A Brand New Year

Welcome to a new year of learning!

While learning with me, your child will not only be exploring the what of Math, Science, Art, Spanish, and Technology. They will also learn the why. 

For those of you not familiar, my philosophy is to give children tools for learning so that they become self-educators and I merely become the the facilitator. This is known as the Socratic method and is an important tool in Cambridge's instructional philosophy.

So please come by for information about what your child is doing in class and ways you can help to educate at home.

To the right you will notice the Parent Resource Center. I encourage you to look at these links. There you will find study aids and points of interest for both students and parents. 

Also feels free to look at my back log of posts. Many of them provide a short education on what your child is learning. For example, clicking on these words will take you to my entry on the scientific method which your 2nd and 3rd graders are currently studying in class. The scientific method is the corner for everything we do in science. Really the corner stone for most things that we do in life.

In 3rd grade mathematics, I try to stress concept over process. This year we will be studying two units at once. The units will be complimentary and will help our students have a more well-rounded math instruction. This past week we studied place value through the trillions and perimeter. Your student will be assessed every Friday. Their scores will usually be made available that same day.

In Spanish, we will continue to build vocabulary while the grammar grades will continue to learn to put together nouns and verbs to make complete sentences. My students will learn to speak Spanish based on situation and environment. I try to introduce new material in trickles while I drill students on the same vocabulary and grammar. This method will help to build fluency. 

This year your 2nd and 3rd grader's Art classes will closely follow what they are learning about in History, Science, and Reading.

Technology is a new class for the 2nd-4th grades. In these classes I will turn your child from a technology consumer to a technology producer. In other words, they will be evaluated based on what they can make, not on what they can use. This will prepare them for the paradigm of the 21st century. We are starting with computer repair and building. 

I strive to be as open and available as possible. As a teacher, I would like to see homework assignments completed rather than not be disturbed about homeowork after 7:00pm. So please feel free to call my cell phone number per the number listed in the e-mail that went out with this entry announcement.

-- Mr. Raines

July 30, 2010

What we did last week....

Finally! We we able to complete our survey! It was fun. We walked up to Treasure Island (local grocery store) and we asked people from the community to answer some questions. Here are some examples:

Do you think people should be allowed to defend themselves with guns?

Do you think BP should be liable for all of the environmental damage it has caused?

The we then came back to the school and spent the next few days counting the tallies as individuals and then as groups.
I think you'll find some of the results interesting.

We also started our scripts this week. We discussed the 4 elements of narrative (character, setting, conflict, resolution). After a few starter exercises I couldn't stop them. Some of them were even writing during their lunch. Hopefully, we'll be able to put some of these scripts on film. Pray for us.

What we are doing next week...
I'll be working with the students to refine their scripts and allowing them to perform them in front of a camera.

We will finish putting our data into a spreadsheet and then graphing it. We will post them outside the classroom. Then we will learn about budgeting by starting a small business.

Students of the Week
Christian Barber and Torrence Gue!

Christian is a smart kid with a dry wit. He likes to play with his classmates and often takes leadership positions. Whenever one the other students doesn't follow directions he just looks them in the the eye until he hypnotizes them... then he gives them a friendly kick!
Torrence really enjoys class time and takes an interest in whatever we do. He enjoys engineering and art. He doesn't get in trouble... but it he did, he would light a firecracker in my shoe, hit me with a rubber mallet, and then run into his hole in the wall.

Snack Family

The Mason Family!

July 23, 2010

What We Did This Week...

Romeo and Juliet! We watched Buz Larhman's Romeo and Juliet and the kids really enjoyed it. Even though they had a hard time with the dialog, the understood the characters and the story. (I did provide some translation). We even had a talk about Love vs. Infatuation and then discussed how hate keeps us apart but love brings us together.

On Our Way to Mars!
Extremem weather caused us to postpone our polling... AGAIN! But we had fun in the shade. We learned about what it would take to travel to mars and tried to think of way to pack enough entertainment for six people who will be in space for 3 years--- and it all had to fit in an 2x2x2 cube. So all of those things will have to be measured by area... hmmmm.


