South Lebanon Challenge A Class: October 2013

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Week 11 Seminar Notes & Recap

Week 11 - time is a flying!

Here's the recap..... (PLEASE SEE THE GUIDE FOR HOMEWORK DUE FOR WEEK 12 )

Challenge (Sweet treat reward)
1. What does the word amphibian mean & what does it describe?
2. Integration between 3 or more subjects.

Logic/Math
Only 3 math terms this week. Keep drilling!

Each week we will continue to review previous week's concepts through dialectic discussion with the problems the students bring in. In each problem we work we will ask the same questions (based on the common topics) - see previous blog for detail on questions.

I quickly previewed concepts of dividing with decimals & expanded notation.

We played ZONK with math terms again.

POINTS: Bring in a math problem from their homework to explain to the class - 5 points.

Be sure the students bring in the completed lessons you assign to class (even if they are not doing Saxon).

**Students should bring in a problem from their math lesson to share (can be one they struggled with; one they think will stump the class or anything they found interesting & would like to share & explain) This will help them be rhetorical!!

Grammar/Latin
In class we went over questions from last week's homework.

We previewed this weeks homework -exercises #50-54. We discussed the new vocab on p51. NOTE - for exercise #52 - students are to write out translation.

We played games to review declining vocab. Again - the boys won!

****It is important that the students parse/label each sentence so that they can clearly identify the parts of speech in order to translate it properly.   I will be awarding candy for those who do!!! :)

Suggestions for parents @ home:  Make sure you and your student preview the next week's lesson as stated in the guide so that they are prepared to discuss it in class. Drill student on vocabulary & grammar rules. Check daily assignments (or have students check). Continue to have students focus on memorizing endings for the declensions - sing the songs & work those charts, as well as memorize vocab & rules. It's a good idea to write the endings out - like copying mastery charts in Essentials.

Research
Today the students presented on owls/birds of prey. Presentation skills were once again good. Continue to have them practice their presentation skills at home - especially eye contact. When you feel your child is ready, have them start presenting from notecards.

Continue to look for interesting, unknown facts about the topic and put those IEW tools to work. Again, they should develop a good paragraph with interesting facts - min 5-7. The skills we are working on are research as well as good presentation skills.  **They can bring in a "sample/example" of the topic.

Our next topic will be amphibians so look ahead for topics & sources.

Here are some possible helpful websites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti0HDtRY8u4
http://carm.org/dictionary-amphibians
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/
http://www.animalspot.net/category/amphibians
http://www.worldgiants.com/index.php
http://phys.org/news166207786.html

POINTS: Geckos can walk across a ceiling with their uniquely designed feet. Does this animal contradict the theory of Evolutions?

Suggestions for parents @ home: Help students locate sources from Internet or library. Assist in editing rough draft; listen & provide feedback for oral report (eye contact, etc). & check drawing. Have them practice reading their report for you or even the whole family!

Expo/Comp

Sorry to be "long-winded"on this. It's again deep thinking & thought it was worth giving you the deatil of what was covered in class. Rachel - I know you sat in today - if you can think of anything helpful to add, please email it to the moms.

Today we learned a new "stylistic" tool - amplification - the "who cares & why". It's what you leave the reader with. We amplify the issue - why does it matter to someone else? This is similar to the IEW "most significant & why". We discussed that in previous essays we ended with repeating our thesis. Our essay seemed to "stop short". I asked the students "who cares" about the essay outside the people in the essay, mom etc. We looked at some previous class issues on other books & brainstormed who might care & why. Examples we used in class were (I asked the students to make notes so hopefully they should have it written down):

Who cares if Edmund followed the white witch?
Peter - his brother, loves him; Aslan - loves Edmund, doesn't want to die; All Narnia - they want to survive
Who cares if Capt. Bowditch indentures Nat?
Liza - brother, loves him; Lupe - benefits from Nat's teachings; Ropes & Hodges - want a good employee

We compared the the examples. We are basically looking at how others are/were affected by the decisions of the characters in our issue. Right now our focus was on brainstorming characters in the book. You can go beyond the story if that is comfortable to you & your student (i.e. "Every mother would be relieved her child was saved from the white witch." This is an advanced skill.)

