Week 12

Fantastic first 12 weeks of Essentials!!  

Everyone learned new grammar, wrote awesome papers, now using new vocabulary, and really starting to understand the English language.  I’m proud of every one of you!  Thanks for joining me on this adventure.  I hope you all have a wonderful break, but don’t forget to play around with your charts to really understand them.  This is a perfect opportunity to review a lot!  If you want to write a paper or two with all the stylistic techniques you’ve learned so far, please do and entertain your families with your writings.  I think all of you could write a funny book, since we have some creative imaginations in our class and put it to pictures too.

If you have any questions during our break, please give me a call.

God Bless and see you all soon!

Love,

Mrs. Tammy

 

 

Reminder about IEW

Hi,

 

Please remember when editing your kiddo’s papers tomorrow (Monday) that each paragraph should be around 9 sentences.  Each paragraph should have a central fact generated from the picture and then from your child’s outline, he or she should complete paragraph.  The clincher sentence must repeat or reflect 2-3 key words from topic sentence.  Make sure he or she fits in one “3SSS” decoration in his or her paper as well.  Some of your children were tremendously creative, but make sure they stay on track.  

 

We’ll starting math games at 1:15 with Michelle’s class and then go on to Essentials with review on S-Vl-PN & S-Vl-PA, compound sentences with our own class.  Be ready to have fun.

 

Tammy Caba

 

 

Week 10

Loved class on Tuesday!  Great participation!  

This week work on S-Vl-PA compound sentences and chart L (Adjectives).  Please review charts C, D, G, & K.  We’ll be reviewing charts in class.

 

IEW

Depending on your child’s level, he or she can write only one story and work on it for the next two weeks or write two stories from pictures.  The source texts are on page 99 & 104.  The Magic Lamp or The Knight and the Dragon.  Please make sure they look at each picture and choose a central fact to write each paragraph and then move to the second picture and write a central fact.  The third paragraph they will do the same. Try to focus on the central fact and not get side tracked.  Tell them to have fun and get creative with vocab too.  Try to put all the decorations we’ve learned so far in his or her paper with a who/which clause, which is new this week.  

 

Any questions, please call me.

 

Tammy

985-234-9824

 

 

Week 9

This week the focus is still on a compound sentence, but the pattern has changed to S-Vl-PN.  We’re working on linking verbs, so please study up on Chart C.  Make sure your students don’t get confused with direct objects and predicate nominatives.  Practice many sentences by using the question confirmation out loud, so it becomes natural when parsing out the sentences.

 

In IEW, work on the 2^nd or 3^rd paragraph with the Vikings.  Level B students will use outside source books to find a topic about the Vikings and write an entire paragraph on a different topic (other than warriors & explorers).  Students will add VSS into his or her paragraphs.  Have fun!

Blessing to all of you!

 

 

 

Week 7

Essentials

Same Structure:  Compound

Same Pattern:  S-Vt-DO

Different Purpose:  Imperative

New Parts of Speech:  Adverb, chart I

 

Look over Noun Chart with Nouns of Direct Address (NDA) & Appositives (AP)

Continue to work on diagramming sentences, adding adverbs, NDA’s, and AP’s to sentences for more practice.

 

IEW

Your students continue to amaze me on their papers!  I see how each one enjoys sharing his or her work, which is so awesome.  Tell them to keep up the enthusiasm and keep adding all those QA’s, sv’s, and all the rest of decorations we’ve learned through week seven. 

This week, everyone should be going back and adding a www.asia.b and a #5 adverb opener to each paragraph.  Some students might challenge themselves and add dual –ly’s with an adverbial clause.  Take a look on page 18 in the TWSS binder for more information.  Your students should also be tying his or her topic sentence with the clincher sentence in each paragraph (2-3 key words.)

 

Password for class:  What does www.asia.b stand for?

Bonus question:  What does an adverb answer?

Please read lesson 8 prior to class on Tuesday.  

 

Have a wonderful week.

 

 

Train up your child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  Proverbs 22:6

 

Week 6

Great work everyone!  We’ve made it through week 6 and the papers you all are writing and sharing in class is fantastic!  Keep it up!

