Our Great State

This week in our Vermont history/geography  theme unit we moved ahead in time  from the Abenaki to the late 1700's when Vermont was settled as a state. The two fourth grade classes participated in a simulation where one class represented the New Hampshire Grants and the other class played the role of the (New) Yorkers. These two groups of people were sold the same plot of land and it was up to the unpopular King George to settle the dispute. He sided with the Yorkers and that launched the rebellion by the well known Green Mountain Boys. The students loved debating their opinions and came up with ideas for their own Vermont Constitution that sounded very similar to the one that was written so many years ago.

Now students will use what they know about Vermont history in a special literacy project that will combine their new understandings with poetry.

We also explored equivalent fractions by using tools to build what these fractions represent. Using tools and models can help to make more abstract concepts like fractions seem more concrete and accessible to mathematicians at this stage of learning.


Next week we will lead up to the break with some exciting events. The holiday concert will be on Wednesday, followed by R.A.D. (Reading All Day) on Thursday and our Craft Morning and Cinema Day on Friday. Thank you to all that are going to be volunteering your time or snacks. We know it is a busy time of year and we greatly appreciate the help.

We hope thatyour families have a peaceful holiday and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

Fondly,
Jess and Liz

Ready Researchers

This week we read about the Abenaki people and then Mosaic students identified questions they were interested in researching to learn more about their amazing culture. Students were introduced to a concept web as a tool to take notes as well as guidance on how to search appropriate, accurate sites using key words and phrases.

After finding the answers to their questions they came back together in subtopic groups to participated in a discussion about what they learned. Former Mosaic students (now on Swift) volunteered their time to help us have a productive discussion and guided students to pull out key details and terminology to create a word cloud.
Next students will use these word clouds to help them sketch ideas for how they will tell about what they learned in a mural they will be making in art class with Mrs. Beeken. Stay tuned for how their new understandings take shape in a collaborative painting for all to enjoy.

A sign-up sheet for our Mosaic Holiday Craft Morning went home in the Friday folder. If you are able to volunteer please send the form back in with your child as soon as you can. We thank you for helping us make this festive day a success.

Don't forget to look through your (2-6th grade) books for our Mosaic book exchange on Thursday, December 21st. The more books that come in, the more books students will go home with to read in the new year.

Happy Holiday,
Liz and Jess

Googling Geographers

To complete our Vermont geography mini-unit the young geographers worked in teams to create an interactive Google map full of information about different Vermont Attractions. Using online resources and a new micro-progression for writing with strong word choice they created an informative map for anyone looking to visit the Green Mountain State. Visit it here.

Putting notes and key details
 into our own writing

Pinning our locations
 on our Google Maps

We also ended our math unit this week and showed what we now understand about strategies for solving more complex multiplication problems and division problems that involve remainders. To do this challenging work students use visual models. Seeing, touching, and sketching ideas create pictures in the mind's eye, helping learners construct, understand, and apply mathematical ideas.  Next week we will reflect on our goals and move into Unit 3, where we will explore fractions and decimals. See here for more information on this unit's big ideas.

Using tile to model the solution to a
division story problem. 

Homemade feeders for our
 feathered friends to enjoy this winter

Our Four Winds Volunteers came in on Thursday and we all learned so much about the migratory behaviors of our feathered friends. This inspired one student to bring in his homemade birdhouse and bird feeder to hang up outside the classroom windows. Hopefully we will see some of the species we learned about this winter.

Please remember that as we head into the winter months your students will be going outside each day. They should have boots, snow pants, gloves, and hats daily. Please feel free to leave a pair in school.

We have a few fun events to look forward to this month. Stay tuned for more information about our R.A.D. Celebration and our Craft Morning in your child's Friday folder.

Think Snow,

Jess and Liz

Here Comes The Sun

Thank you to our parent volunteers who made our Harvest Craftermorning a success! The students always look forward to this day and after the excitement of the storm and no school it was a nice way to ease back into the week!

We spent some of the rainy days last week using our data and what we learned from Gary B and his solar bus to build our prototypes. Then the sun finally shined and we were able to test them. None of the teams were entirely successful with melting the cheese on their nachos, but they did discover that by adding plastic to the tops they were able to create a greenhouse effect and many of them got hot! We wrapped up our solar energy unit by using all of our new understandings to write reflections about how successful our designs were for how they heated up and how much of an impact they had on the environment.

