Week Five

Greetings Masters families,

Another week has flown by, filled with fun and knowledge. What a blessing it is to share a part of each week with you and your wonderful children. Excitement was in the air today from presentation suprises to CC Store purchases and engaging earthworm dissections. A very special thanks today to all of the moms that so generously gave of your time and energy to help this week with classroom tasks, cleanup, and the CC store. You bless me by your support each week.

We enjoyed a very special guest today during our presentation time, Jonathan and Harrison's dad made a very special visit with an adorable furry friend, Miss Ella. Thank you Ella, for being the most exciting visual aid we have had this year! Harrison, you did an excellent job presenting your expository speech on your family, it was informational and entertaining with interesting stories and organized information. Great finale! Jonathan, your expository speech on the ranch in Colorado was clear and sounds like an amazing experience. You exhibited great volume and eye contact today. Hannah, your speech on invertebrates was a wonderful introduction to our science grammar. Your presentation was well researched and organized. You did a great job with your confidence and volume. Mollie, thank you for a clear presentation about your family. You did an excellent job "exposing" information and sharing your favorite pictures. You showed great eye contact and use of visual aids. Ross, thank you for your expository speech on the purpose and functions of the plant cell. Your visual aid was very well done and looked like a fun project to make, great idea. Your information was well researched and presented clearly. You did a great job on volume and eye contact.

Presenters for Week 6: Kody, Carlyssa, Maddie, Elizabeth, and Addie Optional topic: 1-2 minute scripture reading or recitation. At home focus on volume, voice inflection, and use of time.

*******Memory Tips and Techniques for Week Five*******
Timeline: Drill, Drill, Drill!!! We highlighted the peg dates for week 5, paying close attention to timeline cards representing multiple dates and/or a span of years.
History Sentence: Complete the motions as you sing the song with the Audio CD.
Roman Republic: ASL sign for R Punic Wars: fists Pax Romana: peace sign
286AD: arms in a T for timeline divided: draw a vertical line down your middle with your hand
Western: point left Eastern: point right Barbaric Huns: put hands on hips acting tough
defeated: stomp or kick left foot Western Empire: point left 476AD: Timeline sign
Geography: Locate, Label, Trace for Week Five Nile Delta: Remember that the Nile River flows north and that Lower Egypt is north and Upper Egypt is south.
Latin: 2nd Declension- Hold up 2 fingers to represent two jingle bells to help you remember the tune for the 2nd declension. Practice proper pronunciation with your guides from Mrs. Varnell and write the noun endings in your charts to help you learn your Latin.
Math: Drill 9's and 10's this week. Be ready for two more review drills next week!
English: Between(look between hands) Beyond(hand above eyes looking at the horizon)
But(raise one finger in the air) By (wave Bye) concerning(right finger to your temple with a concerned look in your eyes)
Science: Use the handout with the "Old MacDonald" tune to master your science this week. For those who like motions act it out as well. Flatworms(clap hands together-FLAT) Arthropods(lobster claws) Roundworms(make a round circle with your hands) and Mollusks(make a clam with your hands) Stinging Cell Animals(sting yourself) Sea Stars(make a star with your arms and legs) Sponges(squeeze hands together) Segmented Worms(chopping motion with one hand) these are invertebrate classes.

OPTIONAL BONUS ACTIVITIES FOR CLASSICAL CASH:
Perspective Art Drawing Project: I can't wait to see your completed perspective drawings, thanks for the great effort in class today.
Art practice: Use your drawing skills from weeks 1-5 to help complete these drawings.
Geography Drawing: Practice labeling your locations for weeks 1-5 and list them on your Learning Log. Also, practice drawing Europe and Asia this week.
Science: Earthworm handout: Read the information and turn it in next week colored for bonus cash.

We missed you this week Maddie, we all hope you will be feeling better soon. I think all of the students enjoyed shopping in the CC store today the $$$$ were flying! Remember to record your daily drilling, map practice, and presentation prep on you Learning Log to get maximum cash!

Blessings for a wonderful week,
Mrs. Gaines

Rulers for Tuesday!

Hi Masters families!
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and that you are looking forward to Week 5. On Tuesday for our perspective art project I need each of you to bring a 12 inch ruler to class. I will bring all that I have at home in case anyone forgets, but if you have one to bring for your child it would be very helpful.
Blessings,
Mrs. Gaines

Week Four

Greetings Masters families!

Thank you for a wonderful week four. It was great fun learning with you and creating gooey plant cells yesterday! I would like to thank you for great improvement on the chatter during class. I will continue to ask all of you to work on eliminating the extra talking and comments during teaching time to help us get through all of our grammar, art and science each week. Thank you to all of my Masters kids for serving by helping with clean up at the end of class, you were all a blessing.



