Leaf Peepers

This week Mosaic students spent time thinking about their hopes and dreams for the future and then set goals for what they could do today to achieve these goals. We were inspired by Lori Heller's beautiful book Someday. Students brainstormed ideas, planned their writing using drawing and/or graphic organizers, then drafted and created art to accompany their text. Next week they will type up their pieces and they will hang in our space as a reminder of our hopes and dreams for the year.

 We also thought a lot about what it means to live a literate life and used Patricia Pollacco's book Thank You, Mr. Falker as a mentor text that got a lot of rich conversation going. The students then used a jigsaw technique to create posters about how readers choose books, why they abandon books, what readers think about and talk about, and what it looks like to "fake" read. These anchor charts are full of amazing strategies and habits that third graders already know about and use. We will learn more literacy skills and strategies over the course of the year and watch our charts and our reading grow!

 Mathematicians are working on building their fact fluency for addition and subtraction. We have introduced work place games that allow them to practice in a lively hands-on way. We have also discussed strategies for addition and subtraction and practiced what it looks like to represent our math thinking in numbers, pictures, and words. Heard in class this week, "It's an easy fact, but what's hard is explaining what I'm thinking in my brain!" That is the challenge, but something that all mathematicians are expected to do!

 We used our Chrome books this week to learn how to use Google Drawing tools and Read and Write for Google to create meaningful sentences. We had a few technical glitches and are figuring out how to work the track pad, but the students are savvy and have persevered!

 We ended the week with our first Four Winds Nature Studies activity. This year we will be learning about ecosystems. Today the focus was on producers and consumers and we explored how leaves play a pivotal role in the food chain.

 Just a reminder that picture day is on Wednesday, September 28th. Enjoy the beautiful first signs of fall.

Ask about:

• What subtraction strategies do you use? 
• Do you like to show your math thinking in numbers, pictures, or words?
• How do you choose a new book? What makes you abandon a book?  
• 
  

Fondly,
Jess and Liz

Make Your Mark

Wordsmiths practicing a
buddy sort during
Word Study time

This week we started to learn the routines of our Word Study block. Students learned about the different types of sorts and practiced the routines and expectations in partnerships. We use the Words Their Way word study program which focuses on different word patterns. Every Monday the small groups analyze the pattern, make observations and sort them by their sound/symbol relationship. Then the students practice reading, writing, and sorting the words in different ways throughout the week. They keep a resource notebook and create reflective statements about what they notice in the pattern and how it can help them as a reader or a speller. For example, this week we looked at the difference between short o words like sock and long o words like home. Students noticed that almost all of the words with a long O ended with an e. This can help us as spellers and as readers when we come across words with long and short sounds.

We also reviewed the addition table and learned different ways to encourage fact fluency. Students learned how to play a game called Make The Sum, where they are aiming for a target number and combine different numbers in as many possible equations as possible. Next week we will review our strategies for single digit subtraction facts. We also introduced students to Moby Max, an online math practice site that targets instruction based on students' individual goals and development of mathematical skills. This will eventually be something that your mathematician may want to work on at home for additional practice.

Building our Fact Fluency
through Work Place
games

Students wrote acrostic name poems this week and we read several different books picture books and students identified the SMART message in each one and wrote about how the character showed that characteristic. They also brainstormed how they could show that SMART trait at WCS.

It was nice to meet many new families and visit with returning Mosaic members at Curriculum Night. Please know that we are always here to answer any questions that may come up for you and your family.

Students of the Week reporting
live at Mornings With Mosaic
Team Meeting

Just a reminder that school pictures are on Wednesday, September 28th. Order forms went home last week in your students' yellow folder.

Ask About....

• Friday Workshops: What are they? How do you get to go? 
• Morning Meeting: What activities do you do? 
• What is Reading Stamina? How do you read long and strong? 

  

  Students mark their mark for Dot Day 2016
  during our Friday Workshop Time

A SMART Start

Pattern Block Creations

Brain Break

The Mosaic team is off to a SMART start at WCS. During our first few days together we have gotten to know each other, our team, and the new school. In math we have thought about how we can be a community of learners who support each other and we had fun exploring the different math materials that the Bridges program uses for hands on exploration. We used this video starring some of our old friends to launch the concept of growth mindset. This will be a focus for us not only as mathematicians, but in all areas of learning.

