Week 3

It was a nice change of scenery today meeting at our house - thank you everyone for working around Labor Day and busy schedules this week!

LATIN

Students will complete lesson 3 this coming week.  Here is where we are in the semester and what you should be able to WRITE EASILY FROM MEMORY at this point:

1st Declension:

Nom.   -a   -ae 

Gen.   -ae   -ārum

Dat.   -ae   -īs

Acc.   -am   -ās

Abl.   -ā   -īs

2nd Declension:

Nom.   -us    -ī   (or -um/-a)

Gen.   -ī -ōrum

Dat.   -ō   -īs

Acc.   -um   -ōs   (or -um/-a)

Abl.   -ō   -īs

3rd Declension: 

All three forms (lex, pars, flumen) AND be able to explain when you use which of these forms.  (See rules 57-61 in the blue book.)

You should also be able to identify whether a noun is in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd declension, and know all vocabulary through page 55 of the purple book.  

Don't forget LATIN STUDY HALL is on Thursday from 10:00-11:30!

MATH

Thank you, Andrew M., for presenting in class.  You did a very nice job of leading a discussion about a difficult math concept through asking questions of your classmates.  Everyone should come prepared with a problem to present to the class each week, using the 5 Common Topics chart to outline.  Going through the process of organizing your thoughts on the chart is helping to equip you for leading seminar strands yourself in the upper challenge classes, so don't skip this step by thinking you aren't going to be called on or just using an old problem you prepared previously!

ASTRONOMY

The geocentric models were fun to see (and taste!).  Students also used their essays to have a discussion about Ptolemy.  It was interesting to hear to the different facts people uncovered.  A few important points to note:

- ASSESSMENT OF CLASSMATES:  Our assessments of one another should always be kind, encouraging, and true.  We are not out to trap one another, trip someone up, or make accusations.  Please remember:

Proverbs 18:4 “A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.”

Proverbs 15:4 “Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

Proverbs 16:24 “Kind words are like honey–sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (ESV) "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

- BIBLIOGRAPHY:  Make sure you have one!  Additionally, each citation in your bibliography should be written with a hanging indentation (or negative indentation).  The first line of a given citation is flush with the left margin; the second and subsequent lines are indented a half-inch.  This is true for MLA and APA citations.  Here is an example:

Eze, Michael O. Intellectual History in Contemporary South Africa. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

Fairbairn, Donald. Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology with the Help of the Church Fathers. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2009.

Giles, Kevin. "An Extended Review of One God in Three Persons: Unity of Essence, Distinction of Persons, Implications for Life." Priscilla Papers 30, no. 1 (Winter 2016): 21-30.

- CITATIONS:  Last week, some students struggled to tell us where some of their information came from.  If you are utilizing the notecard method, this should not be an issue!  Every fact you find is written on a separate notecard that has the source number on it.  But many students continued to struggle this week.  Along those lines...

- CITE MORE!:  It seems that most students have not been including any citations within the body of their essay.  They might have a bibliography, but they have not attributed individual sentences to their sources.  You should do this not only to avoid plagiarism (when you quote an author or substantially use their idea), but also to give your statements credibility.  I encourage you to OVER-CITE next time and see what you think.  (Depending on how you choose to capture your "interview" of Copernicus, you might be citing more in your week 5 essay than week 4.)

To cite within the text, you will use the short form of the citation from your bibliography.  The handout I gave you on the first day of class (bibliography charts) will show you what the short form looks like.

As always, be sure to use at least two sources in your research.  Try to arrange your interview questions for Copernicus into three different groups, and then use the 5 PARAGRAPH BURGER ESSAY format to organize your questions under those three groups.

- IMPORTANT LAST STEPS:  Don't forget to (1) edit and revise your rough draft, (2) have your parent grade your final draft, and (3) practice presenting your essay/interview out loud ten times.

LOGIC

We played review games for the vocab in lesson 6-10.  Most students have quite a bit of work ahead to memorize all these terms.

This week you will complete whatever you have left in lessons 6-10, plus all the associated exercises.  Don't forget to reread the lesson before you begin work on the assignment!

LTW

This week you will use your outline to write your essay, following the Essay #2 model.  You also need to add parallelism to your paper.  There are assigned workbook pages to walk you through this.

You must also be finished reading our next novel, Little Britches, by Monday.  Bring the novel and your essay to class!

CURRENT EVENTS

We had a great discussion about parental rights, medical decisions, and the government’s power.  This coming week we are focused on education, and students brainstormed ideas about arming teachers in schools, mandating special education (ILC) programs in all public schools, how to evaluate teachers (and whether to tie their raise or salary to their students’ text scores), and prayer in schools.  The issue students devised is:

Should the government provide tuition vouchers for families to spend on their children’s education at any school of their choice, whether public, private, or religious?

You will again find two articles (any side) and complete a CE form for each article.  Also bring a relevant Bible verse, and be prepared to discuss your articles in class.  Always be watching to detect any improper bias in a given article.

POSTREMO

- Parents: PLEASE CHECK YOUR STUDENT'S NOTE-TAKING JOURNAL!  

- Latin study hall is this Thursday from 10:00-11:30 at the Castle Pines library!

- I still need dates of any special activities students have outside of class that we could support them in (athletic events, plays, music performances, etc.).  

- Cul-de-Sac Kickball BBQ on Saturday, September 15.  Watch for the Evite!

~ Love, Mrs. D.