tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24994473700581180802024-03-13T03:24:34.271-07:00Seabury Middle SchoolJared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-65037692287846005402022-01-24T12:24:00.003-08:002022-01-25T15:04:34.803-08:00What is Dungeons and Dragons Anyway?<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/modestmimic/reel/CYwg69vpHoa/?utm_medium=copy_link." rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho_WEI9sqK7sTS8BXi_uAZD-DAKcTx__9urJhFPLw5ydLvGEmSpVmJBGRQ9ExeYFbOMJH9U_Ukj2UhzddrK_m5Diws-9I9H0EqnjQGPfhH1JDrp0mzL2hdlfisloIB5QgxXFk_DHDrXvpU26T8KPuUxhCrJ8B-yE9mE_aemGw3HqE4KsyfISyLcBT1tQ=w213-h320" width="213" /></a></div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/modestmimic/reel/CYwg69vpHoa/?utm_medium=copy_link." target="_blank">What is D&D?</a><br /><p>I thought this was a good explanation of Dungeons and Dragons – also humorous. For some students in our middle school it has become quite popular. Some parents worry it might be too much entertainment and not enough academics for a club. Here is why I promote middle schoolers' new-found love of role-play.</p><p>1. I supervise it and include complex math, logic and word puzzles.</p><p>2. Role-play allows kids to refine appropriate responses to social situations without the higher stakes of real-world interaction with classmates.</p><p>3. Middle school students are developing their identity, and in D&D they get to try on different identities, such as leader or someone who makes mistakes or does bad things. </p><p>4. It is an incredible challenge for imagination and creativity. Players invent entire characters and determine how their characters respond to situations. It's great practice for creative writing. </p><p>5. Kids come out of their shells and engage with each other. </p><p><br /></p>Jared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-48281046842248911842021-12-16T13:50:00.005-08:002022-01-18T09:15:34.915-08:00Scavenger Hunt in Downtown Tacoma<p>Every Tuesday afternoon the middle school students go on a 50-minute walking tour of downtown Tacoma. Students have learned about local architecture, offerings at the Karpeles manuscript museum, and the new extension to Sound Transit Link. A few weeks ago they went on a scavenger hunt for a myriad of images that could found within a 4 block radius of the school. The images were picked for aesthetics as well as the need for students to be attentive and have a keen idea of their surroundings while walking around the city. As a group, students found almost all the images; however, Humpty Dumpty and the hand prints remained elusive. If you find yourself downtown and wish to redo the scavenger hunt, I invite you to try this fun activity. The first photo is one of the groups of students part way through their search. The second photo is the items to find. Good luck and Happy Holidays!<br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8lrfAzUBQjt_MEPCx_7WtO1aJAPGbtTJWdYGourKx69kFOduHIxnACcrB_AzsgxYiFXyJIJWH1qlkPG0etgggQQ2tJ3Zi4xJhXTJlqxw6w-sxH09hlKpWQ0IypkiEG4N59mh3jk6FDuDwylq5ykzHAgbwKFizdLMa0YR0SY9mVAD1HUaGRqESdeUt=s792" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="612" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8lrfAzUBQjt_MEPCx_7WtO1aJAPGbtTJWdYGourKx69kFOduHIxnACcrB_AzsgxYiFXyJIJWH1qlkPG0etgggQQ2tJ3Zi4xJhXTJlqxw6w-sxH09hlKpWQ0IypkiEG4N59mh3jk6FDuDwylq5ykzHAgbwKFizdLMa0YR0SY9mVAD1HUaGRqESdeUt=w494-h640" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnal-USVQ88L_ln8VEwKwYOQooi24EkdhnhsC39k3nz3RRLGB7sxi96esiikehpnNewRk1WBpuvZ1XY6M0GRaaTZX0jrzjrCpYsplApLNhQlXRwgvgYjZUrUwVHlkBM-IUVJKqNA0s5aA1VRuupNqY54U9rx5KkTqOAmFNz7b5uNekTdw_OGdKBdU0=s2532" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2532" data-original-width="1170" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnal-USVQ88L_ln8VEwKwYOQooi24EkdhnhsC39k3nz3RRLGB7sxi96esiikehpnNewRk1WBpuvZ1XY6M0GRaaTZX0jrzjrCpYsplApLNhQlXRwgvgYjZUrUwVHlkBM-IUVJKqNA0s5aA1VRuupNqY54U9rx5KkTqOAmFNz7b5uNekTdw_OGdKBdU0=w296-h640" width="296" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>David Mullerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09796436043021308623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-15015884422075204582021-12-06T15:07:00.005-08:002021-12-13T08:45:45.589-08:00Plate Tectonics – Inquiry Based Learning<div class="separator"></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"> How were the Hawaiian Islands formed?</h1><div>This was the phenomenon that middle school scientists investigated with multiple hands-on science labs these last few weeks. Hawaii is one of the world's newest geological structures, and the science behind its formation and plate tectonics is a recent development, as recently as the 1930s. </div><div><br /></div><div><div><img alt="Maps of Hawaii: Hawaiian Islands Map" class="n3VNCb" data-noaft="1" jsaction="load:XAeZkd;" jsname="HiaYvf" src="https://www.hawaii-guide.com/images/blocks/hawaiian-islands-map.jpg" style="height: 344.563px; margin: 0px; width: 525px;" /></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Looking at this map and some photos of the islands, some students noticed the line-like formation of the islands and the ascending size of each island compared to the islands to the east and south of it. They also notice the color of rocks and amount of vegetation. What do you notice?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kauai, Hawaii 2021 | Ultimate Guide To Where To Go, Eat &amp; Sleep in Kauai | Time Out" class="n3VNCb" data-atf="true" data-deferred="1" data-h="1536" data-iml="1791.8000001907349" data-w="2048" id="imi" jsaction="load:XAeZkd;" jsname="HiaYvf" src="https://media.timeout.com/images/105241217/image.jpg" style="height: 443px; margin: 0px; width: 590.667px;" /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><img alt="Big Island, Hawaii Insider&#39;s Travel Guide" class="n3VNCb" data-noaft="1" jsaction="load:XAeZkd;" jsname="HiaYvf" src="https://www.wendyperrin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hawaii-Big-Island-lava-1000x667.jpg" style="height: 390.195px; margin: 0px; width: 585px;" /></div><div><br /></div><div>Students also looked into eruption and earthquake data, finding volcanism on Hawaii an anomaly in the middle of the Pacific Plate. We used a digital resource for this.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM3P05Y_HQa1zypppY7-OBoGkHqL2wSiQR_N3S-gGaL4ZSW7glF7cPVJv9NSZC5QE1MwKbfHcWgosetnmGD8fLTuDKQEO9f-Gskgd1BQpDd2FNSCxNfzX_x8vC5ncp60fikzcZTWMRp1h/s1342/Capture.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="1342" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM3P05Y_HQa1zypppY7-OBoGkHqL2wSiQR_N3S-gGaL4ZSW7glF7cPVJv9NSZC5QE1MwKbfHcWgosetnmGD8fLTuDKQEO9f-Gskgd1BQpDd2FNSCxNfzX_x8vC5ncp60fikzcZTWMRp1h/w479-h245/Capture.PNG" width="479" /></a></div><br /><div>The students then made a claim based on evidence and reasoning. They advanced their claim with further experiments: one on the movement of plates caused by convection currents and another experiment on how heat forces magma to the surface. These experiments modeled plate tectonics and how Hawaii may have formed.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-M4wpwbjtZaYrYbxbkKNvnPyeIPgzbuxq3pPdEReqBWLmSrFDDdxSYSGQx75z2m5ms9CQyxPiZolinudJoAT2qqB6HPDUk7V83vfrRObCIhrsnbc1qP34Jv7QIZzkw2sTkDJVSFHYFVw/s4032/PXL_20211130_184655725.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-M4wpwbjtZaYrYbxbkKNvnPyeIPgzbuxq3pPdEReqBWLmSrFDDdxSYSGQx75z2m5ms9CQyxPiZolinudJoAT2qqB6HPDUk7V83vfrRObCIhrsnbc1qP34Jv7QIZzkw2sTkDJVSFHYFVw/w300-h400/PXL_20211130_184655725.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQVYIfpiXTlV6STxjZYgxGZPIyIfyYuk8WXSmfyq0z4aaKoVc3KvOoxCxqaY0LcNQBgoxhOMJ5IcVWuoB2P7kOy3JBs7MysohQ9Umxo-3S3asPQKVn3RQ22-dQvMe3dQzCswzEfZ99kUU/s4032/PXL_20211130_184406830.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQVYIfpiXTlV6STxjZYgxGZPIyIfyYuk8WXSmfyq0z4aaKoVc3KvOoxCxqaY0LcNQBgoxhOMJ5IcVWuoB2P7kOy3JBs7MysohQ9Umxo-3S3asPQKVn3RQ22-dQvMe3dQzCswzEfZ99kUU/w300-h400/PXL_20211130_184406830.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4Gk8C031Z-JqfzhJWsbjnSNxAqD_k5gsF2kCnM4FphSKyCrANcmnqMpEa31dajey5BEj4KliYdHNn00CthBk7N_WwrtGFoluI8H-4L7YZeT9Va2BuQPvdc4rU5FeteLWtfG54ZHPyjko/s4032/PXL_20211130_182931939.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4Gk8C031Z-JqfzhJWsbjnSNxAqD_k5gsF2kCnM4FphSKyCrANcmnqMpEa31dajey5BEj4KliYdHNn00CthBk7N_WwrtGFoluI8H-4L7YZeT9Va2BuQPvdc4rU5FeteLWtfG54ZHPyjko/w300-h400/PXL_20211130_182931939.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyIT3ypReQgnWGO4Bh8XQziPuT0FBc5adayXrEkptARsNI2KB72fjN8yBd_OjAZMPaTWG-NUHiYZ_gyfXxWCVScC5n3ijhM5To8MHv23-pvkxd4spwmaK2wqmvHB44MGoqSSjy5Exrmc3q/s4032/PXL_20211130_182905664.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyIT3ypReQgnWGO4Bh8XQziPuT0FBc5adayXrEkptARsNI2KB72fjN8yBd_OjAZMPaTWG-NUHiYZ_gyfXxWCVScC5n3ijhM5To8MHv23-pvkxd4spwmaK2wqmvHB44MGoqSSjy5Exrmc3q/w300-h400/PXL_20211130_182905664.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN_QN6SAmyeYXO6pGo6tYihiyE_rEdbDtvAOtglvh_NCoV2oyhrXmox5qwiwKhVrytmHlCBe7wPzAL5dXu828vJjcucUiXWhB41WJFc-dp_jmrLk6pvKUm8N4eH3b36UfF1_z_luCgiRUD/s4032/PXL_20211130_182817951.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN_QN6SAmyeYXO6pGo6tYihiyE_rEdbDtvAOtglvh_NCoV2oyhrXmox5qwiwKhVrytmHlCBe7wPzAL5dXu828vJjcucUiXWhB41WJFc-dp_jmrLk6pvKUm8N4eH3b36UfF1_z_luCgiRUD/w300-h400/PXL_20211130_182817951.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMaBFSZxCP5whv3MMwdExByla9ikaZpaIImNBCeY-Rs53ZiWHjwefn6WTGeoCmnWu0WAPdr4wTuJ2keQjpm5VQjDZL2kya0IyDI8kUC2yhYD8wWK77588iFO9a_u3iY-4RZ5oROVWvCBr/s4032/PXL_20211130_182753357.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMaBFSZxCP5whv3MMwdExByla9ikaZpaIImNBCeY-Rs53ZiWHjwefn6WTGeoCmnWu0WAPdr4wTuJ2keQjpm5VQjDZL2kya0IyDI8kUC2yhYD8wWK77588iFO9a_u3iY-4RZ5oROVWvCBr/w300-h400/PXL_20211130_182753357.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT2PKQh2gfSTd4rTF8lZxbNRXNqcx9LcxPJG6ilKEsrS0U7Mp4MbsTvwsSfZRl4NZG_HRQQ3FRWqVpeBkzZ5cTnyzgJklcrXpHSzZRPzn5LKM9B9ads04B3zZT-rLk1UGFm4evjVgexdz/s4032/PXL_20211202_185100368.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT2PKQh2gfSTd4rTF8lZxbNRXNqcx9LcxPJG6ilKEsrS0U7Mp4MbsTvwsSfZRl4NZG_HRQQ3FRWqVpeBkzZ5cTnyzgJklcrXpHSzZRPzn5LKM9B9ads04B3zZT-rLk1UGFm4evjVgexdz/w300-h400/PXL_20211202_185100368.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>By the end, students were able to state their claims about how the Hawaiian Islands were formed and the evidence they used to support it. They could predict the date of each island's formation and even the formation of volcanoes on the big island. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is an inquiry-based model, where students are presented a strange phenomenon, and then through questions and experiments, they gain understanding. This is also how real geologists came to understand plate tectonics and the formation of Hawaii. We hope by understanding this part of geology, students will also understand the formation of Washington geology as well. </div><div><br /></div>Jared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-27578124964715496402021-11-27T08:13:00.003-08:002021-11-29T12:28:05.042-08:00Creating hanging mobiles using algebra<p>Before Thanksgiving break, Algebra1 students created hanging mobiles out of plastic autumn garlands, dowels, and string. Students provided the imagination and creativity for their floral arrangements, and mathematics provided the algorithm for balancing their creations in a hanging mobile. </p><p>The algorithm can be observed at children's playgrounds (at least pre-2000) with the simple seesaw. Two evenly weighted children, seated at either end can move and down easily because balance is achieved. However, when one child is much heavier than the other, the seesaw stays tipped to the heavier child's side. There was no balance for the seesaw to go up and down easily. The solution is for the heavier child to move closer to the middle of the seesaw. The explanation can be explained with algebra. In order for the seesaw to balance, the weight of one child multiplied by their distance from the center of the seesaw has to equal the weight of the second child multiplied by their distance from the center. Thus, the greater the weight difference between one child and the other, the less distance from the "fulcrum" the child needed to sit. </p><p>This same seesaw principle can be applied to hanging mobiles: the heavier the floral arrangement on one side of the dowel, the closer that arrangement needs to sit from the center (thus where the string holding the dowel is tied). Below are some photos of the project and its results.