Hello Essentials families,
I hope you all are enjoying your end-of-the-year weeks of memory work drilling and reflecting on what a profitable year of learning it has been with your children. I have enjoyed teaching IEW this year and I am amazed at each individual child's progress. What a blessing it is to have the privilege of home schooling our children.
Purposeful Poetry
This week was purposefully planned to be "light" in the writing load. Enjoy allowing your child the freedom to use alliteration and quality adjectives to their heart's content. The benefit of completing this poem at the end of the year instead of the beginning is Ancient World Poem is a wonderful opportunity to remember all of the ancient civilizations we have written about and to describe them accurately and with knowledge. If time allows let them use one day to enjoy illustrating and decorating their poem.
Two rules of poetry we mentioned in class:
1) Capitalize the first letter of each line of poetry.
2) Poetry does NOT have to rhyme.
Poetry Style - Personification, Assonance and Consonance p.48 and 49
Two poetry pages I had planned to introduce in class were replaced by going back to the #4 opener and (that) noun clause that had been missed by one class the week before. Please go over personification, assonance, and/or consonance poetic decorations with your children if time allows this week. There are some very short exercises to accompany them. CHALLENGE: Encourage them to incorporate at least one of the new decorations: personification, assonance and/or consonance into their poems. You can find these terms and their definitions on pages 48 and 49 GRAY pages of their notebooks. They will be surprised at how natural and easy it is to add these into their poems.
Personification gives human characteristics to things or ideas.
The fascinating book grabbed my attention.
Assonance: words that have the same internal vowel sound in sequence or in close proximity.
waves clapping and crashing
Consonance: words that end with the same consonant sound used in sequence or in close proximity.
black rocks speckled with snow
I also continue to encourage each student to gather their writings together into a notebook/portfolio of their writing for the 2012-2013 year. On week 24 they will be invited to bring their notebooks with them to "showcase" their writing and hard work!
Happy writing,
Tina
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Week 21 - What do you think about Pandora's Box?
Hello Essentials families,
It was wonderful to see you all again yesterday and be back in the "land of the living." I need a healthy dose of my CC family to keep me going. You are all a blessing.
Editing Exercise - Foraging for Fouls
Yesterday, the students did an incredible job attacking the editing exercise and almost exhausted all of the errors. When they all work together competitively, an otherwise daunting task can become exciting and enjoyable. Please reinforce to your child that I am so proud of their enthusiasm and effort in class. What a joy!
Unit 9 - Critiques (5 paragraphs, 3 paragraphs, or oral)
This week is the second week on our critique of the Greek myth "Pandora's Box." Our goal in class was to discuss and brainstorm ideas for their conclusion paragraphs. If your student is just starting this assignment this week, I strongly encourage you to complete the 3 paragraph option. (The 3 paragraph checklist is in last week's packet.) Alternatively, if your week is full of memory master prep and/or you are still completing a past paper, a second option is to just have them read the story, KWO the critique, and orally present their critique to you. The advantage of this is that they have gone through the questioning process while completing the KWO and they have experienced the structure of a critique (Unit 9). The focus of this unit is on structure. Additionally, they love spouting their opinions about the story:). If you choose to have them orally present to you, they can turn in their KWO for writing rewards.
Critique Conclusion:
In class we created ideas for their conclusion paragraphs. Because each student's opinion of the story is unique to them, we did not complete the KWO in class. The students enjoyed the story and had strong opinions on whether they liked or disliked "Pandora's Box." We brainstormed their literary criticisms both positive and negative. Please reinforce to them that the key to a strong critique conclusion is backing up your opinion with examples from the story. Be sure to avoid the banned words. The students enjoyed incorporating vocabulary words in their descriptions and examples from the story. I love to see them using their vocabulary words in writing discussions, this illustrates mastery of the vocabulary. Also, while they are writing, use the critique vocabulary thesaurus distributed last week in class. This is a very helpful tool for critique writing.
