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.