Week 9

DEVOTION

We still didn't have 100% Bible attendance in class. Please make sure they all come next week!  ;)

For our devotion, we took Grandpa’s observations about coons and shiny objects (Where the Red Fern Grows, pp. 64-66 - the coon trap only works because the coons won't let go of the shiny things they hold tightly in their paws) and discussed Scripture and how we are like the coon:

Luke 18:18-25
Exodus 20:1-4 
1John 2:16
Luke 12:15
Galatians 5:19-20
James 1:2-4

LATIN

We are finishing up lesson 9 this week.  I distributed our Verb Chart 1 (and emailed the entire set to everyone).  This week, you should be able to fill in from memory the entire column on the far left (first conjugation) - for the present, imperfect, and future tenses.

The students did a good job of working through and explaining the points in lesson 9.  They also played "vocabulary war" in pairs - keep drilling!  On Quizlet, we have both the Master Review list and a current list ("All Henle Latin 1 Vocab SO FAR").

This week, students will complete lesson 9, adding 2 new grammar rules to last week's long list: rules 142-164 in the blue book. 

Drill vocabulary daily!  You have 4 new vocab lists this week.

Finally, there are 13 exercises to complete - be sure to check your answers and make corrections!

MATH

Thank you, Ellie and Andrew M., for leading us in our math discussion.  We also reviewed how to use fractional exponents (numerator is the "square" and denominator is the "root").  Students then competed against each other in Board Slam using any exponents they wanted, and we had a lot of fun!

ASTRONOMY

Students presented their research on Benjamin Banneker and explained their eclipse drawings.  I wrote my assessment of their presentations in their note-taking journals, so be sure to check that out.

This week, students are researching the brother-sister duo of William and Caroline Herschel and writing a five-paragraph essay.  Use at least two sources and include a bibliography and citations.

We also looked at a sample timeline I have put together.  Students should be keeping their own timeline of astronomy this year.  You can use the folder timeline I gave you at the beginning of the year, or you can try something different.  You will be keeping a comprehensive timeline in the upper Challenge programs, so now is a good time to get this figured out.  :)

LOGIC

In logic, students continue to work on lessons 23-26.  You should have all exercises completed by next Monday.  Continue to review vocabulary flashcards daily.  Then reread each lesson and complete the exercises before moving on to the next lesson.

I briefly introduced the new lessons, and then we played a new review game in which students built syllogisms using Blurt cards as their terms when given random mood and figure combinations.  Everyone caught on quickly and did a very good job crafting their syllogisms!

I also challenged the students to see how far they could go in identifying and excluding invalid syllogisms from the very last page in their workbooks.  There are a total of 256 possible combinations - but the list of valid syllogisms is much smaller! 

LTW

Students paired up to review and critique each other's outlines, exordium, division, and amplification.

Here are the literary tools we discussed last week, with an explanation for some of them.  See if you can use any in your essay this week:

- Alliteration:  a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.  E.g., "A better butter makes a better batter."

- Asyndeton: a stylistic device used in literature and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases, yet maintain grammatical accuracy. This literary tool helps in reducing the indirect meaning of the phrase, and presents it in a concise form.  E.g., “Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure?”
(Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare)

(Note: Syndeton and asyndeton are opposite to one another. Syndeton includes the addition of multiple conjunctions.  E.g., “He eats and sleeps and drinks.”)

- Hyperbole:  an unreal exaggeration to emphasize the real situation. E.g., "I am dying of shame."

- Personification:  a figure of speech in which a thing – an idea or an animal – is given human attributes.  E.g., "The flowers danced in the gentle breeze."

- Onomatopoeia:  a word which imitates the natural sounds of a thing.  E.g., "the buzzing bee", "the rustling leaves".

- Simile:  a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things; using the word "like" or "as".  E.g., strong as an ox; dry as a bone.

- Synecdoche:  a literary device in which a part of something represents the whole, or it may use a whole to represent a part.  E.g., "coke" is a synecdoche for all carbonated drinks; “suit” refers to a businessman; “boots” refers to soldiers.

This week, write your essay using template #5.  Be sure to include: an exordium, division, antithesis, and amplification.  We reviewed antithesis in class: a specific type of parallelism; a scheme in which strongly contrasting or opposite ideas are expressed in parallel form.  E.g., To err is human, to forgive, divine; give me liberty or give me death; the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.