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizmP9YcOwFXAfbTTR4b36nFnUpAzBsvOBfBidyxS6ViXDVejmj4qLJ6BN4Z8enGRdTJGro_bCR1hmm6bq8vTkEF9r0NHHiCZySxBkB7w9t2OEA2izc8HUbpHPtL1CRKKauRZjJWlkqpiY3Jbu4WlQt1R1pX94Ol7sRZev_qwSMnZ5bc4mawcckAkJQ=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizmP9YcOwFXAfbTTR4b36nFnUpAzBsvOBfBidyxS6ViXDVejmj4qLJ6BN4Z8enGRdTJGro_bCR1hmm6bq8vTkEF9r0NHHiCZySxBkB7w9t2OEA2izc8HUbpHPtL1CRKKauRZjJWlkqpiY3Jbu4WlQt1R1pX94Ol7sRZev_qwSMnZ5bc4mawcckAkJQ=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuzFZPnmH680B2WNbGAOiiZdIMwn_vRKmXDcnTAXW_SYeL7TWaW52b-V7mrfV6a9z4jpKoUh5-GB2BXoDHUw1R1b02Qzf5w-MUcjscNUyUTX4VZuLYWzxRPNHEHZ7SR-zGnW8lF1AwdXsu6Dqc3N1boBDlxwnFT-ELuuyMOWioVDgICm9Co9HjABj5=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuzFZPnmH680B2WNbGAOiiZdIMwn_vRKmXDcnTAXW_SYeL7TWaW52b-V7mrfV6a9z4jpKoUh5-GB2BXoDHUw1R1b02Qzf5w-MUcjscNUyUTX4VZuLYWzxRPNHEHZ7SR-zGnW8lF1AwdXsu6Dqc3N1boBDlxwnFT-ELuuyMOWioVDgICm9Co9HjABj5=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGl-72Huqeg_7Ydj136oqou0SMmnrGYq858g_kcXWGWeXOhE_iO2RIl33F5u1gPb3f8ZU_UF2ABCHHBvv4gDHOwHXox0dTlCKZj5idPoeiqkUGBrg6F8-ncLoQRF5t5UOeHg1ZkG_3bulugV3DawHnjO-T36h_zQUUFeUfZyHumDP33DBYGKORlkoN=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGl-72Huqeg_7Ydj136oqou0SMmnrGYq858g_kcXWGWeXOhE_iO2RIl33F5u1gPb3f8ZU_UF2ABCHHBvv4gDHOwHXox0dTlCKZj5idPoeiqkUGBrg6F8-ncLoQRF5t5UOeHg1ZkG_3bulugV3DawHnjO-T36h_zQUUFeUfZyHumDP33DBYGKORlkoN=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br />David Mullerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09796436043021308623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-59789039054604072722021-11-04T05:44:00.008-07:002021-11-08T11:24:22.062-08:00 Algebra as a decision-making tool<p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">Suppose you are in the market for a new car, and the particular one you like is offered in </span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">both gas-only </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">and hybrid models. You are wondering for the hybrid at what specific </span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">number on the odometer does </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">the savings in gasoline purchased offset the additional </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">amount in the purchase price? I enjoy teaching </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">algebra because this question can be </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">answered with the knowledge of writing and solving systems </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">of algebraic equations. </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">Algebra allows one to simplistically model the cost of driving based on </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">the purchase </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">price (P), the rate of the cost of driving per mile (m), and the variable of miles driven (x). </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">(Cost = P + mx) Some online research gives you the values for the purchase price, </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">gas price, and fuel economy (mpg). </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">Graph your two equations, and where they </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">intersect is the exact mileage </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">point at which operating the two types of car is equal. </span></p><p id="docs-internal-guid-d754d17d-7fff-3e1d-4437-2ffaedea6e87" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">Any miles driven beyond this point and the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">higher-priced hybrid starts saving you money.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoimkilqRjWdqO0VKHlzYtle09MRlIeT4HJDPRofwbqj1PNaZMYRAup2pT7TuSKNxKhhhvJQ8B3TZKPDCqxmxYVtCMsi7SGn8PyfjvU2CmjI-wGroNvYaqf4UfGTp8lmVs1KEK288bFVX4noM2FgYpXciGSpJNEJucUHIBq1bA8NHltRI18kV1H16f=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoimkilqRjWdqO0VKHlzYtle09MRlIeT4HJDPRofwbqj1PNaZMYRAup2pT7TuSKNxKhhhvJQ8B3TZKPDCqxmxYVtCMsi7SGn8PyfjvU2CmjI-wGroNvYaqf4UfGTp8lmVs1KEK288bFVX4noM2FgYpXciGSpJNEJucUHIBq1bA8NHltRI18kV1H16f=s320" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">Students in my Algebra 1 class conducted this research and solved the systems</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">of equations written for operating the two models in order to answer the original </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">question for themselves. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">Some of them </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">were surprised by the answer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9gJ5xdSvPU2qG_Mxk5mQiIUUMMt7KoUD_i1kpOX7Lx_QzkKetdzdF8iIqueaw_hI7DsrbQ5kOJzeyZI4m4CKnGjIU41pMcn5AWUVvk4Ud6gnfSjpQel2js8rWEZX0JiiTUq5-i8LLQ1qT-JTl8dL2CHHBvyoWBP8RO01H-n5iP6YpUUQGhZZbYM10=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9gJ5xdSvPU2qG_Mxk5mQiIUUMMt7KoUD_i1kpOX7Lx_QzkKetdzdF8iIqueaw_hI7DsrbQ5kOJzeyZI4m4CKnGjIU41pMcn5AWUVvk4Ud6gnfSjpQel2js8rWEZX0JiiTUq5-i8LLQ1qT-JTl8dL2CHHBvyoWBP8RO01H-n5iP6YpUUQGhZZbYM10=s320" width="240" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZmemR-rGjXsKzXKyg5GxLsh0TwEtTG3zxtwp_ZF4yaIPezjkSRbXTCSQR7woZxEnWXc_JHUViO9H92xExvc7jcjWINA1BG2mXBxWBedTXgrWya96qvKmOGd0cJ0R0UIJGq_l_p3V_RuKNZSfta8wacQhBGCYSDlyGfVOoA7FEKEfciF4Qn6nNdzch=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZmemR-rGjXsKzXKyg5GxLsh0TwEtTG3zxtwp_ZF4yaIPezjkSRbXTCSQR7woZxEnWXc_JHUViO9H92xExvc7jcjWINA1BG2mXBxWBedTXgrWya96qvKmOGd0cJ0R0UIJGq_l_p3V_RuKNZSfta8wacQhBGCYSDlyGfVOoA7FEKEfciF4Qn6nNdzch=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /></span><p></p></div></div>David Mullerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09796436043021308623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-88186298189469962092021-10-15T13:02:00.002-07:002021-10-22T11:10:16.127-07:00Ada Lovelace Day: Women in Science<p><span style="font-family: arial;">What do Bluetooth, DNA, and radium have in common? They were all discovered by female scientists. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Students at Seabury middle school this week were inundated with expert speakers and teachers this week. On the second Tuesday of October, Seabury celebrates a special day with the goal of convincing young female students to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). According to the American Association of University Women women still only make up 28% of the STEM workforce. It is believed that women are systematically steered out of those education tracks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ada Lovelace Day has become a holiday to promote women in STEM. Ada has become a figurehead for this movement because she bucked the gender stereotypes of her time and became a skilled mathematician. Some consider her the first computer programmer. At Seabury we celebrate this day by inviting women professionals to take over the day and teach us, do hands-on science with us, and give us advice. All genders enjoy these experiences. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This year we were visited by personal trainer Mandi Marquardt, architect Sonja Barteck, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">neuropsychologist </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Dr. Audrey Don, Dr. Jamie Brooks and her associates Brenda and Kayla from Brooks Dental Studio, pediatrician Dr. Diane Bartels, and gifted education specialist Ruth Maitlen. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We learned how to suture a wound, how to make a microscope, how the brain learns, about optical illusions in architecture, all about Ada Lovelace and everything a physical trainer does to keep athletes at peak performance.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8v9z0_ZiS8m-WcXzigLcY-YVL6cWgqdv_6jYacI_OBgDtV-czOyp5LxkX9IFEnOVXVQBOfFvc-20ARmMTPCpCa4Phz0OfWqclda8kyPNMbBINxYb8aWcdOdMU4Z1vFKwlyeRr-QGvLZ0/s4032/PXL_20211012_201645787.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8v9z0_ZiS8m-WcXzigLcY-YVL6cWgqdv_6jYacI_OBgDtV-czOyp5LxkX9IFEnOVXVQBOfFvc-20ARmMTPCpCa4Phz0OfWqclda8kyPNMbBINxYb8aWcdOdMU4Z1vFKwlyeRr-QGvLZ0/w300-h400/PXL_20211012_201645787.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZuOFfGaIsglZhq9OR0vR2bhKoEfodJxqHYl-7q8aHIc_8P8wjdDNERVEltkph4EejX9BDIn-nGfNhP1IR-BXyzvCgfyc6TgQRpqhSIfY-R99gB1z7Cr9zWn7FWk7CsZKAHE06oT23TSv/s4032/PXL_20211012_201621457.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZuOFfGaIsglZhq9OR0vR2bhKoEfodJxqHYl-7q8aHIc_8P8wjdDNERVEltkph4EejX9BDIn-nGfNhP1IR-BXyzvCgfyc6TgQRpqhSIfY-R99gB1z7Cr9zWn7FWk7CsZKAHE06oT23TSv/w300-h400/PXL_20211012_201621457.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcyl5lFaSeH-eKpsy6wC7EsVLNrCqVovzjUGhcRnb2eg3EoILIO0E4ja6i_fTx3__gdHW_Vac1dgrygE9b93yj_NMhkM7NpUriSmei0EcQD2DsvZ1yc1yMXsC8MaCWDtOwYKXM6DWfL4Q6/w300-h400/PXL_20211012_193805573.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nW1fjvBGYsB5nbrgPldYcnQhUAnXHMwzQqurZ3r6qXj62Eato-sutBzBKTRXLXAury24I9-aX00LN_fM7doIlbC2JXk4cYajgxMHQ1MIaYwNx2ivOnbQdHmkB_n2Ov2w6p-wquQWPvD6/s4032/PXL_20211012_180721169.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nW1fjvBGYsB5nbrgPldYcnQhUAnXHMwzQqurZ3r6qXj62Eato-sutBzBKTRXLXAury24I9-aX00LN_fM7doIlbC2JXk4cYajgxMHQ1MIaYwNx2ivOnbQdHmkB_n2Ov2w6p-wquQWPvD6/w300-h400/PXL_20211012_180721169.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczwBKyLImNbzpHfoUOneRnR6KXfnkbvhk7Qn9fSf-zvRiDYPFKMbnSgECmdESWqqTQq53JYx0dWGcwAt6J_Shpvc-u-9IiWDA39P6Ly2fyjMAUOxvQQECqQtWeVkfIg02k0mI1T4b_s5f/s4032/PXL_20211012_193743847.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczwBKyLImNbzpHfoUOneRnR6KXfnkbvhk7Qn9fSf-zvRiDYPFKMbnSgECmdESWqqTQq53JYx0dWGcwAt6J_Shpvc-u-9IiWDA39P6Ly2fyjMAUOxvQQECqQtWeVkfIg02k0mI1T4b_s5f/w300-h400/PXL_20211012_193743847.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /> Jared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-54929707062564204962021-06-05T08:10:00.058-07:002021-06-08T10:38:37.211-07:00Summer Reading Ideas and Book List (Will Keep Being Updated Until School's Out)<p>The Tacoma Public Library's Summer Reading Program started on June 5th. I suggest you sign your middle schooler up if you live in Tacoma. If not, please check out your library's summer reading program.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>A Note about the Selections:</b></p><p>Each reader is different, and not every reader is ready for the content they are able to read. That is the challenge of finding "good fit" books for advanced and gifted readers. These lists are just here to help you (and them) find some new books to read.</p>At each level, these are not all designed to be “challenge” books. Some are just strong middle-grade/YA fiction that students might enjoy reading or that a particular student may not have read yet. Students are—of course--welcome to seek a challenge on one of the older lists as well or to read a great book they’ve missed from an earlier recommended grade. Parents should advise re: content. <div><br /></div><div>It is also worth noting that a 7th or 8th grader that hasn't read something on the 6th grade list might really love the books listed there. Those aren't only for 6th graders, so scan the whole list and find some things that look good to you.<br /><br />Also, the <a href="https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-recommended-books-2/">CCBC</a>, an amazing children’s library resource out of the University of Wisconsin, has a<br />Web site full of lists. The link above is to their list of recommendations. <br /><br />I have made three lists:<br />Books for rising 6th and 7th graders,<br />Books for rising 7th and 8th graders<br />Books for rising 8th and 9th graders.<br /><br />Within the second two lists, I made subcategories with classics on top. Please excuse any duplicates.<br /><br />Happy Reading!<br /><br />_________________________________________________________________________________<br /><br />Rising 6th and 7th Graders: Fiction and Poetry</div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Westing Game</i> by Ellen Raskin<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Rain, Reign</i> by Ann M. Martin<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Wonder</i> by R.J. Palacio</div><div>•<i> Kira-Kira </i>by Cynthia Kadohata<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Half a Chance</i> by Cynthia Lord<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Absolutely Almost</i> by Lisa Graff<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Words with Wings </i>by Nikki Grimes<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie</i> by Jordan Sonnenblick<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Flora and Ulysses </i>by Kate DiCamillo</div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> <i>Ghost </i>by Jason Reynolds (whole series)</span><br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Brown Girl Dreaming</i> by Jacqueline Woodson<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Feathers </i>by Jacqueline Woodson<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The White House is Burning </i>by Jane Sutcliffe<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Paperboy </i>by Vince Vawter<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Call of the Wild </i>by Jack London<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Al Capone Does My Shirts</i> by Gennifer Choldenko<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Better Nate Than Ever</i> by Tim Federle<br />•<i><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Three Times Lucky</i> by Sheila Turnage<br />•<i><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tuck Everlasting</i> by Natalie Babbit<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Scarlet Pimpernel </i>by Emmuska Orczy<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Any of the amazing books by L’Engle<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Little Women</i> by Alcott<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Once and Future King</i> by T.H. White<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Surviving the Applewhites</i> by Stephanie Tolan<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Watership Down</i> by Richard Adams<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (Not <i>that</i> Robert E. Lee<i>)</i><br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz</i> by L. Frank Baum<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Alchemist </i>by Paul Coehlo <br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Echo </i>by Pam Mu<span class="gyWzne Eq0J8" face="Roboto, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: nowrap;">ñ</span>oz Ryan<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales</i> by Washington Irving<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The House on Mango Street </i>by Sandra Cisneros<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Princess Bride</i> by William Goldman<div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>A Wizard of Earthsea </i>by Ursula