Seventh Graders Tackle Info Gaps in Math
Students in seventh grade math engaged in their first “Info. Gap” activity of the year. The Info Gap structure requires students to make sense of problems by determining what information is necessary, and then to ask for the information they need to solve it. Students partner up and one student has the responsibility of solving the problem and the other student has the responsibility of releasing the data needed to solve the problem. This routine strengthens verbal communication skills, giving students a chance to practice explaining their mathematical reasoning with immediate peer response.
– Sarah Pikcilingis, middle school math teacher
PE Update: Tag Week Tradition Is Born
After a fall full of adventure, sport-specific skill-building, cooperative challenges, and fitness, the lower school physical education team deemed the final full week before Thanksgiving break to be “Tag Week.” A new tradition may have been born.
All around campus this week students were fleeing their classmates in sheer delight. The “Its” took the form of evil monkey lifeguards, dinosaurs, and regular humans, and escape routes involved boats, bridges, and fast feet. It was a lovely reminder that fitness and fun are mutually inclusive and that our students are always up for a game of tag.
– Alex Tzelnic, physical education teacher
Fifth Grade Studies, Creates Language Tree
Fifth grade students in the Language, Culture, and Community class have been learning about how humans learn language and how languages evolve over time. We are exploring various language trees to appreciate how some languages are related and to try to grasp the incredible diversity of world languages and cultures. In the accompanying photo are a few fifth graders by our class language tree, which represents the Indo-European language group. Ask a fifth grader how many languages there are in the world!
– Jen Friborg and Ana Maria Restrepo, grade 5 foundations for language learning teachers