Don't forget to finish reading The Hiding Place!  We will discuss it on Monday.

CURRENT EVENTS

We again divided into two teams, and students collectively built arguments on the affirmative or negative for our issue:

Should women be restricted from serving combat duty in the military?

This was our best "debate" yet - the proofs were well-developed, the exordia and amplifications were well-crafted, and students for the most part were passionate and engaged.

This week the topic is "director's choice."  I offered a few possibilities and then had them brainstorm and propose ideas for 10 minutes.  We settled on these options: repealing the legalization of marijuana, campaign finance reform, searching for extra-terrestrial life, developing a space force, restricting minors from explicit music, building a wall along the southern border, requiring athletes to stand for the national anthem, separating children from their parents illegally crossing the border, the US pulling out of Syria, requiring evolution to be taught as a theory not fact and/or requiring creationism to be taught if evolution is, and requiring police officers to wear body cameras.  The students voted for their top three choices (in our "primary"), and then we had a final vote among the top three choices.  The winner was "Should children be separated from their parents detained at the border?" This was a lot of fun, we had great discussion, and I think the kids feel very invested in the topic this week!

Same drill as always: pull two articles - one affirmative and one negative; record the key evidence and ideas from each article onto a notecard; and find a strong and persuasive exordium for each side, in addition to a relevant Bible verse and compelling amplification.

POSTREMO

- Bring your Bible to class!

- Andrew W. is hosting book club at his house this Friday at 6:00 p.m.  Several of your classmates will be there - join us if you can!

~ Love, Mrs. D.

Week 8

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a nice week off.

DEVOTION

* * * Don't neglect to bring your Bible to class! * * *

Philippians 1:1-11
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:  2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.  9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

DEFINITION: "partnership in the gospel"; love…knowledge…depth of insight

COMPARISON: "in chains"; defending/confirming gospel

CIRCUMSTANCE: are certain circumstances needed for our love to abound?  Freedom?  Chains?

RELATIONSHIP: when love abounds, how does that affect relationship?  What is the relationship between discerning what is best and being pure/blameless?

TESTIMONY/AUTHORITY:  Paul as an authority; other relevant Scripture? 

LATIN

I quizzed students on adjectives - 1st/2nd declension (week 7) and 3rd declension (week 8).  A few students have it down pat; others need to keep working on memorizing these endings.

Be sure to practice all vocabulary from the Mastery Review Vocabulary No. 1 (pp. 91-98) - there is a Quizlet available in our online "class".

This week, we are moving on to Lesson 9.  This is a new unit and we're getting into verbs!  We reviewed the 6 characteristics of verbs: 

TENSE:  present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, future perfect 
PERSON: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
NUMBER:  singular, plural

CONJUGATION:  1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th + "to be"

MOOD:  indicative, subjunctive, imperative

VOICE:  active, passive

When we study VERBS, must learn 4 PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A VERB:
1.  1st person singular present indicative active (laudō, I praise)
2.  Present infinitive active (laudāre, to praise)
3.  1st person singular perfect indicative active (laudāvī, I praised)
4.  Perfect participle passive (laudātus, having been praised)

The PRESENT INFINITIVE ACTIVE (e.g., laudāre) shows us to which conjugation a verb belongs.  All verbs whose present infinitive active ends in -ĀRE  belong to the FIRST conjugation.

This week, students are to learn grammar rules 142-162 (blue book). 

Drill vocabulary DAILY.  There is one new vocab list, plus the Mastery Review Vocabulary No. 1 (pp. 91-98).

You have 12 exercises to complete - be sure to check your answers and make corrections!

MATH

Thank you, Greta, for leading us in our math discussion.  Students also completed a multiplication drill and tried Number Knockout/Board Slam (which they were so absorbed in, they carried into lunch!).

ASTRONOMY

Students worked in pairs to combine, sort, and arrange their research notecards on Newton into a presentation.  It was amazing to hear how polished and developed their presentations sounded in a short amount of time when using the notecard method!

