Essentials Week 4 (2017-2018)

In Class...

EEL

• Reviewed Charts A through F with Essentials Bingo.
• New Part of Speech--Interjections
• Definition in EEL on 1st page of Week 4, on the bottom of chart J, or at the top of Prepositions chart in the Trivium Tables
• Definition is also found in Foundations, Cycle 2, Week 24
• Interjections are not grammatically connected to the rest of the sentence, which is important to know when diagramming the sentence.
• Read a portion of Fantastic!  Wow!  and Unreal!, a book by Ruth Heller.
• She has many books on parts of speech that are quite fun to read. 
• Also, Brian P. Cleary has some great grammar and parts of speech books.
• New Sentence Purpose--Imperative
• Played a game of commands to introduce the imperative purpose
• Imperative sentences can be positive or negative.
• An understood, or implied, "you" is the subject
• Imperative sentences can end with a period or an exclamation point
• Analytical Task Sheet
• We began task 4 (diagramming) this week.
• Remember to do tasks 1-3 first.  
• The sentence pattern will show you how to lay out the initial lines of the diagram
• The basic line looks a little like the "HILT" (sword) from the verb heart poster.
• Don't forget about the great explanation of how to do these that is included in Week 3's lesson in the EEL (pages 49/51-61/63)
• Also, remember, all 5 sentences, each, have their own page in the week's lesson that walks you through step by step for the tasks. 
• Remember, diagramming may seem overwhelming at first, but we will take it piece by piece.  And, it will get easier over time.

Math

• Played 4 in a row together at tables.
• www.nationalnumberknockout.com

IEW

• Read a good descriptive sentence at our tables.
• New Dress-up--Strong Verbs
• Discussed how simple/common verbs don't give the reader the best picture of what we are trying to convey as writers
• When we give a more specific verb, our writing comes alive and our readers better understand the scene we are portraying
• Pages 99-102 in SRP (the blue pages)
• We highlight or underline the verbs in blue.  😊
• Also pages 173, 178-179 in TWSS and page 50 in USHBW
• Advanced Dress-up--Similes
• Comparison of 2 unlike things, using "like" or "as"
• Shared a couple of examples from Challenge A books
• Not required for anyone except 2nd and 3rd years wanting a challenge. 
• Will cover again in week 14
• Page 185 in TWSS, page 113 in USHBW, page 9 in blackline masters from USHBW, and page 135 in SRP
• Continued Story Sequence Chart
• Reviewed how to ask questions from the chart in order to pull ideas from our minds of things that might be going on in the story, but that might not be explicitly stated in the source text.
• It is o.k to embellish on the text and add in the things that you imagine that might be going on, but we need to keep the facts straight and not change those.

At Home...

EEL

• page 79-80 (81-82) in EEL
• Continue practicing all charts learned so far
• Focus on Chart A until mastered
• C, E, and F are the most basic after A
• 1/2 of chart B is the sample sentences from chart A, and 1 of the other 2 parts is the imperative purpose we learned this week.
• Chart D is Foundations memory work, beginning this week!
• If you're student has all of these memorized, you can begin working on any of the advanced charts that we mentioned last week.
• Work on the vocabulary words and definitions at the beginning of each lesson covered so far.
• Analytical Task Sheet
• Try to complete 1 practice sentence each day (honestly, we sometimes only get every other day in, and that is ok!)
• Remember, it is important to ask the same questions in the same order each day to help solidify them in your student's brain.
• You can simply follow the pages in the EEL.  Or, there is a flow chart on the back of the Quid et Quo trivium tables.
• Also, I sent a few flow charts out by email.  And, there are some great ones on CCConnected (usually found in a search of "Question Confirmation," "Q&A Flow," or "Sentence Parsing").  
• Feel free to ask if you can't find one that works for you and your student!
• 1st year students should only be working on practice sentences 1,2 and maybe 3.  Each week is different, so many times, even the basic ones are harder.  You be the judge for what your student can do!
• Don't forget that you can make up your own sentences, use the history-based ones, or there are others available on CC Connected.
• Add in an interjection, if you'd like!
• 2nd and 3rd year students can try the more advanced sentences!
• Feel free to go back and try to diagram sentences you practiced last week.  Get the basics down now, before we move on to harder sentences.
• Remember the section in Lesson 3 that gives all of the details for the ATS, and remember the steps are laid out for you on each sentence's page.
• Optional--Editing exercises and Spelling List in EEL

School House Rocks--Interjections!

