Thursday, October 1, 2015

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!! 

Give this song a listen and see if it doesn't get your blood goin'. 

Ooooh gurl! I'm feelin' it!! 

Ok, let's do some schoolin'. I'm kinda likin' leavin' off my g's. 

So you didn't get to watch the movie for History yesterday, so watch at least an hour and a half of it today. Remember the name is "1492: Conquering Paradise" and its on my list on Netflix. 

Check your writing assignment for yesterday. Remember that I only wanted a good thesis statement? Use the chart I gave you to make a really good thesis statement for that topic. Look back at yesterday's blog to help you. 

Keep going with XtraMath . Do you realize that you've gone up 50 points since you started? I don't think you'll be doing addition much longer. Next week we're going to add some additional math besides XtraMath. I'm hoping learning the facts is going to make it a lot easier and quicker when you're working. 

For Spelling review your words. Make sure you know the definitions and spelling of each of the words. Your test will be tomorrow. 

So you didn't do any Reading yesterday, did you? Your book is in the trunk of the car. I'm going to put it in the Hobbit, so you need to go out and get it. I want you to be finished with that book by the end of next week. Instead of answering questions each day I want you to write a book report after you finish reading it and do a project. We'll discuss the specifics of the book report next week. 

For Science today I want you to do the practice questions for organelles.  How did your picture turn out? I didn't get to see it yesterday. Can you take a picture of it today and send it to me on kik please? 

For life skills, clean the living room. Make sure everything is put away, floor is vacuumed, and furniture is dusted. 

I love you chica-And remember: 

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

This is the cutest panda there ever was. Seriously. 

(BTW, Daddy is annoying me by saying  that this is NOT the cutest Panda in the world.) 

Ok, its late and I'm gonna kinda go quick with this one today. 

Finish the work you didn't do yesterday-that includes Reading, Writing, and Spelling I think.
Continue with XtraMath.

For Science do a drawing of a cell, including all the organelles and nucleus. Here is a diagram to help you.

For History I want you to watch the first hour of the movie 1492:Conquest of Paradise. Its about Christopher Columbus. Its on my list on my netflix account. Let me know if you have trouble finding it. 

No life skills today. 

I love you mucha mucha, and remember: 

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Its Tuesday. That is all. 

You know, some days are just days. They are rainy and blah and we have to get up and do school and go to work and we don't want to. We just want to go to town and try on dresses because that sounds way more fun. And sometimes those days feel a little sucky. I tell you what though, even on those days-especially on those days-God tells us something really important. He says in Psalm 118:24: 

This is a note I wrote a couple of years ago. Sometimes I like to go back and read it. I thought I would share it with you today. 

I am the type of person that wakes up generally in a good mood. I need five minutes, maybe, but after that I'm generally pleasant and cheery. I have always been this way. In fact, my sister tells a story of me waking up in my perky little mood and she looked over at my mother and said "Can't you DO something about her?" Bethany is just like me, much to the dismay of our other family members who need a good 45 minutes to get past the morning grouchies. However, even us perky morning people have our bad days. We have days when the sun doesn't shine and we can't find our shoes and and in general things just aren't going our way. When I was a little girl and that happened, my mother would sing. She sang:

"This is the day that the Lord has made!

I will rejoice and be glad in it!

This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made!"

It worked every time. My mood would lift and I would get a smile on my face.

Flash forward 25 years or so. My mom has passed away now. Its a dull, ugly, gray day. I don't want to go to work, but its that time. I'm having a hard day where I'm thinking about Mama a lot and am just kinda sad all over. I head out to the car and suddenly in my head I think the words to the song ..."this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!" And my mood lightened. I felt better. I hadn't thought about that song in a long time, but the Lord brought it back to me just when I needed it. Now, I keep it at the front of my mind all the time.

The thing is, there are some terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days out there. There are days when sad, bad things happen to us. Psalms 118:24 says "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." For me personally, this verse isn't only an encouragement, a praise, but also a challenge. THIS day, when you got bad news in the mail or your doctor visit didn't go as planned, or your loved one flew off to fight in a far away country?-it was the day the LORD made. And what does He want you to do?? Rejoice in it. And that is the time when you want to say "I'd rather not, thanks though." But it is then that you ask the Holy Spirit to comfort you and give you strength, and you will find reason to rejoice. Even if you don't find reason in your particular situation, take joy in knowing that you have another day here to find reason to glorify His name. You have another day to touch another life. Rejoice, Rejoice, and again, I say Rejoice!