This week students are researching Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) - a free African-American largely self-educated and known as a mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs, and writer.  He exchanged letters with Thomas Jefferson, politely challenging him to do what he could to ensure racial equality.  Banneker was one of the first African-Americans to gain distinction in science.  His significant accomplishments include the successful prediction of a solar eclipse, publishing his own almanac, and the surveying of Washington, D.C.

Students should use multiple sources in their research and then draw and label a solar eclipse.  Additionally, students are to write an essay based on their research that should be at least one paragraph long.  Regardless of the length of your essay, be sure to include a bibliography and citations!

LOGIC

In logic, students completed lessons 19-22 this past week.  Now we move on to lessons 23-26.  You have two weeks to complete them - be sure to read ALL lessons first early this week.  Make vocabulary flashcards and review them daily.  Then reread each lesson and complete the exercises before moving on to the next lesson.

I briefly introduced the new lessons, and then we played a new review game in which students built syllogisms using Blurt cards as their terms when given random mood and figure combinations.  Everyone caught on quickly and did a very good job crafting their syllogisms!

LTW

Students shared their issue and three favorite proofs from their ANI charts.  They were supposed to have 30 items in each column and nearly everyone had that done this week - well done!  As you sort your chart and draft your outline this week, be careful to choose strong proofs - avoid hypotheticals that are too tenuous.  You want a solid connection to the actual story.

We discussed a new tool - DIVISION - which is added to the introduction and used to clarify arguments.  The steps to writing division into your essay are:

1. Write your thesis (e.g., Edmund should not follow the WW.)
2. Write the counter-thesis (e.g., Edmund should follow the WW.)
3. Identify the common terms (Edmund, follow, WW)
4. Choose one point of common agreement (e.g., Everyone agrees Edmund could not stay where he was.)
5. Complete the division:  Some people believe…[thesis].  Conversely, others believe…[counter-thesis].

We will be using the ESSAY 5 template for this paper.  We also discussed several literary tools used in Where the Red Fern Grows - I encouraged students to think about using some of these in their final essays:
- Alliteration
- Asyndeton
- Hyperbole
- Personification
- Onomatopoeia
- Simile
- Synecdoche

This week, sort your ANI chart, complete all assigned workbook pages (including pages on division and amplification), and outline your essay.  Also make you sure begin reading The Hiding Place.  This is the longest book you will read this year, and very likely could be the best book you read, so don't shortchange your experience by not giving yourself enough time to enjoy it!

CURRENT EVENTS

We again divided into two teams, and students collectively built arguments on the affirmative or negative for our issue:

Should the federal government require GMO labeling?

Students also shared the relevant Bible verses they found - a few students were not prepared for this.  Please make sure you bring a verse next week on our new topic:

Should women be restricted from serving combat duty in the military?

We discussed what we already know about the topic of women in the military, and then used the 5 Common Topics to consider the issues of adding women to the draft and women serving in combat duty:

DEFINITION
Draft?
Women?
Combat duty?  (all allowed but riot control; mandatory?)

COMPARISON
Men vs. Women?  Size/strength/stamina differences?

CIRCUMSTANCE

Uniforms and equipment not designed for smaller sizes
Unique difficulties for women near the battlefield

RELATIONSHIP
Potential for sexual harassment & assault incidences 
Attraction between male & female soldiers?  Effect on others in unit?
Pregnancy; mothers leaving children

TESTIMONY / AUTHORITY
What do experts say on this issue?   (who are experts?)

Students voted and chose the issue of women in combat over the draft question.  This week, find two articles - one affirmative and one negative - and record the key evidence and ideas from each article onto a notecard (i.e., you will have TWO finished notecards - one for each article).  Find a strong and persuasive exordium for each side, in addition to a relevant Bible verse and compelling amplification.

POSTREMO

- Bring your Bible to class each week as well as all of your assignments and needed materials!  It seems every week we have people who completed essays, notecards, outlines, etc., but then left them at home on Monday.

- RSVP for our Challenge Social at Andrew M.'s house THIS FRIDAY!

- Watch for dates for two other CH B movie nights:  Where the Red Fern Grows and The Hiding Place.

~ Love, Mrs. D.

Week 7

Here's a quick recap of class this week - don't forget we are OFF next Monday!  Enjoy your break!

