Week 22

We are nearing the end of the semester. Its important that ALL outstanding work (assigned work not yet submitted and incomplete work that needs correction) be turned in at our next class.  In addition, any and all work returned as incomplete during class must be corrected and resubmitted the very next week. This has been the expectation all along, however its more important as we wrap up the year so that no assignments are left incomplete after the final class.  I do not plan to offer ongoing assessment on classwork past the end of April.

Our new lesson today was on how to develop a narration (narratio) for our essays.  The narratio provides background information so that the reader understands the issue.

Writing Assignment:

• Guide to narratio page 115 (use the chart I passed out in class instead of the one on page 116)
• Arrangement Worksheet, pages 117-120
• Outline based on the lesson 7 template on page 121
• Check your number for outstanding work.  Assignment records are current through March 26.  If I have made an error, please bring that to my attention.

Reading Assignment:

• Reread the first half of The Meno very slowly and carefully, pages 59-77.  Write notes in the margin to help you narrate.  Use your yellow highlighter to follow the flow of thought.  Mark at least one blue (preferably more) in this section to offer for class discussion.
• Review the final chapter of The King of the Golden River.  What symbol (or symbols) for the resurrection do you see?

Reading assignment clarification

I'd just like to clarify that the reading assignment is for the Meno dialogue this week.  Please note that the book contains 5 dialogues, only one of which they'll need to read for class, on pages 59 - 92.

Assignment correction

I just corrected an error from the assigment I posted after our last class.  The worksheet on page 90 is for refutation, not amplification.
Sorry for the mistake. At least I got the page number right :)

Week 21

This week's assignments

Reading:

•   Read Aristotle for Everybody chapter 7.  Highlight main ideas in yellow.  Write key terms and helpful notes in the margins.

•   Finish interviews about virtue and the teaching of virtue.

•   Read Plato’s Meno.  When you see a definition given for virtue, write a ‘D’ by it.  When you see a characteristic of virtue mentioned, write a ‘C’ by it.  When you see an example of virtue, write ‘E’ by it.

Writing:

•   Sort your ANI Chart on The King of the Golden River. Remember to move I column items to A or N if you can before you begin sorting by symbol.  Select the strongest proofs for A and N before you choose your thesis.

•   Complete the Guide to Refutation on page 90 of your student workbook.

•   List as many of the four causes as you can (from Aristotle chapter 6, pg 42) for something you know VERY WELL.

•   Correct assignments that are incomplete

Week 20

Summary of upcoming plans (subject to tweaking):

Its hard to believe we have just 4 more weeks of class.  We'll meet two more Thursdays in March (3/20 & 3/27), and the first week in April (4/3).  The second week in April I need to go back to North Carolina for a staff meeting.  We'll meet for our final class 4/17.

I plan to combine the Lesson 6 and 7 essays so that the students complete all the structural (arrangement) elements for the Complete Persuasive Essay this year.  Henceforth, they should be able to write a structurally complete persuasive essay for you on any issue in any area of study (science, history, literature, etc.) It would be advantageous to have them practice doing so between Easter and summer break.  If you are interested in ongoing assessment of your student's writing, please let me know and we can work out a cost per assignment for writing assessment.
There is a handy reference chart on pages 21 & 22 of the Teachers' Manual that shows the progression of LTW at a glance.  By the end of the semester we will have completed everything on page 21 of the chart.  From page 22 we will have completed Lesson 7 Arrangement, and Elocution lesson 7.  This chart is a great road map for you to see where your student is in the scope and sequence of Lost Tools Level 1.

Week 20 (completed): Invention lesson on differences in degree and kind
3/20 Week 21: Arrangement lesson on Refutation
3/27 Week 22: Arrangement lesson on Narrative
4/3 Week 23:  Elocution - combo lesson on Nominlaization 2, 3, & 4
4/17 Week 24: Finish nominalization lessons if needed. Final review and literature discussion.

This week's assignments

Reading:

• Read Aristotle for Everybody chapter 6.  Highlight main ideas in yellow.  Write key terms and helpful notes in the margins.
• Continue your slow and thoughtful reading of the King of the Golden River, chapters 5 & 6. Highlight as you did last week.  Come to class with 5 character + action combinations that would make good essay issues.  Find one blue per chapter.
• In preparation for reading Plato's Meno, interview 3 people (including at least one parent) regarding their ideas about virtue.  Ask them to define virtue and then respond to the questions Meno asks Socrates in the first line of the dialogue on page 59. Write down a summary of their responses to bring to class.

Writing:

• Choose an issue for The King of the Golden River and complete a 20-20-20 ANI Chart.  
• Complete Worksheet 89 using one term from your issue and a second term of your choice.  Select 5 interesting things from your worksheet to put on your ANI chart.  Mark those 5 items on both the worksheet and your ANI in a way that will let me know which 5 you chose.

Bring The Tempest to class this week!

Don't forget to bring your copy of The Tempest to class this week. Our special guest, Mrs. Simcox, will serve as our tour guide as we explore interesting connections between the play and the period of New World exploration during which it was written.  You'll want your book in order to follow along and make notes in the margins.  To better accommodate her schedule, we'll begin our literature discussion at 1:00. We'll have our writing lesson after the break.

*For those of you who are new this year, Mrs. Simcox is a dear friend of mine who co-taught with me last year.  She taught high school history for 25+ years and is a treasury of knowledge, experience, and wisdom!

Assignment Correction:

Question: 
Dear Mrs. Rape, 
On the blog, you said we had to outline ch 3 or 4 in aristotle but in class you said ch 4 or 5. I just wanted to make sure before I complete the assignment. 
Thank you. 

Answer:
I made a mistake on the blog.  You're right, it should be chapter 4 or 5.
Mrs. Rape


 

Week 19

This week's lesson was on simile and metaphor.  Dr. Seuss makes skillful and hilarious use of them in his ode to The Grinch in the 1966 cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas (click on image to play the clip).  Both similes and metaphors are tropes (meaning they appeal to the imagination rather than the senses).  Both of these tropes compare things of different kinds that share some attribute the author wants to emphasize.  A simile makes the comparison using "like" or "as" whereas a metaphor makes a more direct comparison, saying one thing is another.

Simile: You're as cuddly as a cactus
Metaphor: Your heart's an empty hole

Writing assignment

• Add one simile and one metaphor to your essay.  Mark them so that they are easy for me to find.
• Outline either chapter 4 or 5 (correction) in Aristotle for Everybody
• Practice simile and metaphor by completing your choice of the following two assignments:

1. Complete the worksheet sets on simile (pages 81-85) and metaphor (pages 123-126)
2. Write something (narrative, poem, story, etc.) between 200 and 300 words using 3 similes and 3 metaphors.  Mark similes and metaphors so they are easy to identify.

Reading assignment

• Aristotle for Everybody chapters 4 and 5 (correction).  Outline one chapter (see above).  For the other chapter, highlight key terms and make notes in the margin to help you explain key ideas in the chapter if called upon to do so.
• Read chapters 1 & 2 of The King of the Golden River slowly and carefully using your yellow highlighter for flow of thought and your blue for noteworthy passages.  Try to find at least one blue in each chapter.  Use orange to mark similes and metaphors if you notice them.