Week 4: Students, diagram.

What a busy day yesterday full of fantastic learning! We began diagramming, one of my absolute favorite parts of teaching this class. :)

At home with EEL this week, stick with simple S-Vi sentences in both the declarative and the imperative purpose. We really drilled in class yesterday changing a simple declarative S-Vi to a simple imperative S-Vi.

For example, we changed the statement, "Jesus wept," into a command: "Weep." Ask them every time to identify the subject of an imperative sentence: implied "you." Even better, ask them whether it's second person singular or second person plural.

I'd suggest starting with a declarative, classifying and diagramming it on the EEL Task Sheet using steps 1-4. Then change it to an imperative and do the same. See Lesson 4 in the book for diagramming tips -- both page 56 and the teacher sheets at the end of the lesson. Also, if you and your student are not used to the Q&A for sentence classification yet, use Steps 5-7 on your Simple Steps chart to identify the subject noun and intransitive verb.

Finally, we discussed interjections and nouns of direct address in class -- what they are and how to diagram them on a straight line above the subject noun. If you have the opportunity, please work with the nouns of direct address at home.

To illustrate, here are three sentences:

• Jesus wept. (Jesus is the 1st person singular subject noun of this simple declarative S-Vi.)
• Weep. (Second person singular implied "you" is the subject noun of the simple imperative S-Vi.)
• Jesus, weep. (Jesus is a noun of direct address, implied "you" is the 2nd person singular subject noun. The comma is the key because it signals Jesus as an NDA.)

Enough EEL. IEW mimics last week's assignment, with the sole difference being Topic B: Viking Explorers. The students are responsible for reviewing vocabulary and for a rough draft.

Please note, however, that the stapled assignment pages I gave them yesterday contain next week's lesson assignment as well, which for Level A is revision, then adding an introductory statement and final clincher. Level B gives students the option of writing a third paragraph on a clear topic of choice from a source text of choice before they add the intro and clincher. Refer to the initial Lesson 8 assignment page for more information on Level B.

Erin Varnell is subbing for me next week, October 5, while we're at Disney; she will explain further. But the students will turn in a final paper with an attached final checklist when I return Oct. 12.

If you need me, please email. I'll be checking! Have a great rest of the week.

Week 3: This class rocks!

Whew! We packed, crammed, shoved and otherwise jammed a TON of information into yesterday's class. For those with me last year (whom I love and am so glad to have back) none of it was new -- and I could tell on many of their faces! Encourage them at home this week to look for the holes in their mastery of EEL Lessons 1-3. I realize they know a great deal of the information, but I also know they haven't mastered every piece. Challenge them! And let them know I need their participation in class even if they believe they've "been there and done that!" Please tell those sixth graders not to check out on me yet; we've got 21 weeks to go. :)

For my newbies, yesterday may have seemed overwhelming. But it blends beautifully at home, and if you'll spend a mere 30 minutes a day working together this week, much of it will begin to make sense and flow. Mastery will not likely come. But work diligently, memorize what you can, and you'll meet success.

Now, moving on to this week's EEL focus at home, please continue reviewing Weeks 1 and 2 Memory Work and charts, which should take less than five minutes daily, and add in Week 3.

Yesterday in class, I overviewed four things:

• simple sentences (our first sentence structure)
• nouns and pronouns
• S-Vi sentences (our first sentence pattern)
• EEL Task #3 (which guides us through sentence classification of structure, purpose and pattern).

The kids did really well in class, so spend time at home this week building and reinforcing. Use the memory work and charts to overview. Use the lesson in your guide to teach; it's detailed and helpful. And use the EEL Task Sheet to dictate, check mechanics for, and classify at least one simple, S-Vi sentence each day. Two to three sentences would be even better to reinforce the process through repetition.

For IEW, we began a report on "Summarizing References" (Unit IV) using Lesson 8, "Vikings." We will take three weeks to complete this assignment. I decided to take this much time for several reasons. First, by moving from Lesson 2 to Lesson 8, we skipped the introduction of titles and clinchers in Lesson 6. I covered this extensively in class yesterday, but I want to give them time to think these through. Second, our source texts for this lesson are significantly longer than Lessons 1 and 2, and they need time to learn how to successfully KWO this much information. (More on that in a minute...) Third, we learned two sentence openers: the -ly opener (#3) and the VSS, or "very short sentence," (#6). These are easily grasped; if you need help, see Lesson 8, but I don't believe the kids will have trouble.

