Week 3

What a lot to cover in one class period.  Whew! We made it.

EEL

Congratulations to the students for winning the Chart A showdown against the moms.  But you only won by seconds.  Watch out! Next time moms may be out to annihilate you.

This week we continued the overview of EEL.  We took a close-up view of declarative and exclamatory sentences and talked about the differences, but mostly we looked at Nouns (Chart E) and Pronouns (Chart F).  Then we moved away from the grammar track and tackled the task sheet.

Grammar Portion (Uploading information)
Nouns (Chart E)
Definition box at the top (Memorize, please).
Usage (jobs) 3rd year? are you ready to memorize?
Attributes, 2nd/3rd year memorize.

A CRASH of Rhinos! Chocolate to whomever brings in a collective noun next week!

Pronouns (Chart F)
Definition box at the top (Memorize, please).
Rest of Chart, 2nd/3rd year students, memorize a bit more than you know.  Just go deeper.

Dialectic Portion (Understanding and applying information)

We started the Task Sheet by touring the student notebook and finding the dialectic section that has
1. Task Sheet
2. Simple Steps for Solving Sentences (Question Confirmation)
3. Weekly Sample Sentences
4. Abbreviation Key

The Task Sheet provides a step-by-step guide to classifying sentences and analyzing their construction.

Task 1, Dictation.  Dictate a sentence to the student and have them write it out on the lines provided. Begin with 2 word sentences in the S/Vi pattern.

Task 2, Mechanics.  Work through the questions and check for all the things that a sentence must have, plus punctuation and spelling.

Task 3, Question Confirmation. Use your Simple Steps for Solving Sentences or your own memory to determine sentence structure, pattern and purpose.

Task 4, Diagramming. Use the correct framework for the sentence pattern you have (See Chart A, Sentence Patterns).  In the case of the S/Vi sentence that you will be working on this week, the horizontal line has the subject on the left and the verb on the right with a bisecting line that goes all the way through the horizontal line.  If you would like to add an article adjective (a, an, the) or an -ly adverb, please remember that these modifiers go on a slanted line under the word each modifies.

Get out the Task Sheet and try it each day.  Do at least one sentence per day.

IEW
A two paragraph assignment! We are working through lesson 5, "The Mayflower Mishap. Please complete the Key Word Outline (KWO) for the second paragraph then write both paragraphs.  But before you write...

We talked about 5 senses words and adding the "show, not tell" factor to our writing.  Use the exercise on p. 44 to work through brainstorming and try to determine which 5 sense words you will add to your paper.  You will need at least one, 5 sense word per paragraph.  Refer to the yellow sheets in the style section of your IEW student notebook if you need suggestions.  After you determine which 5 sense words you want to incorporate…

Now write your paper.

Also, we introduced strong verbs.  Though the strong verb requirement is not on "The Mayflower Mishap" checklist, I would like you to add it.  Please look through your paragraphs and find

Banned Verbs 

(go/went, come/came, say/said, get/got)

Replace them with strong verbs (refer to suggestions on the blue pages).  Please know that strong verbs do not have to be fancy; they just have to show action. For example, run, jump, scribble, and devour are all strong verbs.

For 2nd and 3rd year students, optional 3rd paragraph, "Plymouth Colony and Samoset" from Lesson 6. This checklist already has the strong verb requirement.

Personal
Thank you for sticking with me today.  We had so much material to introduce.  I know that it was difficult to ingest for that long.  If you have any questions or are overwhelmed or need clarification, please contact me; I want to help.

Week 2

It is a privilege to tutor your children.  I love their energy, their diving right in to the material and wrestling with it.  Thank you for all that you do to prepare them at home.  You and they are treasures.

EEL

More overview! Remember, soon we will back up and take this one step at a time.

In class we competed by writing out Chart A (Sentence Classifications).  I won today, but it was close! Keep practicing every day.  Next week we will review this again, but this time moms will compete against kids.  Moms, get ready!

We also looked at the part of speech overview (p. 443 in the EEL Guide).  This lists the 8 parts of speech and the definitions that correlate.  It also takes it a step further and gives the question to ask in order to determine usage in a sentence.

We also did a big verb overview in class, walking through Chart C (Verbs).  We covered the entire chart, but you only need to work on memorizing…

1st year student: 

     * Definition of a verb (gray bar at top of chart)

     * Question to ask in order to identify a verb in a sentence (gray bar at top of chart).

2nd and 3rd year student: 

    Go as far as you can go then push a little further.  The suggested order for memorizing is the gray boxes, then the bold type, then the italic type.

    * I would love to see that everyone in the 2nd and 3rd year knows at least the 4 verb types and 4 verb attributes.

We also talked about the difference between the transitive and intransitive verb.  We will cover this again on week 6, so don't be too concerned with getting this quite yet.

What do I do this week? 

Practice Chart A (Sentence Classification) again

Work on Memorizing a portion of Chart C (Verbs)

IEW

It was so wonderful to hear your first compositions! I adored your lovely illustrations. I had forgotten to mention adding illustrations (it's optional). We will let more people read next week.