Things to remember - This is NOT a new proof or repeated proof. When brainstorming we want to eliminate the characters/ people in the issue (In the Teacher Guide - ignore p 102 #2 where it lists "Edmund" & p 103 where it shows "It matters to: Edmund" - again eliminate the characters in the thesis). You can look at p 113 in the Teacher Guide for a sample "Edmund caused tremendous trouble not only for himself, but - even worse - for his siblings and for all of Narnia" - Who cares? - his siblings & all of Narnia; Why? Edmund's decision caused them tremendous trouble.

Another example: (issue should Aslan sacrifice his life) "Aslan's death demonstrates the kind of sacrifice and forgiveness necessary for Edmund to be redeemed from deceit & disloyalty." who cares? Edmund why? he can be redeemed

At home, will sort their ANI, come up with "labels"/main proofs. They will complete the Exordium worksheet (p29) and then pages 45-46 (guide to amplification), pages 47-49 (completing their outline).

They will need to bring their sorted ANI charts & all the workbook pages to class next week.

Remember to look for a good title for the "groups" in their ANI - one that encompasses the items grouped together. This is really key.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Assist students in sorting ANI & coming up with "labels" (that will be their main proofs). Check ANI for duplicated items. Review student workbook pages & assist them with brainstorming the "who cares & why". Watch DVD 2 Lesson 4 to prepare for next week's lesson.

Debate/Geography

We drew Europe and filled in the countries & features we learned the last 2 weeks and then added the new items for this week, identifying the countries & features. Next week I'll try to allow some time for practicing the world. Students should be doing this on the large laminated sheets at least once each week.

We played pictionary to review geography terms.

Students should bring in maps that they've drawn. They'll show the class their best map.

DRAW FOR POINTS!!! Students will earn 5 points for each map drawn this week (after they draw 8 which would be 2 per day for 4 days) Bring to class your best map!!

****Remember that at the end of the year we will be drawing the world - states, countries features - everything from memory. Students need to continue to draw areas they've been tested on. (They can draw on the large laminated maps I gave them at the beginning of the year). The more they draw the better they'll get - the more they will be able to remember.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Drill student on provinces & capitals as well as geography terms. Check daily drawings for accuracy & labeling. Be sure students continue to draw previous geographic areas - adding them to new areas. Continue to drill previous states & capitals.

Rhetoric

We reviewed our ICJH summaries & then the students broke into teams to answer questions based on on the Chapter. We read over DCYB and discussed the related bible verses.

We raced to write catechism question answers with each teammate writing 1 word, then next teammate wrote 2nd word etc. The students seem to be struggling with the catechism questions. They are very tricky because they have to state them word for word. Please let me know how I can come along side you in this area.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Discuss chapter 11 in each book. Check that student is filling out study guide for ICJH & answering questions for DCYB. Drill catechism questions (remember they must be able to state word for word).

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Week 10 Seminar Recap & Notes

Week 10 - only 5 more to go!

Here's the recap..... (PLEASE SEE THE GUIDE FOR HOMEWORK DUE FOR WEEK 11 )

Challenge (Sweet treat reward)
1. Find a reference to birds in scripture
2. Find integration between 3 subjects in something you are studying this week (be specific)

Logic/Math
Only 2 math terms this week. Keep drilling!

Each week we will continue to review previous week's concepts through dialectic discussion with the problems the students bring in. In each problem we work we will ask the same questions (based on the common topics) - see previous blog for detail on questions.

I quickly previewed concepts converting decimals to fractions, fractions to decimals & percents to decimals/fractions.

We played ZONK with math terms.

POINTS: Bring in a math problem from their homework to explain to the class - 5 points.

Be sure the students bring in the completed lessons you assign to class (even if they are not doing Saxon).

**Students should bring in a problem from their math lesson to share (can be one they struggled with; one they think will stump the class or anything they found interesting & would like to share & explain) This will help them be rhetorical!!

Grammar/Latin
In class we went over questions from last week's homework.

We previewed this weeks homework -exercises #45-49. We discussed the new vocab on p47.

We played charades w/ vocab. This time is was the boys who took home the gold!

