Week 32 -- Reflections and running

We began the week with a warm-up created by Evie, which tasked kids to design an umbrella, then write about a day in its life. One story has the umbrella married to a broom, who has been put out of work by the fancy new vacuum. A few had the umbrellas lamenting the amount of time they spend whiling away their days unused and hanging on hooks. At least a couple incorporated Seattle. We also spent some time listening to an assortment of each other’s work as I read it aloud from their files. We do a wide variety of writing in our class, and I often collect it and hold onto it for long periods of time. Then, I occasionally read samples of work anonymously. The class generally loves hearing each other’s work, trying to guess who wrote what, and delighting in hearing work with fresh ears. It also gives them a periodic reminder of just how much they’ve produced this year, and how good much of it is.

Some of the cards from Into the Great Barrier Reef

Because we’re so deep into the school year, some aspect of these weekly summaries will frequently be different versions of this: We also continued work on our ongoing projects. This week, we had two more milestones in our biome game groups. One group figured out an efficient and good looking way to correct the mistakes in their game decks, and they’re well on their way to the finish line. We were also very excited to officially place the order for the Into the Siberian Taiga group! We’ll likely receive them in the next week or so.

Two other big events kept everyone occupied this week. Reflections Night preparation always dominates the week of a performance, and everyone seemed to have a great time at the event. We capped the week off with the long-postponed Fun Run around the building, followed by the more intense S-K 5K.

In math group, we’re trying to finish the year with strong showings in our Singapore work, so we’ve been focusing a lot of time in class making progress. We also had one of our beloved game days this week to break up the routine.

POOT: The Place Out of Time banquet

We began our first week back after Spring Break with a couple of field trips. 



The first was to the University of Michigan School of Education for the annual Place Out of Time banquet. There were a couple hundred students in attendance from Michigan and Ohio, ranging from 5th graders through high school. Check out this video to get a glimpse of the event (apologies in advance for the wobbliness of the camera): 

Chatting with Joanna at our weekly morning assembly

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On Tuesday, we took a trip to Hill Auditorium to hear a performance of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. 

(I confess that this would be much more effective if there was audio.)

(Don't call it) Spirit Week

The week before Spring Break was positively packed with activity, even though there were only four days of school. Here's a quick recap. 

The Summers-Knoll student government organized the second annual Super Happy Fun Week. The schedule was as follows: 

Monday: Character Day Dress as a favorite character (from a book, from a movie etc).Tuesday: Pajama Day Wear your PJs.Wednesday: Fun RunThursday: Culture Day. The 7-8s will prepare lunchtime snacks from Sweden, Uganda, Argentina, and Japan (same menu as last year). The Choir will serenade us with songs from Kenya, Australia, and Texas

This photo is from character day, which might not be immediately obvious, given that many students were clearly determined to hide from the camera. 

Wednesday ended with an all-school Fun Run. It was particularly fun to see so many members of our community participating beyond just the students. Look carefully, and you'll spot teachers, staff, and parents also taking part. 

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The kids in Jason's math group have learned a lot about 'Flatland' this year. Originally published in 1884, there have been several adaptations of it over the years, and we've explored a few of them. It's a topic that we revisit from time to time, most recently as a project: Kids are creating their own games based on aspects of Flatland. 

We've brainstormed a number of different possibilities in terms of game mechanics and objectives, and lately kids have been constructing game materials, writing instructions, and play-testing prototypes with their classmates. 

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One of the lovely things about our school is that students have the opportunity to take time from our regularly scheduled curriculum and activities to pursue individual projects. Bora and Eva have used this opportunity to develop clay-based projects, guided by Monica, our middle school art teacher. Check out their progress!

Bora and his cat

Eva and her dragon

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We also recently hosted another Middle School Game Night. These are quickly becoming a tradition at Summers-Knoll, and they're a fun, low-stakes way to socialize and have fun. 

Upon reflection, I'm realizing that "low stakes" was the incorrect term to use, as I have rarely seen a group of people so invested in a game of Jenga. 

