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November 8, 2022
Fall Issue #11
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Weekly activities and lessons to keep your child thinking and progressing all year long. |
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"He/She who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." |
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Tuesday already :-)
Two weeks until Thanksgiving Break ;-/
Last week I was writing about Halloween and now Thanksgiving is right around the corner and barreling down faster and faster. Honestly, it can't get here soon enough. I love the cooking and all the great food and meals with friends and family. I even love tackling the huge pile of dishes.
This week's inquiry challenge is the perfect indoor activity that will keep your child(ren) busy for quite some time during a rainy weekend. Grab some newspapers from the local free kiosks (if you don't already have some laying around) and set your kids to work on a few engaging design challenges. I love doing activities like this in the class. They definitely work best with a partner or in teams.
My book recommendation is a real find! This is such a fine work of historical fiction The depth of the author's research into the subject matter is amazing. Four Winds, the principle character, grabbed my heart from the beginning and never let go as she struggles to retain her Lakota heritage while being forced to adapt to a foreign world.
The math problems of the week are challenging. Give 'em a try. I'd love to see some of your solutions to the third "For Further Study" problem. Feel free to share.
Have an awesome week.
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.
Be kind,
Mr. McManus
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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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3 Amazing Newspaper STEM Challenges
If you have a ton of newspapers you are in need of some newspaper STEM challenges. Read below for three easy newspaper STEM challenges you can do right away!
Newspapers make awesome STEM materials. These challenges will be better with a friend or as a team competition. Also, they are perfect rainy day activities when outdoors is off limits.
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Newspaper STEM Challenge 1:
Build a Tower
As a warm-up start with this easy challenge to get familiar with how to manipulate newspaper for ultimate strength. This will set a foundation for future harder challenges.
Challenge: Build the tallest freestanding tower with only 2 sheets of newspaper and 12 inches of tape. No wedging or taping to the table or floor! But, you can manipulate the newspaper in any way they wish.
Time: 8 – 12 minutes (8 minutes recommended for middle school)
This challenge is actually doable with no tape if you really want a challenge, but there is a limit to the achievable height. A small amount of tape and newspaper forces you to wisely use resources and plan ahead. You will be amazed at the height only 2 sheets of newspaper can reach! At the end of the challenge, walk around measuring heights and discussing the various designs.
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Newspaper STEM Challenge 2:
Hold Weight
Time to really test the limits of the newspaper! After the first newspaper STEM challenge warm-up, this activity is longer and a more complex challenge.
Challenge: Using 10 sheets of newspaper and 18 inches of tape, build a tower that holds a textbook 6 inches above the table for at least 3 seconds. The tower must be free-standing, which means no taping or holding to the table.
Time: 20 minutes
For this challenge, I have a couple copies of the same weighted textbook for testing. As students complete their design, I place the text book on top of the tower. If the book is not at least 6 inches above the table or collapses within 3 seconds, they continue re-designing. If the tower holds, I add more textbooks until failure. This way, everyone is aiming to at least hold the first textbook, but a competition keeps the teams working and designing. I'm always impressed at all the different designs and approaches to this challenge! Depending on group size, you may decide to limit the building phase to 10 minutes, stop the time to test all the designs, and then allow another 10 minutes for re-design following by a second round of testing.
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Newspaper STEM Challenge 3:
Make a Chair
For this final STEM newspaper challenge, you are really going to need to save up supplies! Students will have a chance to use creativity for this challenge in addition to the engineering constraints.
Challenge: Using newspaper, masking tape, and scissors, build a chair to hold one member of your team at least 2 inches above the ground for 5 seconds. No body part may touch the ground during this time.
Time: 20 minutes
In addition to newspaper, magazines can be an added material. At the end of the design phase, have each group present their design and conduct the testing.
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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!
"I turned and couldn't believe I was facing…"
"We weren’t taking any chances. We had to find him before…"
“I was running out of time. They’d said they’d give me until sundown, and that was only a few hours away. I had to…”
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November 8th
Edmund Halley, the astronomer and mathematician who discovered Halley's Comet, was born today in London, England, in 1656. Halley's Comet appears about every 76 years, so that once a generation, Edmund is remembered.
Prompt: If you could have something in nature (a star, a forest, a mountain, a planet, etc.) named after you, what would you choose? Why?
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