We enjoyed a wide variety of presentations yesterday. Carlyssa, we loved your engaging brain twister and a reminder to be mindful of everything we hear and see. You really warmed up our brains! Maddie, thank you for a fact filled presentation on Harriet Tubman. Your presentation exhibited great preparation, organization, and use of time. I learned quite a few things I had never heard before. Elizabeth, we all loved your expository speech on your family. Great use of visual aids and and fun facts to "expose" your family to us. It was also a great idea to show pictures of you and your siblings at different ages. I could really tell you worked hard to prepare. Addie, what a fun and interesting story to share with us about your wonderful family. Adventures and memories like that are exciting! You included a great use of visual aids and very organized preparation. We all loved the turtle pictures and your beloved stuffed turtle. It was also a great idea to include research about the scientific classifications of the Loggerhead turtle. Kody, you engaged all of us with your energetic and humorous expository speech on sea creatures. I know parents and students learned something new and all of the winners enjoyed their prizes. Kody, great work on your planning and research. This week we will be hearing presentations from our odd week presenters: Jonathan, Harrison, Hannah, Mollie, and Ross. Your optional speech topic is an expository speech on your family, but all topics are welcome. The speech topics and skills we are focusing on are listed in your take-home folder.

As you prepare remember the following things:

*confidence(3 second rule)

*eye contact

*volume

*use of time(2-3 minute limit)

Remember if you are looking up and making good eye contact with your audience your volume will improve. Also, when you practice have your parent time you and limit your speech to 2-3 minutes so we can give everyone a comfortable amount of time to present.



*****Memory Tips and Techniques for Week 4*****

IN ALL OF THE SUBJECTS POSSIBLE WE ARE TRYING TO HEAR, SEE, SAY AND DO TO MASTER OUR MEMORY WORK!!!

History Sentence: 7 Wonders of the Ancient World To learn some background information on each of the seven wonders read your coloring sheets I included in your take-home packet this week. Here are the motions we learned to remember the 7 wonders:

Colossus of Rhodes-stand feet apart and swing arms back to front(showing his stance and that boats would pass through)

The Great Pyramids- make a pyramid shape with your arms

The Mausoleum- cross arms across chest in an X

The Temple of Artemis- make a capital T with your arms

The Hanging Gardens-put arms out bent at the elbows with your hands hanging down

Pharos Lighthouse-swirl your hand around your head like a rotating top of a lighthouse

Statue of Zeus-assume the position of the statue with a scepter in your left hand and Nike the goddess of victory in your right hand

Timeline: Practice all four Weeks from memory-drill, drill, drill
Tip for last three cards: Later Tro Pho

Latin: We repeated the 1st declension noun endings with a focus on correct pronunciation. Use the pronunciation guide included in your take home packet to practice proper pronunciation. Also, use your chart in the take home folder to write your memory work as you drill. Memory tip for the different tunes-1st declension is set to the song"Rain, Rain Go Away" so hold 1 finger up(1st declension) and test for rain.

Math: 7's and 8's Practice your multiplication facts at home each week and we will continue to try for MASSIVE MEMORY MARBLES by completing 60 facts correctly in 2 minutes or less. Every week students are reaching this goal and getting closer and closer to reaching this goal by increasing their speed and accuracy. Amazing work on your math facts- GO MASTERS! I also recommended using the skip counting songs and chart in your Take-Home folder as needed to work on these higher tables.

English: Use your left hand in front of you in a stationary position and your right hand to help act out our prepositions for this week: before(right hand before left) behind(right hand behind left) below(right hand below left) beneath(left hand beneath right) beside(hands and forearms together) Have fun getting faster and faster!!!!

Geography: Hittite Empire-locate, trace, and then label! Remember the Hittite Empire was known for the first use of iron weapons and for writing the first treaties.

Science: We chanted the parts of a plant cell and reviewed them by drawing and labeling a plant cell. If you need some tips here are some motions and a song just to trigger the memory.

Nucleus (make a round circle with your hands) Cytoplasm (hands above your eyes as if you are looking at something), Vacuole(vacuuming motion), Mitochondria(show your mighty muscles), Cell Membrane(point to your brain), Cell Wall(Make a wall in front of you with your 2 arms), Chloroplasts(AAAAH I'm turning green-look at your arm)- silly I know, but similar motions to these helped my younger daughter last week. Also, here is a song you can use if your student prefers music for memorization.

