assignments for December 11, 2007

Hello Families,

Yesterday went by in a rush. Again, my struggle is within myself. All I would love to accomplish with your children to enrich their education is just not possible. I'd have to move them all in with me and spend our days researching, discussing then acting out this intriguing period in history. We'd sprinkle some grammar and science here and there then I'd send them back to you for a little math each week. Any takers? :)

I would like to strongly encourage you each week to ask you child about our discussions in history and/or literature. I pray over this time in particular during my preparations and ask God what he would have me talk to my students about. Please draw them out about our discussions and use the time to push the pencils and papers aside and build into their spiritual foundation by just listening. It can be a great time to correct any errors in their thinking, learn their hearts and train them as God would have them go.

We had a particularly difficult subject to discuss this week--the Crusades. I told them it was a difficult topic even for adults to ponder. We discussed it, read about it, acted out a play I wrote about it and settled on this lesson to take away from the subject: We are blessed to live in a country and time period where God's Word is easily available to each of us. I encouraged each of them to establish, now, the habit of getting to know God through time in his Word each day. If they know God's Word, which will never fail them, then they will not be led astray by false teachers as was the fate of the medieval people who tried to win entrance into heaven through crusading.

For next week (my last time with your children until next year)

History:
-produce narrations about the Age of Crusades. Use info from SOTW and from class time
-map pg. 77
-color pg. 78
-read ch. 19 in SOTW

Grammar:
-administer ch. 10 test after reviewing for it
-complete ch. 11 from the teaching text
-have ch. 11 vocab ready to turn in
-study vocab from ch 9--11 for a quiz

Literature:
-read through pg. 28 in The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. After working our way through Adam of the Road we have the vocab down and probably won't have any with this book.

Science:
-read pages 87--the middle of pg. 91
-produce a narration on what you learned in reading this section and draw from our class discussion as well.
-add circula & operculum to your science spiral
NOTE: Please bring your science spiral next week. We will do work in them in class.

We are going to work hard in class next week doing assignments that I usually have you complete at home. My aim is to keep us on schedule but have no homework over the holidays other than reading King Arthur.

Until the 11th,

Mrs. Tkach

p.s. Another huge Thank-You to Mrs. Dominique for assisting me. She steps easily into any of my "gaps" and helps things sail smoothly. We were like a well-oiled machine as we signed cards for her to send our troops. This activity spurred another quick discussion of self-sacrifice. We had to give up recess time to do this which, when we thought about it, is a small sacrifice to help the guys who are sacrificing to keep us free.

p.s.s. FLASH!!! Parents of third graders: let me know if you have an interest in having your student participate in standardized testing in the spring. If we have an interest, we must begin planning for it now.

Assignments for December 4th

Hello!

It was nice to see all "my kids" after the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a busy and fruitful day. I hope our large Venn diagram comparing Knights with Samurai made it home and you were able to admire/review it with your student. I "Venn diagrammed" them to pieces! Besides this large one, we did another in science comparing the leviathan mentioned in Job with a whale.

Latin was a bit sketchy--however they should be able to tell you the word for red (trill the r!)

Many thanks to Mrs. McBreen. She was called into constant duty and never failed me throughout the day. We started the science project described in the book and will observe results next week. I encouraged the students to perform the "Try this" in the book at home. These are usually easy but enhance the text reading greatly.

Another big thank you to Mrs. Esther from the K-1 class. After dismissing her students at 12:30, she came over and presented a lesson/exercise on haiku to my students. It was well done and she got our minds jogged into action to produce these poems. It was a launch into a discussion of "power under control" that these samurai exhibited--the strongest, fiercest of society that still produced tender poems. We compared this to Christ-- the creator of the universe, calmer of the seas that submissively took the abuse of the crucifixion in order to reconcile us to Himself. I should have done another Venn diagram!!!:)

REMINDER: please have your student bring five unsigned Christmas cards with envelopes next week. We are participating in a school-wide project to send cards to our servicemen.