Math

• Practice Number Knockout at home
• Practice and work on speed and accuracy of math facts

IEW

• Lesson 6 from the US History Based Writing book
• Try to focus on descriptive writing this week.  
• Add in those strong verbs if you're student is ready.
• Remember:  Don't ban all of the weak verbs at once.  That can be overwhelming!
• The blank chart on page 99 in the SRP is to add in your own weak or banned verbs and have your student brainstorm replacements.
• Use the questions from the Story Sequence Chart to get them to think about what else might be going on that they could add in.
• Put the answers to these questions on the Story Sequence Chart/KWO, so it becomes easier to add it into their writing.
• Remember:  
• You can't help too much!
• Model, let them dictate to you, suggest sentences, or whatever you find works!
• You are the teacher.  Whatever you expect of your student is what I expect!
• EZ+1---They do not need to be doing all of the dress-ups and decorations introduced, unless that is where they are with the EZ+1. 
• This goes for 1st years, as well as 2nd and 3rd years.  Although, I believe most 2nd and 3rd years are farther along.
• The Unit 3 "how-to" on page 31 in the TWSS is great!  Also, the question and answer section for this unit is good.  Its on page 34.
• Optional--Bring a completed paper (or even just the Story Sequence Chart) to turn in and share on Tuesday
• This should be a marked copy with a signed checklist if you want feedback.
• Should also have a clean (and even illustrated) copy for the student writing book
• Checklist is up to you as teacher.  What works for you is fine; just be sure you inspect!

Reminders...

• Be sure to read your lessons for next week--Week 5 in EEL Guide and Lesson 7 in USHBW book.  (We are continuing with Unit 3 in TWSS.)  

• Join us Thursday night, September 14 at 6:30pm Pie and Pudewa, at Jennifer Clinehens' home.
• Address is 5448 Osage Circle, Fayetteville
• Remember, these are so important, even for 2nd and 3rd year parents.  I learn something new each time I watch them, and I've seen them at least 4 times now!

My Prayer for you this week...

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."      ----Colossians 3:16

How wonderful is it that God revealed Himself to us and not only that, dwells in us!  Plus, he gave us each other to learn from.  Let us not forget that we are all in this together, and that is the way God intended.  None of us are alone!  Let us encourage, pray for, and help each other in any way possible, so that we all end up at the finish line together, cheering for each other and our kiddos!  May we never cease to be thankful for the opportunity we have to educate our children and even redeem our own education while we are at it!

I also like the end of this verse.  I love learning about any subject through music! 😀

Essentials Week 3 (2017-2018)

In Class...

EEL

• Reviewed Charts A & C  through chart puzzles and songs, chants, and hand motions.
• Overview of Nouns (chart E) and Pronouns (chart F)
• Noun Usages--the different jobs or roles a noun can have in a sentence
• SPIDO PONA (Minon's spider pony)
• CCC username Sarahhayden for visual
• Can be sung to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
• SPIDO are the ones that relate to the Latin cases (only listed on the chart in the guide; not on the Trivium Table)
• In English, Noun Usage is mostly determined by the location of the noun in the sentence.  
• In Latin, Noun Usage is determined by declensions (Foundations, Cycle 1)
• Noun Attributes--the different characteristics that nouns can have
• Can be sung to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"
• All nouns will have 1 of each of the first 3 pairs
• Some nouns can be collective or compound
• Practiced coming up with nouns to fit each attribute
• Definitions of each attribute on page 44(6) of EEL
• Pronouns
• Discovered how pronouns relate to nouns by looking at the different types of pronouns (i.e. Nominative pronouns replace subject nouns; Objective pronouns replace indirect objects, direct objects, and objects of the prepositions)
• Several Songs go with the different lists.  These are all from Foundations Cycle 2, weeks 4-13.
• Began Analytical Task Sheet
• Don't forget about the great explanation of how to do these that is included in Week 3's lesson in the EEL (pages 49/51-61/63)
• Only tasks 1-3 are required for 1st years this week.
• 2nd and 3rd years should at least be doing through task 4 (diagramming). They can even be working through tasks 5 and 6!
• Task 6 (Quid et Quo) is as easy as going through the proper chart and categorizing with each section.  
• In class, for example, we did "Columbus" and found the noun usage, then each of the noun attributes.