DEVOTION

1 Corinthians 9:25-27

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

DEFINITION: runners; prize; games?

COMPARISON: runner in competition vs. life?  winner's crown vs. eternal crown?

CIRCUMSTANCE: what circumstances are needed for strict training?  In competition / life?

RELATIONSHIP: between aimlessness & competition?  striking a blow & making a slave?

TESTIMONY/AUTHORITY: other Scripture?  “To live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)

Don't forget our Challenge B motto:  Our studies should also prepare us to reason clearly, speak eloquently, calculate accurately, and write persuasively so that we have the ability to make God known to others.

LATIN

We played a new game, Trashketball, to review 1st-5th declensions, rules for adjectives, and other points from lessons 1-7.

We also previewed Lesson 8 for this coming week, which covers adjectives of the 3rd declension (rules 77-78).  Some points to remember:

Adjectives are grouped into two main classes:

* Those which use the endings of the 1st & 2nd declensions.

* Those which use the endings of the 3rd declension.

All adjectives with -is, -e in the nominative singular are declined like graves, -e.

GRAVIS, -E heavy, severe, serious

MASCULINE

Singular

Nom. (subject)  -is  (gravis)

Gen. (possessive)  -is  (gravis)

Dat. (indirect obj.)  -ī (gravī)

Acc. (direct obj.) -em (gravem)

Abl. (obj. of prep.)  -ī (gravī)

Plural

Nom. (subject)  -ēs  (gravēs)

Gen. (possessive) -ium  (gravium)

Dat. (indirect obj.)  -ibus  (gravibus)

Acc. (direct obj.)  -ēs  (gravēs)

Abl. (obj. of prep.)  -ibus  (gravibus)

FEMININE

Singular

Nom. (subject)  -is  (gravis)

Gen. (possessive)  -is (gravis)

Dat. (indirect obj.)  -ī (gravī)

Acc. (direct obj.)  -em (gravem)

Abl. (obj. of prep.) -ī (gravī)

Plural

Nom. (subject)  -ēs  (gravēs)

Gen. (possessive)  -ium  (gravium)

Dat. (indirect obj.)  -ibus  (gravibus)

Acc. (direct obj.)  -ēs  (gravēs)

Abl. (obj. of prep.) -ibus  (gravibus)

NEUTER

Singular

Nom. (subject)  -e (grave)

Gen. (possessive)  -is (gravis)

Dat. (indirect obj.) -ī (gravī)

Acc. (direct obj.) -e (grave)

Abl. (obj. of prep.) -ī (gravī)

Plural

Nom. (subject)  -ia  (gravia)

Gen. (possessive) -ium  (gravium)

Dat. (indirect obj.)  -ibus  (gravibus)

Acc. (direct obj.)  -ia  (gravia)

Abl. (obj. of prep.) -ibus  (gravibus)

ASSIGNMENTS THIS WEEK:

• Read lesson 8
• Review 2 grammar rules (blue book - 77 & 78)
• Vocabulary: 3 new lists to DRILL DAILY; plus Master Review Vocab. No. 1, p. 91-98!
• 8 Exercises!
• Check answers and make corrections
• Attend study hall on Thursday (10:00-11:30) if you are able - we will not have study hall over fall break (Oct. 11).

MATH

We tried something new this week and students paired up to present their math problems and receive constructive feedback on how they did.  Don't forget to practice on Quizlet: multiplication tables & basic math facts.

ASTRONOMY

Students presented their research on Cassini and their timelines of space exploration.  It was fun to see how creative students were!  I also passed out the clip art for our remaining astronomers - students can affix these to their timelines at home.  

This week you are researching the English scientist and mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton.  He had one of the most brilliant minds the world has ever known. Legend has it that seeing an apple fall gave Newton the idea that the same force that keeps us bound to the Earth also controls the motion of planets and stars.

Newton's contributions to science include the universal law of gravitation, modern laws of optics, and the development of calculus, a field of mathematics. He is also famous for his book, Principia Mathematica, in which he presents three laws of motion, one of which relates an object's mass and acceleration to the force being applied on it.

Instead of an essay this week, you will be creating twenty notecards for your research.  Continue to use at least two sources.  Pages 179 & 180 in your guide explain how to make the notecards.  Why do you have to use notecards?  Here are some of the benefits:

* It prepares you for Challenge I when you use the format to write a formal research paper, and also in the formal debates that begin in Challenge I.

