Well! How was that for a marathon-cram-it-all-in kind of day? It was nice to get out a bit early and play in the snow but....
We did hit the highlights, though again, we didn't have time to go into as many examples as I would have preferred. I hope I didn't lose them.
For those the weather kept away, we did Lesson 17 in the book covering simile. We also tossed in metaphor. The gray "Decorations" pages (pg 44) in the student book walk you through the process of creating one on your own. Metaphors are not required but the more options they know about, the more they have to play with. Level B and graduating students may need the extra challenge of tossing a few in. These are marked in the right margin (sim. or met.).
We also covered the dress-up in Lesson 18, because clause. The white pages in the very back of your student notebook ( pg. 77, the un-page protected ones) cover this topic as well. You will notice that www.Asia.Buuba is a hair different from the EEL version. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. It is the same thing with different options.
If these clauses get used in the beginning of a sentence they are considered a #5 Sentence Opener and notated in the left margin (#5). These are, again, not required but a fabulous extra challenge for the students who have the rest of the sentence openers under control.
If these clauses are used in the middle of a sentence, they are notated in the right margin (cl).
Just remember to use the formula we had on the board. Make sure that the sentence makes sense and actually IS a sentence on it's own before the extra tidbit of information (the clause) is added in.
Our contest for next week is to illustrate. I should've mentioned in class that I have absolutely no intention of judging this competition! My heart could never do that. I'm going to find way to tape up all the pictures for display somehow so that everyone can enjoy them and every picture gets an extra marble or two. So, even if you download something off of the internet, you get credit for it.
Last week I got a few questions about creative license. Yes! Have at it! The heart of this assignment is to learn the structure for narrative story telling (that's the NotePoster from last week and the IEW chart in your book for Unit 3). As long as they maintain that structure, they can ad lib characters and conversations and alter details to fit the furthest limits of their imaginations!
We have some really awesome moms who're working on a special math game for week 18 (Rhonda Lin and Rose Bate) so keep your ears open for the munchie sign-up sheet that'll be passing around soon.
Don't forget: paper with illustration due next next. Let me know if anyone has any questions. It's hard to get papers done when we get interrupted by sickness and weather at every turn and I know the last few weeks have been rough on more than a few of us. Take heart and cut yourself slack if you need to.
Enjoy building your snowman!
Melissa
I am making plans to show next week's IEW DVD at some point this week. Email me if you are interested in attending.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
IEW- Week 14
Today we began a two week assignment that focuses on the story sequence chart, the building blocks of every great story.
We also covered proper punctuation when using quotations and conversations. (Page 67 in the Grammar Rules section of the student notebook and page 22-lesson #3- in the Medieval History book.)
The assignment is to complete lesson #16 this week. That should give you 3 rough draft paragraphs. The lesson in the book is laid out in a step by step fashion so as to make this easy for new students and it should provide a springboard for the creative minds of these students to go off in wonderful places.
Next week we will cover two new concepts, because clauses and simile, and add those into the final drafts so make sure that you leave some room!
Since we have had several families miss class due to illness and other reasons, I will be happy to make my teaching script (don't laugh, yes I actually type out every word that I need to say in class! We have such precious little time and there is so much to cover.) available to anyone who wants it. It will walk you through what was done in class if you have to miss it. The IEW DVDs are also available for check out as well. Don't underestimate the amazing resource that your Medieval History book is though, it covers everything beautifully and I am always here to answer questions.
Delve into "The Sword and the Stone" and let your characters talk to each other!
Let me know if I can help in any way,
Melissa
We also covered proper punctuation when using quotations and conversations. (Page 67 in the Grammar Rules section of the student notebook and page 22-lesson #3- in the Medieval History book.)
The assignment is to complete lesson #16 this week. That should give you 3 rough draft paragraphs. The lesson in the book is laid out in a step by step fashion so as to make this easy for new students and it should provide a springboard for the creative minds of these students to go off in wonderful places.
Next week we will cover two new concepts, because clauses and simile, and add those into the final drafts so make sure that you leave some room!
Since we have had several families miss class due to illness and other reasons, I will be happy to make my teaching script (don't laugh, yes I actually type out every word that I need to say in class! We have such precious little time and there is so much to cover.) available to anyone who wants it. It will walk you through what was done in class if you have to miss it. The IEW DVDs are also available for check out as well. Don't underestimate the amazing resource that your Medieval History book is though, it covers everything beautifully and I am always here to answer questions.
