Full of Wonder

After completing our gum inquiry task students learned how scientists interpret and analyze data and use that information to write  strong persuasive conclusions. Mrs. Parker wrote about her own findings and the students critiqued her writing to highlight what should be included in a quality response. Some of the things that they came up with were strong transition words (However, Whereas, In comparison) , evidence from data, and a clear explanation of the criteria that was tested. Now they are in the process of publishing their own results and we will post a copy in the Mosaic hallway along with some "bubbly" artwork that Ms. M has modeled. We will also be mailing a copy of the responses to the different gum companies as a way to publish to a broader audience. (I think they are also hoping we might get some free samples!)

Our group has also started our first chapter book read aloud for the year. We are excited to dive into R.J. Palacio's beautiful story, Wonder. It is a tale of acceptance, friendship, and tolerance and Palacio has an amazing way of balancing some of the harsh realities of life with humor and grace that is accessible to all students. It is also a book that allows us to delve deeply into character analysis, theme, and author's craft. We can tell that students love this time of day and books as much as we do as we recently heard things like, "I love when the author doesn't come right out and tell you and it makes you think" and "Are we going to keep charts about our thinking as we go along? I loved that last year." Our teacher hearts grew a few sizes after that! Feel free to read along with us so that you may discuss the book with your child.

We are finishing up the first unit in mathematics and next week the students will show what they now understand about multiplicative reasoning. They will have a chance to reflect on how they have grown as mathematicians and what concepts might still be goals. They  will be sharing those reflections with you as well.

Just a reminder that our sign-up links for Parent Teacher Conferences are on the side bar on the right hand side of the blog.

Wonderful Wordsmiths

This week we officially began our word study routine and your student should be practicing these routines at home with you three nights a week. Looking at words by their sound pattern has been proven to help students develop the type of phonic awareness that will help them as writers, but also as readers. As they move along the developmental continuum, students will begin to look at base words, roots, suffixes, and prefixes and knowledge about this type of morphology helps readers to attack more complex text. As your student is sorting he/she shouldn't just be focused on getting it in the "right column", rather they should be mindful of sound/symbol relationships and most importantly the meaning(s) of words.  We then work as a group of spellers to reflect on how we can use this information to help us as readers and spellers.

Colby gets a magnified view of a Wolf Spider!

This past week in math has been full of "A-ha" moments as students have been investigating many new vocabulary words like prime, composite, factor, multiple, area model, dimension, and commutative property of multiplication. Have them wow you at the dinner table with some of their new understandings. Many of the concepts that were marked with IDKY (I Don't Know Yet) on our Pre-Assessment have become a bit more clear with some of our hands on activities through the week.

We also had our first Four Winds lesson where students learned about the fascinating lives of spiders. We got to look up close at these amazing creatures and several students who felt quite frightened by them at the start of the morning admitted that their fears had been quelled by the new information. Here are some photos to enjoy.

Navigating new vocabulary with the parts of a spider

Please feel free to sign up for a Fall Conference Date using the links on the sidebar under Important Dates. There is a link for both Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Eaton. Also, just a reminder that we do not have school this Wednesday, September 23rd.

Comparing spider species

Happy Fall,
Jess and Liz

Slow and Steady Wins The R.A.C.E.

It was nice to see some of you at Curriculum Night on Thursday evening. If you missed the presentation you can view the information here.

This week in literacy we learned about how strong writers use the acronym R.A.C.E. to write strong responses. First they Restate the question that was asked and provide a clear Answer. Then they Cite examples that back up their claim/opinion with detailed evidence. Lastly, writers Extend their thinking to make personal connections or inferences to draw a conclusion. We modeled and had students practice with questions that they can reflect on personally. Then they will move from personal responses to persuasive pieces through their Gum Inquiry unit. Over the next few months, we will take the R.A.C.E. format and expand on it to teach students how to develop their first five paragraph personal essay.

Scientists were also busy setting up their Gum Inquiry Task and getting ready for the first test. We worked as a group to establish criteria for what to test. The group decided on flavor over time, chewability (a word that we think we may have invented!), and the size of bubbles as measured in cm. Then we established our constants (gum weight, mouth condition, time chewed) and variable (type of gum)  to ensure a fair test. The room got very quiet as we embarked on our first test! Next week we will test two more types of gum brands. Then we will use our data to practice drawing strong conclusions using a R.A.C.E. response.

In math we are learning about strategies for division, multiplication, and have been working on developing strong mathematical habits of mind in our math forum.  The forum is a time for students to share their work, listen to understand, ask clarifying questions, and help to find multiple pathways for solving problems. We have developed a rubric for students to set goals for themselves in using these habits and have sent their first reflection home for you to see how your child has reflected upon them at the beginning of the year. This type of metacognition (thinking about our thinking) has been proven to be one of the most powerful tools for developing intrinsic motivation and authentic engagement in students.

Hopes and Dreams

Thanks to all of you who were able to come and join us on Wednesday evening. The desserts were delicious and we hope that you were able to chat and make connections with others on the Mosaic team. We will have our Curriculum Night next Thursday evening beginning at 6:30. This is a time to find out more about our school and team. We will present information around communication and curriculum. The teacher presentation is followed by an information expo where you can find out more about whole school initiatives and current topics in the world of education. If you cannot join us on Thursday I will post our Power Point presentation on next week's blog post.

This week in fourth grade has been all about goal setting. We began to brainstorm our hopes and dreams for the school year. Using The Big Orange Splot as a mentor text, the students are designing houses that symbolize the dreams that they have for themselves. They have written about how they can work to achieve those dreams and how teachers can help them. We talked about growth mindset using this video as a fun connection. Then the students set goals for themselves as mathematicians. We will use our pre/post assessments and weekly exit tasks to reflect on these goals and self-assess our progress.

We launched our first interdisciplinary literacy/theme unit on a favorite topic of fourth graders....Gum. Through this unit students will learn comprehension strategies like close reading and comparing and contrasting, they will also write strong opinion (R.A.C.E.) responses, and design and carry out an inquiry task around the "best" type of gum. This week they read about the history of gum and made "Tracks in the Snow." This close reading strategy allows students to look deeply at a piece of complex text and analyze the message. We also discussed and practiced several strategies that strong readers use to attack unknown vocabulary words. Some of the new words that we came across in our passage around gum were resin, chicle, urge, and ever-evolving. Lastly, we read two different poems about gum and used evidence from the text to compare and contrast both pieces.

Our Tracks in The Snow Codes

A guest read aloud by Miss Nadine

Next week we will set up our inquiry task to test which type of gum is the "best". We will develop criteria, establish a control and variables, and carry out fair tests to answer our question. Stay tuned for our discoveries and to read students' conclusions.