Week 11

Greetings!  We're two-thirds of the way done with the semester - time is flying!  We accomplished a lot this week and have a bunch of new stuff coming up.  Be sure to read below and check your CH B guide carefully to make sure you don't miss anything!

I know the weeks have been long and the assignments might be starting to feel a little overwhelming.  My encouragement to you this week is not to shortchange science fair or the Speech to Congress.  If you need to scale back this week, try doing so in math or Latin.  Science fair and the Speech to Congress are very unique two experiences, though, that many 8th grade students do not get.  You don't want to miss the opportunity to grow in wisdom, skill, and persuasion through the speech, and you don't want to fall behind in science fair.  :)

DEVOTION:

Ms. Jones led us in a discussion about tolerance (Philippians 2:2).  Here is the schedule for our remaining 1st semester classes:

12:  Mr. McInturff (contentment, 1 Timothy 6:8)

13:  Ms. Baughman (responsibility, Romans 14:2)

14:  Ms. Jones (diligence, Colossians 3:23)

15:  Ms. Nemec (joyfulness, Proverbs 15:13)

Remember to share (1) a definition of the character trait, (2) relevant Scripture they found, and (3) one to three questions to ask the class about applying the trait in their lives.  The goal is for our devotion time to be more discussion-oriented, and facilitated primarily by the student leader.

LATIN:

We are moving onto Lesson 11 - Personal Pronouns this week.  We reviewed what the personal pronouns are, including subject pronouns and object pronouns.  We also reviewed the exercises students completed in lesson 10, and quizzed on new vocabulary.

Number	Person	Gender	Subject Pronouns	Object Pronouns
Singular	1st	masc./fem.	I	me
	2nd	masc./fem.	you	you
	3rd	masculine	he	him
		feminine	she	her
		neuter	it	it
Plural	1st	masc./fem.	we	us
	2nd	masc./fem.	you	you
	3rd	masc./fem./neuter	they	them

Examples (subject pronoun / object pronoun):

• I like coffee. / John helped me.

• Do you like coffee? / John loves you.

• He runs fast. / Did Ram beat him?

• She is clever. / Does Mary know her?

• It doesn't work. / Can the man fix it?

• We went home. / Anthony drove us.

• Do you need a table for three? / Did John and Mary beat you at doubles?

• They played doubles. / John and Mary beat them.

1st PERSON PRONOUNS = I (me), we (us)  —>  the SPEAKER or WRITER.

2nd PERSON PRONOUNS = you (thou, thee, ye)  —>  the person spoken TO.

3rd PERSON PRONOUNS = he (him), she (her), it (it), they (them)  —>  the person or thing spoken or written ABOUT.

LTW:

Students shared the issue they drafted for The Hiding Place, as well as their favorite three items from each column of their ANI charts and what they came up with on the workbook pages.  For the upcoming essay, we will use Essay Template #6.  This incorporates REFUTATION:

Refutation is a RESPONSE to an opposing argument.

ANTICIPATE 2 arguments your opponent will have against your thesis.

Refutation states the 2 counter-proofs and why they are inadequate:

1.  Present opposing side’s counter-thesis & 2 strong counter-proofs.

2.  State what is wrong with each counter-proof.

3.  Conclude by stating the counter-thesis is not persuasive.

When you draft and sort your ANI charts, you are developing counter-proofs!

- pick 2 strong proofs

- then determine why they are inadequate (you might ask: why didn’t I choose this side originally?)

STEPS TO CREATING A REFUTATION:

1. Write thesis statement.
2. Write counter-thesis.
3. Choose one proof that supports counter-thesis.
4. List 3 sub-proofs.
5. Explain why this proof is not persuasive.
6. Choose a second proof that supports the counter-thesis and repeat steps.

This week, sort your ANI charts, complete the worksheets for exordium, amplification, division, and refutation, and draft your outline.  You should also start reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond - our final novel this semester!  :)

LOGIC:

We finished Unit 3!!!  Now we're on lessons 27-29.  Last week, you should have read through all the lessons, studied the new vocabulary, and started on exercises as much as possible.  This week, RE-read the lessons and complete all the exercises.

