February 1-5, 2016

Welcome to a whole new week! I know I missed getting your blog done last week, but I'm sure you'll be happy to see that this week I'm on it! I had a really good time at the pot luck! It seems like y'all have a nice sized group forming. I'm looking forward to co-op also :) Thank you so much for your help with James. You really have no idea how big of a help you are, just holding his hand for me sometimes. Ok, lets get to it! 

For History this week, we're continuing with the Revolutionary War. Last week we talked about some of the causes that led up to it, and the first battles of Lexington and Concord, as well as Paul Revere's famous ride. This week we'll be covering the Second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, more battles, the role of women in the Revolution, and how we managed to win. Meema was always of the opinion that God was on our side literally. The British armies were bigger, better trained and had more supplies. Our armies were much smaller, hungry, and often without shoes-even in winter. There is no reason we should have defeated the British unless it was all part of God's plan. 

Monday: Define these words: Second Continental Congress, Patriots, Loyalists, Continental Army, earthworks, Battle of Bunker Hill, Olive Branch Petition, mercenaries, Thomas Paine, Mount Vernon. (I know that's a lot, but these are important concepts.) 

Read p. 236-241 and do the questions on p. 241. 

Tuesday: Define these words: Marquis de Lafayette, Friedrich von Steuben, Trenton, Saratoga, Valley Forge (Girl Scouts Tonight!)

Read p. 245-249 and do the questions on p. 249 

One of my favorite heroes from the Revolutionary war was a woman. In your book she has been reduced to a phrase where her name isn't even mentioned. I want you to know about her. Her name was Deborah Sampson. She was kind of like America's Mulan. Watch this video about her. 

Wednesday: Define these words: treaty, Nathanael Greene, John Paul Jones, George Rogers Clark, Francis Marion, George Cornwallis, Yorktown

Read p. 250-255 and do the questions on p. 255. 

Thursday: Open book test. 

Friday: co-op

For Science we're moving on to the nervous system, which involves your brain, your spinal cord, and your nerves. 

Monday: Read the lesson on the Nervous System, watch the video, and do practice questions.

Tuesday: Read the lesson on Nerve Cells and Nerve Impulses, watch the video, and do practice questions. 

Wednesday: Read the lesson on the Central Nervous System, watch the video and do practice questions. 

Thursday: Read the lesson on the Peripheral Nervous System, watch the video and do practice questions. 

Friday: co-op

For Math we're still going to be working on similar skills as in the first chapter, only using multiplication and division. 

Monday: I want to start off by reviewing a little, to make sure you're ok with where we are. After that we'll move on to lesson 2.5 Simplifying Algebraic Expressions. We'll be discussing something called "like terms" and we'll be using our properties again. I'll be here so I'll go over it with you. 

Do p. 54-55, 1-36 even. 

Tuesday: 2.6 Solving Equations: Using Multiplication and Division. I'll also be here today, so I'll go over this with you. Do p. 58-59, 1-35 odd.

Wednesday: 2.7 Translating Word Phrases-In this lesson we'll be talking about the words that we use to mean different operations. We've talked about this before. "Sum" means add. "Difference" means subtract. This time we're adding multiplication and division. Read the lesson on p. 59-60

This chart may help you: 

Addition	increased by more than combined, together total of sum, plus added to
Subtraction	decreased by minus, less difference between/of less than, fewer than
Multiplication	of times, multiplied by product of increased/decreased by a   factor of (this type can   involve both addition or   subtraction and   multiplication!)
Division	per, a out of ratio of, quotient of percent (divide by 100)
Equals	is, are, was, were, will be gives, yields sold for

Try a few of the skill check problems, and see how you feel about it. Message me with any questions you have, then do p. 61-62, 1-35 odd. 

Thursday: 2.8 Estimating Products and Quotients-Ok, we're estimating again. Easy Peasy. The only difference is that this time we're using multiplication and division. Read over the lesson on p. 63, try a few of the skill check problems, and message me with any questions you have. Do p. 64-65, 1-35 odd.

Friday: co-op

For Reading read to chapter 21 of To Kill A Mockingbird. I know that seems like a lot, but Lit Group is in 2 weeks, and we have to read nine chapters per week to get finished. This will take you through Tom Robinson's trial. 

