1st Semester Week 4

Week 4 is complete! Three things for you:

1. WE WILL MISS YOU, EMMA! HAVE AN AWESOME TRIP!

2. Check the 'quizlet' label on the right! I will be updating the links on a regular basis, and you should take advantage of the great resources and help available to you!

3. Be diligent and consistent with your work (REMEMBER THE ANT!):

- Do math every day.

- Copy maps and drill geography locations and terms every day. We'll be doing a blank paper assessment of the USA next week.

- Do your latin every day (limit to an hour a day). We are getting into 3rd Declension Nouns now. 3rd declension is very fun and uniquely challenging, and now is not the time to slack in your latin studies (although honestly, when IS a good time to slack? 😋).

- Research an interesting invertebrate. Ideally, you will use at least 2 sources and write at least 1 paragraph. Practice your presentation. Draw a picture! (p.s. I LOVE your presentations!)

- Make an ANI chart for Carry On, Mr. Bowtich, and do the worksheet for Essay Two Arrangement, working through the 5 common topics.

- Read It Couldn't Just Happen, chapter 4 and highlight blues and pinks. Drill those catechism questions so that we can play a fun game next week!

-Read your bible. Look around at the beautiful fall colors beginning to appear. Marvel at God's handiwork. Thank Him for your brain, for the ability to learn new things, for your family.

1st Semester Week 3

Week 3 is in the books. First week in our awesome classroom! Many of us were tired and/or not on our 'A' game, but I'd say we managed to have a pretty successful day! Highlights for me were the Cartography blank paper assessments of Canada (wow!), and the presentation of research papers. Keep up the good work this week, everyone! I'll be contacting parents about a Latin study day, so stay tuned!

Helpful Links (weeks 1-6)

Here you will find many helpful links...lots of quizlet lists, but lots of non quizlet stuff, too. I will update these throughout the year, so check back from time to time. Enjoy!

Remember ladies and gents, you can always search quizlet for yourselves (i.e. 'challenge A geography terms', 'challenge A catechism', etc.). These are only a tiny sample of what's available.

Cartography:

Overview:
Modern Day Cartography (This is a cool video showing modern day globe makers, and reinforcing the benefits of map copying!)
Geography Quizes! (This is actually not quizlet, but a very helpful geography site!)
Nations of the World! By Animaniacs

Canada: 
Canada
Catchy Canada Tune!
Life in Iqaluit Nunavut
Catchy Canada Song

Canada & USA: Canada/USA Border
USA:
Tour the U.S.
States and Capitals - cheesy song

Central and South America:
Backpacking South America
Central America Mnemonics!

Latin, Geo, LTW on Quizlet

Geography Terms, 1st Semester:
Geography Terms

Rhetoric:

Catechism!

Latin:

Awesome Collection of Latin Tutorials

Latin Pronunciation 
Challenge A Latin on Quizlet (one of many options if you search for 'Challenge A Latin' or 'Henle Latin lesson one', etc.)
Another Challenge A Latin Vocab on Quizlet
Latin, Geo, LTW on Quizlet

3rd Declension Flow Chart
Helpful 3rd Declension Explanation!

Overall Quizlet User to check out (they've uploaded flashcards for many different subjects):
Lots of Quizlet Choices

Research

Mud Fish!

Rhetoric - Week 2

We had a nice discussion about chapter 1, and then made bookmarks that go through the highlighting process. The students agreed that next week they will work to highlight blues and pinks (although those who so desire should tackle as many highlighting colors as they want).

The guide refers to the It Couldn't Just Happen study guide - this is printed in the back of the the Ch A guide and can be used in addition to - or in lieu of - highlighting. It's up to you! Both are helpful ways to summarize important information from the book and both with help prepare students to discuss the chapter in class.

Read/highlight chapter 2 for next week. Rubber bands for each Just 4 Fun completed. 

Drill those catechism questions! Ch A Catechism

Here is the video I showed at the end of class yesterday. Stars and Whales

Highlighting bookmark: Bookmark

Grammar - Week 2

Most of the students are beginning to grasp Latin, but all agree that the sheer amount of exercises is a source of overwhelm. This year's main focus should be: memorizing vocabulary and declensions.

