Week 5

Thank you, Mrs. W, for helping out Monday morning during our emergency vet visit!  I'm happy to say Annie is ok - looks like she pulled some muscles, but with medication she's recovering nicely.

DEVOTION

1 Peter 4:16

“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

James 1:12

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

Students used the 5 Common Topics to discuss these verses.  For example:

DEFINITION:  What are the essential qualities of “suffering as a Christian” or the "crown of life"?

COMPARISON:  What is suffering compared to a trial or test?  The crown of life vs. glorifying God?

CIRCUMSTANCE:  If we are steadfast under trial, can we be certain to receive the crown of life?

RELATIONSHIP:  Can glorifying God and being ashamed co-exist?

TESTIMONY/AUTHORITY:  
- Jeremiah Thomas (16 year old student and right-to-life activist who recently died of cancer shortly after speaking with the governor of Texas about abolishing abortion; he had requested the conversation as his Make-a-Wish wish).  
- “I give you thanks, Creator and God, that you have given me this joy in thy creation, and I rejoice in the works of your hands. See I have now completed the work to which I was called. In it I have used all the talents you have lent to my spirit.” Kepler 1571-1630
- Other scripture?  “To live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)

LATIN

We reviewed the summary of Henle lessons 1-6 (I emailed this to everyone before Monday), including the final 3 pages of information which should all be memorized by everyone now.  Then we worked through Exercise 67, parsing, diagramming and translating.  Everyone did a nice job.

This week, we're covering lessons 5 and 6 (5th declension and nouns with special meanings in the plural).  Hope to see you at LATIN STUDY HALL on Thursday from 10:00-11:30.

MATH

Thank you, Micah and Emily, for presenting in class.  Students also completed a multiplication drill of 108 problems.  We will continue to periodically quiz multiplication and basic math facts, so keep practicing on Quizlet!

ASTRONOMY

Students shared about their telescope drawings and research on Galileo.  People did well explaining somewhat complex ideas in lay terms - you will continue practicing this skill this week with your research on Johannes Kepler and his Three Laws of Planetary Motion.

Be sure to use at least two sources, include a bibliography and citations, and write a five-paragraph essay using the outline in the appendix (p. 177).  You will also prepare a poster board display that diagrams each of Kepler's three laws.  Practice explaining the laws in layman's terms, ten times out loud.  You will present your posters in class next Monday.

LOGIC

We are in the middle of lessons 11-18.  It looked like most students had read all eight lessons and completed the exercises for about 1-3 of those lessons.  Reread the lessons and have all exercises finished by Monday.  Continue to work on vocabulary daily (for lessons 1-18).  

We played a review game to build the SQUARE OF OPPOSITION, and everyone did well with that.  Make sure you study enough this week to uncover and identify any issues you might have with this foundational concept.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

LTW

Students shared their issue and strongest four points from their ANI charts on Monday.  Most people had at least 25 items per column - good improvement over The Phantom Tollbooth ANI charts!  For those of you who didn't quite make it - you will likely need to add to your ANI charts this week to have enough material to work with in sorting and drafting your outline.  Otherwise you risk having weak proofs and subproofs.  

It also appeared that almost no students completed the assigned worksheets from the LTW workbook.  :(  Make sure you are going through these steps somehow so you don't neglect including the necessary elements in your essay.  

For this week's outline (and next week's paper), we will use Essay Template #4.  This requires an exordium at the beginning and amplification at the end.  The LTW worksheets will walk you through this.  

EXORDIUM:

Opening:  attention-grabber/hook; makes the audience want to keep reading

Comes first in the essay, but is prepared last.

3 types: a question, a challenge, or a quote

AMPLIFICATION:

Closing:  explain who the issue matters to & why

It comes right after the restatement of the thesis and proofs

1. Identify the Audience (e.g., Edmund?  Other judges of Edmund’s decision - teacher, friends, Narnians?)

2. What/who do they care about?  (e.g., Edmund should care about his siblings, Narnians, God, parents)

3. Show how the issue affects the group / why do they care?  (e.g., Edmund’s decision caused trouble for his siblings and Narnia)

4. Finally, write/read the thesis and amplification together to make sure they logically connect.  

Be sure to bring your completed outline with exordium and amplification to class on Monday.  I encouraged students to compare their essays from last year to see whether their initial attempts at amplification improved over the course of the year.

CURRENT EVENTS

We had a good discussion about Obamacare and whether it is negatively affecting the medical profession and/or people's access to medical care.  Now we are moving on to technology in education.  This coming week you will research:

Should secondary schools replace textbooks with tablets?

Students defined "secondary schools" as including all students/coursework after elementary school and before college.  "Tablets" encompass all forms of electronic books (iPads, Kindles, laptops, etc.).

You will again find two articles, but this time one must be in the affirmative and one in the negative.  You will continue to record key points onto a single notecard for each article.

Bring the notecards, articles, and Bible verse(s) you find to class.  This week you also must write an exordium and an amplification for this issue (either side).  Be prepared to share in class on Monday!

POSTREMO

- Latin study hall is this Thursday from 10:00-11:30 at the Castle Pines library - and parents please come, too, for a Logic bootcamp.  You won't regret it!

- Our next Challenge Social is October 19.  Watch for an Evite soon.

~ Love, Mrs. D.