Dot Day Skype in NY

Today my class Skyped with another 4th grade class in Long Island, NewYork.  This was our 3rd Skype this week to celebrate International Dot Day.  We co-shared reading the book, "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds and asked a couple of questions about their location and then ended the call.  Afterwards, both classes worked collaboratively on Padlet where they each wrote a sentence stating how they would make a mark in this world.  The students all had wonderful and inspiring messages!
 Created with Padlet

Our First Skype

Today's marks our first class skype and a bonus for the kids was that I had 2 separate States from the US who were wanting to celebrate Dot Day with us.  Our first Skype was with a 4th grade class in MaryLand and our second Skype was with a 4th grade class in Utah.  The kids volunteered to orally share reading the book, "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds and understand that the theme of the book is to allow one tiny dot to mark only the beginning of a journey of the creative spirit in all of us.  It is also a story about surprise and self-discovery and one that I hope to watch grow in my students this year.

  The iPad was hooked up to the Smartboard where the two classes called our class through Skype.  After reading the book, we talked about how we respectively celebrated Dot Day.  My class showed their pillows which received A LOT of "ooohs" and "aaaahs" from both of the schools.  The school in Utah showed us their DOT shields they had made and the school in Maryland showed us their Dot trading cards they made. Our first attempt to Skype today went off without a hitch and the kids said they enjoyed every minute of it!

Pillow Making!

Today my students "SYNERGIZED" with the 9th grade HomeEc. students from Racette where they sewed their very own Dot pillow as our class way to celebrate Dot Day.  We walked over to Racette where the students and their teacher, Mrs. Pashko, were eagerly waiting for our arrival.  The students worked cooperatively and effectively and had their pillows completed in under an hour.  What a FUN and ENGAGING experience this was for all the students.  Thank-you grade 9's for welcoming us into your classroom today!

Pearl Valley Farms Virtual Field Trip

Today the students had the opportunity to attend a virtual field trip in Illinois, USA and saw how Pearl Valley Farms run their egg operation.  They got to understand the egg's journey from the farm to the table in a variety of steps .  They also learned what this farm is doing in terms of being environmentally sustainable such as recycling the manure and creating organic matter and selling the "Poop Coop" to consumers. They are also conserving energy, water and waste in general.  The students learned that the workers at the Egg farm have to problem solve daily and that it is important that they understand math and science concepts. They also learned of the healthy benefits of eggs as it pertains in their Health studies.  Thank you to Pearl Valley farms for the very informative tour today.  The kids sure learned a lot!

Mrs. Gratton's Class Page

Mrs. Gratton's Class Page: Web resources collected specifically for Mrs. Gratton's class.