Optional Checklist:
I included an expanded checklist in the take home papers this week that lists all of the STYLE elements we have covered this year. This was provided as an opportunity for your child to check off any additional elements of style that they include in their paper. ALL OF THE STYLE ELEMENTS ON THE BONUS CHECKLIST ARE NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN EACH OF THE FIVE PARAGRAPHS!!!! Just use the Critique Checklist for all of the required style and use the Optional Checklist for bonus/additional elements. Most of the students are naturally using many of the dress-ups and sentence openers and I wanted to give them a place to check it off:). (Can you tell I am a list maker that likes to check items off my list?)
Have a wonderful week writing! Remember there are no tears in Essentials so make the choice that best suits your family this week: 5 paragraph critique, 3 paragraph critique, or oral critique.
Happy Writing!
Tina
It was wonderful to see you all again yesterday and be back in the "land of the living." I need a healthy dose of my CC family to keep me going. You are all a blessing.
Editing Exercise - Foraging for Fouls
Yesterday, the students did an incredible job attacking the editing exercise and almost exhausted all of the errors. When they all work together competitively, an otherwise daunting task can become exciting and enjoyable. Please reinforce to your child that I am so proud of their enthusiasm and effort in class. What a joy!
Unit 9 - Critiques (5 paragraphs, 3 paragraphs, or oral)
This week is the second week on our critique of the Greek myth "Pandora's Box." Our goal in class was to discuss and brainstorm ideas for their conclusion paragraphs. If your student is just starting this assignment this week, I strongly encourage you to complete the 3 paragraph option. (The 3 paragraph checklist is in last week's packet.) Alternatively, if your week is full of memory master prep and/or you are still completing a past paper, a second option is to just have them read the story, KWO the critique, and orally present their critique to you. The advantage of this is that they have gone through the questioning process while completing the KWO and they have experienced the structure of a critique (Unit 9). The focus of this unit is on structure. Additionally, they love spouting their opinions about the story:). If you choose to have them orally present to you, they can turn in their KWO for writing rewards.
Critique Conclusion:
In class we created ideas for their conclusion paragraphs. Because each student's opinion of the story is unique to them, we did not complete the KWO in class. The students enjoyed the story and had strong opinions on whether they liked or disliked "Pandora's Box." We brainstormed their literary criticisms both positive and negative. Please reinforce to them that the key to a strong critique conclusion is backing up your opinion with examples from the story. Be sure to avoid the banned words. The students enjoyed incorporating vocabulary words in their descriptions and examples from the story. I love to see them using their vocabulary words in writing discussions, this illustrates mastery of the vocabulary. Also, while they are writing, use the critique vocabulary thesaurus distributed last week in class. This is a very helpful tool for critique writing.
Optional Checklist:
I included an expanded checklist in the take home papers this week that lists all of the STYLE elements we have covered this year. This was provided as an opportunity for your child to check off any additional elements of style that they include in their paper. ALL OF THE STYLE ELEMENTS ON THE BONUS CHECKLIST ARE NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN EACH OF THE FIVE PARAGRAPHS!!!! Just use the Critique Checklist for all of the required style and use the Optional Checklist for bonus/additional elements. Most of the students are naturally using many of the dress-ups and sentence openers and I wanted to give them a place to check it off:). (Can you tell I am a list maker that likes to check items off my list?)
Have a wonderful week writing! Remember there are no tears in Essentials so make the choice that best suits your family this week: 5 paragraph critique, 3 paragraph critique, or oral critique.
Happy Writing!
Tina
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Week 20 - Unit 9 Critiques: 2 Week Assignment
Hello Essentials families,
Mrs. Varnell, thank you for your unending dedication to Essentials/IEW. Again our family has been hit by a variety of illnesses just in time for Tuesday:(. I missed seeing everyone this week, but I am enjoying reading all of the amazing papers you have been producing. The students are making exponential progress as the end of the year approaches. Way to go students and moms!
