Week 8

We had fun Saturday night (despite the lame movie!) and the fun continued through Monday....Highlights from class included stiff competition during Bluff and Around-the-World, seeing Logic "click" even more in people's minds, watching everyone's enthusiasm and persistence in math, and listening to "dahs and dots" in science - impressive!

DEVOTION:

Mr. Markel led us in a devotion on sensitivity (Romans 12:15).  Next week, Ms. Thoma will present on self-control (Galatians 5:24-25).

LATIN:

We played Around-the-World and reviewed vocabulary and declensions.  We continue in lesson 8 this week, with some added exercises.  Be sure to work on the Mastery Review Vocabulary List for Units 1 and 2 on pages 91-98 in the purple book, as well as the declensions for Jesus and gravis (masculine, feminine, and neuter).

LTW:

The students shared their issues and favorite points from their ANI charts.  For Where the Red Fern Grows, we'll be using Essay Template #5.  This week, they are to sort their ANI charts and draft their outline.  We reviewed Division, which is added to the introduction.

I. INTRO

A. Exordium

B. Division

1. Agreement

2. Disagreement

a. Thesis

b. Counter-thesis

C. Distribution

1. Thesis

2. Enumeration

3. Exposition

a. Proof 1

b. Proof 2
           c. Proof 3

You should complete the assigned worksheets and develop your own division in your outline this week, as well as an exordium and amplification.  Bring your sorted ANI chart, final outline, and completed workbook pages to class on Monday.

Heads Up:  You should be starting to read our next book, The Hiding Place, by now.  We will have an "extra" week to finish reading since we have fall break before we begin discussing it - but don't delay starting!  It's an incredible book that you don't want to rush through!  :)

LOGIC:

We love our new review game BLUFF.  This week, I use some of the Logic tests and quizzes for the game.  The students seem to have a pretty good handle on things.  Here are the key concepts they should feel VERY comfortable with by now:

- Drawing the Square of Opposition and understanding what each part means

- Identifying the following parts of a syllogism: conclusion, major term, minor term, middle term, major premise (MP), and minor premise (mP).

- Writing a syllogism in standard categorical order (i.e., MP, mp, C).

- Identifying the mood and figure of a categorical syllogism and schema.

A good exercise would be to have the student teach/demonstrate each of these concepts to their teacher.  Let me know if you have trouble with any of them.

This week we move onto lessons 23-26.  Work on all the new vocabulary, read through these new lessons, and get started on as many exercises as you are able.  We will have two weeks (three with fall break) to finish the exercises.  

MATH:

For our lesson review, we discussed finding the area of triangles, converting between improper fractions, mixed numbers, and decimal numbers, bar, broken-line, and pie graphs, adding and subtracting fractions with unequal denominators, order of operations, and variables and evaluation.  Whew!

We had TWO perfect scores on the multiplication drill - woo-hoo!  We also quizzed the Basic Math Facts.  Most students have a bit of work to do still on those.  ;)  Keep practicing!  Everything is up on Quizlet.

I also told the kids I would prepare and distribute a document with samples of all the concepts we are reviewing this semester, and that some of them will likely appear on the Bluebook exam.

SCIENCE:

Nice work on your Morse papers and Morse Code demonstrations!  This week, we're researching Marie Curie - I had A LOT of fun reading about her!  Here are some links with great information:

https://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/curie/  (this site has a TON of information!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEV4KJBJvEg (a video biography)

http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1389 (a video of Curie in her laboratory!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/curie_marie.shtml

The assignment is actually TWO papers (p. 179 in the Guide):  (1) write a brief essay (250 words) on what the Curies' Nobel Prizes were for and how they earned them; and (2) write another brief paper explaining how to use the periodic table of elements (the table was important to the Curies' research). I gave everyone a color periodic chart in class - use it here and hang onto it for second semester.  ;)

DON'T FORGET: 
* Scientist shoeboxes are due October 31 (Week 10 - see p. 180 in the Guide).
* Science Fair project ideas are due November 7 (Week 11).

CURRENT EVENTS:

In class, students divided into two groups and outlined presentations on either side of the issue:  Should the federal government require GMO (genetically modified organisms) labeling?  The students broke into two groups and argued their side of the issue.  We created an ANI chart during their presentations, then continued the discussion afterwards.  I encouraged them to go beyond just reading their proof - to expand on their argument, whether that's going into subproofs or explaining the proof further.  We'll continue our format next week (find one affirmative article and one negative article for our premise, and write a notecard for each article outlining three proofs, an exordium, and an amplification for each side), but students could add in some of the further details by identifying three subproofs for each proof, or highlighting further details for their proofs in their article (e.g., use a different color for each proof), etc.  One way to think of it is that they should be comfortable enough with their articles and proofs that they can talk about them and explain them without having everything written out.

Our premise this week is:  Should the United States allow women to serve in combat roles?

For class, make sure to bring:

- both articles and notecards (with exordium, 3 proofs, an amplification, and subproofs or further support for your proofs - written down or highlighted in your articles), and

- a relevant Bible verse on this topic. 

POSTREMO:

Ms. Baughman is organizing a hike at Castle Wood Canyon this Friday (10/14) at 10:00 a.m.  The plan is for everyone to pack a lunch and meet at the visitor center.  Please let your classmates know by Thursday whether you will be able to attend.  :)