June 27, 2023
Summer Issue #1
Weekly activities and lessons to keep your child thinking and progressing all year long.
"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."
Hello Faithful Files Followers,

Welcome new subscribers of The McManus Files. I am grateful that you have joined our growing community :-) Feel free to always share any copy of the files with people you think would appreciate and benefit from the learning activities. Also, You can access all previous issues of the McManus Files at my tutoring website.

This weeks flyer is loaded with some fun and challenging learning activities. If you have a child interested in culinary arts I highly recommend this week's book selection. It reminded me so much of The Mixed Up Files on Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler when a young girl makes her way into New York City to fulfill her dream. This is such a joyful adventure focused around food writing and cooking. All Four Stars is truly the perfect summer read for all children.

I seem to be following many trends with my selection of learning activities and they are sharing many of my personal interests. This is my second in a few weeks... book recommendation about baking and cooking, Harry Potter themed Inquiry Quest, and art activity centered around trees. I hope you enjoy these activities, too.

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.

Peace,
Mr. McManus
If you feel your child might benefit from an individual group or 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.
Book of the Week
All Four Stars
by Tara Dairman
This is one of my new favorite middle grade books! Anyone who likes to bake, should absolutely pick up this book. This is one of the cutest baking adventures out there! The descriptions on her food reviews are so well written, they made me hungry. The characters are all well developed and fun. It has a strong girl lead with humor and adventure soaked to her core. One thing I love is that this book doesn’t have violence, inappropriate words or questionable content. It is just chock full of heart and humor. The pace is unflagging as Gladys's school essay on "My Future" gets picked up by the food editor of The New York Standard. But the editor doesn't know Gladys is 11. It's up to Gladys to come up with some innovative ideas on how to sneak into New York City, review a top restaurant, and write her newspaper copy. Can you say "sticky situations?" They abound. My favorite one finds Gladys under a restaurant table... but if you want to know why she's in this situation, you'll have to read the book! Enjoy!
LET'S GO EXPLORE
The Pearson-Arastradero Preserve is easily accessible from Highway 280, and this hike provides stunning views of the surrounding open space. Watch for: Yellow fiddlenecks, wild roses, tangled blackberry, quail, redwing blackbirds and cottontail rabbits.

There are several short hikes to choose from at the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve, which has over 10 miles of trails to explore. For a scenic loop, take the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail out to Arastradero Creek Trail, turn right on Acorn Trail, then another right onto Meadowlark Trail before descending back to the de Anza Trail.

For a longer out-and-back, take the Arastradero Creek Trail all the way to the City of Palo Alto’s Foothills Park — a local jewel. This hike has several steep spots with a 20 percent slope, mostly toward the west end. However, the trail is wide and compacted in all areas.
Inquiry Quest
Learn and Real
Harry Potter Spell

My love of all things Harry Potter rolls on! With this Inquiry Quest you can tackle the infamous spell Wingardium Leviosa, the levitation spell that makes things fly. In the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, there is a great scene where the young wizards are learning this spell in first year charms class using feathers. This activity recreates this charms lesson and turn it into magical activity where you can begin your wizarding skills.
Now as much as I have tried, my magic seems to be lacking a bit. Hopefully soon I will get my letter to Hogwarts! For now I had to turn to science to help us make this levitation charm happen. Wingardium Leviosa is essentially a hover charm, floating charm and a way to make something fly. We see it used by many of the witches and wizards throughout the Harry Potter stories including in some great combat moments.

