YOU ARE INVITED:  On Monday May 20th we will be reading our favorite narratives from our completed notebooks and doing a Figures of Description drill time in class at the 12:15-1:30 class time.  You are welcome to join us to hear what we have been doing all year!  Please let me know if you think you can attend or if your child will not be a school on that day so I can see that they get their notebook and grades.

Some students were able to complete their final FOD writing of Conrad and Tannenberg Castle in class today.  A few have brought theirs home to finish the last minute writing and checks on it to return on Wednesday.                                                                                                                     YOU ARE INVITED:  On Monday May 20th we will be reading our favorite narratives from our completed notebooks and doing a Figures of Description drill time in class at the 12:15-1:30 class time.  You are welcome to join us to hear what we have been doing all year!  Please let me know if you think you can attend or if your child will not be a school on that day so I can see that they get their notebook and grades.

We were able to complete the first writing of the sentence variations in class.  We have begun the last writing with Figures of Description added to it.  Every child is at a different place and are to a opy a portion over the weekend.  We will use class on Monday to complete this project!

Today the students finished their copying of the sentence variation version for the narrative.  We will begin the Figures of Description rewrite in class on Wednesday.  We took time to read another selection and discuss it, but I do not plan on giving them any more narratives for the year.  HOMEWORK:  NONE.

This narratives is extremely long and detailed so it requires a lot of different steps.  Today we spent half of our time copying the sentence variation versions that had been edited and then spent time inserting the Figures of Description that we created in class on Monday.  We took a class vote and they voted to do no homework over the weekend and come back and finish the copying on Monday.  HOMEWORK:  NONE!

I returned the edited versions of the sentence variations and the students wrote for about 20 minutes of the class period.  Then we stopped and worked on adding Figures of Description to the final draft of this narrative.  They will just insert it where they feel it will best fit and not have to rewrite the entire thing again since it is so long.  On Wednesday they will continue writing it and then make their additions of the FODs on their first rough draft of the story.  HOMEWORK: NONE

We did a portion of the outline for our new narrative about Conrad Tannenberg.  We did  the last sections of the outline and finished the sentence variation writing for it.  Check and make sure that your child was able to turn it in for editing today.  My goal is to get these edited for Monday and a final rewrite of the sentence variation paper.  We will work slowly through the Figures of Description on this one.  

We did a portion of the outline for our new narrative about Conrad Tannenberg.  We did two more sections of the outline in class today and spent our time writing and then reading what we had created.  This is a very long narrative and that is why we are doing it small portions.  We will continue doing this to the end before they write their sentence variation story.  They are actually varying the sentences now, but don't realize what is happening as it has become automatic for them during the course!  HOMEWORK:  Students need to finish their writing for the portion of outline they have been given.  They do not have to finish the narrative.  We will add more on Wednesday!

We did a portion of the outline for our new narrative about Conrad Tannenberg.  We then wrote our first paragraph and read them aloud to the others in the class.  We tried to see how many words we could make from the word "Resurrection".  The words had to be 3 or more letters long and we created about 85 new words from those 12 letters.  It was fun and everyone got to think and help out.  HOMEWORK:  Enjoy the Easter weekend and don't think about school.  We will work hard again on Monday!

Today we read aloud our Fantasy Fables to the class.  Many students had some creative ideas and these writings turned out well.  We have started a very long and difficult narrative and will do it in small sections to make it more manageable.  HOMEWORK:  Please copy your FOD writing of The Rose onto the pink paper for a final grade for Wednesday's class.!

Today we shared our FOD writing of The Rose.  Most of the students had spent extra time on this and they sounded good and now I will edit them for rewriting.  We spent some class time talking about myths and planning a Fantasy Fable with telling something from nature and how it came to be with the help of the Greek or Roman gods and goddesses as helpers.     HOMEWORK:  Create your own Fantasy Fable to share with the class on Monday.  Read it aloud to see if it makes sense and people would understand it when they read it.

Today we continued working on The Rose.  We finished all the FODs that we needed for this one and then began the writing process.  Students would write a few minutes and then we would read what we had written to the rest of the class for approval and any help that was needed.  These are coming along nicely.  HOMEWORK:  Have your student finish the FOD writing for the narrative.  Please give it a quick check to see if the story flows and makes sense to you.  They are to underline the beginning of the FOD and label it.  They need to spell the FOD word correctly for credit.

Today we took our FOD test over all the FODs and Irene and Michael knew every one of them!  Congratulations to those two!  The rest of the class will have the opportunity to try this one more time before the end of the year.  We spent time working on the FODs for The Rose.  We will work on the writing of it in class on Monday.  This one takes a little more effort so we will write and read and then write and read some more until we get it done.  HOMEWORK:  Please copy the sentence variation rewrite onto the pink paper  for Monday!

