Happy Hikers

Mosaic Hikes for Hunger

 We started off the week with a brisk and invigorating Hike for Hunger at Catamount Family Center. Thank you to all of the families and friends who donated to this wonderful and important cause. Mosaic House was able to raise over $1500.00 to donate to Hunger Free Vermont! What a fantastic way to start the week.

This week we also began our first fourth grade book club. We are all reading Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn Dixie and began the week thinking about what it means to be a productive member of a book club by developing book club norms and practicing expectations for accountable talk and active listening. During the week your students will be reading independently and making "tracks" or thinking notes in their very own copy of the book! We will meet a few times a week as a group to discussion our predictions, wonderings, connections, and big ideas around the book. They will also be responding to writing prompts in their Reading Notebooks and on Kid Blog.

In addition to reading in class your student will be expected to complete some of the reading at home. Each Monday they will get a weekly calendar that explains their reading responsibilities for the week. This at home reading will count as their 20 minutes of reading homework for those nights. They will need to be sure that they are mindful to bring the book to and from school to be prepared for their book groups. Here are some prompts that you can use to discuss the book with your young reader:

"What do you know about the characters so far?" "Who is your favorite?" Why?
"If you were Opal, would you have taken that dog home from the store?"
"Do you have any connections to the book from your life? From another book you've read?"
"Have you come across any new vocabulary words? How did you figure out what you think it means?"
"Do you like Kate DiCamillo's style of writing? Why?"
"Why do you think the book is called Because of Winn-Dixie?" What makes you think that?

On Thursday the fourth graders went to the Beginner Band Demonstration to learn about their options for learning to play an instrument. We have many students who are interested in joining and we encourage this wonderful activity. With that being said, we also have discussed with our students just how much of a commitment joining the band is both in and out of school. They will need to have at least 20 minutes to practice each day at least five days a week. They also miss class time for these lessons and will need to find time to make up any work that they miss throughout the day.  If you child is considering joining the band they have a packet in their Friday folder that should answer any questions that you have.  They must sign up online (or we can provide a hard copy) by October 30. 

We will end the week with our Harvest Crafternoon on Friday from 12:45-1:45. If you can volunteer to run a craft we would welcome you to join in the fun. If not, we are asking for healthy snacks/beverages/paper goods to enjoy the special day with. A sign up went home last week or you can email Liz or Jess with any contributions you are able to make.