To earn your Week 12 admission ticket, collect and organize the tickets you've earned this semester. Count them (remember, one square equals one ticket -- don't tear it into two pieces and count it as two) and write down how many you have. Put them in a safe place, such as a ziplog bag in your notebook, and bring them to class. We will add them to the tickets you receive for returned papers, the paper due this week, and additional admission tickets to tally your total.
Also decide how much, if any, money you'd like to contribute for our sponsors to match. Bring it on Tuesday, too.
Thanks! See you in two days. :)
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Week 11: Write, review, and reflect.
Good morning. I love your bunch of children. After 11 weeks together, I feel like I'm finally discovering their uniqueness. It's amazing to stand in front of them and recognize our future leaders. They are the next generation for Jesus. I'm eager to see how He's going to use them here and around the world!
During class yesterday, we flipped our usual schedule and completed IEW first. Writing skills continue to sharpen, and I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to the students read. Next semester I am going to stress presentation -- reading loudly and clearly and making eye contact with the audience -- at a higher level. I may engage moms' help in that. Just so you know... :)
This week's assignment is to complete the Boston Tea Party stories. I know a couple of you are starting from scratch, so refer back to last week's lesson and post for those notes. For the rest, your student needs to add dress-ups, revise and polish, complete the final checklist, and practice reading aloud. The new dress-ups are simile and metaphor, which we discussed at length during class yesterday, and also "3SSS" -- three short staccato sentences -- which we covered briefly.
When you get to it, you'll see that dialogue is also a new option on the decorations checklist. IEW introduces it in Lesson 11, which we skipped. I intended to talk about it in class yesterday but ran out of time. If you can, go over the punctuation and capitalization rules for dialogue at home this week and encourage its incorporation into the tea party story. Remember to teach that a new paragraph is required every time the speaker changes. Students often forget this.
Although I have a poetry lesson scheduled -- haiku, so fun! -- we will spend the majority of our IEW time next week reading these stories. If any students want to dress the part (colonists, Indians, English soldiers, etc.), bring it on!
The next two weeks of EEL consist of review and, if you'll take the opportunity, what I'll call "reflection." During class yesterday, the sentences we drilled were examples of simile and metaphor in Bible verses. I believe these sentences, so many of which you can find in Proverbs, provide super learning opportunity with our kids on so many levels.
For example, we examined the sentence "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life." First, it's a simple, declarative, S-Vl-PN sentence that includes prepositional phrases, so there's our EEL grammar. Second, it employs metaphor, so there's our IEW writing style. Third, it uses that metaphor to illustrate godly wisdom -- created things to explain spiritual principles, the visible to demonstrate the invisible -- and thus we can take time to dialog and reflect with our children on the meaning and application of the verse. When our school time touches both the head and the heart, we're at least doubling the benefit, right? :) Only the Lord knows what He will build on the foundations we lay, but what a privilege we have as homeschooling moms to build both knowledge and godliness into our children. So take time to reflect together these next two weeks.
Finally, I talked with the kids yesterday about redeeming tickets next week for our Gilded Coupon Campaign. Remember that we give what we've earned in the fall and receive what we've earned in the spring. Here's how this semester's "giving" will work:
During class yesterday, we flipped our usual schedule and completed IEW first. Writing skills continue to sharpen, and I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to the students read. Next semester I am going to stress presentation -- reading loudly and clearly and making eye contact with the audience -- at a higher level. I may engage moms' help in that. Just so you know... :)
This week's assignment is to complete the Boston Tea Party stories. I know a couple of you are starting from scratch, so refer back to last week's lesson and post for those notes. For the rest, your student needs to add dress-ups, revise and polish, complete the final checklist, and practice reading aloud. The new dress-ups are simile and metaphor, which we discussed at length during class yesterday, and also "3SSS" -- three short staccato sentences -- which we covered briefly.
When you get to it, you'll see that dialogue is also a new option on the decorations checklist. IEW introduces it in Lesson 11, which we skipped. I intended to talk about it in class yesterday but ran out of time. If you can, go over the punctuation and capitalization rules for dialogue at home this week and encourage its incorporation into the tea party story. Remember to teach that a new paragraph is required every time the speaker changes. Students often forget this.
Although I have a poetry lesson scheduled -- haiku, so fun! -- we will spend the majority of our IEW time next week reading these stories. If any students want to dress the part (colonists, Indians, English soldiers, etc.), bring it on!
The next two weeks of EEL consist of review and, if you'll take the opportunity, what I'll call "reflection." During class yesterday, the sentences we drilled were examples of simile and metaphor in Bible verses. I believe these sentences, so many of which you can find in Proverbs, provide super learning opportunity with our kids on so many levels.