The assignment for this week is to KWO Topic A: Fierce Warriors. Here's how:

1. Read the source text (p. 56). Identify the main idea of each paragraph (We did this in class, and I suggested they write it down in the margin, so they should have a clue. This main idea ID is not actually part of the assignment, but I think it helps the kids grasp the "bigger picture" of where their paragraph will go and thus helps as they choose facts.).
2. Re-read the source text, tentatively marking a couple of interesting or important facts from each paragraph. Note: The facts should be interesting or important to the student, not necessarily the parent!
3. Once 5 to 7 facts are selected, you may need to help select key words that will memorably condense the fact onto a single line. I say this because some of the "facts" (berserk, for instance) are 3 to 4 sentences long, and we're trying to capture it in 3 key words. Remember, symbols, numbers and abbreviations are free.
4. When the KWO is complete, ask your student to "tell" the paragraph to you from his or her outline. This will insure it flows and makes sense.
5. Then let them write a rough draft. Depending on the skill level, they may add in the dress-ups as they go or add them in after the basic sentences are written.
6. Please go through the "completed" rough draft with them to make sure they have a clear topic and clincher and the new sentence openers.
7. They DO NOT need to turn in their rough drafts on Tuesday, but I will award a ticket to each student who shows me a rough draft paragraph.

In class next week, we will spend more time reading papers aloud and playing games than we did yesterday. We will have ample time to do this because next week's IEW assignment will repeat of this week with Topic B.

This should be a great week of learning! Let me know if you need help. Thanks for sharing the kids with me. They rock!

Erin

Week 3 Admission Ticket

Rule: "Proper nouns are always capitalized. This includes the following:

• Names of persons
• Geographical names
• Names of organizations, clubs, business firms, institutions, buildings, government bodies
• Historical events and periods, special events, calendar items (days, months, holidays)
• Nationalities, races, religions
• Brand names"

Apply the rules in the following paragraph:

The united states of america elected george washington its first president. Born february 22, 1732, in wakefield, virginia, washington was an american hero. He grew up in a farming family, became a surveyor and military man during the american revolution, and remains the only president ever to be elected twice unanimously. An episcopalian by faith, washington married martha dandridge custis on january 6, 1759, and helped raise her two children, john and martha. Thirty years later, after the revolutionary war, the newly independent u.s. installed him as its first president. His first inauguration occurred in new york; the second occurred in philadelphia. he was the only president inaugurated in two different cities. Washington was the only president who did not live in the white house. He did, however, help plan the capitol for congress. There were 13 stars on the united states flag when washington became president. Five states were added to the union during his presidency: north carolina, rhode island, vermont, kentucky and tennessee. Washington died december 14, 1799, and was buried at his home in mount vernon, virginia. He is remembered by all as an american hero.

Week 2: Learn your verbs! Use strong verbs!

I THINK our class time today went well -- it certainly flew on my end! I could tell the kids worked diligently on their memory work and IEW paragraphs at home last week. Thank you for standing by them to help, encourage and prod as needed!

We devoted our EEL time to exploring that central part of speech called a VERB, and because the EEL assignment for Week 2 remains essentially the same as last year, I've cut and pasted the following from last year's blog:

At home this week, use your Week 2 memory work and the corresponding charts to begin the road to mastery of this KEY word that gives life to our sentences!

When reviewing Lesson 2 in your EEL Guides, you'll notice what's probably an overload of verb information for one week. Much of this information will be revisited during the year once we've grasped the basics. For now, focus on the following lesson notes at home this week:

1. Verb Types (intransitive, transitive, linking and helping) -- Use the sample sentences on the "Verb Types" chart to teach the different verb types. The students will quickly begin recognizing the differences if they look at them in sentences. If you want to practice Task 2 (Dictation & Mechanics) on your Student EEL Task Sheets, these sentences might work well!

2. Basic Verb Tense (past, present and future).

3. Person (1st, 2nd, 3rd).

4. Number (singular or plural).

5. Begin memorizing the helping verb and linking verb lists.

Although the students' EEL assignment differs little from last year's Week 2, our IEW assignment (Lesson 2) introduces a significant change: the MLA writing guidelines. MLA requires the kids to structure their papers according to an assigned format. You'll find all pertinent instructions on page 18 of this week's lesson. IEW incorporates adherence to this format into each assignment's final checklist for the rest of the year. The kids who type their papers on a PC or Mac may need help learning how to accomplish the format requirements, but I don't think it will create too much trouble. I'm sure they (and you) will adjust quickly.