We reviewed immediate inferences (lesson 27):

CONVERSE: (E & I)

        S <—> P    (switch the subject and predicate)

OBVERSE: (All)

           + <—> -   (change the quality)

       P —> C    (change the predicate its complement)

CONTRAPOSITIVE:    (A & O)

           S <—> P

          Both S & P to C   (change both the subject & predicate to their complements)

We also started a discussion on translating ordinary statements (lesson 28), including the unique situations involving singular statements (John is a mailman.), indefinite statements (Boys threw rocks at me.), and hypothetical statements (If you eat that cake, you will regret it.).  Lesson 29 covers translating inclusive and exclusive statements.

MATH:

For our lesson review, we discussed overall averages and order of operations (PEMDAS).  I am so proud of everyone on our math drills this week!  EVERYONE got either 100% or only missed 2 on the 108 multiplication problems through 15s - WOO-HOO!!!  We are well on our way to ice cream!  Keep working on the Basic Math Facts.  I have created two new Quizlets for these drills - check them out!

SCIENCE FAIR:

I distributed lab books to everyone and explained what needs to go in them.  I gave each student a detailed handout last week explaining lab books, and I will forward via email some additional material.  The students also shared their science fair topics and research problems.  Finally, we reviewed the steps to the scientific method and completed a fun paper airplane "experiment" to demonstrate the importance of wording your question well, controlling and limiting variables, and repeating an experiment a sufficient number of times.

There are several tasks to complete before our next class (see p. 186 in the Guide):

(1)  Make sure that your SF topic does not include human or animal test subjects (we discussed the problems with this - please let me know if you have any questions), that it is actually testing a variable (versus just demonstrating something - several of the projects on sciencebuddies.org are just demonstrations), and that your project only has one variable.

(2)  If you did not already write out your research problem (1-2 paragraphs) and type it into your Research Plan/Paper Template (see pp. 184-185 of the Guide), make sure you do that this week (Roman Numeral I).

(3)  Finalize your research question and add it to your Research Plan (Roman Numeral II).

(4)  Do background research on the science behind your question/topic.  This is an important step that will help you to formulate your hypothesis.  You might even change your project or question somewhat in light of the research you uncover.  As part of your research, you must:

     (a)  Cite all sources used in bibliography format.

     (b)  Take notes in your lab book.

     (c)  Once completed, add your research into your Research Plan (Roman Numeral III).

(5)  Develop your hypothesis, based on your background research.  Add your hypothesis to your Research Plan (Roman Numeral IV).

(6)  BRING TO CLASS A TYPED COPY OF YOUR DRAFT RESEARCH PLAN with Roman Numerals I-IV completed.

You do not want to get behind on your science fair project!  We will be discussing procedure next week.  As always, let me know if you have any questions.

CURRENT EVENTS:

Our issue this week was:  Should the United States should financially support countries that persecute Christians?  Instead of dividing into groups, we worked as a class to outline proofs and subproofs for each side.  Many people had some difficulty last week finding articles on this topic.  Hopefully our work in class equipped everyone for the task this week:  Preparing and memorizing a 1-3 minute Speech to Congress, using the elements of Essay #6 in Lost Tools of Writing (see p. 72, LTW and the checklist on p. 113 - e.g., exordium, 3 proofs, subproofs, amplification, and refutation).

I randomly assigned the students to the affirmative or negative side.  They should dress up in business attire for their speech (think "dress rehearsal" for Mock Trial).  Don't forget to include REFUTATION (anticipating two strong proofs from the opposing side and explain what is wrong with them and why the counter-thesis is not persuasive).

I explained to the students that this is a very challenging assignment for some, and for those who are already somewhat comfortable speaking in public and memorizing, they should consider how the assignment can stretch them, too.  I would like to hear privately from each student (via email or on a notecard, etc.) what their goal is for this assignment and how they think they will grow through it.  For some, it might be simply memorizing the speech and delivering it without a notecard.  For others, it might be to be as convincing as they can, trying out new skills of persuasion, inflection, etc.  I am very excited to see how each student rises to the challenge of this task!