Delve into "The Sword and the Stone" and let your characters talk to each other!
Let me know if I can help in any way,
Melissa
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
More Options
I've gotten a few questions today regarding picture options so I wanted to toss the answers out to the group.
If your student was truly inspired by the chicken pictures, they are certainly welcomed to use them as long as they do not feel constrained by the class key words. The point of this assignment is to enable their creativity and imagination so anything that supports that is fine.
Another student wasn't inspired by any of the options and has decided to draw his own pictures. This is an option for everyone. They may even use family photographs! The same final checklist can be used with anything.
Please continue to ask questions when the need arises. I'm excited to hear all of these papers next week.
Melissa
Also, here is a link to the Martin's blog (Con Destino a Nicaragua) and pictures of the Christmas party that we got to help with by sponsoring some of the children in her church. There are still 6 children who need sponsorship for the next school year. It begins in February.
If your student was truly inspired by the chicken pictures, they are certainly welcomed to use them as long as they do not feel constrained by the class key words. The point of this assignment is to enable their creativity and imagination so anything that supports that is fine.
Another student wasn't inspired by any of the options and has decided to draw his own pictures. This is an option for everyone. They may even use family photographs! The same final checklist can be used with anything.
Please continue to ask questions when the need arises. I'm excited to hear all of these papers next week.
Melissa
Also, here is a link to the Martin's blog (Con Destino a Nicaragua) and pictures of the Christmas party that we got to help with by sponsoring some of the children in her church. There are still 6 children who need sponsorship for the next school year. It begins in February.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
IEW- Week 13
And off we go!
Today we jumped in to Unit 5: Event Description (Writing from Pictures).
Just to go over the assignment once again, students may choose Lesson 14 OR 15 and Level A OR B. We also introduced Alliteration and 3 Short Staccato Sentences (It's just 3 very short sentences in a row.).
First period seemed to catch the idea of the 3SSS a bit easier but I know most of second period covered it last year so it was old hat for them. I sincerely wish I'd had more time to brain storm it more with them however, both concepts are covered in the gray pages behind tab #9 in the student book as well as within the lessons themselves in the IEW Medieval History student book (pgs. 100 and 103).
Some of the veteran students may wish to take this challenge further by adding in some conversation (lesson 3 in the book). We will formally cover the concept later on but any student who wishes to let their imagination run wild and try new things is welcomes to do so. And don't forget those 5 sense words! They will make this assignment really sing. Also, it's "Vocabulary Word Challenge" time. See how many you can squeeze in. :)
This is a one week assignment so papers are due next week.
Don't forget, each picture has:
-a topic sentence which tells the reader the "facts" of the picture
-some background history information about the picture that answers questions like who?/ what?/ where?/ when?/ why?/ how?/ before?/ after?/
-a final clincher that repeats and reflects the topic sentence and flows into the next picture.
Please, please, please let me know if any questions arise or you need to mull something over with me! I'm so excited to see the wonderful turns these creative minds will take this semester.
Blessings,
Melissa
Today we jumped in to Unit 5: Event Description (Writing from Pictures).
Just to go over the assignment once again, students may choose Lesson 14 OR 15 and Level A OR B. We also introduced Alliteration and 3 Short Staccato Sentences (It's just 3 very short sentences in a row.).
First period seemed to catch the idea of the 3SSS a bit easier but I know most of second period covered it last year so it was old hat for them. I sincerely wish I'd had more time to brain storm it more with them however, both concepts are covered in the gray pages behind tab #9 in the student book as well as within the lessons themselves in the IEW Medieval History student book (pgs. 100 and 103).
Some of the veteran students may wish to take this challenge further by adding in some conversation (lesson 3 in the book). We will formally cover the concept later on but any student who wishes to let their imagination run wild and try new things is welcomes to do so. And don't forget those 5 sense words! They will make this assignment really sing. Also, it's "Vocabulary Word Challenge" time. See how many you can squeeze in. :)
This is a one week assignment so papers are due next week.
Don't forget, each picture has:
-a topic sentence which tells the reader the "facts" of the picture
-some background history information about the picture that answers questions like who?/ what?/ where?/ when?/ why?/ how?/ before?/ after?/
-a final clincher that repeats and reflects the topic sentence and flows into the next picture.
Please, please, please let me know if any questions arise or you need to mull something over with me! I'm so excited to see the wonderful turns these creative minds will take this semester.
Blessings,
Melissa
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