’t have much to report. The students did a good job working with our guest teacher, Ms. Pat. They were able to begin some science explorations, write to their Hawaiian pen pals, and practice their skills in math and other subjects with the use of our WIN and Math Menu routines. 

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• We have been learning about the Scientific Method and comparing it to what we already know about the Engineering Design Process.

• We worked through many steps of the process and did an activity to emphasize the importance of writing clear, precise and understandable steps to an experiment. See pictures above and below.

• We continued our work with volume in math by creating expressions to match a variety of prisms.

• We are wrapping up thank you notes to Laurie Ann Thompson and Senator Hardy, as well.

Have a great weekend!

–Kerry

Important Dates:

10/9 No School, Indigenous Peoples Day

10/10 ECHO Field Trip - 8:30 departure

10/11 Book Orders Due - Online or paper order

10/25 Mountain Day Field Trip

Our visit with Senator Hardy was fantastic!

Date: 9/29/23

Hello Families!

Welp! Another amazing week is in the books here in the 5th Grade! We had a great turn out at Open House. It was so fantastic to see so many of you being lead around by the professional and knowledgeable fifth grade tour guides. Another highlight of our week was welcoming Addison County State Senator Ruth Hardy to our class on Tuesday. She shared about what it’s like to be a senator, why she chose to follow that path and explained about the issues she is working on in the State Government. As you might imagine, our fifth graders were shining bright as they asked thoughtful and earnest questions. I think her visit really reminded her of the amazing power young voices. Finally, we had our first session with our Buddy Class - Mrs. Sands’ first grade!

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• We met with Ms. Amy and practiced how important it is to listen well and to stay focused at school - so we can learn, make friends and stay safe. 

• We started our second WIN Menu and Math Menu opportunities.

• We started our Spelling group routines and will begin working in more focused skill groups next week.

• We completed our Self Portraits and they are AmAzInG! We are expecting our package from Hawai’i to arrive some time next week for the exchange aspect of this project from Donors Choose.

• We signed our Class Contract on Thursday.

• Here’s the link to the Open House Checklist if you missed the event and want to chat with your child about their activities at school. 

Have a great weekend!

–Kerry

Important Dates:

10/3 ECHO Trip with the 1st Grade - PLEASE send in fee for the movie if you haven’t already! It is $3.00.

This field trip is being rescheduled. The tentative date is 10/10 and I will send home more information once I have it. SO sorry!

10/4 Early Release Day - 11:45

10/9 No School, Indigenous Peoples Day

10/11 Book Orders Due - Online or paper order

10/25 Mountain Day Field Trip

9/22/23

The highlight of our week was definitely meeting with Laurie Ann Thompson on Thursday afternoon via Zoom. She is an author who lives in Seattle, WA. She shared her expertise around “Being a Changemaker” after her book with the same name. We also connected about her book Emmanuel’s Dream. Another example of young people following their dreams and contributing to the world and their communities. It was so inspirational for us to learn about students around the world who developed their skills and passions into life defining paths. We were able to ask her so many questions. She was so gracious with her time and knowledge. This amazing opportunity was made possible by the generous support of the Tari Shattuck Education Foundation. SO many thanks!

Here are some more highlights from our week:

• We met with Ms. Amy and practiced productive communication skills in role play settings. This will help when we’re working in groups in real time. 

• We used some of our WIN time to meet individually and discuss about Self Manager Badge progress. It was really nice to connect with each student to discuss social and academic goals. Thank you to Ms. Sara for helping us with this. 

• We completed our Reading MAP Test for the fall and students did a fantastic job with this test, too.

• We celebrated Peace Day by recording “Ways to Promote Peace” on a poster that we hope to put in a central location so other students and teachers can add to the poster.

• We learned more math games to practice computation skills and strategies and continued working with volume by looking at different ways to attache equations to the figures we’re measuring.

• We started a Self Portrait project that we will exchange with our Pen Pals in Hawai’i. We got to see a sneak peak of their progress, too (see picture below.). 

• We put the finishing touches on our Class Contract. I will share it when it’s finalized next week. 

• We wrapped up our work with Growth/Fixed Mindset through an assessment opportunity.

• In Science, we reflected upon the different ways we have worked to accomplish STEM challenges - independently, in pairs, and as small groups. I was really proud of the thought and effort students put into these reflections.