Unit 9: Critiques
Unit 9 is the last unit from the IEW Teaching Writing Structure and Style Syllabus! Celebrate! This is a worthwhile unit and works perfectly to end all of the units as it combines the Unit 8: Five paragraph structure with the Unit 3: Story Sequence Chart. All the while meeting a fiction story line with non-fiction analysis. The beauty of the IEW curriculum is the way that it teaches our children how to think. Through the question/answer modeling our children gain the benefit of higher order thinking skills and the ability to communicate those thoughts through writing.
*NOTE: (Book Report Option) You have the option of completing this unit with a critique of a fiction book of your child's choice. If you choose to take the book report approach to this assignment just use the "Pandora's Box" as a model of the question/answer process. A blank outline with questions is located at the back of your child's packet for a book report. Follow the suggested writing schedule to complete this paper in the 2 weeks.
"Pandora's Box"- Lesson 13 IEW Ancients
Mrs. Varnell victoriously conquered 4 of the 5 sections of the "Pandora's Box" critique outline. This week everyone can just jump into writing. There is a 5 or 3 paragraph option on this assignment. Level A - The beauty of this Level A option is that if you choose the 3 paragraph model your child gets the opportunity to write an introduction and conclusion paragraph. If they have not attempted this before it allows them to practice this important structure. Just combine the information from sections 2, 3, and 4 (identify conflict, climax, and theme) in a less detailed manner for your one body paragraph.
Level B - Follow the suggested schedule on the weekly guide to write the rough drafts of paragraphs 1-3 or 1-4 if time allows this week.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to have your student use the "Classroom Thesaurus: Developing Critique Vocabulary" handout when writing their critique. This is a gold mine of terms and descriptive vocabulary. On the back of this thesaurus is a sample critique of Pandora's Box". Read this with your child. Remember, modeling is how we build great writers. It also shows them the labeling and gives them an idea of what a critique looks like from start to finish.
Style:
This assignment is from the middle of the IEW Ancients book. All of the stylistic elements we have covered are not included on the final checklist. Due to the 2 week time period alotted for this assignment, all of the dress-ups, decorations, and sentence openers we have learned this year are not required. You can strictly stick to the checklist, keeping the style EASY. You can use this assignment to focus on the STRUCTURE of a critique over a long checklist of style.
Bonus Style(optional):
However, if your child would like to include all or some additional style to their paper - let them go for it! They have worked hard to learn it; let them use it! I listed all of the writing style elements we have covered this year on the weekly guide with blanks to allow them to check them off as they include them. This option is up to you and your student.
Have a wonderful week writing!
Tina
Mrs. Varnell, thank you for your unending dedication to Essentials/IEW. Again our family has been hit by a variety of illnesses just in time for Tuesday:(. I missed seeing everyone this week, but I am enjoying reading all of the amazing papers you have been producing. The students are making exponential progress as the end of the year approaches. Way to go students and moms!
Unit 9: Critiques
Unit 9 is the last unit from the IEW Teaching Writing Structure and Style Syllabus! Celebrate! This is a worthwhile unit and works perfectly to end all of the units as it combines the Unit 8: Five paragraph structure with the Unit 3: Story Sequence Chart. All the while meeting a fiction story line with non-fiction analysis. The beauty of the IEW curriculum is the way that it teaches our children how to think. Through the question/answer modeling our children gain the benefit of higher order thinking skills and the ability to communicate those thoughts through writing.
*NOTE: (Book Report Option) You have the option of completing this unit with a critique of a fiction book of your child's choice. If you choose to take the book report approach to this assignment just use the "Pandora's Box" as a model of the question/answer process. A blank outline with questions is located at the back of your child's packet for a book report. Follow the suggested writing schedule to complete this paper in the 2 weeks.