Encouragement: Latin should be limited to 1 hour per day! You need to divide your latin time wisely. Experiment with different schedules. 20/20/20: 20 minutes drilling vocabulary, 20 minutes grammar/reading/copying rules, 20 minutes exercises. Move to the next exercise on the next day (even if previous day's exercise is not complete!). Try doing just evens or odds. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish if you just work hard at this subject an hour a day (and stop when you've reached an hour!).

Challenge: While tailoring is encouraged, don't sell yourself short. If you have the time and are capable, do as many exercises as you can! The exercises are so plentiful because working them will really solidify your latin knowledge.

Assignment: Look to your Guide (Week 3) to see what you need to have completed for next week!

Research - Week 2

First week of presentations were awesome!

Remember that the goals for this strand are research and presentation. Have fun researching your topic of interest, taking notes, and outlining your discoveries. Mom decides how long the paper will be and if a drawing is required. The goal is at least one paragraph, but the teacher is the boss!

The presentation can be read from the paper, presented from an outline (Ethan modeled this yesterday), or even memorized! Showing a simple sketch or some other art medium would be fun.

Each student will assess themselves each week after they present. What was one thing they did well? What is one thing they can improve on for next time? I will also assess them, as will their classmates on occasion.

This week's recommended research topic: ROCKS

Here are a couple of Francis Chan videos that I showed the kids, tying together the astronomy research theme with the It Couldn't Just Happen universe discussion.

Crazy Big God 1

Crazy Big God 2

Debate - Week 2

I am pretty impressed with this process after just one week of map copying. Each student whipped out a decent version of Canada within about 10 minutes, all while chatting about provinces/territories that they'd only first heard of a week ago.

This will be another week of copying Canada/Greenland, adding in the list of features found in the back of your Challenge A guide in the Debate section. Thankfully there are only a handful of rivers (those are difficult little lines to remember).

Next week the students will get a blank paper and will be drawing Canada from memory.

Remember:

Do your best. Copy maps every day. Enjoy the process :).

Don't forget your geography dictionary. See your guide for the terms to add this week.  Geography Terms (1st 6 weeks)

Drill those locations! Canada Geography

Exposition/Composition - Week 2

The kids thought this week's ANI to Outline process was hilarious. And indeed, the outline is ridiculously simple, boring, and seemingly redundant, but in this LTW program it is FOUNDATIONAL. This is a new process for me as well!

So this week's assignment should take hardly any time at all. Follow the process for Arrangement in Essay One. Remember, you do not need to write in your student notebook! You can/should follow all the steps on a blank sheet of paper. Bring your outline to class.

Remember to pace your reading of our next book, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch! 

Don't forget about those free LTW videos! If you haven't already, watch the first 4 to get caught up to where we are.

Week Two!

I enjoyed class from beginning to end. We appreciate the Grays allowing us to use their home these first two weeks! And let's be honest - the kittens will probably be one of the major highlights of the kids' entire school year.

Some overall takeaways:

1. Reward System I instituted a very complicated reward system. I will give rubber bands to kids who stretch themselves in any number of areas, announce when I've decided to give one and why, and then drop it in a cup. Once said cup is full, the class will be getting some kind of Challenge A 'Happy Hour' treat (sonic slushes or milkshakes, etc.). The kids wanted me to share this with you so you can note when they have stretched themselves during the week. I agreed to give rubber bands if a mom acknowledges a notable stretching moment!


2. Scheduling and Expectations. You should expect these first few weeks to be an adjustment, especially in the area of how to schedule all of this work and still give your student a balanced home life!

This week would be a great time to reread the "How" section in the guide, specifically the AT HOME & Tailoring sections on the pages listed below. Here are some notes in italics under each strand.

Logic/Math pp 112-113 (AT HOME & Tailoring)
Set up a time to check/grade your student's work asap, directly after finishing the work is preferable. If your student spends the entire week incorrectly practicing a concept, not only is it demotivating, but it also makes more work for both of you once corrections are done & checked again. REMIND your student to SHOW all of their work.

Grammar/Latin pp 118-120 (AT HOME & Tailoring)
DO NOT feel you must do every problem in every exercise! Decide how much time you will spend on each exercise, then stop & move on. DO plan to spend time drilling vocab & declension endings also. IF you have a Latin w Andy subscription, DO watch all of the videos even if you are not doing that exercise. DO practice w Andy before attempting your Henle exercise. In my opinion, it would be better for your student to do less problems in the exercise if you run out of time because of watching the videos. If you use Latin w/ Andy, read the Henle lesson and when you come to an exercise, watch & work the Latin w Andy video, then work some of the Henle exercise, or discuss it and do it orally. 

