A New Adventure Awaits!

   As the summer comes to a close, I am sure you are very excited about beginning a new grade with new possibilities and opportunities!  I will also be on a new journey that will lead me outside of my classroom at DRE.  I have been offered a position as an educational technology consultant, which allows the opportunity to share all of my wonderful experiences with technology in the classroom. I will also be growing and learning each day about how other students are integrating educational technology in their own classrooms!   You can find out all about my experiences and tidbits that I learn along the way in my new blog, Tidbits in Tech.  I am excited at this wonderful opportunity to witness the possibilities of 21st century learning.  A new adventure awaits for us all!  I hope you enjoy every discovery along the way!

Farewell to a Fabulous Year!

I will miss you all! Thank you for a wonderful year! I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to share this amazing journey with you.....

Creating Stories on the African Dwarf Frog with Storybird

Over the past month, students have had the opportunity to observe the structural and behavioral characteristics of the African Dwarf frog. Using their observations that they recorded in a journal, students used this information to create a story on Storybird. The stories are very creative! We will be publishing the stories on the Student Projects Page for all to read! The big leap to meet friends on Storybird
About Joe an African Dwarf Frog. on Storybird
The Story of an African Dwarf Frog named Noah. on Storybird

Animal Research Presentations Completed!

  Last week all of the students shared specific information that they found while researching their particular animal. The research contained facts on physical characteristics, behavioral characteristics, habitat, food, and adaptations of their chosen animal.  Students also created a visual aid to share with the class.   It was such a great learning experience!  Take a look at their projects!

One student was really excited to share all that she learned about giraffes! She brought in a few extra props!  I admire her passion!

Digging Into Our Learning

  Yesterday we were digging up all kinds of fun! Take a look at this blog post written by Alex and Phillip to find out more about our class field trip:

  The Douglas Road fourth grade classes went to a place called Fossil park. We were on the bus for about twenty minutes. We split up the students. One half went to Olander park and the other half went to Fossil park. We went to fossil park first. We started breaking rocks with bigger rocks. It was hard work ,but we got some fossils. We found quite a bit. We found bryozoan, horn coral, gastropad, aulopora, crinoid,  and brachiopods. We were there for an hour  and then we switched. First we did a scavenger park around the lake. Then we played for a bit on their playground. Then we ate lunch and played some more. In the middle of playing we had delicious popsicles. Then we all gathered up and went on the bus for another twenty minutes. When we got back we showed our fossils to each other. It was definitely enjoyable. I can’t wait to go there again!

Take a look at what the rest of the class had to say about our field trip at  http://kidblog.org/Powell4thgrade2011/ .
You can also learn more about Fossil Park at http://www.olanderpark.com/pages/Fossil.htm

Are You Ready for the Science Quiz?

Just a reminder to practice your vocabulary words tonight for our science quiz.  You can practice your terms with these online flashcards!

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards

We Have New Friends in Pennsylvania and Connecticut

We would like to thank Miss Bamberger's class in Pennsylvania and Mr. Sapia's Class in Connecticut for teaching us many interesting facts about their states.  It is so much fun to play Mystery Skype with other 4th grade classrooms! 

Personalize your own slideshow design Would you like to learn more about the clues from each state?  Take a look at the posts created by the Mystery Skype bloggers for Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Singing About Geometric Lines

  Today we had the opportunity to discuss and sing about geometric lines.  Study Jams has a great song that helps you understand the difference between horizontal, vertical, parallel, intersecting and perpendicular lines.  We even created arm movements to go with the song!  It is definitely something you need to check out!  http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/geometry/types-of-lines.htm

Happy Mother's Day 2012

What is the one word that each student would choose to describe their mom?  Watch this video and find out!
 

Mobile Learning

    As our days pass by quickly in the classroom, one thing that I hope will not stop on our last day of school is mobile learning.  The past month we have been using our iPad quite often in the classroom to learn together with the help of the new Appletv for all to see.  We have found so many apps that integrate into our classroom curriculum, and provides another great learning opportunity for them to use at home on their own mobile device.
   Right now we are busy researching our animals for our science unit.  Students have used apps such as World Book's World of Animals and Amazing Creatures to get more information about their particular animal.  This week we have been learning about adaptations of animals.  Students will be working on Animal Creator to create their own animals on this app and share the adaptations that this animal uses in order to survive in a designated habitat.
  During our math time,  students take turns each day reinforcing their skills in fractions by playing  Oh No! Fractions, Fraction Monkey,  and Fractions.Smart Pirate.   Students are also sharing how they have downloaded the apps at home on their mobile devices to continue practicing their math skills.
   We have also used the iPad in other areas of our curriculum throughout the year.  Some of the student favorites this year have been Stack the States , Edmodo, and Word Sort by Grammaropolis.
   I hope by the end of the year students will have a variety of applications that they will continue to use over the summer to learn and grow!  
 

