Assignments for September 2, 2025

 Welcome back. I hope this week's class was less confusing than last week's. 

Spirit Day for next week: Favorite cartoon--t-shirt or some costume.

Journal: "My summer was _______." Fill in the blank with an adjective. Then tell what made summer that way.  (I also gave a handout for a poem. We'll discuss that next week for the following week's homework.)

Fix-it: Week 1. We reviewed the "learn it" section. We discussed Day 1 "mark it" and "fix-it." In most classes we also did Day 2. For homework, mark and fix days 3 and 4. Rewrite days 1-4. Next week we'll review/correct days 3 & 4 and start week 2. 

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Bible Heroes: Lesson 1. We reviewed "God Is Good" and the rules for key word outlines. We discussed what adjectives are. Most adjectives come before a noun--they tell more about the noun. I gave you a Writer's Toolbox with all kinds of words to use in your lessons. Several pages are adjectives. We sang the song on page 14 "My God Is So Great." 

We also started the second part of the lesson on Enoch. We read the source and quickly made a KWO. We discussed the nouns in the outline that we could add adjectives to.

For homework: Lesson 1 part 2 "Enoch." Practice telling the KWO, trying to add in one or more adjectives. 

Wonders of Science: Lesson 1 "Dead Ants." We reviewed the KWO rules and vocabulary words. Those words and their definitions are in the back of the book. If you prefer cards, moms will need to download them from the IEW website. 

We started Lesson 2 "Honey Bees." One of our goals will be to add in our first dress up--we'll cover that next week. We discussed the vocabulary words for this lesson and page 18 "Mechanics" which covers rules about writing numbers. We looked at and discussed MLA format, which is how a paper is set up--the margins, double-spaced, font size, title centered, and information on the upper left corner. You'll find these instructions on page 293. We started the KWO. 

For homework: Lesson 2 "Honey Bees." Finish the KWO. Write a rough draft, one paragraph, double-spaced. You may type this or handwrite it. Next time we'll add in the -ly adverb and discuss the checklist. You will turn the final draft of this paragraph in for a final draft. 

High School I:

The Magician's Nephew: Read chapters 1-4. 

Following Narnia: Lesson 1. We had a few volunteers to read their drafts of "Sherlock Holmes." Please study the MLA format for this paragraph--and future ones--on page 198. We worked on a KWO for Sydney Paget. 

For homework: Lesson 1 continued. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle"--read the source, write a KWO, write a rough draft. I will check this next week. We'll also start Lesson 2 next week.

High School II:

Blue Book: We reviewed nouns and discussed all the forms of helping verbs on pages 2-4. I added information to the discussion with helping verbs and their forms of main verbs. If you memorize the helping verbs, it really helps in identifying verbs in sentences. 

For homework: quizzes 1 & 2 on subjects and verbs, pages 157-158. 

Till We Have Faces: We discussed Lewis's views on myths and the answers to chapter 1 questions. 

For homework: Read and answer questions for chapter 2.

Jensen's Format: Our first paragraph--the Example paragraph. We discussed two possible structures/formats. One has five fact sentences on five subjects. The other has three subjects with more discussion on them in follow up sentences. I gave you a handout to use for homework. Study the samples in the textbook. You have two paragraphs on root vegetables but they are with different formats. 

For homework: Lesson 2 Example paragraph. 1) choose one topic. 2) write one outline for each format using the same topic. 3) choose one outline and turn it into a one paragraph rough draft--being careful to double space and use MLA formatting. 

First Day and assignments for August 26, 2025

 Welcome back or welcome to Grace Writing. I hope today was not terribly confusing. The first day often is for newcomers. We will repeat and review for a while, so do feel like to have to understand everything the first go around. 

We started out today with a discussion of class procedures. Your first job is to write down the homework off the white board. Next get out your journal homework and Fix-it homework. (High School II that would be your grammar book.) I'll check those two items while people get settled. We'll go over the new journal assignment next. We'll spend a little bit of time going over the Fix-it homework, with you checking your work. Then we'll discuss the next week's lesson. You will do days 2 to 4 at home. You will look up vocabulary words at home as well. 

Once all that is out of the way, we'll discuss our theme book. Each lesson starts with a little review and answering questions. You will do a rough draft one week and a final draft the next. I'll try to check and comment on as many rough drafts as I can in class. You are welcome to email me rough drafts ahead of time to save class time or get feedback on a specific issue. 