****It is important that the students parse/label each sentence so that they can clearly identify the parts of speech in order to translate it properly.   I will be awarding candy for those who do!!! :)

Suggestions for parents @ home:  Make sure you and your student preview the next week's lesson as stated in the guide so that they are prepared to discuss it in class. Drill student on vocabulary & grammar rules. Check daily assignments (or have students check). Continue to have students focus on memorizing endings for the declensions - sing the songs & work those charts, as well as memorize vocab & rules. It's a good idea to write the endings out - like copying mastery charts in Essentials.

Research
Today the students presented on butterflies/moths. Presentation skills were good. Continue to have them practice their presentation skills at home. Continue to look for interesting, unknown facts about the topic and put those IEW tools to work. Again, they should develop a good paragraph with interesting facts - min 5-7. The skills we are working on are research as well as good presentation skills.  **They can bring in a "sample/example" of the topic.

Our next topic will be owls/birds of prey so look ahead for topics & sources.

Here are some possible helpful websites:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/eagle-cam-live/?source=HP_eagle_cam_20130416
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/great-horned-owl/
http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/animals-plants/australia/nocturnal-house/boobook-owl/
http://www.pbs.org/falconer/man/#2,000%20BC

POINTS: What language does the scientific name falconiform come from and what does it mean.

Expo/Comp

In class we brainstormed characters & their actions from Number the Stars; came up with a question and converted it to an issue. Using the circumstance worksheet (emailed to you), we looked at yet another tool to get ideas for our ANI charts. The students took notes & filled out the worksheet as a model for home. I emailed out a web address for a webinar if you would like further info.

At home, students will come up with an issue, complete the 5 Common Topics worksheet, the comparison chart and the circumstance worksheet. Using those tools they will fill out an ANI chart with a minimum of 25 items per column based on their issue. Remember, the more items in the ANI chart the more proofs & subproofs they are able to choose from when writing their paper. I know this can be really difficult. Be sure so to look over the ANI to make sure items have not been duplicated in the same column. They will bring their worksheets & ANI to class next week.

The students read their papers aloud in class. These papers seem to be better - main proofs & supporting ideas. Remember that they can add IEW tools to really dress up the paper. As I discussed with the students last week, the paragraphs really shouldn't be 3 basic sentences with "to be" verbs. Give detail & ask the "so what" question for each proof. I collected those & will return next week.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Review student worksheet pages. Check ANI for min 25 items each. Watch DVD 2 Lesson 4 to prepare for next week's lesson.

Debate/Geography

We drew southeastern Europe and filled in the countries & features we learned last week and then added the new items for this week, identifying the countries & features. Next week we'll draw all the areas we've learned, adding Europe to that for practice. Students should be doing this on the large laminated sheets at least once each week.

We played "find that term" to review geography terms.

Students should bring in maps that they've drawn. They'll show the class their best map.

Rhetoric

The students broke into teams to answer questions from ICJH chapter 9 in 60 seconds. We read over DCYB and discussed the related bible verses.

We raced to write catechism question answers with each teammate writing 1 word, then next teammate wrote 2nd word etc.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Discuss chapter 9 in each book. Check that student is filling out study guide for ICJH & answering questions for DCYB. Drill catechism questions (remember they must be able to state word for word).

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Week 9 Seminar Recap & Notes

Week 9

Here's the recap..... (PLEASE SEE THE GUIDE FOR HOMEWORK DUE FOR WEEK 10 )

Challenge (Sweet treat reward)
1. Find what catechism question gives an example of a possible defense mechanism where an animal is designed to look like something else.
2. Show integration between 3 subjects you encounter this week (be specific).

Logic/Math
Again, new math terms. Keep drilling!

We continue to review previous week's concepts through dialectic discussion. In each problem we worked we asked the same questions (based on the common topics):

Observation - What do you see? (i.e. whole numbers, exponents, multiplication, solve, equation etc)
Definition - What does .... mean? What is...? (i.e. solve, evaluate, reduce, fraction, exponent etc)
Circumstance - Can any parts be written in different way? (i.e. 54 (5 to the 4th power) same as 5x5x5x5)
Relationship - What do we need to know to answer the problem? (i.e. when dividing fractions, you multiply using the reciprocal)
Authority - What math law(s) are we using to answer? (i.e. identity law)
What is the answer?
Can we work the problem in a different way?

The students brought in problems to share - and again we dialectically discussed each one then worked to answer it. They continue to improve in their observation and concentrating on how to solve the problem versus the answer itself.