What are parts of a plant cell ?(Twinkle, twinkle little star)

Nucleus, Cytoplasm (how I wonder what you are)

Vacuole, Mitochondria (up above the sky so high)

Cell Membrane, Cell Wall (like a diamond in the sky)

and then Chloroplasts (Twinkle, twinkle little star)

are some parts of a plant cell. (how I wonder what you are)

Don't forget to record your Memory Work, Presentation Preparation, and Map Drawing/Labeling on your Learning Log. NEXT WEEK THE CC STORE WILL BE OPENED FOR ALL STUDENTS TO PURCHASE SOME FUN TREATS. YOU HAVE WORKED HARD MASTERS STUDENTS, WAY TO GO!!!

*****Take Home Sheets for Bonus Classical Cash******

Moms and students, any sheets/activities that I send home with your student each week are OPTIONAL learning opportunities to deepen their understanding of the grammar we have covered and to extend the information we are learning. As a reward for their additional work I do reward them with Classical Cash as they are turned in each week. SO PLEASE ENJOY THEM AS YOUR TIME AT HOME PERMITS.

Geography Map Drawing sheet for Europe and Asia

Blank Plant Cell sheet to label the parts we learned this week

7 Wonders of the Ancient World Coloring Sheets

Work on drilling your memory work weeks 1-4!!! Next week I plan to really test your memory and allow you all to earn a large amount of MEMORY MARBLES. Be ready to show what you know!

Have a wonderful week,

Many Blessings,

Mrs. Gaines

Week Three

Hello Masters families,

Week three was a great one! From the well prepared presentations to the energetic "Living Animal Cell", this week was information and action packed. Thank you to all of our presenters this week. We enjoyed a variety of topics covering travels, science and three types of literature narrations. Harrison, your inspiring and true missionary story reminded us of how blessed we are to have God's word to read and study every day. Mollie, your book presentation was fun and entertaining, it made me want to read the rest of the Betsy, Tacy, and Tib adventures. Ross, your classification of your pets was a great research based presentation, your visual aid was awesome and brought our science grammar to life. Hannah, your Star Spangled Banner recitation was fascinating. I have never heard all of the stanzas recited before, great choice and delivery. Jonathan, thank you for sharing with all of us about your trip to the Alamo and giving everyone a brochure. We enjoyed all of the facts and and your great use of visual aids. Thank you to all of our presenters for your hard work and preparation. Next week we look forward to hearing presentations from our "Even Week" presenters: Elizabeth, Addie, Carlyssa, Maddie and Kody. Remember to use your Learning Log to help you as you practice and prepare your presentations.

*****Memorization Tips and Techniques for Week Three Grammar*****
History Timeline: Drill, Drill, Drill Weeks 1, 2, and 3! For a fun review play "24" Pick Up" and try to put all the cards from all three weeks in order. We are continuing to build a visual timeline and highlight Peg Dates as we study our timeline each week. Peg Dates Week 3: The Twelve Tribes of Israel-1860BC, Code of Hammurabi-1750BC, Moses' Birth-1525BC and Homer and Greek Mythology-900BC.
History Sentence: Greek and Roman gods-Masters Challenge: learn how the gods and goddesses were defined and remember by these simple symbols.
Zues/Jupiter god of lightening and sky(lightening bolt)
Hera/Juno goddess of marriage(ring)
Ares/Mars god of war (sword)
Aphrodite/Venus goddess of love (heart)
Artemis/Diana goddess of hunting and the moon (shoot an arrow at the moon)
Hermes/Mercury god of flight/messenger of the gods (envelope w/wings)
Geography: Hebrew Empire- Use the two maps included in your Take Home Folder to identify and practice labeling the Week Three geography locations. Remember to review by locating and labeling all of your geography locations from weeks 1,2, and 3. Record your practice on your Learning Log to earn your Classical Cash. Geography drawing this week for extra Classical Cash is a simple outline of Africa. Practice drawing Africa using your instruction sheet from art. For a fun challenge try to draw it upside down again!
Math: 5's and 6's are new for this week! Drill your multiplication tables 1's through 6's and continue to strengthen your accuracy and speed. The drills this week were exciting and fun! I love to see your enthusiasm and effort to earn those Massive Memory Marbles! Way to go Masters Mathematicians!
Latin: Use the Latin Noun Endings Chart in your Take Home Folder to help you drill week three Singular and Plural 1st declension noun endings. Remember, it may help to draw a line down the column to separate singular and plural. Hear it, sing it, and write it to drill and learn your latin.
Science: Sing the parts of an animal cell to the Happy Birthday song.
Nucleus, Cytoplasm, Vacuole (Happy Birthday to you)
Mitochondria, Cell Membrane (Happy Birthday to you)
and Golgi Bodies are the parts (Happy B-day dear_______)
of an animal cell (happy B-day to you)
English: along (brush left hand along right arm) amid(2 hands dive together in the middle)
among( point to your friends/family you are among friends)
around (make a circle with your fingers) at (point AT yourself)
atop (pat yourself on top of the head)

*****Bonus opportunities for Classical Cash*****
Science Animal Cell Diagram: Label the parts of an animal cell-nucleus, cytoplasm, vacuole, mitochondria, cell membrane, golgi bodies.
Africa Geography Drawing Sheet: Practice drawing a simple outline of the continent of Africa.

Remember to use your Learning Logs to record your hard work at home and to earn your Classical Cash. The CC store will open on Week 5! Congratulations to all of the students on your success in our review game, "A Walk down Memory Lane". All of your review and attention in class is paying off in earning multiple Memory Marbles!!! Continue to TRAIN YOUR BRAINS TO RETAIN! Your brain is like a muscle, the harder you work it the stronger it gets.

Have a blessed week!
Mrs. Gaines

Week Two

Hello Masters families,

Another challenging and fascinating week has passed and all of the Masters students are rising to the highest of expectations. We began with presentations today and I would like to commend all of our presenters on well prepared presentations. We enjoyed two literature recitations: a beautiful poem about a lighthouse by Carlyssa and a humorous poem about a messy room by Addie. We learned how to make jam in an instructional speech with visual aids by Elizabeth and we were educated with fun and fascinating facts on rodents by Kody. Thank you all for your hard work preparing and for your dedication to excellence.

Next, we are on Week Three so our Odd Week group will be presenting: Jonathan, Harrison, Mollie, Ross, and Hannah. Please remember to practice and prepare your presentation this week using the Learning Log as a guide for your preparation. You will turn in your Learning Log this week after you present.

Here are some Memory tips and techniques for our New Grammar this week:
History Timeline: Drill timeline cards for week two by repeating them in order again and again, taking away one card each time until there are no cards left to look at, by the end you should be able to say them all without looking at the cards. Just for fun, here is a review of the
PEG DATES FOR WEEK TWO: 10. Call of Abram c. 2091 BC 16. Joseph as a Slave c. 1898BC

History Sentence: Commandments 6-10 Thou shalt:
6. not kill - Hold up 6 fingers use the 1 finger hand to shoot the 5 finger hand (6 shooter)
7. not commit adultery -Hold up 7 fingers 2 finger hand represents husband and wife, use these two fingers to point to your ring finger on the 5 finger hand
8. not steal -Hold up 8 fingers use the 5 finger hand to steal the 3 fingers on the other hand
9. not bear false witness against thy neighbor -Hold up 9 fingers and then shake hands to represent being truthful to others and not bringing a false testimony(lie) against them
10. not covet -Hold up 10 fingers and then turn them over and wiggle fingers like you want what someone else has "GIMMEE,GIMMEE"

Geography: Week Two Assyrian Empire: Red Sea(snail shape), Persian Gulf(cardinal shape),
Caspian Sea(bear shape), Black Sea(train shape), Babylon(to the left of the Euphrates River and inside of the Fertile Crescent) LOCATE, TRACE, and practice LABELING on a blank map

Latin: SlapX ClapX DRILL, DRILL, DRILL

English: The prepositions can be sung to tune of the ABC song or any tune you have already learned them by. Fun Motions-about(hands up shrug shoulders) above (one hand above head) across(make an X with your arms across your chest) after(take your thumb and point behind your back) against(lean against something)

Math: 3's and 4's-drill and practice at home using flashcards or drill sheets. We will do more timed drills next week for MASSIVE MEMORY MARBLES. Amazing work today on our 1's and 2's- remember this is for fun and to compete against yourself- Accuracy first and then speed comes later. At home with your parents decide which tables you will do next week for the MASSIVE MEMORY MARBLES 1's, 2's, 3's or 4's. If you did not get your 1's and 2's today with both accuracy and speed try them again next week. Every week you will get more accurate and faster. We will do two timed drills- 60 problems in 2 minutes for each one!!!! This is to help your individual math skills so let's have fun with it! GO MASTERS GO!

Science: What are the classifications of living things? King Philip Came Over For Great Spaghetti. Kingdom Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

*****As you practice your New Grammar for Week 2 do not forget to review your Week 1 material, we will start playing review games to earn Memory Marbles starting next week.

