Christmas break will soon be here. We'll be taking off three weeks, so after next week, we will return January 6.
Next week will be partly class work and partly party. We'll check the journal work, Fix-it, and Blue Book of Grammar work. I'll check any rough drafts. I'll try not to introduce any new material for the writing portions. Bring a snack to share and a quick game that several students can play.
Journal: Christmas songs. List the names of as many Christmas songs as you can. Minimum of 10.
Fix-it: Week 14
Bible Heroes: I took up the final drafts of David, lessons 9-11. I checked rough drafts for Solomon, part 1. Remember we have three parts to stories, so each lesson is one part. We decided to go ahead and outline parts 2 and 3 today. The final drafts will not be due until the second class in January, but we'll probably start Lesson 15 in the new year. We'll play the game with Lesson 13 next time. We also added in the -ly adverb. That is added in the Fix-it lesson this week as well.
For homework: Lessons 13 & 14, Solomon parts 2 & 3--rough drafts. Try to do pages 88 and 92 which are dress up helps.
Wonders of Science: I took up Lesson 9 "Steam Engine." I checked rough drafts of Lesson 10 "Model T." Quality adjectives were added to the checklist with this lesson. We started Lesson 11 "Flight." This is different--we have two paragraphs and one source. We will pull facts for two topics under the subject of flight. We did one topic--birds--today. Your topic sentence for each paragraph will mention the subject "flight." One paragraph will use "birds" and the other will use "inventors" for topics. You will also add a descriptive word to each topic sentence.
For homework: Lesson 10 "Model T" final draft. Use the checklist on page 95. Lesson 11 "Flight"--takes notes for "inventors." Pull those facts for the second KWO. I recommend you also write a rough draft of one or both paragraphs. The final draft will most likely be due the second week in January, so the more you get done before Christmas, the less you will forget before the new year.
High School I: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: read chapter 2
Narnia: I checked/took up practice drafts of Lesson 11 "Pitcher Plant." Lesson 12 "Crown Jewels of England." We discussed how to format a Bibliography. The information for each source is in the lesson with each source. You copy that information, leaving out the place of publication and the word "print." The three sources need to be placed after your finished paragraph and in alphabetical order. Also remember the first line is at the margin and the second line is indented--backwards to most paragraph writing. Keep all the sources double-spaced. No extra spaces between entries needed.
For the lesson's notes, remember we are taking notes from each--three--source. Once you have your notes, you will pick the notes/facts you want to include in your fused outline. You may add to what we did in class or change to other facts. You need to have the same number of lines as in the lesson--don't condense further. Be sure you have a topic and clincher sentence. Both should mention The Crown Jewels of England. Not all of the jewels are crowns! Some are swords and other objects.
For homework: Lesson 12 "Crown Jewels"--finish the source KWOs and write the fused outline. Try to write a rough draft. Final drafts will be due the second class in January.
High School II:
Blue Book: We checked the semicolon and colon quizzes. We worked on quotation and question marks today (starting at page 43). Do the quizzes on pages 181-182.
Till We Have Faces: We did not get to discuss any today. Try to work on chapter 14.
Jensen's Format: I checked the 7-sentence skeleton homework. I noticed a few students forgot that the "hook" needed to be very broad and not include the subject in the thesis. We reviewed the structure of an essay (Lesson 7) and the Example Essay (Lesson 8). Study the sample essay in the textbook and the breakdown for each body paragraph. For homework: Start on an Essay of Example. Write your 7-sentence skeleton and write at least some of the body paragraphs. The final draft--all five paragraphs--will be due the second class in January. For ideas for topics, see p. 31 with the Example Paragraph.