Math

• Practiced more "bouts" and "matches" for Number Knockout.  
• Don't forget that the student who is crossing off the numbers needs to be the one checking the equations and work of the other student.  This may require more time in the beginning.  Feel free to give them more than 1-2 minutes for now.
• Did a team relay of 3 minutes to try and cross of as many numbers as we could.  They did great!
• www.nationalnumberknockout.com

IEW

• Read our favorite sentence with a dress-up and our title/clincher in small groups.
• Discussed writing as authors do
• Read descriptive passages from Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
• Introduced the decoration--Alliteration (p.184 TWSS, p.45 USHBW, and p.131 SRP)
• Tongue Twisters 
• Also discussed the advance dress-up of triple extensions with the tongue twister "The big black bug, bit the big black dog on his big black nose."
• TWSS p. 186, USHBW blackline master p.14, and SRP p.143
• Introduced Story Sequence Chart (TWSS Unit 3)
• Reviewed parts of a story (setting, characters, conflict/problem, plot, climax, resolution, why/moral)
• "Somebody, Somewhere, Wanted _____, But..., So..., Then..."
• Did 1st paragraph of "The Boston Massacre" together

At Home...

EEL

• page 63 (65) in EEL
• Continue practicing Charts A, B, C, and D
• Chart B sometimes seems overwhelming, but really the declarative and exclamatory sentences are just the sample sentences from chart A!
• If you're student has all of these memorized, you can begin working on any of the advanced charts that we mentioned last week.
• Remember, chart A needs to be memorized first before moving on to any other charts.  It is the foundation.
• Begin practicing Charts E and F
• Work on the vocabulary words and definitions at the beginning of each lesson covered so far.
• Analytical Task Sheet
• Try to complete 1 practice sentence each day (honestly, we sometimes only get every other day in, and that is ok!)
• 1st year students should only be working on practice sentences 1,2 and maybe 3.  Each week is different, so many times, even the basic ones are harder.  You be the judge for what your student can do!
• Don't forget that you can make up your own sentences, use the history-based ones, or there are others available on CC Connected.
• 2nd and 3rd year students can try the more advanced sentences!
• Remember the section in Lesson 3 that gives all of the details for the ATS, and remember the steps are laid out for you on each sentence's page.
• Optional--Editing exercises and Spelling List in EEL

Math

• Practice Number Knockout at home
• Practice and work on speed and accuracy of math facts

IEW

• Lesson 5 from the US History Based Writing book
• This is a tough lesson in many ways.  Don't stress too much over it!  If all you can get done this week is just the Story Sequence Chart or even just few sentences or 1 paragraph, that is fine!  We have 2 more weeks on this unit!
•  For those who do write the full assignment, they can (but don't have to) embellish the story, but they should try not to change the historical facts.
• Remember:  
• You can't help too much!
• Model, let them dictate to you, suggest sentences, or whatever you find works!
• You are the teacher.  Whatever you expect of your student is what I expect!
• EZ+1---They do not need to be doing all of the dress-ups and decorations introduced, unless that is where they are with the EZ+1. 
• This goes for 1st years, as well as 2nd and 3rd years.  Although, I believe most 2nd and 3rd years are farther along.
• The Unit 3 "how-to" on page 31 in the TWSS is great!  Also, the question and answer section for this unit is good.  Its on page 34.
• Optional--Bring a completed paper (or even just the Story Sequence Chart) to turn in and share on Tuesday
• This should be a marked copy with a signed checklist if you want feedback.
• Should also have a clean (and even illustrated) copy for the student writing book
• Checklist is up to you as teacher.  What works for you is fine; just be sure you inspect!

Reminders...

• Be sure to read your lessons for next week--Week 4 in EEL Guide, Lesson 6 in USHBW book.  (We are continuing with Unit 3 in TWSS.)  

• Join us next Thursday night at 6:30pm Pie and Pudewa, location TBA.

My Prayer for you this week...

• May our Savior be ever present with you this week, and may He be your source of help!

"I lift up my eyes to the hills.

  From where does my help come?

  My help comes from the Lord,

  who made heaven and earth."   ----Psalm 121:1-2

Essentials Week 2 (2017-18)

In Class...

