|
| What Do You Really Know About One Tenth of a Mile? |
by Dawn Wheatley and Suzanne Cohen What Do You Really Know About One Tenth of a Mile?
By Dawn Wheatley and Suzanne Cohen
May 3, 2007
If you happened to be walking by Houston Street Playground last Monday you may have seen some Fourth Graders busily measuring with long pieces of string or adding machine tape. They were trying to determine the length of one tenth of a mile. In order to achieve a meaningful understanding of division, decimals, fractions, and measurement, we asked the students to participate in this hands-on investigation. The lesson began in the classroom when teachers informed the students that there are 5,280 feet in a mile.
A challenge was presented to determine how many feet are in one tenth of a mile. Once students figured out that the answer is 528 feet, they were presented with a new challenge. To give students a sense of the length of 528 feet, they were asked to design a tool that could be used to measure out the distance, using string or adding machine tape. Because a 528-foot tool would be too cumbersome to use, pairs of students were asked to design a tool that could be used over and over again to measure out 528 feet. One partnership discovered that if they created a 50-foot measuring device they could use it 10 times to measure 500 feet. They then marked off 28 feet on the same tool for the remaining feet. Another pair found that they could use a 44-foot long string 12 times to measure 528 feet.
 After each pair had written up their plan complete with mathematical equations, we headed out to Houston Street Playground. Working together, partnerships laid their tools down, marked one interval on the pavement with chalk and then picked up their tool and measured the next stretch. Using their tools students determined that nearly the entire perimeter of the playground is actually one tenth of a mile!
In order to help solidify these concepts, we gave the students the opportunity to put their knowledge and skills into action at recess.
Fourth Graders pledged to run various distances, ranging from one tenth of a mile to one mile. We asked them to calculate the number of times they would need to run either the perimeter or one length in order to run their distances. Students were filled with enthusiasm as they ran across the playground, achieving their goals. This activity helped students develop a meaningful understanding of one tenth of a mile, while discovering that math is accessible and fun. |
| LREI May Newsletter |
As the school community welcomes spring, the May issue of the LREI News is filled to brimming with updates from all divisions. Articles focus on Social Studies, Diversity, Student Activism and Robotics.
|
Click here to read the May Newsletter online.
|
| Middle School celebrate Pi day on March 14 |
The Middle School celebrated Pi (π) Day (3/14) by holding a contest where students memorized as many decimal places as they could in the legendary endless irrational real number. Defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, the number pi is known to most people by its truncated form: 3.14159.
But the Middle School Math Department challenged students to go beyond the first few decimal places, and one fifth grade student even memorized and recited over two hundred and twenty places past the decimal point! All the students who were able to memorize at least ten places past the decimal point earned actual pies for their efforts, and the grand prize winner was granted three. All in all, a delicious mathematical exercise!
|
|
| 2007 Lower School Art Show |
February 22, 2007
The Lower School Art Show is an exhibition of artwork from all children in the Lower School. It includes reflections of classroom experience, such as snow murals, and many examples of social studies related endeavors.
There are, for example, papier mache reproductions of the immigrant family members interviewed by our Fourth Graders. There are authentic replicas of Native American coil pots and chiseled spoons, as well as two models of historic Northeast Woodland villages. Painting, portraiture, sculpture and collage - all are presented and responded to by student artists.
This years interactive event opened on February 22 and is a hallmark of Lower School creative process.
|
Click the photo to view the gallery. |
| Winter '07 Newsletter |
The February issue of LREI NEWS centers on writing and literacy throughout the divisions of LREI. Articles and updates touch on curricular aspects of the divisional English programs as well as exciting news about student work and school events during the past few months.
|
Click the photo to read the newsletter.
|
| LREI Robotics Team at the FIRST LEGO League Games |
January 30, 2007
The LREI Robotics team with their trophy at the FIRST LEGO League games
in January. Click the photo for a photo gallery.
Please join us as we congratulate the LREI Robotics team on their achievements at the 2007 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) games at Riverbank State Park. The team, comprised of Sixth and Seventh Grade Middle School students, won the first place Teamwork Award and the third place Champion's Award. The Champion Award celebrates the ultimate success of the FIRST mission and FLL values; the Teamwork Award is presented to the team that best demonstrates extraordinary enthusiasm, an exceptional partnership, and the practice of FLL values.