* Challenge I students who follow the notecard method report that actually writing their research paper was very simple.

* It allows students to combine their research with each other’s into a larger research paper outline.

* Students can learn to articulate points from notecards in an impromptu style. 

* The risk of plagiarizing is reduced when students learn to capture facts in summary form.

* Recording each fact on a separate card also allows for complete reorganization or 
regrouping of the facts to make the writing even more your own.

* It enables students to gather a very large amount of information for the Challenge I research paper in a manner that allows you to move and reorganize your facts into the most logical order with much less effort than a list or outline form.

* It is also great preparation for mock trial, where students research but then must take notes and organize their thoughts on the fly during the trial. 

You should also take some time this week to review the previous astronomers we have studied!

LOGIC

We touched base on the current assignment (lessons 19-22) and then played Bazinga to review all the lessons covered so far.  This week you need to finish all exercises for lessons 19-22 (on arguments, syllogisms, mood, figure - pp. 141-157), REREAD each lesson as you tackle the exercises, and continue to review vocabulary.

LTW

Students shared their essays on Little Britches, and we listened for parallelism as well as strong, precise, and active verbs.  Students did a great job on the essays - I continue to see improvement in making sure the subproofs are well-connected to the proofs.  A few students neglected to include parallelism - make sure you are completing the assigned workbook pages and reviewing the sample outline and checklist when you work on your essays so you don't miss important components.

Then we discussed Where the Red Fern Grows, a coming-of-age story about a boy in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma during the Great Depression who buys two coon dogs and learns to raccoon hunt with them.  This week, students will craft an issue and create an ANI chart with at least THIRTY items in each column!  

We discussed the invention tools we have to create ideas (e.g., considering the 5 common topics; picking three actors and three actions) and added "definition" to our repertoire:  

E.g., pick term to define:  IRON
Identify groups the term belongs to:  appliance, metal, to smooth
Select the group most helpful to issue:  metal
List other members of that group:  copper, gold, silver
List the unique characteristic:  strength
Write your own definition:  a metal that is strong and has magnetic properties
What’s the genus?  metal
What’s the species?  strong, magnetic

SAME PROCESS WITH BILLY (from Where the Red Fern Grows):
Term:  BILLY
Groups:  human, male, boy, son, character in book
Most helpful group:  boy character in book
Other members:  Ralph (Little Britches), Milo (The Phantom Tollbooth)
Unique characteristic?  
Write your own definition?
What’s the genus?  boy character
What’s the species?  (what's unique about Billy compared to Ralph or Milo?)

Finally, I distributed clip art for our novels for students to add to their timelines, too.

If you haven't started already, you should begin read The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom.  Most students find this book to take the longest to read - it's due by Week 10 (October 29).

CURRENT EVENTS

We again divided into two teams, and students took their research notecards and collectively built arguments on the affirmative or negative for our issue:

Should public school employees be armed in schools?

Each team made a more detailed outline of their strongest arguments, including an exordium and amplification, as well as three subproofs for each main proof.  Then we took turns presenting each point.  This week, students will research the issue:

Should the federal government require GMO labeling?

You will again find two articles - one in favor and one opposed.  Record the key evidence and ideas from each article onto a notecard, and watch for good examples to use as an exordium or for amplification.  Also find a Bible verse that applies to this issue.

Using the 5 Common Topics, we discussed what genetically modified organisms are and what the risks and consequences might be if GMO labeling is required or not.  The assignment this week is similar to last:

* Find one affirmative and one negative article

* Fill out a notecard for each article, recording key thoughts & ideas

* Form an AMPLIFICATION & EXORDIUM

* Find a BIBLE VERSE that relates to this issue

* Be prepared to explain your research and formulate (with your classmates) strong proofs and subproofs to support your position

POSTREMO

- Please make sure you are bringing your Bible to class each week!

- I will be sending you all progress reports when I return from our mission trip.

- RSVP for our next Challenge Social at Andrew M.'s house - an outdoor movie night (or, if the weather doesn't cooperate, an indoor game night!)

~ Love, Mrs. D.