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August 30, 2022
Fall Issue #1
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Weekly activities and lessons to keep your child thinking and progressing all year long. |
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“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
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Hello,
We did it. We survived another summer traveling and visiting friends and family. Moreover, we survived the beginning of another school year. Whew! The seasons are changing and my flyer has been pared back to better fit the busy academic and extracurricular activities of today's children.
I am continuing my investigation into The Habits of Mind. We are a little over half way through the 16 important problem solving habits. I hope this journey has been helpful. This week's book is from my favorite young adult author. I have never read a Sharon Creech novel that didn't genuinely move me. I feel that my entire language arts curriculum could be taught solely by reading her outstanding novels. They are thought provoking, poetic, beautifully written stories that touch on a wide range of human emotions and experiences. I encourage you to pick one up. You can't go wrong. You will also find three new creative story starters and an essay prompt in this week's flyer along with a very fun, easy and informative science investigation and three challenging open-ended math problems to solve.
If you know anybody who you think would benefit from the weekly learning activities in this flyer, please share it with your friends and encourage them to join The McManus Files mailing list by following the links on this page.
Have fun. Eat cookies!
Mr. McManus :-)
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Habits of Mind
Habits of Mind are thinking habits that push us far past simple answer retrieval. They change our pattern of thinking to help us gain success when we don’t know the answer to a question or problem.
Information on Habits of Mind are taken from the book Habits of Mind by Costa and Kallick.
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The 16 Habits of Mind include:
• Persisting
• Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
• Managing impulsivity
• Gathering data through all senses
• Listening with understanding and empathy
• Creating, imagining, innovating
• Thinking flexibly
• Responding with wonderment and awe
• Thinking about thinking (metacognition)
• Taking responsible risks
• Striving for accuracy
• Finding humor
• Questioning and posing problems
• Thinking interdependently
• Applying past knowledge to new situations
• Remaining open to continuous learning
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Taking Responsible Risks
What is it? – Drawing on past knowledge, being thoughtful about consequences, accepting uncertainty and risk of failure as a normal part of the process.
Sounds like – “I wonder what will happen if…” “What would I learn from stretching myself on this?” “I think I will attempt to….”
Looks like – Reaching for the next bar on the jungle gym. Watching to see what to do in a new situation, then trying it if safe. Accepting challenge because of what could be learned.
Feels like – I knew I could make it to the top. Wow!, I did it! I can ride my bike without training wheels!
When people hold back from taking risk they miss opportunities. Some students seem reluctant to take risks. They hold back from games, new learning, and new friendships because their fear of failure is far greater than their desire for venture or adventure. Some students are more interested in if their answer is correct or not rather than being challenged by the process of finding the answer. They are unable to sustain a process of problem solving and finding the answer over time, and therefore avoid ambiguous situations. They have a need for certainty rather than an inclination for doubt.
We hope that students will learn how to take intellectual as well as physical risks. Students who are capable of being different, going against the grain of common thinking and thinking of new ideas (testing them with peers and teachers) are more likely to be successful in an age of innovation and uncertainty.
“There has been a calculated risk in every stage of American development – the pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, businessmen who were not afraid of failure, dreamers who were not afraid of action.” Brooks Atkinson
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The Great Unexpected
by Sharon Creech
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Another winner from Sharon Creech. This grand, sweeping yarn is a celebration of the great and unexpected gifts of love, friendship, and forgiveness.
Very humorous and heartfelt, I thoroughly enjoyed every word in this book. Sharon Creech has a very lyrical, almost poetical style of writing and a unique way of phrasing things that makes the reader absorb each word. Her pacing is flawless as the mystery floats back and forth between characters in America and Ireland. The story unfolds gradually throughout the novel keeping readers engaged and entertained I loved how each chapter adds just the right amount plot elements and gently reveals important details. As the book unfolds the characters come to life and curious surprises are revealed... three locked trunks, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge, and that boy who fell from a tree??? The characters find their lives changed forever as two worlds are woven together, and it is reveals that hearts can be mended and that there is indeed a unifying thread that connects us all. Enjoy!
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HOW TO BLOW UP A BALLOON
WITH HOT AIR
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Blowing up balloons is the low-tech activity you’ve been looking for |
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Blowing up a balloon might not seem like an exciting activity, but this project will let you have some fun while getting a science lesson on the side. You'll never want to go back to playing video games again. Well, at least for an hour or so.
Use a balloon and a bottle to introduce yourself to thermal expansion and contraction, which is all around you. For example, the familiar ca-chunk that you feel driving on a bridge is actually the seams designed to allow the bridge to expand on hot days and shrink on cold days. Try this experiment to catch this phenomenon in a bottle!
GATHER THIS:
- Balloon
- Empty bottle with narrow opening
- 2 tubs
- Ice Water
- Hot Water (about half-and-half boiling water and hot tap water works great!)
- Optional: Thermometer
THEN DO THIS:
- Stretch the balloon over the opening of the bottle.
- Set up a cold-water bath and a hot-water bath by pouring several inches of ice water into one tub and several inches of hot water in the second tub.
- Encourage your child to feel both tubs and notice what they feel like. You can also use a thermometer to observe the differences between the two tubs.
- Put the bottle in the hot-water bath and push it down so the water rises up around the sides of the bottle. See what happens! Repeat this procedure in the cold-water bath.
- *trouble shooting: If nothing happens, try adjusting the temperature of the water by adding either more ice or more boiling water.
ASK THIS:
- What is inside of the bottle? Can the air escape?
- What happens to the air in the bottle when you put the bottle in hot/cold water?
- After experimenting a bit: How can you make the balloon blow up? Shrink?
- What do you predict will happen if we leave the bottle in the hot water for half an hour? Why?
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
When you stretch the balloon over the opening of the bottle, all of the air is trapped inside. Putting the bottle in hot water causes the air molecules inside to heat up and begin taking up more space (thermal expansion), causing air to enter the balloon and inflate it. When you move the bottle into the cold water, the air molecules cool back down and take up less space (thermal contraction).
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If you feel your child might benefit from a group or individual tutoring program to prepare them for the next phase of their education, please contact McManus Tutoring.
Programs are structured so that students learn independence, accountability, and self-possession. They will develop a repeatable structure that can be used to build success in the future.
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Three Writing Prompts and an Essay Topic
These prompts and questions will help jump-start your daily writing. Just as it's important to read for at least 30 minutes each day, you should also write for 30 minutes a day. Don't worry about your organization or spelling, just write!
"Tonight, my life changed after my dad gave me..."
"She ordered a cup of coffee and sat waiting near the window until..."
"The water balloons began to hit me as I ran into the woods..."
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August 30th
In Woodstock, Vermont, people are celebrating Children's Day. Since Vermont has many farming areas, Children's Day is celebrated with traditional activities: corn shelling, 19th-century games such as firewood sawing, ice cream and butter making, even an old-fashioned spelling bee!
If you could design your own Children's Day, what events would you choose to celebrate? Name at least three. Give the reasons for your choice.
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Last week's answer...
99 99/99
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