Week 21 is Done!

Dear Masters families,

The end is drawing near and we are in countdown mode!!! Today was a very profitable day and the students listened and participated very well. We began with some awesome presentations focused on Aesop's fables. Hannah, thank you for the well prepared presentation you shared with us. The background information on Aesop's fables gave us insight as we heard a variety of stories today. You did an excellent job integrating the audience and using your props to retell the fable. Great action! Harrison, you did a fantastic job telling "The Crow and the Pitcher". You effectively used your prop to demonstrate the moral of the fable. Good job with your volume and expression. Jonathan and Ross as I said earlier today, "Great minds think alike!" We thoroughly enjoyed both of your presentations on the boy who cried wolf. You both memorized your story and made excellent eye contact while sharing it. A favorite fable for everyone. I am so pleased with the amazing progress all of you have made this year. We all enjoyed a truly masterful display of presentation skills today. Next week is our last week of presenters, I am looking forward to what each of you will present.



Weeks 23 and 24 presentation time will be dedicated to reviewing our memory work. This week we reviewed our timeline. Our review activity was to put all 20 weeks of the timeline cards in order. We used our spacious classroom to arrange them on the steps of the stage. Every student was dealt a pile of timeline cards and then they were off to the races. It was a challenging task that required 100% effort from all of the students, myself, and parents! I saw an extremely cooperative effort between the students and this equalled success in the end. Way to go masters! Next week I will add 40 memory marbles to the jar for all of your efforts in our timeline challenge.

Next week we will also work hard to earn enough memory marbles to fill our Memory Marble jar for the last time this year. My goal is that we will celebrate on Week 23 with an ice cream sundae feast during lunch! Parents, I will plan for them to eat their own lunches first and then we can let the feasting begin.

MEMORY TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR WEEK 21:
Presidents: Use the presidents song on the audio CD to memorize the U.S. presidents. In the CC curriculum guide there are abbreviations for each president's last name. You can use these by writing each abbreviation on an index card and writing the full name on the opposite side. Mix the cards up and have your child put them in the correct order. This is just an extension on singing the song.
History Sentence: We covered the history of the explorers, the Hudson Bay Company, and the maple leaf. Memorize by singing the song and referring to the history card "Explorers of the Northeast: Cartier, Champlain and Cabot" and pointing to the St. Lawrence River on the map.
Latin: Repeat. Say. Hear. Sing. Write.
Focus on correct pronunciations for Memory Testing. Fourth Declension is sung to the tune "Here We Go Looby-Loo". The memory tip is there are 4 o's in Looby-Loo so the tune for 4th declension is "Here We Go Looby-Loo".
English: A LINKING VERB makes an assertion by joining two words. Sing to the tune "The Ants Go Marching One By One". See the handout in your student's Take-Home folder for the entire song.
Science: What are the major circles around the earth? Using their bodies and the tune to "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes" we associated the circles around the earth as follows:

Arctic Circle (Head)
Head and Shoulders
Tropic of Cancer (Shoulders)
Knees and Toes
E-quator (Waist)
Knees and Toes
Tropic of Capricorn (Knees)
Knees and Toes
Antarctic Circle(Toes)
Head and Shoulders
These are the major
Knees and Toes
circles around the ea-rth.
All for Jesus!

Geography: Canadian Provinces- Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories We located and labeled these locations on the maps. Here is a history sentence to connect to the geography:
The Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867 when the British colonies united as a single nation of four provinces. The original four CANADIAN PROVINCES were ONTARIO, QUEBEC, NOVA SCOTIA, and NEW BRUNSWICK. Additional provinces formed as they were separated from the NORTHWEST TERRITORIES.
Math: Associative Law for Addition: (a+b) + c = a + (b + c)
Associative Law for Multiplication: (a x b) x c = a x ( b x c )

Classical Cash Opportunities: We will open the store on Week 23 and 24. Any papers from this year may be completed and turned in for Classical Cash. The last week I will collect papers is on week 23.

Learning Log: Please complete your Learning Log when you are drilling at home and preparing for your last presentation.

Science/Geography Sheet: Complete the side with the circles around the earth, there are clear directions for labeling the globe. The flip side features a map of Canada to help you study the geography for weeks 21 and 22. This map may be colored for extra cash.

Bach Fine Arts Sheet: Color the picture of Bach playing the harpsichord surrounded by some of his children. We started this in class so all you need to do is complete the task for cash.

MATH SOUND OFF: Please practice your lines for the "Math Sound Off" we will perform in the end of the year program. We are working on staging and strengthening our volume and projection each week in class. All of the students are doing a wonderful job. When you practice, be sure to record this on their Learning Log so they can be rewarded for the extra effort.

I look forward to the last few weeks we will share together. Have a wonderful week.

Blessings,
Mrs. Gaines