Scholars in Mrs. Gates’ 6th grade Accelerated ELA class just finished reading their novel titled “Maniac Magee”. In the novel, Jeffrey (Maniac Magee) entered a competition called the “Cobble’s Knot Challenge” in which he had to skillfully try to untie a knot that was the size of a volleyball. It took Jeffrey a lot of time, patience, and naps but he eventually succeeded in conquering the challenge. To go along with the novel, scholars participated in a fun activity that correlated with the text. Scholars were to choose a partner and then Mrs. Gates presented each duo with a knot to try to untangle. Scholars hurriedly worked to try to be the first pair to untangle their knot of string. Rilee Platt and Payton Hillis were the first ones to successfully complete the challenge! This challenge promoted patience, team work, problem solving skills, and communication. It was an interesting experience to observe the students while they worked towards a common goal in a way that was both fun and challenging.
