Fact Fluency

Thank you for coming and supporting the Mosaic students as they presented their Passion Projects on Thursday. They were so excited to see the positive feedback that filled up on their comment pages and they learned so much from each other. Choice is extremely motivating for students and it certainly showed with this project.

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This week we also wrapped up Unit Four in math and are moving from thinking about fractions and measurement to diving more deeply into concepts around multiplication and division. Click here to read more about the specific goals and content of this unit. Your child is expected to be practicing their math facts at home to improve his/her fact fluency. One option is for them to be doing the exercises on the XtraMath website, but they can also practice using different apps, flashcards, or dice games. If you find something that works particularly well we would love to hear about it. We have finished our magnetism unit and went out with a shock as we learned about how magnetism and electricity combine to create electromagnets. The scientists read closely about how these magnets are created and then used their understanding and engineering skills to design their own plan for a small electromagnet. In small groups we tested out their designs and reviewed our understanding of closed circuits. The teachers had very hot hands, but it was worth it for the look on their faces when they created a magnetic field from just a few materials! Now we will be heading into a unit that is focused on writing fairy tale adaptations. Led by our student teachers the students will learn about the story elements of this genre by reading traditional tales. Then they will compare and contrast these with adaptations by other authors before they adapt a tale on their own. Our big basket raffle is coming up next weekend and the baskets are not quite full yet. Please consider donating to this wonderful fundraising event. It looks like mud season has arrived, at least for the time being. The fields at recess are prone to get extremely wet and muddy and we suggest that you send your child with a spare pair of socks in his/her backpack. Please be sure that they also have shoes that they can change into as their boots are quite wet after their fun outside. We look forward to chatting with you many of you next week at our conferences on Monday, March 23rd.