For Spelling do Contract D, for these words from TKAM. Don't forget to define all of your words. 

ambidextrous     undulate     manacles    browbeat    succinct 

elucidate    acrimonious    umbrage   aggregation   corrugated  

congenital    connivance    mollify    volition     buttress  

For Writing we're going to continue to work on your research paper. I want to talk about it on Monday and then we'll figure out where we're going from there. I'll edit your blog to show what you need to do each day after we talk. 

If you have anything you need to do for "The Others" class, make sure to get it done also. 

That's it chick-a-bee. I love you mucha mucha, and remember: 

January 19-22, 2016

I really hope that's not too disrespectful, cause I really think its funny. 

I hope you had a great day off! This is a busy week, so I'm glad we got some extra rest. 

Tuesday we have scouts, Wednesday church, Thursday room escape, and Friday potluck. Gurl!! 

There is absolutely NO TIME to put school work off until another day or until that night. You're going to have to get it done. Also, if your day's work isn't done, you might as well just stay home that evening. That means a check by EVERY task for each day. 

For History we're finally moving into the Revolution. During the American Revolution, the 13 American colonies broke away from British rule and became a seperate, independent country. To start with we'll  be learning about the events that led up to the Revolution. 

Tuesday: Define theses words: revolution, allies, French and Indian War, George Washington, Edward Braddock

Read pages 216-219 and answer the questions on p. 219.

Wednesday: Define these words: Stamp Act, Parliament, House of Lords, House of Commons, petitions, repeal, Sons of Liberty, Townshend Acts, boycott, Sam Adams (no...not that one.) 

Read pages 220-223 and answer the questions on page 223. 

Thursday: Define these words: Redcoats, massacre, Committee of Correspondence, monopoly, quartered, Intolerable Acts, tyranny, First Continental Congress, Crispus Attucks, Paul Revere, John Adams, Patrick Henry. (I know its a lot ...but they are all important.) 

Read pages 224-228 and answer the questions on page 228

Friday: Define these words: Minutemen, Concord, Lexington

Read pages 229-231 and answer the questions on page 231. 

For Science we will be learning about joints and muscles this week. There are different kinds of joints and different kinds of muscles and we will be learning where each kind is and what each kind does. 

Tuesday: Read the Skeletal System Joints Lesson, watch the video and do the practice questions. 

Wednesday: Read the Smooth, Skeletal and Cardiac Muscles Lesson, watch the video and do the practice questions 

Thursday: Read the Muscles, Bones, and Movement Lesson, watch the video and do the practice questions. 

Friday: Play around with the games on this site .

In Math we'll be moving along to Chapter 2 which covers a lot of the same skills we were doing last week, but uses multiplication and division. 

Tuesday: Lesson 2.1-Numerical Expressions: Order of Operations.  We've talked about Order of Operations already a little bit, and you remembered me teaching Curt about it also. 

First let's talk about how we write multiplication and division signs in different ways. In the past we've used 2x4 to show multiplication. We don't want to write it that way when we're doing algebra though because we often use X as a variable, and it gets confusing. Here are other ways to show that we're multiplying in an expression: 

There are different ways of writing division in an expression also. 

Here is the same graphic using numbers instead of variables. 

So-now that we've established all that, what we need to know is what we should do first. 

Just remember the sentence "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" or PEMDAS

1. Parenthesis

2. Exponents

3. Multiplication or Division (whichever one you come to first in the expression)

4. Addition or Subtraction (whichever one you come to first in the expression) 

Now, read over lesson 2.1 on pages 41-42. Try a couple of the skill check problems and see how comfortable you are with them. If you have questions message me. 

Do page 43, numbers 1-33 odd. (I want to go over number 34 with you). 

Wednesday: 2.2 Evaluating Algebraic Expressions-This lesson is like one we did in chapter one, we're just using multiplication and division instead. Remember the different ways to write multiplication and division in algebra! That will be important. Read over the lesson on p. 44-45, try a couple of the skill check problems. If you have questions message me. Do p. 45-46, number 1-35 odd. 

Thursday: 2.3 Properties of Multiplication-This lesson deals with our old favorites, the associative, commutative, and identity properties of multiplication. They are much the same as addition with some slight differences. Look over the lesson on p. 46-48 and try a couple of the skill check problems. Message me any questions you have, and do p. 48-49, number 1-25 odd. 