I love you so much! And I rejoice because of you :) 

Today for History, we're going to be talking about Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus discovered North America in 1492-quite by accident. He was actually looking for India. Read the basic story of Christopher Columbus, then watch this Horrible Histories video: 

Here is a primary source document from Christopher Columbus. Read what he has written and answer the questions that follow it. 

For Math continue with XtraMath. You're steadily progressing! I'm proud of you! I know this seems crazy for us to spend this much time learning basic facts, but I really believe that the rest of it will come so much easier once you know them. 

For Science we're continuing with the chapter on organelles. Review the chapter and answer the questions at the bottom. Be sure to watch the video! Tomorrow I'm going to get you to draw and label all the organelles in the cell, so really pay attention to their structure. You will be able to look back at the chapter if you need to. 

Continue Reading BOTR and answering the discussion questions that go with the chapter.  Answer the questions in Google Drive or email and send them to me. Make sure that I get them today, please. 

This week's Spelling words are the next 10 in 100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know

Your words are: circumference    commotion  concoction  conspicuous   contortion   counter   

                            cunning         debris             defiance         deft

Read the entries for these words on pages 12-20 and write a sentence for each word. (Ricky Dillon optional ;) )

For writing this week we are going to work on your next persuasive essay. This time I am going to give you a topic. Today I want you to focus on the thesis statement. Use this diagram to help you: 

Your topic this week is "Schools should fight cyber-bullying". 

For life skills today, I want you to find recipes that we can make for dinner using chicken and potatoes with things we have here at the house already. This website could help you. Decide what you want to make for dinner and get it all together! You can cook it when I get home.

I think that is enough to keep you busy for today! Know all day that I love you and I have prayed for you, and remember: 

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Oh look. Its Wednesday. 

Welcome to Wednesday, sweet girl! (do you secretly say "Wed-nes-day" when you're spelling it? Cause I do.) 

So in History we have talked about the woodland and the creek Indians. We're still talking about the early days of America, so we're not going to talk about the Indians further west just yet..just know that they were there the whole time. The entire country was covered with tribes. Now they are concentrated in Oklahoma because that is where they were forced to go. We're going to start talking about the Explorers now. Until now in America, there have only been natives. Now the people from Europe are going to start coming in and things get a little cray-cray. (yup. Said it. #sorrynotsorry)

There were many famous explorers that left Europe and came to the Americas. (The Americas means North and South America, btw).  The first one that we're going to talk about is the earliest one that we know of-Leif Erikson. He was a Viking from Denmark. We don't know exactly where he visited in North America. He wrote of finding a place called "Vinland" because it had so many vinyards. Later ruins of a Viking ship were found in New Foundland in Canada. New Foundland closely matched the description Leif gave of "Vinland" so its believed that he came there. Apparently the Vikings weren't happy there, so they went back to Denmark. Watch this Crash Course History video and listen to John Green tell you all about the Vikings. 

Also-its #WCW!! woot woot! Who's it gonna be?? 

I see in Science that you only got 29% on your Practice. Read back over the lesson and come up with a list of questions. If you don't have any, try doing those practice questions again and see how well you do this time.

Keep working on XtraMath. You are steadily going up in points with every assignment. Keep at it!!

One thing to remember-try not to guess at the answer. If you don't know it immediately, figure it out. 

For writing do your Daily 10. Do the first two topics on week five: "Gun Control" and "Gag me". 

Make sure you're really putting 10 solid minutes of work into it! 

Review your Spelling words and definitions for your test tomorrow. 

Don't forget your Wii Fit routine! 

Read the next two chapters in your book and do the discussion questions . I'm not seeing where you have answered the discussion questions on the previous chapters. Please make sure I get those. 

I haven't forgotten about life skills. I just have to get some time to go Grocery shopping. We'll plan to do that Monday. Before then we'll make our Grocery list and find coupons. (Yay! Coupons!!) 

Make sure you get all of your work done really well! 