LeGuin<div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> <i>Unsettled </i>by Reem Faruqi</span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"><span style="white-space: normal;">•</span><span> <i>School for Good and Evil </i>(series) by Soman Chainani</span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"><span>• The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani </span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"><span>• <i>American as Paneer Pie </i>by Supriya Kelkar</span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"><span>• <i>Ahisma </i></span></span><span style="white-space: pre;">by Supriya Kelkar</span><span style="white-space: pre;"><span> </span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"><span>• <i>The Henna Wars </i>by Adiba Jaigirdar</span></span><span face="Assistant, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;">• <i>Stand Up, Yumi Chung! </i>by Jessica Kim</span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;">• </span><span style="white-space: pre;">Anything by Erin Entrada Kelly from her many middle grade selections</span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;">• </span><span style="white-space: pre;"><i>Song for a Whale</i> by Lynne Kelly</span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;">• <i>Ancestor Approved </i>edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith</span></div><div>• <i>Silver People</i> (poems from working on the Panama Canal) by Margarita Engle</div><div>• <i>I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter</i> by Erika S<span face="Roboto, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">á</span>nchez</div><div><div><i>• </i><i>Lucky Broken Girl </i>by Ruth Behar</div><div><i>•</i><i>Turtle Boy </i>by M. Evan Wolkenstein</div></div><div><i>•Elatsoe</i> by Darcie Little Badger</div><div><br /></div><div>Nonfiction </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Boy Who Could Harness the Wind (Young Reader's Edition)</div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Miracle Worker</i> by William Gibson</div><div><br /></div><div><br />Rising 7th and 8th Graders<br /><br />Classics:<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gulliver’s Travels<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Iliad<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Odyssey (I prefer the Fagles translation)<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bram Stoker’s Dracula<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Austen’s Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and/or Sense and Sensibility<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Joy Luck Club<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (The first mystery novel)<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Hunchback of Notre Dame<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>P.G. Wodehouse (The Jeeves Stories)<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Agatha Christie’s mystery novels<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The James Bond novels<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John Le Carre’s spy novels<br /><br />Newer Texts:<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Flavia de Luce series of mystery novels (set in England, involve chemistry)<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes </i> (and other Chris Crutcher novels—he’s from Spokane)<br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Fault in Our Stars</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Paper Towns</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Book Thief</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist (and everything else these co-authors wrote)</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Every Day by David Levithan</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Highest Tide</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Life of Pi</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Martian Chronicles</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Ship Breaker</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Sophie’s World</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Bel Canto</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Box Out</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Howl’s Moving Castle</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The Rock and the River</i><br /><i>•</i><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children</i><br /><i>• My Name is Not Easy</i><br /><div><i>• Hearts Unbroken</i></div><div><i>• The Beast of Cretacea</i></div><div><i>• Clap when You Land</i></div><div><i>• Almost American Girl<br />• Hearts Unbroken</i></div><div><i>• Dear Martin</i></div><div><i>• City of Beasts</i></div><div><i>• Orbiting Jupiter</i></div><div><i>• Darius the Great Is Not Okay</i></div><div><i>• American Born Chinese</i></div><div><i>• Love and Other Natural Disasters</i></div><div><i>• K-Pop Confidential</i></div><div><i>• Legend and Warcross</i></div><div><i>• Super Fake Love Song</i></div><div><i>• The Prince and the Dressmaker</i></div><div><i>• You Should See Me in a Crown</i></div><div><i>• This Poison Heart</i></div><div><i>• They Both Die at the End</i></div><div><i>• The Poet X</i></div><div><i>• The Chosen</i></div><div><i>• Davida's Harp</i></div><div><i>• The Gilded Ones</i></div><div><i>• Firekeeper's Daughter</i></div><div><i>• Give Me Some Truth</i></div><div><i>• Ayesha Dean - The Istanbul Intrigue </i></div><div><br /></div><div><br />Nonfiction (Check the nonfiction list at the end of the rising 8/rising 9 list, too.)<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Port Chicago<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I Am Malala<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Samurai Rising<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;">•<span> </span></span>The Rainbow Troops</div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>They Called Us the Enemy</div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask</div><div><br />Rising 8th and 9th Graders (Some of the content contained in these novels is a little edgier, so consider discussing options with parents. These are just great books, not necessarily great books for every student.)<br /><br />Classics:<br />Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie<br />John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden<br />Toni Morrison: Song of Solomon<br />Herman Melville: Moby Dick<br />Ernest Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls<br />Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth<br /> The Age of Innocence<br />Henry James: Daisy Miller and various short stories<br />Norman Mailer: The Naked and the Dead <br />James Fenimore Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans (Or the whole set of the Leatherstocking Tales)<br />Richard Wright: Native Son<br />Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin<br />Upton Sinclair: The Jungle<br />James Baldwin: Go Tell It on the Mountain<br />Frank Norris: The Octopus<br />Robert Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land<br />Alice Walker: The Color Purple<br />Willa Cather: My Antonia<br />Bernard Malamud: The Natural<br />Joseph Heller: Catch-22<br />Kurt Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle<br />F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby<br />Dorothy Dunnet’s The Lymond Chronicles (a series)<br />Herodotus’ Histories (460 B.C.)<br />The Peloponnesian Wars by Thucydides (431 B.C.)<br />Don Quixote (1605)<br />Wuthering Heights<br />Charles Dickens: Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities<br />Les Miserables<br />Crime and Punishment<br />An American Tragedy<br />The Time Machine<br />Anything by Wilde, especially The Picture of Dorian Gray<br />Dubliners by James Joyce<br />Siddhartha<br />All Quiet on the Western Front<br />The Lord of the Rings<br />One Hundred Years of Solitude<br /><br /><br />New<i>ish</i> adult fiction and YA reads:<br /><i>The Wide Sargasso Sea<br />The Hate U Give<br />On the Come Up</i></div><div><i>Elena Ferrante’s Novels<br />Exit West<br />Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World<br />Eva Luna<br />Speak<br />A Confederacy of Dunces<br />The Monkey Wrench Gang<br />The Magicians</i></div><div><i>Every Day by Leviathan (Series)<br />Interpreter of Maladies (short stories)<br />A Separate Peace<br />The Night Circus<br />How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents<br />In the time of the Butterflies</i><div><i>Long Way Down<br /></i><div><i>Americanah</i></div><div><i>House of the Spirits</i></div><div><i>Purple Hibiscus<br />The Overstory</i></div><div><i>White Teeth</i></div><div><i>Cool for the Summer</i></div><div><i>More than Just a Pretty Face </i></div><div>Ted Chiang's Short Stories</div><div><i>I Love You So Mochi</i></div><div><i>The Ones We Are Meant to Find</i></div><div><i>The Summer of Everything</i></div><div><i>Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda</i></div><div><div><i>Felix Ever After<br />Pet<br />Lost in the Never Woods</i></div><div><i>Love is a Revolution</i></div><div><i>Woven in Moonlight </i></div><div><i>We Set the Dark on Fire</i></div><div><i>This Is All Your Fault</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Nonfiction</i></div><div><i>Punching the Air<br />The Physics of the Future<br />Plato at the Googleplex<br />Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?<br />The End of Money<br />Freakonomics<br />The Structure of Scientific Revolutions<br />Mountains Beyond Mountains<br />The Color of Water<br />Kaffir Boy<br />Stamped</i></div><div><i>All Boys Aren't Blue<br /></i></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><i>The Book of Pride</i></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-16730674490444907012021-05-05T16:22:00.013-07:002021-09-17T14:15:44.646-07:00Linking and Retrieving: Making Interdisciplinary Connections to Help Learning Stick<p><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the hallmarks of the Seabury program is that Seabury students study overarching concepts that can be viewed, analyzed, and researched through the lenses of multiple subjects.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As we work toward the future the students want and studying how to build that future, it is essential that we study the climate emergency and what is and can be done to mitigate greenhouse gasses and adapt to the changing climate.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In order to face this upcoming period of history, the world will need future leaders to have a vast skillset: communication, data analysis, storytelling, logical thinking, historical understanding of policy, mathematical reasoning, and empathy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As the students construct their understanding of the climate situation, we are encouraging them to notice and note when there are interdisciplinary connections. We are also formally asking them to reflect on these connections in our Friday morning meetings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><u>Some of their connections from week 1:</u> </span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8b337b12-7fff-b624-9fbe-bde563042406"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Climate weirding is caused by the excess release of greenhouse gases as a result of failed mitigation efforts.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lack of means to adapt leads to people becoming climate refugees.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Countries that were colonizers also tend to be those that emit more greenhouse gases, which affects current global negotiations and planning.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><u>Some of their connections from week 2:</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sustainable food production benefits future food production, which has a long range economic benefit, which could </span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2c4314b6-7fff-d3cc-4145-7fb5dc4eb935"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Antigens are important in adapting to big changes in the organism.</span></span></span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-6ed8a416-7fff-ee7b-3b08-96d6ec127e33"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Weeds adapt to the situation they’re in or the climate or terrain.</span></span></span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-18151f5c-7fff-1748-09f0-b823e7d37f79"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We need pollinators to help our flowers produce crops and fruit. </span></span></span></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-35125717472609167262021-02-25T16:11:00.006-08:002021-09-17T14:14:00.007-07:00Showing Our Thinking: Analysis and Synthesis with Hexagonal Thinking<p><span style="font-family: arial;">This week, the Seabury middle school students completed a final assessment for our study of Refugees where they connected ideas from our short story unit, their memoirs, economics, and the testimonies we heard from modern day and historical refugees.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In groups, students discussed where to place hexagons labeled with characters, people, places, and terms. Individually, they chose connections and explored and explained them in writing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Listening to the students discuss connections, explain their thinking to one another, and deciding how to collaborate revealed the creativity of the students' thought processes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As ideas took shape, each group formed their own connections.