"Pandora's Box"- Lesson 13 IEW Ancients
Mrs. Varnell victoriously conquered 4 of the 5 sections of the "Pandora's Box" critique outline. This week everyone can just jump into writing. There is a 5 or 3 paragraph option on this assignment. Level A - The beauty of this Level A option is that if you choose the 3 paragraph model your child gets the opportunity to write an introduction and conclusion paragraph. If they have not attempted this before it allows them to practice this important structure. Just combine the information from sections 2, 3, and 4 (identify conflict, climax, and theme) in a less detailed manner for your one body paragraph.
Level B - Follow the suggested schedule on the weekly guide to write the rough drafts of paragraphs 1-3 or 1-4 if time allows this week.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to have your student use the "Classroom Thesaurus: Developing Critique Vocabulary" handout when writing their critique. This is a gold mine of terms and descriptive vocabulary. On the back of this thesaurus is a sample critique of Pandora's Box". Read this with your child. Remember, modeling is how we build great writers. It also shows them the labeling and gives them an idea of what a critique looks like from start to finish.
Style:
This assignment is from the middle of the IEW Ancients book. All of the stylistic elements we have covered are not included on the final checklist. Due to the 2 week time period alotted for this assignment, all of the dress-ups, decorations, and sentence openers we have learned this year are not required. You can strictly stick to the checklist, keeping the style EASY. You can use this assignment to focus on the STRUCTURE of a critique over a long checklist of style.
Bonus Style(optional):
However, if your child would like to include all or some additional style to their paper - let them go for it! They have worked hard to learn it; let them use it! I listed all of the writing style elements we have covered this year on the weekly guide with blanks to allow them to check them off as they include them. This option is up to you and your student.
Have a wonderful week writing!
Tina
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Week 19 - Mom, "That was EASY!"
Hello Essentials families,
Yesterday we covered several topics in class. I am looking forward to the Unit 7 - "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..." essays. With this paper, there are a lot of choices for the final draft that is due next week. Many families are still completing their Ancient Rome papers. Remember that you can turn in a paper at any time and am thrilled to read them. Keep up the hard work!
Unit 7 - Creative Writing "Notes from the Brain"
The prompt for this paper is: "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..." This assignment allows the student to write about 1, 2, or 3 themes/topics they would miss. In class this week we discussed how to compose an introductory paragraph and a conclusion paragraph to make this a 5 paragraph essay.
However, there are many options for this paper:
*1 paragraph with a Topic Sentence and Clincher. Please follow the Level A guidelines described in the packet sent home yesterday p. 144. Use the final checklist on p. 145.
* 2 or 3 paragraphs - Please follow the Level A guidelines described in the packet sent home yesterday p. 144. Use the final checklist on p. 145.
* 5 paragraphs - Please follow the guidelines on p. 146 for planning and writing an introduction and conclusion for your 5 paragraph essay. Use the final checklist on p. 147.
ALL STUDENTS should complete the exercise on p. 143 "Polishing the Rough Draft." This is a great chance to have your student examine their own writing and strengthen it. This is also an opportunity to review using descriptions to appeal to your reader's five senses and emotions. Refer to the example paragraph "I would miss my unicycle..." on p. 138 in last week's packet to see examples of emotions and 5 sense words.
IEW EXPERTS: "That was easy!"
At this time of the year all of the students are well versed in the structure of strong paragraphs (repeat/reflect) and the style elements (dress-ups & decorations) that make their writing appealing to read. I emphasized in class the importance of including ALL of the elements of structure and style in their final drafts this week. Simply put, try to include, check off, and label EVERY item on the checklist for this paper (FINAL CHECKLISTS PAGES 145 or 147). Hopefully, the students are to the point of saying "that was easy, mom" when it comes to all of the dress-ups, decorations, and sentence openers on the checklist. Encourage your child to use their student resource pages (colored sheets) in their binder when editing and rewriting their rough draft. Also, there is an IEW app free of charge that features all of the Unit Structural Models, Sentence Openers, Dress-ups, Decorations, and Triple Extensions at the touch of your fingertips! It can make "looking up" information a little more fun for your child.
