It can't be March already!!! The older I get, the faster the time slips by. Please, please, please enjoy your children. Thank God for the privilege of educating your children yourselves.
Wow, where did all that come from? We had a great day. Loaded with learning. We switched up the order of our subjects--putting Grammar early and History later. There's no getting around it, whatever comes after lunch gets sluggish attention.
Ms. Catherine Webb was our volunteer, even though she has no one in my class. What a trooper! Many thanks.
Here are the assignments for next time:
Science:
--finish lapbook on Mollusks OR
--read pgs. 149--156 and produce a thorough narration
--turn in science spirals for a check
Grammar:
--continue reviewing and practicing skills presented in ch. 15 & 16
--Grammar homework sheet
History:
--produce narration on ch. 31 (use info we learned in class, too)
--map work
--color page
--do unscramble the Explorers page
--read ch. 33 in SOTW NOTE: we're skipping a chapter
LITERATURE:
--Oops! We spent alot of time on the explorers and even played Jeopardy with the information we learned. However, we squeezed out Literature and didn't get to say good-bye to our friend, Robin. Do this for me: scan the two chapters assigned below and be ready to illustrate an important event that happened in your two chapters. We'll do this first thing next week and put it together into our own book. (Don't do it at home because I might buy special paper) We'll share our book with Mrs. Esther's class.
Ayla--Listen, One and All and The Stranger on the Bridge
Emma--Allan-a-Dale and The Sad Knight
Emily--The Abbot Gets His Gold and Little John Gets His Dinner
Libby--A Debt Repaid and Robin's Dream
Woods--The Friar of Fountaindale and A May Procession
Whitney--Robin, The Summer King and The Outlaws Retreat
Kitty--Duel in the Forest and Enter Guy of Gisbourne
Ona--The Monk's Revenge and A Golden Arrow
Luke--Sir Richard Must Die! and A King Disguised
Noah--Robin Alone and Robin Betrayed
--read through page 25 in The Door in the Wall.
BIBLE:
--read chapter 87 The Soldier-King, Jehu
--pray and think about your own "So what?" to share with the class
Have a great week!
love,
Mrs. Tkach
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
assignments for February 26, 2008
Hello Families,
I think we had a great day of learning yesterday! Your kids may not agree with me, but it just seemed very productive. They were engaged in the activities we did--I'm proud of them! The only "cloud" hovering over the day was the absence of Luke. He was ill and we missed him.
After Bible and Latin (encourage your student to use Latin color words around your home), we have a "catch-up or misc" period. Great resources sometimes come to me after we've finished a topic. Instead of dismissing them, I'm going to use this time segment to go back and refresh our memory and use the resource. Yesterday we viewed a great animated, 30-minute DVD about Joan of Arc. Mrs. Jennifer also read a book about St. Valentine to us. (She and baby Hayden were a great help to us!)
We discussed Spain and Portugal and went in depth about Prince Henry, reading an excellent book on his life. We did a map-making activity that hopefully arrived home. These can go into their notebooks.
I moved Literature time to the morning because we'd been neglecting it a bit. We divided into four groups and studied different aspects of our passage for this week than met and reported to the whole group. They really seemed to enjoy this group work. I think it will prepare them well for next year because I know the upper grades do alot of group work.
After lunch we hit grammar HARD. I almost had to send Mrs. Jennifer for a Starbucks run because that is our drowsiest time. However, I kept hammering them. We really worked on telling if a sentence is a simple vs. a compound. Then we worked on compound subjects and compound verbs within a simple sentence. I went ahead and introduced linking verbs, predicate nouns, and predicate adjectives. They were "glassy-eyed" by this point but hopefully some of the lesson got through. We may camp on this for two weeks.
Science entailed a few of the students presenting lap books and narrations that were all excellent!
IMPORTANT NOTES AND REMINDERS:
--Our next literature selection is The Door in the Wall ISBN# 978-0-440-40283-1. If you have a copy, bring it next week to show me. I will hand a new one to any that need a copy.