Who/Which Clause

Learned who/which clause dress-up (p 31 student text)

Practiced creating w/w clauses by writing…

     (My Name), who                                                   , loves Essentials class.

Remember, the w/w is extra information that describes the noun it follows.  The sentence must still be complete if you take out the w/w clause.  Also, it needs to be set off by commas.

Key Word Outline

We did the key word outline (KWO) for this week's source text (Jamestown, p. 34) 

We practiced adding a w/w clause.

Final Clincher/Title

We touched on the final clincher (last sentence) of a paragraph and how we repeat or reflect some of the words to create a title that wraps up the package and adds a bow on top. The repeated/reflected title is that extra touch.

Vocabulary

We briefly introduced this week's vocabulary words: askew, presume, flank, reverently.

What do I do this week?

Write a paragraph from your KWO and add in both dress-ups we have learned so far, -ly and who/which.  Underline these in the text.  Add a vocabulary word.  Create a title by repeating or reflecting words from your last sentence. Check off your checklist and put your final draft and the checklist in a page protector. You can also add an illustration if you would like.

*** Moms, please remember that with these dress-ups, only do what your student can handle.  As we add more, feel free to edit that checklist and make it manageable for your student. Right now we only have two, the -ly word and the w/w clause.

If you are overwhelmed or not getting this please talk to me.  Give me a call or shoot me a text or email so we can connect.  Often, the big challenge in the beginning is just learning to navigate the maze of information.

Blessings to each of you!

Week 1

Well, we are off and going!

English Grammar

In EEL this week, we learned Chart A, Sentence Classifications.  Practice, practice, practice writing out this chart over and over.  Maybe someone will beat me next week.  Moms, you might want to practice too. We may just have to pit moms against students.

Remember, we are laying the grammar foundation at this point.  Understanding will come later when we get to the dialectic portion.

Writing
In IEW this week, we learned how to key word outline (KWO).

For first and year students, just use the KWO we did in class to write your one paragraph paper.  If you didn't write it down, just do the KWO again.
1. Start off this week with oral retelling from the KWO.  If your student can't retell from the outline, work with him to adjust the KWO until he can restate without much problem.
2. Have him either dictate to you, or type or write out his retelling.
3. Edit grammar, spelling and punctuation if necessary, but don't change tremendously much moms.
4. Add your -ly adverb (refer to -ly list for some options--green sheets between blue and pink in student guide)
5. Check off your checklist (I handed this out, or on pg. 21), making sure to use the MLA format
6. Place completed paragraph and checklist in a page protector to turn in.

For second year students, please use the above instructions or follow the third year student instructions.  It's up to mom.

Third year students...
Same as first year students except, complete a KWO for the text on page 16, titled "Europe Meets America".  Another option is to break away from the text and use another source.  Remember, this KWO technique works with any paragraph.

Happy memorizing and writing!

Essentials Restart!

This is Erin Varnell, not Karen Hinson.  I'll be teaching Essentials this year. If you are receiving this email because you are still subscribed but don't have a child in my class this fall, please go to the bottom of your email to unsubscribe.  This will save you from getting inundated with updates as I post them.

If you do have a child in my class this fall, please go directly to the blog site http://essentialsofgreensboro.blogspot.com and look at the sidebar to vote for which Saturday works best for you for orientation.  Psst! Do it right now or you might forget to do it!

Thanks!  Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Week 22

So sorry that we are missing today again. I know it is frustrating.
We are all ready for spring!! Today was mostly a review with the addition
of participles. We were going to go over how to form a compound/complex sentence.
You can start with 2 simple sentences and make them compound by adding a FANBOY.
Then you add a dependent clause to that. You can do this by adding a who/which clause(adjectival dependent clause) or a www.asia.wub(adverbial clause). Adding a who/which clause is easier since they have done this in IEW.  We are reviewing the S-Vl-PA, and S-Vl-PN sentence patterns this week, so
I was going to have them give me a sentence with these patterns. This would be a good practice to see
if they remember these patterns.  Here is my example from class.
The dog is my friend. (S-Vl-PN)     The dog is cute.(S-Vl-PA)

Then combine to make it compound.
The dog is my friend , and he is cute.

Now add a dependent clause.

The dog, whose name is Jake, is my friend, and he is cute.
(I added an adjectival clause)

The dog is my friend , and he is cute because he has floppy ears.
(adverbial clause)

I was going to task sheet the sentence -    The dog, whose name is Jake, is my friend, and he is cute.

If you would like any explanation of this sentence let me know. It is hard to know how many of you
would like the answer. If you would like the answer to that sentence you may email me.There is nothing too complicated about the sentence. I was keeping it short so we could get through it.

The verbal we were going to talk about today is called the participle. Remember a verbal is a verb that is used as another part of speech.
A participle is a verb usually ending in -ed, -en, -t, or -ing used as an adjective.

