I believe they can read,
But they just don't like it.
I have worked really hard to get good, interesting books into their hands.
And this has helped.
Somewhat.
As a reader myself, this "inability" to read for 30 minutes at a time
Has been a thorn in my side all year long.
Students need to be able to read.
Students need to be able to read for longer periods of time.
Students need to understand what they are reading.
Maybe this is the problem???
Soooo...once library books were due back in for inventory,
I had to find something to fill the time.
Why not go over reading strategies one last time before high school?
With copies of Leonhard Euler in hand,
And a blank piece of typing paper in the other,
We started reading.
Outloud.
Paragraph by paragraph.
Stopping at predetermined various points.
Our focus was going to be on practicing what good reading looks like.
We first paused to draw a visual from the Biographical Information.
They could pick any point that a picture had popped into their head while we were reading.
We took a little time to discuss the pictures
and how they were similar and different than others in the class.
Our next stop was in the Contributions section of the reading.
A mathematical concept was described,
One I knew my students could identify with,
And I wanted to see if they could picture it.
It involved labeling a triangle's sides and angles.
This was very eye opening as I saw connections being made to Pythagorean's Theorem!
Another stop was also in the Contributions section.
It had mentioned pi and how Euler was responsible for this symbol.
Students had to write about what this section made them think of.
Another opportunity to connect to their mathematical learning this year.
Finally, we got to the Quotation.
"He calculated just as men breathe, as eagles sustain themselves in the air." ~ Francois Arago
We dove deeper to figure out what the author was trying to say here.
The responses were amazing!
"He was always doing math, like it came natural to him."
"He did work easily and he worked all the time."
"Breathing is easy so he is saying that's how easy math is for him."
Today, as we finish up the piece,
We are going to focus on the following areas.
1) Write one or two sentences to summarize what you read in the Anecdote Section.
2) What thoughts do you have when Euler had to settle the argument between two of his students?
3) Can you picture all the places Euler taught? (Look at a map to get a better understanding of the area he worked in)
4) After reading three sections: The Pillaged Farm, The St. Petersburg Fire and The Smart Pencil, connect character traits of those in the writing with our pillars (respect, responsibility and growth mindset). Where do you see each of these?
5) Finally, in the Birth of Topology section, Euler creates his own visual of a real life math problem. How does his drawing connect to the real life situation?
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