Why puzzles are great for math...

Here is a great article on the benefits of puzzles!

NY Times Puzzle Article

Reading Workshop is Off and Running!

Reading Workshop is in full swing! Basically that means that on any given Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, eighteen lucky girls can be found spread out all over the 8th grade library reading books of their choice and/or writing in their reading journals for 90 uninterrupted minutes. (Ask your 8th grader for details.) The immense popularity as well as success of this venture is based on a very simple tenet: if a girl (it works for boys too!) is allowed to read what truly interests her, she will read voraciously and will eventually develop her tastes and talents as an intelligent, informed reader. While one or two of this year’s 8th graders have self-identified as reluctant readers who struggle with the notion – not to mention the reality – of sustained, quiet reading, the vast majority of the class of 2010 seems to be reveling in the expansive literary freedom that Reading Workshop affords them. As one 8th grader put it in her RW Journal: “Let me just say that Reading Workshop is my favorite class so far this year. Having time to just read and talk about books is purely a dream!”

(The reading journal is a place where students can exchange thoughts, impressions, questions, suggestions and the like about reading and literature with each other as well as with me. In it we write back and forth to one another about anything and everything literary, nothing too terribly formal or fine-tuned, more just an ongoing written conversation about what we’re reading, how it impacts as well as educates us and why. )

Here are the general guidelines we follow:

RULES FOR READING WORKSHOP

1. You must read a book. Magazines, newspapers and comic books (Anime) don’t have the chunks of text you need to develop fluency, and they won’t help you discover who you are as a reader of literature.
2. Don’t read a book you don’t like. Don’t waste time with a book you don’t love when there are so many great ones out there waiting for you.
3. If you don’t like a book, find another one. Browse, ask me or a friend for a recommendation, do an internet search (Amazon.com always has reviews and such) or check in with our Reading Workshop 2010 group on “Goodreads.com” for recommendations.
4. It’s all right to reread a book you love. This is what readers do!
5. It’s okay to skim or skip parts if you get bored or stuck; readers do this, too!
6. Record every book you finish or abandon through our Goodreads.com “Reading Workshop 2010” group site. Be sure to write solid reviews about the books you finish and a quick commentary as to why you abandon a book, using the comment boxes provided for such purposes on the Good Reads site. Collect data about yourself as a reader, look for patterns, and take satisfaction in your accomplishments over time.
7. Understand that reading is thinking. Do nothing to distract me or other readers. Don’t put your words in our brains as we’re trying to escape into the worlds created by the authors of our books. Simply put: Reading Workshop is a quiet endeavor!
8. When you confer with me, use as soft a voice as I use when I talk to you: whisper!
9. Read (and/or write in your reading journal) the entire class period.
10. Read as well and as much as you can!

The goal here is obvious: we’re seeking to explore and enhance our literary territories as well as firmly establish intentional reading as a life-long habit. As I explained to our 8th graders, reading – interaction with the written word – will necessarily be a central part of their lives for the next eight years…at a bare minimum!

SGS update!

Hello all,

I just wanted to inform you of the "late breaking news" at SGS. Jumping right in from a long weekend, we started immediately with theme time. The teachers costumes were great and set the mood for Deep Sea Life. Relieved to be starting research on various sub categories of our theme, we all dove right in, digging deep into information about the strange and beautiful creatures that live beneath the surface as well as the myths created around them. Also, there is now an official "theme blog." We started discussing the various steps of the theme process including learning contracts, a contract stating what activities we plan to do within our theme groups and what goals we have for the rest of the term. Other various theme steps include our box of artifacts from fun, exciting and theme related activities, or pieces to remind of our process and hard work.

As well as theme we are continuing with our regular classes, including a lab with motion sensors and graphing the distance that blown up balloons can travel.

Theme

Hello all,

This week we have had many hours of consensus time, and here is a brief summary of each meeting. On Tuesday, we eliminated eight theme choices to the joy of our community, and we are now left with six remaining. Those include Deep Sea Life, Disabilities in Art, The Culture in Food, Architecture and Design, The Unknown and Mythology . We broke up into smaller groups today (Wednesday) and on Monday to see if we could reach consensus more quickly in smaller groups. While not only did we not reach consensus, our different data provided much discussion and confusion. Today in separate cores we had a difficult time elimination choices and took a re-vote to collect new data. While everyone is frustrated and antsy to reach consensus quickly it is more important to take time to make the right decision then go quickly and make the wrong one. More theme time tomorrow as a whole group, and a goal to reach consensus!!!

Thursday Update: OUR ALL CLASS THEME IS DEEP SEA LIFE/BODIES OF WATER!!!!! After only 45 minutes of discussion on Thursday, we came to consensus on our theme! We are all ready and excited to jump right in and start learning about Sea Life and Bodies of Water!

Another Full Week!

This week, has been busy as usual in the 8th grade, doing lots of cool projects and learning new things! In science, continuing forensics, dropping a blood like substance onto large pieces of paper, taking measurements of the splatters and comparing our data. In math, we did an experiment called "Barbie Bungee Jumping." We had to figure out how many rubber bands it takes to drop a barbie 400 cm without smashing her head. In Language arts, we are working on turning ordinary boring paragraphs into wonderful, engaging ones! Then today, Friday, we had an all school Affinity Fair. It was a great chance to learn about the different affinity groups. Some examples are, Jewish Affinity, Asian and Pacific Islander, Bi-Racial and Multi-Racial, and many more. Each group talked about what they would be doing during meeting times, and how the group would be run. After a full week, its time for a relaxing weekend!