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.

About the sticky notes for Singapore Math

What does this Sticky Note mean?

Common Abbreviations and Phrases Used By Sam:

wkbk = workbook

txtbk = textbook

pg. = page number

ex. = exercise number

rev. = review

fix = previous work needs to be corrected, look for which problems are marked for fixing

correctly = indicated problems need to be done correctly for check out

"then get a packet" = finish the work in the books, show it to Sam AND then get a handout

Khan = there is something on Khan Academy you are supposed to do

So my assignment is:

“txtbk pg 37-47, wkbk ex 10-12 correctly, rev 2, then get packet on decimals”

This means to read and do all the problems on pages 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47 in the textbook. Then to do exercises 10, 11 and 12 in the workbook, AND to do review 2 in the workbook.

Additionally, exercises 10,11, and 12 need to be corrected in order for you to check out. If you see “correctly” you should try to finish your math before Friday so you can fix it if something wasn’t correct before checkout.

After you finished the book work, you should give it to Sam and ask for the packet.

Developing magic acts

We're working on our magic acts for the big magic show next month (Friday, November 21, during the afternoon! Mark your calendars!)... 

They're.... works in progress. 

Niko has apparently hit quite a growth spurt...

Soccer with Friends School

We had an exciting morning today. First, we held auditions for our upcoming school play Alice in Wonderland. 

Immediately afterward, we hosted the Friends School In Detroit for a cordial soccer match in County Farm Park. It's part of our burgeoning interscholastic athletic organization, which our own Karl Sikkenga has been masterminding. Read more about the schedule on Karl's blog. 

It was a lovely way to spend the morning, and everyone had a great time! Ask your child about the game! 

Nik takes a shot.

Recess - Rain or Shine!

In general, our guideline for recess is "if it's safe to be outside, we're going outside." Consequently, we'll occasionally find ourselves outside in light rain. Our kids generally make the best of it: 

This is Keira's initial idea. By the end of recess, she had built a contraption of leaves and twigs that could be suspended above her head. 

Maddy was determined to read at recess without damaging her book. She found a way!

Investigating Water

Water, Water, Everywhere

Last Thursday, as part of ongoing science unit on water use and water quality, the 5-6s collected samples from various locations in and around SK.

Eva and Niko make observations of their water sample.

Then, on Tuesday, we had a class discussion about the kinds of observations they made and whether or not those observations were objective or subjective.

Collecting water samples....

Today we collected water samples around the school to see how we can assess water quality.

Magic Realism: 'Loser' by Aimee Bender

There are many facets to all of our themes, and Magic is no exception. Yesterday, we spent some time learning about the literary genre magic realism, in which magical or unreal elements accent stories that are otherwise grounded in reality (as opposed to books like the Harry Potter series, which are straight fantasy.) 

We read a short story by Aimee Bender, in which a young boy develops the peculiar power to sense the location of misplaced objects; car keys, hairbrushes, and... other things. 

The full text of Bender's story is below, along with a link to an episode of the radio program This American Life, where it was once read aloud in an episode. 

It's a short story that yielded some very insightful conversations: 
- Why is it called Loser?
- Who is the young man talking to at the end? 
- What would it be like to have this power? 
- What do people think of him? 
- What does he think of himself? 
- Is he a happy character? 

Field Trip: Mary Beth Doyle

We took a field trip this afternoon to Mary Beth Doyle Park, the location of the capstone of the Malletts Creek restoration project. We'll be doing a lot of work with watersheds this year, visiting key locations along Washtenaw County waterways. 

Read more about Mary Beth Doyle Park here! 

Math: Factor Tag

We're trying to get outside as often as possible before the changing seasons chase us indoors. One favorite way to get outdoors and active is "factor tag."

Magic: The Gathering

Greetings parents and families, 

As you have probably heard, our mini-theme for the last week and a half has been Magic: The Gathering (often abbreviated as M:TG). To say that it's been a popular area of study would be an understatement. We wanted to take a few moments to give you an idea of how the last few days have played out, and talk a little bit about what the kids are getting out of the experience. 

At the beginning of last week, most of the members of our class fell pretty squarely into one of two groups: People who were M:TG aficionados and knew all about it, and people who were only dimly aware of "Magic" as "that weird card game that a bunch of boys play at lunch every day." There were some fairly clear dividing lines on this: Most (but not all) of the girls in class didn't know much about it, and most (but not all) of the boys decidedly did. There was even a 50-50 split among the teachers: Sam has been playing for decades, and I (Jason) knew next to nothing about the game.