EEL

• Reviewed Chart A through a "Race the Teacher" relay and going through the songs and chants.
• Overview of Verbs, the Heart of a sentence (a copy of the chart we did together is below)
• Charts C and D are the main ones
• Advanced Charts AA and EE are great to understand verb mood, voice, person, number, and tense.
• Advanced Chart BB is great to help in understanding principal parts and especially good for tenses (at the bottom)
• Charts FF and GG are blank to give your more advanced student (or you) practice in conjugating some verbs

Math

• Started "bouts" and "matches" for number knockout.  
• I know this was a little confusing.  Please checkout the National Number Knockout website and read the "How to Play" guide, under the play tab at the top.  Also, feel free to ask any questions!
• www.nationalnumberknockout.com

IEW

• Read our paragraphs and KWOs in small groups
• Introduced "who-which clauses"
• page 172-3 in TWSS, page 31 in USHBW, page 97 in SRP
• Introduced Title from Clincher Rule
• Title should repeat (or reflect) 1-3 key words from the final clincher.
• Briefly mentioned Sense Words ("Show Emotions").  This is mentioned, briefly,  in Lesson 4 in USHBW.  There's a great brainstorming page on page 8 of the Blackline Masters, should you want to cover that now.  We will touch on it more in class when we get to quality adjectives, but those with 2nd and 3rd year students may want to do some now.  I honestly meant to do more in class yesterday, but there just wasn't time.
• Reviewed and continued work on KWO and writing from a KWO

At Home...

EEL

• page 39 (41) in EEL
• Continue practicing Chart A and B
• Begin working on Charts C and D
• If you're student has all of these memorized, you can begin working on any of the advanced charts.
• Remember, chart A needs to be memorized first before moving on to any other charts.  It is the foundation.
• Work on the vocabulary words and definitions at the beginning of each lesson covered so far.
• Optional--Editing exercises and Spelling List in EEL

Math

• Practice Number Knockout at home
• Practice and work on speed and accuracy of math facts

IEW

• Lesson 3 or 4 from the US History Based Writing book
• Lesson 3 is only one paragraph and may be easier for 1st year students.
• Lesson 4 is two paragraphs and may be more appropriate for 2nd and 3rd year students.
• You choose what is best.  Remember next week, with Unit 3, we will jump into longer paragraphs (or even multiple paragraphs).
• No matter which source text you choose, it would be good to do the brainstorming from both lessons (or at least lesson 4, if need to limit it).  This will cover the new style techniques.
• Remember:  
• You can't help too much!
• "Hands off content.  Hands on style."
• The "Adjusting for Grade Level" section in each unit (usually the 2nd page of the unit) is a great resource for scaling.  You are the teacher.  Whatever you expect of your student is what I expect!
• Optional--Bring a completed paper to turn in and share on Tuesday
• This should be a marked copy with a signed checklist if you want feedback.
• Should also have a clean (and even illustrated) copy for the student writing book
• Checklist is up to you as teacher.  What works for you is fine; just be sure you inspect!

Reminders...

• Be sure to read your lessons for next week--Week 3 in EEL Guide, Lesson 5 in USHBW book, and Unit 3 in TWSS.  There's A LOT of new stuff next week--be prepared!

• Join us Thursday night at 6:30pm the Harrell's home for Popcorn and Pudewa.

My Prayer for you this week...

• I love the devotional thought at the end of this week's EEL lesson, especially in light of our current Foundations Bible work in John 1.  The Latin word for "word" is "verbum," where we get the word "verb."  Verbs are important!  😃
• Even more important, though is that you and your student truly know the Word.
• John 1:14--"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
• May the glory, grace, and truth of the Word shine bright in your lives this week!

Week 22

In Class....

EEL

• Reviewed Principal Parts of Verbs through filling out all 5 parts for a chosen verb, using Chart D.

• Reviewed Adjectives through a relay race to fill in Chart L.
• Teachers vs. Students--Teachers won!  Students had only 2 spaces left! Great Job!  

• New Verbals Type--Participles
• See Week 21 for explanations of Verbals
• Participles are present or past participles of verbs (-ing, -ed, -en, -t, and a few rare forms)
• Used as an adjective in a sentence
• Purple frilly hat to remind us about adjectives dress-up a sentence.
• Diagrammed on a curved line under the noun/pronoun they are modifying
• Remember, verbals keep their "verbiness" while acting as other parts of speech.  (like a woman with different hats)

• Practiced diagramming a compound-complex sentence.
• A few students talked us through the question confirmation of the sentence.  
• Other students filled in the blank diagram I wrote on the board.
• We did Quid et Quo with just the adjectives from the sentence.
• Noted that verbals have their own line on the Quid et Quo.  They need to be marked there with what type of verbal they are.  They can also be marked on the part of speech that they are acting as in the sentence.

IEW

• Shared our favorite section/paragraph from our Faces of History papers with our tables/small groups.

