What an exciting-in-a-circle kind of day! My sincere apologies to Ryan- hehehe- I'm just going to have to find an analogy that doesn't make him cringe! But we managed to keep our peanut butter and jelly separate from our tuna fish and still combine them into one cohesive paper!
If the concept is still a bit fuzzy, please check in with me. It is quite a doozy to grasp the first time around. Just to sum it up:
The Introductory sentence comes first and tells the reader a one or two word summary of every point that the report will discuss. The Topic sentence of the first paragraph comes second and introduces the focus point of the first paragraph. Then we get to the 4 -7 facts that the first paragraph is about. Last, the first paragraph Clincher sentence repeats or reflects 2 -3 key words from the Topic (not Introductory) sentence.
The second paragraph opens with its own Topic sentence. That is followed by 4 - 7 facts and details supporting its topic. It is finished off with a Clincher sentence that repeats or reflects 2-3 words from its Topic sentence. Then the whole report is summed up with a Final Clincher sentence that repeats or reflects 2-3 words from the Introductory sentence at the very beginning of the report.
Does that help? It is a lot of repeating and reflecting but it drills the structure into them until it becomes second nature and they begin to write really well done papers.
This week's assignment is to add in your Introductory/Final Clincher sentences and edit anything that doesn't sit quite right with you. THIS IS IMPORTANT: I totally forgot to say in class that on the Checklist for Charlemagne, #3 and #6 is not listed! Up to you moms, but I think it should be added in and required because it is teaching them to vary their sentence patterns and structure.
Also, we ran out of time to read the sample story on pg 50 in the book. It's a great idea to have them read that before they dive in. Even though they helped me edit "My Story" a second look at the intended end product may prove useful.
Thank you, thank you Mrs Bate for the doughnuts! Yum!
Don't forget that you have some excellent resources in your pocket to reinforce what we're learning in class: read the lessons in the book, study the charts, drill the flashcards, quiz the Memory Work just like you do for EEL. Focus on getting the structure and style and not necessarily the paper. The paper will come once the tools are learned. Always cut down the assignment (or add to) to fit the needs of your student. We are creating a toolbox of skills to use for life not a noose to hang ourselves with when life becomes... life. :) If... when you find that your week gets hairy, boil it down to the basics!
As always, email me, email me, email me when questions come up!
Have a great week and if you are interested in my personal weekly checklist, email me and I'll get it to you.
Melissa
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
IEW-Week 3
Now we're getting to the good stuff.
Today we began Unit 4. This is a short report with an introductory sentence and a conclusion sentence (which we will learn next week) building towards Unit 6, the 5 paragraph report format.
For those of you that were not present in class this week, here's the quick run down:
We covered lessons #6 and #8 in class: summarizing a reference, topic/ clincher sentences that repeat and reflect, -LY sentence openers #3, and VSS #6. Remember: one topic per paragraph, no peanut butter and jelly with tuna fish!
The assignment is to choose A) Do you want to do a report on Charlemagne (lesson #6) OR on the Vikings (lesson #8), B) How many paragraphs do you want to do? Level A is 2 paragraphs, Level B is 3 paragraphs with the option of pulling in your own source text if you have chosen to report on the Vikings.
Moms, if you feel that 2 paragraphs is too much for your student, please do one well written paragraph rather than a rushed or hurried through 2 paragraph report. We are blessed to have some very young and new learners in class. :) Grace abounds! We want everyone to fall in love with the written word NOT begrudge yet another grueling assignment that is beyond their means. On the other hand, for those of you with Level C writers, the sky's the limit! Allow them to chose a subject of interest, find their own source texts, and really dig in! Do try to steer them towards Medieval/ Renaissance history topics.
There is absolutely nothing to turn in next week.
Please work on your rough draft paragraphs this week with the understanding that next week we will cover lesson #7 which teaches them to write an introductory sentence and a conclusion sentence.
Almost everyone got to read in class. Yay! There will be time to read more next week. I enjoyed reading everyone's first papers very much. Talent abounds and it's going to be a wonderful year learning and growing together. Each paper included a "Glow and Grow" comment card. This was a suggestion that I was given at tutor training so I thought I'd give it a try.
Also, I passed out a quick overview of the papers that are due for the rest of the semester. Can you believe that we only have 4 papers left? My goodness the semester will just fly by. If you did not get this handout, let me know.
Take a moment with your student to talk about the library research paper that will become our Faces of History dinner theatre presentation at the end of the semester. Any topic is acceptable including a general class of people (such as "Monks of the Middle Ages"), a specific person ("Joan of Arc"), or a field of interest ( "Weapons"). The world is their oyster to explore and discover! This is a great opportunity to integrate subjects by having them begin their research and practice doing it in bits and pieces through Foundations presentations or having them choose a topic from a history sentence or science question. Work smarter not harder, right? If this paper is causing confusion or concern for you, please let me know. For more information read p. 93 in the IEW History student book. It says that we "may spend two weeks on this lesson" however, we will be spending four. This is a very important skill to learn and we will spend time working with it.
Have a blessed week!
Melissa
Today we began Unit 4. This is a short report with an introductory sentence and a conclusion sentence (which we will learn next week) building towards Unit 6, the 5 paragraph report format.