POSTREMO:

* THIS WEDNESDAY at 2 pm is our Quizlet competition (at the new Lone Tree library).

* The Hiding Place movie night is THIS THURSDAY at 7 pm at the Nemecs' house.

* Stay on top of your Science Fair project!  

Hope to see you at the library and our movie night!

Week 10

Greetings!  We're two-thirds of the way done with the semester - time is flying!  We accomplished a lot this week and have a bunch of new stuff coming up.  Be sure to read below and check your CH B guide carefully to make sure you don't miss anything!

DEVOTION:

Mr. Markel led us in a devotion on discretion (Proverbs 22:3).  Next week, Ms. Jones is up to talk about tolerance (Philippians 2:2).  Going forward, I'd like for the presenter to share (1) a definition of the character trait, (2) relevant Scripture they found, and (3) one to three questions to ask the class about applying the trait in their lives.  The goal is for our devotion time to be more discussion-oriented, and facilitated primarily by the student leader.

LATIN:

We continued in Lesson 9 (conjugating verbs).  This coming week, you will be in Lessons 9 and 10.  In class, we reviewed several characteristics of verbs - this is material covered in Essentials, as well, so it was review for some of the students.

Characteristics of VERBS include:

(1)  Voice: 

A. Active - where the subject acts or is being:  I praise the king.

B. Passive - where the subject acted upon:  The king is praised.

(2)  Mood:

A. Indicative - a statement or asks a question; 

B. Subjunctive - expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual / used to explore conditional or imaginary situations; 

He is allowed.  in the subjunctive becomes: It is essential he be allowed.

I was ordered.  in the subjunctive becomes: If I were ordered, I'd go.

I was in your position two years ago. in the subjunctive becomes: If I were in your position, I would do the same.

C. Imperative - forms commands or requests

(3)  Tense: 

A. Present   (I verb)

B. Imperfect   (I was verbing)

C. Future   (I shall verb)

D. Perfect   (I verbed; I have verbed)

E. Pluperfect   (I had verbed)

F. Future Perfect   (I shall have verbed)

(4)  Number (singular or plural)

(5)  Person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd)

REMEMBER, to conjugate a verb:

1 You must learn the 4 PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A VERB from the vocabularies.

2 The present infinitive active shows to which conjugation the verb belongs.

3 Then  you find the stem; and

4 Add the ending!

THE FOUR REGULAR CONJUGATIONS are:  

(model verbs are on p.43 in the blue Henle book)

     1st:    -āre

     2nd:  -ēre

     3rd:   -ere

     4th:   -īre

Don't forget to keep working on vocabulary - the Mastery Review Vocabulary List for Units 1 and 2 (p. 91-98 in the purple book) AND the new words from the past two weeks.  

PARENTS: Exercise 131 this week can be used as an assessment of your student's understanding.  ;)

LTW:

I enjoyed hearing the students' essays for Where the Red Fern Grows.  Everyone's writing is improving - sounding more fluid, including great verbs and adjectives, covering all the elements of the prescribed essay form - great work!  I asked the students to focus on a couple of things for the next essay:

(1)  Incorporate context and background into your introduction (e.g., "Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls, tells the story of a boy becoming a man through his perseverance to buy and train hunting dogs....").  The context and background you provide could be one or several sentences long.  

(2)  Try to make your amplification very smooth and not sounding like you are just stating and answering a question (e.g., the wrong way:  "This is important to Billy's parents because they care about him."  Better:  "Even though getting his dogs seemed to be the most important thing to Billy, it is more important for him to wait because otherwise he could destroy all the trust his dad has in him.")

We also started our discussion on The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom.  What an amazing story of God's faithfulness, provision, and protection, and the incredible hope and peace we can have in Him, even amidst the most painful circumstances!  There are many resources online about this remarkable woman and her story.  Here are a few you can check out:

http://tenboom.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlmxNv6kedk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDCJo5lfI1U  

This week, students will draft their own issue, complete the assigned workbook pages in the guide, and create an ANI chart with at least 30 items in each column.  