Have a great weekend!

–Kerry

Important Dates:

9/28 Open House, 6:00-7:00

10/3 ECHO Trip with the 1st Grade

10/4 Early Release Day

10/11 Book Orders Due - Online or paper order

9/15/23

Hello Families!

We have our first full week in the books! It was a good week that was a solid mix of activities, learning and experiences. From Community Games to preparing for International Peace Day, we worked hard. I sent home our first Book Order Forms of the year if you’re interested. Please have the orders in by 10/11.

Here are some highlights from our week:

• We had our first Class Celebration for earning 300 wormlings - a Pringle Party! BBQ, Cheddar, Salt & Vinegar, and Sour Cream & Onion - YUM!

• We had our first Four Winds session with Priscilla and Jared which was all about insects.

• We completed our Math MAP Test for the fall and began working on our Reading test. We will finish our Reading Test next week. Students are doing a fantastic job with this..

• We taught the school about International Peace Day during our weekly MARS on Wednesday. Additionally, we visited all of the classes on Wednesday to share a Peace Day Activity. It was so fantastic to watch the students taking on a positive leadership role at Robinson.

• We completed a Writing Assessment and a Spelling Assessment. 

• We continued to work on volume in math by building and exploring with cubes. We worked on Window Panes and Problem Solvers as part of our Math Menu.

• We watched these videos to gain insight into friendship, character, and following your dreams .

• We listened to a few “Kids Nuz” episodes and located Libya and Morocco on the map since they've been in the news. 

• In Science, we designed a “diving board” apparatus following a story about self-awareness. Then, we had to combine our designs as a group of four into one design. We had lots of opportunities to practice cooperation, sharing, compromise and teamwork. 

• Students are working hard on earning their Self Manager Badges. I’ve seen students taking the initiative to lead, consistently making positive choices and focusing on learning.

Thanks to everyone who sent back the ECHO permission slip and the $3.00 for the movie at the museum. If you haven’t, please reach out if you need a new slip. Additionally, please return the Technology Contract as soon as possible.

Have a great weekend!

–Kerry

Important Dates:

9/21     Virtual Author Visit with Laurie Ann Thompson from Seattle, WA

9/28 Open House, 6:00-7:00

10/3 ECHO Trip with the 1st Grade

10/4 Early Release Day

10/11 Book Orders Due - Online or paper order

So amazing to have a Shave Ice Station at school on Thursday! Thank you so much, Robinson FOR! It was such a treat on the hottest day!

Hello Families!

Whew! This was quite a scorcher of a week at school. Sticky, sweaty, hot and muggy don’t even begin to describe the atmosphere. But, you probably already knew that. However, despite the miserable temps, your students were patient, focused, supportive and engaged here at school. I was so impressed by their persistence, commitment and determination to just go with it! 

Here are some highlights from our week:

• We shared about what our family likes to do together for our last “formal” share of the start of the year. It was fun to learn about new activities of our classmates and their families as well as make connections to our shared interests. We got to “hang 10” with Mrs. Lake’s share - her surfboard!

• We experienced two visual “launch” activities that helped rev up our mathematical thinking - one had to do with corn muffins and the other had to do with pizza - YUM!

• We learned about the United Nations International Day of Peace coming up on 9/21. We are going to teach the school about it at MARS on 9/13.

• We practiced our multiplication skills using two games - Salute! and The Product Game. 

• We learned about our identity through creating a “crest” to represent our inside (internal) and outside (external) identities.

• We had our first class meeting of the year to appreciate and to connect with each other, as well as to mend any issues that have surfaced during the  week.

• We wrote “Shout Outs!” to one another - so, so sweet!

• In Science, we reviewed the ideas of STEM/STEAM as well as the steps in the Engineering Design Process and had an extra challenge to design, to create and to iterate a paper stand for our identity crests using pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks. It was a challenging and fun experience we accomplished with a partner.

• We met as a 5/6 Team to introduce a new program we developed  to inspire and to support student leadership here at Robinson called “Self Managers.” It is open to all students in the upper elementary wing. If you ‘d like to read more about it, please click here. If you have questions, please ask your student or reach out to me.

Thanks to everyone who sent back the ECHO permission slip and the $3.00 for the movie at the museum. If you haven’t, please reach out if you need a new slip. Additionally, please return the Technology Contract as soon as possible.