Twinkie Town Market Days=Mini-Society Success

   On Thursday and Friday of last week we held our market days for students to sell goods or services to the students and families in the school. I am happy to report that Twinkie Town was bustling!  Many of our stores sold out.  It was a huge success.  I want to thank every student for their hard work.  Take a look at this video to see all of the products and services that were taking place at our market days.

Learning The Process of Writing a Book from an Expert!

     Students are very excited to begin their individual research reports on animals.   There are many steps we will be going through to create our reports.  I thought it would be great to hear from an expert on the process of writing before we get started!

     On Friday we had the opportunity to Skype with Mr. Jerry Blumengarten, otherwise known as Cybraryman, about the process that he used while writing several books.  Students were engaged and responsive to all of the information that Mr. Blumengarten shared with us about his process of writing a cartoon booklet about energy.  He also shared pictures of the stages of creating the cartoon book from start to finish using Mixbook.  Students really enjoyed examining the pictures, while also interacting with Mr. Blumengarten about the stages of the book. We also learned a few new vocabulary words along the way!    Thank you Cybraryman for a wonderful learning opportunity!  It is definitely a day the students will not forget!
 http://www.cybraryman.com/index.html

Happy Earth Day!

   In honor of Earth Day, I hope you are doing something special to protect our Earth's resources.  Will you plant a tree, recycle, or begin a garden today?  There are so many things each of us can do!  Set a great example today.   Want to learn more about going green? Wonderopolis has a great post about how you can do this!  You definitely have to check it out! http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/whats-so-great-about-going-green/.  You must also check out Cybraryman's many useful sites about Earth day at http://cybraryman.com/environment.html .   He has so many wonderful sites on how you can make a difference today.  
    Our class had the opportunity to comment on a Voicethread about Earthcast- a 24 hour webcast devoted to  Earth day.  We were so glad we could share our thoughts about what we can do to make a difference!

Animal Research

 Over the next several weeks students will be researching a particular animal that they have chosen.  During this time they will be using at least three resources to gather information. There are so many wonderful resources on the web that we can use to find information.  Please click on the following links below to learn more about an animal.

http://www.cybraryman.com/animals.html
http://animal.discovery.com/animals/ 
http://www.mbgnet.net/
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/
 http://www.extremescience.com/animal-kingdom.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/
http://www.kidsites.com/sites-edu/animals.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html
http://www.kidsbiology.com/animals-for-children.php
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/
More Animal Sites!

Welcome Back!

  I hope everyone had a relaxing spring break!  The time went by so fast! It was so nice to see everyone's smiling faces this morning! 
    While there are only 8 weeks of school, we still have so much to do.  We will be getting ready for our Mini- Society Market Days that will take place on the 26th and 27th of this month.  We will also begin our new science unit on Living Organisms- our frogs, snails, and guppies will arrive around May 1st! Each student  will also begin a research project on a particular animal.  
  It is a very exciting to time to learn and grow!  Please stop by often to see all the wonderful things we are working on!

Our Updated Poetry Voicethread With Comments!

Making of a Mystery

   During our mystery genre study, students had the opportunity to work in groups and create their own mysteries.  They used a graphic organizer to help them write it out.They had so much fun that they decided to act them out.  We definitely have talented mystery authors and actors in our class!  Check out their mystery debut..

Welcome to Twinkie Town

    This past week we began our unit on Mini- Society. The first order of business was to name our town.  Students gave many suggestions, and in the end Twinkie Town was chosen.   Students had the opportunity to come up with a flag to represent out town. Take a look at all of the great possibilities-

The class took a vote and decided our flag. Congratulations to Layni for creating our Twinkie Town flag!   Next on our agenda is to vote on the money on Monday.  Once we have established our money, we will be moving on to jobs in the town.  Students will fill out applications to apply for a job.   Cannot wait to see all of our fine representatives of Twinkie Town!

Comparison Writing

     We are heading back to comparison writing!   Today I would like you to generate a compare and contrast graphic organizer using the link below. This will help us organize our thoughts to begin writing!

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/compcontrast/map.html

The Difference Between a Subject and a Predicate

Here is a game to play for additional practice:
http://www.quia.com/rr/36765.html

Jumping Into Fractions

We are beginning a new trimester and a new unit on Fractions. Take a look at this fun clip for some handy fraction tips!


Here are a few sites to help you with fractions!
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/fractions/fractions.htm 
http://jmathpage.com/JIMSFractionspage.html
http://www.numbernut.com/advanced/fraction_intro.shtml  
http://www.softschools.com/math/fractions/games/
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/fractions.htm 

Poetry in Progress..

   After a very successful experience at our Poetry Cafe, students were asked to share their favorite poem to create a Voicethread.  We will now add a few magic touches to read the poems and make comments.  This is a poetry project in progress.... Students- If you do not see one of your poems, please make sure you turn it into me ASAP!  We want to share our finished project with the world.