• New Unit--Literary Critiques (Unit 9)
• These are not the old book reports that we remember.  They are better (and possibly easier to write!)
• Consists of 5 paragraphs (MHBW p.181 & 183; TWSS p.149)
• Introduction--gives title, author, publisher, date of publication, type of story, and any background
• Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 follow the Story Sequence Chart (briefly...don't give away the story!)
• Paragraph 2--covers the characters and setting
• Paragraph 3--covers the problem of want 
• Paragraph 4--covers the climax and resolution
• Conclusion--the Critique
• What do you think of the story?, Things you like or dislike, Why? with examples from story, Discuss the message or themes, Final Clincher that reflects your opinion (what you think about story)
• Longest and most developed of all paragraphs
• Checklist for Literary Critiques are different (MHBW p.184)
• Paragraphs 1-4 are to be brief enough that they count as a single paragraph when it comes to dress-ups, sentence openers, and decorations.
• Paragraph 5 (conclusion) should have all dress-ups, sentence openers, and decorations that you are requiring

• New (and final) sentence opener--WWW.ASIA.WUB
• We ran out of time to cover this in class
• We will try to cover it next week
• This should be easy for most students, and many may be doing it already.
• It is simply starting a sentence with a www.asia.wub clause.
• Covered in MHBW p.190 and TWSS p.182

Math

• Played "Shut the Box"
• We played a different version from last week.
• We used a board with 12 numbers.
• We multiplied the numbers rolled.
• We crossed off only one set of numbers that could add up to the number multiplied.
• We played 3 rounds.  Person with lowest score at the end of three rounds won.

At Home...

EEL

• Continue memorizing the charts, especially the ones from the Grammar Trivium Tables.

• Take some time this week to work on Charts L (adjectives), P (compound-complex sentences), and Q (verbals)

•  Complete tasks 1-4 on the ATS for at least 1 sentence per day 
• Tasks 1-6 should be done for second year students and those students moving on to challenge next year.
• Try out Task 5, at least the adding in modifiers part.

• Editing and Spelling exercises in EEL guide (optional)

IEW

• Prepare for and attend our Faces of History night Friday night!
• Finish your presentation
• Do a KWO of your paper
• If you need to, write out what you will be saying (in the first person) for Friday night.
• Practice your presentation.
• Gather items for your costume (parents are welcome to dress-up as well).
• Prepare your visual

• Begin working on Lesson 26 or another Literary Critique
• You may choose to do a literary critique from the story in lesson 26 or a story (from a book, movie, TV show, etc.) of your choosing.
• According to the "official" schedule, we are to do lesson 26 this week and lesson 27 next week.  However, if you would like to split it up and only do one paper, that is up to you.
• If you split it, try to do paragraphs 1 through 4 this week and the conclusion next week.  This is how the MHBW suggests to do it in lesson 26.
• Remember the first four paragraphs are brief.  The critique happens in the conclusion paragraph, which should be the longest and most developed.

Reminders for Teachers...

• Don't forget to invite friends and family to join us Friday night.
• Don't forget your food (and your student 😉 ) Friday night.
• Read your lessons for next class.  Week 23 in EEL Guide.  Lesson 26 & 27 in MHBW.
• Remember, you are the teacher!  Please adjust/scale assignments to meet your individual child's needs (be it to make it easier, more challenging, or just a little different approach.
• Always feel free to ask me anything.  If I don't know, we will find out together.  I'm not the expert, just the lead-learner.
• Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you and support you!

My Prayer for you

    The verse below was in our scripture reading this morning at breakfast.  The girls and I talked about how much we have going on right now with school and how it is so easy to just want to give up.  We also talked about how it is so important to finish our race and do what God has called us to do with diligence and our best effort, even unto the end.  My prayer for you is that you can persevere and endure to the end.  You've done a wonderful job this year, teachers!  Don't give up now!  The harvest is in sight!

Week 21

In Class....

EEL

• Played "I have/Who has" game to review various definitions and parts of our charts.

• New Sentence Structure----Compound-Complex
• Reviewed the stories we have used to remember the different sentence structures (houses and a family).
• Reviewed how each sentence structure we have studied so far goes together.
• Combined 2 simple sentences into a compound sentence, a complex sentence, and then practiced making compound-complex sentences.
• Compound-Complex sentences have 2 independent clauses and at least 1 dependent clause.