The IEW assignment itself, writing about the Byzantine Empire, offers options for both Levels A and B -- either one or two paragraphs. Choose what works best for your family this week. You'll find details on the lesson pages. Please note the addition of both strong verbs and -ly adverbs to the quality adjectives dress-up we learned last week. So by now, all students should have in their IEW notebooks at least the following items: Stylistic Techniques and Banned Words (creamy yellow), Proofreading Marks and Symbols & Abbreviations for Note Taking (also creamy yellow), Quality Adjectives (pink), Strong Verbs (green), and -ly Adverbs (yellow). Remind them to consult these sheets and/or a thesaurus when they write!

Once again, I'd work through KWOs and brainstorming dress-ups Wednesday, rough drafts Thursday, final drafts Friday. Then all that's left for Monday is labeling dress-ups and completing the checklist.

I trust everyone will succeed at home this week, but PLEASE let me know if you stumble or find yourself stumped! I'm happily here to help. :)

Erin

Week 2 Admission Ticket

Remember that we are focusing on punctuation and capitalization rules this year. My intention is to proceed roughly in order with the P&C appendix at the back of Our Mother Tongue. Each week, what I'll do is state the rule, then give students an opportunity to apply it correctly. They should complete and bring this assignment to class in return for their weekly Admission Ticket for our Gilded Coupon Campaign.

Week 1 addresses capital letters.

Rule: "The first word of every sentence or quotation always begins with a capital letter." (OMT, p.177)

Follow this capitalization rule to correct the poem excerpt below (You may highlight or underline 3 times each letter that needs capitalizing.):

bob the Tomato is taking a trip.
a day on the sea will be fun!
how many veggies are on his small ship?
the answer, of course, is 1!

larry the Cucumber joins Captain Bob.
could he find a place on the crew?
maybe first mate -- he'd be great for the job!
now on the boat, there are 2!

two little veggies are taking a trip.
junior says, "what about me?
i've got some crackers and soda to sip!"
count them again, 1-2-3!

larry says, "hey! who will push us along?
i'm not very good with an oar.
let's call Mr. Nezzar, because he's so strong!"
now on the boat, there are 4!

junior says, "captain! our numbers are growing!
soon we'll be rowing, the wind will be blowing,
but tell me please, how will we know where we're going
if no one is sitting up there?
we need someone up in the air!"

the gourd they call Jerry is next to arrive.
his compass and spyglass would help them survive!
so, quickly they vote him shipmate number 5!
and send him up high in the air --
to stare at the sea from his chair.

--Excerpt taken from How Many Veggies? by Phil Vischer

Week 1: Welcome back!

What a wonderful afternoon today! Tutoring this class is such a privilege, and I thank you for allowing me to teach your children. :) They are gifts.

At home this week for EEL, focus on Week 1 Memory Work and the corresponding charts. You can lean heavily toward the memory work Q&A, or you can lean toward reviewing and completing the charts until they're "memorized." Either way works. Find the balance that fits your child's learning style.

Remember that the first two weeks of EEL are a broad overview of what we will be studying for the next 24 weeks. In other words, don't panic! We will slow down on Week 3. However, I would recommend mastery of the charts for advanced students, particularly those who will move to Challenge A next year. I know they can do it! Most of them are almost there already.

Transitioning to IEW, we completed the key word outline for the first paragraph of our overview on the Middle Ages. Each student seemed to grasp the assignment of choosing key words well, then using the outline to "retell" the paragraph in his or her own words. Before they begin writing at home, ask them to "retell" the graph to you once again and, using pages 8 and 9, brainstorm quality adjectives. Then write the rough draft, which a parent should proofread. Then write the final and complete the checklist. I'd recommend brainstorming and rough draft Wednesday, revision Thursday, final Friday, and checklist Monday. If your student plans to write two graphs (Level B), you could key word outline and brainstorm adjectives Wednesday, write rough drafts Thursday, revise Friday, and complete finals and the checklist Monday.

One thing I neglected to mention in class is that the vocabulary word(s) and quality adjectives should be underlined on the final paper. We will discuss the details regarding labeling our dress-ups in the coming weeks.

For the new families, please ask any questions you have. I'm afraid that I'm going to sometimes assume knowledge on your behalves and will leave you wondering what in the world I'm talking about! Forgive me in advance -- and please know you have liberty to interrupt me in class or call me at home.

Stay tuned for an Admission Ticket post. I've got to get myself in order there!

Again, thanks for a superb first class day. I'm looking forward to our year together with great excitement!

Erin