Here is this week's assignments:

History:
--produce narrations on ch. 17 using information we learned in class as well as the chapter in the book.
--map pg. 72
--color pg. 73
--Knight Word Search pg. 75
--read chapter 18 in SOTW

Grammar:
--administer ch. 9 test after a review
--complete ch. 10 from the teacher's text
--have ch. 10 vocab work complete (word, definition, sentence) and ready to turn in
--we learned about conjunctions, compound parts and interjections

Science:
--polish up your lapbook or report on Lesson 5 to turn in
--be sure to have your science spirals up to date with vocabulary words defined. You can look through my old blogs to see which words you should have in there. We will have a quiz over these words next week. The quiz will only be over the words assigned and due on October 30th up to the present.

Literature:
--review questions for chapter 21-24 in Adam
--bring your copy of our next literature selection, King Arthur... to show me or I'll hand you one in class. We'll have a reading assignment from it next week.

Bible:
--we received new assignments yesterday so I hope your family will enjoy reading them together
--I'm re-stocking on treats to reward those that answer my review questions!

Enjoy this brisk, fall weather with your children. Hey, maybe try producing a haiku about it!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

assignments for November 27, 2007

Hello Families!

Another great day in our class. Still our most pressing problem is not enough time to do all the things I'd like for us to. The children were great and in tuned. We tackled three new skills in Shurley and they "hung" with me and seem to "have it". Noah's mom was my right hand and a tremendous help to the smooth running of the day.

Spiritually, we talked about our role in fulfilling Jesus' great commission--being missionaries in our "worlds". We discussed the Holy Play from our literature book and how the church saw this as the best way to present the Gospel to the commoners. I played a song from my church's youth band and we talked about using this to reach certain segments of our town's population. I think they "got it". Ask them about it and see what you think.

Thursday, I hope to see all of you. Remember to "trill" the R's in our Latin rendition of "Frater Ionnes"!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

History:
--produce narrations for ch. 16. I'd like to see a few sentences from each of the sections. If you choose to produce just one paragraph, it must be obvious that you pulled information from each part of the chapter
--color page 69
--map page 68
--read ch. 17 in SOTW

Literature:
--vocabulary matching for ch. 16--19 (if you haven't already done it)
--review questions for ch. 16--19
--finish reading the book

Grammar:
--administer ch. 8 test after reviewing that chapter
--complete ch. 9 from the teaching text
--have all vocab words with their definition and a sentence ready to turn in (This is all I require to be turned in. If you choose to turn in your other work, that's great. It's good for me to see how your doing at home.)
--we learned about helping verbs in verb phrases, the "not" adverb, and the question verb. Hope it helps you this two weeks.

Science:
--enter gastralia, gastroliths, and articulated in science spirals
--produce a lapbook on the chapter (lesson 5) that will be due on December 4th. You have quite a while to work on this so be sure it is done well. The front cover should be appealing and "draw you in". Present information from the chapter in an appealing way. Be sure to describe yourself on the back. I have a website about lapbooks somewhere in an old e-mail. I'll find it and send it to you
--alternative assignment: a one page report summarizing Lesson 5--also due on December 4th

I'll see you at the feast!

Mrs. Tkach

Assignments for November 13th

Hello Families,

Sorry to not have the blog up last night or earlier this morning. We had an amazing day yesterday, in my opinion anyway. Adam has captured all our hearts and we spent a good deal of time discussing him and his perils. We even sampled bread and herring like the shepherd fed him in the story. My little thespians want a play each week so we acted out ch. 14 and 15. We are pulling spiritual truths and discussing them. You have amazing children!

In History we camped out on the Battle of Hastings. We saw pictures of the Bayeaux tapestry and talked about the Nazis examining it to learn battle tactics. This diversion to WW II had me feeling guilty for being off subject until we turned the discussion to the Battle of all Battles. The one that took place on the cross over 2000 years ago. The one where God, through Christ, conquered death and sin once for all. Our spirits were lifted when we remembered we are on the winning side. Your children seem to have a great thirst for spiritual discussions. They are knowledgeable, and many are firm in their beliefs. I encourage you to draw them out on Spiritual matters. Don't fool yourselves that they are not old enough. I know I'm redundant, but they are amazing!!!

In Science, we suffered a casualty. I brought in two tadpoles so we could conduct the experiment from the text. One died as soon as we put the light on it. This was upsetting but having Emily's turtle was a diversion and very appropriate for our current study. Thank you, Emily!