BONUS ADVANCED DRESS-UPS CHECKLIST:
On the back of the "Writing Structure and Style Weekly Guide", I created a checklist with all of the advanced dress-ups and decorations we have covered this semester. Encourage your child to include and check off all of the items on the Final Checklist p. 145 or 147 before attempting to include these bonus style elements. Your child should use these advanced style elements when all of the Final Checklist elements of style are "EASY" for them to use. After that, work on 1 new style element per paper. "EASY + ONE" Adding new advanced elements of style should be an enjoyable part of the writing process like putting icing on a cake, it isn't necessary, but it sure makes the cake better:)
Dramatic Openers/Hooks - Our new decoration for this week is dramatic openers or hooks. See p.46 gray page student notebook for instruction and ideas to include this in their final draft.
Have a great week writing the final drafts for Unit 7 "Notes from the Brain!" Emphasize structure and style using the Final Checklists provided for this paper. We are clearly developing young IEW experts:). Keep up the hard work! Way to go moms!
Have a blessed week,
Tina
Yesterday we covered several topics in class. I am looking forward to the Unit 7 - "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..." essays. With this paper, there are a lot of choices for the final draft that is due next week. Many families are still completing their Ancient Rome papers. Remember that you can turn in a paper at any time and am thrilled to read them. Keep up the hard work!
Unit 7 - Creative Writing "Notes from the Brain"
The prompt for this paper is: "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..." This assignment allows the student to write about 1, 2, or 3 themes/topics they would miss. In class this week we discussed how to compose an introductory paragraph and a conclusion paragraph to make this a 5 paragraph essay.
However, there are many options for this paper:
*1 paragraph with a Topic Sentence and Clincher. Please follow the Level A guidelines described in the packet sent home yesterday p. 144. Use the final checklist on p. 145.
* 2 or 3 paragraphs - Please follow the Level A guidelines described in the packet sent home yesterday p. 144. Use the final checklist on p. 145.
* 5 paragraphs - Please follow the guidelines on p. 146 for planning and writing an introduction and conclusion for your 5 paragraph essay. Use the final checklist on p. 147.
ALL STUDENTS should complete the exercise on p. 143 "Polishing the Rough Draft." This is a great chance to have your student examine their own writing and strengthen it. This is also an opportunity to review using descriptions to appeal to your reader's five senses and emotions. Refer to the example paragraph "I would miss my unicycle..." on p. 138 in last week's packet to see examples of emotions and 5 sense words.
IEW EXPERTS: "That was easy!"
At this time of the year all of the students are well versed in the structure of strong paragraphs (repeat/reflect) and the style elements (dress-ups & decorations) that make their writing appealing to read. I emphasized in class the importance of including ALL of the elements of structure and style in their final drafts this week. Simply put, try to include, check off, and label EVERY item on the checklist for this paper (FINAL CHECKLISTS PAGES 145 or 147). Hopefully, the students are to the point of saying "that was easy, mom" when it comes to all of the dress-ups, decorations, and sentence openers on the checklist. Encourage your child to use their student resource pages (colored sheets) in their binder when editing and rewriting their rough draft. Also, there is an IEW app free of charge that features all of the Unit Structural Models, Sentence Openers, Dress-ups, Decorations, and Triple Extensions at the touch of your fingertips! It can make "looking up" information a little more fun for your child.