For example, we examined the sentence "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life." First, it's a simple, declarative, S-Vl-PN sentence that includes prepositional phrases, so there's our EEL grammar. Second, it employs metaphor, so there's our IEW writing style. Third, it uses that metaphor to illustrate godly wisdom -- created things to explain spiritual principles, the visible to demonstrate the invisible -- and thus we can take time to dialog and reflect with our children on the meaning and application of the verse. When our school time touches both the head and the heart, we're at least doubling the benefit, right? :) Only the Lord knows what He will build on the foundations we lay, but what a privilege we have as homeschooling moms to build both knowledge and godliness into our children. So take time to reflect together these next two weeks.
Finally, I talked with the kids yesterday about redeeming tickets next week for our Gilded Coupon Campaign. Remember that we give what we've earned in the fall and receive what we've earned in the spring. Here's how this semester's "giving" will work:
- Each ticket is worth 25 cents. Students have had the chance to earn up to 24 tickets -- one Admission Ticket and one writing assignment ticket per week. So they will have been able to earn up to $6.
- I will match what they've earned, which could double them to $12.
- Each student has the opportunity to give out of his or her own pocket. It could be 50 cents, or it could be $10.
- I have two sponsors who will match what each student gives, thus tripling the "out of pocket" donation. So, for example, if a student decides to give $4, it will become $12.
- SO, say a student has 20 tickets. The 20 tickets would be worth $5, and I'd match it, so it becomes $10. Then the student decides to donate $5, and the sponsors triple it to $15. All total, the student's donation becomes $25.
- My goal here is for the kids to tangibly see how God can take their "small" effort and multiply it for His purposes.
I've decided that this year's donation will go to Wycliffe Bible Translators on behalf of the Knott family, who are home with us on furlough this fall and part of our Foundations, Essentials and Challenge programs at Westside. This spring, they will return to the field and begin oral Bible story translation for a population where less than 2% have heard the name of Jesus. I love the idea that the time our kids have spent studying the English language will enable us to invest in translating God's story into another people's language!
Please let me know if you have questions. Have a wonderful week together. See you Tuesday for the semester's final hurrah!
Erin
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Week 11 Admission Ticket
Put your IEW vocabulary words into ABC order, and turn them in to me on Tuesday to receive your admission ticket.
Also, stay tuned for a post concerning ticket redemption on Week 12...
Also, stay tuned for a post concerning ticket redemption on Week 12...
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Week 10: Oh my! Hasn't this semester been quick?
Do you remember how the Bible tells us there is nothing new under the sun? Well, there is nothing new in Essentials for the rest of the semester! Yesterday's introduction of the S-Vl-PA sentence pattern and in-depth look at adjectives marks the spot where we stop til January. Sometime this week, pause to consider what we've learned thus far by reading the "Words of Encouragement" in the guide on page 166. Then pat yourself on the back, give your student a congratulatory hug -- and settle in for some review time!
The S-Vl-PA sentence pattern is explained well in the EEL guide, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time repeating good information. The adjectives chart is thorough, too. Once you grow familiar with it, I'd suggest working through a children's book to locate adjectives and dialogue through whether they are descriptive, limiting or possessive. You can also practice identifying prepositional phrases as adjectival (which one? what kind? how many? whose?) or adverbial (how? when? where? why? to what extent?).
We began a two-week narrative story assignment on the Boston Tea Party during IEW. The students have two options: They can retell the story as written -- same characters and events with their brainstorming ideas included -- OR they can change or add additional characters and even change the circumstances of the event. If they make changes, they need to keep the basic storyline of children as main characters who plot to protest or "overthrow" unfair rules or laws. AND they need to develop the the IEW story sequence requirements before they begin writing. (Hint: Parents, get involved early on this.) For example, Maggie, when she wrote this story three years ago, decided to write about girls, who were disguised as boys, storming a ship to protest the queen's requirement that all girls wear petticoats at all times. Where did she get the idea? To this day, I don't know. I was quite skeptical, but she was excited about it and developed a working storyline, so I let her do it. It turned out to be one of her best IEW papers.
Students are responsible for rough drafts next week that incorporate all of the brainstorming assigned. Finals will be due the following week. Since it's our last week of the semester, we'll spend more time reading aloud.
Enjoy the fall weather and each other.
The S-Vl-PA sentence pattern is explained well in the EEL guide, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time repeating good information. The adjectives chart is thorough, too. Once you grow familiar with it, I'd suggest working through a children's book to locate adjectives and dialogue through whether they are descriptive, limiting or possessive. You can also practice identifying prepositional phrases as adjectival (which one? what kind? how many? whose?) or adverbial (how? when? where? why? to what extent?).
