Spring Semester Week 7 Seminar Recap & Notes

REMINDERS FOR SPRING SEMESTER:
-Students will be leading rhetoric discussions.  I will email out ahead of time when you child will lead so they can prepare **THIS WILL START IN WEEK 5
***ANNA WILL LEAD DISCUSSION IN WEEK 8
-Students will begin to track their own points (with your supervision).  They will need to keep a detailed "log" and turn that in to me at the end of the year (wk 14) for the awards.
-Students will also "teach" LTW cannons as we begin review

Here's the recap  (PLEASE SEE THE GUIDE FOR HOMEWORK DUE FOR SPRING SEMINAR - WEEK 8 )
   
Logic/Math
No new math vocab today

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.  The students are beginning to lead the discussions.  
Again,  we focused on "showing our work" - talking about "math sentences" and each individual step in solving/evaluating a problem.  We are also learning how to "show our work".

We played the N2K game individually & in teams.   We'll play this each 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
What an exciting day - we learned to conjugate some verbs!!!!  Verbs are really tricky, so we spent quite a bit of time learning about Latin verbs (we went over time in our seminar).  We discussed how in English, verbs have 5 principal parts.  Fortunately, we were able to pull from our Foundations pegs & Essentials verb anatomies mastery charts! Latin verbs have 4 principal parts.  For each verb, we must memorize the principal parts.  Much like nouns, verbs belong to "groups" known as conjugations - we will cover the 1st 2 in Challenge A.  They also have "stems" which are found by dropping the ending of the Present Infinitive Active form.  The principal parts are the four main forms on whose stems all other forms of the verbs are built up.  We can recognize a verb's conjugation group (1st, 2nd, etc) by it's Present Infinitive Active form ending -are.

Now that's a mouthful right???  I modeled in class how to make flashcards for verbs & how to conjugate in the spiral notebooks.  We also looked at each exercise (104-109). At home they will make flashcards for the vocab on p 103 & also conjugate those in their spiral notebooks under 1st conjugation.  They will put all rules in boxes (purple book) in the rules section of their notebooks and make flashcards for grammar rules 159-162.

We took an impromptu vocab quiz from out mass review last week.  Everyone did pretty well!

POINTS: Translate next "section" of The Giving Tree - 5 pts

****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 was our quiz on the brain.  I'll return those next week.  We drew the heart from memory, traded w/ a neighbor & graded.  I introduced the ear, we went over the definitions and labeled our drawing together in class (I also handed out a diagram that showed the correct labels - remember answer key in Biology book had a few items mislabeled).  I modeled & gave suggestions on how to draw the system.  THEY NEED TO DRAW IT LARGE ENOUGH TO SEE ALL THE DETAIL.  We referred back to our Foundations art - OILS in breaking down the drawing into circles, straight lines, dotes, angles & curved lines.

At home, students will need to define the new terms, and draw, draw, draw.  They need to be drawing the system every day - more than once a day and labeling it.  After the first few days of drawing, they need to "test" by drawing & labeling it from memory.   I showed them samples of what their "test" in 2 weeks should look like.  In addition to drawing the , students will need to continue to draw the heart in preparation for the quiz next week.  Try drawing from memory only as if testing to see what's missing.  Quiz on heart will be next week.

STUDENTS SHOULD BRING IN THEIR DRAWINGS TO CLASS.

POINT REWARD:  Find integration between 2 subjects & the ear -10 points

Suggestions for parents @ home:  Check students drawings daily.  "Test" by having them draw from memory several times, ensuring they have all elements & it is correctly labeled. 

Expo/Comp

Today the students read their papers aloud.  Good job on those similes!!

We are back to the cannon of invention.  We brainstormed characters and decision and came up with a class issue (whether Catherine should have helped the fugitive).  We reviewed how to complete the circumstance worksheet (emailed out some time ago) and get ideas for our ANI chart.  At home the students will compose an issue, work through all the invention worksheets (5 CT; Comparison; Circumstance; Definition I) and complete an ANI with 30 items in each column.  They will bring all worksheets & ANI to class.

Suggestions for parents @ home:   Assist/review all student worksheets & ANI charts.

Debate/Geography

I introduced the  section of Africa & the students drew the continent & areas/features for this week as well as last week.  Thank you for having the maps & breakdown in their folders!!!  We will continue to add new areas according the the "breakdown" each week.    The students took a geography terms quiz - I'll return next week.

We played trashketball to review previous countries, capitals & even features.  We played a few rounds of pictionary to review grammar terms.  It got quite competitive!!

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 each week (after they draw 8 which would be 2 per day for 4 days)  *****20 Points for each world map with everything they've learned so far labeled on the map (it doesn't have to all be from memory)

****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 and/or countries & capitals (it is suggested that they make flashcards for review).

Rhetoric

Sierra lead our Rhetoric discussion this week.   We read through the DCYB chapters & she came up with 5 questions from the chapters for students (in teams) to answer.

Suggestions for parents @ home:  Discuss chapter 23-26 in DCYB.  Check that student is answering questions for DCYB.  Drill all catechism questions (remember they must be able to state word for word).