--The books I'm reading in class to your students can count on the reading list for Medieval Times
Here's a list that we've read since the program started:
Joan of Arc Tom Thumb
Toad and Diamonds Prince Henry
St. Valentine
Assignments:
History
--narration on ch. 28
--mapwork
--color page (astrolabe)
--two Joan of Arc pages
--Optional Enrichment Activities: 1. make an astrolabe
2. color and make paper dolls of Isabella and Ferdinand
--read ch. 31 in SOTW (NOTE: we're skipping a couple of chapters)
Literature
--definitions and questions
--read the rest of the Robin Hood book
Grammar
--review ch. 15 and administer test
--complete ch. 16 from text
--complete ch. 16 vocab definitions and sentences to turn in
--Yeah! (I love similes and metaphors!)
Science
--Option 1: read pages 141--148 and produce a thorough narration due next week (a narration on the last half of the chapter will be due the following week)
--Option 2: read the whole chapter and produce a lapbook due in 2 weeks over the whole chapter
--With either option: enter the following terms in your science spiral: mantle, incurrent siphon, excurrent siphon, byssal thread, spat, radula
--Has anyone kept up with their ocean box? Let me know.
Enjoy your week!
love,
Mrs. Tkach
I think we had a great day of learning yesterday! Your kids may not agree with me, but it just seemed very productive. They were engaged in the activities we did--I'm proud of them! The only "cloud" hovering over the day was the absence of Luke. He was ill and we missed him.
After Bible and Latin (encourage your student to use Latin color words around your home), we have a "catch-up or misc" period. Great resources sometimes come to me after we've finished a topic. Instead of dismissing them, I'm going to use this time segment to go back and refresh our memory and use the resource. Yesterday we viewed a great animated, 30-minute DVD about Joan of Arc. Mrs. Jennifer also read a book about St. Valentine to us. (She and baby Hayden were a great help to us!)
We discussed Spain and Portugal and went in depth about Prince Henry, reading an excellent book on his life. We did a map-making activity that hopefully arrived home. These can go into their notebooks.
I moved Literature time to the morning because we'd been neglecting it a bit. We divided into four groups and studied different aspects of our passage for this week than met and reported to the whole group. They really seemed to enjoy this group work. I think it will prepare them well for next year because I know the upper grades do alot of group work.
After lunch we hit grammar HARD. I almost had to send Mrs. Jennifer for a Starbucks run because that is our drowsiest time. However, I kept hammering them. We really worked on telling if a sentence is a simple vs. a compound. Then we worked on compound subjects and compound verbs within a simple sentence. I went ahead and introduced linking verbs, predicate nouns, and predicate adjectives. They were "glassy-eyed" by this point but hopefully some of the lesson got through. We may camp on this for two weeks.
Science entailed a few of the students presenting lap books and narrations that were all excellent!
IMPORTANT NOTES AND REMINDERS:
--Our next literature selection is The Door in the Wall ISBN# 978-0-440-40283-1. If you have a copy, bring it next week to show me. I will hand a new one to any that need a copy.
--The books I'm reading in class to your students can count on the reading list for Medieval Times
Here's a list that we've read since the program started:
Joan of Arc Tom Thumb
Toad and Diamonds Prince Henry
St. Valentine
Assignments:
History
--narration on ch. 28
--mapwork
--color page (astrolabe)
--two Joan of Arc pages
--Optional Enrichment Activities: 1. make an astrolabe
2. color and make paper dolls of Isabella and Ferdinand
--read ch. 31 in SOTW (NOTE: we're skipping a couple of chapters)
Literature
--definitions and questions
--read the rest of the Robin Hood book
Grammar
--review ch. 15 and administer test
--complete ch. 16 from text
--complete ch. 16 vocab definitions and sentences to turn in
--Yeah! (I love similes and metaphors!)
Science
--Option 1: read pages 141--148 and produce a thorough narration due next week (a narration on the last half of the chapter will be due the following week)
--Option 2: read the whole chapter and produce a lapbook due in 2 weeks over the whole chapter
--With either option: enter the following terms in your science spiral: mantle, incurrent siphon, excurrent siphon, byssal thread, spat, radula
--Has anyone kept up with their ocean box? Let me know.
Enjoy your week!
love,
Mrs. Tkach
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
assignments for 2/19/08
Hello!
We had a great day yesterday. We were all excited about Valentine's Day and our party but we managed to learn some new things anyway. Much thanks to all who contributed goodies. Michele (Luke's mom) was invaluable in making the day and the party a great success.