What Will Be Doing Next Week....

Scripts! Last week my students saw a home-made movie and thought they would like to try something like that in their video class. So next week we will learn about the elements of Narrative (Character, Setting, Conflict, Resolution) and then turning that into a working script.

Next week, we will be finishing our polls and publishing them. Keep your eyes on the wall.

Student of the Week
 Alexander Mason
Alexander is an enthusiastic student with a lot of smarts and a lot on his mind. He loves Math and knowing things. He helps the class by eating the chakras of any evil ninjas that attack our class. (Don't ask)

Snack Family of the Week

the Givens Family!

July 16, 2010

Interesting Experience...

On Thursday, the camp went to see a play at the Museum. At one point in the play, the character asked the children to all yell out the subject that they feared the most. Imagine my horror as a few hundred children from all different kinds of schools, races, and socio-economic backgrounds yelled, "MATH!"

Now, to be fair, I grew up with the same anxiety when ever it came to Math class. I took this anxiety all the way through college. It wasn't until I started my education as a teacher that it occurred to me that I wasn't such a bad Math student, I had bad teachers. In their defence, we've all had bad Math. We've had bad Math teachers for the past 150 years. The tragic part is that we only seem to be getting worse.

So this is my passion as a teacher, I don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past. Who does? Can I create a classroom that extoles the positive, creative, and beautiful aspects of Math. Can I create a student body where the student who hates Math is the anomaly?

We'll see.

Right now I'm reading two books that are giving me new insight on Math and how I teach it. The first is "The Number Devil" by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. It's  like Euclid in Wonderland.
The second is "A Mathematician's Apology" by G.H. Hardy.  This is only a 50 page booklet and definatly worth the read, especially for educators.  Here is a link to the PDF.
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0NTWkYLESW7ODkwOWMwMDUtNWY4ZS00NzhmLTk2MTQtNTI1ZWU0MTI1NzRh&hl=en&authkey=CK3iwrYM

What We Did This Week...

Do to some minor schedule changes, We were not able to have our quiz this week. So we will take it next week. In the meantime, we were able to have some book club-style discussions and do some comprehension exercises.

We made practiced entering poll data into a spreadsheet and then using the computer to change the data into graphs. It was a great experience because we got a chance to experiment and see which kind of graph did the best job of communicating our data. Here is an example of our work.

What We Are Doing Next Week...

We will be going to Treasure Island to take our poll.

On Monday we will be watching Romeo and Juliet. Bring some popcorn!

Student of the Week

Kamaal Power

Kamaal loves Math and hates chairs. He always has a good attitude and he's a good friend. He wants to be an engineer, so he helps us build Goldberg Machines to keep Tom away.

Snack Family

The Patterson's!

July 9, 2010

What We Are Doing...

I'm Sending Homework

I tried... I really did. I don't even believe in "summer homework". I mean, we've fought wars about this kind of thing, right. But, alas, in order to keep my students accountable for their reading assignments, I'm asking they they complete a vocabulary list of thier own design. I have made the copies and they are going home. I want them turned in on Tuesday, 13th.

We will be having a final quiz on Artemis Fowl, chapter's 1-9 on Wednesday.

This week we will start our polling project. We will be compiling questions that we will present in a public forum and then we will use Excel to compile and graph the data.

What can you do to help? Less GCI, more NPR (91.5). Most of our kids get very little news. Turn it on in the car or put it on television for an hour (if you call network news "news". I'm not judging.) This will give your child something to think and ask about.

What We Are Doing Next...

Romeo and Juliet! Here's the way I figure it: We've got romance for the girls and swordplay for the boys. Now if we can just lick that language problem--

Suffice it to say, this lesson is going to be a vocabulary builder.