LOGIC:

We finished up with lessons #23-26 in class, including working through how terms are distributed in a syllogism and how to test syllogisms by rules.  I think we are at a point where students (and parents?) might benefit from some extra logic practice - as a group and outside of class.  I'll include some possible dates for this in the email, too.

Now we're moving on to lessons 27-29.  In last week's blog, I mistakenly said you would only have one week on these lessons.  We actually have two weeks (whew!) - this week, be sure to:

(1)  Read through ALL assigned lessons (#27-29),

(2)  Make and study vocabulary terms for lessons 27-29, and

(3)  As much as you are able, begin working through the exercises.

I gave everyone one more week to try to solve Einstein's Riddle.  If you do, bring your answer to class....

Einstein's Riddle

(Supposedly, Einstein wrote this riddle and said that 98% of the world could not solve it.)

The situation:

- There are 5 houses in five different colors.

- In each house lives a person with a different nationality.

- These five owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet.

- No owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar, or drink the same beverage.

The question is:  Who owns the fish?

Hints:

- the Brit lives in the red house

- the Swede keeps dogs as pets

- the Dane drinks tea

- the green house is on the left of the white house

- the green house's owner drinks coffee

- the person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds

- the owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill

- the man living in the center house drinks milk

- the Norwegian lives in the first house

- the man who smokes blends lives next to the one who keeps cats

- the man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill

- the owner who smokes BlueMaster drinks beer

- the German smokes Prince

- the Norwegian lives next to the blue house

- the man who smokes blend has a neighbor who drinks water

MATH:

For our lesson review, we discussed rectangular coordinates, the addition-subtraction, multiplication, and division rules for equations, and reciprocal fractions.  We also spent a good chunk of our review time going over sample problems from Saxon lessons 1-7. I will forward those questions and answers to you via email - it's good practice for possible math problems on the Blue Book exam.  :)  We also completed our usual drills on multiplication facts and Basic Math Facts - we had quite a few students get perfect scores or only one or two wrong.  We are on our way to ice cream!!!

SCIENCE:

The Shoebox Project was so much fun!  First, we tried to identify the scientists only by the clues, then we looked at their biography cards for additional help.  Everyone did a great job!  Although everyone also left their shoebox at the end of the day.... ;)  They are in my trunk if you want to collect yours next week.

Each student also presented on Einstein - his theory of special relativity (what was assigned), but we also heard about the theory of general relativity and a biography of Einstein's life.  Be sure you are carefully reading your Challenge B Guide and the blog each week so you understand what is assigned.  ;)

That is an excellent segue to...SCIENCE FAIR!

We are diving in this week to our science fair projects.  We spent quite a bit of time discussing what is expected, what needs to be done, etc. on Monday afternoon.  If you missed this, be especially sure to review everything in the Guide and let me know if you have any questions.  This is also an excellent resource for students and parents:  http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_guide_index.shtml

For this week, please make sure you do the following - you don't want to get behind on this project!

(1)  Become VERY familiar with the information contained on pages 181-187 of your Guide.  

     (a)  The main point of the Science Fair project is for you to become comfortable with using and understanding the scientific method (p. 181).  

     (b)  Through this process and your experiments, you will be answering each of the questions on page 182.  

     (c)  Utilize the Notecard Format on page 183 in your research.  Make sure you are not copying information without crediting your sources!  Summarize the information instead, putting it into your OWN words.  PARENTS:  Please use this opportunity to discuss plagiarism with your student - what it is and how to avoid it.  

     (d)  Over each of the next weeks, you will be writing parts of your Research Plan.  A sample is on pages 184 and 185.  Your Research Plan will ultimately be the foundation for your Research Paper, which you will finalize upon completing your experiments.

     (e)  SCHEDULE:  The Science Fair Project Schedule (p. 186) details what you are to be doing every week.  Be very familiar with this document, and let me know if you have 

(2)  Decide on the topic of your science fair project.  Identify what problem you will investigate.  If you need ideas, check out www.sciencebuddies.org.   

