Respectful Researchers

This week 4th graders researched a variety of topics on Vermont’s Native Abenaki history and culture. Early on in the week there were some minor snafus, but our accepting and flexible students were able to adjust and keep learning throughout the week, producing some stellar, informative writing to be proud of! Your student will be able to share the writing that they and their whole class did after the break once we attach the writing to the Abenaki style books that students created in art class. Students certainly enjoyed finding out about the Abenaki and sharing what they learned to help all of the 4th graders learn more in our reading and discussion of the text that they wrote on Thursday. I’m sure they would love to tell you, too! (If they haven’t already!)

Researchers working together

In math students prepared for, completed and reflected on an assessment of their growth during Unit 2. The reflection style that we are participating in this year gives students the opportunity to set goals after a unit pre-assessment and then reflect on those goals and re-evaluate them after the post-assessment. We are seeing tremendous growth in math and attribute part of this to our reflection process. Ask your student what his or her goals are! We will begin Unit 3 on Monday after break with those in mind.

You can see on the walls of our classrooms that we’ve been working in Number Corner on elapsed time and liquid measurement. These tasks are designed to introduce students to concepts which will appear in later math units throughout the year. This month we saw a different time on an analog clock daily, and considered how much time passed since the day before and since November 1st. Our clever mathematicians stretched their brains to consider the 24 hour day when it came to predicting what the clock would show in the coming days. We also watched daily as our Number Corner helpers filled cups that filled up quarts, and took those quarts to fill a gallon. These conversions and comparisons between measures were meaningful for students to understand, especially to see the visual in front of them, and especially for those who enjoy Mrs. Datillio’s cooking workshops! :)

This week we enjoyed a puppet show presentation on students with differences. Our students learned seven steps to being a friend to someone who is different, including using their name to get their attention, speaking in small sentences, using friendly words, giving options, and asking questions to learn about the new friend. We expect that our students treat all friends with respect and care, and are thankful to the people who came to share this presentation with us.

We also had a Four Winds session this week on predator and prey. Students loved to practice with a tag game where some needed to be prey and get food and get back to their safe space, and some were predators hoping to tag the prey. We noticed that the fewer predators we had, the easier it was for the prey to get their food and get back to safety. Students also acted out some adaptations and strategies that animals have to keep them safe from predators. In all, this showed students the delicate balance of predator and prey and how each species keeps themselves safe, demonstrating the impact that nature has.

Prey trying to escape the predators

Adaptations and strategies of prey

To close our week, in our “Mornings with Mosaic” team meeting this past Friday we asked a few students to share what they are thankful for as we go into the Thanksgiving break. Here are a some of their responses:

“I am thankful for everyone in this room and that we were put on Mosaic.”

“I am thankful for learning and literacy.”

“I am thankful for my family and for food.”

“I am thankful for my teachers.”

We absolutely are thankful for each student, parent and teacher that makes Mosaic such a wonderful place to be and to learn. Ms. Cota and I will be in our classrooms for one more week after the break, and will love to return to visit in the future. This has been an incredible learning experience, made all the better by interacting with such engaged and kind learners. Thank you for sharing your minds and your work with us these past few months! We are thankful for you.

Have a restful, rejuvenating break. See you on November 30th!

Ms.M & Ms. Cota

Vermont Natives

This week in theme, our students began learning about the first people to live in Vermont, the Abenaki tribe. We learned about how they lived using some of our literacy strategies for vocabulary and note-taking. Coming into this next week, students will be assigned a research topic and a specific research question to answer. All of this work will be compiled to create one book per each class and will fill the Abenaki style books students have been working on in art class. We are very excited to see students working on their research and witnessing all of their hard work from literacy, theme and art come together!

We concluded our reading and book clubs about Because of Winn Dixie this week. Ending the book together was sweet and sad, just like how the main character Opal feels when she tastes the Littmus Lozenge. Students worked diligently to describe and analyze one character from the text and this past week we saw engaged learners writing meaningful pieces about their character. The book lends itself to many connections and our students have certainly been “brain in” in making these connections.

In math this week we moved into looking at division and had a math forum on division strategies. Four mathematicians shared their thinking and strategies and our class responded respectfully and thoughtfully by listening to understand, asking genuine questions and seeing multiple pathways to solving problems. Students were able to use this time to learn authentically from each other and to see a variety of strategies that all helped us to solve story problems - and especially to look at remainders and how much the context of the problem matters! We spent time this week talking especially about how what the problem is asking for and what the problem is talking about matters greatly when we solve problems. We know we can split a pizza, but we would never split a person! :)

This coming week we will be wrapping up, studying and then taking our Unit 2 Math assessment on Wednesday. We are also starting to wrap up our November Calendar Grid and Collector in Number Corner because students will not be in school during the week of Thanksgiving and we want to learn and observe all that we can about these two classroom tools during the month!

On Tuesday, we will be attending a Friend 2 Friend puppet show at WCS addressing the Demystification of Autism. We are looking forward to this engaging show teaching us about diverse learners and inclusion. Parents are welcome to attend. We will be in the “dining room” from 9:30-10:30 A.M. This Friday, we will also be joined by parent volunteers for our November session of Four Winds from 10:20 - 11:40 A.M. So far this year, we have learned about spiders and trees and how structure and function relates to the natural sciences. Students look forward to these fun and interesting sessions each month!

This week, Miss Ashley Cota and Miss Sunny Masison (Miss M) will be “taking over” the classrooms and all responsibilities for Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Eaton. Please copy acota@cssu.org on any correspondence for Mrs. Parker and smasison@cssu.org on any correspondence for Mrs. Eaton. We are happy, excited and grateful for this opportunity to learn from such talented cooperating teachers and to experience our first week solo-teaching in such a supportive environment with such S.M.A.R.T. students!