It was a most interesting class today.  Students turned in their FOD rewrites for The Foolish Rich Man and then we finished the last sentence variation for The Rose.  I gave them a few minutes to practice their FOD memory work for the test on Wed over all 18 of the FODs.  Then we started our sentence variation rewrite.  All of them were able to get it done in class today.  They FOOLED me by working so hard!   HOMEWORK:  Review the FODs for the test on Wed.

We worked some more on our new narrative which is the story of Aphrodite and Ares and Adonis.  It is a love triangle to explain why roses are red based on Greek myths.  We did our outline, nine plot components and most of our sentence variations.  Monday we will finish the sentences and begin the rewrite. HOMEWORK:  Copy the FOD rewrite for The Foolish Rich Man onto the green paper.  Encourage careful copying for the maximum grade! 

The students were able to read their completed Figures of Description narratives to their classmates today.  It is so interesting to see how many different stories that their creative minds come up with from the same outline!  The next writing will be more of a challenge for them and then I will turn them lose to do something very creative following the guidelines, but of their own imagination!  That's a scary thought!  HOMEWORK:  Please copy the edited sentence variation copy onto the green paper for a final grade.  Slow down and write neatly, copy carefully and make the changes needed!

Happy first day of Spring!  Today in class we read aloud our completed versions of The Foolish Rich Man to each other.  There are some interesting versions on this story.  We worked on the Figures of Description of Astrothesia, the stars and then the students could choose 3 others to incorporate into their writing of this narrative.  HOMEWORK:  Do a rewrite adding the FODs that you have chosen.  Please read your story aloud before presenting it to the class on next Monday.  The quiz on the FODs will be next Monday so review them well.

Today we went back to work on our The Foolish Rich Man fables.  Those "air castles" that we day dreamed about the last day before break may find their way into our fables now.  We reread the fable and talked about what it meant and then began writing.  We are changing the agents and the scences to modernize the story. Some find gold coins, one wins a race, another gets wealth from an antique.   It is quite interesting to see where their ideas take them in this story.  Everyone has to reach the same conclusion that wealth does no good when you face God at the end of your life!  HOMEWORK:  Lots of writing was done in class, so most have just a few minutes work left.  They need to check grammar and spelling as this rough draft gets a grade on the last quarter.  Then they can raise the grade by following the edited copy and rewriting.

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We did do our first quiz on 7 of the Figures of Description.  Students will get the next 7 after the break and then we will retest the first 7 plus the second set.  Today we worked on our outline for The Foolish Rich Man and got all the sentence variations written in class.   Then we built "air castles"  or "daydreams" about where we would go on a vacation if money and time were no object.  It was interesting hearing the comments.    HOMEWORK:  Rest, relax, and have fun for after the break we work hard!

Today we began by copying our sentence variations of  Chico and the Crane onto colored paper.  Then we read through the next narrative that we will do and discussed it.  We did the nine narrative components and are ready to do the outline on Wednesday.  We did NOT do the quiz today because the teacher was affected by the cold and forgot them on the table.  (Made a good excuse!)  HOMEWORK:  Students are to copy their FOD rewrite onto the purple paper and finish their sentence variation paper if they did not complete it in class.  These were some of the best narratives of the year!

Today we shared our FOD writing of the narrative Chico and the Crane with our classmates and let them help us with anything that wasn't quite right and brag on us for the special things that we added to the story.  We worked on learning some FODs for a quiz on Monday.   HOMEWORK:  Practice these 5 FODs.  Drill your child by giving them the meaning and they will give you the FOD by name.  Pragmatographia--description of an action, Chronographia--recurring time,  Dendographia--description of trees, Prosopographia--description of a face, Effictio--description of someone's body.  Congratulations to Irene for getting 7 pts on our drill, Noah got 5, with Hannah, Gretel and Michael at 4.

Today we worked on Chico and the Crane by adding our Figures of Description to it.  We wrote our examples and then read them to the class.  This class has several gifted writers so I am pushing them to do more than just the basic with the stories.  HOMEWORK:  Use Prosopopoeia, Sermocinatio, Effectio, Topographia, Pragmatographia, and Hydrographia in this rewrite.  Four are required and the other two get extra credit.  They also have a FOD page of Prosopopoeia and Sermocinatio to write 5 times each in preparation for a quiz on FODs.

We read aloud our sentence variation rewrites for Chico and the Crane.  We complimented each other on special things that they added to the story.  I have collected those and will work at editing them over the next week.  Then because 3 of our members were missing and I did not want to move on to FODs without them we created "valentines" to be exchanged with animals and made them with a play on words, such as "I'll "croak" if you won't be my Valentine" for frogs or "Shell" we be Valentines" for turtles.  Some were quite clever and funny.  Have a great break next Monday!     NO HOMEWORK!!