• Verbals
• Verbals are forms of verbs that are used as another part of speech in a sentence.
• 
  
• Remember:
• We will be working on these for 3 weeks.
• Essentials is a 3 year program.  
• Verbals are an advanced part of grammar.
• Don't stress if you don't understand them just yet.
• Used the idea of a woman wearing many different "hats."  She is a mom, a friend, a teacher, a tutor, a wife, a daughter, a homemaker, etc.  Yet, she is still a woman.
• Infinitives="to" + a verb (i.e. "to play" or "to fly")
• These are the baseball caps, because they can be used in many different ways and for many different purposes.
• Can be used as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
• Can be used anywhere in a sentence that a noun, adjective, adverb can be used.
• This means they can be direct objects, subjects, etc.
• Are diagrammed on stilts.
• They maintain their verb traits
• This means they can take a direct object themselves and can be modified by adjectives or adverbs.

• Practiced diagramming a compound-complex sentence.
• Each table took one clause and diagrammed it.  We then put them all together for one big diagram.
• Wow!  Compound-complex sentences really are complex, especially by the time you include an infinitive verbal!

IEW

• Shared one paragraph from our Faces of History papers with our tables/small groups.

• Practiced Editing and Revising 
• Used a paragraph about my Faces of History character that was written entirely with simple sentences, all subject openers, and contained no dress-ups or decorations.
• Discussed how boring it was to read.
• Began by finding the grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes that were in the paragraph. (Editing)
• Corrected these using the proofreading marks page in our SRN.
• Went back and tried to add in some dress-ups and sentence openers.  (Revising)

• Discussed how I used Editing and Revising with Lara at home.
• Before she ever brings her paper to me to "grade," she edits and revises her own paper.
• Usually, she writes her rough draft on Thursday.  Then, on Friday, she revises and edits.
• She will use the same steps we did in class.  First, she will edit, using the proofreading marks.  Then, she will revise, using the checklist to be sure she is including anything that I have required for her for this particular paper.

Math

• Played "Shut the Box"
• We played a simple version, using just addition.  
• There are other versions that use multiplication and even factors (see below).

• Here's a couple of blogs that share some ideas about how to play this in other ways.  The possibilities are quite numerous!
• Single player and Multi-age Ideas (with cute printables)
• Multiplication Options

At Home...

EEL

• Continue memorizing the charts, especially the ones from the Grammar Trivium Tables.

• Take some time this week to work on Charts P (compound-complex sentences) and Q (verbals)

•  Complete tasks 1-4 on the ATS for at least 1 sentence per day 
• Tasks 1-6 should be done for second year students and those students moving on to challenge next year.
• Try out Task 5, at least the adding in modifiers part.

• Editing and Spelling exercises in EEL guide (optional)

IEW

• Complete Faces of History
• Finish your paper
• Final copies should be turned in this week.
• We will share a portion of them in class. (most likely focusing on introduction/conclusion and/or titles)
• Prepare your presentation
• Do a KWO of your paper
• If you need to, write out what you will be saying (in the first person) for Friday night.
• Practice your presentation.
• Gather items for your costume (parents are welcome to dress-up as well).
• Prepare your visual

Reminders for Teachers...

• Read your lessons for next class.  Week 22 in EEL Guide.  Lesson 26 in MHBW.
• We will be starting on literary critiques (Unit 9) in IEW this week, so please review that unit in your TWSS.  
• Remember, you are the teacher!  Please adjust/scale assignments to meet your individual child's needs (be it to make it easier, more challenging, or just a little different approach.
• Always feel free to ask me anything.  If I don't know, we will find out together.  I'm not the expert, just the lead-learner.
• Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you and support you!

My Prayer for you

Simple, but true:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.     Numbers 6:24-26

We CAN make it through this, teachers!  We can persevere!  Keep up the awesome work!

Week 20

In Class....

EEL

• Wrote all of the prepositions found in the verses Ephesians 4:7 (ESV) & Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
• Made special mention of 2-word prepositions (according to, ahead of, away from, etc.).  These are on chart J, but they are often forgotten.

• Reviewed sentence patterns by finding the patterns for 8 different sentences.

• Practiced adding in modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, appositives)
• Students took the sentence with their name in it and added in at least one modifier. 
• This is the third part of Task 5 on the ATS (the back of the page).

• We didn't discuss this in class, but this is a great time to discuss misplaced modifiers with your child.
• I would only do this to the point of their understanding.  Don't push them into this, if they are not ready.  It might confuse them and cause them to start putting in misplaced or dangling modifiers in their writing, when they haven't been doing so before hand.  

IEW

• Revealed our Faces of History characters
• Shared the resources we were using as source texts
• Shared our 2 or 3 topics and/or our thesis statement.

• Went over bibliographies
• Remember the format is not as important as the fact that we do them.
• It is important to teach our children to site their sources and give credit to those they draw their ideas from.  It is teaching honesty and integrity.
• www.easybib.com
• MHBW page 212
• SRN page 18
• TWSS pages 126-127
• Citing Timeline Cards---Website that explains how to cite

• Reviewed Introduction
• 3 parts
1. Grab Reader's Attention
• Questions, Quotations, and Anecdotal (story) openers have already been discussed
• Learned today about Dramatic Opener
• This is a Short Staccato Sentence (like the 3sss decoration).  It must only have 3-5 words.  
• A short staccato sentence is also Sentence Opener #6
• This sentence opener can also be counted as a 3sss decoration, if 3 sentences are used together.
• My example: "She was England's first queen.  She was Mary Tudor.  She almost never became queen."
2. Introduce Subject and Give Background Information
• Tell who you are writing about and any background information that is important about them or their time period that will not be included in later paragraphs.
3. Mention the Topics/Thesis Statement
• This can be more than one sentence, if necessary.
• You do not want to simply list the topics.
• Make it interesting
• DO NOT use the words "I" or  "This report is about" or "I will tell you" or words like these.
• "Don't tell me what you are going to tell me; just tell me!"

• Reviewed Conclusion
• 3 parts
1. Restate the topics
• 1 sentence per topic is best
• Can repeat/reflect thesis statement
2. Most significant topic and why
• Why is this person still remembered?
• What can we learn from their legacy?
3. Final Clincher
• Repeats/Reflects the introduction
• If a Dramatic Opener is used in the introduction, a Dramatic Closer works well for the final clincher. (1 to 3 short staccato sentences as your final sentences)
• My example: "England's first queen was Queen Mary I."

Math

• Enjoyed some Pi day fun!
• Found the radius, diameter, circumference, and area for our mini pies
• Found the best buy for pizzas for 10" and 14'' pizzas at a given price.
• Enjoyed our mini pies!

At Home...

EEL

• Continue memorizing the charts, especially the ones from the Grammar Trivium Tables.

• Take some time this week to work on Charts H (conjunctions) and J (prepositions).

•  Complete tasks 1-4 on the ATS for at least 1 sentence per day 
• Tasks 1-6 should be done for second year students and those students moving on to challenge next year.
• Try out Task 5, at least the adding in modifiers part.

• Editing and Spelling exercises in EEL guide (optional)

IEW

• Continue working on Faces of History
• Finish with Phase 1
• Find your sources, Read your sources, Choose your topics
• KWO/Fused Outline for each topic
• Thesis Statement
• Move on and begin working on Phase 2
• Rough Drafts of your body paragraphs--1 paragraph for each topic
• After finish Phase 2, move on to Phase 3
• Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs
• Don't forget to do a KWO for each one before writing the rough drafts!

• Start gathering items for your costume (parents are welcome to dress-up as well).

• Start working on your visual.

• When we return from Spring Break, be prepared to share at least one paragraph from your paper.  Don't worry that it is still in rough draft form or that it may not even have all of the dress-ups and sentence openers!  You won't be turning this in to me; you will just be reading it to each other.

Don't forget to include plenty of Quality Adjectives!

Reminders for Teachers...

• ENJOY Spring Break!
• Read your lessons for next class.  Week 21 in EEL Guide.  Unit 8 in TWSS.
• Remember, you are the teacher!  Please adjust/scale assignments to meet your individual child's needs (be it to make it easier, more challenging, or just a little different approach.
• Always feel free to ask me anything.  If I don't know, we will find out together.  I'm not the expert, just the lead-learner.
• Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you and support you!

My Prayer for you

This week's scripture is lengthy passage but a beautiful one. With spring beginning this next week and things coming into bloom. I love this reminder that God has everything under control, and it is all under His timing. I especially love verses 9-13 as I think specifically on me homeschooling my kiddos. Many days don't seem beautiful, but God does "make everything beautiful in its time" (when He knows it is right). May you all enjoy a wonderful Spring Break and beginning of Spring!


Ecclesiastes 3

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
       2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
          a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
       3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
          a time to break down, and a time to build up;
       4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
          a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
       5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
          a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
       6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
          a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
       7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
          a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
       8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
          a time for war, and a time for peace.

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

Week 19

In Class....

EEL

• Completed an ATS as came into class for the sentence: "The visitor, who came from Medieval Times, called an airplane a metal bird."
• Did all tasks together, including Quid et Quo for the words: visitor, who, came, and called.

• Practiced Chart D through charades
• Had to not just say verb, but all 5 parts of the verb
• Chart D is easy for us as native English speakers; however, we still need to know the 5 principal parts of verbs and how those parts/forms are made (i.e. present participle is the "ing" form of the verb).  This is sometimes not as easy, as we don't think about the forms of the verbs we are speaking, but these forms are important in written language and, especially in learning other languages.

• Practices Chart O through a scavenger hunt
• I gave out person, number, time, and form
• Students had to give the complete phrase  (pronoun, any helping verbs, and verb in correct form)
• Chart O is the verb anatomy for "to play," which is a regular verb.  Therefore, this could be changed and used for any regular verb (anything where the past tense or past participle do not change forms, but are merely -ed).
• The scavenger hunt activity is an easy way to practice charts O, N, and K at home
• Charts N and K are the verb anatomies for "to have" and "to be," both irregular verbs and both used often in English

Fayetteville 2's Faces of History 2016

IEW

• Shared or favorite section from our "letters from the 21st Century" papers.
• These papers were so creative.  I really enjoyed reading them!

• Played the Sentence Stretching Game to review Dress-ups, Decorations, and Sentence Openers
• It was so interesting to see how different dress-ups and such could affect a sentence and make it completely different!

• Began Faces of History
• Handout--this is your key for Faces of History.  It will guide you through the process.  If you follow the handout by weeks (i.e. Phase 1 equals Week 1), you should finish by April 4.  This will allow you to stay with the class schedule and give you time to practice the presentation for a few days.
• Faces of History presentation will be April 7 at 6:30pm in the building where we had the Christmas party.  It will be a dinner theater.  I will send around a sign-up sheet for potluck for dinner.
• Papers will need to be 5 paragraph essays (teachers adjust this as you need to), based on TWSS Unit 8.  
• Presentations will need to be 5 to 7 minutes long.  I suggest you finish your paper, then do a new KWO, using your paper as your source text, for your presentation.  It would be great to present from the KWO, but if you'd like to write something out, that would be fine too.  Just remember to keep it from 5 to 7 minutes.  You may also read from your original paper, as long as you cut it down to 5-7 minutes.  
• Papers will be written in 3rd person (he/she).  Presentations are suggested to be done in 1st person (I/me).

Math

• Played Quick Minute BoardSlam
• So fun to bring this back this week. 
• Many students were getting 15+ numbers crossed off in 5 minutes!

At Home...

EEL

• Continue memorizing the charts, especially the ones from the Grammar Trivium Tables.

• Take some time this week to work on Charts D and O

•  Complete tasks 1-4 on the ATS for at least 1 sentence per day 
• Tasks 1-6 should be done for second year students and those students moving on to challenge next year.

• Editing and Spelling exercises in EEL guide (optional)

IEW

• Begin working on Faces of History
• Start with Phase 1
• Find your sources, Read your sources, Choose your topics
• KWO/Fused Outline for each topic
• Thesis Statement
• Move on and begin working on Phase 2 if have time

• Start gathering items for your costume (parents are welcome to dress-up as well).

• Start working on your visual.

• Bring your resources (source texts) with you to class next week.
• Be prepared to share the resources you are using, the character you are researching, and the topics you have chosen to write about.

Reminders for Teachers...

• Read your lessons for next class.  Week 20 in EEL Guide.  Unit 8 in TWSS.
• Remember, you are the teacher!  Please adjust/scale assignments to meet your individual child's needs (be it to make it easier, more challenging, or just a little different approach.
• Always feel free to ask me anything.  If I don't know, we will find out together.  I'm not the expert, just the lead-learner.
• Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you and support you!

My Prayer for you

 This week's "Words of Encouragement" at the end of the lesson in the EEL Guide really spoke to me.  Take a moment to read it.  It is a reminder to slow down, be watchful, and devote ourselves to prayer for our children.  If you are like me, you get caught up in trying to do everything to the best that you can, rather than leaning on the one who can do it far better than we could ever imagine!  I needed the reminder this week that I must spend time in prayer for my children each day, and I must put them in the care of the one who loves them and knows them better than I ever could.  

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."  Colossians 4:2