Now the students are moving into a social studies unit. They will learn about the geography of Vermont and follow its history from the days of the Abenaki to its statehood. Students will head to the Flynn this week to see a presentation about the Abenaki tribe presented by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association. They will then work in small research groups to become "experts" on an aspect of Abenaki culture. Their informational writing will be on display alongside a mural  that they will create in art class with Mrs. Beeken. Stay tuned for more photos and information on this unit of study.

The days are turning colder but we still want students to be able to head outside during the day for fresh air. Please help your students to be sure and pack accordingly so they can be warm and dry during the cold winter months. We hope that you all enjoy a relaxing Thanksgiving holiday with your families.

Fondly,

Liz and Jess

Going Solar

This was an awesome week with some special visitors and events sprinkled into our regular schedule.

On Thursday we learned about how seeds travel from our Four Winds Volunteers. Students identified the different parts of seeds using a lima bean model, engaged in several hands on activities to understand how they travel and spread, and enjoyed fruits with different types of seeds. Thank you to all of our amazing parent volunteers!

On Friday, Gary Beckwith and his Solar Bus came to teach us more about the science and engineering involved with solar ovens. Students learned about the three different types of solar energy and how they can power everything from a calculator to a car (or bus!). Gary was really impressed with all of the understanding that Mosaic students already had from our unit and we even invited him to come back and see how our solar ovens stand up to the test of making nachos this week!

We ended our week in the garden celebrating all that it brings to our school and community. Kaleidoscope lead us in song and our wonderful staff and parent volunteers served us up some delicious hot cider. It was a beautiful day to celebrate!

Just a reminder that we will be having our Mosaic Crafter Morning on Tuesday, October 31st from 10:30-11:30. Thank you to those of you who are volunteering your time or sending in a snack for us to enjoy.

Happy Hikers

Thank you to all who donated canned good and pledges towards our annual Hike For Hunger event. All of the money will go towards Hunger Free Vermont and the food will be donated directly to our Williston Food Shelf. The students got a beautiful day and we enjoyed spending time together as a team doing something for our local community.

Mosaic Team Hike For Hunger

Our beautiful backdrop at Catamount Family Center 

This week we tested different materials to see how they worked as insulators. Students tested plastic, paper, felt, and cotton and recorded the difference in temperature after submerging cups full of the materials in ice water. Students now have lots of ideas on how they will use these tests to make decisions on how to build their own oven prototypes. Our goal is to have an oven that can successfully heat up and cook food while still having a low impact on the environment.

Testing thermal insulators

We started a new unit in mathematics this week. Students are learning about models and strategies for multi-digit multiplication and how to divide with and without remainders. See this link for more information on the content of this unit and how to support your child's math growth.

Next Tuesday is our Harvest Craft Morning. We are looking for parent volunteers to run a craft or activity for three groups of approximately 10 students in each group. A form has gone home and we would love it if you could join us for this fun team event. If you want to help,but need an idea we are happy to help. If you need certain materials for your craft idea just let us know beforehand and we will try and organize them for you.

Happy Harvest,
Jess and Liz

Solar Scientists

Scientists began learning about different types of energy this week. Some new vocabulary that came up in our scientist meetings were: fossil fuels, renewable/nonrenewable, and geothermal. Students then concentrated their focus on solar energy and designed an investigation around how the color of a material affects how it absorbs heat. They established the controls and variable and worked in groups to collect and analyze data. This information will help them as they design their own prototypes for mini-solar ovens in the coming weeks, but first we need to test for which materials insulate the most heat. Stay tuned!

Collecting Temperature Data

Setting up our colored materials for testing

This Wednesday we will be doing our annual Hike For Hunger at The Catamount Family Center. Our hike will begin at 10:00 and go until about 11:00. We would love for families to join us on this team event. Pledge forms were sent home via email and should be returned with any donation by Friday, October 27th. We will also love to collect non-perishable food items to donate to our Williston Food Shelf. Thank you for anything that you can contribute to this important tradition.

Mathematicians investigate mass 

Learning about liquid volume 

On Monday students in fourth grade will attend an assembly to learn about the WCS beginner band program. They will learn about the different instrument options and the responsibilities that come along with joining the band. We encourage them to discuss this new option with their families and teachers before making the year long commitment. More information will come home to you in the next few weeks, but we are happy to answer any questions.

Students of the Week reporting live from Midday With Mosaic!

Growing Writers

Writers have been working on writing opinion reviews and science conclusions in our integrated Gum Unit. We have been using microprogressions to help students learn how to elevate the quality of their writing. We look at other student writing and teacher models as mentor texts and then use the PQP (Praise, Question, Polish) strategy to help each other edit, revise, and aim for a 2-3 star piece.

Microprogressions for opinion writing

We look forward to sharing your student's writing and other information with you during our conferences. Please use the link on the sidebar (or teacher email) to sign up for a time that works for you.

Praise, Question, Polish
Peer Editing Tool 

Computational Fluency Work Place Game

We are nearing the end of our current math unit and students have been working on strategies for multiplication and division problem solving as well as building their computational fluency with multiplication facts through work place games. This week we will show our thinking in our post-assessment. Then we will reflect on how we have grown using our pre-assessment and reflection tools. These assessments will come home for you to celebrate how your student has grown as a mathematician.

Thank you for helping your students to use their yellow planners to organize their weekly responsibilities. This is just one of the ways that we can help our students to build executive functioning skills like time management and organization.

Lego Masters at Work
During Friday Workshops

If you have a special skill that you would like to share with students please remember that we would love to have family volunteers to run a Friday Workshop. These run almost every Friday from 2:05-2:40. You would have a group of about 10 students. Please contact your child's teacher if you are interested.

Popping Into Science

Scientists rate their gum based
on our chosen criteria. 

Over the past few weeks we have been learning about opinion writing by composing reviews. After looking at lots of different reviews and determining the components of this type of writing we then  tested and reviewed toys, books, and food to draft our own reviews.  Then we combined our new learning with science by creating a way to test and review the best kind of bubble gum. Students learned about how scientists use words like criteria, constants and variables. They worked together to  develop a fair test and decided on the best gum based on flavor, texture, and bubble size. Now we are working to write a gum review that also includes scientific data as evidence. Then students will mail their writing off to the gum company who makes their overall best choice! Having an authentic audience always help to ratchet up the level of quality in young writers compositions. Stay tuned for more integrated reading, writing, and scientific practices as we move into our next unit around energy and solar engineering.

Measuring bubble size to the
nearest centimeter

Mathematicians race in the
Arrays To 100 Work Place Activity

As we near the end of our first unit in math students have developed several efficient strategies for solving multiplication and division problems. They are using number lines, ratio tables, and the area model to represent and justify their thinking to other mathematicians. Our math class is never a quiet place and discourse is at the heart of developing understanding. We also have been developing our fact fluency by playing Work Place games that help us to think about multiplication flexibly using the distributive property. For example, we can think about 9x7 by doing 10x7 and then quickly taking away a set of 9 or we can thinking about any x4 fact by doubling and then doubling again. That is why we call it the Double Double rule. At the end of this week we will take our post-assessment and reflect on our growth and set new goals for the next unit of study.

We ended the week with our first Four Winds Nature Study about insects. Students learned about the difference between a simple and complete metamorphosis and had the chance to engage in some hands-on discovery in our own backyard. Thank you so much to our parent volunteers for this important learning component.

A few reminders:

• Your child will bring home a yellow Friday Folder on Friday. Please help him/her fill out the weekly planner. They should be logging in the minutes read and type of reading throughout the week, aiming for at least 100 minutes. The log and folder should then be returned the next Friday. 
• As the fall weather sets in we are sharing our schedules for fall conferences. If you would like to sign up for a time please click on the link on the sidebar and follow the directions on the WikiSpace sign-up.
• Please follow us on Instagram @wcsmosaicmoments for photos and videos. 

Happy Autumn,
Jess and Liz

Welcome to 4th Grade

Hello Mosaic Families,

We have been busy during out first two weeks reviewing the routines and expectations of our classroom communities and modeling these for our third grade friends. Last week students also began working on their Hopes and Dreams project. The project is inspired by Daniel Pinkwater's book, The Big Orange Splot, where a street where every home looked the same decided to shake things up a bit. By the end of the story everyone's homes were designed to respresent their dreams. Our students then began to brainstorm and write about their own goals and dreams for this year and will be creating their own "home" as an artistic representation of their dreams. Stay tuned for pictures on our Instagram account (@wcsmosaicmoments) and on display in our classrooms.

Thanks to those of you who came to the dessert social. It was nice to catch up and make new connections. We will have our annual curriculum night this coming Thursday from 6:30-7:30. The information that we present will be very similar to last year. You are more than welcome to attend in person but if you would just like a review we would be happy to share our presentation with you via email.

We are still looking for a few more 4 Winds volunteers and a new FAP representative for the Mosaic team. Please let me know if you would be interested in either of these opportunities.

You should have seen a yellow Friday folder arrive home this week. In it you will find your child's weekly planner/reading log. Please help your student get into the routine of filling this planner out for the week and keeping a record of his/her reading. The folder and the planner should be signed and returned back to school next Friday.

Thank you for sharing your children with us!

Jess and Liz

What is Empathy?

This week the students in Mosaic began our Changing Perspectives unit by creating a working definition for Disability and Empathy. Your students have such amazing thoughts, connections, and questions about these topics. They are now working on creating inspirational posters about this topic to hang around the school in hopes of inspiring empathy in others. Next week we will begin our rotations to learn about specific disabilities and how they affect people's lives. Listen to our thoughts about empathy on this Let's Recap link.

In writing we have learned about the elements of classic fairy tales and how when we adapt a fairy tale those changes create a domino effect. For example, if you change the character or setting it will change the character's motivation, events, and most likely the resolution. Students have chosen to adapt either The Three Billy Goats Gruff or Little Red Riding Hood. Next they thought about parts of the classic tale that they disagreed with and wanted to change. Then they worked to create cohesive scenes to layout their tale with a clear structure. Next week we will begin to draft our first versions. We have some wonderfully creative ideas. Stay tuned for a sneak peek at their writing.

Our last unit in math for the year in Geometry. This particular concept is full of rich, and often confusing vocabulary, so students worked in small groups to create informational posters about what attribute we can use to describe different quadrilateral shapes. Then they presented their work to their classmates to learn from. To read more about the topics that we will cover in this unit read here.

Thank you all so very much for thinking of us with sweet treats, thoughtful goodies, and kind words throughout Teacher Appreciation Week. They were all received with overwhelming gratitude! We feel so lucky to teach in such a supportive community.

Fondly,
Jess and Liz

Amazing Things Happen

Students in Mosaic will begin a new integrated of study this week. Using the Changing Perspectives curriculum the students will participate in five different three day long workshops where they will learn about specific disabilities and what it is like to live with them. The goal of this unit is to teach about taking a new perspective about differences and learning to build empathy and compassion. Students will also get to read, write, draw, create, and act!

For our culminating experience we will hear from different guest speakers who live with a disability. We will also work with students in Swift house to prepare for our Disability Awareness Day on June 9th. On this day you will be invited to come and go through a series of simulated events lead by your children. Stay tuned for more information about this wonderful learning opportunity and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @wcsmosaicmoments

Welcome Spring

We hope that you all enjoyed a restful and rejuvenating break. Spring is officially here and we are busy with many exciting learning opportunities over the next six weeks.

Upon returning to school we will be completing the SBAC testing. We spent some time as a class looking at and discussing the purpose of these assessments before the break. Students learned about the types of questions they will see and the ways that teachers use the results to think about the "big picture" of what we plan for the upcoming year. We have many methods of assessment for our students and this is just one of them. Students should come to school rested and ready, but also relaxed knowing that all we ask is that they do their best.

We will be doing the testing in the mornings Monday-Thursday. We will provided many opportunities for movement and socialization and the afternoons will be filled with fairy tale writing and science. If you would like to send in additional snacks for your student during this week that would be wonderful. We will also have some on hand.

We will end the week with some hands-on fun on Friday during our Four Winds Nature program. Then we will be jumping into an exciting new unit based on teaching empathy and acceptance. Each student will rotate through a series of lessons from the Changing Perspectives curriculum and we will end the unit and the year with a culminating event that families will be invited to participate in. Stay tuned for more information to come.

Enjoy the sunshine!
Jess and Liz

Ready To Race

We have been working hard as green engineers with our latest challenge. Students have learned about the country of Senegal and have been inspired at how they are able to create so many amazing things with so little. We also learned about the Dakar Rally and have set personal goals for the cars that we've designed. Some want to go fast, some far, and others are aiming for accuracy on what can be some rugged terrain!

We have been posting pictures and videos of this challenging process on our new Instagram account @wcsmosaicmoments. Follow us there for more updates from our rally tomorrow. Also check out this LetsRecap to hear some student reflections about the process.

Spring Conferences

We are looking forward to talking with you about your child's progress in third grade during the upcoming week. 