We went back and reread our last two sentence variations for Chico and the Crane and looked for ways to make them better.  Then we looked for Italian names for our cook and to change Mr. Corrado into some other name.  For the first rewrite the students are to follow the outline and change only a part of the agents on the next one we will do a viewpoint writing.  HOMEWORK:  Please complete the sentence variation rewrite.  If at all possible, check through your child's work for obvious spelling errors.

The students turned in their sentence variations for Giufa and the Judge today and we went back to working on our new narrative, Chico and the Crane.  Students can change the cook's name in this, the peasant girl to someone else and add interesting details to the story as long as they follow the outline. HOMEWORK:   Students need to copy their FOD narrative onto the gold paper for Monday's class.  We will complete the rewrite of Chico in Monday's class.  Encourage careful copying.  If you have time you might want to read through it and catch any obvious errors.  Stay safe in this icy weather!

Everyone read their FOD rewrite for Giufa and the Judge.  There was some very good stories created by the students.  I have their copies to edit before class on Wednesday.  We began reading and discussing a new narrative called Chico and the Crane.  It is a little longer and has many details, but I think the class is ready for the challenge!  HOMEWORK:  Copy the sentence variation carefully onto the gold paper.  Watch for the corrections and make them!  Due on Wednesday at class.

Everyone got to read their sentence variation for Giufa and the Judge aloud to their classmates and there were some very good stories.  Then we worked on adding new Figures of Description to the same story.  These students have great ideas and all of them are becoming interesting authors. HOMEWORK:  Each student needs to re-write this story and add the required 3 FODs of astrothesia, effictio, and chorographia.  Extra credit will be given if they can also use anemographia in their writing.  They have a FOD practice sheet worth 10 points which is just copying the definition 4 times.  Stay warm!

Today we began a new fable.  This time the students did the nine plot components together and then designed a new fable modeled after the original.  We did some sentence variations based on their new fable and they are ready to try creating on their own.  HOMEWORK:  Write the new FODs of Ecphrasis and Effectio 4 times each and write a new fable based on Giufa and the Judge for Wednesday's class.  Students will be able to read their creation to their classmates.

The students read aloud their sentence variation to their classmates.  I checked through them and then gave them green paper to write their finished fable on it.   We wrote a new fable using Figures of Description in it.  Some of these are turning out quite nicely.  HOMEWORK:  Your child needs to complete their SV rewrite and their Figures of Description fable on this long weekend.

This short parable about The Sower is now being rewritten as a sentence variation.  I have challenged the class to modernize it, but keep the basic outline.  It was very interesting to hear all the different ways that the students can retell the story with a modern twist. We even had the seeds telling the story!     HOMEWORK:  Complete the sentence variation if it was not turned in during the class period.  Also, complete the FOD assignment that was given to you of writing the FOD and its meaning.  Due on Monday.

Today we did some Christmas activity sheets, played a Christmas game structured like Jeopardy and then I read to the students about The Other Wiseman by Henry Van Dyke.  We didn't do so well on knowing about Christmas traditions and the song lyrics so it ended up being more of a information session about Christmas.  Gretel and Michael knew quite a bit and could keep the discussion lively.  NO HOMEWORK as such over the break.  I suggested that they read a couple of good books and relax before going into the second half of the school year in Progymnasmata.  Have a wonderful Christmas with your family!

Today was a big push to recopy the Giufa story onto colored paper from our rewrite with sentence variations.  Then, some of the students were able to move on an copy their FOD rewrite or at least a portion of it onto the colored paper.  Everyone wanted to work hard so they could have a break with no homework!  HOMEWORK:  Students need to finish the FOD rewrite for Wednesday.  We hope to be able to read these in class and do a few activities.  

Today we began the Figures of Description for Giufa --"Eat, My Clothes!"   We learned about ethopoeia, geopgraphia, mimesis and hydrographia.  We began the rewrite inserting these new elements into our story.    HOMEWORK:  Please complete the FOD rewrite for class on Monday.   If at all possible, help your child out by reading through their work and looking for grammar and spelling errors before I see it.   ALSO--THE STUDENTS NEED TO CLEAN OUT THEIR OLD WORK FROM THEIR FOLDERS AND PUT IN A SUPPLY OF PAPER.  Too many students are asking for paper from their classmates.  Thanks for your help!

Today we rewrote the new fable about Giufa entitled "Eat, My Clothes!"   We had read it already and done the outline.  We wrote for 20 minute periods and then read the stories aloud and let the class decide whether or not we were on track with the retelling.  Most of the students are nearly completed or turned their work in already.    HOMEWORK:  Please complete the rewrite for class on Wednesday.  HOPE YOU CAN COME FOR OPEN HOUSE TONIGHT!  Notebooks are out for viewing!  COME AND GO FROM 6-7:30 p.m.!