After discussing Elijah's rise in the fiery chariot in Bible and our final week with the colors in Latin, we discussed the kingly lines in England. We finally had to diagram the Wars of the Roses to keep track of how the throne passed between the two houses (York and Lancaster). I hope these arrived safely home. I told the students if they did a neat job the diagram could take the place of a narration on the section from SOTW on the Wars of the Roses. They all did a great job. See if they can tell you about the diagram.
We did some reviewing in grammar and spent time classifying sentences. All my students seemed right on target even with the break we took from grammar last week. We discussed contractions and went over the reference section from their books that list many of the contractions.
After lunch, we had a brief science lesson in which we discussed symbiosis and how great our God is that he builds this instinct into his creatures. They all had great animal and pet stories to share with the class.
We followed science with a discussion of our literature selection. I spent time with them, again, discussing similes and metaphors. This is above their grade level, but I just want them to take note of their existence and how they enhance literature. Perhaps ya'll can look for them as you read.
Finally it was "Party Time"!!! We decorated large envelopes to collect our valentines. We also decorated several valentines each that Mrs Michele Owens was going to deliver to Bayview Nursing Home for us. I did not have much time to elaborate on why we did this. Perhaps you can spend time with your child this week explaining why God would be pleased with this activity. I'll talk about it a little next week as well. I did hear Mrs. Michele asking the students to pray for the residents that would be receiving these Valentines.
We prayed as a class for Emma's mom, Mrs. Bee. She was involved in a serious car accident Monday evening. She will be okay but is banged up pretty bad. We each signed a card for her.
HISTORY:
--put "zig-zag" diagram in your big binder
--produce a narration on "The Princes in the Tower" section of ch. 27 in SOTW
--color page
--map
--read ch. 28 in SOTW
--play the Princes in the Tower game with a family member (Can the guards ever win?)
LITERATURE:
--questions and definitions
--read through pg. 118
GRAMMAR:
--review ch. 14 and administer test
--complete ch. 15 from text
--complete ch. 15 vocab definitions and sentences
--EXTRA CREDIT: create an original limerick (see pg. 270 in teaching text)
SCIENCE:
--read from the bottom of pg. 131 through 138
--produce a narration on this section of the chapter
I love you guys. Have a great week with your children.
Mrs. Tkach
We had a great day yesterday. We were all excited about Valentine's Day and our party but we managed to learn some new things anyway. Much thanks to all who contributed goodies. Michele (Luke's mom) was invaluable in making the day and the party a great success.
After discussing Elijah's rise in the fiery chariot in Bible and our final week with the colors in Latin, we discussed the kingly lines in England. We finally had to diagram the Wars of the Roses to keep track of how the throne passed between the two houses (York and Lancaster). I hope these arrived safely home. I told the students if they did a neat job the diagram could take the place of a narration on the section from SOTW on the Wars of the Roses. They all did a great job. See if they can tell you about the diagram.
We did some reviewing in grammar and spent time classifying sentences. All my students seemed right on target even with the break we took from grammar last week. We discussed contractions and went over the reference section from their books that list many of the contractions.
After lunch, we had a brief science lesson in which we discussed symbiosis and how great our God is that he builds this instinct into his creatures. They all had great animal and pet stories to share with the class.
We followed science with a discussion of our literature selection. I spent time with them, again, discussing similes and metaphors. This is above their grade level, but I just want them to take note of their existence and how they enhance literature. Perhaps ya'll can look for them as you read.
Finally it was "Party Time"!!! We decorated large envelopes to collect our valentines. We also decorated several valentines each that Mrs Michele Owens was going to deliver to Bayview Nursing Home for us. I did not have much time to elaborate on why we did this. Perhaps you can spend time with your child this week explaining why God would be pleased with this activity. I'll talk about it a little next week as well. I did hear Mrs. Michele asking the students to pray for the residents that would be receiving these Valentines.
We prayed as a class for Emma's mom, Mrs. Bee. She was involved in a serious car accident Monday evening. She will be okay but is banged up pretty bad. We each signed a card for her.
HISTORY:
--put "zig-zag" diagram in your big binder
--produce a narration on "The Princes in the Tower" section of ch. 27 in SOTW
--color page
--map
--read ch. 28 in SOTW
--play the Princes in the Tower game with a family member (Can the guards ever win?)