Grammar:
--I'm making an executive decision and taking another one of our weeks off in Shurley. Several students and one Mother told me they are behind. A lot of new skills were introduced in chapter 8. Let's take another week on that chapter and review and firm up ALL skills introduced up through ch. 8. There was a mix up with volunteers, and I didn't have one which slowed me down a little. We didn't even get to Shurley in class. ( I found no one in a corner pouting because of this!!) Also, with the feast looming so close, we all have extra responsibilities right now. I encourage you to not just skip English this week, though. Really review and spend time on ch. 8.

A note on writing. There has been some hesitancy with the method taught in Shurley by some. It was evident to me after doing the notebook check that writing is a skill that needs attention. Soon, I plan to spend an extended period of time in class modeling writing techniques. This may not happen until after the holidays because I want to "do it right" and make it productive. Practice the grammar skills in Shurley. Also, encourage your student in all their narrations to put their thoughts in their own words--don't just copy a sentence from the book.

History:
--produce narrations on what you learned from chapter 15. Draw from our classroom discussions as well as SOTW.
--color pages
--mapwork
--read chapter 16

Literature:
--answer review questions for ch. 11-15
--complete vocab exercise passed out on 10/30 (it is handwritten)
--read ch. 16--19 "News of Roger"
--optional: vocab matching for ch. 16--19 (if you choose not to do this exercise this week, it will be due on 11/27.)

Science:
--read pgs. 67--71
--produce a narration about your reading to turn in
--enter estivation and diffusion in science spiral
--update ocean box

Your children can sing in Latin! Ask for a performance of "Are you Sleeping?" Have them practice all week with the pronunciation guide I sent home last week. I plan for them to perform it at the feast. Mrs. Esther's little ones will be joining us and they'll need us to sing out strong. We'll have volunteers to recite Roger's quote next week in class and we'll polish that up for performing at the feast as well.

Enjoy your week with your children. They are your first mission field!
love,
Mrs. Tkach

Assignments for November 6th

Hello,

We had a busy, hectic, enjoyable day yesterday. Many thanks to Mr. Walt (Emma's dad) for being our volunteer. Mrs. Dominique (Noah's mom) had done two weeks in a row--WOW. A belated thanks to her as well.

We want to wish an extra HUGE thank you to Mrs. McBreen (Ayla's mom) for holding a workshop for us yesterday about lapbooking. They are marvelous tools and she spent much time preparing materials for us and teaching us. Also, thanks to Brendan, her son, for his help as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I've only just learned that she spent all this time with us while enduring a migraine. What a "trooper"!

Hopefully you've received my e-mail about characters for the medieval feast. If not, please stop and check your e-mail right away. Time is of the essence.

There is no need for the students to haul their huge notebooks back and forth each week. Just have all the assignments they've completed in a folder. When they arrive, they (or my parent volunteer) will transfer the homework from their folder into a manilla file with the students name on it that is for that purpose. They'll then move to the other box and retrieve the assignments they turned in the previous week which will now have been graded and put those into their folder to take home. We spent almost half an hour going over this new procedure yesterday. They seem to understand but I know it may take another week to smooth the "bumps" out.

History:
--complete a narration for each section of Ch.14 using what you learned in class as well as from the SOTW
--complete mapwork pg. 56
--complete coloring page 57
--read ch. 15 in SOTW

Literature:
--answer review questions (my printer has now been repaired as of Tuesday night!)
--read through ch. 15 "St. Giles' Fair"
--continue working on memorizing Roger's thoughts on a road from last week. Way to go, Woods!
--One parent asked to get the vocab before the reading which makes sense. If you get it done by next week, great, but I don't require the vocab exercise for ch. 11-15 to be turned in until November 13th.

Grammar:
--review then administer the test for ch. 7
--complete ch. 8 from teaching text
--we learned about the possessive noun adjectives and classified sentences in class with this new skill
--study the vocab words from chapters 5 through 8 carefully for a quiz next class.

Science:
--read pgs. 61 to the very top of pg. 67
Two Alternatives to Choose from:
1. -produce narrations from the above reading and illustrate(one for the eight sea turtles and one for sea snakes)
-enter oviduct, ovovivipacous, antivenin, neurotoxin, hemotoxin in your science spiral
2. -instead of narrations, complete your lapbook on sea turtles. Remember to include mini-reports on the turtles; don't just glue the pictures in.
-re-read the section of the reading assignment about sea snakes (pgs 64 --top 67)
-enter the above vocab in science spiral

Reminder
Here is what your student should have in her folder to turn in next week:
--history narrations, mapwork, color page for ch 14 in SOTW
--literature review questions completed (optional vocab done for ch. 11-15. If you choose not to, it will be due the next week)
--grammar vocab for ch. 8 and any for ch. 7 that I haven't received yet
--either a lapbook or a narration on the assigned reading and I plan to check science spirals to be sure vocab is current.

