Yesterday in class, there were Mischievous Monkeys and Marshmallow-Cat-Eating Dogs!

First, I would like to thank all of you who gave me such lovely gifts. It was so thoughtful. It felt like early Christmas. Hugs! Thanks!


Class Overview

Review, review, review!

Yesterday we reviewed verbs and dressed up sentences with modifiers, but I hope that today and tomorrow the only reviewing you do is the final checklist for Thanksgiving shopping and the only dressing up you do is looking presentable for well-loved relatives, well, that and dressing up a pile of mashed potatoes with gravy.

Wow! All that was one sentence.

Have a marvelous Thanksgiving and Christmas! God bless you as you travel and gather with family tomorrow.

Week 11: Review is productive. S/Vl/PA

Thank you for switching around the way we did class today so that I could get back to my sick kiddos. It really helped to be gone only for an hour.  Thanks, Tina and Cynthia, for being so flexible, and thanks, moms, for enduring a combined class two weeks in a row.  Hopefully the crud will move on and we will be able to get back to normal next week.

Class Overview

Review!  We began with a pop quiz of sorts.  I pulled out the memory work cards to find out how much memory work has been mastered.  The students, of course, are at different levels of mastery.  Second and third year students and Memory Masters have an advantage because they have been exposed to the information more, but all students should have been somewhat familiar with the terms.

Moms, if you do nothing else, drill memory work.  This is priority number one for making headway in EEL.

Next, we worked through a few Charlie Brown sentences from the beloved Pig Pen.  Click here to get the complete document (with answers, Moms).  It really is quite a bit harder to be given a sentence and told to identify the structure rather than working from a given structure and knowing that the sentence probably fits that pattern.

Fianally, we worked through Task 5 on the task sheet.  I was thrilled to be able to go this far in tasking; the review week lends to more time for this exercise.  Definitely begin integrating Task 5 in with your task sheets this week.  Our sentence this week was Sarah, my neighbor, became bold, and Macy remained shy. (SN, (appositive)/Vl/PA, cc, SN/Vl/PA)

Grammar

Drill memory work.
Review charts.

Dialectic

Use the task sheets, through task five, to work through sentences.
Identify sentence patterns using the Pig Pen worksheet. This resource only uses the first four sentence structures that we have already covered.  Click the link above, or copy the following web address in your browser to download the document.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/75809442/Week11%20Pig%20Pen%20and%20sentence%20structures.pdf

If you would rather, use some of these sample sentences:
My dad laughed loudly.
God's promise was a rainbow. (Well, I know that the actual promise wasn't the rainbow, but work with me for the sake of sentence structure).
My mother, Cindy, loves me and cares for me.
Seth felt happy.
The boy on the bike rode through town, but I stayed on the playground.
Tom tricked his friends, and they whitewashed the fence.
A peacock is a fancy bird.
The football team's mascot was not a tiger.
I eat hot dogs, but she likes tacos.
Jeremy and Nathan wrote the sentence.

Moms and students, if you get stuck please refer to the Simple Steps for Solving Sentences sheet in the student notebook (toward back of the EEL portion, blue/green sheet).  It will lead you through the right questions to determine things like DO, PA, and PN.

If you are still stuck on a sentence you can email me.  We will work through it together and ask the right questions to determine the answer.  This is all about the thinking and analyzing process that leads to truth (even if Macy remains shy).

In closing, I would like to share my favorite S/Vl/PN sentence.

God is love!
Can I switch them?
Love is God!
Yes, I can. He doesn't have love--He is love!  So, the only way we can love others is to have Him move in us.  What a glorious thought.  Everything good and pleasant comes from who He is.

Week 10: Class was lovely, and my students remain clever.

Class Overview

Grammar Rule

We really nailed the who/which clause (7a,b  pp. 74-75).  These clauses help add more detail to a sentence and can combine two short sentences into one.  They are set off by commas.  If the clause is removed, the remaining words should still be a complete sentence.  Also, we talked about the fact that an invisible who/which can sometimes be mistaken for an appositive and that, in those instances, an argument can be made for going either way.

Adjectives

We looked at Chart L, Adjectives.  On this chart, as on all charts, the gray boxes are the most important to master.  These provide the definition: adjectives modify a noun or pronoun by describing, qualifying or limiting.  And the gray boxes also tell us the most important thing to remember about adjectives, that they answer the questions, 

What kind? 

How many? 

Which? 

Whose?

Drill these questions! 

We answered these questions by modifying the word cat.  What kind? tabby cat, How many? all cats, Which? the sleepy cat, Whose? Jane's cat

S/Vl/PA

This week, we continued to focus on compound, declarative sentences, but we introduced a new sentence pattern, S/Vl/PA.

We learned that a predicate adjective can modify or describe the subject, and a linking verb is never an action verb.  Those are the two key components to understanding the S/Vl/PA pattern.

The questions that you need to ask to identify an S/Vl/PA are...
1) Who or what is this sentence about?  Answer: subject
2) What is that subject doing? action? being?  Answer: verb
3) Now ask, could the verb be linking? (from memorized list and used as state of being?)
4) Does an adjective that describes or modifies the subject follow the linking verb?
Answer: S/Vl/PA

We looked at the example The rose is red, and then substituted other linking verbs from the list to show how a predicate adjective describes or modifies the subject.  So, The rose is red, became, The rose...smells beautiful, became wilted, feels soft, grows limp.  Notice that all the verbs could be replaced with the word is. This demonstrates that the linking verb remains a state of being, not an action.

Next, we talked about the pitfall of mistaking action verbs for linking verbs (or vice versa).
The rose smells beautiful. (State of being, could be The rose is beautiful.) S/Vl/PA
She smells the rose. (Action verb, could not be She is the rose.) S/Vt/DO

We also spent some time using the task sheet to work the sentence, Nathan feels happy, and Jenny seems content.  This sentence is a compound, S/Vl/PA.  The line between the linking verb and predicate adjective is just like the predicate nominative line. It slants back toward the subject.

I neglected to diagram other adjectives in a sentence, but will do that next week.  They go on a slanted line just like adverbs, except they go under the word that they modify.

Grammar

Drill memory work.
Memorize the questions used to identify adjectives.
Memorizing the linking verbs.  There is a song to help on the sidebar of this blog. This will make identifying S/Vl/PN and S/Vl/PA easier.  Especially focus on the "to be" verbs (am, are, is, was, were, being, been).
Review charts.

Dialectic

Use the task sheets to work through sentences.

Sample sentences
The flowers smell lovely, and the bride looks beautiful.
The day remains sunny, though the forecast is dreary.
Greensboro is small, but North Carolina is large.
Voting is responsible, yet it can feel challenging.
Books are thrilling, and reading is fun.
The candy was yummy, and Mom remains happy.
The shiny apple looked tasty, yet it was rotten on the inside.

Week 9: The class is a joy, and understanding is a delight.

Class Overview

Grammar Rule

We covered the rest of the comma rules (1b,c,d,  pp. 56-58).  These include some review of adding a comma before the coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence, the comma that comes after an introductory prepositional phrase or series of prepositional phrases, and the sentence interrupter that is set off by commas.

S/Vl/PN

This week, we continued to focus on compound, declarative sentences, but we introduced a new sentence pattern, S/Vl/PN.

We learned that a predicate nominative can replace or rename the subject, and a linking verb is never an action verb.  Those are the two key components to understanding the S/Vl/PN pattern.