I'm taking a unique approach to the literature. Traditionally, Shakespeare's plays are read first and then, if time and budget permit, they see the play. I think this is backwards. It's the equivalent to saying,

"Girl! Did you see Grey's Anatomy last night? You'll love it! Here's the script!"

Children all over the world have had the same experience with Shakespeare for the last 200 years. This is why most of us don't read any after college.

So next week we will be starting by watching Buz Larhman's Romeo & Juliet. You can prepare your child by having them read the King James Bible. The language comes from the same period as William Shakespeare's time. 

I
Student of the Week

Samir Ali

What can I say? Samir likes the dinosaurs. We went to the Field Museum this week and he tried to do my job. He had comments about every compilation of bones in the place. Did you know that the Brontosaurus would keep stones in it's belly so that it could digest the tough leaves that it ate? I have to admire and congradulate that degree of personal scholarship. And he's the only kid that can run to Sam's, pick up snack, and get back to camp in 2 minutes... on foot.

 

Snack Family

The Sutherlan's!

Ribs With a Side of Introspection

So It's The 4th! Great!

Why? Can your child answer these questions?

1. Name 2 people who signed the Declaration of Independence.
2. What year did America become a country?
3. What war did we fight to defend our right to be a republic?
4. Who was the general of the Continental Army?
5. What was the name of the first American to die in the Revolutionary War?

Click below for an interesting video about the Fourth starring Glory's Morgan Freeman.
http://www.history.com/topics/july-4th/videos#the-meaning-of-july-4th-for-the-negro

Important Notes

• Unless otherwise stated, you do not need to send lunch on field trips.

• Please send swim caps for girls.
  
• Don't come to Camp on Monday. If you do, bring a good book and a chair. The Camp will not be open.

• Camp tuition is due today. Campers without payment will not be able to return on July 6th.
  
• If there is an area of study in which your child needs practice. I can send home work (note the space, I don't want to freak anyone out by using the "H" word over the Summer)
  

What We Did Last Week

We made Math posters in the classrooms. You will see them displayed on the walls this Friday. We also started discussing and investigating the purpose of polls. This resulted in a very interesting debate about whether we need more or less strict gun laws.

We read and discussed chapters 4-6 of Artemis Fowl. In order to really understand our characters and their motivations we wrote essays about what we would do if we had the character's powers. We also wrote journal entries in the voice of one the character and read them in front of the class.

In Science we started our tinkering section. I've brought in some old toys, electronics and screwdrivers and let the students have at them. If you have any electronics that you've been planning to throw out, please donate them. I encourage you to watch the video called "5 Dangerous Things for Your Kids" in the Parent Resource Center in the right pane of this page.

What Are We Doing Next Week?
We will be finishing Artemis Fowl and following up with some Language Arts applications dealing with homophones and subordinate clauses. We will also be doing a resource use exercise.

As mentioned earlier, we will be using our Math skills to create, execute, graph, and present a poll. We will go to the local supermarket to get opinions.

To paraphrase my students, "Next week is going to be so BEAST!"

Camper of the Week

Kaitlin Patterson

Kaitlin is a hard worker and she doesn't care for giving up. She likes to get it right and she's an outstanding friend! This week she learned how to read a fictional language and she always checks the window for bothersome "puddy tats"

Below are some thoughts on Math.

June 25, 2010

Reading is An Activity

Funny thing happened this week.
We were having our first discussion about the book and what has been happening. I have a very Socratic discussion method. I ask leading questions and let the students sort out the merit of their observations and ideas. Only a few of the students were able to participate. The other children said they read the chapter, but they were unable to talk about the book.
I explained to them the importance of reading for comprehension vs. simply decoding phonics. The next day I noticed an improvement in the classroom discussion. So I stress with the children, we only read what we understand. Everything else is not reading, but wasting time!

Beautiful Math

This week, in Math, we've started on our Math Posters. These poster are designed to educate students about mathematical concepts and make it engaging. You will be able to see them hanging in the hallways by next week.

Student of the Week!

Chandler Sutherland

Not only am I impressed with this young man's smarts. I admire his honor and integrity. He always tells the the truth (even when he knows it may get him in trouble) and he looks out for hos other classmates. And if anyone ever needs a ride home, he's sure to give them a ride in the Batmobile.

 Snack Parent of the Week

The Power Family

Weekly Update June 18, 2010

We've wrapped up our first week and, as an educator, I'm so excited about what we've done, what we're going to do, and the students I'm doing it with. 

What We Did This Week:

• Thank you to all those parents who hustled to get their children Artemis Fowl. We've already read the first 3 chapters and the children seemed excited about the story. This week we've talked about the importance of reading comprehension and how it's makes reading more effective and fun. Case in Point: One of the characters had his boat blown up by the Mafia. It occurred to me that none of the students knew what the Mafia was. As a result they didn't understand why the character was attacked, what the nature of his "business dealings" were, or how that would have influenced our main character. When I gave a (sanitized) explanation of organized crime the children demonstrated a deeper understanding of the story and it's implications. We've are also doing a translation activity. We are decoding a fictional language (Gnommish) into English.

• In Math, we put our measuring and geometry skills to the test. We built boxes. This tends to be a bit more complicated than it sounds. The children have already created templates for functional containers and we will assemble them to use in the classroom. This is a project that can be done at home. All you need is a ruler, paper, scissors, poster board or cardboard, and some glue. 

 What We Are Doing Next Week:

• Next week we will be reading chapters 4-6. We will cover new vocabulary, critical essay writing, homophones, and subordinate clauses.

• In Math we will be making math posters. This is an exercise to teach children to use math to communicate ideas. This is a useful and fun thing to learn. It was our Math teacher's inability to do this that lead to many of our frustrations with Mathematics.

Camper of the Week:

Thaddeus Gue!

Thaddeus is an enthusiastic and prepared student. After he finishes projects he doesn't mind helping others. He is not afraid to ask questions and seeks to comprehend everything. He is a good sport and he defends our classroom from Decepticons.

Snack Parent:

The Gue family! Thank you for your help. Anything is appreciated but fruits and vegetables are preferred for growing minds and bodies.You will find the entire snack list in the Parent Resource Center.

Building Better Thinkers

This week we started our 3 month journey to build better thinkers.
My course is designed to take the skills your children have been learning for the past 5 to 8 years and teach how to use them. Unfortunately, this is severe lack in education and has been for the past 100 years.
Traditionally children are taught rote skills, or “math by rote” as it was phrased by Louis Benezet. (Please click on his name to read about his experiment in Math education.) By high school our children will have mastered geometry, trigonometry, and calculus and still have no idea what it is or how it’s useful. It has been said that the longer our children stay in school the less they know how to reason.
Well that all ends in my classroom. There are no math books, no readers, and no answer keys. There is only the application of skills to real life problems.
The first problem we are tackling is what to do with our art supplies. I would like the markers and pencils in containers… yet I would not like to spend money on them.
So I thought we would make our own containers from cardboard. So I’ve been teaching the children to take what they’ve learned about geometry and measuring to build useful boxes. We’ve already built prototypes and now we are customizing the design for each medium.
I hope that projects like these will answer the question, “Why am I learning this stuff?”
Please see the lecture I have embedded to Sir Ken Robinson provoking and funny lecture on changing the way we think about education. 

Welcome to the MVP's!

Welcome to University Camp!

Welcome to the M.V.P. (Munus Veritas Pietas)

My name is Mr. Raines. I and Ms. Vinson will be your child's Classroom Leaders this summer. We are looking forward to learning and exploring new thoughts while having fun.

On our first day, we've already picked our summer reading choice. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. It's a good summer read that also touches upon themes of Materialism vs. Community. Parents are required to purchase the book. You can find it new
at Chicagoland Border's ($6.99) or call ahead to your local used book store.
While reading this book we will build upon our understanding of theme, build vocabulary, narrative writing and critical thought.