March is Mystery Month

   Everyone loves a good mystery!  This month we will be studying the elements of mystery during our monthly genre study. Students will discover clues, evidence and suspects as they try and solve mysteries. Hopefully they  will not be misled by red herrings!  Want to participate in some added mystery fun?  Check out these links below!

http://www.kidsloveamystery.com/
http://www.mysterynet.com/
http://www.ronroy.com/atoz/
http://www.the39clues.com/
http://kids.mysterynet.com/mysterymadlib/

Our Poetry Cafe

Friday Fun

      We had such a great day in Powell4thgrade!  Our day was filled with many stories, as well as opportunity to skype with a classroom in Maryland.  Each classroom took turns reading pages of my all- time favorite, The Lorax.     Read Across America 2012 was a huge success in our classroom!
       Our fun did not stop when school was out!  Some of us just had to see The Lorax on opening day! It was so nice to see families celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday at the movies!  A special thank you to all of the families that joined us to see the Lorax.  A few sneaked out before I could get a picture of all of the students.    The movie definitely gets two thumbs up!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

On March 2nd, many students will be Reading Across America to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday! We are very excited to join in on this special occasion. We will be looking at all of our Dr. Seuss favorites, including my favorite- The Lorax.  You definitely need to check out Seussville, http://www.seussville.com/#/games where you can find out more about the characters, books, and a few games from our favorite stories by Dr. Seuss!

Want to learn more about the Lorax? Take a look at The Lorax Project, http://origin-www.seussville.com/loraxproject/

What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book?  We would love to hear from you!

Hands On Learning with Current Electricity

Students were posed with a challenge- Can you get the battery to light without the light bulb touching the battery? Take a look!

Current Electricity

  We are having so much fun with science in our classroom. Students were able to create a circuit in class using just a light bulb, wire, and a battery.   Students also learned how a circuit needs a source, load, and path.  Take a look at these  links to learn more about current electricity.
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/science/electricity_book1/index.htm
http://www.andythelwell.com/blobz/

Mystery Skype with Our New Friends in New Jersey

Skyping and Learning- Connecting with Louisiana about Mardi Gras

   We continue to grow in our learning through connections around the United States.  Today we had the opportunity to learn about Mardi Gras from a 4th grade class in Louisiana. It was amazing to hear all about the experience!  Thank you Mrs. Shepherd's class!   We hope to connect with you again in the future!  You can see the skype call on Mrs. Shepherd's blog at http://ericashep.blogspot.com/2012/02/sharing-bit-of-our-culture.html

Getting Ready for the DRE Auction

  Students were very excited to create a special piece of artwork to go into the DRE Auction. The pieces are amazing!  Thank you so much Mrs. Beale for helping us!  Hope you will join us for this special event on February 24th. 

Valentine's Day

    Now that you are very comfortable writing poetry, take a look at these links on how you can create some Valentine fun with your poems.

http://www.neoformix.com/Projects/WordHearts/

http://www.festisite.com/text-layout/#2,0

Book Club- Sharing Our Poetry

  This past week we have been very busy creating acrostic, cinquain, and a to z alliteration poems during our poetry study unit.  This Friday morning during our book club the students shared their poetry with each other.  It is so wonderful to hear all the poems that they have created during this time. I have very talented students!

Hands On Learning with Static Electricity!

  Do you know how static electricity happens?  Students had the opportunity to get an insider's look at static electricity today!  Science is just so much fun!

We Are Learning About Electricity

  Do you know how electricity works?  Do you know why your hair stands up due to static electricity?  Take a look at this video for a great introduction to electricity. Electricity rocks!  http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/energy-light-sound/electricity.htm

The Long Division Song- DMSB

Playing With Poetry

This past week we began our unit on poetry. Students are really enjoying creating poems in their poetry journal. Take a look at these links for reading and writing poetry!
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/acrostic/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm#
http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/curriculum/elem/4th/ELA/poetry/poetry_temp4th.htm

Double Digit Multiplication Test Next Week

   
  We have wrapped up our unit on double digit multiplication this week.  We will be taking our test on Thursday.    Take a look at the following links for some fun ways to prepare for the test.

http://www.mathplayground.com/multiplication05.html
http://www.prongo.com/math/

Don't forget you can always practice your basic facts with some of our math links located on the right side of the blog!

Off to a New Read Aloud Adventure!

  This past month we have been looking at the adventure genre in class.Students have been reading various books in class and sharing the wonderful adventures in their books.  One author keeps popping up in our discussion-Gordon Korman.  Therefore, we began our next read aloud book with one of his Island Series books, Shipwreck.   You can get an insider's look at the crew, as well as the other books through this link, http://www.scholastic.com/titles/island/crew.htm.