Greetings!
We had a wonderful day in class today. A lot of the hard work of the semester is over, so we our "work" today was a little more fun.
Quick Write
We had 3 options for today: 1) Favorite family Christmas traditions; 2) Invent a new tradition; and 3) what toy/item have you always wanted?
Words of the Day
natal -- fr. Latin natus, "pertaining to one's birth" -- often this word is used to describe the star that appeared over Bethlehem, i.e. Jesus' natal star [Note: nativity also comes from the same root.]
epiphany -- fr. Greek epiphainein, "to reveal" -- a festival, manifestation, or commemoration; traditionally, Epiphany is on January 6 and is a celebration of the the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12).
poinsettia -- fr. John Poinsett, an ambassador to Mexico who brought this plant to the attention of botanists -- a plant of large green leaves and large red blossoms that is used to decorate at Christmas.
wassail -- fr. Old Norse, ves heill, "be well/healthy" -- a greeting of good cheer; also hot mulled cider, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, a Medieval Christmastide
swaddling -- fr. Middle English, swathlen, to bind with clothes -- longs strips of cloth used to wrap or bind. Jesus was "laid in swaddling clothes."
Writing
I handed back the rough drafts of their History Essays. I really enjoyed reading these; they've chosen some fascinating topics, and they're becoming better writers. The final drafts are due next week. They MUST bring their rough drafts back to class next week so that I can use them to correct the final drafts.
Grammar
The class handed in their Take Home Post Test for the Parts of Speech unit. With the exception of the fast page, it was identical to the Pre-Test. I explained to the class that the best way of learning grammar is through lots of reading and writing. Direct instruction of grammar is important and helpful, and combined with literature and writing it can be pretty potent. Next semester we'll be working on sentence structures.
Literature
This is where we had some fun today. We have finished our second book, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The class was divided into 4 groups and were given types of presentations using A Christmas Carol characters and scenes. They were to create a one minute story , a late night talk show, a news broadcast, a mime of a scene, or a new ghost for Scrooge. They did a marvelous job, and I loved their creativity!
Next Week
Our last week of the semester is next week, December 16. All work should be handed in by that date. That said, I've given them until Sunday, December 19 to get any last work in. They should not wait until then to do their work and hand it in. Next week we will have our "Classy Classmas Party." I will bring treats, and students can bring goodies if they like. We will have a contest, play a Jeopardy Game, and sing some songs.
Assignments for Next Week:
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