We began a two-week narrative story assignment on the Boston Tea Party during IEW. The students have two options: They can retell the story as written -- same characters and events with their brainstorming ideas included -- OR they can change or add additional characters and even change the circumstances of the event. If they make changes, they need to keep the basic storyline of children as main characters who plot to protest or "overthrow" unfair rules or laws. AND they need to develop the the IEW story sequence requirements before they begin writing. (Hint: Parents, get involved early on this.) For example, Maggie, when she wrote this story three years ago, decided to write about girls, who were disguised as boys, storming a ship to protest the queen's requirement that all girls wear petticoats at all times. Where did she get the idea? To this day, I don't know. I was quite skeptical, but she was excited about it and developed a working storyline, so I let her do it. It turned out to be one of her best IEW papers.
Students are responsible for rough drafts next week that incorporate all of the brainstorming assigned. Finals will be due the following week. Since it's our last week of the semester, we'll spend more time reading aloud.
Enjoy the fall weather and each other.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Week 10 Admission Ticket
Complete the following sentence with a noun that renames you. For example, I could say, "I am a teacher." Then complete Tasks 1-4 and bring it to class Tuesday.
"I am a ______________."
"I am a ______________."
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Week 9: My students are such diligent workers.
Good evening. We finally moved forward with a new sentence pattern today. The students are definitely holding their own. What little sponges they are with new information. You've got to love it!
Tackle that new pattern at home: S-Vl-PN, which means "Subject-Verb Linking-Predicate Nominative." If they don't yet know them, begin memorizing the list of linking verbs. The primary way to master this sentence pattern is through the "aha!" recognition of that linking verb and the following noun that can rename or replace the subject noun. Here are some examples:
The sun is a planet.
Whales are mammals.
I am a teacher.
You are a parent.
They are children.
Jesus is God.
Once you familiarize yourselves with the pattern, dress them up with the adverbs, interjections and different kinds of nouns or prepositional phrases we've learned, then try to modify the sentence purposes. Diagram some, too, using your task sheets. Don't stress. Just go at the pace comfortable for your family, and try to enjoy being together while learning together. I know some days it's a challenge.... :) But God is a miracle worker! The Richardson household can testify!
For IEW, we are just writing one paragraph on the French and Indian War. We narrowed the five paragraph topics to three general topics (see the front lesson page) during class. This should help them choose 1-2 facts and the associated key words from each paragraph to include on their outlines. Caution: Your student may find it extremely difficult to narrow five paragraphs into a single summary graph. Point them back to the beginning of the lesson, which tells them to choose interesting or important information and ignore the rest! However, also explain that since they are summarizing, the scope of their paragraph should be broad. It should include background information (paragraphs 1 and 2), what happened during the war (graphs 3 and 4), and what the results were (paragraph 5). Abbreviations will really help on their key word outlines. For example, use "Fr." for France or the French, "Eng." for England or the English, and "N.A." for North America. Remember, too, that numbers are free, so they can include dates and it doesn't count toward their 3-4 key words per line.
Please let me know if you have questions. Happy writing!
Mrs. Erin
Tackle that new pattern at home: S-Vl-PN, which means "Subject-Verb Linking-Predicate Nominative." If they don't yet know them, begin memorizing the list of linking verbs. The primary way to master this sentence pattern is through the "aha!" recognition of that linking verb and the following noun that can rename or replace the subject noun. Here are some examples:
The sun is a planet.
Whales are mammals.
I am a teacher.
You are a parent.
They are children.
Jesus is God.
Once you familiarize yourselves with the pattern, dress them up with the adverbs, interjections and different kinds of nouns or prepositional phrases we've learned, then try to modify the sentence purposes. Diagram some, too, using your task sheets. Don't stress. Just go at the pace comfortable for your family, and try to enjoy being together while learning together. I know some days it's a challenge.... :) But God is a miracle worker! The Richardson household can testify!
For IEW, we are just writing one paragraph on the French and Indian War. We narrowed the five paragraph topics to three general topics (see the front lesson page) during class. This should help them choose 1-2 facts and the associated key words from each paragraph to include on their outlines. Caution: Your student may find it extremely difficult to narrow five paragraphs into a single summary graph. Point them back to the beginning of the lesson, which tells them to choose interesting or important information and ignore the rest! However, also explain that since they are summarizing, the scope of their paragraph should be broad. It should include background information (paragraphs 1 and 2), what happened during the war (graphs 3 and 4), and what the results were (paragraph 5). Abbreviations will really help on their key word outlines. For example, use "Fr." for France or the French, "Eng." for England or the English, and "N.A." for North America. Remember, too, that numbers are free, so they can include dates and it doesn't count toward their 3-4 key words per line.
Please let me know if you have questions. Happy writing!
Mrs. Erin
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