Hodge Podge: Week 8 in review

This was an excellent year for Eco-Fair/Homemade Halloween costumes! 

It is impossible to adequately convey everything that happens each week, which is why a lot of blog posts lately have focused on one aspect of our work. This week, I decided to try to capture a smattering of what happens from day-to-day.

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The first thing we do each Monday is attend an all-school assembly. Each week, a different homeroom is responsible for sharing something with the entire school. This helps keep our community connected with all of the interesting and exciting things that are happening around the school. This week, Spencer's group talked about projects that they're working on. The morning assemblies are only about fifteen minutes, so if you have time to spare at drop-off on a Monday, come join us! (Our class is up to lead on Monday, November 23rd.) 

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In my Math group, we spent much of the week discussing the concept of multiplication. Many of us learned the "standard algorithm," but not necessarily how or why it worked. Some of us might not have even understood that there are, in fact, many different ways to multiply numbers. 

The "standard algorithm"

Our group spent the week learning and evaluating other methods of multiplication (and also firmed up our understanding of the standard algorithm). 

The Lattice method is one that is also frequently taught. It's fairly similar to the standard algorithm, but it breaks it down into slightly smaller steps. Take a look: 

Reviews were mixed at first on this method, but once mastered, it was generally appreciated. 

Compare that with this method, which is very cool and enticing:



Everyone was instantly captivated by this one. The video above is silent (a reminder: embedded videos sometimes don't show up in the email version of this blog. Check the web version of this blog if you don't see a fascinating video of someone drawing lines to multiply above), below are two videos with verbal explanations: 

This method received high marks at first for smaller numbers, but the grouping aspect of it quickly became unwieldy for many of us with larger numbers. Many found the counting aspect of it to be laborious with larger numbers. 


Finally, here's a really cool method with many names, including Egyptian multiplication, Ethiopian multiplication, Russian multiplication, or peasant multiplication.

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Back in homeroom, we began a read aloud called Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan. The book is historical fiction, beginning in Mexico in 1926, and moving to the United States during the 1930s. In the first few days of reading, we've had conversations about social class, the Mexican Revolution, the customs and laws of inheritance ("wait, why can't Esperanza's mother inherit the land!?"), which lead all the way back to the Magna Carta. 

We'll be getting into migrant and immigration issues, the notion of organized labor, discrimination, and more. 

The book benefits from a decent grasp of North American geography, and after a brief pre-assessment, we decided as a group that we desperately needed some work on this front. 

Ella and Bora work to label their US maps. 

Completely unrelated, but I think it's funny, so here's Bora confronting Zombie Ella. 

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Of course, the highlight of the week for many was Eco-Fair/Homemade Halloween. There was a strong showing of costumes this year, both in our class and across the school! 

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We also did some writing, learned about simile and metaphor, worked with Scholastic News, made progress in our electives, had a rehearsal for the upcoming play, made Mason jar heart pump models in Science, worked on Music Cafe songs, and plenty of other stuff. A busy week! 

Grandfriends Day!

We had a number of special visitors to our school today! Students invited grandparents (and other grand friends) to spend the morning in our class, getting a taste of what we do in school each day.

We began the day with a warm-up, as is our custom, and our guests and students worked together to puzzle through it. A little later, a few kids performed portions of their magic acts. We also had a few class discussions to give a sample of what daily life is like here at Summers-Knoll.

Keira finds Evan's card. 

Brainstorming a math puzzle

Welcoming such important people into our classroom was a lovely day to spend the morning before a long, well-deserved holiday break!

Eco Fair!

Today was many things to different people. Some call it October 31. Others might say that it's Halloween. Still others simply call it Friday, or perhaps Dan Rather's birthday.... but for all of us at Summers-Knoll, today was ECO FAIR!

Each year, students and staff craft costumes out of reused or recycled materials and parade around the building (and beyond) showing off their creativity. Today was particularly chilly, and ever-so-slightly wet, but we all had great fun regardless.