I quickly previewed concepts of triangular & rectangular area, graphs and proportions (using cross multiplication).

POINTS: Bring in a math problem from their homework to explain to the class - 5 points.

Be sure the students bring in the completed lessons you assign to class (even if they are not doing Saxon).

**Students should bring in a problem from their math lesson to share (can be one they struggled with; one they think will stump the class or anything they found interesting & would like to share & explain) This will help them be rhetorical!!

Grammar/Latin
In class we went over questions from last week's homework.

Before we previewed this week's homework, we talked about expletives and look at some sentences for examples. I will email out a document. Hint: If sentence begins with sunt or est it will usually be translated "there are" or "there is". The new vocab is on p 42 & 44. Remember they will make a flashcard for all new vocab as well as grammar rules (blue book) & decline the new vocab in the spiral notebook under 3rd declension. We practiced declining pars (3rd declension i-stem).

We played a game where I gave a sentence structure & pattern and they had to come up with that sentence & translate into Latin. They did great!!

****It is important that the students parse/label each sentence so that they can clearly identify the parts of speech in order to translate it properly. I reminded students of this again today. I will be awarding candy for those who do!!! :)

Suggestions for parents @ home:  Make sure you and your student preview the next week's lesson as stated in the guide so that they are prepared to discuss it in class. Drill student on vocabulary & grammar rules. Check daily assignments (or have students check). Continue to have students focus on memorizing endings for the declensions - sing the songs & work those charts, as well as memorize vocab & rules. It's a good idea to write the endings out - like copying mastery charts in Essentials.

Research
Today the students presented on insects. Once again - quite interesting. Continue to have them practice their presentation skills at home. Continue to look for interesting, unknown facts about the topic and put those IEW tools to work. Again, they should develop a good paragraph. The skills we are working on are research as well as good presentation skills.  **They can bring in a "sample/example" of the topic.

Our next topic will be butterflies/moths so look ahead for topics & sources.

Here are some possible helpful websites:

₁http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moth
₂http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/butterfly
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy/term/125
http://www.lepidopterology.com/
http://bugguide.net/node/view/57
http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=home&f_keyword_all=butterfly&action=submitsearch&section= 0&f_search_type=icr&f_constraint=both&f_context_all=any&f_context_exact=any&f_context_any=any &f_context_without=any

POINTS: Find Latin word for butterfly, state it's declension & gender & decline word. 5 points

Expo/Comp

In class we discussed verbs and their importance in our writing. We looked at sentences with passive/active, vague/action; cliche/literal verbs. Although sometimes appropriate to use, we usually want to avoid this in our writing (they do not give us "clarity" in our writing).

We also took an "in-depth" look at our outlines. Several students volunteered to share their main proofs and their supporting proofs. We found that in some - our main proof needed a different (more general) label and/or our supporting ideas were the same as our main proof just worded differently. Using the example "I liked the book"; my subproofs could be 1. mysteries are my favorite stories, 2. it kept me interested with twists & turns and 3. it brought about emotion. These would all be "reason" to support that I liked the book. I wouldn't use "because I enjoyed it" - that is the same thing as "i liked it". In reviewing the outlines, examine the main proofs & supporting proofs to make sure they are not 1 in the same. Please email me if you have any questions or need additional help. Making the "labels" (that are our proofs) for our sorted ANI items can be really tricky. (Also check the ANI to make sure items listed are not the same thing just worded differently, but are separate "reasons".)

This week the students will write their draft (using & according to their outline; complete wkbk p 33-29 & then edit their essay. There is a student checklist on p 213 - AGAIN, please feel free to modify for those IEW techniques. ***This week they will have exordium added to the beginning of their essay and their thesis (& proofs) will have parallelism. See sample essay on p.40. They will still be writing 1st reason, 2nd reason & 3rd reason; the "was that" in proofs & "because in conclusion.

They will bring in their papers along with their outlines to class next week.

READ NUMBER THE STARS.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Review student workbook pages. Assess outline for proofs & subproofs. Watch DVD 4 Lesson 7 to prepare for next week's lesson.

Debate/Geography

The students took their South America quizzes. I'll return those next week.

We traced an outline of eastern Europe and filled in the countries. Another Challenge A director created a document of breaking down Europe into 6 weeks. It seemed logical & workable to me so I will be following that in class, but feel free to break up the material any way you choose. (She starts with Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe, then Nordic Countries). I will email that out.