For those of you that were not present in class this week, here's the quick run down:
We covered lessons #6 and #8 in class: summarizing a reference, topic/ clincher sentences that repeat and reflect, -LY sentence openers #3, and VSS #6. Remember: one topic per paragraph, no peanut butter and jelly with tuna fish!
The assignment is to choose A) Do you want to do a report on Charlemagne (lesson #6) OR on the Vikings (lesson #8), B) How many paragraphs do you want to do? Level A is 2 paragraphs, Level B is 3 paragraphs with the option of pulling in your own source text if you have chosen to report on the Vikings.
Moms, if you feel that 2 paragraphs is too much for your student, please do one well written paragraph rather than a rushed or hurried through 2 paragraph report. We are blessed to have some very young and new learners in class. :) Grace abounds! We want everyone to fall in love with the written word NOT begrudge yet another grueling assignment that is beyond their means. On the other hand, for those of you with Level C writers, the sky's the limit! Allow them to chose a subject of interest, find their own source texts, and really dig in! Do try to steer them towards Medieval/ Renaissance history topics.
There is absolutely nothing to turn in next week.
Please work on your rough draft paragraphs this week with the understanding that next week we will cover lesson #7 which teaches them to write an introductory sentence and a conclusion sentence.
Almost everyone got to read in class. Yay! There will be time to read more next week. I enjoyed reading everyone's first papers very much. Talent abounds and it's going to be a wonderful year learning and growing together. Each paper included a "Glow and Grow" comment card. This was a suggestion that I was given at tutor training so I thought I'd give it a try.
Also, I passed out a quick overview of the papers that are due for the rest of the semester. Can you believe that we only have 4 papers left? My goodness the semester will just fly by. If you did not get this handout, let me know.
Take a moment with your student to talk about the library research paper that will become our Faces of History dinner theatre presentation at the end of the semester. Any topic is acceptable including a general class of people (such as "Monks of the Middle Ages"), a specific person ("Joan of Arc"), or a field of interest ( "Weapons"). The world is their oyster to explore and discover! This is a great opportunity to integrate subjects by having them begin their research and practice doing it in bits and pieces through Foundations presentations or having them choose a topic from a history sentence or science question. Work smarter not harder, right? If this paper is causing confusion or concern for you, please let me know. For more information read p. 93 in the IEW History student book. It says that we "may spend two weeks on this lesson" however, we will be spending four. This is a very important skill to learn and we will spend time working with it.
Have a blessed week!
Melissa
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
IEW- Week 2
Emotions, Senses, and Titles From Clinchers- Oh my!
Did you catch the commas in a series? :)
Here is the assignment for this week: Mohammed and Islam
Level A: one paragraph paper p. 32
Level B: two paragraph paper pp. 32, 33
Level C: three paragraph paper pp. 32, 33, 34
* Everyone can use the Final Checklist from p. 40, simply do not checkoff the boxes for the paragraphs you are not doing. Even though it doesn't say to include a picture, pictures always make a paper more exciting.
Mom should fill out the checklist. I DO NOT GRADE PAPERS. I do receive them and read them and return them with a "Glow and Grow" comment card. You, as the teacher, are in complete control of the grade your child receives. I am here to encourage you and your child and provide positive feedback.
I realize that today we focused more on dress-ups and details instead of talking through the assignment. This week's paper is similar in process to last week's paper so no further explanation was needed. It is still: KWO, re-tell orally, rough draft, dress-up, edit with mom, MLA, illustrate, print out. If you have any concerns or questions or need any clarity to help you through this week, please let me know.
Many of you kept in contact with me last week and it was great. Never, ever feel guilty for emailing me as much as it takes for you to grasp the concepts in this class. I am very much here to help you and want to see you get as much as possible out of this year.
Take advantage of every opportunity you have in conversation this week to point out how sense words and emotion verbs make conversation more clear. Hopefully our KitKat demonstration not only tortured them ;) but made the point about the value and the power of careful description. Don't forget to talk about how the atmosphere of various places/situations can be described using all the words we talked about.
We did not go over the vocabulary words specifically this week but the vocab quizzes for the whole year were passed out. See me if you did not get one. Also, please note that they are free to use any vocab word at any time. They do NOT have to use them in order of the lesson numbers. The more they use them, the more they will become familiar with the meanings.
If a clincher sentence is a vague concept for you (1st tour folks) don't worry about it. We will be getting into that next week. For your purposes right now, it is simply the last line of the paper. Remember that we talked about the clincher sentence and the title making a circle around the paper to wrap it up in one cohesive package! Let them have fun and run with this idea!
If you would like my personal lesson plan to use this week for your own children, email me. This lesson plan is designed to be simple enough for Level B and C students to use it on their own if mom so chooses. I'm eventually going to learn how to embed it in the blog post so that all you have to do is click on it but it's a work in progress.
Many thanks to Rhonda Thurmond and Sherry Dula for stepping up to be my "Admission Ticket Moms." Each week I will have the same station set up for students to say their ticket, hand in their paper, and to receive any handouts I have for the week.
Have a blessed week!
Melissa
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
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:
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
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
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:)
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:)
Thursday, March 14, 2013
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
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
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
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