The questions that you need to ask to identify an S/Vl/PN are...
1) Who or what is this sentence about?  Answer: subject
2) What is that subject doing? action? being?  Answer: verb
3) Now ask, verb + who/what?  Answer: direct object?
4) Is the verb a linking verb (memorize list or look for state of being instead of action), and can the direct object replace the subject?  If yes to both, it is not an S/Vt/DO.  It is an S/Vl/PN.

We looked at the example A bluejay is a bird, and talked about the fact that it can be turned around to say A bird is a bluejay and still makes sense.  God is love.  Love is God.  Sonya is a girl.  A girl is Sonya.  My favorite is chicken.  Chicken is my favorite.  New York is a city.  A city is New York.

For advanced students, we covered the fact that a pronoun used as a PN has to be in the nominative case (subjective, the form you use when it is used as a subject) because it must be able to take the place of the subject.

It is I. (correct)  It is me. (incorrect)
The captain is he. (correct) The captain is him. (incorrect)

You could turn around The captain is he. to make it He is the captain, but you wouldn't turn around The captain is him, to make it Him is the captain.

So, kids, next time you answer the phone, you won't say, "It's me, Dad."  You'll say, "It's I, Dad." : )

We also spent some time using the task sheet to work the sentence, Tom is the captain, but Jane is the coach.  This compound, S/Vl/PN was fun to diagram.  Remember to connect the compounds at the verb and put that coordinating conjunction on the "chair".  Also, remember that the line between the linking verb and predicate nominative is just like the direct object line except that it slants back toward the subject.

Grammar

First and foremost, drill memory work.
Also, engage early in memorizing the linking verbs.  There is a song to help on the sidebar of this blog. This will make identifying S/Vl/PNs easier.  Especially focus on the "to be" verbs (am, are, is, was, were, being, been).
Review charts.

Dialectic

Dust off those task sheets and work through at least one sentence per day.  Get adventurous and flip it to the back and see if you can tackle parts or all of task 5.

Moms, remember the trick of saying subject/verb linking/article...  If you add an a, an, or the after the linking verb, the student will have to supply a noun, making it a predicate noun.  Watch out for adjectives.  We will cover predicate adjectives next week.  Try to steer clear of them until I introduce them in class.

Sample sentences

The flowers are tulips, and the ribbons are satin.
The day is Halloween, and the costume is Darth Vader.
Greensboro is our town, but North Carolina is our state.
Voting is a privilege, yet it is also a duty.
It is he, and it is I.
The candy is Snickers, and the eater is Mom.
Under the spreading tree during the heat of the day, the sleeper is the tiger.

Week 8, Did we find prepositions, and did we party?

What a fun week!  So glad we got to celebrate filling the jar with balls!  Thank you, Mrs. Gaines, for doing all the hard work to put together such an enjoyable experience.

Class Overview

Grammar Rule
We highlighted grammar rule 2B (page 60) and talked about using semicolons between independent clauses when we employ the words, however, thus, accordingly, indeed, therefore, for example, that is, and namely.  The key to semicolons is to make sure that they are used to join two independent clauses that are closely related; therefore, don't use a semicolon when only joining words.

Compound Interrogative
By way of review, we used
1) inflection
2) introductory interrogative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, what), or
3) introductory helping verbs, to change compound declarative sentences into compound interrogatives.

We also reviewed compound subjects and predicates as opposed to compound sentences.

Prepositions
We introduced prepositions by reciting as many as we know.  Thankfully, this is cycle 1, so everyone is pretty familiar with this from the morning memory work.  Next, we talked about the fact that a prepositional phrase is made up of a preposition, its object (always a noun or pronoun), and everything in between the two.  We asked the question preposition, who/what? to find the object.

Next, we looked at a short passage from the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis, and picked out all the prepositional phrases.  This is a great exercise for students who are getting used to the concept.  Use a newspaper or magazine article if your child needs more practice.  We used the passage where Reepicheep is introduced, right after Lucy, Edmond, and Eustace are fished out of the water and flopped onto the deck of the Dawn Treader.  We found thirteen or fourteen prepositional phrases.  Great job, guys!

We also touched briefly on the fact that prepositional phrases can be used as adverbs or adjectives in a sentence.

The boy hugged his mother in the morning.  In the morning tells WHEN he hugged.  WHEN? tells me that it is an adverb, because adverbs tell how, when, where, why, to what extent, and under what condition.

The boy in the morning hugged his mother.  If we were comparing a morning class to an afternoon class, and I was telling another mother about two boys, one from each class, I might differentiate WHICH boy, by calling him the boy in the morning.  In this case, the prepositional phrase is adjectival. We will cover adjectives soon!

Grammar (Drill)

Review charts.  Focus on any memory work associated with the basics of each chart (gray bars).  Really memorize the list of questions to ask to determine if a word is an adverb.

Dialectic (Understanding)

As you work through the task sheet, remember to first put parenthesis around your prepositional phrases.  This helps get them out of the way, clearing away some possible confusion when finding the bones of a sentence.

Use those task sheets and simple steps for solving sentences!

See you all next week, especially those who were out for sickness.  Seth, Jessica, Cara and Will, praying for you to be healthy!

Week 7: Students, study your adverb lists, and Moms, rejoice in the goodness of God.

Class Overview

Wow! Week seven already.  Yesterday we covered so many concepts: compound imperative sentences, nouns of direct address, appositives and adverbs.  Throughout our discussion, we also reviewed how to determine whether a verb is transitive or intransitive.

Compound Imperative

First, we changed the purpose of our compound declarative sentences, making them imperative.

Megan eats Cheerios, but Ryan devours tofu.  (became) Megan, eat Cheerios, but Ryan, devour tofu.

Nouns of Direct Address

We hammered away at the fact that the subject of an imperative sentence is ALWAYS you or implied you.  So if the subject is you in our example, then restated, it could say You eat Cheerios, but You devour tofu.  Stating it this way allowed us to see that the names, added for clarification, help determine who is being addressed.  Thus, they are nouns of direct address (NDA).

Appositives

An appositive is a noun that follows another noun and explains or identifies it.

Megan, the baby, eats Cheerios.
Ryan, the eleven year old, devours tofu.

The baby and the eleven year old are our appositives.  We came up with so many examples and each student contributed a different clarifier.  Megan was a trail-hiker, a dog, an aerobics instructor, and a grandmother at different points. In my first class, Henry was a girl.  We decided it was short for Henrietta.

We also covered a few rules for appositives.  They are always separated by commas, and the appositive always follows the preceding noun.  So if we turn around the example and make it,

The baby, Megan, eats Cheerios.

Megan would now be the appositive.

Adverbs

Finally, we made it to adverbs!  We took a look at Chart I (Adverbs).  If you are new to Essentials, I told you to memorize the gray boxes, the definition of an adverb and the questions to ask when determining if a word is an adverb.  If you do nothing else this week for EEL, work on memorizing this list!  There is really no way around it, and it clears up so much muck in the diagramming process if you can pull it from your memory instead of from a page.

If you are not new to Essentials and you already have the list nailed, please work on the rest of Chart I, identifying simple, flexion, negative, affirmative and multi-word (subordinating) adverbial phrases.  Also, take a look at the degrees that an adverb can be.

We introduced all the adverb types and focused on the tricky, negative adverbs.  We said that not is not a verb.  We repeated this over and over.  Please do this with your child at home this week.  Make a game of it.  At random moments, say, "Not..." and make them finish, "is not a verb."  You can even tie it off with a nice neat bow by having them add, "It's an adverb."

We tackled the example,

My cat, Bob, can't learn tricks.

First we had to separate the contraction.

My cat, Bob, can not learn tricks.

Then we identified our subject and verb.  Subject, cat, Verb, can learn.  We talked about how not is not part of the verb.  It is the adverb.  So when we diagrammed this sentence, it looked like this.

Here is the mega diagram that we did at the end of class, incorporating our compound, imperative, verb transitive, noun of direct address and adverb elements.

Grammar (Drill)

Memorize the list of questions to determine if a word is an adverb (Chart I, gray boxes)
Review the question that you ask when determining if a verb is transitive or intransitive (verb, who or what?).
Work on memory work through week 7.
Drill Not is not a verb, it's an adverb.

Dialectic (Understanding)

Work through all elements we covered this week, incorporating them into sentences to use with the task sheet.  Here are some sample sentences for you (more in back of lesson 7 in EEL guide).

Cats rub legs, but dogs lick faces.
Tom, the bus driver, happily sings.
Sharon, don't taste the snow!
Kelly, swim a lap slowly, but Henry, run a mile quickly.

And for those of you who are diagramming gurus,

Jake, my son, unless you clean your room thoroughly, you will be eating kidney pie and liver and onions for a month.

Week 6: Life hit; my blog entry is late.

Class Overview

This week we tackled a new structure and sentence pattern; we learned compound sentences and subject/verb transitive/direct object (S-Vt-DO).

S-Vt-DO
We talked about the fact that a transitive verb transfers action to an object.  We started with a subject/verb, then added an object.  For example,

Matthew threw...
and I would ask the question (verb, who or what?).  They would respond,
threw who or what?  threw ball.

So, we bantered back and forth, always asking the question, "Verb, who or what?"  The answer, of course, is...the object that receives the action, the direct object.

When I asked everyone to make up their own S-Vt-DO sentence it was a bit more challenging.  Many stumbled over the prepositional phrase ending instead of a noun acting as a direct object.  For example,

Mary swam in the lake.
If we are trying to find a direct object, the question that we ask is swam, who or what?.  In the lake answers the question where? and is adverbial. So, to make a direct object, we have to answer the right question, who or what?.  A possible answer would be,
Mary swam a mile.
swam, who or what? swam mile.  Mile is a noun, acting as a direct object.

Please remember to ask the question, verb, who or what? when finding the DO.  If it doesn't answer that question, it isn't a direct object.

Compound Sentences
First, I covered the definition of a compound sentence and reviewed the list of coordinating conjunctions.  I made it clear that a compound sentence has to have two independent clauses (sentences) joined by a coordinating conjunction, both elements or it isn't compound.

First, we made compound sentences by adding a coordinating conjunction to join some independent clauses.  I gave them many examples,

I take good care of my cat.     He loves me.
The British attacked.     Washington defended.
Carl became an intern.     He makes great coffee.
I spent all my money.     I am broke.

Next, we moved on to differentiating between coordinating conjunctions that are joining words only and those that are joining independent clauses.  For example,

Bob and Carl ate donuts and talked.  
(first and joins Bob, Carl = words (compound subject); second and joins donuts, talked=words (compound verb)) 

Claire sneezed, and milk came out her nose.
(and joins Claire sneezed, milk came out her nose=independent clauses)

Please note that a compound sentence requires a comma before the coordinating conjunction.  A compound subject or compound verb does not require a comma.  In fact, adding a comma is probably the biggest comma misuse out there.

Here is where it gets tricky.

Thomas hiked the mountain and reached the summit.  

No comma necessary because and is joining an independent clause with the phrase reached the summit.  This is a compound verb, not a compound sentence.  The temptation is to add that comma, but it doesn't belong.

When diagramming a compound sentence, use a dotted line with a "chair" between verbs.

Grammar Rule

Rule 2a: Semicolons (pp. 60)

Use a semicolon between related independent clauses not joined by a coordinating conjunction.

In other words, if you have a compound sentence, you can substitute a semicolon for the coordinating conjunction.  So,

Claire sneezed, and milk came out her nose.
Claire sneezed; milk came out her nose.

The semicolon goes on the "chair" when you diagram.

Grammar (Drill)

Memory work through week six and review charts A-F, and take a look at chart H (conjunctions) to see that there are many types of conjunctions.  Just memorize the grey area at the top (definition) and the coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so); forget the rest for right now.

Dialectic (Understanding)

Work through many compound sentences.  Create them, and "task" them on the task sheets.  Challenge yourself with S/Vt/DO compound sentences if you want.

Don't ignore the back of the task sheet.  On task 5, one exercise makes you write a sentence by structure.  Have fun making a simple sentence compound, or making a compound, simple.

English grammar is a puzzle! Have fun taking it apart and putting it back together and seeing the wonderful picture of language that God created so that we could relate to one another!

Personal Note

Moms, grace to you as school marches on in spite of life happening.  In order to keep it real and provide a bit of group therapy, I'll let you know that I have five, 5, V, that's FIVE! whopping loads of laundered, but not folded clothes in piles around my living room.  If you come over, please perch atop one of them, grab a cup of hot tea (or Starbucks), and chat with me awhile, or is it a while?  And when we chat, we'll ignore the fact that math and spelling isn't getting done right now, and we'll definitely not see that my children are running around barefoot in 55 degree weather.  Your friendship blesses me.  Please come to Mom's Night Out next Thursday.  I want to know you more.

Week 5, Did we introduce interrogative sentences?

Class Overview

In class we introduced the interrogative sentence.  Our crime scene, chalked out and roped off, on the sanctuary floor, drew lots of questions as students went by on the way to science and lunch.  I heard, "Who did this?" and "Did someone really die in here?" and "What's going on?"  And you found out the answers when you came to class.  Mrs. Varnell did this.  No, no one died here.  Mrs. Varnell was just trying to illustrate that when there is a crime scene, police ask questions and interrogate suspects to find answers.  Interrogate reminds us of interrogative, which is the name of the type of sentence whose purpose is to ask questions.

We talked about the three ways to change a declarative sentence into an interrogative:

1) Inflection, "Robert talks." vs "Robert talks?"

2) Interrogative pronoun
(who, whom, whose, which, what--9th song on sidebar in Cycle 2) replaces the subject,
"Robert talks." vs "Who talks?"
 This form is labeled (SP) when we are labeling sentences in task #2 on the task sheet.

3) Helping verb introduces the sentence, "Robert talks." vs "Did Robert talk?"
The helping verb is labeled (Vh) when we are labeling sentences in task #2 on the task sheet.
We will memorize the list of helping verbs in Foundations this year, after we finish prepositions.

We spent time working through the task sheet with each of these forms and focused on diagramming the helping verb sentence, which students have to switch around in their heads to the declarative form in order to diagram.  For example, "Did Robert talk?" becomes "Robert Did talk." (Did capitalized to remain the first word of the sentence).  This is much easier to work with when diagramming.  Remember to put both the helper and main verb together to the right of the bisecting line.

Robert (line) Did talk

Grammar (Drill Section)

Review memory work through week 5, and charts (A-F)

Grammar Rule (Rule 5, page 69)
This week we talked about the difference between its and it's.  Remember that its is a possessive pronoun, it's is a contraction.  Easy way to check--ask yourself, "Can I replace the two words it and is in the sentence?"  If you can, it's a contraction.  If you can't, it's not.

"It's not its problem," is the same as, "It is not its problem."

Dialectic (Understanding Section)

Work with your student to make up interrogative sentences using all three forms: inflection, interrogative pronoun, and introductory helping verb.  Then "task" a few sentences as far as your student can go.  Remember, new students, if you make it through task 2, you've accomplished big things.  If you can go all the way to task 4, you've arrived.

Moms, please remember that quantity is not king.  Quality is the focus of EEL.  We take one sentence and tell everything there is to know about that sentence before setting it aside.  We don't just identify all the nouns in 20 sentences, we go much deeper because we identify nouns in every sentence throughout the entire year.  There is a cumulative effect.

Special Note for those using the checklists
You will see the Quid et Quo introduced this week in Thursday's lesson.  This tool is a separate page from the task sheet, but is task six.  There is a basic and advanced form.  If you would like to do this, please have at it, but don't worry about it if you have never used this tool before.  Remember that the checklists were written with year two and three students in mind.  If you have no idea what the Quid et Quo is, just skip that part.  Year two students, it's time to try this.  Year three students, advanced form as far as you can.

One other thing about checklists.  This week and last you may have noticed that it just says "forum sentences" and then gives the numbers you are to cover.  All this means is that your student should parse these sentences with you.  This is meant to be an oral drill instead of the formality of the task sheet.  This is task sheet without it in front of you--very dialectic.  Just look at the sentence and tell everything you can about it:  part of speech, gender, number, person, tense, talk about what kind of verb it is, what kind of noun, what purpose, structure...  Talk about the sentences and identify.  This is like a mini Quid et Quo.

If you can not be there, Mom, have your child label the sentence with parts of speech/usage.

Week 4 (You) Begin task sheets.

Announcements
If you have not yet paid for checklist copies, please bring $6 with you next week.  Thanks!

Class Overview

We introduced the imperative sentence with the understood you.  We practiced changing declarative sentences into imperative sentences.  For instance, Miss Zielny speaks, becomes, Speak.  The colossal toddler stomped on an unsuspecting ant, became, Stomp! or rather Don't Stomp if you prefer.

From the imperative sentence, we moved on to interjections.  We talked about how the interjection is not really part of the grammar of a sentence, except to add emotion.  I explained that if we use an exclamation point after an interjection, it demands more emotion than a plain comma after an interjection.

Finally, we launched into the task sheet.  You will be using this tool throughout the rest of the year.  Either make copies and have your student "task" sentences in pencil and then move on to another sentence with another task sheet, or slip the task sheet into a page protector and use dry erase or vis-a-vis.

Assignments

Grammar (Drill Section)
Review memory work through week 4 and charts A-F.

Dialectic (Understanding Section)
Practice changing some declarative sentences into imperative.
Add an interjections to the beginning of a sentence.

Task Sheets
First year students: try tasks 1-2, then 3-4 if you and your student are comfortable.  Remember that writing a dictated sentence is a huge skill to undertake.  Then checking spelling and the elements of a sentence can be exhausting.  If 1-2 overwhelms, know that you are still in a good place.  Be willing to gauge where your child is and work with him at that level.  There will be much more time to move deeper in this curriculum.  (No crying in Essentials).

Second and third year students: Take on the task sheet!  If you have never done task 5, try it.  Dust out the cobweb build-up from summer and rewrite those sentences according to purpose, structure, and with modifiers.  Third year kids, even tackle the active and passive voice element.

Remember that task #6 is the Quid et Quo tool.

Suggested sentences are in the checklists as well as in the back of the mom folder that we handed out at orientation.

Here are a few in increasing difficulty:
Mom laughed.
Time flew.
Hope soared.
Wow! You won.
Dance.
Ryan and Andrew aimed carefully at the target.
A colossal toddler stomped an an unsuspecting ant.
Oh my goodness! Because the baby didn't know better, she sharply yanked my hair and spit up on my silk shirt.

Wow! If you task the last sentence, please bring it in for me to see!

Week 3: Nouns and Avoiding Repetition

Announcements:
Next week during the first hour of Foundations, Tina and I will be available in the sanctuary for Q and A about Essentials.  If you are overwhelmed or confused, or just need a bit of clarification, please come.  For those who cannot be there due to tutoring, please talk with us and we will gladly set up another time to meet.

Class Focus:
Overview of nouns and pronouns (charts E, F)
Explanation of two of the sentence purposes, declarative and exclamatory
Introduction of Grammar Rule #12a,b (pronoun rules)
     These are from the gray sheets at the back of the student binder that are not page protected.

Memory Work (Grammar)
Remember that this is the foundation of Essentials.  Do this if you do nothing else.  This is where first year students live, before diving any deeper into understanding.

1) Review: Charts A, and C, (Sentence Classification, Verbs) or alternate between charts and weekly memory work (flashcards).

2) Introduce and drill charts E and F ( Nouns, Pronouns).

Remember only to go as deep as your child is ready.

Young, first year students don't have to go further than chart A and the main definitions at the top of charts C, E, and F.  Anything more is gravy.

Second and third year students should be filling in much more of each chart, at lease major divisions and subdivisions, if not details.  Review those pronoun songs (on blog sidebar, http://essentialsofgreensboro.blogspot.com) to practice the types of pronouns: Nominative, objective, possessive, reflexive, relative, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite.


Understanding (Dialectic)

1) Usage
In class, we discussed that nouns and pronouns perform different roles, or have usage, in a sentence.  The role that the students need to comprehend during these first weeks is the "subject" role.  The student should be able to identify a noun or pronoun used as a subject.  They should also be able to identify other nouns or pronouns in a sentence, though not necessarily the function of that noun or pronoun.  For example,

It remains her pride and joy.

I expect students to know that both "It" and "her" are pronouns and that "It" is used as the subject of the sentence.  I do not expect the students to know that "her" is used as a possessive pronoun adjective, describing a predicate nominative phrase (unless they are second or third year students, in which case, they need to dust off the cobwebs that crowded in there during the summer and dive right in).

2) Type
Noun types are fun.  Banter about the difference between proper and common, concrete and abstract.  Come up with examples of collective and compound nouns.

Trick for remembering difference between concrete and abstract.

When you go to the art museum, you can touch the concrete floor, but you can't touch the abstract art.

Pronoun types aren't nearly as fun.  They fall into the memory work category.  They eventually need to be drilled, but you don't have to worry about this yet.

3) Number
We touched on the difference between singular and plural.  Talk about this concept and ask your student to identify whether a word in a sentence is singular or plural.

4) Gender
They came up with male and female in class, but neuter was a foreign concept to some.  You can point to objects in a room and explain that the paper, the window and the bookshelf are neuter.  Good vocabulary word to introduce!

5) Case (Moms, unless your child is a third year student, this is only for you to understand.)
In the second class, I completely forgot what case was.  In an effort to demonstrate that your tutor is learning right along with you, I'll give a synopsis of my findings (pp. 46-47 in EEL guide).

There is debate among grammarians concerning the English language truly having noun cases.  The notion of a case of noun is derived from Latin, where nouns change their form (or endings) to reflect the role (e.g., family) that noun is playing in a sentence.  In the English language, our nouns do not change endings, or form, to reflect their role in a sentence.  Rather, a particular noun's role is determined more by word order, according to where the word is located in a sentence.

So, in English, case refers to a noun's place in a sentence, or it's job, as demonstrated by the form it takes.

Nominative or subjective case includes pronouns used as the subject.
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they  can all be used as subjects.  Me or him could not be subjects.  They belong to the

Objective case (used as direct objects, indirect objects, objects of the preposition, or object complement nouns).

Possessive case refers to pronouns used as possessive noun adjectives

Other usages are appositive and nouns of direct address.

Have fun talking about all these subjects this week.  Next week we introduce the task sheet!  Fun!

Checklists, Instructions and Encouragement

I wanted to spell out the instructions I gave you for the checklists that most of you picked up on Tuesday.

There were 4 piles of paper
1. Checklists: consist of the main bulk of the copies (largest pile of papers)--These are the student pages.
2. Essentials Editing Exercises: These are numbered 1-12 and are two sided.  Please collate these work pages with the student checklist.  Each page (numbered by appropriate week) needs to be placed at the back of each week's first lesson (Wednesday).
3. Answer Keys: this packet contains all the Our Mother Tongue lesson answers as well as the forum sentences, parsed and diagrammed. This packet is intended for teacher use.
4. Synopsis Pages: this packet starts with the Forum Sentence synopsis, and also includes capitalization and punctuation rules overview, spelling rules overview, and all the optional vocabulary quizzes that go along with IEW vocabulary.

If you are overwhelmed by this resource and it doesn't contribute to peace of mind, please set it aside for a while and try it later, after further understanding makes it comfortable or when you get your sea legs with Essentials.

If you're overwhelmed, please revert to memory work only.  Remember that the first couple of weeks are heavy for memory work, but pretty soon it will settle down to a reasonable pace. Also, understand that the memory work needs to be introduced right away, but that mastery will take some time. Be patient with yourself.  If you feel tempted to cry, please breathe and scale back.  Feel free to email me or call if you need a lifeline or need to understand how to scale back.  Three quarters of the battle with Essentials is understanding how to approach it.

Have a blessed week everyone!

Week 2: Vivacious Verbs

This week we did a big overview of Verbs.  There is no crying in Essentials, but I know that the overview weeks right at the beginning can overwhelm.  Please hang in there.  We will be slowing down and taking individual bites of the proverbial elephant very soon.  Also, I want to remind you that there is a lot of memory work at the beginning  (first two-three weeks) and then it levels off to a sustainable pace.

Assignments this week:

Memory Work (Grammar)

On the checklists, this is the “Drill” part.

First year students: Practice chart A again and work on the definition of a verb (gray bar at top of chart C or in memory work).  Cover week two memory work.  Kids, use those flashcards!

Second year students: Practice chart A (Sentence Classifications) on a blank sheet of paper.  Practice copying chart C (Verbs) using the blank chart C.  Fill in as much as you can.  Make sure you know the verb types, attributes, and tense (made of a combination of time and form).

Third year students: Practice writing out charts A and C on a blank sheet of paper.

Understanding (Dialectic)

For those of you using the checklists, this is the “Do” section.

I covered compound subjects and compound verbs in class.  Please go over some examples of these at home.

Also, I introduced intransitive and transitive verbs.  Feel free to review this, but we will revisit this in a few weeks, so don’t feel that you have to get this yet.  I just wanted to put this on your radar.

For first year students using the checklists, please disregard the Task Sheet check box.  Just take the designated sentences and dictate and check for spelling, punctuation, and the five elements that make up a sentence (from chart A).

Second and third year students, dust off those Task Sheets and get to it.  The checklists start Quid et Quo on week 5!

Week 1: Students start!

Students start!

Simple
Exclamatory
S/Vi
And an alliteration

Announcements this week:

1. Checklists: This week's checklists will come to you in electronic form because I failed to get the copies made (store was closed on Saturday of Labor Day weekend).  If you are a second or third year Essentials student, go ahead and use the emailed checklist. If you are a first year Essentials student, please put the checklist on the shelf for the first couple of weeks and just work on the memory work. If you haven't already paid me, please bring $6 next week for your checklist workbook.

2. Blog: Please subscribe to this blog and Mrs. Gaines' blog.  That way, each post will be delivered to your inbox once per day.  Because Feedburner delivers only once per day, there may be delay.  If I have posted, it will be immediately available on the blog, but might not be delivered to your email yet.  If you are anxiously awaiting my next entry because you love this blog so much, you can always go directly to the blog.  : )  Another advantage to going directly to the blog is that there are helpful links and grammar songs in the sidebar.

Assignments this week:

Memory Work (Grammar)
First Year Students: copy chart A, looking back and forth between the master and blank, and then take out a blank sheet of paper and see how much you can remember. To mix it up, use the memory work flashcards to drill--only study week 1.  Work on writing out chart A every day this week.

Veteran Students: get to the place where you can take out a blank sheet of paper and write out the Sentence Classification Chart (Chart A) with ease.  You already know this information: now master it.

Understanding (Dialectic)
1. Subjects/verbs 
Moms, make sure your child has an understanding of subjects and verbs and has the ability to identify them in a simple sentence.  You can cover compound subjects and implied subjects (those imperative sentences have implied "you" as their subject every time) if you want to.  I will hit these next week.

Also, you can refer to chart B (112 Model Sentences-Simple) for examples of how the simple sentence  can be configured to make all 7 sentence patterns.

2. Checklist (veteran students only)
Follow the checklist for a thorough review of week one.  This will lead you through a "drill" portion and a "do" portion.  The "do" portion is the dialectic part.

Week 24 Admission Ticket

For your final admission ticket, list the three verb moods below, then identify the mood of each of the following sentences:

1.
2.
3.

If I were a butterfly, I'd float on the breeze.

Be a butterfly!

Butterflies float on the breeze.

Week 23: We, the people of EEL, have only one remaining week!

Good morning. I don't know about the students, but I had a blast Tuesday listening to their tongue twisters and diagramming the "Preamble" to our Constitution. Who would have ever thought a simple sentence could go on and on and on...and on! Although the kids groaned, I think they secretly enjoyed it, too. :)

There's not much to report this week. I introduced subjunctive mood, and the three-sentence example I gave of what I call the "wishful thinking" mood was this:

I should clean my room. If I could, I would. But as it were, I think I'll do it tomorrow.

Review EEL material as you see fit, but I expect you'll devote most of your time to completing your final IEW assignment. Remember we will present during class next week. Costume is optional.

Students should also count and bring their tickets for cash redemption. Hopefully they will have earned enough for a kid's meal or a couple of iTunes songs.

See you Tuesday one last time. Meanwhile, enjoy the budding leaves on these beautiful days.

Erin

Week 22: With two weeks to go, finish strong!

Only two weeks! Unbelievable, isn't it? It seems as though we just began our journey into the heart of the English language. This time of year always proves conflictual -- I anticipate the end, but I know I'll miss our time together each week.

For EEL yesterday, we reviewed our purposes, patterns and structures and then modified and diagrammed a compound-complex sentence with adjectives, adverbs and a prepositional phrase. The students remained engaged throughout the process; I'm really proud of them! Next week -- I can't wait -- we'll diagram the Preamble to the Constitution. :) It's lo-o-o-ong!

During IEW, I discussed anecdotal openers and the intro-clincher relationship. I distributed Lessons 19, 20 and 21. Everyone should continue working on their biographies according to the information I wrote last week, using the lessons I handed out as they relate to your student's level.

Two weeks from yesterday, we present in costume. It's a fantastic way to cap our year.

See you next week.

Erin

Weeks 22 and 23 Admission Tickets

When class began yesterday, I put an admission ticket onto the board for Week 22. Those who were absent can bring it to me next week:

The four sentence ____________ are ___________, compound, ___________ and ___________-_____________.

Find the compound-complex sentence below:

The boy hit the ball.

When the boy hit the ball, he ran around the bases fast.

When the boy hit the ball, he ran around the bases fast, but the outfielder caught the fly ball.

The boy hit the ball , but the fielder caughter it in the air.

The admission ticket for Week 23 is to write a tongue twister. I'll give an extra ticket to students who include four or more vocabulary words and/or words of four or more syllables AND memorize it to recite for the class.

Week 21: When we meet for class, I tutor and students learn.

Good afternoon! I hope everyone is well. I can't believe we only have three weeks left til year's end. Oh my. How time flies!

During EEL yesterday, I introduced our final sentence structure: compound-complex. I believe the kids grasped this concept easily. Put into math terms,

compound + complex = compound-complex

Using the 112 Compound-Complex Sentences chart from your guide, we examined several of these and diagrammed one for good measure. :)

We also learned about verbals: infinitives, gerunds and participles. Again, we looked at examples and diagrammed. Spend time on this material at home this week as you see fit for your student's level.

Regarding IEW, I'll attempt to be thorough in my explanation of our final assignment of the year, a five-paragraph biography research report, which we began yesterday.

• 
  
  First, the assignment spans several lessons in your IEW books: 17-21. Second, it instructs students to choose a person from the Revolutionary War period; I gave them license to choose any American historical figure.




• 
  
  We have three "working" weeks to complete the assignment. When we meet for our final class of the year, Week 24, the students will present their papers in costume.




• 
  
  The stapled assignment I distributed yesterday contains three important elements. The first page is two examples (front and back) of five-paragraph biographies following the basic essay structure (I handed out a model of this a few weeks back from the IEW Resource Notebook.) These biographies also feature what IEW calls "anecdotal openers." I'll teach this opener next week in class. The two middle pages are Lesson 17, which introduces the assignment. The fourth page is the final checklist from Lesson 21, which I included so that parents and students can see where we are headed over this three-week period.




• 
  
  After your and your student choose the character about whom you wish to write, you need to select source texts. My suggestion is search for a combination of book and internet sources that fall at or below your student's reading level. Children's literature and short articles are appropriate. We want them to grow in their ability to capture information in an outline, and they will feel more successful with simpler source texts.




• 
  
  Once you've selected and perused your source texts, you'll need to discuss possible topics. The number of topics you choose will determine the length of your paper. Take the opportunity to show your student how books and articles are themselves often divided into topics. For example, an article about Ben Franklin could be divided into his early years and education, his service to his country, and his inventions. Even those topics could be divided into sub-topics. Anyway, the students should find topic ideas in the way their source texts are structured.




• 
  
  While choosing topics, consider how many paragraphs you want to tackle. I see several options, which are dependent on level and time: five paragraphs (intro, three body, conclusion) with an anecdotal opener; five paragraphs with a hook opener; three paragraphs (body only) with an anecdotal or hook opener plus an introductory statement and final clincher; three paragraphs (body only) with an introductory statement and final clincher; one general paragraph with some combination of an anecdotal opener, intro and clincher.




• 
  
  When topics are settled, re-read your source texts with your first topic in mind and complete your key word outlines. Repeat the process for your second and third topics. Use the third page from your stapled assignment (pages 103 and 104 at bottom from your books) as a model for EACH topic. The assignment is to outline from three source texts for each topic and then fuse those three outlines into one outline from which you will write the rough draft.

Now just how far should you progress this week? Ultimately, it's up to you. In my house, if we can select our historical figure, source texts and topics, and complete our outline process, I'll probably be happy. That would give us next week to write rough draft paragraphs and outline our first and fifth graphs. Then we could spend our final week writing those two paragraphs, completing an anecdotal opener and revising the entire paper.

Adjust your schedule accordingly! Although this final project is a lofty endeavor, it's worth it! Try to dig in. :) I'll see everyone next week.

Erin

Week 21 Admission Ticket

Identify as many prepositional phrases and adjectival modifiers in the following as you can find:

She was wearing a long black raincoat with a red silk scarf tied loosely around her neck. She kept her coat on but took off the scarf and tucked it into her left pocket. She shook hands stiffly with both of Nick's parents before sitting down on the chair to the left of the couch. Nick's mom and dad sat on the couch, and Nick sat on the rocking chair that faced Mrs. Chathan across the low coffee table.

Week 20: For IEW, develop a thoughtful opinion.

Good morning. Sorry I didn't complete the post yesterday. Fortunately, there's not an abundance of new information to communicate.

In EEL Tuesday, we reviewed adjectives (as words, phrases and clauses), prepositional phrases and finally looked at the components of the perfect progressive verb form. Invest your time where needed and desired this week.

During IEW, we listened to some wholly fabulous faith essays. The families who make up our group impress me and inspire me wholeheartedly. What precious, precious treasure your children are!

Our IEW assignment for the week is to complete the critique of the historical fiction narrative on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Work with your student to develop a thoughtful and fleshed-out opinion paragraph. Then revise and polish your critiques to turn them in next week.

One note: I returned papers this past Tuesday. I wrote a little more on my older students' papers in the way of comments and suggestions. If there are any questions there, please let me know.

Thanks. Have a blessed week,
Erin

Week 20 Admission Ticket

CC families,

I am sending this so late. Sorry! For tomorrow, write the answers to the following questions:

1. What are the four types of verbs?
2. What are the two verb numbers?
3. What are the three verb persons?
4. What are the two verb voices?
5. What are the three verb tenses?
6. What are the four verb forms?

Week 19: Learn to critique a narrative.

Good morning. Did everyone get enough sugar yesterday? Thank you for all of my treats. The dwindling chocolate supply in my pantry has been restored!

At home with EEL this week, you possess much freedom. The guide reviews verbs and introduces the verb anatomy chart for the verb "play." During class time, we finally worked our way through the progressive tense forms and spent the rest of our 45 minutes identifying sentences.

For IEW, we began a two-week writing assignment critiquing a short fictional account of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The lesson superbly lays out the process for you to follow, including a three-paragraph and a five-paragraph option. Only part of the rough draft paragraphs are due next week; the final paragraph rough draft will be written the following week before the paper is revised and polished.

We will continue listening to the students read their faith essays next Tuesday. What tender, thoughtful, compassionate hearts they have!

Erin

Week 18: Review!

Ahh...time to take a deep breath! Week 18 in EEL stipulates "nothing new"!

The sentence structure, purpose and pattern of the lesson is complex imperative S-Vt-DO-OCN and S-Vt-DO-OCA, but you have the freedom to choose your work at home. Definitely try to incorporate Tasks 1-6 into your discussion where you can.

During class today, we reviewed our 112 classifications of structure, purpose and pattern. The students engaged extremely well during class. How much they have learned so far! We reviewed everything using a worksheet I made about blue whales. Parents who were absent can ask to see this worksheet; it should help jog memories.

Our IEW time consisted of demonstrating the structures to follow for one-, three-, and five-paragraph essays. We also reviewed and introduced sentence openers. I won't write much about the optional essay lengths because of the detail I went into last week. But each student carried home two examples of structure: One says Lesson 7 at the top and shows how to add an introductory statement and final clincher to a three-paragraph essay. The other, which I printed out of the IEW Resource Notebook, teaches the structure of a five-paragraph essay that includes an introduction paragraph and a conclusion paragraph.

Regarding sentence openers, we discussed two new ones:

1. The -ing opener. Example: Running like the wind, I raced my friend down the sidewalk.


2. The www.asia.b opener. Example: When I read my Bible, I grow closer to the Lord.

Students should remember that sentence openers ADD ON to or INTRODUCE an existing sentence. For example, "Winning is fun" is a sentence, but it doesn't count as an -ing opener because the sentence wouldn't remain without the subject noun "winning."

The IEW book actually teaches this opener, called #4, on page 131 of our books. Try looking over this together at home, because this page actually contradicts what I allowed in class today (sorry!): I was letting them use "During..." as a #4, but IEW apparently counts it as a #2 prepositional phrase opener only. IEW says the -ing word

• must be a verb and


• it must begin a phrase and


• be followed by a comma setting it apart from the main body of the sentence.

Anyway, students should complete, revise and polish their rough drafts of their faith essays at home. I'll collect these, along with completed checklists, next Tuesday. I can't wait to hear them read! I'll try to allow ample time.

Have a superb week reviewing and writing together,

Mrs. Erin

Week 18 Admission Ticket

Tell me which of the following sentences is S-Vt-DO-OCN and which is S-Vt-DO-OCA:


1. I filled my stomach full of birthday cake.


2. The Bible calls all of God's creatures part of his creation.

Week 17: Do you consider our seventh sentence pattern difficult or easy?

Celebrating our seventeenth week together, we learned our seventh sentence pattern today. Hooray! We have now discussed every item of information on our sentence classifications chart save the compound-complex structure. I'll review all seven sentence patterns next week. What fun to know we can identify every sentence pattern in the English language!

So what is this pattern? Subject - verb transitive - direct object - object complement adjective, or S-Vt-DO-OCA. After learning about object complement nouns last week, the students took to OCAs like ducks to water. :) Your EEL guide demonstrates clearly and simply that an OCA is an adjective that follows and describes a direct object. During class, we completed Tasks 1 through 6 for the sample S-Vt-DO-OCA sentence, "The artist painted his canvas green." Most of the students seemed to understand and be able to contribute to our completion of the task sheet. It's encouraging to see the fruits of learning, so I hope you are seeing them, too.

Depending on your student's level, you can decide where best to invest your time at home this week. Opportunities abound! The lesson in your EEL guides includes an adjectives review and touches again on verb anatomy. I managed to squeeze in the simple and perfect forms today (finally...) and will (hopefully) get to progressive and perfect progressive next Tuesday. Remember, though, that the verb anatomy is advanced material. First-year students and parents need not stress there.

Upon student request for a creative writing assignment, I decided to revise our IEW schedule on your syllabus that I handed out in August. Instead of writing about the Constitution, we are going to complete Lesson 25, which is an essay written from a prompt. We will devote two weeks to this essay, prompted by the First Amendment guaranteeing religious freedom, about how our families practice faith. The lesson itself is easily comprehended, but I want to explain three different options for completing it, basically a Level A, Level B and Level C.

• Level A: Students may write one paragraph, the format of which is in your photocopied lesson. Two weeks is ample time to complete one paragraph, so take your time and enjoy the process of outlining, writing, revising and polishing.


• Level C: Students may write five paragraphs -- an introductory graph, three topic graphs, and a concluding graph. This format is also laid out in detail in your photocopied lesson. As to a schedule, I'd recommend outlining and writing your three body paragraphs this week. Then outline and write your intro and concluding graphs early next week. Finally, use Friday and Monday of next week to revise and polish all five paragraphs. (Just a note: Pages 107-110 teach these two outer graphs very well.)


• Level B: Students may write three topic paragraphs, plus an introductory statement and a final clincher. I will demonstrate an introductory statement and final clincher during class next week, but for those who have the book, they are introduced in the IEW Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons on page 49. The American history book we are using this year does not include this option, but I'll show you next week! Families who choose this option can spread the outlining and writing of the three graphs out over the two-week span.

Now, as to which level each student should tackle, you as the parent have that choice. My suggestions follow: All students enrolling in Challenge A next year should write a five-paragraph essay. Second-year or more advanced students should write three paragraphs, and first-year students or families whose time is tight these next two weeks should write a single graph. Regardless of the level you choose, please check your student's outlines before the rough draft process begins. You may even need to go through the outlines with them to insure they are using the provided questions to "prompt" the right kind of information for their outlines. They don't have to answer every question exhaustively by any means, but the questions should be used as tools to help pull information from their brains!

Finally, their Declaration of Independence and Preamble reports really impressed me these past two weeks. Fantastic efforts should be applauded!

See you next week. Please call or email with questions.

Erin

Week 17 Admission Ticket

I know it's much earlier than I usually post, but since I know what I'd like them to do...

Write from memory (or copy if necessary) our Sentence Classifications chart (Chart A). Bring it to me on Tuesday in return for your gilded coupon.

Week 16: Will you remember to call an object complement a noun?

Good evening! I hope I can remember everything we covered today in EEL and IEW. But before I do, I want to say how thankful I am for each mom and each student and each family represented in our class. Spending two hours with you each week is a tremendous privilege and opportunity. I don't know whether God is concrete or abstract, or if he's singular, plural or collective, but I DO know he is very, very good to me through all of you! What wonderful conversation homeschooling freely affords us!

First, I did not get to the second half of our verb anatomy during EEL time today. I will diligently endeavor to get there next week.

Instead, I introduced and invested time in our fifth sentence pattern: Subject-Verb transitive-Direct Object- Object Complement Noun, otherwise known as S-Vt-DO-OCN.

An object complement noun follows a direct object and names or describes it as a direct result of the action verb. Here are some examples:

• God called the light day. (DAY names the light.)


• He called the darkness night. (NIGHT names the darkness.)


• We elected her president. (PRESIDENT describes her.)


• Do you consider chicken nuggets a food group? (FOOD GROUP names nuggets.)

Next, using "God called the light day," we completed Tasks 1-6 on our Analytical Task Sheet. The students hung with all six tasks extremely well. Good for them! The wonderful thing about the ATS (sounds kind of like a fraternity name, huh?) is that you can jump in and employ it for both beginning students and advanced students by tailoring it to the individual level.

At home this week, try to take the lesson's sample sentences and drill them out through all six tasks. You might be surprised and pleased with how far you can progress. If the OCN sentence pattern is too difficult, use an S-Vi or an S-Vl-PN.

I am also excited about our IEW assignment for the week. We introduced a one-week assignment, Lesson 22, on rewriting the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and using transitional words and phrases to improve the flow. I distributed the transitional words sheet from the IEW Resource Notebook, so encourage your student to use it to improve their writing. One strong note: They will need your help understanding the language of the Preamble in order to complete their key word outlines and the rewrite. You'll need to carve out "conversation time," whether it's during your regular Foundations day or during your Essentials time, to discuss these big words and the even larger ideas they convey.

Finally, I applaud those students who read from their Declaration of Independence papers today. I am eager to read entire reports at home this week and hear next week from those not able to read today. Keep working hard to home to produce quality work!

Mrs. Erin

Week 16 Admission Ticket

For the Week 16 Admission Ticket, I will ask each student to spell one of the IEW Lesson 16 vocabulary words. I'll only ask one, but they should know how to spell all four! See you Tuesday.

Week 15: Can you find me an indirect object yet?

Morning, everyone. Sorry for posting later than usual. I trust you all made progress yesterday without me! :)

In EEL on Tuesday, I introduced verb forms using the verb "have." When we talk about verb forms, we are referring to the combination of a verb's principal parts with the appropriate helping verbs to express when action takes place. Each form -- simple, perfect, progressive, perfect progressive -- occurs in past, present and future tense. Essentially, you end up with 12 different combinations, each of which you can drill out in 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular and plural.

Although this sounds confusing, there's actually a simple formula for each form, and our charts do an excellent job of demonstrating how to "construct" each one. Because each form repeats the same patterns over and over, the kids often catch on to it faster than you'd think. So if you have time, give it a try this week. I only covered the simple and perfect forms on Tuesday; I'll overview the last two next week. I would recommend to parents that you look over this information by yourself first. Start on page 446 with Chart BB.

The other new information for Week 15 is Tasks 5 and 6 for your Analytical Task Sheets. We have informally covered Task 5, modification, before now, and I actually didn't cover it in class Tuesday. I plan to do so next week. I did, however, introduce Task 6, Quid et Quo, which means "What and Why" in Latin. Task 6 is one of my favorite EEL activities, because it incorporates everything we learn in EEL into one final ATS exercise. For a full explanation of Tasks 5 and 6, refer to the special "Analytical Tasks in Detail" section in Lesson 3 of your EEL Guide. It begins on page 49.

Also remember that you will find a master list of the guide's practice sentences on page 433 and your ATS masters on pages 435-439. After discovering on Tuesday that the basic format of the QeQ sheet does not include descriptive adjectives, I'd recommend using the detailed format only (page 439) and drilling a word out only as far as your student's understanding allows. For example, the detailed format asks for verb form, which you and your student may not yet understand. My advice is just skip that part, knowing you'll get to it later! Finally, those of you who purchased the laminated Trivium Tables, remember that the QeQ is included.

Now, for those of you with first-year EEL students who will be with me again next year, which is most of our class, you may want to focus your efforts on previous material. We are reaching the point in the year where new material is more advanced, and at home, you may need to stay simple. It's important to me that you teach to the level of your child's understanding and not try to keep up with every little new thing. Because every sentence begins with the foundational subject and verb, during class, there will ALWAYS be something your student can identify in EVERY sentence. And it's good for the newer students to follow along as our more advanced students keep up with the harder ideas. But at home, you may need to stick with simple and compound sentences and only identify nouns as common or proper and verbs as past, present or future on the QeQ. That's perfectly okay. Both you and your students will have time and opportunity to dig deeper next year.

Finally for EEL, this is our last week with the indirect object sentence pattern. Hopefully you've become comfortable identifying them in sentences. Next week we'll move on to object complement nouns! Whew! That's a lot of information. Thanks for reading!

IEW is much simpler. We introduced dramatic hook openers, and the students need to add a hook opener and closing sentence to their Declaration of Independence research reports. They should also revise and dress up their reports and complete a bibliography and the final checklist. I will try to allow as much reading time as possible in class next week, but I know we won't get to every student. In future weeks, when we do not have papers due, I'll plan to give them the option of reading from this or another assignment.

Please let me know if you have questions. Have a safe, healthy and restful week working together!

Erin

Week 14: Give your students a thank you from me!

Good morning. The children behaved like angels yesterday, didn't they? Please tell them I said THANK YOU!

At home this week, spend your EEL time continuing to familiarize yourselves with complex sentences, subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns, and indirect objects. Also devote a little practice to active and passive voice verbs. The lesson in the EEL guide this week is excellent, so use it as much as you can.

Next week, we will introduce Tasks 5 and 6 from our ATS. What fun! I'd also like to start discussing verb forms if time allows. If not, I'll probably assign it as an admission ticket.

For IEW, your assignment is to complete your key word outlines, fused outline and rough draft paragraph for Topic C, the contents of the declaration. I accidentally photocopied the front of the lesson page on both sides, so you are without your key word outline templates; however, a piece of notebook paper should suffice. I also handed out in class yesterday the rules and worksheets for colons and semicolons from the IEW Resource Notebook. Try to complete these worksheets at home this week; they are good practice. I will bring sheet protectors for them next week. I didn't have 40 left, so I am ordering more.

Finally, I sent home the admission ticket -- another page from the IEW Resource Notebook that lets them unscramble words. They can return it to me next week.

Have a great week studying and writing. Please let me know if I can assist you.

Erin

Week 14 Admission Ticket

Take the following simple sentence, and, by adding a who/which clause or a www.asia.wub clause, make it a complex sentence:

The girl laughed.

See you Tuesday!

Week 13: When we add a dependent clause, our sentence becomes complex.

I must say, only my friends and students at our beloved classical group made today worth venturing outside into this frigid air! Brrrr! It's this time of year when I'm especially glad the Lord planted me no further north than North Carolina.

We introduced a number of new ideas during both EEL and IEW this afternoon. Here's the rundown:

• S-Vt-IO-DO (Subject-Verb transitive-Indirect Object-Direct Object): This fifth of our seven sentence patterns adds an indirect object into the mix. The worksheet I completed in class with the kids, combined with Lesson 13 in the EEL guide OR memory work and charts OR Trivium Tables, tells you everything you need to know about identifying IOs and provides loads of sentences to label and diagram.



• Complex sentences: Take a simple sentence, add a dependent clause beginning with either a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun, and -- voila! -- you have a complex sentence. Again, we explored this new sentence structure with a worksheet in class that should've gone home with your student. Reviewing it along with the guide, etc., should provide ample practice. I ran out of time to demonstrate how to diagram -- I'll cover it next week. :)



• Fused Outlines from Key Word Notes: In IEW, we began a three-week research report on the Declaration of Independence. This assignment picks up where we left off in the fall by showing the students how to select and outline multiple topics from multiple source texts. Our end result will be a three-paragraph report. This week's assignment is to take notes, complete fused outlines, and write rough draft paragraphs for the first two topics: conflict between America and Britain (Topic A) and Congress' decision to declare freedom (Topic B). The lesson lays out the process perfectly, but I'd suggest the following schedule: On Wednesday, look over the lesson together and read aloud the three source texts. Identify in each source text which topic each paragraph addresses. Then complete the key word notes and fused outline for Topic A. On Thursday, write the Topic A rough draft paragraph. On Friday, complete the key word notes and fused outline for Topic B. Finally, on Monday, write the Topic B rough draft paragraph.

Now, before you panic over all this new information, remember that we have three weeks to focus on indirect objects, seven weeks to master the complex sentence structure with its subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns, and three weeks for the research report. In fact, for all 12 weeks of IEW, I believe we only have five papers due. So it's spread out. Also take into consideration once again the fact that most of our EEL students will glean from the exact same 24 weeks again next year.

Have a lovely week. Please let me know if you have questions.

Erin