But first, wizards needed to learn the spell. There is the great scene in the Philosopher’s Stone where we learn it is Leviosar not Leviosar during Harry’s first Charms class. Then, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows they use this charm on the Whomping Willow so they can get to the Shrieking Shack. There is also a really funny scene in Chamber of Secrets when Harry uses the charm to levitate two cupcakes for Crabbe and Goyle that contain a sleeping draught. It is a very handy magical charm and a great basic spell for all wizards!
Tools and Materials
For this charms lesson you will need the following supplies.
Feathers
Paperclips
Fishing Line
Magnets
Jumbo Craft Sticks (2)
Electrical tape or other tape that is nicely colored

You will also need a way of anchoring. We used a Lego plate and Lego pieces (you could even add your own Lego Harry Potter!), but you could also just tape down the ends of your fishing line.
How to Cast the Spell! (Experiment Directions)
The first thing you need to do is make our special levitation wands. For this you will need magnets. Remember stronger is better but keep safety in mind at all times.
Take the magnets, if you are using the coin magnets you will need to stack a handful to ensure you are getting enough magnetic pull to levitate. Practice by testing your magnets with your paperclip to see how strong the draw is. You want the paperclip to jump to the magnet.

Place your magnets between two jumbo craft sticks and tape into place.

Your wand is ready!

Now, to prepare your feather. Take a paper clip and tie fishing line to it. You want about 4 to 6 inches of fishing line.

Anchor the end of fishing line that doesn’t have the paperclip. I placed my fishing line on a Lego plate and then placed some 2x Lego pieces across the line to secure it.

Finally, slide your feather into the paperclip.

You are now ready for Charms class!
Tips for Performing the Wingardium Leviosa Spell
Wands at the ready. Remember the proper wand movement - swish and flick, swish and flick.

Ensure you are also saying the incantation correctly. As Hermione Granger taught us, “It’s Wing-GAR-dium Levi-O-sa, make the “gar” nice and long.”

Hold your wand near the feather. It should jump up and stick to the wand at first but slowly lift up and the feather will levitate below your wand!

Wizards with great mastery of the levitation spell, Wingardium Leviosa, will be able to move the feather around a bit and can play with how far they can move their wand away from the feather before it falls.
The Science Lesson
In this experiment you are exploring magnetism. By keeping the feather and paperclip anchored it will try to lift to the magnet but the string will hold it in place allowing you to keep your magnets a short distance away and cause the feather to float.

For more scientific investigations with your newfound skills try this experiment with different types of magnets and see how it affects the distance you can move your wand from the paperclip.

You can also try levitating feathers using air. Place a feather between two fans aimed towards each other and see if you can use the air currents to keep your feather afloat. If you have a central heating system with floor vents you can also place feathers over the floor vents with the system fans on.

Another technique you can try is using static electricity on a balloon to see if you can get the feathers to rise.

Give all of these a try and see which one is your favorite!

Enjoy Charms class and have fun performing the levitation spell, Wingardium Leviosa!
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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!

"Professor Soto said the assignment would be easy, but he never mentioned we’d have to..."

"I don't think the old man in the seat next to me on the train was supposed to let that information out..."

“When Jaden took the blank page out of the notebook and drew a map of Ancient Egypt, they had no idea of the chain of events they’d set in motion...”
June 27th
On June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was born. A childhood illness left Keller both blind and deaf. She went on to later become a famous author and speaker. What type of characteristics do you think Keller had to posses in order to overcome her obstacles? 

On this day in 1859, the melody for the “Happy Birthday Song” was written. Using this tune, write a new song that you could sing to a friend or family member letting them know how much you appreciate them.  

On this day in 1922, the first Newbery Medal was awarded to Hendrik Willem van Loon. This award is given to authors in recognition of their outstanding contribution to American literature for children. Using resources from the internet, learn more about the books and authors that have received this award. Are any of them one of your favorites? 
Problems of the Week
mcmanustutoring.com has all previous issues of The McManus Files posted in its library.
Visit the site by clicking mcmanustutoring.com
Creativity Corner
Set your art free
Oil Pastel Rainbow Tree
You will enjoy this easy rainbow tree scenery drawing completed with colorful oil pastels. This activity is sure to engage you while allowing you to practice the art of drawing with oil pastels. You can easily learn how to complete this project by watching this video.
Play
Hangman

Click this link to play a classic game of hangman. Keep all the apples on the tree and win the game.