BONUS ADVANCED DRESS-UPS CHECKLIST:
On the back of the "Writing Structure and Style Weekly Guide", I created a checklist with all of the advanced dress-ups and decorations we have covered this semester. Encourage your child to include and check off all of the items on the Final Checklist p. 145 or 147 before attempting to include these bonus style elements. Your child should use these advanced style elements when all of the Final Checklist elements of style are "EASY" for them to use. After that, work on 1 new style element per paper. "EASY + ONE" Adding new advanced elements of style should be an enjoyable part of the writing process like putting icing on a cake, it isn't necessary, but it sure makes the cake better:)
Dramatic Openers/Hooks - Our new decoration for this week is dramatic openers or hooks. See p.46 gray page student notebook for instruction and ideas to include this in their final draft.
Have a great week writing the final drafts for Unit 7 "Notes from the Brain!" Emphasize structure and style using the Final Checklists provided for this paper. We are clearly developing young IEW experts:). Keep up the hard work! Way to go moms!
Have a blessed week,
Tina
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hi Essentials families,
I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. God has blessed our CC family endlessly. Each one of you hold a special part in my heart and I am so honored to walk with you on our home school journey. Your little ones bring me such joy every week. I look forward to watching the paths that God has planned for each one.
We missed several of you in class and at the party on Tuesday afternoon and hope you are all feeling better and will be ready to return next week. I have reserved some treats for you on Tuesday!
Have a blessed Valentine's Day!<3
Tina
I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. God has blessed our CC family endlessly. Each one of you hold a special part in my heart and I am so honored to walk with you on our home school journey. Your little ones bring me such joy every week. I look forward to watching the paths that God has planned for each one.
We missed several of you in class and at the party on Tuesday afternoon and hope you are all feeling better and will be ready to return next week. I have reserved some treats for you on Tuesday!
Have a blessed Valentine's Day!<3
Tina
Week 18 - Personal Essay - 2 Week assignment
Hello Essentials families,
Yesterday was an action packed day from 1-3pm. The afternoon began immersed in an EEL grammar review challenge (can you find those sentence patterns among the clauses, phrases and questions???) and ended with sweets and treats. Thank you to all of the moms who helped to make the celebration amazing for the children. Erin, your kettle popped popcorn was divine! Laurie, thank you for the trip to Doughnut World. I personally have been converted. The doughnuts were delightful (S-VL-PA). If any parents were unable to pay the $1.00 per student yesterday, please bring it next week to Laurie, Erin, or myself. We want to repay Laurie for her time and $$$:)
Ancient Rome:
WOW! The four week journey to the Ancient Rome three or five paragraph report/essay has been completed for some of you. I strongly believe this investment of time will have a long-lasting impact on their understanding of the basic report/essay. If you have not completed this assignment, continue working on it at home and turn it in when it is completed. I look forward to reading them!
*****Important note: The difference between an essay and a report is that a report turns into an essay when your opinion is added. For example, when the students who chose to include an introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph stated what they felt was the "most significant" thing about ancient Rome, their report turned into an ESSAY. If your child completed a 3 paragraph paper with an introductory statement and final clincher they wrote a REPORT. This week's assignment is a personal ESSAY because it is all about their opinion!*****
NEW ASSIGNMENT 2 WEEKS: Unit 7 - Creative Writing Personal Essay - Notes from the Brain "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..."
2) This is typically the time of year when the winter blahs begin. I wanted to incite enthusiasm for this assignment and alleviate any possibility of fear when faced with the idea of no source text (blank page syndrome).
2) We also discussed using triple extensions to add sophistication to your writing(p. 50 gray pages). The rule for effectively using repetition is THRICE NEVER TWICE. Repeating the same word (question,question,question), repeating a part of speech (verbs, adjectives, or -ly words) or repeating a type of phrase or clause are all ways to use this new decoration. Indicate by putting a 3X in the right margin.
All of the ADVANCED DRESS-UPS I AM PRESENTING IN CLASS are optional opportunities for any student that is ready for a new challenge. I firmly believe in consistently presenting new information from the Student Resource Notebook for students who have mastered the dress-ups and decorations on the checklist. If your child is new to IEW this year or has not mastered the checklist please feel no pressure to add these to their papers. Just have them listen in class to the information and leave it there.