The verbal chart is Chart Q. The lesson also gives a good description of a participle and how to diagram.
Some examples

The sleeping baby looked precious. (sleeping is a participle describing baby , so it is an adjective)

The burnt toast smelled bad. ( burnt is the participle describing toast and is an adjective)

The yelping puppies were loud.( yelping is a participle describing puppies and is an adjective)

Please read the lesson for Week 22. The adjective chart is the chart to review this week.
Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 21!!! What a beautiful day!!

    The weather was so glorious yesterday. It was hard to stay inside. We only have 3 more classes of Essentials this year. I know it is hard to stay focused. Please try hard to finish strong to the end.
I will try to have some type of review game planned for the next two classes along with the lesson.
We will try to have a big review game on Week 24.  The next 3 weeks will be review along with touching on some advanced concepts such as participles and gerunds.  We talked about infinitives yesterday.
Please do let me know if there is something you feel like we did not cover well , or something you have questions about. I would be glad to go over it at some point in the next 3 weeks.
    Yesterday we covered our last sentence structure. The compound/complex structure is a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence.  Everyone seemed to do well forming the compound/complex structure out of a simple sentence.  This would be good practice to do at home. Let me know if you have any questions.  We also went over the basics of infinitives.  Please let me know if you have any questions.
If you are a first year student this may be a little over your child's head, so you can pick up on it next year if that is the case.  We diagrammed and labeled a sentence in class. We did not get to the quid et quo.
Please make sure you are trying this at home. Let me know if you have any questions. I may go over the quid et quo again next week quickly. I may just pick a short simple sentence to demonstrate it again.
Please let me know if I can do anything to help.
Things to work on this week:
1. Mom should read Lesson 21.
2. Task sheet sentences that follow the lesson.
3. Review memory work charts.

Karen

Week 20

Good Afternoon,
I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. I am sorry we are not meeting today for Essentials.
Week 20 was going to be a review day for us. There was nothing new to introduce.
I encourage you all to read through Lesson 20 in the EEL guide. Please let me know if you have any questions.There were a couple of things we were going to do in class today. We were going to take a basic sentence and add modifiers to it. This is similar to what you do in IEW.  We were planning to add one word adjectives, one word adverbs, adverbial prepositional phrases, adjectival prepositional phrases, adjectival clauses(who/which clauses), and adverbial clauses( those starting with www.asia.wub).
This would be something you could do at home. They have a sentence in the guide that you could follow. Of course there would be multiple right answers for one sentence. Along with adding the prepositional phrases to the sentences, we were going to review prepositions. Now is a good time to make sure your child has the list memorized.  I will list the basic sentences I was going to use in class to have the students add the modifiers.  We were then going to task sheet a sentence in class. I can post the sentence at the bottom of the page. I will try to label the sentence , so you will have the answers. I do not know how to post a diagram to the blog.  If you are unsure of how to diagram the sentence, please email me, and I will help you through it.

Of course working on these sentences is totally optional. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sentences to add modifiers .Of course you can make up your own.
1. A dog scurried. (S-Vi)

A sad and lonely dog scurried.(one word adjectives)
A dog in the park scurried.( adjectival prepositional phrase, tells which dog even though it is a location)
A dog scurried in the park.( adverbial prepositional phrase, tells where the dog scurried. when I move the location of the same phrase it answers a different question)
A dog, who was sad and lonely, scurried. ( adjectival clause)
A dog scurried while he was being chased by the cat.( adverbial clause)
A dog silently scurried .( one work adverb tells how he scurried)



2. The fur felt soft. (S-Vl-PA)

The fuzzy fur felt soft. (one word adjective)
The fur of the cat felt soft. ( adjectival prepositional phrase, tells whose fur)
The fur felt soft in the cold. ( adverbial prepositional phrase, where the fur felt soft)
The fur, which belonged to the cat, felt soft.(adjectival clause)
The fur felt soft because the cat just had a bath.( adverbial clause , tells why the fur felt soft)
The fur felt wonderfully soft. ( one word adverb)

-this is a good time to tell the difference between a phrase and a clause. A phrase does not contain a subject and a verb. A clause does contain both a subject and a verb.


Sentence to task sheet. I am going to label the words in parentheses if you need more answers please email me.

Mrs. Hinson, our teacher,  made chocolate cookies and purchased soda for our party since she did not paint her kitchen green.

Complex, declarative , S-Vt-Do,( S-Vt-DO-OCA)- there is a compound verb with direct object in the independent clause.

Mrs Hinson- Subject noun
our- possessive pronoun adjective
teacher- noun appositive
made- verb transitive
chocolate- adjective
cookies-direct object
and- conjunction
purchased- verb transitive
soda-direct object
for-preposition (adverbial prepostional phrase, it tells why she purchased)
our- possessive pronoun adjective
party-object of preposition
since-subordinating conjunction
she-subject pronoun
did- helping verb
not-adverb
paint-verb transitive
her- possessive pronoun adjective
kitchen- direct object
green- object complement adjective