Breck School - Mustang Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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Faces eager for knowledge. 15

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Mr Ervin S. Stockwell B A. M.A. English and Bugle advisor ENGLISH The new philosophy in the English program at Breck School recognizes not only the ever present need for practice in writing, speech, reading comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary, but also takes into account the need for a coherent grasp of the traditions of English and American literature. With this in mind, a program for the six forms of the upper school has been evolved, subject of course, to change and improvement as experience directs. At present, in Forms land II, in addition to the usual fundamentals, students are being introduced to the novel, drama, satire, Greek and Roman mythology; in Form III students arc exposed to the short story, precis, biography, traditional and modem poetry, the essay, and novel. Form IV deals with a survey of American literature, beginning with Colonial times and extending to the contemporary period. Emphasis on outside reading, precis writing, and grammar, of course, is con- tinued. A survey of English literature is the predominant concern of Form V, though the short story and creative writing arc stressed during this year as well. Form VI is devoted to a study of individual classics representative of their respective eras. These are drawn from both European and American literature. It is hoped that such a study will prove of greater value after the student's exposure to the more elementary survey courses. VVriting related to the readings is stressed during this year as well. All students arc required to read one book per month outside of class during the school year in addition to the summer reading. Generally this reading is designed to fit in with the subject material under consideration in the respective classes. The English department also has a file of recordings and has access to the University of Minnesota films library whenever the need of audiovisual aids is felt. 14

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. . . To one part water. Gee this math comes in handy. Mr. Earl Hovland, B.S.. M.A. MA THEM A TICS The texts for the Brcck School math courses in the seventh and eighth grades were prepared by the School Mathematics Study Group at Yale University. This organization operated under the auspices of the National Science Foundation. It was composed of many of the nations top mathematicians and educators who were asked by the Federal Government to write an entirely new math curriculum which could be used directly by schools or which could be incorporated into commercial texts. Brcck is using pure SMSG materials until the modem concepts and approaches are satisfactorily incorporated into standard books. One of the major changes in the new course is the early development of number theory. Arithmetic and algebra arc based entirely on the theory of numbers. Traditional courses in these areas arc concerned primarily with rules and methods for solving problems. Then, in the student’s third year of college math, he studies number theory which gives him the reasons for the rules and methods that he memorized in arithmetic and two years of high school algebra. However, at this point it is rather difhcult and time consuming to go back over all of these processes to determine the “why’s”, so it is rarely done. The SMSG approach teaches number theory from the begin-nig, on an elementary level of course, to give the student reasons for all of the mathematical processes he is taught. For example, he isn’t simply told to invert the denominator and multiply in the division of fractions; he is shown why this will work through a development of the general properties of numbers. Mr. Richard Yonkcr Is introducing the new math program this year. He will move up with the same group of boys, teaching the eighth and ninth grades next year, etc. Mr. Earl Hovland will follow him, teaching seventh grade next year. Also, present plans include the introduction of a modem math curriculum to the entire elementary school next year. 16