***I included a brainstorming sheet in their take home packet if your child would like to attempt any of the ADVANCED DRESS-UPS we have learned in the last two weeks. Choose all, one, or none, but be sure to have fun!***
Happy writing,
Tina:)
Yesterday was an action packed day from 1-3pm. The afternoon began immersed in an EEL grammar review challenge (can you find those sentence patterns among the clauses, phrases and questions???) and ended with sweets and treats. Thank you to all of the moms who helped to make the celebration amazing for the children. Erin, your kettle popped popcorn was divine! Laurie, thank you for the trip to Doughnut World. I personally have been converted. The doughnuts were delightful (S-VL-PA). If any parents were unable to pay the $1.00 per student yesterday, please bring it next week to Laurie, Erin, or myself. We want to repay Laurie for her time and $$$:)
Ancient Rome:
WOW! The four week journey to the Ancient Rome three or five paragraph report/essay has been completed for some of you. I strongly believe this investment of time will have a long-lasting impact on their understanding of the basic report/essay. If you have not completed this assignment, continue working on it at home and turn it in when it is completed. I look forward to reading them!
*****Important note: The difference between an essay and a report is that a report turns into an essay when your opinion is added. For example, when the students who chose to include an introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph stated what they felt was the "most significant" thing about ancient Rome, their report turned into an ESSAY. If your child completed a 3 paragraph paper with an introductory statement and final clincher they wrote a REPORT. This week's assignment is a personal ESSAY because it is all about their opinion!*****
NEW ASSIGNMENT 2 WEEKS: Unit 7 - Creative Writing Personal Essay - Notes from the Brain "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..."
- I chose to dive into creative writing to lighten up the subject matter the students are writing about. This assignment is the first one of the year where the students have no source text. All of the details must be extracted from their brains! Many standardized writing tests use this approach to measure a student's writing proficiency. Students are given a prompt and they must write an essay (5 paragraphs - introduction/3 body paragraphs/conclusion). These essays include their opinion. Often, students can get "writer's block" from the fear of a blank piece of paper. The solution to writer's block is to brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm, choose 3 favorite themes (A,B,C), and then ask questions, ask questions, ask questions to create details for each theme.
- Students may choose to write 1, 2, or 3 rough draft paragraphs this week. Decide the length of this paper based on your demands at home. This is a 2 week assignment.
- We worked through two different ideas in class to model the question/answer process. "If I lived in ancient times, I would miss my unicycle." and "If I lived in ancient times, I would miss electricity." The unicycle example is included in their lesson packet. The electricity example was completed impromptu style so the students could see the process in action. We practiced the question/answer process using a microphone for fun and to promote enthusiasm for what can be a daunting task. Allow your child the opportunity to have fun with this essay, be very creative, and hopefully smile a lot about things they love the most.
- PLEASE DO NOT THINK I AM CRAZY OR NEED TO CUT DOWN ON MY LEVEL OF CAFFEINE:) I approached this assignment with a lot of energy and enthusiasm very purposefully.
2) This is typically the time of year when the winter blahs begin. I wanted to incite enthusiasm for this assignment and alleviate any possibility of fear when faced with the idea of no source text (blank page syndrome).
- Unlike the Ancient Rome report, students are encouraged to use "I" in this paper because it is a PERSONAL ESSAY.
- Two new ADVANCED DRESS-UPS: (OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS - LABEL AS INDICATED)
2) We also discussed using triple extensions to add sophistication to your writing(p. 50 gray pages). The rule for effectively using repetition is THRICE NEVER TWICE. Repeating the same word (question,question,question), repeating a part of speech (verbs, adjectives, or -ly words) or repeating a type of phrase or clause are all ways to use this new decoration. Indicate by putting a 3X in the right margin.