Until next week,
Mary Ann

Assignments for October 30, 2007

Hello Families!

Can you believe we are a quarter of the way through our school year? We had a great day yesterday. I hope some of you received your "stained glass" art in a decent state. Ask your children why we produced these in conjunction with our literature work, Adam of the Road. Also we worked on a Venn diagram comparing the friendship between Adam and Perkin and the Biblical one between David and Jonathan. I think it was a great exercise and your kids jumped right in and amazed me as usual.

I enjoyed perusing the notebooks this week. I hope they all landed back in your possession in good order. My front room was overtaken by them this week! I put a note in the front of each one with my thoughts and what I hope is an encouragement to the students as we press on into the next quarter.

New Procedure: I would like to try a different approach with your child's work this quarter. My plan is to have two file boxes available in the hall when your children arrive at school. They will each have a file folder with your student's name. One will be to turn in the assignments completed during the previous week. The other will be to pick up the graded assignments that were turned in the week before. Make sense?

The two-fold reason for this change is I can keep abreast of the student's progress and come along side if I see anyone falling behind, etc. Also, my living room won't be overtaken by notebooks at the end of this next quarter!!!

In a normal week the assignments I would like to be turned into me will be: history narrations, mapwork, color pages, literature homework pages, science narrations, and grammar vocabulary work (definitions and sentences). I plan to check science spirals during class to see if vocabulary is being kept up to date there.

Big News: Next week, at 1:00, Ayla's mom, Mrs. McBreen will join our class for a workshop. She will be teaching us to make lapbooks. These are incredible tools for learning that children love. Ayla shared one of hers yesterday and every one was "hooked". We will be working on one about the sea turtles we are studying in science.
If possible, I would love to have you parents present to learn and help your students. Mrs. McBreen is bringing all the supplies we will need. I'm asking that each student contribute $2 or $3 dollars to offset her expenses. These are fun and appealing and the kids get excited about producing them and learning the subject area. Please try to join us next week at 1:00. (These may get to take the place of the "less exciting" science narrations and science spirals!)

Note: I tried to take up the homework from last week. We had a bit of chaos toward the end of the day as we tried to squeeze in a visit to the book fair. If I did not get your child's work from last week (Minstrel word search, grammar and vocab from ch. 6, and science narration on pgs. 47-53), have them turn it in next week with this weeks assignments which I'm finally getting to!!!

History:
--produce a narration of what you've learned in class and in reading ch. 13 in SOTW
--complete mapwork pg. 51
--complete color pages 53 & 54
--read ch. 14 in SOTW

Literature:
-- there are two vocabulary words per chapter that I want you to look up and define in the packet I sent home. Read through and familiarize yourself with all the words in the packet.
--begin memorizing Roger's thoughts about a road on pg. 53 2nd paragraph. The Classical model encourages memorization and recitation. Maybe I will have some volunteers to recite at the Medieval feast?!?
--read through chapter 10 Here, Nick!

Grammar
--review, then administer test for ch. 6
--complete ch 7 from teaching text
--have ch. 7's vocab done and ready to turn in next week
--we switched grammar time with history time and were a little fresher and alert. We discussed subject pronouns, understood subject pronouns, and possessive pronouns. Hope that it helps!

Science
--read pg. 55 through the top of pg. 61
--produce a narration (to be turned in) about what you learned in this reading assignment
--enter herps, ectothermic, oviparous, brumation, carapace, plastron in your science spirals

I truly love your children. Have a great week with them.

assignments for October 23, 2007

Hello Families!

This will be short and sweet--I have many notebooks to peruse and enjoy and grade.

We had a great day--many thanks to Noah's mom, Mrs. Dominique, for volunteering in our class and helping us. We had a mini-field trip to imagine Roger and Alice's life on the road and included snacks with foods similar to what was eaten by travelers in medieval Europe. This is also applicable to our new literature selection, Adam of the Road.