</span></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-60718222607951435682021-02-10T09:26:00.003-08:002021-02-10T09:26:54.239-08:00Using an Economic Lens : EnvironmentMiddle school students at Seabury produced projects that reflected their learning about the forest and the costs and benefits of using it as a resource. Seabury encourages students to think about concepts deeply and to try and understand complex issues. The people of Washington and indeed the US use Washington forests as an important resource, this use benefits not only logging companies and forest owners, but also students learned how sustainable forestry benefits education, animals, and even the forest itself.<div><br /></div><div>The students first engaged in research, they read articles, watched videos, and interviewed a Washington Department of Natural Resources Forester. They then, had to make decisions and think of alternatives for the sale of an imagined timber sale. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some of the results:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://anchor.fm/marlowe-j-mackenzie/episodes/Washington-timber-entfko">Timber Podcast</a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAPZMvcfFLVi1ab4AGxkwDZCOynKqDKofDiTbpIVOmz2egjMGE0DdzzmPZ5LVqvtc-aG4HwuhC0tx9NVocdlgySP2GqJz3wXt4QlP7pucLvHz5fxWRjddevVidVjQoh1MIE8QLgS2Jeed/s612/Forest1.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAPZMvcfFLVi1ab4AGxkwDZCOynKqDKofDiTbpIVOmz2egjMGE0DdzzmPZ5LVqvtc-aG4HwuhC0tx9NVocdlgySP2GqJz3wXt4QlP7pucLvHz5fxWRjddevVidVjQoh1MIE8QLgS2Jeed/s320/Forest1.PNG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><iframe height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mxZ2y93ibXBUxWKq7uK_FnUbApyMNtAi/preview" width="640"></iframe><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDGAfVcuCrbraYTKVaav6a9xMGmghxp5hyphenhyphenBzeC5G6kHgc2DiEJGGYlCc0c9iDfW0Nbtbbz8gJpm6SW3UCYU_SxuRkFbeUtpw3q7WVTX2kZvrkxCZQFdyTdT-Cf2gQQCtCNm1DEujDOXHW/s1643/Forest+Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1643" data-original-width="800" height="906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDGAfVcuCrbraYTKVaav6a9xMGmghxp5hyphenhyphenBzeC5G6kHgc2DiEJGGYlCc0c9iDfW0Nbtbbz8gJpm6SW3UCYU_SxuRkFbeUtpw3q7WVTX2kZvrkxCZQFdyTdT-Cf2gQQCtCNm1DEujDOXHW/w441-h906/Forest+Project.jpg" width="441" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://my.visme.co/view/pv6veym4-timber-project-ashton-and-ishaan">Timber Project Infographic</a><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Jared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-64829297489259871072021-01-26T16:09:00.003-08:002021-01-28T09:17:35.840-08:00Reflection: An Important Learning Tool and a Record of a Historic Moment<p> When projects and units come to an end, we ask the students to actively reflect on their learning:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What were their goals? What progress did they make toward those goals? Let's look back. . .</li><li>What questions did you have when we started? What progress have we made toward answering them?</li><li>What new skills have you acquired?</li><li>How have you grown as a thinker?</li><li>How have you grown as a communicator and collaborator?</li><li>What are you proud of?</li></ul><div>At the end of the semester, we do a more substantial reflection that usually involves finding specific evidence from a student's work to support their answers to questions like those above.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Historic Times</b></div><div>I recently sent students digital cards with a short video congratulating them on doing something "unprecedented" by finishing a full semester of distance learning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Immediately thereafter, I realized that we have had periods of distance learning before, like during the polio epidemic:</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KiPMOyBD5y4/YBCnRPJmHaI/AAAAAAAABNU/k4GwEVowyKorcvE7ymenIHwMJLHNdAF_wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="900" height="298" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KiPMOyBD5y4/YBCnRPJmHaI/AAAAAAAABNU/k4GwEVowyKorcvE7ymenIHwMJLHNdAF_wCLcBGAsYHQ/w411-h298/image.png" width="411" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chicago schools, for instance, moved to the radio:</div></div><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"In Chicago, teachers collaborated with principals to create <a href="https://nyti.ms/34bojSX" style="color: #555768; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">on-air lessons</a> for each grade, with oversight from experts in each subject. Seven local radio stations donated air time. September 13 marked the first day of school.</p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Local papers printed class schedules each morning. Social studies and science classes were slated for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays were devoted to English and math. The on-air school day began with announcements and gym. Classes were short – just 15 minutes – providing simple, broad questions and assigning homework.</p></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The objective was to be “<a href="https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59889812/broadcast-food-for-thought-chicago/" style="color: #555768; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">entertaining yet informative</a>.” Curriculum planners incorporated an engaging commercial broadcasting style into the lessons. Two principals monitored each broadcast, providing feedback to teachers on content, articulation, vocabulary and general performance. When schools reopened, students would submit their work and take tests to show mastery of the material.</p></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sixteen teachers answered phone calls from parents at the school district’s central office. After the phone bank logged more than 1,000 calls on the first day, they brought five more teachers on board.</p></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">News stories reporting on this novel radio school approach were mostly positive, but a few articles hinted at the challenges" (<a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-learning-isnt-new-radio-instruction-in-the-1937-polio-epidemic-143797" target="_blank">La Monica, Martin</a>).</p></div></div></blockquote><p> </p><div>This is the first time so much technology has been available to help us help the students, so what they have done is still, in many ways, unprecedented. </div><div><br /></div><div>As such, we asked them to create something more special, more memorable, for their end of semester reflection.</div><div><br /></div><div>The students had two options: create a museum box representative of their learning this semester or create a Pinterest-style digital board that gathered moments from their learning this year.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Creative Reflection</b></div><div>Reflection in this way allows the students to make a story out of their learning, which is one of the key ways that learning connects to long-term memory. Some of the students shared how much they enjoyed creating their museum boxes, thinking metaphorically about their learning.</div><div><br /></div><div>The results range in variety and style as broadly as our students do.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CkVACkLkfbc/YBCqGb2jpWI/AAAAAAAABNo/pG8AMBrHbpMJ-TQt3N_PQA74vpucp964QCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="468" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CkVACkLkfbc/YBCqGb2jpWI/AAAAAAAABNo/pG8AMBrHbpMJ-TQt3N_PQA74vpucp964QCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="234" /></a></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-82ef8641-7fff-fbb2-aa61-c375366e0616"><img height="379" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/EZMB0RoQnEpftUnscq7p0DVrFW2xMv89d5AYrp1_fca68vy6joeGHZpBgl_nvuIKVO-6ZGaWl0mqYeeFgJTfTrBWfXNIQaKaRuVGUi_HLub9qn5bpBeSnL9PGRVxufLMKKSE5jDOM-s=w336-h379" width="336" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PlrjVQqTWpw/YBCpzIXiYBI/AAAAAAAABNg/6VKguyi2sUgtMz5lBHSiI5nOI378LBlsQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="385" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PlrjVQqTWpw/YBCpzIXiYBI/AAAAAAAABNg/6VKguyi2sUgtMz5lBHSiI5nOI378LBlsQCLcBGAsYHQ/w243-h320/image.png" width="243" /></a></div><br /></span><br /><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We even had a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rJADaZD3WYq06yEz4_kyDnYV0rZPZTvj/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Minecraft reflection</a>. The student who submitted this also submitted a written explanation. The video highlights their creativity.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And some "moments" from the Pinterest boards:</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-93SOWdJiIF0/YBCrJh-9boI/AAAAAAAABN0/OjBjGxxlAlUCmgsc7zI_1ERzEoium0QrACLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="492" height="213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-93SOWdJiIF0/YBCrJh-9boI/AAAAAAAABN0/OjBjGxxlAlUCmgsc7zI_1ERzEoium0QrACLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a4t9zN3KFQ4/YBCrl5kj-6I/AAAAAAAABN8/WbDMNG3uLTgDZuJcaanBS2RoeyQTxI2sgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="792" height="190" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a4t9zN3KFQ4/YBCrl5kj-6I/AAAAAAAABN8/WbDMNG3uLTgDZuJcaanBS2RoeyQTxI2sgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jkQLubbzXbQ/YBCszQ2WDBI/AAAAAAAABOI/btFq2cgLVNMIVav5ptOS00Abuncig0XzgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="598" height="169" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jkQLubbzXbQ/YBCszQ2WDBI/AAAAAAAABOI/btFq2cgLVNMIVav5ptOS00Abuncig0XzgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The students will remember and use the skills they have learned during this semester for years to come. They will remember much of the content they have learned, too. The experience of working together through this time, of learning and growing alongside each other, of trusting us to help them learn, of overcoming challenges, of building learning spaces that worked for them--those are memories they will have for a lifetime.</div><div><br /></div><div>We are lucky to be on this journey together.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-76654209230209591462021-01-08T08:45:00.008-08:002021-01-08T08:45:32.957-08:00Algebra Hanging Mobile Project<p> </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-97803b27-7fff-6a41-4f33-03bbdc8d81b3" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">As seen in art museums and baby nurseries, hanging mobiles have a place in people’s imaginations: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">how could a disparate grouping of unequally weighted objects be suspended in such a harmonious and </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">balanced state, gently turning to the whims of any air currents? This question can be answered using </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">algebra. All the times students are solving for the unknown in an equation, they are also enacting the </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">steps needed to construct a mobile, for in either case one is performing an act of “balancing”. Whether </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">gazing at celestial bodies hanging over an early morning horizon on the ocean (as did the artist </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Alexander Calder when he conceived of his new art form-the mobile) or looking at algebraic equations </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">on a piece of paper, what one is conceiving is equilibrium. To this end, algebra students in December </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">created their own Calder-like hanging mobiles, using a “prestrung” hanging mobile kit with alligator clips </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">to attach objects significant or pleasing to them. The students aesthetically arranged their items to </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">balance across the wires; below are photos of the results.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 386px; overflow: hidden; width: 290px;"><img height="386" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/6y-Qjt2exisJqci24vXAE0fsO07culfDb3hMe8A7NxZ9NmnoQRC8jlgWM7xeCmk5-eA54ViZckRIZDICUEQXPhRv0EpZfgFE2bq5RhyR2dT2TzZ1-GxsTZQPnazcGhAOvkQF7tBR" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="290" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">H. used a collection of shells collected from a family trip to the Hood Canal.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 441px; overflow: hidden; width: 340px;"><img height="441" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/6EHm2sTQsbqRhbuA7QOx88fTtdh5KstoVcuBD6LUcpNENIYVQ78Cs8TG_w0uMJzcLIbXFG6u0iABSAp_KPdVnQj30iGIV1nYU05SWbn5ATq_QJlpG8kSDlngieDJVulDLiFSCOEb" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="340" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">R. described activities and people that were personally important on pieces of paper</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-31376126250172975512021-01-03T21:10:00.001-08:002021-01-03T21:10:16.480-08:00Field Studies during Distance Learning: A Chance to Engage with the Broader CommunityAt Seabury, it is important that our students interact with experts in the fields we study. During distance learning, we have been committed to bringing in guest speakers and engaging in virtual field studies that are engaging, enhance our curriculum, and bring our students in touch with experts. We also expose the students to diverse voices and experiences by allowing them to interact with experts with different life experiences than our own.<div><br /></div><div>Last spring, we committed to bringing in a community helper each week, someone who was committed to serving the community during crisis. We had a parent who makes masks, a manager at the Central Co-op, the owner of a local distillery that switched to making hand sanitizer during the days of shortages, an author who did free classroom visits and spoke about the power of stories to help people endure and survive, and a scientist who was working with the city to track the virus in sewage. </div><div><br /></div><div>This fall, our experts and field studies have been more closely tied to our overarching concept: The Future We Want.</div><div><br /></div><div>Early on in the year, the students interviewed Professor Ruben Casas about public transportation, the pandemic, and park access. He recently shared that speaking with the Seabury middle school students was one of the most enjoyable moments of his year. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is a common theme: our students are interested and engaged. They ask meaningful questions, and they set an example for how to be professional and inclusive in public spaces, especially public digital spaces.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ada Lovelace Day is an annual celebration of women in science, and this year, Mr. MacKenzie arranged an incredible line up of speakers who engaged the students in lectures, hands on learning opportunities, and personal narratives of overcoming bias in their fields.</div><div><br /></div><div>University of Washington graduate students planned a community lesson on the Hanford Site and graciously allowed all of our students to participate in their lesson. The students learned about issues at the Hanford Site through a variety of lenses and worked toward solutions that took into account many perspectives. In small break out rooms, our students asked questions and offered solutions alongside adult experts. </div><div><br /></div><div>In early December, we worked with the Newseum, a museum that celebrates the freedom of the press, to learn about identifying bias in news articles to practice identifying bias in headlines and applying a three part system to identifying bias in actual news stories. One of the goals for our middle school students is that they become critical consumers of media and news content. Being able to identify bias is an important part of that process.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, in late December, the students had the opportunity to learn from a Western Washington Stewardship Forester from the Department of Natural Resources who shared concerns of private timber owners and how to maintain healthy forests for environmental and economic benefit. The students used information from his talk to inform their own Timber projects.</div><div><br /></div><div>We already have several field studies in the works for the coming weeks. During distance learning, these opportunities to reach out to the broader and global community have been an important part of feeling connected to the broader world. We are so proud of our students for their questions, their professional demeanor, and their engagement during these opportunities.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-49037632487332198942020-11-15T06:51:00.003-08:002020-11-18T15:00:54.152-08:00Discovering Geometry through Islamic Patterns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Two eighth grade geometry students spent two weeks studying the blending of math and art in Islamic patterns, which use properties of regular polygons, symmetry, and transformations to create beautiful patterns for contemplation and inner-peace.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Specifically, they studied a famous pattern displaying six-, eight- and twelve-pointed stars, from the 14th-century Córdoba Synagogue in Spain by re-creating it with a 21st century tool: the math app Geogebra. The design begins with the famous “flower of life” motif, a series of overlapping circles whose arcs form a six-pointed petal design that creates a template of vertices for the underlying hexagonal grid. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHCmnhwl4MzeLvi2pUQ-teCqtKESDNZsL22CstguN81GvnQmqb7MAjszqJlbuZn3NXWIaibzbddIZb3iQ0QqIWkZgjCklit00xAts3ZIuYuLI93rfGCfvn7684v4JJS-Z2wPp7toPPAcb/s374/pasted+image+0.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="364" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHCmnhwl4MzeLvi2pUQ-teCqtKESDNZsL22CstguN81GvnQmqb7MAjszqJlbuZn3NXWIaibzbddIZb3iQ0QqIWkZgjCklit00xAts3ZIuYuLI93rfGCfvn7684v4JJS-Z2wPp7toPPAcb/s320/pasted+image+0.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once the hexagons begin to appear, then the stars start coming out by connecting the line segments created by the various points of intersection of the circles. Eventually, the Cordoba design begins to show forth. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">E.K., after a lot of hard work on his computer, created this design: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4Gp1aaDWuMsfUsE84VGHGBnXwdIKs0iwItT1m5Sf3GXiCjlIDNLBcsU3QZy74lFSIhxBMoG5cQ7qyaRk_NKp6JnNP3iOJklv88n0XWg_tkgc3oocyodfCCpMT4JJK4s-hAmn6yvgGJpG/s1040/pasted+image+0+%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1040" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4Gp1aaDWuMsfUsE84VGHGBnXwdIKs0iwItT1m5Sf3GXiCjlIDNLBcsU3QZy74lFSIhxBMoG5cQ7qyaRk_NKp6JnNP3iOJklv88n0XWg_tkgc3oocyodfCCpMT4JJK4s-hAmn6yvgGJpG/s320/pasted+image+0+%25281%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One student also created his design on his computer using Geogebra. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPWDyKxsyiPBCdQMsaVuPXXamZj7YyPYYeZFwx-pJutiIQ_3TBYVAm2hYqfAtsGFkhj-Lf9NRfdu9Y3cEfJmOU3sxq2B2cpzel1Uk47EECHA25u781Qza_0KtSqjhfXTdGX9xnclBcjGT/s640/pasted+image+0+%25282%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPWDyKxsyiPBCdQMsaVuPXXamZj7YyPYYeZFwx-pJutiIQ_3TBYVAm2hYqfAtsGFkhj-Lf9NRfdu9Y3cEfJmOU3sxq2B2cpzel1Uk47EECHA25u781Qza_0KtSqjhfXTdGX9xnclBcjGT/s320/pasted+image+0+%25282%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Even with the modern tools of computer mouses and software, given the precise and repetitive steps necessary for replicating the Cordoba Synagogue design, the project took a lot of time, increasing the students appreciation for the stunning designs created centuries ago with just the hand tools of compasses and straight edges.</span></div><div><br /></div></div><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-70727274892357900232020-10-22T22:44:00.005-07:002020-10-22T23:15:30.619-07:00Writing Is Art: The Creative Nonfiction Unit<p>The middle school students are wrapping up an English Language Arts unit on creative nonfiction writing focused on food that paired with a science unit about sustainability. Their final assignment for this unit (informed by their work as young scientists) is to produce an essay that told the story of a meal they planned, cooked, and served. The journey to creating this final essay and the wide array of results speak to how writing at Seabury Middle School is all about developing as a thinker and an artist.</p><p><b>Before We Could Write:</b></p><p>The unit began with <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m7SGjJo7c4">Ratatouille</a></i>, the movie, not the dish. We talked about the idea of being a food critic and did a close reading of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAGJCGeNx9c">Anton Ego's speech</a>:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9a4cb190-7fff-9bf3-3450-0304b5f390a0"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In many ways,</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the work of a critic is easy</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. </span></span></span></p></span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9a4cb190-7fff-9bf3-3450-0304b5f390a0"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. </span></p></span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9a4cb190-7fff-9bf3-3450-0304b5f390a0" style="font-size: x-small;"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant.</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more.</span></p></span></span></blockquote></blockquote><p>The students began to think about making food and describing or critiquing food as parallel art forms. Students asked questions. They shared understandings. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Reading as Writers:</b></p><p>Before students wrote their first creative nonfiction essay, they read models of food writing. </p><p><br /></p><p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="569" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSnPm8CYhsv3mjhM6VTZkqanBOz-4eUtPckg8xOjJmhR90w6O0Y2YGzDMaJkSkmUBDtuWXAQoZJYaJf/embed?start=false&loop=true&delayms=10000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="960"></iframe> </p><p>They shared favorite sentences from these model texts:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">This isn’t a dish you’ll find in a Pakistani restaurant—it’s that special, simple meal you make at home for your loved ones—and it doesn’t even have a name" (Saadat,</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> "</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Homestyle Pakistani Curry You Won't Find On Restaurant Menus</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">"). </span></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"But this is not a food story that comes without cost" (Twitty, "I </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Had Never Eaten in Ghana Before. But My Ancestors Had").</span></p></blockquote><span id="docs-internal-guid-f26f443b-7fff-3217-931e-c734a9e5acff"><div>Our reading discussions focused on what made the examples they read work or speak to them. Some of the students had had practice reading as writers in years past. Some were new to thinking about what they read in this way. They pushed each other to think in new ways or recognize new ways of thinking.</div></span><p>Together, we built rubrics. What does a successful piece of food writing look like? The morning and afternoon ELA classes came up with similar, but distinct rubrics:</p><p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j4H5XTZP0gVsXkUK7G1FOtHfaUT6k50_ywl2Cpdwpx4/edit" target="_blank">Rubric 1</a></p><p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xy9D_3uk-m02LDe8RDkGbbwQ5p2O9F14N7rTJ4Pntv8/view">Rubric 2</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Feedback-The First Workshop:</b></p><p>The students' first pieces matched the prompt or subject of their model texts. Then, they bravely shared their writing with small groups of classmates. Someone who did not write the piece read it out loud, and then the students in the group asked questions. As a reader, what did they want to know? What questions did they have that would help them better understand? They also highlighted portions of each piece that were working really well.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>And then Again:</b></p><p>Students then began a second round of reading, discussing, writing, and workshopping. The model texts were a bit more personal, a bit more about a story having a message: <iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="569" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vT5ZIs36fSzr6M5ECgucEvpjVNHRw0CtcrVGmlF2xggSLcM_dxOil5yQqhRX2ljq2STG0bJ33hBJI0o/embed?start=false&loop=true&delayms=15000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="960"></iframe>
</p><p style="text-align: left;">Some stand-out sentences from this crop of model texts:</p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e7dd7d84-7fff-7110-341f-2e72acfb3506"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“The telltale brick-shaped carton encasing a Dayglo orange matter that </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">provided equal parts sustenance and humiliation: government cheese” (Dempsey, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #85837b; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The Tyranny and the Comfort of Government Cheese").</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bbd68fea-7fff-956c-7236-aa3b2bf02f12"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #424243; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Anh and I were transfixed by the bright red cylinder and the mustache grin on Mr. Pringles’s broad, pale face. The Heidenga girl pried off the top and crammed a handful of chips into her mouth. We watched the crumbs fall from her fingers to the floor" (Nguyen, "Pringles").</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">Even their choice of favorite sentences reveals their growth as writers.</p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">This chance to embrace more personal narratives and put more of themselves into their stories gave some of the students a necessary push from descriptive writing into narrative writing. The students opened windows into who they are and how food connects them to their world.</p></span><p><b>Revision:</b></p><p>Students chose one of these first two pieces to revise. I gave them detailed feedback as a reader and as a teacher. The crafted more compelling sentences, they reorganized, they shifted tense and perspective, and then they hit "submit." </p><p>Here are some anonymous highlights from their works of art:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bff567ca-7fff-d038-ee9a-e00b03ed4530"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Grilled cheese. It’s one of the only foods I can make without burning something or nearly exploding the microwave because I forgot I left a fork in it." </span></span></p></blockquote><p>and</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Bread is cool because it tastes like bread. It's also made out of a brown grass called wheat (or even rye), so that's pretty great. Bread is also usually brown. If you bake your bread on flour or with a light dusting on top, it might look more appetizing to some people. Perhaps you could call it artisan."</span></p></blockquote><p>and</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2c3da286-7fff-715a-aaa1-4da65017f9c2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Either way, it will probably not be like how my abuela used to make it, but some will do anything for that taste of home."</span></span> </blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-indent: 36pt;">Meanwhile:</b></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fcdd2d24-7fff-fc30-80d6-728864fca2a8" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="190" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/I897BlCyyB8FcszHrMYfuDjrawDf0NqupDb3U6V7pSQVj9AeQmggbtEqwB8ztkkDMXN4KEAntHPnllMBNp_Z7iZAvkfitGKQfC80-MomhyW4S3MOPE5UnPGqpWGmHFl8oNfwqhYCgho=w320-h190" width="320" /></span>Meanwhile, the students were researching sustainable food production in science. They prepared meal plans and ingredients lists. They worked with Mr. MacKenzie to design a meal.</p><p>We also looked at food photography, discussed aesthetic preferences, and learned some food styling tips. The students practiced taking and editing pictures of food.</p><p></p><p><span><br /></span></p><p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iZYLMPTB3sU/X5Jzg10tsWI/AAAAAAAABLQ/Hj5u4VoGmUUhU9FRUSf8dGlc_9ShstsZQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="703" height="208" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iZYLMPTB3sU/X5Jzg10tsWI/AAAAAAAABLQ/Hj5u4VoGmUUhU9FRUSf8dGlc_9ShstsZQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c823ca9e-7fff-a3e8-0d86-b5b1df0a5663" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/94dPxtF2Syb49Q_Pr29dHpV-CKyi25c1B4xK2WQ71YsHngPTTajnY9QGg8MVD5Gw_hYZt3acNvLMgbMKZcSc4L-j_590xNXszasiQ0Ov-UAKvnDIJeU_E_sA0bzEkNpuh8kqV2ax7fU=w320-h240" width="320" /></span></div><b>A Chance to Hone a Skill:</b><p></p><p>The chance to practice writing about food again after having finished the workshopping process and thinking so deeply about the food they eat and where it comes from allowed the students to stretch and grow. They could be more creative because they were more comfortable with the genre. Through meetings with me and, in some cases, each other, they talked through and planned their final pieces. They wrote and revised and wrote some more.</p><p>These final essays have voice and power. They tell stories that convince. They draw on evidence and research to tie food to its origins while also crafting character. </p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-14118e5a-7fff-19b5-df0b-4366a34b3c28"><img height="259px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/2IHRkEWgGdTMMnOZDmwurR7kMMNnJnSKTKUTe0j8hAQRRUYSZlArBFMRkAwp_cyD4alw_mlBQr5jvmuAKght5q4kkoN1nE1ldt1WEd8EOSIfGScti_QVMwFOOHYvycqET2aQ2Cz4-tg" width="388px;" /></span></p><p><b>Great Artists:</b></p><p>No one sits down at the piano the first time and plays like a maestro. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r9LCwI5iErE" width="320" youtube-src-id="r9LCwI5iErE"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think often about the first four minutes of this video when I think about teaching students to write in any new genre. Their first attempts, those ones that are more likely to plod along, are so important. They are foundational. Young writers need to hear that they are plodding along and also those moments when their writing flows, when jokes they wrote land, when their voices shine. They also need to read successful examples just like a young musician needs to listen to music. Then, they can improve. Becoming an artist takes work and it takes low stakes opportunities to just be okay, to hit some missed notes.</div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Bravery</b></p><p>It is brave to put yourself on the page. It is brave to try something new. It is brave to ask someone else to look at something you have created and make it better. </p><p>This is the work of being a Seabury student and the work of being an artist. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Last Word:</b></p><p>Anonymous Excerpts from the Sustainable Cuisine Essays:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-09ce0c6b-7fff-d7ad-3f3d-231a2e3afbb2"><span style="color: #263238; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"My hands were lightning fast, whizzing back and forth. It was a blur of motion as I grabbed the tomato and threw it in the air. I grabbed a knife and chopped it before it hit the ground, Kung-fu style.</span><span style="color: #263238; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">2</span></span><span style="color: #263238; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It was a little less dramatic, but who cares. I slapped the potatoes down and vigorously stabbed them with a fork</span><span style="color: #263238; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">3</span></span><span style="color: #263238; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I wrapped them in a towel and put them in the microwave. Despite my efforts, there was no nuclear explosion, phew."</span></span></p></blockquote><p><span><span style="color: #263238; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9ab973ce-7fff-abd4-98b7-9d090deb1084"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"When I think of fall and winter, I think of potatoes: those round and imperfect roots. But add some butter, maybe cream, salt, pepper, and a masher, and you have one of the most imperfect perfect things in the world."</span></span></span></p></blockquote><p><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were bubbles everywhere. It had exploded to the top of the mason jar with all of the little yeast working. </span></p><p style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">One last day of being outside. One big feeding. Being in the fridge would will slow him down and not eat as fast. I took a few cautious sniffs. And made my lemon face.</span></p><p style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was ready."</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I think you'll agree: these student writers are artists.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-1798428747904561272020-10-09T13:50:00.005-07:002020-10-13T12:51:51.171-07:00Open-ended - an opportunity to jump in at your level<p style="text-align: left;"> On Dot Day we traditionally celebrate student creativity, so this activity is a good example of how an assignment can allow students to jump in at their level. The students were given some parameters and assisted with some tech tips on how they could make their assignments more interactive. Many students are very capable in creating slides and presentations and using various web apps, while for others this may have been their first project on a laptop. Setting up challenges and choices gives them the opportunity to focus on strengths. Each project is unique and imperfect, but shows the students' abilities with technologies. It also gets them thinking about the world outside their homes and neighborhoods.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Make sure you click on some of the images in the slides to see where they take you.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="569" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vT4HTbvGMvEEWFETZtV3XXheGa-Oqog8OTTNd7JJAP9uPfJeryamj8pN8a6olVoiCX091e4JiUbzkdI/embed?start=false&loop=true&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="960"></iframe>Jared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-18157860126694253922020-09-18T15:56:00.006-07:002020-09-21T12:23:03.214-07:00Seabury Middle School Student Mission Statement 2020-2021<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> This is the mission statement that our amazing middle schoolers wrote for this school year:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><div>During the 2020-2021 school year, Seabury Middle School students will develop, recognize, and pursue our goals. We will ask thoughtful questions, indulge in our passions, use our strengths, develop our talents, work toward having grit to overcome difficulties, and explore our own identities. As students, we will try to think creatively and attempt to be open-minded and flexible. We will love learning and share that love while also seeking joy even when studying subjects or topics that aren’t our favorites. We will strive to be members of a kind, helpful, and supportive community.</div><div><br /></div><div>We will do all of this in order to take pride in ourselves, expand our intelligence, be better equipped to face obstacles or difficulties, improve as people, work toward being our best selves, and make progress toward being outstanding members of a global community.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>During these unprecedented times, our goal is to learn no matter where we are, whether in school or at home.</div></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-88291115202733856092020-09-10T23:13:00.001-07:002020-09-10T23:13:15.412-07:00Community is a Feeling<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During middle school (in any year) creating a community of learners is one of our top priorities, and we spend the first weeks teaching students the tools they need to do school and building that community.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During distance learning, that has taken new forms. This post shares some of our activities and some of our process as we come together to learn and grow and challenge one another.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><b>Seabury Middle School Student 2020-2021 Mission Statement</b></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We worked in groups to draft Seabury Middle School Student Mission Statements for this school year. They will finalize their mission statement next week, and we will share the results with you.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This deliberate and careful task asked the student to collaborate, identify their collective aims, and determine which words best depicted their values and goals for the year. Mrs. Wollum, head of school, helped students see the import of careful language selection, serving as an expert for this assignment.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">__________________________</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Virtual class photo</b> (totally optional, so not all are pictured):</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-14U0LL0V0YE/X1sSgIUbh2I/AAAAAAAABIs/jLMCNzOvGZ8GtcHpyhz22Yc3hntHULaqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Bitmoji%2BClass%2BPhoto%2B%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-14U0LL0V0YE/X1sSgIUbh2I/AAAAAAAABIs/jLMCNzOvGZ8GtcHpyhz22Yc3hntHULaqgCLcBGAsYHQ/w500-h281/Bitmoji%2BClass%2BPhoto%2B%25282%2529.png" width="500" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_____________________________</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><b>Core Values Memes</b></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We also asked students to work in small teams to create memes that depicted the middle school's core values. Here are some of their memes and definitions (more to come in a future post!):</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Empathy: <span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Empathy is about other people and how they are feeling. It is about thinking about and understanding other people’s feelings.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d30be395-7fff-020f-21f3-bc4647fa1e75"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img height="424px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Mbu3_Rp7OPuiIZhKFqVpwEHY3ir5ItJdsIDIjBl9sbYjudxWr0om1yhXfA2OcaARkvqPlmGfc4gMbp-69Aq63gV0yYZhg2Wh1xb5yY9X1aH5Ai9YQfcbqiN3998F_wh6wBdQdDBp_ug" width="661px;" /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Agency: </span><span style="font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Agency is the capacity of an individual to make their own choices.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-41db169f-7fff-5112-3ffb-212843bcbc2d"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img height="335px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/3Rs8kvttsbJS0DpbTMic4tEYdgX_RJsbQdImMyI4YJ6s4WzbHfWd_auXXDsjUCLX1Az212rmf86gyKAHm2RXB3mpoaWHK-xsHuyZAC2yjD3lKkw5kHB-1JSGm5cv-CU6whSNxEzYYHk" width="596px;" /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Grit: "Run and Duck": </span></span><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grit means that you just keep going no matter what happens, that you are resilient.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9b708f41-7fff-7886-abb9-f0cbd4311a5b"><img alt="The Mandarin duck in Central Park nipping at a mallard. It is still unknown how exactly the duck, native to East Asia, reached the Pond." height="413px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/6D2zz2GaPE3dWaZsLkPiEAbWWvJzQBwot509UZMXzd1TgACFSrVzRJd3pmdF1svjJxBMffl9yt_ZjBVLr1igKDMvKeQqoEqfpsHSACTAJ2FIm-H16ZEPk-fCkQh3ea3k81rx4ex3Qgw" width="669px;" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Love of Learning</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-41baf307-7fff-0926-f2ef-2b62cd5d4b81"><img alt="I LOVE LEARNING LEARNING IS MY FAVORITE - Learning Buddy the Elf | Meme Generator" height="338px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/G1bWjW_QLt6uFlUn8XDpcOO-zAkhzb-i91STIAHdINxokUyEq61UC38vlVKsUj0i40u93_Itq7PCTk9D6P5ukT3FkQ--_8ofP9RD1X6t_bw089IdTKhW1v_PgLHE1RuHlDN5Pw8ituk" width="525px;" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span>Community</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a2307d91-7fff-4e08-2cc8-71d1d6539960"><img height="337px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/IfSqYuJPGJnJ6dO0CvKfUETXlflUz2ZlqwEy2i3XXYXeIXtljqjiN3aOCm358LZAnPDfGjTWTZuPKvNuSAo47JrhOgW2H6D0eQQ6_dVpzjpG5YytDfzWBU8g1ySYkeBw-hypznp22LY" width="611px;" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Creativity</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-5aec8c94-7fff-bb65-14b1-f5afa3d793c0"><img alt="Sharks look so much better with human teeth!" height="336px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/YzunLJnE0TQTnvVbBf9YMMVJF4EspctXk14bAFez3Nhhy2A3FolsOZOnkDmstXFf4CxJF07voNhSratugzPpycdb2FKQrPzJ5lCMVpYikaIlaS0ManIhK_wCMVgzV6JGP3Lq_AF8fNA" width="355px;" /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #800180;">Just smile!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #800180;">It makes everything a bit better.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div><span style="color: #efefef; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-8677370883509913592020-08-27T14:55:00.004-07:002020-08-28T11:44:16.356-07:00Welcome Seabury Middle School Families!<p style="text-align: center;">2020-2021 - Overarching Theme: The Future We Want</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vReFme10qa7GILqKv_77rMXPtZ-iFXVsLivpE-e7kQJHOwH4Z8_XaCnTXR63rLUNPbGYrTvoqckY1NR/embed?start=true&loop=true&delayms=10000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe> <div><br /></div><div>The first two weeks of school, we bond, we set goals, we solve problems, and then we ease into an academic schedule. Here is the working schedule (subject to change as needed for the students and the curriculum--we will notify you of any changes in the Friday email.):</div><div><br /></div>