Friday-2.4 Distributive Property-I don't know why, but when I was learning about the distributive property I always thought it was cool. I would be all "aww yeah...gettin' to use the distributive property!" 

If you think about the word "distribute" it means to pass out one to everyone, right? So that is what we're going to here. We have a number outside the parenthesis and we want to multiply it by an expression inside the parenthesis. Something like this: 

All you have to do is multiply the "a" that is outside the parenthesis with each of the variables inside the parentheses. Let's look at it with actual numbers instead of variables: 

Here is a video of Mr. McLogan doing a problem: 

Ok, read the lesson on p. 50, and try a couple of the skill check problems. Message me your questions, and then do p. 51-52, number 1-25 odd. 

For Spelling, we're doing Contract C this week. Your words are all from To Kill A Mockingbird. 

obliged    prowess   ramshackled   eerily    embalming

touchous    libel     accosted   lineaments   fanatical 

analogous    innate   contemporaries   rudiments   corncribs 

Make sure that the first thing you do with these words every week is to find the definitions of all of them. That will be a 15 point activity. 

For Reading you need to read a chapter each day of  To Kill A Mockingbird. On one day this week you will need to read two chapters, if you did not read a chapter on Monday. 

For Writing you need to work on making notecards this week. I will try to get to the library. Perhaps Daddy can take you one day while I'm at work. You will need probably 15-20 note cards. 

That's that with that, chica. Its going to be a fun week, even though its busy. Just remember: 

Don't Procrastinate!! 

January 11-January 15, 2016

But you're gonna have an awesome working pencil this week-I just know it! 

Let's get right to it, shall we? 

For History we are finishing up with the colonies and then we'll be headed into the Revolution. This week we'll be talking about the Southern colonies, which include Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Monday: Define these words: indigo, cash crops, economy, tidewater, swamps, piedmont, George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, and James Oglethorpe. Read section 1 of Chapter 9, pages 188-192. Do the questions on page 192. 

Tuesday: Define these words: plantation, planters, broker, public service, society, William Byrd II

Read section 2 of Chapter 9, pages 193-196 and answer theqeustions on page 196.

Wednesday: Define these words: field slaves, house slaves, overseer, almanac, Benjamin Banneker

Read section 3 of Chapter 9, pages 197-200. Answer the questions on page 200.

Thursday: Define these words: Eliza Lucas, Columbia (SC)

Read section 4 of Chapter 9, pages 201-203. Answer the question on page 203.

Friday: Do the Chapter 9 Review on page 210. 

For Science we are going to be talking about hair and nails this week and begin talking about the skeletal system. 

Monday: Read the Nails and Hair lesson , watch the video and answer these questions: 

1. What is the function of your nails?
2. What is the function of the oil glands in your skin?
3. What are the functions of hair?
4. What is keratin?
5. What are two functions of your nails?
6. What are two functions of your hair?
7. What animals, other than mammals, have hair?

Tuesday: Do the practice for the Nails and Hair lesson. 

Wednesday: Read the Human Skeletal System lesson, watch the video, and answer these questions: 

1. Are bones a living organ?

2. What are the three components of the skeletal system?

3. List four functions of the skeletal system.

4. Name and describe the two types of tissue that make up a bone.

Thursday: Do the practice questions for the Human Skeletal System lesson. 

Friday: Use the website to answer the questions: 

• Human Skeleton at http://www.getbodysmart.com/ap/skeletalsystem/skeleton/menu/menu.html

1. What makes up the axial skeleton? What makes up the appendicular skeleton?
2. What is the scapula commonly known as? What other bone helps the scapula function? What do these two bones do?
3. How many thoracic vertebrae do humans have? Where are they located in the spinal column?
4. To which type of vertebrae do ribs attach?
5. What is the atlas bone? What is the role of this bone?

For Math, we're finishing up chapter 1 in your pre-algebra book. You seem to be understanding it pretty well, so hopefully it will continue that way. Honestly, I hated math until 8th grade when I got into pre-algebra, then it just all started clicking with me. Maybe you'll be the same way! 