We are also looking forward to jumping into our new engineer design challenge where students will be using what they know about force and motion and the EDP (Engineer Design Process) by acting as green engineers to design a car made of recycled materials that can travel down a ramp and meet our distance criteria. The students will imagine ideas, design a prototype, test their cars, write conclusions using their data as evidence, and work together collaboratively to problem solve. Stay tuned for more information and follow us on Instagram @wcsmosaicmoments for updates and pictures. 

We sent an email last week to request supplies for this project. If you have any materials that you are looking to donate please send them in with your child as soon as possible. 

Measuring Mavericks

Thank you all so much for joining us at our annual Passion Project Breakfast event. It was an amazing turn out and the students were all very obviously proud to share their hard work with a large interested and supportive audience.

 To see pictures of the event follow us on our new Instagram account @wcsmosaicmoments We have set up the account as private so you'll just need to click on the blue "follow" button to see images and leave your comments. We hope this tool will allow us to easily update you on the happenings in our classrooms in a way that seems accessible with  busy lifestyles. My daughter's teacher has been doing this and I love getting the quick, easy glimpse at her day. We hope you enjoy it as well and we welcome your feedback.

This past week students have begun a new science investigation where they will conduct investigations around phenomena of how gravity, friction, and force affect movement. Students will use science data to make claims and support their evidence in writing. Then they will use the Engineering Design Task to design a car ramp using their new understandings. Stay tuned for their discoveries.

We are finishing up our math unit on measurement and fractions and the students are now moving into Unit 5 where they will learn more about multiplication and division using models for area and perimeter. Look here to see more about the concepts included in this unit.

Enjoy that extra hour of sunlight. Spring's got to be just right around the corner, right?!

Fondly,
Liz and Jess

Passionate People

We hope that you all enjoyed the winter break despite the frigid temps! This week the students are hard at work finishing up their research reports on their passion project topics. We have had students studying everything from Helen Keller to spicy peppers and they can't wait to share their learning with you.

Students learned about informational text through studying Steve Jenkins last month and you will see how they thoughtfully incorporated many of the styles and features that are part this genre. Students chose to use formats like Question/Answer or Compare/Contrast, and added features like timelines, diagrams, maps, labels, and captions to teach their readers new information about their topic.

Join us on Thursday morning from 8:00-8:45 to celebrate their hard work and learn all about these interesting topics. If you are able to bring a healthy breakfast treat or beverage it would be greatly appreciated. We'll provide the coffee!

Things to ask you students:
What nonfiction text features or access features did you include? Why?
What text structure did you choose to use? Why?

Thanks so much for supporting our amazing students and their hard work. See you Thursday morning!

Snow Days!

We have to extend a HUGE thank you to our FAP members for helping to bring the amazing Natalie Kinsey Warnock to our school. She was so energetic and full of incredible stories. After she left our classrooms were abuzz with talk of how students were going to start collecting their own memories to write about. Thanks for this rich experience!

Students have been hard at work gathering research on their passion project topics. Now they will begin to organize their research using headings/subheadings into different google slides by topic. Then they will write using some of the nonfiction text features we learned about while studying the works of author, Steve Jenkins. Lastly, students will present their research projects to you on the morning of Thursday, March 9th. The time is still to be announced, but we usually like to start early in the morning to make it possible to stop and see you child's work on the way to work. More detailed information will be coming home at the end of this week.

In last week's Friday folder you received a letter from our wonderful colleague, Susan Stewart. Susan will be traveling to Africa over the Winter Break to visit the Hands of Love Educational Centre . She is looking for certain items that these students and teachers could benefit from and will be collecting them right up until the break outside of the Equinox doors. You can also bring any contributions to Mosaic and we would be happy to send them down to Susan to take on her journey.

Thank for all that you do to support our work,

Passionate People

We wrapped up the reading portion of our nonfiction unit by nominating one of Steve Jenkins books for a fictional award inspired by the Orbis Pictus medal for nonfiction. The readers had to use what they know about text structures (i.e. question/answer, cause/effect, chronological, narrative, etc.) and Jenkins use of text features as criteria for their award. See this week's Let's Recap for some of the books they chose and their reasoning behind it.

Now we have moved into the writing portion of the unit where students will use what they know about text structures and features of nonfiction text to research and write an informational piece about a topic of their choice. The choices they have made range from spicy peppers to snub nosed monkeys and everything in between. We have jumped into notetaking and next week we will use Google Slides to begin to organize our notes with headings. Then students will decide on which structural elements they will include. Maybe they will choose to have a vocabulary section, a question and answer text box, side bars, diagrams, or endnotes. We can't wait to share our Passion Projects with you when we return from the Winter Break. An invite for our Passion Project breakfast will be sent home next week.