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/16je0QPtYW7gn93bygTS94NwuX-AB6ef0/preview" width="640" height="480"></iframe>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-15561734365458676702020-06-12T13:37:00.005-07:002020-06-28T14:08:14.718-07:00Book Recommendations for Summer Reading: Finding 'Good Fit' Books for Gifted TeensEach reader is different, and not every reader is ready for the content they are able to read. That is the challenge of finding "good fit" books for advanced readers. These lists are just here to help you (and them) find some new books to read.<br />
<br />
At each level, these are not all designed to be “challenge” books. Some are just strong middle-grade/YA fiction that students might enjoy reading or that a particular student may not have read yet. Students are—of course--welcome to seek a challenge on one of the older lists as well or to read a great book they’ve missed from an earlier recommended grade. Parents should advise re: content.<br />
<br />
Also, the CCBC, an amazing children’s library resource out of the University of Wisconsin, has a<br />
Web site full of lists. You can access their many recommendations here: https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/detailLists.asp?idBookListCat=4<br />
<br />
I have made three lists:<br />
Books for rising 6th and 7th graders,<br />
Books for rising 7th and 8th graders<br />
Books for rising 8th and 9th graders.<br />
<br />
Within the second two lists, I made subcategories with classics on top. Please excuse any duplicates.<br />
<br />
Happy Reading!<br />
<br />
P.S. I am going to add a few after reports are turned in. I have a "from this year" list that I don't want to forget to include.<br />
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_________________________________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
Rising 6th and 7th Graders<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rain, Reign by Ann M. Martin<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Wonder by R.J. Palacio<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The White House is Burning by Jane Sutcliffe<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Paperboy by Vince Vawter<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Call of the Wild<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Al Capone Does My ShirtsI by Gennifer Choldenko<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Refugee by Alan Gratz<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Miracle Worker<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Anything by L’Engle<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Little Women<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Once and Future King<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Surviving the Applewhites<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Watership Down<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Inherit the Wind<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Navigating Early<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Red Scarf Girl (a nonfiction memoir that reads like a story)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Alchemist<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Echo<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Legend of Sleepy Hollow<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The House on Mango Street<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Princess Bride<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A Wizard of Earthsea<br />
<br />
Rising 7th and 8th Graders<br />
<br />
Classics:<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gulliver’s Travels<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Iliad<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Odyssey (I prefer the Fagles translation)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bram Stoker’s Dracula<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Austen’s Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and/or Sense and Sensibility<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Joy Luck Club<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (The first mystery novel)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Hunchback of Notre Dame<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>P.G. Wodehouse (The Jeeves Stories)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Agatha Christie’s mystery novels<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The James Bond novels<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John Le Carre’s spy novels<br />
<br />
Newer Texts:<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Flavia de Luce series of mystery novels (set in England, involve chemistry)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (and other Chris Crutcher novels—he’s from Spokane)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Fault in Our Stars<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Papertowns<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Book Thief<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist (and everything else these co-authors wrote)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Every Day by David Levithan<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Highest Tide<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Life of Pi<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Martian Chronicles<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ship Breaker<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sophie’s World<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bel Canto<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Perks of Being a Wallflower<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Box Out<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Howl’s Moving Castle<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Rock and the River<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children<br />
- My Name is Not Easy<div>-Hearts Unbroken</div><div>-The Beast of Cretacea</div><div>-Clap when You Land</div><div>-Almost American Girl<br />
<br />
Nonfiction (Check the nonfiction list at the end of the rising 8/rising 9 list, too.)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Port Chicago<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I Am Malala<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Samurai Rising<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?<br />
<br />
Rising 8th and 9th Graders (Some of the content contained in these novels is a little edgier, so consider discussing options with parents. These are just great books, not necessarily great books for every student.)<br />
<br />
Classics:<br />
Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie<br />
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden<br />
Toni Morrison: Song of Solomon<br />
Herman Melville: Moby Dick<br />
Ernest Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls<br />
Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth<br />
The Age of Innocence<br />
Henry James: Daisy Miller and various short stories<br />
Norman Mailer: The Naked and the Dead <br />
James Fenimore Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans (Or the whole set of the Leatherstocking Tales)<br />
Richard Wright: Native Son<br />
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin<br />
Upton Sinclair: The Jungle<br />
James Baldwin: Go Tell It on the Mountain<br />
Frank Norris: The Octopus<br />
Robert Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land<br />
Alice Walker: The Color Purple<br />
Willa Cather: My Antonia<br />
Bernard Malamud: The Natural<br />
Joseph Heller: Catch-22<br />
Kurt Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle<br />
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby<br />
Dorothy Dunnet’s The Lymond Chronicles (a series)<br />
Herodotus’ Histories (460 B.C.)<br />
The Peloponnesian Wars by Thucydides (431 B.C.)<br />
Don Quixote (1605)<br />
Wuthering Heights<br />
Charles Dickens: Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities<br />
Les Miserables<br />
Crime and Punishment<br />
An American Tragedy<br />
The Time Machine<br />
Anything by Wilde, especially The Picture of Dorian Gray<br />
Dubliners by James Joyce<br />
Siddhartha<br />
All Quiet on the Western Front<br />
The Lord of the Rings<br />
One Hundred Years of Solitude<br />
<br />
<br />
Newer Works:<br />
The Wide Sargasso Sea<br />
The Hate U Give<br />
On the Come Up<br />
Elena Ferrante’s Novels<br />
Exit West<br />
Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World<br />
Eva Luna<br />
Speak<br />
A Confederacy of Dunces<br />
The Monkey Wrench Gang<br />
The Magicians<br />
Interpreter of Maladies (short stories)<br />
A Separate Peace<br />
The Night Circus<br />
How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents<br />
In the time of the Butterflies<div>
Long Way Down<br />
Ghost<div>Americanah</div><div>House of the Spirits</div><div>Purple Hibiscus<br />The Overstory</div><div>White Teeth<br /><div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Nonfiction<br />
The Physics of the Future<br />
Plato at the Googleplex<br />
Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?<br />
The End of Money<br />
Freakonomics<br />
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions<br />
Mountains Beyond Mountains<br />
The Color of Water<br />
Kaffir Boy<br />
Stamped<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div></div></div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-24818850680525825872020-05-24T14:19:00.000-07:002020-05-24T14:19:03.351-07:00Success Is the Tip of the Iceberg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5hbbag4w6no/XsriA7PQzDI/AAAAAAAABBg/MO-oElYs6bAcef7fMUmLzT5bdDf1DYMVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Success%2BImage%2BGrit.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="770" height="478" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5hbbag4w6no/XsriA7PQzDI/AAAAAAAABBg/MO-oElYs6bAcef7fMUmLzT5bdDf1DYMVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Success%2BImage%2BGrit.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /><div>
This sketchnote from Sylvia Duckworth illustrates a lesson that a lot of gifted middle school students are in the process of learning. For some, it is THE most important lesson they will learn in middle school. </div>
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Some thoughts about success:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>At times, students who are new to Seabury Middle School express shock or surprise when they are not initially successful. </li>
<li>Success is not always easy.</li>
<li>It can be easy at times. It can also take a lot of work. One type of success is not "worth" more than the other type.</li>
<li>The end goal might look different to different people at different times.</li>
<li>Being in a moment of failure, does not mean that a learner is at the end of their journey. It means they're on the path of learning. </li>
<li>Students learn through a process of action, reflection and feedback, and then re-attempting that action. Their writing, thinking, reading, and discussion skills all improve in this way.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
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<div>
Students who struggles a lot the first time they complete a particular type of assignment, like writing a thesis statement or doing a close reading chart, might find that the next time they try that same skill, it is easier. The feelings of disappointment and the appearance of failure at that one moment of time, coupled with dedication and hard work, pave the way for later success. As middle school teachers, we know that learning is a journey and that the set-backs and how students react to them are important moments on that journey.</div>
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Now, at the end of the school year, when students come to many summative assessments, many of them are also seeing the fruits of their hard work and past struggles. In the past few weeks, I have had many students do something in a way they could not have imagined doing it six months ago. They are impressing themselves. </div>
