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March 15, 2022
Spring Issue #3
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Weekly activities and lessons to keep your child thinking and progressing throughout the school year. |
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"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." |
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Happy Tuesday!
March Madness is finally here. Woo Hoo! I'm not talking about basketball. I'm talking about the rush to complete as many projects as possible before Spring Break. If you are looking for more fun and educational learning, this week's flyer has some excellent activities. The Math Problem of the Week is one of my favorites. I call them handshake problems, but gossip problems are much spicer :-) If you need a good new read, this weeks title is a very special and inspirational book that I know you will enjoy. Have a great week and keep on thinking.
Please share this flyer with your friends and encourage them to join our mailing list by following the links on this page.
Mr. McManus :-)
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Fish in a Tree
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
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There's a saying that goes, "Everyone is a genius in their own way. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it'll go its whole life believing it's stupid." This quote sums up a book that I believe every student and teacher should read. The lessons it teaches, will inspire anyone to keep trying, no matter how hard their own personal challenge may be. Sixth grader Ally is a genius at math, and a gifted artist with an active imagination. But she also has a big secret--she has an extremely difficult time reading. Ally is a great protagonist who is incredibly clever and smart, and it's inspiring to see her transformation over the course of the story. Even though I've never had dyslexia, I still found myself really relating to her in regards to her struggles to fit in, make friends, and her passion for art and her wandering imagination. The book's biggest strength is to show both kids and adults the different kinds of struggles everyone faces, and how kindness and the proper support can bring out the best in anyone.
Enjoy!
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Let's Create Some Art with
Natural Materials
This artwork won't be going up on the refrigerator, and that's okay
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Nothing is forever, and that goes for some works of art, too. With this fun and creative project, you can create something fleeting out of natural materials and document its return to a natural state.
Inspired by artist Andy Goldsworthy's nature-based art, your inner Picasso can use elements like rocks, sticks and leaves to create ephemeral works of art that are meant to be washed away by the weather.
GATHER THIS:
- Any natural materials available to you, rocks, sticks, leaves, bark
- Avoid picking anything from live plants
- Do not remove natural materials from the area you found them
THEN DO THIS:
- Use only natural materials you find detached from a living plant to construct art!
- Arrange the natural materials like rocks, sticks, dirt, leaves, bark into something that speaks to you.
- Do not use any permanent, man-made adhesives or attachments to hold art together or in place.
- Take a picture with your brain or with a camera.
- Walk away and let the weather blow and wash your art away.
ASK THIS:
- Can you tell by the shape of your leaf which plant the leaf came from? How far away is the plant? How could the leaf have gotten there?
- Look closely at your stick, how many colors do you see: Are there multiple shades of one color family?
- How would you describe the texture of the substrate or dirt? Does it have small rocks, big rocks, sand, clay, decomposing plant matter, moisture, animals in it?
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
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"Andy Goldsworthy is a British artist known for his site-specific installations involving natural materials and the passage of time. Working as both sculptor and photographer, Goldsworthy crafts his installations out of rocks, ice, leaves, or branches, cognizant that the landscape will change, then carefully documents the ephemeral collaborations with nature through photography." |
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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 a Riddle
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 secretly followed the man with gray hair into the..."
"Looking at the family photos I couldn't believe when I saw..."
"Being a fifth grader was easy until..."
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I can bring tears to your eyes,
Resurrect the dead,
Make you smile,
And reverse time.
I form in an instant,
But I last a life time.
What am I?
Answer in next week's issue :-)
Last week's answer... A hole
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