FIRST LEGO League is an international robotics program that combines a hands-on, interactive robotics program with a sports-like atmosphere. The LREI Robotics Team and the related robotics curriculum that is part of the Middle School science program seek to ignite an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in our students. Each year, the Robotics Team embarks on an adventurous challenge based on a current, real-world issue. This year, the team explored the field of Nano technology and discovered that his new frontier will impact every facet of society, from medicine to computers to the environment. Guided by team coaches Sherezada Acosta and Steve Neiman, our students:
- Research and solve a real-world problem based on the Challenge theme
- Present their research and solutions
- Build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts
Whether it is by creativity, technology, or research, the LREI robotics program dares kids to test, explore, expand, and revise their thinking about foundational scientific concepts as they tackle meaningful real-world problems.
Well done!
|
| Karamu 2007 |
January 29, 2007
LREI students on stage with capoeira performance group
Grupo Ginja Capoeira Regional. Click photo for image gallery.
Karamu! 2007 took over LREI's Charlton Street building on January 26, 2007. Nearly 400 LREI students and their families, faculty and staff came together for a fantastic night of delicious food, great performances and dancing under the disco ball.
The night started at 5:00PM with a Jazz Jam Session, hosted by the LREI Jazz Band, directed by Vincent Scialla. They played throughout the potluck dinner in the cafeteria as we feasted on homemade dishes and specialties donated from local restaurants.
Our MCs Nicole Thompson-Adams and Jennifer Bonjean-Alpart guided us through the evening of performances. First on stage was Golem, a world-renowned "klezmer-rock" band, playing Jewish and Eastern European folk music with a rock and roll attitude. Next we switched continents and heard from Grupo Ginga Capoeira Regional in a performance of the music and movement of capoeira, a martial arts form originating in Africa and traced through Brazil. During their performance, a handful of students were brought on stage to interact with the dancers, who kicked and leapt over their heads to great cheers.
The pace calmed down with a set of old time bluegrass tunes brought to us by Jenni Muldaur and Friends - the renowned vocalist was joined by LREI parent Cary Tamarkin on guitar and Jon Graboff on pedal steel. Cary was returning to the Karamu stage after playing with Dan Zanes in the first Karamu six years ago. The music of the steel pan drum orchestra, Casym, then brought everyone to their feet. A division of a Brooklyn-based youth support program, Casym's motto is "when steel talks, everybody listens". And we did, as well as sing and dance along with them.
The performance ended with Fox Force Five, an all female hip hop crew based out of New York City. They shook the stage and raised the roof, and the MCs encouraged everyone to push their chairs back and move closer to the stage; when the adoring audience finally let them go, DJ Dave Trouble took over and we danced for an hour under the disco ball. Last but not least was the dessert room, whose doors were opened at 8:00PM for a sweet treat to end the night.
Many thanks to the Multicultural Committee's Karamu Committee and all the artists, volunteers, LREI staff and faculty for making the event successful and enjoyable!
|
| 2007 Irwin Scholars |
The 2006-2007 Irwin Scholars with Middle School Principal Mark Silberberg (left)
and High School Principal Ruth Geyer-Jurgensen
Each year, LREI offers scholarships to rising eighth graders who demonstrate exceptional accomplishment and promise in the areas of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and service during their Middle School years at LREI. This year, LREI is proud to award Irwin Scholarships to six eighth graders.
The Irwin Scholars program is a merit-based scholarship that recognizes eighth graders for their sustained commitment to academic excellence, active participation in the life of the Middle School, service to the community, demonstrated leadership, and the potential to serve as a community leader in the High School. Students who are interested in being considered for a scholarship complete a written application and participate in an interview with a member of the scholarship committee. This year, interest in the Irwin Scholarship program was higher than ever.