Things to know for Tomorrow!

1. Make sure you child comes with a lunch. The camp WILL NOT provide lunch until next week.
2. Make sure you child comes with swimwear. We are going to the pool tomorrow.
   
3. Parent must also bring snack. This will the Snack parent is The Raines Family. Please bring a healthy snack for this week. 

At the end of the week I'll be sending home a syllabus outlining some of our future projects.

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me araines@cambrdigechicago.com
or call/text me:
773-727-9092
or comment here. If you wish to receive instant updates of this page. Simple subscribe at no cost to you.

Thank you!

Mr. Raines
Ms. Vinson

Building Up!

This February has been skill building for our unit in Architecture. This is going to be the theme for the remainder of the year. We will learn about structure building, design, decorating, and the histories of the building that we see everyday

(Did you know that the building out school is in is over 110-year-old and was probably built by German immigrants. Next time you're in the building you'll also notice that every room in the building is near a major source of sunlight because the church was built before the invention of indoor lighting.)

Next month the GC3 art class will have a special guest that will give us an introduction to Architecture. He will even introduce us to CAD (Computer Assisted Design).

Look in at our video section for a special short feature from the the GC1&2 art class!

Attack of the Teaching Tomatos

We are growing our own tomatoes. We planted them at the beginning of the month and now they are 4 inches high. We are even doing an experiment to see whether rainwater or tap water will make the plants grow better. So far the tapwater plants are winning. (we suspect that the tap water plants have been hogging all the sun.) If you know anything about growing tomatoes, please feel free to give us your input. Mr. Raines knows more about cyber-culture than agriculture.

This is all to supplement our understanding of various lifeforms. We just finished studying plants, now we'll be studying animals. We were talking about a way to observe animal life the same way we observe plant life.
Maybe a pet monkey? Nah... too much clean up.
I don't know... maybe a fish in a bowl? I would LOVE to hear your ideas.
 

We are Growing Up! (1&2 Science)

In our class we are talking about living things. Did you know that a living thing is anything that needs food, water, and air? If it were not for the “water” requirement, then fire would be living thing, wouldn’t it?

We are also learning about plants, their parts, and the different kinds of vegetation. We talked about plants that live where there is very little water and how they store water in fat, juicy leaves. This brings a FABULOUS family field trip to mind. On Chicago’s Westside is, perhaps, one of the most beautiful and educational experiences in the city. It’s also FREE. It’s called the Garfield Park Conservatory. Inside you can actually show your child and example of this plant and how (carefully) you can pick off a leave and squeeze out a copious amount of drinkable water. Remember, it will only cost you your time and it is REALLY worth the gas money.

Basic Nouns (Spanish Pre-K-2nd )

In Spanish, we are learning basic nouns and colors. This means that every class is an opportunity to practice saying the names of things like colors, the days of the week, and animals. Learning these things are part of your child’s Olympic goals. You can help your child by having them use the Spanish words around the house. (No, Sam, go put on your rojo sox.)
If you go to the Parent Resource Center (to the upper-right of this blog entry) you will find a link to a series of study guides to help you rehearse at home. Below, I’ve included some basic phonics that will help you be able to pronounce Spanish words.
j= the ‘h’ sound
a= the ‘ah’ sound
ll= the ‘y’ sound
¡Bueno Suerte y Albé al Senor!
Good Luck and Praise the Lord!

Force and Motion

In 3rd Grade Science we've been studying energy. We are learning about how it is stored, transferred, and it's different incarnations. Ask your child to show you and example of how friction is made.
When we learned about storing energy, we talked about the importance of fat, batteries, fossil fuels, and kinetic/potential energy. I also told the children about an experiment where they could build a battery out of nickels and pennies. Go to the Parent Resource Center (at the right of this post) for a link that will show you how to do this at home. I curious to hear about the results.
In this newsletter, I always love to share lesson related enrichments. In the link below, there is a
story about a young man who found a way to store is own energy in a unique and inspiring way.