Moss Teaches

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Apr 1

April 1, 2018

Introducing: Teach Us Something, Somehow

Jon speaking at the 2015 CECA/CASL conference about Teach Us Something, Somehow.

On Friday, we launched our spring research project, Teach Us Something, Somehow.  I developed this project in 2011 as a way of helping students to focus on the process of research and project management, rather than on a specific product.  This project aims to help students to develop problem solving skills, time management abilities, and much more.  Students brought home, on Friday, an assignment packet that explains the project, steps involved, and deadlines.  This coming week, we will have two family information sessions where you can come, learn more about the project, see sample projects, and ask questions.  We are happy to meet with you Wednesday between 7:45 and 8:30 and Thursday between 3:45-4:30.  Both sessions will be in the library.  You can also visit the Teach Us Something, Somehow (TUSS) website at www.mossteaches.us/tuss, where you can download paperwork and read through frequently asked questions (FAQs).

As you’ll read, the project must, in some way, relate to one (or more) of the 50 states.  Some students may choose to take advantage of travel plans during the spring break by taking photos, filming video, or otherwise gathering information for their project while on vacation or while on a day trip somewhere.  In order to facilitate this, students are invited to submit their Idea Proposal Forms next week so that teachers can provide feedback before spring break.  To be absolutely clear: We’re not requiring students to submit their idea proposals early, nor are we requiring or even recommending that students work over spring break.  We’ve adjusted the project schedule in order to accommodate students and families who CHOOSE to do so.
If you have any questions, I encourage you to visit the TUSS website (again, located at http://www.mossteaches.us/tuss/) or attend one of the TUSS family information sessions.  As always, feel free to email me with any questions, as well.

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Mar 31

March 31, 2017

Introducing: Teach Us Something, Somehow

Jon speaking at the 2015 CECA/CASL conference about Teach Us Something, Somehow.

Today, we launched our spring research project, Teach Us Something, Somehow.  I developed this project in 2011 as a way of helping students to focus on the process of research and project management, rather than on a specific product.  This project aims to help students to develop problem solving skills, time management abilities, and much more.  This afternoon, students will be bringing home an assignment packet that explains the project, steps involved, and deadlines.  Next week, we will have two family information sessions where you can come, learn more about the project, see sample projects, and ask questions.  We are happy to meet with you Tuesday between 3:45-4:30 and Wednesday between 7:45-8:30.  Both sessions will be in the library.  You can also visit the Teach Us Something, Somehow (TUSS) website at www.mossteaches.us/tuss, where you can download paperwork and read through frequently asked questions (FAQs).

As you’ll read, the project must, in some way, relate to one (or more) of the 50 states.  Some students may choose to take advantage of travel plans during the spring break by taking photos, filming video, or otherwise gathering information for their project while on vacation or while on a day trip somewhere.  In order to facilitate this, students are invited to submit their Idea Proposal Forms next week so that teachers can provide feedback before spring break.  To be absolutely clear: We’re not requiring students to submit their idea proposals early, nor are we requiring or even recommending that students work over spring break.  We’ve adjusted the project schedule in order to accommodate students and families who CHOOSE to do so.
If you have any questions, I encourage you to visit the TUSS website (again, located at http://www.mossteaches.us/tuss/) or attend one of the TUSS family information sessions.  As always, feel free to email me with any questions, as well.

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Feb 21

February 21, 2016

Cub Reporter Message: Southeast Research, Earning Letters, Mrs. Labowsky

Written by student #14

This week in room 209, we have been finishing our poetry presentations.  We started a new unit in social studies about the southeast region, and broke up into groups.  We had a last science lesson where we took our science tests. Then, on Thursday, we earned two letters in Spanish, and then, for math, Mrs. Labowsky joined us for our math lesson.  We had a wonderful but short week, but it was great!

Notes from Mr. Moss:

  • We’re hoping to finish the poetry presentations on Monday or Tuesday.  I’ve really been impressed with the kids’ work!  Ask your fourth grader to show you his or her group’s presentation.
  • For the social studies project, kids were divided into focus areas for the region, such as geography, natural resources, food, music, etc.  They are learning how to take notes in bullet-hierarchy form, and how to track their sources.  We’re working on making sure that they write their notes in their own words in order to avoid unintentional plagiarism.  Then, they’ll continue their process of learning how to make a slide show by making Google Slides presentations about their part of the southeastern region.
  • Allow me to explain the “two letters” that this week’s cub reporter referred to.  For a few weeks, we’ve been working to improve our transitions.  We’ve been struggling with having quiet and efficient transitions either when we move from one place to another (such as from the rug to the kids’ desks) or when we switch from one activity to another.  When the class has a good transition, they can earn a letter on the board, working to create the word TRANSITIONS.  When transitions are less successful, they lose a letter.
  • Mrs. Labowsky is our district elementary math coach.  She joined our class to team-teach the second math lesson in our new unit.  You’ll notice that the math worksheets in this unit have a different feel than previous units’ worksheets.  More on this in an upcoming post.  Mrs. Labowsky will be back on March 14th for a special lesson!  (Any guesses?!)

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Jun 11

June 11, 2015

What’s New?

I was speaking with someone yesterday, and we got to talking about our class website.  I realized that it had been quite some time since I posted an update for you!  I apoglize for that oversight.  The end of the year is notoriously busy, and this fell by the wayside.  If you’ll share a few minutes of your time, I’ll bring you up to speed!

TUSS TreeThis week, students finished presenting their TUSS projects!  I was so very impressed by the kids’ work.  This year, there was such a wide variety of research topics, and kids used so many different kinds of methods.  I really admire the thought and care kids put into their projects.  Stay tuned for feedback.

This week, we’re wrapping up our unit about expository writing.  This unit integrated our social studies focus of US regions by allowing students to research and organize information about the economy of a midwestern state.  Students conducted research on the internet and in books, and they organized their information on a graphic organizer called an expository pillar.  In doing so, students learned about thesis statements, how to structure main ideas and supporting details within a five paragraph essay, and how to craft a conclusion.  This organization made the process of drafting the essay very simple!

We’ve recently completed our unit about measurement (focusing more on understanding different units of measurement, as opposed to actually measuring objects with rulers and scales) as well as a mini-unit about geometry.

Stay tuned for more information!

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Apr 23

April 23, 2015

Teach Us Something, Somehow

TUSS TreeI’ve really enjoyed reading the kids’ idea proposal forms for the Teach Us Something, Somehow project!  This is a project that is near and dear to my heart, and seeing the kids’ terrific, creative ideas is wonderful.  I developed the project back in 2011 as a way to motivate students to excel in research.  So often, we prescribe a topic or a method to students, and the outcome might be a lackluster interest in the project.  My logic was that if students have near autonomy to choose a topic and a method of presentation, they can’t help but have a substantial interest in their project.  Hopefully this is the case for your children!  As the project continues, please be in touch with me if you have questions or experience challenges.  I’m happy to help!  Thank you to the families that attended the TUSS parent session on Tuesday!  For more resources throughout the TUSS project, visit the TUSS webpage.

Most of the proposal forms have been approved and will be returned to students tomorrow or Monday.  Kids are welcome to begin working on the project as soon as I’ve approved their proposal, whether it’s been returned to students or not.  This is the fun part, and I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

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