LITERATURE:
--questions and definitions
--read through pg. 118
GRAMMAR:
--review ch. 14 and administer test
--complete ch. 15 from text
--complete ch. 15 vocab definitions and sentences
--EXTRA CREDIT: create an original limerick (see pg. 270 in teaching text)
SCIENCE:
--read from the bottom of pg. 131 through 138
--produce a narration on this section of the chapter
I love you guys. Have a great week with your children.
Mrs. Tkach
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Valentine Party!!!
Hi Families!!!
Here is the "scoop" on our party on Tuesday. We will have the party from 1:30 until 2:30. Please have your child bring in already prepared Valentines for their classmates. We will decorate "receptacles" for them and then disburse them. Also, we will make Valentines for residents at Bayview Nursing Home here in Beaufort. Either myself or MicheleOwens will deliver these. We'll eat treats and play games we've enjoyed in our studies recently.
I'll provide the supplies (actually Trinity will) for making the Valentines and the receptacles.
How about the students provide the treats per this assignment list. If anything doesn't work for you, let me know.
Luke: paper goods
Ona: Valentine Cookies
Emma: Valentine Cupcakes
Whitney
and Libby: Fruit Tray
Kitty: Vegetable Tray
Noah: Juice boxes
Emily: Valentine Candy
Ayla: Water bottles
If anyone else wants to pick up a pkg of candy, great. Did I forget something? Let me hear...
love,mrs. Tkach
Here is the "scoop" on our party on Tuesday. We will have the party from 1:30 until 2:30. Please have your child bring in already prepared Valentines for their classmates. We will decorate "receptacles" for them and then disburse them. Also, we will make Valentines for residents at Bayview Nursing Home here in Beaufort. Either myself or MicheleOwens will deliver these. We'll eat treats and play games we've enjoyed in our studies recently.
I'll provide the supplies (actually Trinity will) for making the Valentines and the receptacles.
How about the students provide the treats per this assignment list. If anything doesn't work for you, let me know.
Luke: paper goods
Ona: Valentine Cookies
Emma: Valentine Cupcakes
Whitney
and Libby: Fruit Tray
Kitty: Vegetable Tray
Noah: Juice boxes
Emily: Valentine Candy
Ayla: Water bottles
If anyone else wants to pick up a pkg of candy, great. Did I forget something? Let me hear...
love,mrs. Tkach
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
assignments for February 12, 2008
Hello Families,
Thank you all so much for praying for my daughter. God is awesome and we've had happier days this week.
I enjoyed Tuesday with my students--it was VERY laid back. We read alot. I have a list of literature selections that accompanies each chapter in SOTW to enrich and expand on the information given in the chapter. I was able to share more than the usual number of selections with your children. I bragged on my class to my friend, Mrs. Fowler. I think we could have "snuggled up" and read all day. Children that enjoy books are the cream of the crop. In my days in public school, it was a stretch to get just a few minutes of everyone's attention and we'd have to "bounce" to a new activity.
A related thought: We played some great educational games supplied by Ayla. I noticed some struggles with this activity. I speculate that Americans are losing the art of old-fashioned game-playing. Entering a game, each participant must accept the knowledge that someone will win and some will lose and that one losing could be ME! So many life lessons to learn sitting at a board game. I must "wait" for my turn. I must exhibit "give and take" or selflessness if someone else wants to be the red pawn and I wanted it. I must win graciously and considerately and lose in the same manner. Forgive me for this rabbit trail, but I did notice some struggling and I've just about given up on my own family as hopeless in this area. Maybe a positive exercise would be to dust off a board game (that has all the pieces!) and start at "square one" with the common curtesies of playing a game. I think there would be an abundance of "life lessons" to be taught!
We watched a film called "The Red Balloon" while we colored in our Medieval coloring books. The film shows a small boy's day with his red balloon on the streets of Paris. It has no dialogue but your children were quite interested in the story. It was suggested by SOTW author, Susan Bauer.
We conducted an interesting experiment about electricity. Ask your child about it and be sure the science speculation sheet gets into the science section of their notebook.
Mrs. Dominique was my "right arm" and a huge asset with French pronunciations.
I included a latin homework sheet for your student to do just for fun.
We will have a Valentine party at the end of the day next week. Check the blog for an update with details. Michele Owens (Luke's mom) is helping co-ordinate and plan it.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Science
-- pg 126 through mid 131
--produce a narration on what you learned
--enter symbiosis in science spiral
Grammar
--no homework
History
--produce a narration on ch.26 in SOTW
--map work
--color page
--read ch. 27 (I assume everyone comes to class having the assigned chapter read. I usually don't go over it, I spend class time enriching it. If they haven't read then they are lost.)