We wrapped up our math unit last week and students self-assessed their growth. Many of them were so proud of themselves for how much they grew in developing efficient strategies for multi-digit addition and subtraction and using estimation and rounding to support a reasonable solution. Now we are moving into Unit 4 where students will be learning about measurement of time, mass and volume and beginning to explore fractions. Read here to learn more about the math concepts in this unit.

Also this week we are excited to welcome Vermont author Natalie Kinsey-Warnock. She will be visiting all of the 3/4 teams for an interactive and in-depth look at her writing process. Look forward to some pictures after her visit next week!

Please remember to have your child bring all of their winter gear to school and expect to change into some more comfortable shoes upon arrival. Our rugs are taking a beating from the salty/sandy boots!

Let's Recap

During our most recent literacy unit we are exploring nonfiction texts as readers. Steve Jenkins, creator of books like Actual Size, The Beetle Book, and Never Smile at a Monkey has been our mentor author during this unit of study  and his books have provided us with opportunities to explore access features like headings, contents, index, and glossaries. We have also used his books to explore different structures of informational text. Some are organized by Q&A, Compare/Contrast, Enumerative, and Narrative. Students have learned to use the features and structures to access information efficiently in nonfiction books. Next up, students will share their understanding of informational text access features and structure by nominating one of Steve's books for a fictional award.

During the second part of this unit we will use what we have learned about reading nonfiction to research a topic and write our own informational pieces that will teach others about a topic that students feel passionate about. This will culminate in a Passion Project Breakfast in March where they will share their writing and projects with you. Stay tuned for more information.

This week we also tried out a cool new tool called Let's Recap. Students can respond to a variety of questions using a video commentary. The application then turns their responses into a slideshow to share beyond the walls of the classroom. Here is our first recap video

Just a reminder that students should have all winter gear with them at school as we go outside each day for fresh air and time with friends. We also ask that students have shoes (preferably sneakers) to change into after they arrive at school.

Learning Goals

We hope that everyone had a restful and relaxing holiday and that your new year is off to a wonderful start. We began our new year together welcoming our two new student interns and setting mid year goals for ourselves. We also had the opportunity to share our weather projects that we hadn't gotten a chance to share before the break due to a power outage!

Meet our new interns, Naomi and Katie....


My name is Katie Johnson and I am so thrilled to be student teaching in Mrs.Parker’s 3rd grade class. I am a graduate student at Saint Michael’s College working on an Elementary Education Licensure with a concentration in Literacy. I graduated from Smith College in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

When I am not doing homework or wrangling socks from my very cute but very mischievous dog, Dahlia, I like to ski, run, bake, spend time with friends and family, and drink coffee.  I am looking forward to this tremendous opportunity to work with Mrs. Parker’s Class and Mosaic Team.

Greetings! My name is Naomi Risch and I am the new student intern for Mrs. Eaton’s class this Spring! I grew up in the Fryeburg, Maine area which is in Western Maine, right near the border of Conway, NH near Mount Washington. I moved to Vermont 9 years ago and worked in adult mental health for 6 years. I’ve wanted to be a teacher for years but could never make the leap to go back to school and in 2015 decided I couldn’t wait any longer! I started the Graduate Degree and Licensure Program at Saint Michael’s College that Fall, which has lead me here, to Williston Central School for my student teaching internship. In my spare time I am passionate about being outdoors; rock climbing, skiing and hiking. I also really love cooking and trying new recipes. One of my personal goals for 2017 is to learn how to make ravioli from scratch! I am really looking forward to my time at WCS and getting to know all of your children. I’ve only spent a quick four days with them so far, but I can already tell they’re an incredible group of students!

Here are a few photos from our presentations to Kaleidoscope. The Mosaic students were articulate and prepared and the collaboration they showed was commendable. The Kaleidoscope students were attentive, curious, and asked wonderful questions that got everyone thinking. It is so gratifying to see students engaged in project-based learning!

Next week we will continue working on efficient, reasonable ways to solve three digit addition and subtraction problems in math. We will also be launching into a unit on reading informational/nonfiction texts and crafting informative writing pieces. This will lead us to a favorite Mosaic tradition of creating Passion Projects based on a topic of students' choosing. The culminating event will be a showcase breakfast in early March. Stay tuned for more on this!