When they move on to the High School, Irwin Scholars are expected to be exemplary members of a community that challenges students to be their best selves - academically, socially, and personally. During their time at the High School, Irwin Scholars are expected to be leaders in the classroom, in extracurricular activities and in service both inside and outside the LREI community. Irwin Scholars are often class representatives and/or members of the Community Service Roundtable. In addition, they are often asked to participate in Fall Open Houses, lead tours and/or host visiting students, talking both formal and informal settings to current Eighth Graders about the High School, and perform other ambassadorial duties as they arise.
|
| LREI hosts book launch for author Ann Brashares |
On January 9th, LREI had the pleasure of hosting the launch of the fourth title of bestselling Young Adult author Ann Brashares's wildly popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Seventh through Eleventh grade girls (and even a few guys) were invited to a brunch catered by Ann's publisher, Random House, in the Sixth Avenue auditorium. Students feasted while listening to Ann read from her latest book, Forever in Blue, and talk about what it was like to see her first book transformed into a film. After the reading and a Q&A session, students had a chance to talk to Ann one-on-one and have books signed before returning to class. In addition, Random House asked that students bring in a pair of gently used jeans to be donated to the Children's Aid Society in honor of the magical thrift store pants that are the centerpiece of Ann's series.
|
Click the image to view the photo gallery.
|
| Cambodian Students Visit the Middle School |
November 2006
On Wednesday, November 8th, the Middle School had the pleasure of hosting six middle school age students from Cambodia who are here as part of a cultural exchange to raise awareness and funds for an orphanage in Cambodia. The six students spent time in classes and performed a traditional dance of friendship for us at the Middle School meeting. The students' trip to the US was sponsored by the organization Friends of Cambodian Children (FOCC). FOCC also supports the Palm Tree Institute where the children go to school and study dance. You can learn more about both organizations at friendsofcambodianchildren.org.
|
Click the image to view the photo gallery.
|
| Lower School Family Math and Science Night |
Family Math and Science Night features an array of engaging, hands-on math and science activities. Children and their parents are given the opportunity to test, tinker, think, explore and experiment as they investigate math and science challenges together!
The evening is designed and presented by Dawn Wheatley, Lower School Math Specialist, Sharon White, Lower School Math Consultant, and Megan Dunphy, Lower School Science Coordinator.
|
Click the image to view the photo gallery.
|
| Fall Newsletter |
The November issue of LREI NEWS features articles and updates from all three divisions. The topics range from faculty Summer Grant work, Admissions updates, Diversity and Community news, new faculty in the Lower and Middle Schools, High School Minimester, and a profile of Afterschool's new Dress-up Club class.
|
Click the image to access the newsletter.
|
| High School named as a Blackboard Awards Honoree |
A hearty congratulations to the High School students, faculty and staff and to High School Principal Ruth Geyer Jurgensen on being named honorees by the Blackboard Awards!
The Blackboard Awards Honor Roll recognizes many of the local institutions that have created wonderful learning environments and great programs for high school students. These honors are based on responses to the online survey on the Blackboard Awards web site. Survey participants - parents, teachers, students and other insiders - were asked to rate schools in various areas on a scale of one to five.
LREI's Elisabeth Irwin High School was an honoree in the following categories: teaching reading and writing, teaching math and science, and respect by students for each other.
|
Click image to download the article (PDF).
|
| Middle School wins Blackboard Rising Star Award! |
October 2006
Congratulations to the Middle School students and faculty and to Mark Silberberg, Middle School Principal, on being named the "Rising Star Middle School" by the Blackboard Awards! We are so proud of our intelligent, creative, involved and spirited Middle School students. We are equally as proud of, and grateful to, our dedicated and talented Middle School faculty.
The award was presented by Betsy Gotbaum, NYC Public Advocate and parent of an LREI alum, at a gala awards ceremony. Accepting the award for LREI were Amy Weiss-Meyer and Emily Wilson, leaders of the Middle School Student Association. We are thrilled to be acknowledged as "rising stars." The sense of motion, of change and of growth illustrated by this phrase accurately describes our progressive program.
|
Click image to download the article (PDF). |
| College-bound High Schoolers Interviewed on CBS News |
This past Wednesday, October 18, was College Day at Elisabeth Irwin High School. Seniors had the opportunity to work on their college research and applications, essays, and resumes, etc. all day with the help of Director of College Guidance Amy Shapiro along with the new Associate College Counselor, Jane Gabin. A crew from CBS News was on hand, observing students as part of a news story titled "College Hopefuls Face Pressure". The story will air on November 12, 2006.