In literacy we have shared books that are special to us and have practiced choosing "just right" books and building our reading stamina during independent reading.

Reading Long and Strong

Next week we will begin word study, write poetry, explore our Chromebooks and begin our Hopes and Dreams. Thanks to all of you who made it to our Mosaic Dessert Social. It was nice to meet new families and welcome back familiar faces, too.

We hope to see you on Thursday night for our Curriculum Night. We will meet in the Mosaic wing from 6:30-7:30. If you are unable to make it on Thursday we will be sure to link our presentation in next week's blog.

 Ask your child...
* What does S.M.A.R.T. stand for? What are brain cells?
 * What's GO NOODLE?
 * How do you choose a Just Right book?

Welcome Third Graders and Families

Mrs. Eaton's daughter, Lucille catches up on her summer reading!

We hope that you have all enjoyed an amazing summer soaking up the sunshine and time with family. We were both busy enjoying time with our own children, traveling, reading, and most recently prepping for the upcoming school year. 

 This blog serves as our primary source of communication with families throughout the school year. Each week we post an update about our learning and investigations and photos and videos are often included. 

To subscribe to the blog enter your email on the sidebar to the right of this message where it says 'Sign up for Email Updates'. Then you will need to confirm your subscription in an email from FeedBurner. After that you will automatically receive any blog updates in your inbox. 

We look forward to meeting you all in a few weeks and starting our exciting learning journey together. Until then, keep playing,  reading, and enjoying all that a Vermont summer has to offer!

The Last Week!

I can’t believe this is our last blog of the year and our last week with this amazing group of about-to-be middle schoolers! This time has gone by in a flash. I (Ms. M) have only been here throughout this one year and it’s been such a joy that I will really miss coming in to see these bright young people, I can’t imagine how Mrs. Eaton and Mrs. Parker feel having spent two years with them!

This past week we spent most of our time working on projects that bring together many of our skills at once. In math, we continued to design and research our playgrounds, imagining factors such as cost and scale of the space as well as safety of the items. Our mathematicians are keen to fit all that they dream of in their playground safely in their space and have been collaborating with partners to come up with the best laid plan. In literacy we used all our of poetry smarts to analyze a poem and had a special type of discussion called a Socratic circle. This was an engaging way to share our thoughts on the poem while also practicing being an active participant. Our poets have worked on their final 4th grade writing by reimagining a poem by Mr. William Carlos Williams, originally shared in the poetic novel we read, Love that Dog. Mr. WCW’s poem, “A red wheelbarrow”, led us to think about how important “the small things” are in our lives, from which we started to think about what was really important to each of us. Students wrote beautiful pieces about how “so much depends upon…” a soccer ball, a big brother, Nepal, a dirt bike, me, a little gray cat, my family, and a window sill, to name just a few. Students published their pieces with illustrations and shared them outside in the gazebo for our first “4th grade Mosaic Poetry Slam” on Friday morning. I think we all really loved this project and seeing the students’ commitment to their poems when they were given so much choice of what to write after “so much depends upon” was fantastic. One student was heard saying “I didn’t think I would like this because I didn’t think I would be good at it or it would be fun… but writing this is a lot more fun than I thought!”

Again we had a few changes to our schedule this week for a variety of end-of-year events. We were able to see wonderful performances by our 3rd and 4th grade chorus and our 4th grade beginner band. It’s clear how much time and perseverance these students put into studying and practicing music. On Wednesday, our students also had a presentation and question and answer session with 5th grade teachers and 5th grade students while our new 3rd grade students came in to meet their teachers and get to know Mosaic. It’s exciting to see a new group of students and think about what’s to come next, but like I said before, definitely bittersweet to see this group grow up!

We’ve been carrying out the 4th grade tradition of writing fun activities on a slip of paper, putting it in a balloon and popping one each day to do something special in our last few days together. There have been popsicles, an outdoor classroom, extra reading time, special water balloon/ice balloon activities, extra morning meeting games and extra recess just to name a few so far. We have five more days of finishing up and popping balloons so we will see what comes next!

This Thursday afternoon we will have our Mosaic Staycation with crafts and activities. Thank you to parents who have signed up to help out. On Friday morning at 8:30 we will have our 4th grade Moving Up Ceremony in the auditorium. Families are welcome to join us that morning and back in our classroom for a special snack and sharing of heartfelt letters students have been writing to each other for the end of the year.