I love you like corn loves butter! 

And remember: 

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Yo! This one is gonna be short because its really already my bedtime but I am just getting started typing. 

For History: finish up your map assignment from your workbook. Today is the final day to do it. 

For Math: XtraMath (by the way, your score has gone up 23 points since you took the placement quiz) 

For Spelling: Write a sentence to go with each of your spelling words. Your spelling words are the first ten words in the 100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know  book. These should be different sentences than the ones you gave me in your pretest. 

For Science, do your practice section for Cell Nucleus. Let me know what your percentage was. 

For Writing, look back over your paper about wearing earphones in study hall and look at the notes I made. Make some corrections. (Remember to make another copy and make your corrections there so we can see your progress).  I liked your paper, btw! I thought you had some really good points. 

In Reading, read the next two chapters and do the study questions for those chapters. 

Life Skills-what should we do??? Give me some ideas on kik! 

I'm sorry this blog post isn't as detailed as the others. I'll get started earlier tomorrow!! 

I love you muchly, and remember:

(I would like to point out that this picture even includes donuts!) 

Monday, September 21, 2015

Its just another muffin biscuit Monday! 

Welcome to a brand new Monday beautiful girl. 

What did you think about church yesterday? I would love to talk with you about it, even if we do it back and forth in comments.  I can tell you that I felt convicted about not truly supporting my pastor and his wife. It was amazing to see first hand the results of that happening. I kind of felt like you might have come down front because you wanted to say something during the service yesterday morning? Did you have something you wanted to say? I'm going to ask you to pray with me, daily, for all of the Hyche family-the kids also. They really, really need our support and especially our prayers. Help me find some verses that can help us remember to support them. You find two and I'll find two. 

In History I know you needed help with your map of AL.  We'll finish that, and then I want you to watch this video of the Muskogee/Creek Indians doing a "stomp dance".  This was actually here in Phenix City. Remember when we were at the museum and we talked about the Trail of Tears? They talked about that the Muskogee Indians now live in Oklahoma because they were forced out of their homes here and marched there. These people have come from Oklahoma back to their native homeland to a festival and are doing a traditional stomp dance. 

Also, who was your #WCW?? I'm so curious now!! Be thinking about who you want for this week!
I'm really excited about this #WCW thing. I think we owe it to ourselves to know about these women. At the Republican Debates the other day one of the questions they asked the candidates was who  should be on the $10 (You know they are going to put a woman on the $10).  None of them could really give a quick answer. We should have these women on the tip of our tongue!
Here is a quote by Susan B. Anthony, who worked tirelessly for women to have the right to vote.

“It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less”

For Math, continue with XtraMath. Today I want you to really focus on trying to answer as many problems as possible. Lets see how much higher your score gets! 

In Science we're going to continue with the chapter we started last week about the cell nucleus. Today go back over it and see if you have questions or anything you need further explanation on (do NOT say everything!! ;) ) 

After we discuss it, answer the questions for this chapter (not the practice ones).

Today Read BOTR Ch. 18. Here are the study guide questions that go along with this chapter: 

 Chapter Eighteen 

Discussion:1. Discuss some of the new things Samuel is experiencing as a result of having Namontack coming to live with the colonists.

2. Samuel is shocked to discover that Captain Smith’s brush with death at the hands of the Powhatans was actually just a dramatic ritual. In the Author’s Note, the author explains that historians still debate about whether or not Pocahontas saved Captain Smith’s life, or if the event happened at all (pages 229–230). What is the difference between a historical myth and a historical fact? Can students think of other examples of myths in American history? What does this example demonstrate about history’s ability to change based on newly discovered knowledge?

3. The Powhatans look at Captain Smith as being one of them now. This has caused Chief Powhatan to take care of the colonists because he considers them one of his tribes. Samuel believes this is a good thing but is worried about what the gentlemen will think if they find out that Chief Powhatan is treating them as one of his tribes. Why is Samuel concerned about this?

4. Namontack sails with those returning to England. Discuss the new things he will see. Coming from a different cultural perspective, what might he think of England?

5. The colonists decide to make John Smith the new president. What qualifications for the job did Captain Smith have?

Activities:
1) On page 137, the colonists begin construction of the new fort. Locate pictures of this new, five-sided fort by using the Jamestown Web sites included in the references.