Be well,

Sunny & Ashley

Mindful Map Makers

This week in theme the students became cartographers and travel agents. They helped some tourists (Ms. M and Ms. Cota!) find their way through the state when their GPS system failed on a trip from Canada. Our interns are quite skilled actors and donned "tourist" costumes and matching accents! The geographers then picked a Vermont attraction to research and created a travel guide for tourists by pinning their attraction to a class Google Map. Click on the links below to read about the many attractions in our lovely state. Next week we will head into our history unit by learning about the Abenaki tribe. The students will work together to research about the lives of these native Vermont inhabitants and will create a book during our theme, literacy, and art blocks.

In math we have learned about several efficient strategies to use when multiplying larger numbers. Some of these include quick sketching, area model and ratio tables. Next week we will use some of these models to make sense of division with larger numbers and remainders. We will also continue to look at elapsed time, story problems, and cups/quarts/gallons in Number Corner.

This coming week we will conclude our group reading of Because of Winn Dixie. The students will look more closely at characters and make claims about their traits using evidence from the book. We will discuss our findings in book club and will write more about this character and our claim about his/her personality and how that character has changed throughout the story. Many students have really made connections with this book and we have seen some amazing writing come out of this unit because of these connections.

We will be headed to the book fair this Wednesday at 10:15. Your student can make a wish list at this time or purchase books. Please send them with money on Wednesday if you would like for them to purchase. If your student want to buy items other than books we ask that you please send them with a note stating that they have your permission.

Vermont Geographers and Cartographers

We had a festive week celebrating our garden harvest with songs and cider and then our annual Mosaic Crafternoon on Friday! It's hard to believe that we are into November already. 

In literacy we have been reading Because of Winn Dixie both at home and at school to prepare for our book club discussions. Last week, we met for the first time and the readers practiced talking "long and strong" on a topic using their thinking notes. Next week we will think more about how strong readers analyze characters and how we can engage in meaningful and productive discussions that lead to new understanding. Thank you for helping your fourth grader to be responsible for their book as it travels to and from school. In addition to their yellow homework planner they have a reading calendar that provides a weekly overview of the reading requirements.

In math we have been exploring the "partial products" model for multi-digit multiplication. This visual model will help students  move towards the more efficient strategy of multiplying using the standard algorithm, by providing them with a conceptual framework of understanding what each number actually represents. We have also been practicing reading and writing large numbers and had the opportunity to meet in small math strategy groups that focused student learning on concepts that they specifically needed practice with.

Ms. Cota has been teaching her social studies unit around Vermont geography and they students have learned about borders, cardinal directions, and the 14 counties of our state. Next week they will create their own Vermont attraction Google Map where they will get to "pin" and research a favorite Vermont location.  Knowing more about Vermont geography will help students to understand the history of our state as we head into a unit around the Abenaki in the coming weeks. The students will be reasearching and writing about Abenaki life and then they will integrate that knowledge in art class by creating a "book" inspired by Eastern Woodland bead art.

Thanks,
Jess and Liz

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.

Solar Oven Engineers

It was nice to see all of you at conferences over the past two weeks. Thanks for taking the time to meet with us.

Over the past few weeks we have transformed into Green Engineers as we followed the Scientific Method and Engineering Design Process to create Solar Ovens. The first step was to carry out an inquiry task around how color affects temperature. Students designed a test to determine if color would determine the maximum temperature of an object. Their data confirmed what many of them predicted from their own background knowledge-the black object had the highest temperature because it absorbs the most heat, while the white object has the lowest temperature chance because it reflects heat. This knowledge would prove to come in handy during our next step.

After learning about the need for Solar Oven in countries like Sierra Leone, our own WCS Green Engineers followed the steps of the Engineering Design Process (EDP) to create a solar oven that was a good insulator but also had a low environmental impact.

Like real engineers we followed the steps of the E.D.P.

1. ASK- First, we had to figure out what materials were good insulators. After brainstorming what we knew already we tested five different materials (newspaper, foam, foil, plastic, and felt) in two different forms (flat and shredded).  To do this we filled a cup with the material and submerged it into ice cold water and used a digital thermometer (and some new math using decimals) to determine which materials were the best insulators. Our top three were newspaper, felt, and foam.  Then we needed to discuss which of these materials had the lowest impact on the environment.  After a lot of debate, the engineers decided that newspaper and plastic had low impact scores because they could reduce the amount, and reuse or recycle the materials.

2. IMAGINE- Now the teams of engineers used their newfound understandings to brainstorm the different ways that they could design their solar ovens to meet our criteria.

3. PLAN- Once all of the ideas in the group had been heard the teams planned out what their prototype would look like and what materials they would need.

4. CREATE- The teams went to work designing and creating their oven hoping that it would hold heat longer than the control and have a low impact on the environment. Then we took the small pocket of sunshine that we were given last week and tested.

5. IMPROVE- The teams analyzed their data and wrote strong conclusions about their findings. This brought up many ideas around how the designs could be improved to meet the criteria even more successfully.

Check out this slideshow to see this engaging, integrated unit of study in action. We are so proud of the collaboration, creativity and determination of these Environmental Engineers.

Create your own free collage In math we have also begun a new unit of study around tackling multi-digit multiplication and dealing with remainders in division. Check out this link to see these concepts.  Next week we will begin a fourth grade book club. Our first book if Because of Winn-Dixie By: Kate DiCamillo. We will begin by establishing norms for our club and practicing what it looks and sounds like to be a part of a rich discussion about a book. Then the readers will get their very own copy of the text that they can read closely and mark up with their thoughts. Each week they will have reading homework from the text. This will count as their twenty minutes of reading for the evening it is assigned. Feel free to read and discuss the book along with us.

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.