Monday: Lesson 1.5-Translating Word Phrases: Read pages 18 and 19. If you need help understanding it, message me and we'll talk about it. Do p. 20-21, number 1-35 odd. 

Tuesday: Lesson 1.6 Problem Solving: The Four Point Checklist. These are all word problems, when you have really liked in the past. Read p. 22 and then try the skill check problems. How are you feeling about them? Let me know on KIK.  Do numbers 1-10 on p. 23-24. 

Wednesday: Lesson 1.7 Estimating Sums and Differences: Read p. 25-26

If you need more explanation, watch this video: 

Just like the teacher in this next video says, he's not a fan of front-end rounding-but you should know what it is. He explains it here: 

Do the problems on p. 27-28, numbers 1-30 even. 

Thursday: On Friday we're going to have a test over Ch. 1. Go back through the lessons in Ch. 1 and find anything you may have questions about. Write down the questions and the lesson they come from so that we can go over them. A good idea might be to try a couple of the problems in the skill check of each lesson. Do you know what you're doing? If not, read over the lesson and see if you can figure it out. If you can't, lets talk about it.  

Friday: Chapter 1 Review, p. 31-32. Do all the problems. 

You finished Chapter 1!! 

For Reading, we're going to start a novel called To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  Its about racism, class-ism, and how we treat those that are different than us. Its set in a small town in Alabama during the Great Depression. Harper Lee, the author, is still alive and lives in Alabama-but she's very reclusive and doesn't want to be around people. The character Scout is based on her, and the character Dill is based on another famous author named Truman Capote. They lived next door to each other when they were children. We have to have this read by February 15, so that means that you need to read a chapter a day-but there are some days you need to read more than one chapter.  This week just read one chapter each day, unless you feel like reading more. 

For Spelling  we're going to be doing Contract B. 

Your words are all from To Kill A Mockingbird: 

malevolent     inquisitive   erratic   monosyllabic  edification

indigenous    auspicious   predilection  iniquity  benevolence 

melancholy   repertoire   beadle   dispensation  vapid  

For Writing finish what you did not do last week. 

That's all chica! I'm also going to give you a check list so that you can make sure every assignment gets done by FRIDAY. Assignments not finished by Friday will be considered late and you will get a lower grade. 

I have every confidence that you can get this done. You are an amazing kid! I love you so much, and remember: 

Jan. 4-Jan 8, 2016

Yeah, yeah, I know-but its here, so we might as well get on with it, right?? 

Welcome back to school!! 

I've so enjoyed spending this week with you. I am really proud of how you handled your first babysitting job, and can't wait to see you run in the Color Me Rad!! Co-op starts again at the end of the month also-so many fun things to look forward to!! 

In History we are soon moving into the Revolutionary War period. This is an interesting time in our history.  We'll talk about the Tories and the Loyalists and who was for the king and who was against him. We'll learn about some pretty courageous people including some amazing women like Phyliss Wheatley and Deborah Sampson. We're also going to be keeping an eye on the Presidential race, because that's fairly important I must say. Before we can get started on the Revolution though, we have to finish up talking about the colonies.  We've already talked about the New England colonies, which included  New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. (Maine and was there too, but Maine was part of Massachusetts). This week we'll be talking about the Middle Colonies, which include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. This weeks assignments are: 

Monday-Read section 1 of Ch. 8. Define these words: fall line, proprietor, delegates

Answer the questions on p. 174

Also watch this video. You don't have to watch the whole thing right now. You can stop it at 3:39 (if you want. Go ahead and watch it all if you like!) 

Tuesday: Read section 2 of Ch. 8. Define these words: influence, stoop (on a building), Sarah Knight

Answer the questions on p. 177

Wednesday: Read section 3 of Ch. 8. Define these words: Quakers, refuge, immigrants, 

Conestoga wagon, Scotch-Irish, William Penn

Answer the questions on p. 181

Thursday: Read section 4 of Ch. 8. Define these words: apprentice, lightning rod, Benjamin Franklin

Answer the questions on p. 183

Friday: Open book test: complete the chapter 8 review on p. 187 (you can use your book and the answers to the questions and definitions you did this week. No excuses for wrong answers!!) 

In  Science we've been talking about cells and how they make new cells. Now we're going to talk about how those cells can be specialized to perform certain functions. For example muscle cells make muscles, nerve cells make nerves, etc. We'll also be talking about how your skin is made up. 