2) What diseases could the “summer sickness” have been? Research possible “summer sicknesses” such as diseases borne by different insects (mosquitoes, flies, ticks, etc.).

Are you still enjoying the book? I hope so! 

For writing, write your Daily 10 topic: 

Confucius Say
"Everything has beauty, but everyone does not see it". Your thoughts on this proverb?

I read the second draft of your persuasive essay. I see where you made some corrections, but it still has a few problems. I understand why you don't want to continue using that one, so lets starts another one. Here are some ideas to get you started. Lets look at this and discuss it as well.

We will do your Spelling pretest today-Lesson 5.

Let's talk about life skills today. Where do we want to go with that this week?

I love you chica, and remember:

Friday, September 18, 2015

Its Friday, Its Friday, Its Friday!!! 

Do a happy dance, girl friend! You made it! 

Today is make up day, so finish up anything you didn't get done during the week. Make sure that your History map is done. 

Go ahead and do your XtraMath for today and your Daily 10 writing. Today you can write about today's topic, "The Budget Crisis"  or, you can write about any of the topics from weeks one and two that you haven't already written about. By the way, I'm enjoying reading your Daily 10s. You're an awesome writer!! I'm sorry I haven't been giving you feedback on them right away. When I look at them on my phone it cuts the top two lines off, and by the time I get to use Daddy's laptop I sometimes forget. I am really impressed by them though. 

Daddy will give you your spelling test. Just ask him about it. 

Love you chica! Here is your quote for the day: 

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Thursday is here!! 

So you're sitting here next to me while I write your blog for today....which is odd. I'm looking at you right now. Remember when we were watching Cutthroat Kitchen and I just looked at you weirdly? That's when I typed that. 

Spend some time in prayer-please be in prayer for Martha Ann. Her oldest son is very sick. He has cancer. His name is Tommy.  Keep up with your bible reading also. I have gotten behind on that. I need to catch up. How are you doing? 

Finish up your assignment yesterday for History. 

Continue doing XtraMath-How long is it taking you to do XtraMath each day? Let me know in the comments. 

For Science, first of all, great job on the 90%!! I'm really proud of you. :D 

Today, I just want you to read and watch the video for the next chapter. http://www.ck12.org/user%3AEGriswell/book/Life-Science-8/section/5.0/

For writing do today's Daily 10-"Fall is in the Air". 

For Reading read Chapter 17. Here are your questions: 

Chapter Seventeen

Discussion:

1. In this chapter the boys meet Pocahontas. Many of the students have probably seen movies about Pocahontas before. Make a list of characteristics of the historical Pocahontas, as depicted in this chapter, taken from the original records: How old is she? What is her real name? How does she wear her hair? What clothing does she wear? What is her relationship to Captain Smith? How does this compare to the fictional Pocahontas of the movies?

Study your words for your spelling test on Friday.

No life skills today.

Don't forget your P.E. routine! 

Love you muchly!! 

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Guess what day it is?????

You're halfway there! I'm so glad that your gift to Courtney worked out. She's really lucky to have a friend like you :).  

How is your bible reading going? I'm still praying for you daily-usually around 7:00 in the morning-so before your feet even hit the floor you have prayers all around you! Remember that when you have issues during the day. Just tell yourself-"I got this! My mama has already prayed for me!" 

For  History, complete the assignment from yesterday that you weren't able to do. You'll be using page 11 in your AL History workbook. Your Alabama map and color pencils are on the kitchen table. It may take you more than one day to finish. Remember-really do your best! 

For writing do the Daily 10 for today: "Hug A Tree" and the one from yesterday, "Kids Gone Wild". 

For Math, keep working on XtraMath. According to your XtraMath progress report, you have increased 10 points in your score since you took the placement test. Good job-keep it up! 

Yesterday I wanted you to do the practice for Science. Go ahead and do that today, and let me know how you did in the comments I hope our experiment yesterday helped you understand it a little better. 

Don't forget to do your P.E. today-do your routine on Wii Fit. 

Read Chapters 13-16 in Blood on the River. Don't worry about doing the activities for these, just answer the discussion questions. 

No spelling or life skills today. 