Today we began our new fable about Giufa entitled "Eat, My Clothes!"   We had read it already and done the outline.  We have discussed the fable and understand its meaning and talked about the implications of it.  Today we worked on our four sentence variations and completed all of them.  I had brought in the composition notebooks where the final copies of the sentence variations and the Figures of Description are being kept.  They will be out for viewing next Monday night at the Open House.  Hope you can stop by and take a look in our room!  HOMEWORK:  NONE.  We will begin our new fable writing on Monday!

We worked very hard to copy our final writing of Nathan and David onto colored paper during the first part of the class.  Everyone but one child was able to complete this and then we stopped and played a word game with the phrase Happy Thanksgiving Day.  They could make 3 letters words and try to create as many words as possible.  They were able to get to 72 words during the last 20 minutes of class time.  It was a good exercise in spelling and thinking logically.  HOMEWORK:  NONE.  We will start over on Monday.

Today we were able to begin a new narrative that I think all the students will enjoy.  It is Giufa-Eat, My Clothes!  We read it aloud, discussed the vocabulary and the meaning of the narrative.  We were able to get the nine plot components done and all the outline.  WE will begin sentence variations on Monday.  HOMEWORK:  Your lucky child has no homework for this weekend!

We worked on a couple more Figures of Description for Nathan and David narrative.  We are all learning to write with more style and creativity.  We added in anemographia and astrothesia.  We also learned the term chronographia for writing about a time period.  HOMEWORK:  Your child is to recopy the sentence variation narrative onto the colored paper.  I have edited it for them and want them to spell the words correctly and make paragraphs when needed.  It is due on Monday.

We worked on finishing our sentence variation rewrite in class today.  After half of the time was up we moved on to begin work on the Figures of Description for this narrative.  We started with dendographia and placed a description of a tree into the narrative and followed with anemographia.  The students will finish this one up and read it on Wed. in class.  HOMEWORK:  Finish the sentence variation if you did not turn it in to me to be edited.  Those are due on Wednesday.

We finished the last two sentence variations for Nathan and David and then had time to start retelling the narrative on paper.   We wrote for a while and then read it to our classmates and talked about changes we could make to make our own better.  This is a learning process and it is good to see the sharing of ideas and how each child is improving with the help of classmates.  HOMEWORK:  None.  I want the students to come back on Monday and finish this rewrite in class so they can learn together.  Have a fun weekend!

The long awaited day arrived and the students got to work in their new books.  The stories are no longer fables about animals because narratives deal mostly with people.  We began with the story from the Bible about Nathan and David.  Today we made an outline, read the passage from the Bible, and then started our sentence variations.  We now have 9 components to consider when writing instead of only three.   HOMEWORK:   Your child has an oral exercise between now and Wednesday.  I need them to retell the story to you following their outline.  They do not have to add any extra details on this telling, just do the outline points.  We need the practice in paraphrasing to make the writing smoother.  Thank you!

We listened to everyone's rewrite with the Figures of Description for the fable The Old Woman and the Physician in class today.  It is so interesting listening to all the different ideas that the students come up with to retell the story and yet stay with the outline.  On Monday they need to bring their new red textbook for narratives.  We are going to start those next week.      HOMEWORK:  Carefully copy the last writing with the FODs for The Old Woman and the Physician.    Every student has a progress report in their backpack for you!

We finished our sentence variations as homework onto the colored paper and had started our Figures of Description paper in class.  We worked more on it today and a few of the students were able to finish it during the class time.  We would stop and read and fix any thing that didn't sound right to the class.  Homework:  Complete the FOD paper if it has not been turned in to the teacher at the end of class.  Those who brought it home would benefit from someone checking through the paper for spelling and grammar errors before I see it.

We continued our work on The Old Woman and the Physician.  We started our rewrite using our new Figures of Description.  We would write a few minutes and then read our work out loud to the class to make sure we were staying on track with the story line.  At the end of the time we worked on doing Figures of Description our loud for the ones that we have already learned.   Homework:  Your child needs to copy the sentence variation paper that was returned to them that has been edited onto the pretty orange paper.  Please do not go on and do the Figures of Description paper as we will continue working on that in class on Monday as a group.

Today we were able to share our rewrites of The Old Woman and the Physician.  Some of these were awesome!  We did all three of our new Figures of Description, prosopographia, chronographia and posopopoeia.  We learned about each one and then wrote one to fit into our new fable.  On Wednesday we will do a rewrite and place them in the fable.    HOMEWORK:  NONE TODAY!

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Tell people more about the services you offer. Use this repeating layout to display content. It’s an easy way to keep your customers up to date with what’s happening. Want to make this content your own? Simply drag and drop elements.