chess.
He beat me pretty fast in that first e-mail game. I guess I wasnât paying close enough attentionbecause he captured my queen and after that he just took all my other pieces one by one. Iâll never let that happen again.
After he checkmates me, he asks me if Iâm up for another game or am I too chicken? I tell him to bring it on, hotshot. He moves one of his pawns up and so do I. I move the pieces on our chessboard at home, so I can see the game better.
Chess by e-mail is pretty cool. I would usually check my mail after dinner and Dadâs move would be there waiting for me. I liked having as much time as I needed to decide what to do next. No pressure.
I learned some of the basic strategy by then. Like, you want to bring your pieces out from the back row as early in the game as possible. But you donât want to bring your queen out too early, because then sheâs open to attack and she can get in the way of your pawns. Itâs a really complicated game. You gotta think.
BRENTON DAMAGATCHI, GRADE 5
Snik came in one morning with his chessboard. He told me he was playing a game against his dad and he needed some advice. He set up the pieces and I looked things over. He had done apretty nice job. His dad was a piece ahead, but Snik was in a good position and could still win.
I told him a few things he didnât know. Like a rook is worth more than a bishop or knight, which are worth about the same. And if you have two pawns in position to make a capture, you want to capture toward the center of the board. But he had already learned a lot of stuff on his own. Heâs smarter than he gives himself credit for.
Iâm an okay player. Not great. Iâve never really studied the game. The most important thing to know is that chess isnât a battle, itâs a war. You want to gradually build up tiny advantages and make your position better until the enemy has no choice but to quit. I advised Snik to castle so he could get his king away from the center of the board.
MISS RASMUSSEN, FIFTH-GRADE TEACHER
I really didnât know all that much about chess myself. I had played a tiny bit as a child. All I knew was how the various pieces moved. I didnât understand strategy.
But when I saw Sam and Brenton talking over a chessboard, it seemed like one of those wonderful teachable moments we live for. So I scrappedour lesson plan for the morning. I drew the chessboard on the chalkboard and explained to everyone the basic rules of play.
The students started giving their ideas about which move Sam should make next. Sam and Brenton stood at the front of the class and explained why some moves might be smarter than others. It was fascinating for the whole class! I could almost see the wheels turning in their little heads.
We spent the whole morning doing that, and finally Sam decided to castle. Thatâs when your king and rook sort of switch places.
It was a wonderful learning experience that Iâll remember for the rest of my teaching career.
JUDYâS MOM
I couldnât help but notice that Judy wasnât spending much time doing homework. In fourth grade, she used to come home from school and work on it for
hours
. Even if she didnât have too much homework, she would go over it again and again until it was perfect.
I naturally assumed that her workload would be a little heavier in fifth grade, but that wasnât the case. It seemed like she never did any homeworkat
all
. I was worried. Maybe she had lost her enthusiasm for school.
I asked Judy about it and she said that Miss Rasmussen was a really easy teacher who didnât believe in giving a lot of homework. When we had our parent-teacher conference, I suggested to Miss Rasmussen that maybe she should give the students more homework. She told me that some of the students felt there was too much homework as it was, and a few of the parents had complained about the time their kids had to spend on it.
She said
He beat me pretty fast in that first e-mail game. I guess I wasnât paying close enough attentionbecause he captured my queen and after that he just took all my other pieces one by one. Iâll never let that happen again.
After he checkmates me, he asks me if Iâm up for another game or am I too chicken? I tell him to bring it on, hotshot. He moves one of his pawns up and so do I. I move the pieces on our chessboard at home, so I can see the game better.
Chess by e-mail is pretty cool. I would usually check my mail after dinner and Dadâs move would be there waiting for me. I liked having as much time as I needed to decide what to do next. No pressure.
I learned some of the basic strategy by then. Like, you want to bring your pieces out from the back row as early in the game as possible. But you donât want to bring your queen out too early, because then sheâs open to attack and she can get in the way of your pawns. Itâs a really complicated game. You gotta think.
BRENTON DAMAGATCHI, GRADE 5
Snik came in one morning with his chessboard. He told me he was playing a game against his dad and he needed some advice. He set up the pieces and I looked things over. He had done apretty nice job. His dad was a piece ahead, but Snik was in a good position and could still win.
I told him a few things he didnât know. Like a rook is worth more than a bishop or knight, which are worth about the same. And if you have two pawns in position to make a capture, you want to capture toward the center of the board. But he had already learned a lot of stuff on his own. Heâs smarter than he gives himself credit for.
Iâm an okay player. Not great. Iâve never really studied the game. The most important thing to know is that chess isnât a battle, itâs a war. You want to gradually build up tiny advantages and make your position better until the enemy has no choice but to quit. I advised Snik to castle so he could get his king away from the center of the board.
MISS RASMUSSEN, FIFTH-GRADE TEACHER
I really didnât know all that much about chess myself. I had played a tiny bit as a child. All I knew was how the various pieces moved. I didnât understand strategy.
But when I saw Sam and Brenton talking over a chessboard, it seemed like one of those wonderful teachable moments we live for. So I scrappedour lesson plan for the morning. I drew the chessboard on the chalkboard and explained to everyone the basic rules of play.
The students started giving their ideas about which move Sam should make next. Sam and Brenton stood at the front of the class and explained why some moves might be smarter than others. It was fascinating for the whole class! I could almost see the wheels turning in their little heads.
We spent the whole morning doing that, and finally Sam decided to castle. Thatâs when your king and rook sort of switch places.
It was a wonderful learning experience that Iâll remember for the rest of my teaching career.
JUDYâS MOM
I couldnât help but notice that Judy wasnât spending much time doing homework. In fourth grade, she used to come home from school and work on it for
hours
. Even if she didnât have too much homework, she would go over it again and again until it was perfect.
I naturally assumed that her workload would be a little heavier in fifth grade, but that wasnât the case. It seemed like she never did any homeworkat
all
. I was worried. Maybe she had lost her enthusiasm for school.
I asked Judy about it and she said that Miss Rasmussen was a really easy teacher who didnât believe in giving a lot of homework. When we had our parent-teacher conference, I suggested to Miss Rasmussen that maybe she should give the students more homework. She told me that some of the students felt there was too much homework as it was, and a few of the parents had complained about the time their kids had to spend on it.
She said
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