History:
--read chapter 13 in Story of the World

Literature:
--complete Ministrel in the Tower word search
--read through Ch. 6 "A Blush of Boys" in Adam of the Road

Grammar:
--Complete Ch. 6 from teaching text
--In class we made up a practice sentence and improved it (teaching script from teacher's manual pg. 104--top of pg. 106
--I attempted to introduce my students to the subject/verb agreement concept taught on pg. 99. We were tired and ready for lunch so I'm not sure how much sunk in but hopefully it will be a base you can build on in your teaching this week.
--be sure all vocabulary terms with definitions and sentences are complete through Ch. 6

Science:
--read pgs. 47--53
--produce narration of what you've learned about walruses and manatees. Illustrate.
--add to ocean box according to pg. 53
--re-read this chapter carefully in preparation for a quiz next week
--I would like to start having the children bring in their ocean boxes to share--perhaps one a week. If anyone would like to volunteer to be first and bring theirs in next week, e-mail me and let me know.

Medieval Feast:
This event is coming up in mid-November. The plan is for our children to dress in period costumes, so keep this in mind with all the costumes that are out now for Halloween. Also, I need a volunteer that can re-produce copies of a CD I have with the Latin pronunciations and songs that we will be learning. Anyone technically gifted that can help me out would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy learning with your children this week.

assignments for October 16, 2007

Hello Families,

We had a busy Tuesday. I learned, the children learned, we read a lot, we had our first Latin Time with Mrs. Esther's class, we got messy--a complete success!!! I have some good news and some good news. Because the older classes are having a special speaker next week, we have an extra week in History so that we can stay on track with them in Story of the World. Also, we are going to take this same week to not press on to the next chapter in Shurley English.

I have kept pushing us forward so that we can establish a rhythm with our English. However, because we have 32 weeks of school and there are only 26 chapters in Shurley, I can take these pauses every 6 weeks or so. We'll use these to let you parents "firm up" any "shakey" skills that have been covered thus far. Also, because life happens, you may need periodic weeks to just catch up.

Big Announcement: Next week I will collect everyone's notebook. I'll take these home and check them and issue a notebook grade. This, in conjunction with the grades I have from classroom work and class participation grades will comprise the grade I will issue on my students upcoming report cards.

So, take this "resting" week to polish up those notebooks. Everything should have and be in a divider in the notebook. All history maps, narrations, coloring pages, etc in the history section. All grammar exercises from Shurley in the english section. All the literature assignments (that I haven't been collecting) in the literature section. Etc... I'd like to see the science spirals as well to be sure we are keeping them up to date with the vocabulary each week.

A big thank you to Mrs. Bea (Emma's mom) and to all the volunteers that have helped me each week. It was an especially messy week and she made many trips up and down the stairs for us.

Here are this week's assignments:

History
--produce narration for Ch. 12
--complete mapwork page 45
--complete coloring page pg. 46
--for background (we won't be doing any exercises on it) your child might read Ch. 6 in Story of the World. It's one of the chapters we skipped but it has some great information for our present study of Islam.

Grammar
--review and catch up through chapter 5
--you might want to go ahead and administer that test sometime this week

Literature
--homework packet with pages 20,21,24,27, and 30. We'll tearfully say farewell to Roger and Alice next week. We've thoroughly enjoyed Minstrel in the Tower but look forward to our next selection Adam of the Road. I will hand these out next week (October 16) so if you have a copy and don't want to be charged for a new one from the school, bring it next week to show me.

Science
--read pg. 41 through the middle of pg. 47
--write a narration about what you learned about Pinnipeds
--enter pinnipeds, haul out, rookeries, weaned, eared seals in your science spirals
These narrations each week should be in your child's science section. They'll be part of my notebook check and grade as well.
Our science experiment yesterday was fun, messy, but not very scientific. There was no way I could pick just one or two students to participate for the whole class, so we all did it. Because of this, there was a certain amount of chaos and not the scientific control that a real experiment should have. You might want to try it again at home--if you dare! Just make sure the ice water doesn't get down into the glove--that was our biggest mistake.

Sweet parent/teachers, Don't let the looming report card/grades overwhelm you. (Honestly, I find myself a little nervous) We are in this together. Trinity and I are here to come along side you and encourage you as we strive to mold these "blessings" into Godly young men and women. You made the decision to use TCA to help you educate your children. Part of my function is to help you stay on track and somewhat hold you accountable. I'm here to help in any way I can. Call me this week or e-mail me if there is anything I have (missing maps, assignments, etc) or anything I can do.