(3)  As you find information online (e.g., sciencebuddies.com) or in books or articles during your research, make sure you are writing your notes in your own words and not copying text verbatim or so similarly that you risk plagiarizing material.  There are several free online tools to check your text for plagiarism, too (e.g., https://www.paperrater.com/plagiarism_checker or https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism).  Try testing one of your science or LTW papers and see how you've done so far this year.

(4)  Using the Sample Research Plan/Paper Template (pg. 184-185 in the Guide), draft your Research Problem.  This is a brief description (1-2 paragraphs) of the problem you will research.  This page on sciencebuddies.org might be helpful for this part of the assignment:  http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_question.shtml

(5)  Take a look at the Judge's Form (p. 187) for additional direction on what you should be including in your project.  

I will give everyone a log book on Monday.  You will use this to record basically everything you are doing on your project going forward.  Parents, you can also check out the tutorials for Science Fair on CC Connected in the research strand.

CURRENT EVENTS:

In class, students divided into two groups and outlined presentations on either side of the issue:  Should the president be elected by popular vote instead of the electoral college?  This week was our best set of presentations so far.  The arguments were articulated and expanded upon well.  We'll follow the same format next week: find one affirmative article and one negative article for our premise, write a notecard for each article outlining three proofs, an exordium, and an amplification for each side, and take notes or highlight your articles to show more detail and explanation for your proofs.  

To make sure that everyone is getting the most out of this strand, we'll share our proofs and exordiums in class.  If we have time, we will pair up for presentations, too, instead of dividing in half.  That way, each student can take the lead in drafting and presenting more of the arguments.

The premise for this week is Should the United States should financially support countries that persecute Christians?  We discussed definitions for "financially support", "persecute", and "countries".  As we discussed in class, a great place to start researching this topic is with two implicit ideas: 

- There are countries to which the US sends aid, and 

- There are countries that persecute Christians. 

Find a list of each of these and then compare: does the US send money to countries that persecute Christians?  Why?  Try to find articles that show current policies that do support countries who persecute or allow persecution of Christians - such as the recent nuclear deal with Iran.  For example, according to Open Doors USA, the number two country on their list of persecuted Christians is Iraq, yet we have spent billions in support of Iraq.  Why?  Is it because we support their persecution of Christians?  Because the US is trying to build a democratic state in the region?  Is it for humanitarian aid?  Something else? 

The question then becomes should we offer humanitarian aid to countries that do not share our human rights policies?  For that matter, do Christians support the human rights policies of the US?  What *are* the human rights policies of the US?  

Another way to look at it is to focus on the premise and be sure it's defined enough to research.  The affirmative position is that the US government should financially support countries that persecute Christians and the negative is that the US government should not financially support countries that persecute Christians.  What does it mean to financially support a country?  Loans?  Grants?  Aid?  Other assistance?  

Here are a few websites that might be helpful as you wrestle with these issues: 

www.globalissues.org/article/35/foreign-aid-development-assistance  

www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/ 

http://beta.foreignassistance.gov

For class, make sure to bring:

- both articles and notecards (with your exordium, 3 proofs, amplification, and subproofs already written down or highlighted in your articles and ready to share), and

- a relevant Bible verse on this topic. 

POSTREMO:

* Please make sure you check in with me before leaving class each week - even if your ride is waiting for you.  ;)  This past Monday, everyone disappeared and Reese and Joy had to do everything by themselves.  :(

* Watch for the email about our next movie night (The Hiding Place) and a Logic study group meet-up...and get back to me on dates.

* Stay on top of your Science Fair project!  

See you on Monday!

Week 9

We changed up our schedule this week and saved review for a mega game at the end of the day - it was a lot of fun!  Here are the nuts and bolts for the coming week....

DEVOTION:

Ms. Thoma presented on self-control (Galatians 5:24-25).  When we get back, Mr. Markel will talk about discretion (Proverbs 22:3), and the following week we'll have Ms. Jones lead us on tolerance (Philippians 2:2). 