Monday: Read lesson 16 "Organization of the Human Body" and watch the video at the end. 

Tuesday: Do the practice for Lesson 16. 

Wednesday: Read Lesson 17  "Skin" and watch the video at the end. 

Thursday: Do the practice for Lesson 17. 

Friday: Skin project! We're going to be making an edible skin cake...mmmmmm! 

All the ingredients are in the pantry. Go for it!! 

For Math we are  going to start pre-algebra! Yay!! 

When we start chapter 1, you're going to figure out pretty quickly that you've done this stuff before. Monday: We'll go over the lesson on p. 3 in your Pre-Algebra book, and then you can do the Exercises on pages 4 and 5.  Do the even numbers for sections A and B, and do all of section C. 

Tuesday: Watch this video 

(warning: you will soon tire of the word "coconuts" and fake british accents.) 

Read pages 5 and 6 in your math book, which goes over the same information. Watch this video: 

Its much shorter and less annoying. 

After watching this video, read page 7 in your math book. 

Do you feel comfortable with these properties? Tell me how you're feeling on messenger or kik. 

Do the odd numbers on pages 8 and 9. Make sure you pay attention to the directions for each section. 

Wednesday: Read pages 10 and 11, then watch this video: 

(The audio is annoying, but believe me, this was the  best video.)

Let me know how you're feeling about this. KIK me! 

Do the even numbers on page 13.

Thursday: Read pages 14 and 15 in your book and then watch this video-before you watch the video, keep this in mind: This teacher is an Algebra teacher, not pre-algebra. She is doing some math that you may not know how to do, but she explains solving the equation itself well. Don't panic if you don't know how to do the actual math, just watch how she solves the equation. You also won't be working with negative numbers on this lesson. 

Practice doing the four skill check problems on page 16, then let me know how you're feeling about it. KIK ME! 

Do the even numbers on p. 17, and numbers 33-35 on p. 18. 

Friday: Having trouble with anything? let me know!! 

You did it!! You did a whole week of pre-algebra!! 

On to Spelling! I have some new spelling contracts, so you won't be  doing the same one all the time. They will repeat about once a month. This week's spelling contract will be Spelling Contract A (Make sure you're on the right contract!!) 

Your words will be: 

for math: equation      expression     variable       property 

for history: delegates      apprentice     conestoga    proprietor

for science: epithelial   cardiovascular   dermis  integumentary   

For Writing we are going to start writing a research paper. We're going to take each step at a time and get through it together. I'm not going to throw you to the wolves! Its going to be 2-3 pages long, on a topic that you are interested in (that I approve of), and I don't have a due date at this point. I have a packet that we are going to work through to guide us through the process.

  Monday: Today we're going to start with pre-writing and choosing a topic. Look on page 3 of your packet called "Narrowing your Topic." Read this and see what topic you can come up with using their diagram. Let me know and we'll discuss if its appropriate. 

Tuesday: Look at p. 4 of your packet named Surveying your Topic and Forming at Main Idea. Look at the last question first.  The first thing you'll need to do is write down the main idea of your research paper. You can use this to guide you in finding resources to help you. We will go to the library and search for some things soon, but you can start looking online and seeing what information you can find there. 

Wednesday: Look at p. 9 and 10 of your packet, Evaluating Sources and Evaluating Online Sources. Read the directions and answer the questions. 

Thursday: Look at page 13 and 14 of your packet, Evaluting Sample Approaches to a Topic and Evaluating Sample Thesis Statements. Read the information and answer the questions .

Friday:nothing today. 

For Reading we're going to be starting the book, Sarah Bishop in about two weeks, but in the mean time I have a choice for you. You can read The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, or The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone.  Choose your book and read 2 chapters per day of Midwife's Apprentice, one chapter per day of The Outsiders, or three chapters per day of The Boy on Cinnamon St. (I know you may be thinking "Woot! Outsiders it is!" but consider the length of chapters and complexity too-I love The Outsiders, and I think you would too, but don't go for it just because its only one chapter per day-really look at them). 

That's a week done, baby girl!! I know you're  going to do a great job, and I can't wait to get back to it with you! I love you and I'm proud of you, and remember: