Week 13

Oh my goodness - only 2 weeks left?!?  And only one week until our first mock trial competition!!!  You guys have worked so hard and I am very proud of you!  Now buckle up and get ready to fly through our remaining days of Challenge B!

DEVO 

We wrapped up our discussion of Do Hard Things - how students would summarize the book and what parts were their favorites.  We also looked at several "rebelutionaries"in the Bible and discussed what we can learn from them:

David in 1 Samuel 16—17 and Psalm 18 
Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 
Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:1-18 and Philippians 3:12—4:13 
Timothy as seen in Paul’s letters to him in 1 Timothy 4:1- 16 and 2 Timothy 6:11-21. 

This week, take a look at the appendices in the book if you are able.  I'd also love to finish our conversation about something interesting or encouraging you read or learned in the Bible, where you saw God moving this week, or what it looked like for you to focus more time in the Word and with the Lord.

LATIN

This week you are in pages 314-322.  We took a look at rules 267-282 (the present, imperfect, and perfect passive subjunctive - yes, more charts to memorize, but we did see how they were fairly simple with discernible patterns); new vocabulary and how causa & mōs are used in the ablative; and the Ablative of Cause (rule 78).

It feels like a lot to push through at the end of the year, but do your best to gain some familiarity with these concepts.  You will have another pass through it next year - just focus on being diligent and finishing strong!

SCIENCE   

We discussed valance electrons and electron orbitals from lesson 4.  Everyone practiced charting these and most seemed to have a good grasp.  Students competed in vocab review and their memorization of the periodic table.  I was impressed with how much people knew - keep up the good work!

This week you need to get through two lessons (5 & 6), and it's normal for this to seem harder than what you've done so far.

Keep working on your Adopt-an-Element assignment.  You will present this as part of your blue book exam on week 15.

LOGIC

We discussed lessons 25-28 this week.  This week, try to finish the exercises for these lessons because you will likely want to have time next week to prepare for the blue book assessment.  These are the last lessons for the year, however, so you can continue to work on them for the next two weeks.

MATH

We discussed a math problem using the 5 Common Topics in which each student took a turn asking a question of their classmates based on one of the common topics.  We also played Number Knockout, then celebrated the completion on our short stories with Kona Ice. 😉 

SHORT STORIES
Congratulations!  Your short stories are complete!  We had a great conversation in class about the two stories we read and whether unrequited love can be worthwhile or not.  We also looked at mood and moral application in stories.  This week, you have two VERY short stories to read!  Enjoy the lighter load in this strand (intentional since mock trial will be taking so much of your time!).

MOCK TRIAL

We worked through the bailiff's role and making introductions at the beginning of trial, and then we practiced making objections.  Every attorney should look for at least one opportunity to object during trial.  We also listened to a great opening statement for the prosecution and gave feedback.

All exams and openings/closings need to be completely finished by our practice on Thursday afternoon.  Details will be emailed for that day.

POSTREMO

• Our Challenge B BBQ will be Saturday evening, May 4.  Plan to be there with your family (we'll work out details after we get through this first mock trial!).

• As I mentioned, blue books will be shorter this semester, since mock trial and short stories already cover a lot.  Expect to have questions for math, logic, Latin, Discovering Atomos, and possibly Defeating Darwinism and Do Hard Things, in addition to presenting your Adopt-an-Element project.

• Don't forget to bring to class: math problem; printed copies of your final mock trial exams and openings/closings; relevant Bible verse(s) for our assigned short stories; and your Discovering Atomos book with exercises completed from lesson 5 AND 6; logic and Latin books.

Blessings on you and your studies this week!  

~ Mrs. D