LATIN:

We're moving onto Lesson 9 - conjugating verbs!  Remember:

* VERBS CHANGE THEIR FORM TO EXPRESS DIFFERENT:
TIME (TENSE) (played = past; am playing = present; will play = future)
PERSON            (I play; he plays)
NUMBERS        (he plays; they play)

* When we study nouns, need to know the genitive case because gives us the stem for the word.  When we study verbs, we must learn the 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 (laudāre) shows us which conjugation a verb belongs to.

* All verbs whose present infinitive active ends in  -ĀRE  belong to the FIRST conjugation.

* Finally, verbs must agree with subject in PERSON & NUMBER (e.g., Marīa ōrat. / Maria prays.)

Continue to work on the Mastery Review Vocabulary List for Units 1 and 2 (p. 91-98 in the purple book).  :)

LTW:

First, we have an extra week - please * USE IT *  :) to make sure you read, finish, and most importantly, ENJOY reading The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom.  This is a very powerful book that will influence and strengthen your faith and biblical worldview.  Don't rush through the book or save it to the last minute.  I think this is the most important book of the year for you to savor....Teachers, if you have not read it, you should take time to do so as well.  It's truly one of the most powerful stories I have ever read!

Now back to class...students shared their exordium, division, and proofs.  We also learned about antithesis, which they will incorporate somewhere in their essays this week, using essay template #5:

I. INTRO

A. Exordium

B. Division

1. Agreement

2.  Disagreement

a. Thesis

b. Counter-thesis

C. Distribution

1. Thesis

2. Enumeration

3. Exposition

a. Proof 1

b. Proof 2
           c. Proof 3

I look forward to listening to your essays - you have some great theses!  Don't forget to include:

- parallelism,
- amplification,
- exordium,
- division, and 
- antithesis!

You may notice the guide also tells you to include a simile.  This might be a typo, since we have not discussed similes this year yet (we will in a few weeks for our next paper!).  If you really want to impress us, you can try to fit one into next week's essay!  :)

sim·i·le -- an explicit comparison of two things different in kind but sharing a common characteristic; it uses words like "as" and "like" to make the comparison.  E.g., cute as a kitten, busy as a bee, blind as a bat, they fought like cats and dogs, watching the show was like watching grass grow.

LOGIC:

We dove into new lessons this week (#23-26), and things are getting interesting!  In lesson 24, Mr. Nance challenges the students to work through the 256 possible forms of syllogisms (appendix B) to determine which 24 are valid and which 232 are invalid. We worked through a chunk of them, testing by counterexample.  If you would like to watch Mr. Nance solve the entire challenge, he does it here: http://logiccurriculum.com/2016/10/13/challenge-accepted/

Over the next two weeks, continue to work on the new vocabulary, reread the lessons, and finish working through any exercises you didn't finish last week.

What's Ahead?  After break, we'll move on to lessons 27-29 (for only one week), then lessons 30-32 (two weeks), and finally, lessons 33-36 (for one week and then the semester ends!).

Since you have extra time before we meet again... ;) Here is a challenge for anyone interested to try - you can bring your answers to class:

Einstein's Riddle
(Supposedly, Einstein wrote this riddle and said that 98% of the world could not solve it.)

The situation:
- There are 5 houses in five different colors.
- In each house lives a person with a different nationality.
- These five owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet.
- No owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar, or drink the same beverage.

The question is:  Who owns the fish?

Hints:
- the Brit lives in the red house
- the Swede keeps dogs as pets
- the Dane drinks tea
- the green house is on the left of the white house
- the green house's owner drinks coffee
- the person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds
- the owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill
- the man living in the center house drinks milk
- the Norwegian lives in the first house
- the man who smokes blends lives next to the one who keeps cats
- the man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill
- the owner who smokes BlueMaster drinks beer
- the German smokes Prince
- the Norwegian lives next to the blue house
- the man who smokes blend has a neighbor who drinks water

MATH:

For our lesson review, we discussed variables and evaluating (i.e., "finding the value of") them, adding and subtracting mixed numbers, and Order of Operations:

1. Multiply in order from left to right.

2. Add and subtract in order from left to right.

Keep reviewing your multiplication facts and Basic Math Facts!

SCIENCE:

Next week - we share our Science Shoeboxes!  I brought my shoebox on Hippocrates to class this week so the students could see an example.  There are also guidelines on p. 180 of your Guide.