Research/Science pp 124-125 (AT HOME & Tailoring)
Research is the focus. The result is a presentation. Spend time researching your topic, even beyond your topic. YOU, the teacher should decide how many paragraphs you expect for the final product. 1 paragraph is the goal, but feel free to add on. Also, I included an IEW Unit 6 checklist in your teacher folder if you want to use it to assign or remind your student to include stylistic techniques from IEW, or if you want a way to grade the work.

The presentation can be read by the student, presented from an outline, or even memorized. They may have 1 simple sketch to show, a poster to present, or even a diorama. Let your student get immersed in research. In class assessment will also happen every week.

Feel free to be a part of your student's process. Answer their should question. Ask Dad, bro, sis, gma too.

Rhetoric p 158 (AT HOME & Tailoring)
1 chapter & 3 catechisms a week should take almost no time at all. As a teacher, you'll need to decide if your student will complete the study guide for each chapter (guide pp 165-166 - make copies or use as a guide), use the highlighting system, or both. The chapter work will take about 1 hour per week. Practice the catechisms EVERY DAY - about 10 minutes.

Exposition/Composition pp 170-171 (AT HOME & Tailoring)
This is a 3 week cycle. Invention (ANI) Arrangement (Outline) Elocution (Write persuasive paper with style) Teachers, READ the lessons & WATCH the LTW videos. 

Debate/Geo pp 182-183 (AT HOME & Tailoring)
Students will need their lists in class each week. pp 188-201 (or at least the current continent) Draw, draw, draw every day! They proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can do this! DRAW, read about, label, define geo terms, & DRILL.

The BRAIN Do schedule a "BRAIN Break" with your student every week. Use their In-Class BRAIN to spark some conversation. Have FUN w it. Do not "judge" it. The quantity & quality of note-taking is very different from student to student. They are practicing, thinking, and learning to focus. Ask them what they did well that week (glow), and what they can work on for next week (grow). Ask them what is something that would stretch them, and set a goal.

3. Next Week Info. Next week will be our first time meeting in our official church building. I would love to start right at 9 (or even a smidge before), so if you could arrive/drop your child off with time to get settled and find their way that would be wonderful. I will plan to be there no later than 8:30. I'm told our room has ping pong and foosball tables, so arriving early with time to play wouldn't be a bad idea! I haven't personally seen our space, so I'm looking forward to checking it out on Monday.

Immanuel Bible Church
2000 W North St
Bellingham, WA 98225

Remember to click 'Week 2' label for a run down of each strand!

Debate - Week 1

Great job copying those maps today! Remember, strive for an hour a day working on this strand! You will be amazed at what can be accomplished. Get cozy with your guide - it will tell you what you need to do. But these first few weeks I'll write the general expectations here as well with some explanations! I am getting these assignments from week 2 in your challenge guides, because these are the tasks that should be completed this week to be ready for our community day on week 2.

- Draw and label the provinces, territories, and capitals of Canada from the Cartography book. Remember to look for significant shapes and reference points to guide your copying. You will find a list of the locations covered each week in the back of your guide starting on page 187. Don't get bogged down trying to be perfect - do your best and then cop another map tomorrow!

- Memorize the provinces, territories, and capitals of Canada. Yes, that is right. Not only do you draw them, but you will work on memorizing them! This is the grammar you will be memorizing for this strand. How to memorize, you ask? Some ideas:

• Flashcards
• Quizlet.com (set up an account and search 'challenge a geography', and presto, options like this come up: Challenge A Geography - Canada)
• Chant aloud for all to hear (or maybe in the yard if you are bugging your family)

- Read about Canada and Greenland in your Cartography book. This is easy and interesting and fun.

- Define the terms listed in your guide (archipelago, arm, etc.). You will need to set up a geography dictionary OR flashcards for this assignment. It's easy so don't stress! Geography dictionary is a basic spiral notebook with A, B, C written every 5-6 pages, with terms added as we go. Get fancy and add some sticky tabs! Working with one term at a time, look the word up in the dictionary (the back of your guide also has a glossary of terms in the debate section) and write the definition in your book or on your notecard, making sure to include a couple of examples of the term (i.e. when defining 'bay', write the definition and then a couple real deal examples like 'Baffin Bay', 'Hudson Bay').

