Fun in 4th...

Recent pictures of my fourth graders enjoying their new netbooks and participating in Wacky Tacky Day during spirit week! Can't help but smile... I'm reminded every day how fortunate I am to have a job I love so much.

A Wonderful Week!

It's been a busy and wonderful week... Every now and then I look up at my group, and think - I am one lucky teacher... My students are kind, respectful, and insightful. I love our discussions!

This week we took a peek at the book we will be reading as part of the Global Read Aloud Project, Tuck Everlasting. The read aloud begins Monday, so we made some predictions this week. The book has to do with living forever. We talked about the pros and cons, and found out that the main character in the book finds out about a family who is drinking from a special spring that gives them eternal life. Does she drink from the spring? Does she keep their secret? We can't wait to start reading! On Thursday afternoon, we Skyped with a great class from St. Mary's Visitation in Wisconsin who shared their predictions with us. We are looking forward to having book talks with them, as well as participating in the Edmodo discussion group.

We also visited the library this week, and since my 4th graders are so mature, I've decided to let them use the main library in addition to the lower school room. The library is open and light, and everyone loved the freedom to explore the stacks and curl up with a good book. Today the librarian came to our room and showed us how to use the online library search to find books! We bookmarked the library catalog search and the AR Bookfinder on our Diigo so we can look up books at any time! Very cool.

Finally (I told you it was a great week), we got into the lab today to look at some REAL plant and animal cells. We looked at onion cells, and at the cells I scraped from the inside of my cheek!! We were able to see the difference in the cell shape/structure, and could even see the nucleus of many of the cells!

Our school motto is "Think, Explore, Discover". I feel like we did service to each of these this week, and most importantly, had so much fun!

We're Bloggers!

We posted our first blogs today, about our passions. It was great to think about what we have an interest in, or would like to learn more about! We made an image using Tagxedo (http://www.tagxedo.com/), and learned how to upload it to the blog. We also learned about hamburger paragraphs - beginning with a topic sentence, providing supporting details, and using good vocabulary to add excitement. We wrapped up the paragraph with a sentence to summarize or ask a question so that our readers will want to further the discussion! I tweeted out our blogging, and within 10 minutes, we had several comments. So exciting!! I love having the netbooks so handy. Want to comment on our blogs? Check them out at http://kidblog.org/mrsgraysonsclass!

What a Great Group!

All 22 of us were together today, and I couldn't resist a photo op... Here's the group, as well as some pictures of us enjoying the beautiful weather at recess!

We Tweeted!

We had a great first day, and our only homework was to tweet about what we are looking forward to, or are excited about for our year in 4th grade! 22 fantastic tweets came in this morning - Check them out at https://twitter.com/#!/hragrayson. The most recent tweets are displayed on the right sidebar of this page. We will have a daily tweet or two about our learning, but to get started, everyone got to tweet out their excitement about the new year!

Our New Room!

I'm excited about our new space this year - The room is ready to go!

An Exciting New Year in 4th Grade!

Welcome Back! I am getting excited to welcome our 4th graders back to school. There have been some big changes, and I think they will have a significant impact on our learning! Here are just a few of the things you can look forward to hearing about this year:

• An interactive white board in our room! I received a Promethean board this summer, and we will be using this to use virtual manipulatives in math, and utilize interactive lessons in many subjects. We can also project images and videos from the computer onto the large screen!
• Netbooks! I received my netbook recently, and absolutely love it. The keyboard size was easy to adjust to, and they will fit on the desk while still allowing room for a book or paper. We will have a cart of our own in the room, and will be able to use them at our convenience. This is HUGE!
• Skype - This is a video chat program. Using a webcam and our interactive white board, our class will be able to video chat with other classes around the globe! We will be using this for a special Social Studies activity you will be hearing about...
• Edmodo - The students have been having a blast on our class Edmodo page, but we will also be part of a group on Edmodo for a Global Read Aloud. This is a project involving over 200 classes around the world that will all be reading Tuck Everlasting at the same time! Student will have the opportunity to participate in guided student literature discussions in the Edmodo group.
• Blogging - Our netbooks will allow us to create blogs where we will practice our writing and be able to get constructive comments from other students.

Before we get carried away, though, there will be much discussion and learning about the new technology available to us. Our new technology teacher, is working closely with us as we learn about Internet safety and responsibility using a published curriculum. All student activity will be closely monitored and moderated. You will be receiving a letter the first week of school with details and permissions. Rest assured, your student's privacy and safety online are paramount and will be protected at all times.

It's going to be a fantastic year, and this website is intended to help you be part of it! Check back often, or subscribe to receive an email when it is updated. We look forward to sharing our learning with you!