Year 4, Session 4, Week 3

We are halfway through the session and getting better at chess every day! The heroes are improving at notating, learning new strategies, and taking their chess skills seriously. Improving strategy in chess is linked to improving skills in other aspects of life like math. The heroes took a basic math skills drill at the beginning of the session, and are going to retake it at the end of the session to compare. We can’t wait to see how their end of session tournament goes!

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Art

Our art project this week was in the style of “still life”. The learners had a real model of fruit on a tray that they were tasked with sketching and coloring with pencils. The pictures are on display in the windows of the studio - be sure to check them out!

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Writers’ Workshop

This week during Writers’ Workshop, the learners researched what parts a formal letter has. Next, they began practicing by writing a formal letter to someone they know personally. Next week we will begin the drafting process and they will start writing a letter to their hero!

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Quest

We dove deeper into our learning of traditional chess tournament rules this week. The ES studio read over the rules together and then played a Jeopardy style game to test their new knowledge. Additionally, they enjoyed spending time teaching the Little Heroes chess and some of our youngest learners proved to be tough opponents!

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Little Heroes Studio

The Little Heroes baked a bread pudding for the “Parent Coffee” on Thursday and it was delicious! They have also been taking an interest in chess and learning along with the Elementary Studio. Part of their weekly studio maintenance involves taking care of the class plants. The learners water the plants and carefully remove the dead parts of the leaves. 

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