- Important: Bring your best map to class on week 2 to show to us!

Look to the guide for a full run down on what will be due for class on Week 2!

Grammar (Latin) - Week 1

We spent a lot of time on latin today, and I'd say we had fun doing it. Looking in your guide under week 2, you'll find what you need to do before our next meeting. The trick here is to figure out how to break down your latin work for each day. The Latin Workspace A is awonderful tool because it has the daily work broken down for you. Make sure to drill, drill, drill all the vocabulary until you've got it down! Remember, this is a strand you will want to work on every single day! But try to limit yourself to 1 hr per day :). Dust off those old foundations memory work songs.

Here are some of the resources from our time today. Don't forget to check out CC Connected's Visual Latin Videos. Seriously helpful.

Noun Declensions - Which one is Which? (song)

Annoying Noun Ending Song  (but it sticks in your brain)

Noun Jobs Diagramming 'Cheat Sheet

Ideas for Setting up Latin Resources

Henle Pronunciation! (This is a great help for pronouncing the vocab, following our Henle Latin book!)

Don't forget quizlet! A search for 'challenge a henle' instantly brought up a bunch of options, like this:

Challenge A Henle Latin on Quizlet

Research - Week 1

Today was a crash course in how to write a research paper each week. It may seem like a lot, but you will get in a groove and enjoy it. I can't wait to see what you write about. Do your best each week, and you will get better and better at the process.

Here's what you'll do this week:

1. Research astronomy (or topic of your choice) using at least two sources. You'll see in your guide that CC Connected has science snippets available in the file sharing section, and there are also relevant science cards if you own them.

2. Follow process for fused outlining (see below resources), then write a one paragraph paper from your fused outline. Put the finished paper in your sketch journal.

Fused Outline Form 1

Fused Outline Form 2

Fused Outlining Overview

3. Draw a picture of your topic.

4. Write a bibliography. Here are some great resources. And of course we will review bibliographies a few times over the next few weeks.

easybib (great website for bibliographies!)

Bibliography (from IEW student resource notebook)

APA Bibliography

MLA Bibliography

How to Site a CC Science Card

5. Practice presenting your paragraph. We will be working on presentation skills over the next 6 weeks!

Rhetoric - Week 1

Ok, this is a nice low key strand this semester. Ahhhhhhh. Today we briefly looked through our book: It Couldn't Just Happen, and read the introduction together. Then we sped through a highlighting system that we are going to implement slowly over the next six weeks or so. Here is what you need to do this week:

- Read the assigned chapter. Yep, just one.

- Follow the highlighting procedure (note that we will substitute yellow for green, unless you want to provide your own green highlighter!):

Highlighting Bookmark 1

Highlighting Bookmark 2

Important: We will start with the blue highlighting this week (but feel free to read up on how to use all the colors and proceed if you so desire). That means you're highlighting 'interesting and important quotes, and things you like or enjoy.'

- It is up to your teacher whether you will do the study guide in addition to the highlighting system. If you decide to do the study guide, make copies of the study guide sheet in the back of your ChA guide (Rhetoric section) and fill in as you go, storing your work in a binder.

- IMPORTANT! I failed to mention the catechism questions in class today! You will be memorizing these throughout the year, and the first three are 'due' by our next meeting. This is the grammar of this strand, and should be drilled like all your other grammar!

And guess what? Quizlet already has these questions loaded! Search and see for yourself...but here is one example:

ICJH Catechism Questions

We will play fun review games, so drill that grammar!

- Make sure you check your guide for a couple of great resources on CC Connected.

Exposition/Composition (LTW) - Week 1

It was so fun to discuss The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe today! This week you will compose your own issue and create an ANI chart with 10 items per column. Be ready to share next week.

Need to review the concept of Invention? Look to the LTW teacher workbook and the super helpful LTW videos! (ask your mom to show you)

Here's that step by step process again:

LTW Rudimentary Essay

Important! You need to get started on our next book, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch! Look through the book and make a reading plan so that you finish in time for week 4!

Logic (Math) - Week 1

Just a quick blurb to say that all you need to do this week is your daily math work! And come excited to talk about math next week!

Week One was Fun

First Day is in the books! Woohoo! I am really excited for the year ahead - what a great group of kids! This week is shortened because of Labor Day, so please be aware of that as you schedule your assignments!

Here are my three deep thoughts for the day.