Final assignment for the week: Ten extra (above the normal number for an average week) tight, sincere hugs! To be completed before coming to class on 10/16/07

Assignments for October 9, 2007

Dear Parents,

I enjoyed your children so much yesterday. Our class is settling into a rhythm that is familiar and comfortable. Instead of an art project to enrich our History studies, we learned about the life the children of Medieval Paris experienced. Then we went outside and acted it out! There was hopscotch at one end of our play area, marbles at another, an exciting game of hide-and-seek, and a chance to hurl insults and imaginary rotten fruit at those being punished in our pillory! That's right, everyone had a chance to be locked into a very make-shift pillory and experience the punishment dealt out to petty criminals.

We took a few minutes to act out some of the perils our Roger and Alice are experiencing in our literature time. That was fun and I'm in hopes of having some actual scripts we'll use next week. The children's improvisations were excellent, though.

I hope to see all my families at the Trinity picnic this weekend!

Assignments

History:
--produce narration for Ch. 11
--complete mapwork pg. 41
--complete color pages 42 & 43
--read ch. 12 in SOTW

Grammar:
--review ch. 4 and administer test
--complete ch. 5 from the teaching text (we love the jingles!!!)
--Activity/Assignment time at the bottom of pg. 83 was completed in class
--I introduced prepositions and prepositional phrases from pg. 84 & 85. I hope this lays a foundation for your teaching this week.

Science:
--read pgs. 27-39 and follow "Notebook Activity" suggestions on pg. 39 to produce a narration of what you've learned in the second half of Ch. 2
--enter krill, melon in your science spiral
--add to ocean box according to pg. 39

Literature:
--complete pages 16 and 18 that I handed out in class
--finish reading the book

assignments for October 2, 2007

Hello Families,

We had a great time in class on Tuesday. We got a peek at Kitty's new baby sister, and rejoiced that Jackson's family will be able to join his dad at their new home in Alabama. Selfishly, we are all sad that we won't have him learning along with us each Tuesday.

Ask your student what opulent means and why we discussed it in conjunction with the Byzantine Empire. Also, see if they can teach you the significance of the year 386. In the next few weeks I will ask for your student's notebook to be turned in to me. This will be for a notebook check that will be part of their grade. Start polishing them up in preparation for that. If you need any copies of mapwork or color sheets, let me know. There should be one for each chapter and narrations from the different sections in each chapter. Put all your grammar work in your grammar section, science in science section, etc.

Here are the assignments for next time:

History:
--produce narration sentences for Ch.4 in Story of the World
--complete map work student pg. 15
--complete color pg. 17 Hagia Sophia
(These pages were handed out on 9/11. Let me know if you need another one.)
--Read Ch. 5 in Story of the World with your family.

Grammar:
--review ch. 3 and administer test
--complete ch. 4 from the teaching text (Activity/Assignment at the bottom of pg. 55 was completed in class)
--don't forget to keep vocab section up to date. All lists through Ch. 4 should be in your notebook before coming to class on 10/2/07.

Literature:
--complete homework sheets on The Minstrel in the Tower (I may have sent home two copies of the same matching page. Sorry! Throw the one with poor copy quality away. The page about Eph 6:2 has a fuzzy line also. That line reads "was feverish and may have been imagining having a brother. Roger and") I hope you enjoy these thought-provoking pages with your child. We had a great time discussing the first of this book in class.
--read chapters 3 & 4

Science:
--read pgs. 19-27
--enter: baleen, fluke, blubber, whalers and viviparous in Science Spiral with a simple definition from the text
--use the questions on pgs. 21, 26, and 27 to produce a narration about what you've learned about whales so far in ch. 2
--Read chapter 3 and 4 in The Minstrel in the Tower

You have amazing children. I sincerely enjoy them each week--watching them interact, grow closer to each other, learn, help each other, etc. As the mom of a 20 and a 19 year old that are out of my home--listen to me! Relish these times with your little ones. Sit back, breathe deep, and enjoy them. God's true Word calls them gifts.