The best way parents can support their children’s learning throughout the summer is by giving them opportunities and encouragement to read, read, read. Reading anything will truly help students keep up with their skills. We also encourage continuing to practice math facts for fact fluency. Lastly, students need to get outside, play, and learn from the world around them.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. It’s been wonderful to teach and learn from them. We wish you all a restful and adventure-filled summer. Come back and visit us!

Winding Down

This has been a busy and warm week in 4th grade. In literacy we have continued to look at mood, speaker and theme of poems including a fun matching game on Friday where students had to use reasoning skills to figure out which theme made sense with each poem. Students also shared their weathering and erosion learning as well as practiced their presentation skills by creating a collaborative Google slide presentation and presenting their individual slide to the class. These scientists shared knowledge on hoodoos and mushroom rocks, wind erosion and ice erosion, where to live to protect yourself from weathering and tons of other information in between.

Imaginative mathematicians began to design our dream playground this week. We brainstormed ideas, learned about simple machines and how they impact our playgrounds, measured our actual playground and some items within it and used data and graphing to determine which items were most important to us all. Students are very excited about this project and were beginning early on to draft ideas of how to best arrange their dream playgrounds.

We had a few “zig zags” in our schedule this week. For one, we were welcomed to a puppet show presentation put on by Swift House students called “Banish Bullying.” These middle school students have been working on a special curriculum which culminated in sharing this show with us. The puppets were entertaining and the content were meaningful. Our students were able to think critically about what to do in situations of bullying and to consider how best they can be an ally to others.

Another change was the Kaleidoscope House play on a variety of science topics Thursday morning. Our students enjoyed this show that combined music, theatre and singing to showcase the Kaleidoscope’s learning this year. On Thursday afternoon we visited with Swift House students again for their annual “Swiftville.” Each year Swift students design their own currency and economy with each student or group of students developing a plan for an item or experience to “sell” and working hard to get other students that visit the house to buy or invest in their product. Our students loved this afternoon and most brought home some treats as proof of their purchases! :)

We’ve also loved to get outside this week for snack on the tennis courts. Getting some sun and fresh air mid morning has been quite a treat!

Next week we are looking forward to completing our playground designs and building models, writing poems inspired by Love that Dog and listening to our dedicated 4th grade musicians in their first beginning band concert!

Busy Bees!

There has been an abundance of energy in 4th grade lately and we aren’t surprised with so many zig zags in our schedule and warmer weather. This past week, students spent two days taking NECAP Science testing. This is a New England assessment program designed to evaluate our science curriculum. We focused on many different science and engineering topics this year and overall our students felt confident to show off all of their science smarts. On Wednesday we completed the inquiry task where our students were able to devise and carry out a task to solve a real science problem which is a comfortable and successful process for all of us at this point.

4th grade mathematicians also reflected on their progress with geometry concepts in Unit 5.This coming week, we look forward to using all of our math skills to research for and design a dream playground at WCS as we begin our final math exploration.

Besides science testing, student scientists have also been putting together all of their learning on weathering and erosion in LucidChart mind maps, and have begun to work on a collaborative whole class presentation of their learning. This week they will share their learning and showcase their Google slide with their class.

We also were able to spend a wonderful length of time outside reading independently on Thursday. Research shows us more and more about how valuable this independent reading time is and how it is the most helpful activity to help us become stronger readers. We have seen growth in reading levels and in reading interest over the last two years in part due to this expectation and emphasis on independent reading.

We’ve started a final read aloud book called The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. The novel is a “summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits and one very interesting boy” and it seems that it is completely winning over most of us, teachers included! It’s a fun and engaging story of summer adventure that we haven’t wanted to put down since we started on Thursday.

On Friday we had our final Four Winds session on Bees and their structure and adaptations which help them to live. These small animals are crucial to our planet. Mrs. Eaton was dressed as a bee herself and at the end we were able to enjoy a honey treat. We all want to extend a huge thank you to our parent volunteers who have worked hard to provide these opportunities for our students.

We are preparing activities for our last week of school including a Spring Staycation day and a Moving Up ceremony for our 4th graders. Keep an eye out for information coming soon in the Friday folder.