IEW -Week 1

And they're off.....

In class we talked about the components of writing a "Short Report." This makes a great foundation for anything you are studying with your student and comes in handy when working on those presentations we all do for Foundations!

The basic steps are: KWO (key word outline) any source text at or below reading level, verbally re-tell the story or information, rewrite it in your own words, and add in dress-ups.

The dress-ups that we learned today were Vocabulary Words, Quality Adjectives, Strong Verbs, and -Ly words. These are all the pretty colored pages in the student binders. If you need any help, read back through your Medieval History Student Book lessons #1 and #2. Let me know if I can clarify or answer questions.

The assignment this week is from lesson #2 (we did #1 together in class). Level A students need only do the first paragraph. Level B and C students can tackle both paragraphs and even add on their own outside sources (just be sure to include a bibliography). If you didn't grab the Final Checklist handout, you can photocopy page 20 from the book. All MLA notation information is on p. 18 of your book and in the IEW chart section in the student binder. Please put the finished paper plus the checklist in a page protector to hand in.

FYI for this week:
-The Faces of History Dinner theatre is coming! Start thinking about a character and costume but remember, this can be as simple as reading your favorite paragraph from any assignment this semester while wearing an outfit of your choosing. This is designed to be a fun opportunity to show off for the students not a pressure creating situation for mom or student!

-Our Pen Pal Program will get cranking this month. We have a wonderful opportunity to "pass notes" with classes in Nicaragua and Indonesia. These students are working on their English and would love some practical application. We will also be able to send some care packages as well. Details coming, but get excited now!

-The checklist says to include a picture of Hagia Sofia. If something else tickles their fancy it's okay to draw that instead.  It can also be a "copy and paste" picture from the internet.

-Sadly, we ran out of time to go over the comma worksheets in the student binders and  exercises within the lessons. This will be of great help to you if you have time to squeeze it in at home. I will try again to squeeze it in next week.

Reminder from Andrew Pudewa:

The Four Deadly Errors:

1. over correcting (don't stifle their excitement by fixating on getting it perfect!)

2. withholding help (don't force them ahead if they are not ready! It will cause great but needless frustration.)

3. unclear assignments (let me know if I need to clarify ANYTHING. I certainly want you to get the most out of this class.)

4. over expectation (:D I try to preach to myself everyday: PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION AND QUALITY NOT QUANTITY.... and grace. Lots of grace!)

***********************************************************************

Special recognition to the amazing Level B and C students who really went above and beyond to show off what a fabulously written rough draft on the fly paper sounds like! I'm so extra proud of all of you. Outstanding job! There are no cobwebs in your brains that's for sure.  :)

I'm going to try to give them an opportunity like that a few times this year. I really buy into the one-room schoolhouse idea. The older students gain confidence and the younger students see what they can achieve in the future! Everyone gets blessed and encouraged.

Have a wonderful week and let me know if I can help you in any way.

Melissa

Week 23 "Dear Me,"

Hello Essentials families,
What a beautiful spring day we were blessed with yesterday!  We covered a lot of information in two hours, but the students hung in their and are dashing to the finish line next week.  It seems hard to believe, but the weeks have flown by.  Some students were Memory Master testing or sick at home so I am going to be thorough in today's blog.

IEW Letter Writing Model: "Friendly Letters"  Unit 7 Notes from the Brain
In today's world of email and texting many of us do not take the time to write a letter.  Ending the year on a fun and friendly note, the students are writing a letter to themselves not to be opened until the year they graduate from high school.  Next week they will literally "seal" the letters with a wax seal (to avoid the risk of burns I had adhesive seals made), to insure that they will keep their letters sealed.

When writing this week look at their take home packet for all that you need to have them compose their letter.  This assignment will not be turned in to me and therefore will not be required to underlined, labeled, etc.  On your checklist(mom's packet), you will see that I focused on the structure of a letter over the style elements they have learned.  Encourage them to write with dress-ups and a variety of sentence openers, but allow them the freedom and enjoyment of breaking away from the checklist!  As exhibited in class yesterday when the students created compound-complex sentences, they naturally enjoy putting in those vocabulary words, strong verbs, etc.

Structure:  Each letter should follow the friendly letter format presented in class yesterday.  There are 5 parts the students should include:
HEADING, GREETING, BODY, CLOSING with SIGNATURE, and POST SCRIPT.
This letter follows the Unit 7 "Notes from the brain": Introductory paragraph, body paragraphs (1,2, or 3) and conclusion.  Your child may write a 3, 4, or 5 paragraph letter.

Introductory Paragraph: Background information (for ex. I am writing this letter for my IEW/Essentials class.  I am in the fourth grade and I am ten years old.)  Then, have them state their topic(s) for the body of the letter (A, B, C), "TELL THEM WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL THEM."
Body:  We brainstormed 3 themes in class that they may write about.  Let them choose the details they would like to include in their letter and write 1, 2, or 3 body paragraphs. "TELL THEM"
Conclusion: In the conclusion, the students should restate their topic(s).  Write the most significant idea and why? to conclude their letter. "TELL THEM WHAT YOU TOLD THEM"
******Topic sentence clincher rule should be followed on the body paragraphs!"Look at the example IEW leeters included in thier packet for an example.*****

This letter may be hand-written or typed.  I want them to have fun writing this week.  We did a lot of brainstorming in class, so today have them fill out their KWO and start writing.  When your child gets to the final draft of their letter have them look for those punctuation and spelling errors.  They have done an incredible job in class finding those "FOULS" and now they can apply these skills to their own writing.

Time Capsule:
This is where you can set them loose to create a capsule enclosing all of the things that your child loves and finds valuable to their lives today!  We brainstormed ideas of what to include in their capsules:  Newspaper, gas prices, pictures, CD's, favorite candy wrappers, menus, favorite movie and TV shows, church bulletin, their height and weight, a handmade piece of jewelry, etc.

Bring their completed time capsules, letters, and portfolios to class next week so they can "SHOWCASE" their work for the year.  We will set up and display their time capsules and portfolios on tables(museum style) and allow them to show them off.  We will spend the other portion of our time in Writer's Circle reading their poetry and papers aloud. It is time to celebrate all that the moms and children have accomplished this year!  "Power of the Pen" writing awards will also be given to each student:)!

Celebrate with Sundaes:
We are going to celebrate with an ice cream sundae party next week to close out our year!  In class, everyone signed up to bring a variety of toppings and ice cream.  If you were not in class, just bring a topping of your choice to contribute.

Have a great week, remember to let the children have freedom and fun with this project.  This is supposed to be stress free week for moms! Let them be creative and checklist free in their letters and let them have fun free time fashioning their capsules.

Happy Writing - it's time to celebrate,
Tina:)

Weeek 22 - Poetry and Portfolios

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

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

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

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

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