Fishbowl, Finding Out, Fractions, and… Finishing Well

To finish off our week, we started with a Friday fishbowl activity to observe an effective and efficient reading group. Five scholarly risk takers were willing to be the “fish,” masterfully demonstrating how readers read, speak, think, and write when studying a novel together. Observers were able to notice areas where the group and group members glowed and were able to make suggestions for growth. Through the observation process, both the observers and the observed were able to reflect on their process and make adjustments.

As we have been gathering more and more exposure to and experience with movement as a change agent, we were anxious to continue our reading of The Big Wave. The first chapter introduced us to the main characters and a huge movement-related problem. The details provided by the author caused us, as readers, to QUESTION… an important (and scholarly) reading strategy. Our inquiring minds caused us to wonder about volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and more.

In an effort to satisfy our curiosity, we dug into our resources and worked to collect and cite information about our topics. As we read, we tried using Cornell Notes to save and organize our ideas. Since this was our first official attempt at Cornell Notes this year, we realized there is a lot of room to grow.

To learn about Cornell Notes as a note taking structure, listen to Mr. G explain. While it sounds like he is talking to an older audience, I think his visuals will be beneficial.


If you’d like to take your Cornell Notes to the next level by combining them with Sketchnotes, check out Doug Neill’s video. I think you’ll LOVE this as an option for learning.

In the personal example he shares, I was especially amazed at the neatness of his work and how purposeful and patient he was in putting together all 11 pages. I can infer that the book he read and the topic he was researching was important to him.

Another topic of today was representing fractions on a number line. Like fraction circles and fraction bars, a number line is a great tool for visually representing fractions… including those greater than one whole.

This evening, several scholars participated in the second annual Night Run hosted by TASOK’s cross-country and track teams. Runners embraced the challenge, ran with perseverance, and experienced the “exhilaration of victory” of a race well run. Two of our very own scholars, Celeste and Filip, placed, about which we are very proud! It was especially exciting to see and hear how runners celebrated one another. What encouragement!

 

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