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