Remember, use the contents of your box (at least 3-5 items) as clues to a riddle that we are to solve.  You will also make a bio card for your scientist (discussed on p. 180) and place it underneath your shoebox.  We'll first see how many scientists we can figure out without reading the bio card.  I'll have a form for you to write on - think of this part as a practice quiz for your timeline....Include as much information about each scientist as you would like to show off!  :)

We are also researching our final scientist in our History of Science studies: Albert Einstein! Your specific task is to provide a simple one- or two-minute explanation of Einstein's theory of special relativity both by definition and by example.  For your presentation, you will not be reading a paper, but you are allowed to use notecards.  The process of winnowing down your notes will help ensure you understand what you are talking about.  You are studying a REALLY complex idea - it took a genius, after all, to figure it out!  There are quite a few resources online to help you - try googling "Einstein's theory of special relativity for kids".

Finally, you only have one more week after our next class to come up with an idea for your science fair project, so spend some time over our "break" looking into that, too.  :)

CURRENT EVENTS:

In class, students divided into two groups and outlined presentations on either side of the issue:  Should the United States allow women to serve in combat roles?  We created an ANI chart during their presentations, then continued the discussion afterwards.  You did a great job this week of expanding on your proofs.  We also reviewed a few big holes in their arguments and how they might tighten those up next time.

We'll follow the same format next week: find one affirmative article and one negative article for our premise, write a notecard for each article outlining three proofs, an exordium, and an amplification for each side, and take notes or highlight your articles to show more detail and explanation for your proofs.  

We then had a great conversation about several issues in this year's election, and spent time talking about the Electoral College.  We considered several premises for next class, including whether Christians should abstain from voting in the 2016 presidential election and whether Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton is fit to be president.  Ultimately, the class voted unanimously to research the question:  Should the president be elected by popular vote instead of the electoral college?

For class, make sure to bring:

- both articles and notecards (with exordium, 3 proofs, an amplification, and subproofs or further support for your proofs - written down or highlighted in your articles), and

- a relevant Bible verse on this topic. 

We will also introduce issues surrounding human rights issues (North Korea, China, Iran, Syria, Cuba, etc.).  Our premise the following week will be Whether the United States should financially support countries that persecute Christians?

POSTREMO:

* Don't forget - no class next Monday!  Enjoy the break, and make sure to read and ruminate on The Hiding Place!

* How many of you have been taking a Mindful Moment each week in the strand mentioned in your guide?  Page 43 explains what a Mindful Moment is, and each week your guide directs you to do this in a particular strand.  This week, it's math.  Try it!  :)

* Finally, don't forget to be praying for each other's prayer requests - and I appreciate your prayers next week while half of my family is in Juarez, Mexico, and the other half is here in Colorado!

See you on October 31!

Week 8

We had fun Saturday night (despite the lame movie!) and the fun continued through Monday....Highlights from class included stiff competition during Bluff and Around-the-World, seeing Logic "click" even more in people's minds, watching everyone's enthusiasm and persistence in math, and listening to "dahs and dots" in science - impressive!

DEVOTION:

Mr. Markel led us in a devotion on sensitivity (Romans 12:15).  Next week, Ms. Thoma will present on self-control (Galatians 5:24-25).

LATIN:

We played Around-the-World and reviewed vocabulary and declensions.  We continue in lesson 8 this week, with some added exercises.  Be sure to work on the Mastery Review Vocabulary List for Units 1 and 2 on pages 91-98 in the purple book, as well as the declensions for Jesus and gravis (masculine, feminine, and neuter).

LTW:

The students shared their issues and favorite points from their ANI charts.  For Where the Red Fern Grows, we'll be using Essay Template #5.  This week, they are to sort their ANI charts and draft their outline.  We reviewed Division, which is added to the introduction.

I. INTRO

A. Exordium

B. Division

1. Agreement

2. Disagreement

a. Thesis

b. Counter-thesis

C. Distribution

1. Thesis

2. Enumeration

3. Exposition

a. Proof 1

b. Proof 2
           c. Proof 3

You should complete the assigned worksheets and develop your own division in your outline this week, as well as an exordium and amplification.  Bring your sorted ANI chart, final outline, and completed workbook pages to class on Monday.