|
Click here to view the video segment.
|
| A trio of author visits in the Middle School |
The Middle School students have been the lucky recipients of several author visits during the month of October. On Tuesday, October 3, British author Celia Rees visited the seventh grade to talk about her historical fiction, Witch Child. The book focuses on one orphan girl's journey from England to the New World, where she makes friends with some of the Native Americans outside of her village, and is subsequently accused as a witch because of her "suspicious" friendships. Celia shared a power point presentation that featured historical documents and woodcuts of colonial witches and witch hunters, and led a lively discussion about the real reasons behind much of the witch hunt hysteria in early America. As the seventh grade is about to embark on their yearly trip to Williamsburg, this was an especially interesting and relevant author visit.
On Friday, October 5, LREI alum Jenny Pollack visited the eighth grade to talk about her YA novel entitled Klepto. This autobiographical novel about a girl succumbing to the peer pressure of shoplifting in the early 1980's had the students discussing the destructive power of negative peer pressure with the author, and questioning her about how different LREI is from when she was a student here. Although, some things never change: Jenny recognized Steve Neiman, MS computer teacher, as her former science teacher!
Finally, on Thursday, October 19, YA author Melissa Schorr met with the seventh/eighth grade advisories in the Big Room to talk about her romantic comedy, Goy Crazy. This book, which explored the cultural conflict that ensues when a Jewish teenage girl falls for a Catholic teenage boy, created an interesting opportunity for the older advisories to discuss the challenges/rewards of interfaith dating and/or friendships.
|
Author Jenny Pollack
Author Melissa Schorr
|
| The High School's Mandarin Chinese Class is Big News |
The High School Tenth Grade Mandarin Chinese class was recently profiled by a reporter for the Chinese American newspaper North American Times. Additional news coverage of the class appeared on a television news program as part of feature on this years Moon Festival. High School foreign language teacher Guo-Qing Zhang Heaton graciously translated the news article, which can be read here.
|
Click here to read a translation of the full article.
|
| World-famous Zimbabwean performer visits EI |
On Tuesday October 2, Irene Chigamba, a Zimbabwean musician and dancer visited Elisabeth Irwin High School and delighted students and faculty with her performace. Ms. Chigamba plays the mbira, which is the primary traditional instrument of the Shona people, and has been played for over 1,000 years for religious rituals and social occasions.
In
Shona tradition, mbira is powerful music used to call benevolent
ancestors to earth to care for their descendents and solve their
problems. Mbira is also used in traditional Shona healing, and this
has proved effective cross-culturally.
Irene Chigamba may be the only Zimbabwean woman who learned to play
mbira from her mother, and then taught her own daughter to play (it
is rare for women to play mbira in Zimbabwe). As a young child, she
learned mbira from first her mother, and then her father, Tute
Chigamba, and has now played for almost 40 years. While growing up,
Irene traveled extensively with her father to play mbira in
traditional ceremonies all over Zimbabwe. She also excelled in
singing, hosho (gourd rattles), dance and drumming. As an adult,
Irene toured the world as a musician and dancer in the Zimbabwe
National Dance Company, and later her own group, Mhembero Dance
Company, and is known in dozens of countries as Zimbabwe's cultural
ambassador. For more information please visit www.mbira.org
|
Click here to view a photo gallery.
|
| Fifth
and Sixth Grade Trip to Greenkill |
September
20-22, 2006
The traditional September trip
to Greenkill marks the beginning
of the school year for 6th
grade students and welcomes
the incoming 5th graders
into Middle School life.
The 3 day overnight trip
is always a great community
building opportunity for
the students, allowing them
time to bond and get to know
each other better—an
important element of the
LREI philosophy.
The Greenkill program is designed
around a curriculum that focuses
on community building. Collaborative
problem solving challenges
posed within Project Adventure
require the whole group to
work together to get everyone
through the challenge. An extensive
ropes course allows individuals
to push themselves to reach
beyond their limits with faith
that their classmates will
catch them lest they fall.
