Welcome to Mrs. DiBattista's Class 2015-16

The Eggs are Coming.. the eggs are coming!!

May 26, 2015 is the day 4th grade classes at French Creek get their chicken eggs.  The incubators are set up and ready to go.  Post any comments or questions here!

Welcome to 4th Grade!

Hello everyone!  If you have any questions... or would just like to say hello- You may do so here and I will answer you shortly.  If you'd like to tell me what you've been up to all summer, you may post a comment there for me as well.

 Feel free to browse around the blog and check the links to our student KidBlogs over to the right, the past two years are still active.  KidBlogs is where we will post a lot of our writing for our peers and parents to enjoy.  All comments and posts must be approved by me, so it is a safe and secure website, I promise.  If your comment does not appear immediately, that is why- sometimes I am slow.

Let me know what you're looking forward to about 4th grade and I'm very excited to get to know you and your family.

What have you been up to all summer?

I miss everyone! How is your summer? We've been pretty busy and need to start relaxing soon, since school will be starting!  I'd love to hear what you've been up to.

We just got back from Runaway Bay, Jamaica.  That was a great trip, we went with my parents.  The water was SO blue, I loved it.  The whole island is really pretty with lots of flowers and very nice people.  Emma and I took a 3 hour taxi ride to meet Mrs. Newman in Negril, where we jumpled off cliffs at Rick's Cafe with her family- that was a ton of fun.

On a different note, I've been pretty beat up this summer, hopefully my black eye and stitches will heal by the time school rolls around or I may scare the new kiddos.  I'm supposed to be at the Katy Perry concert right now with Emma but a dirt bike accident gave me 11 stitches, a black eye and huge bruises over most of my body, so I stayed home to rest.  My girlfriend, Kim took her daughters and Emma to the concert and she just sent me a picture of her in a private room with Katy Perry's father... figures... I'm home! Anyway, the dirt bike riding was a ton of fun until I crashed, luckily I was wearing a helmet and hopefully I'll get to a Katy Perry concert next year.

Please let me know how your summer is going! Hope to hear from you soon, Mrs. D

Welcome QuadBloggers 2014

Our class is beginning an exciting new adventure in Quadblogging.  We have partnered up with teachers in three countries to promote technological literacy and cross-cultural friendships through blogging. 

We are a class of 21 fourth grade students here at French Creek Elementary School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.  Students have been blogging since September, so you should find many interesting topics to read about and comment on.

Please check our student blogs at http://kidblog.org/MrsKDiBattista/6a6333dd-9d75-41e9-9a08-3f1726578c4e/welcome-to-kid-blogs-2013-14/  Look for the post titled "Quadblogging Intro to..."
Students have developed a personal introduction that should engage readers while also teaching you about the local tourist attractions nearby.

Rules of Quadblogging:
1. Use first names only
2. Post thoughtful, detailed comments utilizing proper English conventions
3.  Check back often and be polite
4.  Learn from your Quadblogging buddies
5.  Ask questions
6. Enjoy!

We are looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you! Sincerely, Mrs. K. DiBattista's Class

Meteorology 101- Weather Project for Bloggers

Welcome meteorologists! Blog post due by Monday March 3, 2014

 Today you choose a topic about the weather to research more thoroughly.  Topics you may choose are:

• water cycle
• wind
• temperature
• air pressure
• clouds
• tornadoes
• hurricanes
• tsunami
• weather instruments
• historic weather events
• approved topic of choice- see me

Your job is to research and present your info to us in your choice of project that will be posted to your KidBlog.  Some project choices are:

• Power Point
• Voice Thread with photo uploads
• Animoto video
• your choice of other- see me

Ecosystems in the classroom

     4th grade is such a great time for students to learn about the Earth and how nature provides for all living organisms.  In science, each student creates an ecosystem out of soda bottles.  Right now, we have the bottom half of our ecosystems complete.

      The bottom of the ecosystem is the aquarium, which means that students observe mosquito fish, snails, and aquatic plants as they learn about the food chain/food web, animal adaptations, the water cycle and more!   Check out the Kid Blogs link on the right to find out what the kids have to say about their ecosystems. 

Class List 2013 Can you find your name?

If you click on it to make it bigger, let it load and choose "run" then it will appear full-size for you!

New classes

Hi kids! Right now I am on an airplane flying home from a great trip to Jamaica! I am super excited to hear who you got for 5th grade, what you did over the summer, or if you are just coming to 4th grade... We can see who else is in the class or answer any questions here! Hope to hear from you soon. Mrs. DiBattista

Getting ready for a new school year...

August already! Wow, we will be back in school before you know it! I've been pretty busy this summer, how about you? What have you been up to? I'm excited that we are heading to Jamaica this Monday. We are going to climb Dunn's River Falls, go 4 wheeling around the island, snorkel and enjoy family time. I'm interested in hearing about your vacations. Post your comments, ideas or questions here. Mrs. DiBattista

Best blog platform for elementary students

I can't believe the school year is winding down already! It was just September and most of the class didn't even know what a blog was, now each student has their own individual blog and some have started independent blogs. As a 4th grade teacher, I was worried about exposing students to the comments of the general public, so I decided to use the kidblog platform for student blogs and use blogspot for my teacher/classroom blog posts. Good thing! Kidblog is definitely the winner in my book for which blog to introduce students to. With kidblog, I monitor all of the comments and posts- it sounds like a pain, but it really isn't. I have a master "administrative" account in which I create student sub-accounts. Everything can be found on one page and no sneaky comments can slide through unless I don't monitor carefully enough. I have found that the blogspot platform is geared more for older students. I do love the widgets and gadgets that you can add on blogspot, but the security of it is lacking for young students. I have to delete a lot of "iffy" comments from people that include links to strange sites, so that is my main reason for promoting the kidblog site over the blogspot. Check out the link on the right to all of the kidblogs and you will see that the writing/commenting works just fine. No fancy gadgets or widgets, but maybe that will come with time. Let me know your thoughts!

Science PSSA sites

https://delicious.com/#kdibattista/4th%20grade%20Science follow this link to the Delicious bookmarking page where I've saved tons of great science sites for you!

Find your e-pals here

Our class is starting a functional letter writing activity- the modern version of pen pals- we have E-pals follow this link to find E-pal buddy's blog http://room12sawesomelearningjourney.blogspot.co.nz/

Explorer Mania

What do you know about Early Explorers? Students are just beginning a research project on an early explorer. Check the individual student blogs in the right sidebar to see what they have to say! "French Creek Individual Student Blogs" tab

Poetry, book reviews and Native American projects

Our class has been very busy finishing up our units on poetry and Native Americans. Please check out the individual student blogs "Sassy Student Blogs" in the right sidebar. You will find the students' blog entries for these projects as well as a book review of their latest novel read for class. We are excited to hear from our new QuadBlogging Buddies! We hope you enjoy our blogs. Sincerely, your friends in the USA, Mrs. DiBattista's 4th grade class

Jan. 2013 New QuadBlogging Buddies

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holiday break! I'm excited to share that we have NEW Quadblogging Buddies for 2013. You can check them out before we head back to school and leave any comments or questions here. Happy New Year!!

Natalie's Guess Who I am? Poem

What am I? Poem by Parry

What am I? guess in the comment section

What am I? poem by David

What am I? you can guess in the comments

Poetry Voice Threads by Mrs. DiBattista's Class

Our class has been busy learning about poetry- Here you will find some original poetry written, illustrated and recorded by our class- Enjoy!