Optional Activities for Classical Cash *Complete these as your time at home allows this week.*
*Mirror Drawing Practice Sheet
*Science Classifications Worksheet
*Draw your World-Simple Map Drawing of the Continents-using the Equator and Prime Meridian to place the continents

Remember, as a record of your presentation preparation, map drawing/tracing, and memory work drilling be sure to have a parent initial and date your Learning Log each day. On the day you make your presentation I will collect your Learning Log and total your Classical Cash earnings! The store will open on Week 5, September 29th.

Thank you for another blessed week and to all of the moms who are helping and supporting me in class and through your hard work at home. I always look forward to working and learning with your children. I am learning so much from them. Harrison and Jonathan, we all missed you this week and are looking forward to your return on Week 3!

Many blessings,
Tina Gaines

Hello Masters families,
I hope you are all having a blessed and restful weekend. I had an excellent question arise for this week's "optional" presentation topic and I thought I would share it with everyone in case others had any confusion. I was asked "If a student is presenting a piece of literature to read or recite are they required to have an outline?"
If you have chosen to recite or read a piece of literature for your presentation this week you may not need to prepare an rough outline/final outline as suggested on your Learning Log. The Learning Log is just a "general" guide for you to use at home as your child prepares each week for their presentation. This is competely flexible according to the topic and to what you as the teacher want them to do at home. So no, they do not have to prepare an outline. However, if your student does not prepare an outline and you would like to attach a copy of the piece of literature they are reading or reciting in the place of a rough outline/final outline I will place it in their Classroom Binder as a record of their presentation topics for this year. I hope this helps, please let me know if there are any other concerns.
Many blessings,
Tina Gaines

Great Beginnings

Dear Masters Families,


What great beginning to our year! We had an informative start to our day with Impromptu Introductions for presentations. I already see new friendships forming and old friendships strengthening on our first day. Today we focused on getting to know our audience to build trust as we present each week. For our next round of presentations please practice at home using the 3 second rule to begin and end your presentation with confidence. Optional ideas for presentations are listed in your Take-Home Folder. Presenters for Week Two are: Elizabeth, Addie, Carlyssa, Maddie, and Kody. ***Students do not forget to record your work on your Learning Log as you prepare for your presentation. It will earn you alot of Classical Cash .***


Included in your student's Take-Home Folder is a suggested schedule for memorizing the Bible passage for Cycle One, Exodus 20:1-17. This Bible passage is not required for Memory Master, but I have included because I felt it was a great guide for pacing your learning at home.


You will also see a sheet called Math Sound Off, this is an additional project we will do as a class for the end of the year closing program. Today I did not have time to introduce it, but please read over the letter to introduce yourselves with the idea and we will start learning the material next week. It should be fun!

Parents, the following tips were used to help your child learn the memory work for this week. Use them if they will help to master the material, or just to increase the fun while drilling. Hopefully they can remember them based on the brief descriptions below.

Memory Tips and Techniques for Week One:

***Remember to record your memory drilling on your Learning Log.***

Timeline: Practice using the cards early in the week to learn the timeline and advance to full mastery-reciting from memory by the end of the week.

History Sentence: Learn the 10 Commandments by order and number


1st Commandment-1 finger because there is only one God


2nd Commandment-2 fingers humans can not create a graven image of our all powerful God- use the two fingers to show an ancient Egyptian bowing to a graven image


3rd Commandment- 3 fingers cover lips with three fingers


4th Commandment- 4 fingers for 4 letters in the word Holy


5th Commandment- 5 fingers hold up both hands one for father and one for mother clap hands together and open your arms wide to represent many days on the earth

Science- Sing to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Monera, these are the Five Kingdoms of Living Things, Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Monera, these are the Five Kingdoms.

Latin- Slap Lap X Clap Hands X-don't go too fast!

Math- Practice your 1's and 2's Multiplication Tables- Next week we will test our Multiplication Mastery for MASSIVE Memory Marbles.

English- A preposition relates a noun(high 5/knuckle) or a pronoun(high 5/ knuckle) to another word(low 5/low 5).

Geography- Locate-Trace-Draw-***record your practices on your Learning Log***

Week One BONUSES for Classical Cash and Memory Marbles:

**Please enjoy these projects at home as your time allows.***

Art- Complete the Drawing Sheet to practice OiLS- 5 Basic elements of Shape

Geography- Draw a simple map of the continents- Weekly I will be giving your student a geography drawing exercise to challenge them to deepen their learning of world geography through drawing. This week the drawing project is to emphasize the placement of the continents in reference to the Equator and the Prime Meridian.

Thank you to all of the students and parents, it was a blessing to learn with you today. Everyone exhibited a Christlike attitude and showed love, honor, and service to God and others through their classroom behavior and participation. Thank you for BEING A BLESSING to me.

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Gaines