1. Overall, I could not be more pleased that all the kids seem comfortable with each other and are eagerly engaging with the material. No crickets chirping with this group. My hunch is that I'll be spending more time coaching the kids to learn when to speak/express oneself and when to hold back and leave room for others to share. I will strive to hold them to a high standard in this area, and hope they learn how to truly love their neighbor through the conversations we have in class. I am confident that they are capable and willing to rise to the challenge!

2. There were quite a few handouts today, and not a great way to store them all. I will be providing pee chee folders for the students next week for them to store loose papers. All of the handouts and resources I referenced will be posted with the weekly subject strand, so don't worry if some got lost on the way home!

3. I am thinking of implementing a SIMPLE reward system in class. Stay tuned!

Now, listen up! Here is how to access a review of what we did each week!

I will make it a priority to update the blog on Community Day so that you can check it bright and early Tuesday morning. What if I forget? Not to fear, you can determine most of your next action items by turning to your guide, of course! However because this is a new endeavor for all of us, I'm happy to spend a little extra time laying things out for you in the beginning. Parents and students will really need to work together in these early weeks to get a consistent, workable routine going.

Weekly Blog Check-In

• By Tuesday morning the basic overview for the week should be at the top of the blog. So today's post is titled 'Week One was Fun' and is obviously reviewing week 1. 
• I will also provide pertinent info for each strand that we covered in class that week, including links to documents and websites discussed.
• Click on the label 'Week 1' (from the right side bar) to access all the posts reviewing week 1.

I think this is pretty self explanatory, but please let me know if you have any questions!

Scheduling Your Week

You will be working with your teacher (parent) to develop a weekly school schedule, and slowly becoming more independent in managing your assignments for the week. Each student's schedule will vary based on individual weekly commitments!

Here is an example of a plan for week 2:

Sample Student Planner - Ch A, Week 2

Most of you will have no two home days that look alike. That's ok! You can choose to focus on some subjects on different days to account for your commitments. I would like to strongly urge you to work on math, latin, and geography every singe school day. Consistent daily focus in these subjects is important. Research (science), LTW (Exp/Comp), and Rhetoric are the strands that are more flexible - you could play around with these in your schedule (i.e. research on T, LTW on W, Rhetoric on Th, Fr to tie up loose ends).

Logic (Math)

Hello Math Scholars! This is the math worksheet you will be using throughout the year during our math seminar. I will be talking about this on our first day of class. Woohoo!

Weekly Math Sheet

Grammar (Latin)

Hello Latin scholars! Here are a few helpful latin documents.

One talks about the Henle curriculum,
One is a great overview of what we will be covering in Challenge A this year, 

One is an overview of latin declensions.

Read them! Have your mom read them! Seriously.

Henle Overview

Ch A Latin Overview

Latin Declension Overview

Exposition/Composition (Writing)

Hi there winsome writers! Here are two docs for you - an overview of the LTW Essay 1 "Rudimentary Persuasive Essay", and an ANI chart you can print off and use at home. READ THE OVERVIEW, but feel free to NOT use the ANI chart document (you can whip out an ANI chart super duper easy on a blank sheet of notebook paper). But, whatever floats your boat.

ANI Chart

LTW Essay 1

First Day! September 5th!

Ok Challenge A Cheetahs! Our first class is this coming Tuesday, September 5th. We will aim to start at 9 AM, so please arrive about 10 minutes early to get settled. Parents are always welcome to stay, but it is not required for Challenge level!

We will be meeting at the Gray home:
5023 Waschke Rd. 
Bellingham, WA 98226

Here is what you will need on our first day of class. Remember that you are responsible to look at your guide each week to determine what you need to bring, but I will definitely help you out in these first few weeks until you get the hang of things. Always ask if you are in doubt!

Bible (physical copy preferable - vs. digital)
Challenge A guide and Weekly Planner if you have one
Latin Books (purple text and blue grammar book)
Lost Tools of Writing Student Workbook
TWO NOVELS! The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe AND Carry On, Mr. Bowditch!
It Couldn't Just Happen book
Cartography Book (I will bring Ryan's and Chloe's to class!)
Pen, Mechanical Pencils/Pencils, or preferred writing tools, highlighters
Water Bottle, Snack, Lunch
NOT REQUIRED, but please bring Trivium Tables if you have any (Rhetoric, Latin, English Grammar, Logic, Math)