Canoe forays require paddling
teamwork to get everyone back
to shore!
In addition to the focus on
community building, students
also explore a variety of issues
in environmental education.
Through work with trained naturalists,
such as the evening spent with "Birds
of Prey," students
come to better understand the
relationships between living
organisms and their environment.
|
Click here to
view a photo gallery.
|
| Summer 2006 Director's Initiave - Update |
September 2006 This year, the Summer 2006 Director's Initiative made capital improvements at all four of LREI's sites. Last spring $492,000 was raised towards the goal of renovating the Thompson Street Athletic Center and the MacDougal Street High School Annex, in addition to updating the Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street buildings.
The new Athletic Center features a renovated gymnasium complete with basketball and volleyball courts and a rock climbing wall, new home and away team changing rooms, administrative offices for the Athletics Department and a fitness room. New windows and equipment were added to the Sixth Avenue building, and the Charlton Street building had improvements made to its lobby, library, and classrooms. The MacDougal Street Annex houses the High School Foreign Language labs and renovations were made to classrooms with the addition of new furnishings and equipment.
A hearty thanks from the faculty, staff, administration, and of-course the students at LREI to all who helped with the financing and completion of these projects. A tour of the Athletic Center was held on Tuesday 9/12; Photo galleries of the new spaces are in the lobbies at Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street.
|
Click here to view a photo gallery. |
| New Lower School Faculty Math Workshop |
September 2006
New Lower School classroom teachers were treated to an in-house TERC Investigations workshop conducted by two leaders in the field – our own Sharon White and Dawn Wheatley. Sharon has led faculty workshops throughout NYC and in NJ and is a contributing author to MacMillan/McGraw Hill math and science texts. Dawn is an experienced math teacher and has presented the TERC curriculum to parents. Together they presented a program tailor-made for LREI. Teachers became students and experienced the math content and teaching processes of the TERC program through activities, games, and discussion. They saw children’s problem solving strategies develop by viewing a video and samples of children’s work.
|
Click here to view a photo gallery. |
| The Importance of Being Earnest at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival |
August 2006
The Elisabeth Irwin Players performed Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and received rave reviews from enthusiastic audience members.
***
Downtown New York City goes Wilde! Talented troupe from Greenwich Village takes on Oscar Wilde's greatest play with impeccable truth, vivacious charm and timeless searing wit. Wilde fans rejoice. They will knock your spats off!
-- www.edfringe.com 4 Stars!
The vital importance of seeing this show
reviewer: Jason Hillsdon, United Kingdom
Well done the Elisabeth Irwin Players on bringing ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ to the Fringe. Some fine performances by all of the cast and well-acted scenes with a clever use of scenery. Gavin Cady excels as Algernon Moncrieff and Henry Dwyer is a perfect foil to Algy’s razor-sharp wit. Violeta Picayo and Hannah Dunne are exquisite as Gwendolyn and Cecily – Hannah’s English accent was well sustained throughout the play. It’s clear everyone was having a great time performing the play and the audience obviously enjoyed themselves too. The only thing that stops this show being a 100% perfect evening’s entertainment is the difficulty at times in hearing what is being said. This is less to do with the accents and more that some of the actors speak their lines too quickly. Wildean witticisms are too often lost in the shrill rapid-fire of dialogue. A more measured delivery would help tremendously. Notwithstanding that, this play is well worth seeing. I enjoyed it a lot and I hope to see the actors back again at the Fringe next year. PS. Note to the producer: Gavin Cady and Henry Dwyer would be great as Brandon Shaw and Philip Morgan in ‘Rope’, the play by Patrick Hamilton.
4 Stars!
Refreshing and very funny
reviewer: Chris Pearson, United States
That an American high school can stage such an unpretentious and effortlessly funny performance of this play in 2006 is a testament to both the script and the talented cast. It's refreshing after a long day out, to attend a well staged classic. The audience easily kept up with the quick pace of the dialogue and laughed throughout the show.
|
You will need QuickTime to fully take advantage of this site. To download it for your browser, click here
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to fully take advantage of this site. To download it for your browser, click here