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
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Sunday, April 30, 2017
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
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
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
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.
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.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
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.
Sunday, March 12, 2017
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
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
Monday, March 6, 2017
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!
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!
Monday, February 13, 2017
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,
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,
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