Spirit Day: today was Hawaiian shirt. Our next one is in two weeks on Sept 2--Cartoon Day.

Journal: "All About Me." I gave you a handout for you to fill out so that I could get to know you better. Answer as many blocks as you desire. Coloring and drawing are optional. 

Fix-it: Week 1--We covered some or all the "learn it" parts. We'll review that section next week and do the Week 1 corrections. For homework: Look up the four bolded vocabulary words for Week 1. Write the word and definition on index cards or in a notebook. 

Theme book instructions: 

Bible Heroes: We started Lesson 1 "God Is Good." We learned about key word outlines (KWO). Each sentence from the source text equals one numbered line on the KWO. We learned about the three-words-per-line rule. (We can only pick out three key words from each sentence.) If we want more words, we have to use symbols and abbreviations. 

We're not done, though. Now we have to "tell" the outline. Each numbered line equals a complete thought. To tell it back, we may have to add in words (especially verbs) for it to make sense. We can practice substituting words, rearranging words, or adding in information. Telling it out loud saves us the time and trouble of revising later. It's good to practice out loud until you get more comfortable. 

For homework: Lesson 1 "God Is Good." Practice saying/telling the key word outline out loud. Try to make your say the same ideas but not be exactly the same. 

Wonders of Science: We started Lesson 1 "Dead Ants." We learned about key word outlines (KWO). Each sentence from the source text equals one numbered line on the KWO. We learned about the three-words-per-line rule. (We can only pick out three key words from each sentence.) If we want more words, we have to use symbols and abbreviations. 

We're not done, though. Now we have to "tell" the outline. Each numbered line equals a complete thought. To tell it back, we may have to add in words (especially verbs) for it to make sense. We can practice substituting words, rearranging words, or adding in information. Telling it out loud saves us the time and trouble of revising later. It's good to practice out loud until you get more comfortable. 

For homework: Lesson 1 "Dead Ants." Practice saying/telling the key word outline out loud. Try to make your say the same ideas but not be exactly the same. The source text was long, so we did not finish the key word outline. You may finish the outline if you like or only practice what we did in class. Writing the outline into sentences is optional for this lesson. 

High School I/Following Narnia: We started Lesson 1 Sherlock Holmes. We learned about key word outlines (KWO). Each sentence from the source text equals one numbered line on the KWO. We learned about the three-words-per-line rule. (We can only pick out three key words from each sentence.) If we want more words, we have to use symbols and abbreviations. 

We're not done, though. Now we have to "tell" the outline. Each numbered line equals a complete thought. To tell it back, we may have to add in words (especially verbs) for it to make sense. We can practice substituting words, rearranging words, or adding in information. Telling it out loud saves us the time and trouble of revising later. It's good to practice out loud until you get more comfortable. 

For homework: Lesson 1 "Sherlock Holmes." Practice saying/telling the key word outline out loud. Try to make your say the same ideas but not be exactly the same. Write a rough draft of this paragraph. 

The Magician's Nephew: Read Chapter 1. (Next week asks for chapters 2-4, so you may want to read ahead.) 

High School II: 

Hold onto your MLA Easy Way until later in the school year. 

Blue Book: We worked on reviewing nouns and started on verbs on page 1. The book is laid out in a somewhat confusing manner. When quizzes are to be done are not mentioned but are later in the book. You are welcome to write in the book or on separate paper when we get to the first one. Some students copy those pages. No homework in this book as yet.

Jensen's Format: We will start off learning about seven different types of paragraphs. Before we get there, though, we worked today on continuity. That basically means figuring out appropriate repetition for ideas to flow. The discussion and accompanying exercise are confusing, I admit. There is some help in the back of the book in an answers section. Next week we'll start our first paragraph. 

For homework: Lesson 1 pages 25-26. Write in the book or on separate paper.

Till We Have Faces: This CS Lewis book is different from all others that you've likely read. It is based upon a single myth. He has an explanation of that myth in the back of the book. We discussed the Lewis's timeline. I also gave you a handout on Lewis and Tolkien's views on myth. We'll discuss that next week.

For homework: read the handout on Myth, read chapter one, answer chapter 1 questions based upon the handout.