Contact me with any needs or concerns,

Mary Ann

Assignments for September 25, 2007

Hello Parents and Students,

We had a great day yesterday. Your students may not agree with me on that but it was good to bring some organization to our notebooks and assignments. The time spent on that precluded us from another big art project--and that's our favorite! Reassure your children that I'm working on "big" plans for next week and we will finish our Monk crosses as well.

I'm making these assignments assuming you all have received my long e-mail discussing how we were adjusting the pace of how the whole school is studying Story of the World. It also included some clarification on Shurley Grammar stating that the teaching text will be completed at home with parents. Our activities in class will be to enrich your at home studies. My grades for grammar will come exclusively from in-class work and specific homework assignments the students hand in to me.

If you haven't read that e-mail, please let me know and I will get a copy in your hands ASAP!

History Assignments for 9/25/07
--produce a narration for each of the sections in Chapter 3 of Story of the World. Most will have already completed this and even more, but this is how I want our assignment pattern to work. Students will write about what they learned in class. We are ahead of ourselves because of slowing down to keep on track with the older classes. Enjoy an easy week with your children and we will all be together throughout the school. This will also allow your whole family to read Story of the World together.

--complete Map of Saint Augustine's Route (Student Page 12) Again, they will probably already have done this.

--complete Medieval Manuscript page (student page 13)

--read Chapter 4 "The Byzantine Empire"

--illustrate your time line

--as we tried to organize and check our notebooks in class, I noticed one student had all of a chapter's narrations on one page. She had labeled the separate sections and it was clear and beautifully done. This may help all of us. I think I may have orginally asked for each section to be on a separate page but I see this is not necessary. Please have your student produce narrations according to their capabilities. A sentence or two for my second graders is plenty. My third graders can push themselves to produce up to 4 or 5 sentence

Literature Assignment for 9/25/07
--read the first two chapters of Minstrel in the Tower

Grammar Assignments for 9/25/07
--review ch.2 and administer test
--complete chapter 3 in Shurley Grammar from the teaching text
--study all vocabulary words through Chapter 3 List #2 that are in your Grammar section. We will take a quiz. We will be using memory games and fun competitions each week to be sure we are keeping up to speed with these words. A quiz will happen only occasionally.
--Tuesday I will be teaching on common or proper nouns and complete subjects and complete predicates.
--please put all activities in the grammar section of your notebooks.
--2nd grade students: please do not feel compelled to complete the writing activity at the end of ch. 3. This is a curriculum for 3rd graders and your students will be best served if they avoid frustrations that these higher level assignments may cause them. Let's just immerse them in the grammar and let them benefit from that.

Science Assignments for 9/25/07
--complete notebook activity at the end of Ch. 1
--begin ocean box

9/11 assignments--(due 9/18/07)

Grammar Homework
(TB means Teacher's Book and SB means student's Book)

--do Activity/Assignment Time on pg. 12 of TB
--everyday review and practice all jingles through #6
--vocab Ch.2, list 1 pg. 8 in SB (word, definition, sentence)
--do Activity/Assignment Time on pg. 16-17 of TB
--vocab Ch.2, list 2 pg. 8 in SB (word, definition, sentence)
--do Activity /Assignment Time on pg. 21 of TB
--personal journal entry (be sure to date it!)
--do "Sentences to Label--Homework" page
--do Practice 1& 2 on pg. 61 for Ch.2 in SB
--do Activity/Assignment Time on pg. 26 of TB
--do Activity/Assignment Time on pg. 29 of TB
--study vocab words
--SMILE!

History Homework


--Re-read and review Ch. 3 of Story of the World
--produce a dictation page and an illustration for each of the 3 sections
(2-5 sentences)
--Read and discuss Ch. 4 with your family
--produce a dictation page and an illustration for each of the sections
--do map work pg. 15
1. Color the territory Justinian inherited when he became Emperor of Byzantine on the map on the other page (this is the dotted area).
2. Locate the beautiful Constantinople on the map. Color the star your favorite color.
3. Use blue for the water and river outlines.
--do coloring page (student Page 17)

Science Homework

1. read and discuss pgs. 6-12 in text
2. enter each bold-faced word in your Science spiral with a short definition
3. answer questions on the top of pgs. 8,10, & 12 of your science textbook completely and in your own words. Do this on loose leaf paper.
4. research and explain in your own words what instinct and endangered species mean. Again, do this on loose leaf paper.
5. study terms in science notebook