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They are also starting new journeys, beginning next steps to new goals.</div>
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During distance learning, we have been able to see some of those process more closely than in an in-person classroom, and during in-person learning we are able to see some of them more clearly. In both cases, we are prioritizing helping students set goals, know where they are going, and helping them accurately assess where they are on the journey. </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-43199536296535573932020-05-04T11:48:00.001-07:002020-05-05T11:24:22.109-07:00Astronomy is a Great Distance Learning Subject<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Seabury has an inquiry based science program. Inquiry is an investigative approach to teaching and learning. Students at Seabury get to explore solutions and develop explanations to phenomena they observe or learn about. This is much the same as what scientists do in the real world. They ask observe a phenomena, ask questions, and investigate. As they obtain new information their ideas and understanding change. Inquiry often begins with a counter intuitive or unexpected event. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0qfuffs4U_dlclOLod7u9-JyO2aIU59CPv9Y-sL2d60Ev-89y_Ar7o0wDTrp_FJKOWsjMBVEjP4KZ9wRy7XNQ1edRMpJ65Q021MDsx7zzVEOCnhjE_vMn-z5uKN3GghKxWDqfITxCylN/s1600/zoomtele.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="640" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0qfuffs4U_dlclOLod7u9-JyO2aIU59CPv9Y-sL2d60Ev-89y_Ar7o0wDTrp_FJKOWsjMBVEjP4KZ9wRy7XNQ1edRMpJ65Q021MDsx7zzVEOCnhjE_vMn-z5uKN3GghKxWDqfITxCylN/s320/zoomtele.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Astronomers investigate the universe using mathematics and electromagnetic radiation such as light, microwaves, and x-rays. Seabury students were presented with three interesting ways light interacts with with objects on earth to create images. One was its reflection on a spoon. The concave bowl of the spoon reflects a different image that the convex back of the spoon. Why? Students were asked to come up with their own question about the phenomena, this lead to ideas about why things appear smaller or larger at different distances. Students also investigated mirrors an infinite loops of reflections. Lastly the students constructed their own refracting telescopes which magnify far away objects. Many connections can be drawn between the way light acts in these situations. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_gsxu5yVto7LVuXFCSVJwkquMEMocw05hYLpBRIpj23xaLUqsSvz0jOAaRSUV3241bl31KLhnSpC6FQDBVk_1_xqcY6Kyyo4KMknWp_C7QO9eQCNL7LqBembBu6LNNkcCrXJh6O6d_n1/s1600/padletastro.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_gsxu5yVto7LVuXFCSVJwkquMEMocw05hYLpBRIpj23xaLUqsSvz0jOAaRSUV3241bl31KLhnSpC6FQDBVk_1_xqcY6Kyyo4KMknWp_C7QO9eQCNL7LqBembBu6LNNkcCrXJh6O6d_n1/s320/padletastro.PNG" width="147" /></a></div>
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Seabury is also about hands-on and being there (actually experiencing things). In Astronomy class students have been taking stargazing challenges, trying to locate different constellations and witness events. Some students woke up at the crack of dawn to see an arch of planets or stayed up late to see the sunset. We will be using our new telescopes to focus in on planets and the moon. To document this students are creating their own web-pages using Padlet. </div>
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Astronomy often occurs at night so this distance learning gives us an opportunity to bend our regular schedules and do some nighttime investigations. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1Ps43kYVjwbD61VcDhUtuuf8vAs9qt35uZcDlUr4X4Tj05PEwYln-lMOk8O3mqTRxX_fRMKJ0SUauwiAJ-waxAWszLc66R6L6HJVOOZ1ljMHTI8zQKZwC9FzlkbH26SM_GXyikldWvvU/s1600/Mirror%252C+Mirror+%2528Apr+28%252C+2020+at+11_39+AM%2529+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1Ps43kYVjwbD61VcDhUtuuf8vAs9qt35uZcDlUr4X4Tj05PEwYln-lMOk8O3mqTRxX_fRMKJ0SUauwiAJ-waxAWszLc66R6L6HJVOOZ1ljMHTI8zQKZwC9FzlkbH26SM_GXyikldWvvU/s320/Mirror%252C+Mirror+%2528Apr+28%252C+2020+at+11_39+AM%2529+%25281%2529.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Color shift in infinite reflections</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWJA3WYhO2KjZ3mXOb9AcoE95K2Oei-aZ3jvEDW1S7W6di0U0p6_wtRekEgP1Mt3m79vGNF8TV0garHxvaHL2hPnqt7QSlW0SnyPHahyT2qaY91o41dxuKzSjyyfV6G_8aOXGX75_8Foj/s1600/Mirror%252C+Mirror+%2528Apr+28%252C+2020+at+11_40+AM%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWJA3WYhO2KjZ3mXOb9AcoE95K2Oei-aZ3jvEDW1S7W6di0U0p6_wtRekEgP1Mt3m79vGNF8TV0garHxvaHL2hPnqt7QSlW0SnyPHahyT2qaY91o41dxuKzSjyyfV6G_8aOXGX75_8Foj/s320/Mirror%252C+Mirror+%2528Apr+28%252C+2020+at+11_40+AM%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Jared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-14735581081301014132020-04-13T14:49:00.000-07:002020-04-13T14:49:40.123-07:00Asking Questions: The First Step toward LearningInquiry begins with wonder.<br />
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The middle school students are embarking on an exploration of world religions, and the first step that we took on our journey was one geared toward orienting themselves.<br />
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Students completed a short survey asking about their religious practices and beliefs as well as their initial thoughts on religion: "I know..." and "I think..."<br />
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Once they had shared their bearings, they could then discuss potential paths. Students wrote questions about what they want to know about religion based on what they already know and have experienced. When pasted into a word cloud, their questions look like this:<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec68ccb9-7fff-fd5d-0d27-3c3f90a9de8d"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 468px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="468" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/d77Yfmg6NKE0EcEpHCX7p519VumSV_3KIVpiwdiz5GB-VoLB2q-SEodKjUIQozfOBI6UoI5J5eS-E23AcCZ-TLu83IvD8tY5nspvFnrhB_gOYvMbzkxEhzmZDUpMMj5qOXQcrvCf" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></span><br />
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The next step will be some inspirations: virtual tours of famous religious sites from around the world, religious music, food associated with religious rituals, and religious art.<br />
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Students will then have a chance to ask questions again: Now that they know more, what questions are still resonating? What new questions have emerged?<br />
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From there, they can branch off and explore.<br />
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Giving students time to think about and develop questions before they engage in an inquiry-based learning experience ensures that their questions are of real interest to them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-11190392179653150612020-03-30T14:45:00.002-07:002020-03-30T14:45:05.064-07:00Seabury Middle School - Digital Parent Night part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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How to Upload a Math Assignment Using the Google Classroom app and Smartphone or Tablet with Camera</h2>
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Some students are still struggling to post math assignments correctly. This is the easiest way to do it.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ghAYaGu5uGs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ghAYaGu5uGs?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Ways We Can Communicate</h2>
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The following video is just a reminder of all the ways you and your student can communicate with us about assignments, worries, concerns, and to get help.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dd0EpfJ-O4g/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dd0EpfJ-O4g?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Jared MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356088008590144988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2499447370058118080.post-40954140714003037502020-03-27T15:43:00.004-07:002020-03-27T15:43:57.179-07:00Seabury Middle School: A Digital Parent Night - Post 1We thought it might be helpful to share some information about what digital school looks like and some tips that might be useful to parents when navigating the at home aspects of digital schooling.<br />
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<b><u>Thank you!</u></b><br />
First and foremost, thank you for everything you are doing to help digital schooling run smoothly. We are so appreciative of your communication, your time, and your patience. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are so fortunate to be in this together.<br />
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<u><b>How to Help Your Child(ren) Make Daily Schedules/Manage Their Time</b></u><br />
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1) See if they can do it on their own--this is a great learning experience, and we are here as a safety net. They might have some missed assignments and meetings, but better to learn how to mange their time now than later. They will be okay. We are being really flexible during this transition.<br />
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2) They have made the transition pretty seamless and are mostly managing their time well in terms of assignment completion.<br />
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3) Google Classroom connects to Google Calendar, and that is a great tool!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw95nI_kP9BfKuwvyaHycEkQojE87G7ccKNVD9Ao-ozCZbIGSIq5d8CRLu0XZiaxiyUH5HD76T9YvTEmdpWTQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
If the video does not work, I am also sharing it as a Google Drive link:<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=16GbIpZRnF-J0kylWJWk3Bvnr5sASoPLK">https://drive.google.com/open?id=16GbIpZRnF-J0kylWJWk3Bvnr5sASoPLK</a><br />
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<b><u>Attendance and Flipgrid</u></b><br />
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1) Flipgrid is an app the teachers are using, but that students do not need to download (unless they are using it on a phone or ipad instead of a computer).<br />
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2) The only people who can access our Flipgrid our people with seabury.org email addresses.<br />
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3) Right now, students are using flipgrid to post "morning talkings," which we are using in place of morning journaling. We will likely also use it for classwork in the coming weeks. In the past, some students have used it for current events assignments in social studies, for example.<br />
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4) Attendance: We are checking students in each day by whether or not they having completed morning talking by noon. It would make things a little easier if they could try to make sure they do that. If they do not submit it by noon, Jenn and Gabrielle will contact you and them.<br />
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5) Students should not share any other students' images or videos from flipgrid without explicit written permission from the other students' parents.<br />
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6) Here is what Flipgrid looks like:<br />
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<b><u>Prioritizing Deep Thinking and Skill Building</u></b></div>
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Right now, we are trying to lower students' workload as compared to before the school building closures: they do not have homework in addition to school work, and they should have a little less than a full day's work load. In part, that is because sometimes assignments take longer at home. In part it is because families have a lot going on right now, and some students are spending a good portion of each day helping younger siblings with their work or doing tasks for their families.<br />
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At the same time, we want to make sure our students are still feeling challenged and having opportunities to engage in thoughtful and meaningful learning. We are also highly aware of the skills they need to continue moving forward academically. As we continue with digital school, we continue to prioritize necessary skill building and work in accordance with best practices in gifted education and learning sciences.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><u>If you feel like your child is taking an extremely long time to complete work or is overwhelmed</u>, please <u><b>email us</b></u> and let us know (or have them do that!!!). It is possible that a quick conference with us can help them with time management and focus. It is also possible that your middle school aged child is extremely adept at switching between a game screen and word: we have become experts at identifying the signs of screen switching. Perhaps you will too! <b><u>Remember: this, too, is a </u></b><u><b>learning opportunity</b></u>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Tune in for post 2:</span><br />
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<b><u>Turning in Photos of Work (Mostly for Math): Tips and Tricks</u></b></div>
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<b><u>Avenues of Communication</u></b></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0