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September 27, 2022
Fall Issue #5
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Weekly activities and lessons to keep your child thinking and progressing all year long. |
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“With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide."
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Hello and Happy Tuesday,
It always amazes me how the calendar tells us that it is suddenly fall and on that same day, the weather significantly changes. Maybe not the temperature, but the feel of the air and the smells. I just love these early days of autumn (until we have to set our clocks back...).
This week's flyer is loaded with a number of fun and challenging math activities. The Inquiry Quest explores the ratio of a circle and explains pi. This is a powerful activity that students will not forget. The Problems of the Week will stretch your child's thinking and vision of the world around them. Give them a try, I know they will be very enjoyable family activities. This week's book is a joyous frolic into the life of a magical storyteller. This was such a fun and light read. I know everyone in the family will enjoy it. I hope your week goes well and you are staying healthy.
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.
Stay happy,
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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Thinking Interdependently
What is it? – Working cooperatively and collaboratively. Working effectively in teams.
Sounds like – “What’s you idea?” “How can we solve this problem together?” “By working together we can create a better solution.”
Looks like – Group work, team work. Effectively working together, listening and responding.
Feels like – A sense of accomplishment with others. Success. Trusting others to help.
Humans are social beings. We congregate in groups, find it therapeutic to be listened to, draw energy from one another, and seek reciprocity. In groups we contribute our time and energy to tasks that we would quickly tire of when working alone. Cooperative humans realize that all of us together are more powerful, intellectually or physically, than any one individual. Problem solving has become so complex that no one person can go it alone. No one person can consider as many alternatives as several people. Working interdependently has become critical in today’s world.
Some students may not have learned to work in groups; they have underdeveloped social skills. They feel isolated, and they prefer solitude. Some students seem unable to contribute to group work and are job hogs; conversely, other students let all the others in the group do the work.
Working in groups requires the ability to justify ideas and to test the feasibility of solution strategies on others. Through this interaction the group and the individual continue to grow. Listening, consensus seeking, giving up an idea to work with someone else’s, empathy, compassion, group leadership, knowing how to support group efforts, altruism – all are behaviors of cooperative human beings.
“Take care of each other, Share your energies with the group. No one must feel alone, cut off, for that is when you don’t make it.” Willie Unsoeld, Renowned Mountain Climber
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To Tell you the Truth
by Beth Vrabel
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To Tell You the Truth is a great story for readers who want to fall into an immersive story with great voice. Themes of friendship, family, and secrets – both how they hurt and how they heal – are woven through the book. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, tear-jerking, and heartwarming all in one. I was drawn into this book by the fun voice of Trixy, a girl who loves to tell stories. Trixy draws on the stories Gran told her of when Gran was a young girl and good at getting into trouble. Gran’s stories get Trixy into trouble, too. She tells them when she’s supposed to be doing schoolwork. They’re so good... her teacher submits them to a true story contest, but the mean girl who’s won the contest each of the past few years accuses Trixy of making up the stories. Trixy vows to prove the stories are true to preserve Gran’s memory and ensure she’s allowed to compete in the contest. However, Trixy can only prove the stories are true by running away, secretly tagging along on a road trip with her best friend and his dad. I highly recommended this book.
Enjoy!
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Cutting Pi
String and scissors are all you need to find pi all around you.
It may be hard to cut pie into equal pieces, but in this Snack, you can cut string into pi pieces!
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Tools and Materials
- Circular or cylindrical object, such as a straight-sided coffee cup, roll of tape, plate—or even a pie
- String
- Scissors
- Optional: partner
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To Do and Notice
Carefully wrap the string around the circumference of your circular object. (You may want to ask a partner to help you.) Cut the string at exactly one circumference of your object (see photos below).
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Take your “string circumference” and stretch it across the diameter of your circular object. Then cut as many “string diameters” from your “string circumference” as you can (as shown in the photo below). |
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How many string diameters could you cut from the string circumference? What do you notice? |
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What’s Going On?
Cutting string diameters from a string circumference is a physical way to divide the circumference of a circle by its diameter. No matter what circle you use, you’ll be able to cut three complete diameters and have a small piece of string left over.
What fraction of the diameter do you think this small piece could be? It should be about one-seventh. That means you’ve cut about 3 and 1/7 pieces of string, which is the value of pi—the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
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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!
"The Instagram account I created for my hamster just went viral and he’s getting calls with job offers from around the world, only …"
"I got off the boat furious and trembling. I was never getting back on there again..."
"We walked through the garden one last time, knowing we’d never return because..."
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September 27th
Author/illustrator Bernard Waber was born today in 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This author of Lyle, lyle Crocodile and Ira Sleeps Over says that as he was growing up, he learned a lot from his brothers and sister. One brother loved to read and chess, one brother liked to draw and write, while his sister played the piano and wrote love letters for others. All these things inspired him.
Prompt: Name something you've learned from a brother or sister (for example, it could be a song, how to draw, or how to tie your shoes). If you don't have a brother or sister, how about a cousin, friend, or other family member? Can you think of any knowledge or experiences of your own that you've shared with a brother/sister of cousin/family member/friend?
ALSO...
Today is Pancake Day in Centerville, Iowa
Prompt: There are a zillion possibilities for pancakes (buckwheat, blueberry, chocolate with cherries, shrimp and pickles, etc.). How many kinds of pancakes can you think of? (Don't be afraid to use your imagination!) Make a list
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