The 2012-2013 school year marks my seventh year teaching 4th grade reading, language arts, and social studies at Ashbel Smith and every year I learn as much from my students as they learn from me. I try to make lessons come alive with hands-on activities that call upon my students' prior knowledge and personal experiences to entice them to explore subjects more thoroughly. Past students have found that while I am a demanding teacher, I am extremely fair and fun. If they fulfill their part of our classroom contract, I can be counted upon to fulfill mine. Right now I am hard at work preparing for the new schoo year. In my classroom, students will move, draw, sing, cut, dance, think, and act out what they are learnng so it's fun, memorable, and relevant to their own lives. My class studies cut right across other subjects so the student are able to build on their prior knowledge repeatedly and in a variety of ways so again, there is relevance to what they are learning. This year, my students and I will set sail on adventures and explorations that will excite, challenge, and tease them into wanting to learn more, do more, and share more. On August 27th, we will "Set Sail for Success!" Ellen Gillis 4th Grade Langague Arts/Reading/Social Studies ellen.gillis@gccisd.net 281-420-4615