We don’t meet next week, so be reviewing Charts A-H, Compound sentences, and S-Vt-DO purpose.  When you do your task sheets, start asking these questions to find out if your verb is transitive or intransitive.  Michelle put this out and I want you all to be asking these questions when you break apart your sentences.

Below is for Practice Sentence, Task 3- Question Confirmation, Memorize these questions:

Ask :     Who (verb)? Or What (verb)?   subject     

Ask :     What is being said about (subject)?  subject  verb

Ask :     (subject) (verb) what or  (subject) (verb)  whom?   answer     

* If there is no answer your verb is intransitive and you are done finding your sentence pattern.

* If there is an answer, then you must ask 2 more questions. (because it could be a Direct Object, but it could also be a Predicate Noun/Adjective)

Ask :     Can (DO) replace or describe (subject)? If no, answer is a DO, label verb transitive

For IEW, the vocab is lesson 7 in the student binder.  Yes, lesson seven.  This information became clear to me when I looked over the daily checklist my girls use everyday.  From now on the vocab won’t match up to our actual week 7, 8, 9, etc… If you look at the daily checklist, you’ll see the vocab lessons are now labeled 7, 9, 11, etc…  Our level B students are to also add words using a thesaurus to the back of their vocab cards.

 

We are working on Summarizing References with Charlemagne, the Conqueror (page 42) this week and using our newest stylistic technique:  Topic Sentences/Clinchers.  We already outlined this in class.  Work on your paragragh this week with new vocab including all the rest of the dress-ups and openers we’ve learned through week six.  Next week for the level B students, you can be working on the outline and paragraph, Charlemagne, the Reformer (page 44).  Remember to just pick out key information on Charlemagne being a Reformer.  When we get together in two weeks, we’ll be in week seven and will work on Charlemagne, Founder of the Holy Roman Empire (page 46) together with www.asiab and #5 openers.

 

Password to get into class:  What is a Topic Sentence/Clincher?

 

Have a blessed two weeks!

 

Tammy

 

 

week 5 blog

Week 5       

Essentials:     Review Charts A-F, while listening to the CD

                                    Structure:  Simple

S-Vi sentences, practice Task 1-4

                                    Purpose:  Interrogative

                                    Parts of Speech:  Review

IEW:

The source we are using is Genghis Khan and His Hawk on page 131 in the Medieval History Based Writing Lessons-Student Book.  We read this in class.  We are not using the Critiquing instructions for this paper, only using the Story Sequence Model from Unit III. For scaling, you know your student, so it’s at your discretion on how many paragraphs he or she should strive to complete.  For younger students, he or she should work on one paragraph.  The paragraph should cover the characters (Genghis Khan & his hawk), location (forest), problem (thirsty), surprise (hawk spilling his water and Khan gets mad), resolution and/or moral (lesson learn is not to act quickly from anger, it was a tragedy).  For older students, he/she can strive to complete three paragraphs, which is right off the Story Sequence Model attachment.   IEW checklist for week 3 is attached. 

 

What we all need to remember is the “2013-2014 Suggested Writing Schedule for Medieval History Based Writing Lessons,” handout is the writing source where our incredible children will use his or her mind to create some beautiful writing.  They are putting out some really fantastic papers. 

 

This Week:

Wednesday:   outline 3rd paragraph and brainstorm

Thursday:  write 3rd paragraph, edit (Make sure clincher reflects title)

Friday:  Rewrite paragraphs or Type, Polish paper

Monday:  Polish

 

To Scale Down to 1 paragraph:   

Wednesday:  Outline paragraph using 2 questions from each section

Thursday:  brainstorm stylistic techniques

Friday:  Write/Type paragraph

Monday:  Edit/Polish

 

A few thoughts on decreasing stressful environments while writing:  Moms, be positive about the assignment.  Attitudes are contagious so make yours worth catching!  This week, make a goal to praise, complement, and encourage your IEW student 5 times each lesson.  Limit time for writing, 30 minutes or less.  Also, before you begin the lesson, maybe set a reward: trampoline, picnic, movie, bike ride.  Make your environment a happy positive one.  

 

God Bless,

 

Tammy

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  I Thessalonians 5:18