Literature
--questions and definitions
--read through pg. 81 in Robin Hood
See you all on Tuesday!
Mrs. Tkach
Thank you all so much for praying for my daughter. God is awesome and we've had happier days this week.
I enjoyed Tuesday with my students--it was VERY laid back. We read alot. I have a list of literature selections that accompanies each chapter in SOTW to enrich and expand on the information given in the chapter. I was able to share more than the usual number of selections with your children. I bragged on my class to my friend, Mrs. Fowler. I think we could have "snuggled up" and read all day. Children that enjoy books are the cream of the crop. In my days in public school, it was a stretch to get just a few minutes of everyone's attention and we'd have to "bounce" to a new activity.
A related thought: We played some great educational games supplied by Ayla. I noticed some struggles with this activity. I speculate that Americans are losing the art of old-fashioned game-playing. Entering a game, each participant must accept the knowledge that someone will win and some will lose and that one losing could be ME! So many life lessons to learn sitting at a board game. I must "wait" for my turn. I must exhibit "give and take" or selflessness if someone else wants to be the red pawn and I wanted it. I must win graciously and considerately and lose in the same manner. Forgive me for this rabbit trail, but I did notice some struggling and I've just about given up on my own family as hopeless in this area. Maybe a positive exercise would be to dust off a board game (that has all the pieces!) and start at "square one" with the common curtesies of playing a game. I think there would be an abundance of "life lessons" to be taught!
We watched a film called "The Red Balloon" while we colored in our Medieval coloring books. The film shows a small boy's day with his red balloon on the streets of Paris. It has no dialogue but your children were quite interested in the story. It was suggested by SOTW author, Susan Bauer.
We conducted an interesting experiment about electricity. Ask your child about it and be sure the science speculation sheet gets into the science section of their notebook.
Mrs. Dominique was my "right arm" and a huge asset with French pronunciations.
I included a latin homework sheet for your student to do just for fun.
We will have a Valentine party at the end of the day next week. Check the blog for an update with details. Michele Owens (Luke's mom) is helping co-ordinate and plan it.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Science
-- pg 126 through mid 131
--produce a narration on what you learned
--enter symbiosis in science spiral
Grammar
--no homework
History
--produce a narration on ch.26 in SOTW
--map work
--color page
--read ch. 27 (I assume everyone comes to class having the assigned chapter read. I usually don't go over it, I spend class time enriching it. If they haven't read then they are lost.)
Literature
--questions and definitions
--read through pg. 81 in Robin Hood
See you all on Tuesday!
Mrs. Tkach
Sunday, February 3, 2008
thoughts on last week
Hello to all,
I was blown away by the science reports and lapbooks. You all out did yourselves. I plan to share these with older classes before returning them.
Many thanks to Michelle Owens and Mrs. Dominique for their help in class the last two weeks. You guys are great.
We had a thorough discussion of the plague. I hope your student has taught you some new things this week.
I've had a distressing incident take place this week that concerns my daughter Arianna. It has been of a nature that has required much of my time and energy. I do believe that I will be in class Tuesday, at this point. However, it may be a day of alot of reading, illustrating and game playing (appropriate period games or educational games, of course) It would mean a great deal to me if you would pray for Arianna. Ask God to heal her heart and increase her faith in Him. Thank you.
I look forward to my student's sunny smiles on Tuesday!
love,
Mrs. Tkach
I was blown away by the science reports and lapbooks. You all out did yourselves. I plan to share these with older classes before returning them.
Many thanks to Michelle Owens and Mrs. Dominique for their help in class the last two weeks. You guys are great.
We had a thorough discussion of the plague. I hope your student has taught you some new things this week.
I've had a distressing incident take place this week that concerns my daughter Arianna. It has been of a nature that has required much of my time and energy. I do believe that I will be in class Tuesday, at this point. However, it may be a day of alot of reading, illustrating and game playing (appropriate period games or educational games, of course) It would mean a great deal to me if you would pray for Arianna. Ask God to heal her heart and increase her faith in Him. Thank you.
I look forward to my student's sunny smiles on Tuesday!
love,
Mrs. Tkach
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