All of the ADVANCED DRESS-UPS I AM PRESENTING IN CLASS are optional opportunities for any student that is ready for a new challenge. I firmly believe in consistently presenting new information from the Student Resource Notebook for students who have mastered the dress-ups and decorations on the checklist. If your child is new to IEW this year or has not mastered the checklist please feel no pressure to add these to their papers. Just have them listen in class to the information and leave it there.
***I included a brainstorming sheet in their take home packet if your child would like to attempt any of the ADVANCED DRESS-UPS we have learned in the last two weeks. Choose all, one, or none, but be sure to have fun!***
Happy writing,
Tina:)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
A look ahead - The Final Countdown!
Hello Essentials families,
As the weeks fly by, barreling toward that Memory Master time of year, I wanted to give all of you a look at the schedule of writing assignments through week twenty-four.
Weeks 18 and 19 - IEW Ancients Lessons 21 and 22 - Unit 7 CREATIVE WRITING
A Personal Essay "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..."
Level A students may choose to write either one, two, or three paragraphs.
Level B students should try a five paragraph essay, writing the three body paragraphs for lesson 21 and add an introduction and conclusion for lesson 22.
Weeks 20 and 21- IEW Ancients Lesson 13 Unit 9 CRITIQUING STORIES
(Fiction Book Report Option)
*Students may choose to critique the Greek myth "Pandora's Box" or use a fiction book for this unit on critiquing stories.*
Week 20: Sections I-IV (rough) Week 21: Section V plus final draft
Week 22 - IEW Ancients Lesson 1 POETRY: The Ancient World - The last of the ancient assignments:)
Week 23 - Letter Writing IEW Letter Writing Model
This lesson will focus on the structure of a friendly letter IEW style. It will be a label-free assignment and can be hand-written or typed. The focus is FUN with writing!
*****Students will write a letter to themselves about their experiences this year. Students may choose to write about one, two, or three topics. For example, what they did, what they remember, and what they are thinking about the future. This letter will be sealed until their senior year of high school in a "time capsule." I enjoyed an assignment/project similar to this when I was an eighth grader. It was exciting and hilarious to open my letters (we wrote letters to friends and to ourselves) during that senior year of high school. This will be a celebration assignment, learning the structure of a friendly letter, but emphasizing the joy of this year.*****
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Blessings,
Tina
As the weeks fly by, barreling toward that Memory Master time of year, I wanted to give all of you a look at the schedule of writing assignments through week twenty-four.
Weeks 18 and 19 - IEW Ancients Lessons 21 and 22 - Unit 7 CREATIVE WRITING
A Personal Essay "If I lived in ancient times I would miss..."
Level A students may choose to write either one, two, or three paragraphs.
Level B students should try a five paragraph essay, writing the three body paragraphs for lesson 21 and add an introduction and conclusion for lesson 22.
Weeks 20 and 21- IEW Ancients Lesson 13 Unit 9 CRITIQUING STORIES
(Fiction Book Report Option)
*Students may choose to critique the Greek myth "Pandora's Box" or use a fiction book for this unit on critiquing stories.*
Week 20: Sections I-IV (rough) Week 21: Section V plus final draft
Week 22 - IEW Ancients Lesson 1 POETRY: The Ancient World - The last of the ancient assignments:)
Week 23 - Letter Writing IEW Letter Writing Model
This lesson will focus on the structure of a friendly letter IEW style. It will be a label-free assignment and can be hand-written or typed. The focus is FUN with writing!
*****Students will write a letter to themselves about their experiences this year. Students may choose to write about one, two, or three topics. For example, what they did, what they remember, and what they are thinking about the future. This letter will be sealed until their senior year of high school in a "time capsule." I enjoyed an assignment/project similar to this when I was an eighth grader. It was exciting and hilarious to open my letters (we wrote letters to friends and to ourselves) during that senior year of high school. This will be a celebration assignment, learning the structure of a friendly letter, but emphasizing the joy of this year.*****
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Blessings,
Tina
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