Have a great evening at church tonight and remember: 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Happy Tuesday!!

Welcome to a new day! How are those pj pants feeling?? ;) By the way, tell Aunt Amy Happy Birthday today! 

I started off my day praying for you and I would like to ask you to pray for me too. I am really liking this blog thing. I like writing to you like an email. Its way more fun than just a grid with assignments in it. I just worry that I'll get behind in doing it every day. Will you pray with me that we can both keep up with things? The bible says in Matthew "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." Matthew 18:19.  Lets agree that we both want to keep up with things, ok? 

After you have some prayer time, read your bible. What are you using? Your bible reading plan or something else? Yesterday I read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. It was really cool because it went right along with the bible study I have been doing about the names of God. 

For History I want you to do page 11 in your Alabama History workbook. You'll need a blank copy of a map of Alabama. You can print one from here. Map of Alabama 
Daddy can help you with hooking your laptop up to the new printer if you're not sure about doing it. You'll need color pencils too. They are on the bench in front of the island in a blue pencil box. It will probably take you two days to finish everything, so I won't be putting an assignment for tomorrow for History. I want you to do a really good job on this though, ok? I do want you to be thinking about your #wcw though! If you like, you could make something on canva.com about her. If you need help using it, let me know. If not, figure out how you want to present information about your #WCW. 

For Math keep working on XtraMath. I'm going to start adding in other skills soon, but I really want to get these math facts down. 

Keep reading Blood on the River. Read Ch. 12 and answer the questions/do activities for that chapter. Questions and Activities

In Science, Do the practice questions. What percentage did you get? Please let me know in the comments! 

Yesterday I forgot about our Daily 10. Today do "Kids Gone Wild". 

For writing take what we discussed yesterday about persuasive writing and do another draft of your paper about your hair. 

For Spelling, do the exercises for Lesson 4. Scroll down to get to Lesson 4. 

For life skills use this website to figure up how much food and water our family should have on hand in case of an emergency. Make a list of foods that would be good for us to have on hand. 

Don't forget that we have girl scouts today! 

I hope you're having a great day, and by the way....

Monday, September 14, 2015

So what do you think of this bloggy thing? I'm kind of hoping that I can make it more personal and explain some things more. Also, you'll be able to respond and ask me  questions and such in the comments-stuff you might forget to ask me later. We'll give it a shot and if you don't like it, we'll go back to the other way.

I sure did miss you in church today by the way! Mrs. Melody gave me your secret sister information-so remind me to give it to you!

Today I want you to start first by just praying. I have really realized in the last few weeks the amazing power of prayer.  I have been praying for you more than I have in the past. I am so thankful for you!! Also, spend a little time reading your bible. If you need a guide for where to start, here is a daily bible reading schedule. (right click on it and open in a new tab to see it bigger)

If you are already reading a certain book in sunday school or youth, go with that! I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

For History, lets keep going with the native americans. We've already learned about the Woodland tribes, so lets move on to the Southeastern ones. These are the ones lived here. We actually have these natives in our family, though I'm not sure which tribe.  Read pages 57-65 in your Alabama History book. You'll be learning about the Muscogee.  The Europeans renamed them the "Creeks" but we see that word Muscogee a lot in this area. Columbus is in Muscogee county.  Answer the questions and do the vocabulary words on page 65.

For math, lets keep working on XtraMath. How are your skills coming?

What chapter are you on in Blood on the River? Read the next chapter and do the questions and activities for that chapter. I'm really glad you're enjoying this book. I'm already looking at ideas for our next book!

In Science we're still learning about cells. Here is a link for our next chapter:Cell Transport
Be sure and watch the video and answer the questions after you read the text.

I want us to work on writing persuasively together today. You write well, we just need to work on the form a little. Get with me today and we'll talk about that.

In Spelling we'll do our spelling pretest for Ch. 3. 

How do you feel about the grammar we've been doing? I don't feel like its really working well. Lets talk about that today and see if we want to change things up a little with that. 

For life skills I want for us to talk about being prepared in case of a disaster. We're going to start a pillow case project. Be thinking about what you would want to have with you in case of an emergency-be more practical than sentimental. 

I hope you like this blog-I feel like I'm really liking it so far! Love you much!!