Students should bring in maps that they've drawn. They'll show the class their best map.

Rhetoric

This week the students broke into team "girls" & team "boys. Each team had 60 seconds to answer questions from ICJH chapter 8. We read over DCYB and discussed the related bible verses.

We raced to write catechism question answers with each teammate writing 1 word, then next teammate wrote 2nd word etc. Tie between the girls and boys! Study up on those questions.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Discuss chapter 9 in each book. Check that student is filling out study guide for ICJH & answering questions for DCYB. Drill catechism questions (remember they must be able to state word for word).

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Week 8 Seminar Recap & Notes

Week 8 - Class was a little rowdy today, we were a little hot and cramped - but we made it through!!

Here's the recap..... (PLEASE SEE THE GUIDE FOR HOMEWORK DUE FOR WEEK 9 )

Challenge (Sweet treat reward)
UH-OH - MRS. C can't remember our sweet treat challenges. 5 points to whoever took good notes & can email them to me!!!!!

Logic/Math
The math terms continue - not too many this week. I didn't include the definitions, so they will need to look them up. Keep drilling those terms.

We continued what we did last week - reviewed previous week's concepts through dialectic discussion. In each problem we worked we asked the same questions (based on the common topics):

Observation - What do you see? (i.e. whole numbers, exponents, multiplication, solve, equation etc)
Definition - What does .... mean? What is...? (i.e. solve, evaluate, reduce, fraction, exponent etc)
Circumstance - Can any parts be written in different way? (i.e. 54 (5 to the 4th power) same as 5x5x5x5)
Relationship - What do we need to know to answer the problem? (i.e. when dividing fractions, you multiply using the reciprocal)
Authority - What math law(s) are we using to answer? (i.e. identity law)
What is the answer?
Can we work the problem in a different way?

The students brought in problems to share - and again we dialectically discussed each one then worked to answer it. They get better each week with the questions, definitions etc.

I quickly previewed concepts of ratios and simple probability.

The students took a math vocab quiz. I will return those next week.

POINTS: Bring in a math problem from their homework to explain to the class - 5 points.

Be sure the students bring in the completed lessons you assign to class (even if they are not doing Saxon).

**Students should bring in a problem from their math lesson to share (can be one they struggled with; one they think will stump the class or anything they found interesting & would like to share & explain) This will help them be rhetorical!!

Grammar/Latin
In class we went over questions from last week's homework and reviewed the rules for the 3rd declension.

We previewed this week's homework exercises. There were new Latin rule on p 39 that will go in the "rules" section of their notebook. The new vocab is on p 39. Remember they will make a flashcard for all new vocab as well as grammar rules (blue book) & decline the new vocab in the spiral notebook under 3rd declension. We reviewed what an appositive is in English (noun that explains or renames subject - i.e. My tutor, Mrs. C,..... - Mrs. C is the appositive) and how to diagram. We looked an a Latin sentence, identified the appositive and diagrammed the sentence.

****It is important that the students parse/label each sentence so that they can clearly identify the parts of speech in order to translate it properly. I reminded students of this again today.

We played Latin bingo to review vocab. I returned the grammar quiz from last week.

Suggestions for parents @ home:  Make sure you and your student preview the next week's lesson as stated in the guide so that they are prepared to discuss it in class. Drill student on vocabulary & grammar rules. Check daily assignments (or have students check). Continue to have students focus on memorizing endings for the declensions - sing the songs & work those charts, as well as memorize vocab & rules. It's a good idea to write the endings out - like copying mastery charts in Essentials.

Research
Today the students presented on arachnids. Once again - quite interesting. Continue to have them practice their presentation skills at home. The main thing I notice is lack of eye contact and/or speaking loud enough/slow enough. Continue to look for interesting, unknown facts about the topic and put those IEW tools to work. Again, they should develop a good paragraph. The skills we are working on are research as well as good presentation skills.  **They can bring in a "sample/example" of the topic.

Our next topic will be insects so look ahead for topics & sources.

Here are some possible helpful websites:

₁ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insect
₂http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/insects-arachnids/flea1.htm
₃http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect
⁴http://www.icr.org/article/7089/
⁵ http://www.icr.org/article/origin-flight/
⁶ http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2011/11/30/how-fairy-wasps-cope-with-being-smaller-than-amoebas/

Expo/Comp

In class we talked about a way to "invite" our readers into our paper - Exordium. We compared sentences to evaluate our options for an exordium. We learned through comparison that we have 5 alternatives:

question - Have you ever been tempted to do something wrong for the right reason?
quote - "...Pray that you will not fall into temptation." Luke 22:40 (can be any quote)
challenge - Imagine you've finally found a way to save your mothers life. (imperative sentence beginning with verb)
joke or anecdote: People are like tea bags...you've go to put them into hot water before you know how strong they are. OR Forbidden fruit creates many jams.
statistic: Digory had a 50% chance of making the right decision. (They can make up statistic as long as it "sounds" real - Boys will rise to the challenge 90% of the time.)

We discussed that as we work through or exordium options, it must relate to their issue (for those examples the issue was "whether Digory should have taken the apple to heal his mother"). Exordium is like a "dramatic opener" in IEW. NOTE: Students don't have to develop "great" exordia yet. They need to know each kind, that they can use any kind and that it goes in the beginning of the paper. Let them do the thinking - you be there as a gentle guide to help them process & to give suggestions.

For this week they are to:
1. Sort ANI (come up with labels/titles for sorted items) and choose A or N; develop thesis
2. Complete workbook page 29 (exordium)
3. Complete arrangement worksheet B p 30-31
4. Write outline - according to the guideline p 32

I WOULD LIKE THEM TO BRING ALL OF THIS TO CLASS NEXT WEEK.

I returned the papers from last week. Students who weren't able to read last week, read today (or I read for them). We discussed making sure we are writing our essays from our outline - ensuring we have a clear "proof" (topic sentence) and that we can clearly identify each supporting idea. This comes from sorting the ANI - once we have grouped/sorted like items we come up with a "title" or "label" for that group. That label/title becomes the "main proof". i.e. food, shelter, clothing - these items would be grouped together under a title like "basic needs" or "well- being". My proof sentence would be "The first reason Mr. B should indenture Nat was that it would provide for his basic needs." Then those 3 reasons, food, shelter & clothing would be the 3 supporting ideas.

We talked about using IEW techniques to make our paragraphs interesting (so we wouldn't say.."Nat would have shelter. He would have food. Nat would have clothing - We would use our stylistic techniques to "dress up" these sentences/paragraph). While we are following some "basic structures" and sentence wording, we want to start elevating our papers according to the student's abilities. The sample essays in the student & teacher book are "basic"-to give a model of structure. However, even these have some stylistic techniques (p24who/which clause in 2nd paragraph; ly opener & 3rd paragraph, prepositional phrase opener with "imagery" - from his very core in 4th paragraph). The editing template in the teacher manual (p257) for our upcoming paper references "repaired week verbs". I encourage you to add to these editing templates in the same way you did with IEW papers. Again, you know your students abilities - set the bar appropriately for them. Please call me if you have any questions on this. I am happy to assist/clarify in any way I can.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Review student workbook pages. Assess outline & workbook pages to ensure it meets with this week's requirements. Watch DVD 2 Lesson 3 to prepare for next week's lesson. Also look ahead to the sample essay on p91 in teacher book.

Debate/Geography

The students took a geography terms quiz. I will return those next week.

We played minute map, each person drawing as much as South America before passing to their teammate. We also played geography term pictionary.

We will have our test on South America next week, so focus in on those features etc.

Students should bring in maps that they've drawn. They'll show the class their best map.

Rhetoric

This week the students broke into 2 person teams and came up with as many reasons for why life "couldn't just happen" from chapter 7. We read over DCYB and discussed the related bible verses.

Volleyball was the name of the catechism review game today. Boys....better practice your bump! :)

Suggestions for parents @ home: Discuss chapter 8 in each book. Check that student is filling out study guide for ICJH & answering questions for DCYB. Drill catechism questions (remember they must be able to state word for word).

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Week 7 Seminar Recap & Notes

Week 7 - half way through 1st semester (well almost!)

Here's the recap..... (PLEASE SEE THE GUIDE FOR HOMEWORK DUE FOR WEEK 8 )

Challenge (Sweet treat reward)
1. Find the language that the scientific work arachnid comes from & what does it mean
2. Preform the "tarantella" dance that Italians did in the 1300s

Logic/Math
I verbally gave yet another list of math terms. I didn't include the definitions, so they will need to look them up. Keep drilling those terms.

We continued what we did last week - reviewed previous week's concepts through dialectic discussion. In each problem we worked we asked the same questions (based on the common topics):

Observation - What do you see? (i.e. whole numbers, exponents, multiplication, solve, equation etc)
Definition - What does .... mean? What is...? (i.e. solve, evaluate, reduce, fraction, exponent etc)
Circumstance - Can any parts be written in different way? (i.e. 54 (5 to the 4th power) same as 5x5x5x5)
Relationship - What do we need to know to answer the problem? (i.e. when dividing fractions, you multiply using the reciprocal)
Authority - What math law(s) are we using to answer? (i.e. identity law)
What is the answer?
Can we work the problem in a different way?

The students brought in problems to share - and again we dialectically discussed each one then worked to answer it. They get better each week with the questions, definitions etc.

I quickly previewed concepts of rounding (with whole & mixed numbers), estimation, as well as adding & subtracting fractions with different denominators.

We will have a math terms quiz next week - so be sure to review!!!

POINTS: Bring in a math problem from their homework to explain to the class - 5 points.

Be sure the students bring in the completed lessons you assign to class (even if they are not doing Saxon).

**Students should bring in a problem from their math lesson to share (can be one they struggled with; one they think will stump the class or anything they found interesting & would like to share & explain) This will help them be rhetorical!!

Grammar/Latin
Whew! Today felt like a whirlwind of information as we covered the 3rd declension. We went through rules # 45-64 in the blue grammar book. These will be really important for them to memorize as there are so many & the determine how the noun is declined (what endings to use - there really 4 "endings charts" for 3rd declension). In short, we learned that all 3rd declension nouns have "is" as the genative (sing) ending; we must 1st determine the gender of the noun (does it name a male or female person - if not we look to the ERrOR, SOX LANCET rules); once gender is determined we look to see if any "i-stem rules" apply (masc or fem - does stem end in 2 consonants or are there the same number of syllables in the nominative & genative singular; neuter - does nominative sing. end in "e", "ar" or "al"). The students took notes on other similarities/rules such as in the i-stem there is and "i" in the genative plural, in the 3rd neuter, the nominative & accusative will match (be same) and the nominative & genative plural always end in a. Boy - that doesn't sound "in short" does it???? (lol) Please let me know if you have any questions.

We previewed each homework exercise. There were new Latin rules on p 35 that will go in the "rules" section of their notebook. The new vocab is on p 36. For exercise 30 #2 - they are already declining that vocab in the spiral notebook, so I don't see a point of doing it again. Remember they will make a flashcard for all new vocab as well as grammar rules (blue book) & decline the new vocab in the spiral notebook under 3rd declension.

Here is some "dialogue" going on in the Challenge forum regarding rule #52 - do what you feel is appropriate for your family/child:

#1
I am having a hard time grasping what Grammar rule # 52 means. I understand rules 46-51. Could someone clarify #52 for me? Thanks so much!

Great job of wrestling through the Latin, Jodi! This comes from Ruth Holleran, a Challenge B Support Program Manager:

"I believe we are seeing the nominative and genitive patterns for these irregular third declensions. This rule affects nouns which end -es in Nom, -icis in the Genitive. Same with the others which have parentheses.

Henle says later on, I think in the latter lessons of this book, that we can ignore Rule 52! I noticed it while studying with my Ch I child.
Truly, I have never noticed a need for this Rule in all of Henle I. It is safe to ignore."

#2
For those of us who are not satisfied knowing that you can just ignore grammar rule #52: : )

This rule is a rhyme that deals with the exceptions to the SOX rule found in rare third declension nouns. Nominative singular nouns that end with the first six endings mentioned in the rhyme should be feminine because they end in an "s" or an "x", but they are masculine. Words ending in "us" should also be feminine but are neuter.

It is important that the students parse/label each sentence so that they can clearly identify the parts of speech in order to translate it properly.

They took a quiz grammar rules in class. I will return those next week.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Make sure you and your student preview the next week's lesson as stated in the guide so that they are prepared to discuss it in class. Drill student on vocabulary & grammar rules. Check daily assignments (or have students check). Continue to have students focus on memorizing endings for the declensions - sing the songs & work those charts, as well as memorize vocab & rules. It's a good idea to write the endings out - like copying mastery charts in Essentials.

Research
Today the students presented on mollusks. We had several students present on the same thing and it was very interesting to see that in each there was different information presented. Continue to have them practice their presentation skills at home. Continue to look for interesting, unknown facts about the topic and put those IEW tools to work. Again, they should develop a good paragraph. The skills we are working on are research as well as good presentation skills. **They can bring in a "sample/example" of the topic - although no spiders please (lol - I guess if they want to bring in dead one I might not get too freaked out!!).

Our next topic will be arachnids so look ahead for topics & sources.

Here are some possible helpful websites:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/spider-silk
http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/5986/Designer-Edge-Image-of-the-Day--Super-Strong-Synthetic-Spider-Web.aspx
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arachnid
⁵http://www.icr.org/article/amber-trapped-spider-web-too-old-for/
⁶ http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/spider-webs/#/spider-in-tunnel-web_26690_600x450.jpg
http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/insects-arachnids/spider.htm
http://www.icr.org/article/spectacular-spider-long-living-fossil/

POINTS: Find a bible scripture that mentions a spider. 5 points

Expo/Comp

In class we learned another tool to help us come with ideas for our ANI charts - the comparison chart/worksheet. We covered the basics of comparison with the 5 Common Topics worksheet and today we went a little deeper using our comparison charts. I modeled how to complete the chart by comparing a fork and spoon and together we compared Mr. Hopper & myself. We then brainstormed characters and their actions from The Magician's Nephew, chose 1, created our question, & converted it to an issue. In class, we used the issue "whether Digory should have kept the apple for his mother". We then compared Digory to Uncle Andrew. I explained to the student they could have compared Digory to anyone. Looking at our comparison chart, we looked at how all of them could go in our "I" column and how we could evaluate each for ideas for the A or N columns.

This week the students will to come up with a question & convert it to an issue. Then they will compare one of the terms in the issue (terms are nouns - usually will be a person) to something/someone else using workbook p 67 (just like we did in class & just how they do it on the LTW DVD - START W/ SIMILARITIES). The students can do more than 1 comparison worksheet (i.e. Digory to Polly; another Digory to Abraham of the bible). They will also complete the 5 Common Topics worksheet (I will email the forms so they don't have to write in the book.) Using those 2 tools, they will complete their ANI charts with a minimum of 20 in each column.

They will bring their 5 Common Topics worksheet, the comparison worksheet & their ANI charts to class.

I collected their 5 paragraph essays and will return next week. I'll be checking for parallelism in the thesis & for "wording" in each paragraph according to the guideline/sample provided (i.e "The first reason...was that...; The second reason....was that"). For those who did not get to read this week, they will read next week.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Review student workbook pages. Assess paper to ensure it meets with this week's requirements. Re-watch DVD Lesson 5 Invention if needed for this week's assignment. Watch DVD 3 Lesson 5 Elocution to prepare for next week's lesson.

Debate/Geography

The students took their quiz over Central America, Greater & Lesser Antilies. I will return those next week.

I introduced South America. We practiced drawing & labeling the countries. Then played mental geography.

We will have a geography terms quiz next week.

Students should bring in maps that they've drawn. They'll show the class their best map.

DRAW FOR POINTS!!! Students will earn 5 points for each map drawn this week (after they draw 8 which would be 2 per day for 4 days) Bring to class your best map!!

****Remember that at the end of the year we will be drawing the world - states, countries features - everything from memory. Students need to continue to draw areas they've been tested on. So this week, students should draw USA (states, capitals, features), Canada and Central America & the Antilies. (They can draw on the large laminated maps I gave them at the beginning of the year). The more they draw the better they'll get - the more they will be able to remember.

Rhetoric

This week the students broke into 2 person teams and answered questions from sections of ICJH. They did very well! We read over DCYB and discussed the related bible verses.

We reviewed the new catechism questions for the week and played a relay game to review.

Suggestions for parents @ home: Discuss chapter 7 in each book. Check that student is filling out study guide for ICJH & answering questions for DCYB. Drill catechism questions (remember they must be able to state word for word).