Heads Up:  You should be starting to read our next book, The Hiding Place, by now.  We will have an "extra" week to finish reading since we have fall break before we begin discussing it - but don't delay starting!  It's an incredible book that you don't want to rush through!  :)

LOGIC:

We love our new review game BLUFF.  This week, I use some of the Logic tests and quizzes for the game.  The students seem to have a pretty good handle on things.  Here are the key concepts they should feel VERY comfortable with by now:

- Drawing the Square of Opposition and understanding what each part means

- Identifying the following parts of a syllogism: conclusion, major term, minor term, middle term, major premise (MP), and minor premise (mP).

- Writing a syllogism in standard categorical order (i.e., MP, mp, C).

- Identifying the mood and figure of a categorical syllogism and schema.

A good exercise would be to have the student teach/demonstrate each of these concepts to their teacher.  Let me know if you have trouble with any of them.

This week we move onto lessons 23-26.  Work on all the new vocabulary, read through these new lessons, and get started on as many exercises as you are able.  We will have two weeks (three with fall break) to finish the exercises.  

MATH:

For our lesson review, we discussed finding the area of triangles, converting between improper fractions, mixed numbers, and decimal numbers, bar, broken-line, and pie graphs, adding and subtracting fractions with unequal denominators, order of operations, and variables and evaluation.  Whew!

We had TWO perfect scores on the multiplication drill - woo-hoo!  We also quizzed the Basic Math Facts.  Most students have a bit of work to do still on those.  ;)  Keep practicing!  Everything is up on Quizlet.

I also told the kids I would prepare and distribute a document with samples of all the concepts we are reviewing this semester, and that some of them will likely appear on the Bluebook exam.

SCIENCE:

Nice work on your Morse papers and Morse Code demonstrations!  This week, we're researching Marie Curie - I had A LOT of fun reading about her!  Here are some links with great information:

https://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/curie/  (this site has a TON of information!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEV4KJBJvEg (a video biography)

http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1389 (a video of Curie in her laboratory!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/curie_marie.shtml

The assignment is actually TWO papers (p. 179 in the Guide):  (1) write a brief essay (250 words) on what the Curies' Nobel Prizes were for and how they earned them; and (2) write another brief paper explaining how to use the periodic table of elements (the table was important to the Curies' research). I gave everyone a color periodic chart in class - use it here and hang onto it for second semester.  ;)

DON'T FORGET: 
* Scientist shoeboxes are due October 31 (Week 10 - see p. 180 in the Guide).
* Science Fair project ideas are due November 7 (Week 11).

CURRENT EVENTS:

In class, students divided into two groups and outlined presentations on either side of the issue:  Should the federal government require GMO (genetically modified organisms) labeling?  The students broke into two groups and argued their side of the issue.  We created an ANI chart during their presentations, then continued the discussion afterwards.  I encouraged them to go beyond just reading their proof - to expand on their argument, whether that's going into subproofs or explaining the proof further.  We'll continue our format next week (find one affirmative article and one negative article for our premise, and write a notecard for each article outlining three proofs, an exordium, and an amplification for each side), but students could add in some of the further details by identifying three subproofs for each proof, or highlighting further details for their proofs in their article (e.g., use a different color for each proof), etc.  One way to think of it is that they should be comfortable enough with their articles and proofs that they can talk about them and explain them without having everything written out.

Our premise this week is:  Should the United States allow women to serve in combat roles?

For class, make sure to bring:

- both articles and notecards (with exordium, 3 proofs, an amplification, and subproofs or further support for your proofs - written down or highlighted in your articles), and

- a relevant Bible verse on this topic. 

POSTREMO:

Ms. Baughman is organizing a hike at Castle Wood Canyon this Friday (10/14) at 10:00 a.m.  The plan is for everyone to pack a lunch and meet at the visitor center.  Please let your classmates know by Thursday whether you will be able to attend.  :)