Writer's Workshop

Students in Linda's Writer's Workshop have been analyzing writing by several excellent authors and applying what they learn to their own stories.  

In week one, we read the first two pages of Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare, by Patricia Polacco.  In this compelling opening, the main character uses metaphors to help describe her brother,

" He was the black hole in my universe.  The embarrassment of my life.  The frog in my punch bowl. The spider in my cereal. The wart on my cookie. The slug in my jello. The snake in my soup...."

Students discussed how this was a much more effective way to hook in the reader than just to say, "My brother was awful."  

In week two we looked at a few pages from chapter 11 of Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo.  In this chapter, the author describes a dog's fear of thunderstorms.  We discovered that the author doesn't just tell the reader that the dog is scared.  She shows us how he reacts and uses interesting words like "pathological fear" and "sproi-i-ing" as well as dialogue like " Winn Dixie came shooting back out of my room went running right past me and I screamed, 'Daddy, watch out!'"

Students have all finished a writing plan and started on their own story.  We have three more weeks to work on writing, editing and revising our writing.  Our goal is to have a final draft before Christmas.  Some students may need to work on their writing at home in order to meet that goal. 

This week we are going to spend some time looking at the way author Tomie dePaola uses dialogue in his book, Big Anthony.  We should discover that writing dialogue into your story adds the illusion of reality.   It also makes reading easier by breaking up large blocks of writing and adding white space to the page.  Writing dialogue is also a great way for a writer to reveal details about characters, share secrets and develop relationships between characters among other things.   (from Eight Good Reasons To Use Dialogue by Jenna Kernan)

Remember to ask your child about their writing.  Encourage them to get their ideas down on paper without worrying too much about mechanics to start with.  That keeps the student's creativity flowing.  They can go back and edit to fix spelling, capitalization and punctuation.  Happy Writing!

Little Elves Have Been Busy :-)

Shoeboxes packed for Operation Christmas Child

Christmas cards to send to soldiers

Little Dresses for Africa

Cinnamon & applesauce ornaments to give away in December

Operation Outreach

At 10:00 on Thursday November 7, Tina and I will begin a new Enrichment Class called Operation Outreach.  Our goal is to get the kids excited about serving others and put into action ideas that they come up with themselves. 

We will spend the first week making some ornaments to share in our community.  We will also be making Christmas cards to send to men and women who are serving our country in the military overseas.  

During week two, students will be packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  OCC sends shoebox gifts to children all over the world for Christmas.  Since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have received gifts through this program.  This is something we have been doing since 2008.  Our home school assistance program has provided somewhere around 40 shoebox gifts over the past years.  That translates to 40 children who may have received their first Christmas gift because of the love of Atlantic homeschoolers.  

Week three we are going to put the students to work brainstorming ideas to reach out to our community.  People take more ownership in something that they plan and are invested in.  We want the kids to take some ownership and do something for our community.  We have no idea where this will lead, but we are excited to see what the kids come up with.  We will spend the first two Thursdays in December (weeks 4 & 5 of the class) carrying out whatever plan the students come up with.

There are so many good reasons for being involved in this type of project.  This morning I was reading some research done at the University of Michigan, and the benefits range from psychological to social to cognitive.  Most of all though, I think this type of projects molds our hearts.  We all come to this world with a great big ME problem.  We are by nature self-centered, greedy and prideful.  Doing this type of project gets my eyes off of me and onto something bigger.  It helps me to see that I live in community with others.  When I am helping others, I am also helping myself.

With this in mind, and the upcoming holiday season, I have started a couple of new boards on Pinterest. One has service ideas and the other has holiday ideas.  Feel free to use these resources in your family to bring more meaning to this time of year.

And finally, let me just invite you to bring your kids to Operation Outreach.  We start this Thursday at 10:00.  All I ask is that you let Tina or I know you are coming so that we have enough supplies for everyone!  

Blessings!

Linda 

La    

The Island of Flappy Flap Radio Show

Today, students in the Home School Assistance Program's Creative Learning class, put together the final touches on their  live radio show.  Sound effects were perfected, dramatic voices rehearsed and music was cued.  They survived technical difficulties and persevered.  So proud of how they worked together.

I present to you,  The Island of Flappy Flap, a live radio adventure.  Enjoy!

Junior Lego Creations!

The kindergarten through 3rd graders have been busy thinking and building with Lego's.  We have had a different theme each week.  The first week we had a "Snack Attack!" and we discussed our favorite snacks and where the snack ingredients come from.  We also talked about all the people who keep our food safe from the farm to the table.  There were many surprising people including veterinarians, truck drivers and the people that stock the grocery shelves to name a few.  The students worked in groups to create a lego model of where applesauce comes from by making an apple orchard, a truck for transporting the apples, and a kitchen with a cook making applesauce.  Our other group worked to create a truck to transport the ingredients needed for pancakes and also a restaurant that makes and serves pancakes.  I am amazed by the ideas and building skills of the students! 

Our second session was called "Body Forward" and we discussed biomedical engineering, which is when doctors, scientists, and engineers work together to create medical innovations to help people. Some examples of this are prosthetic limbs, Band-aids (someone had to come up with adhesive that worked on human skin!), and vaccines.  The students created a special cutting edge x-ray lab to scan the entire body for broken bones.

Today we had fun during a session called "Smart Move."  The theme was transportation and we watched a video about how bananas go from the plantation to the grocery store.  We also watched a video about all of the different way people get from place to place from horse drawn carts to helicopters! The students were challenged to choose an item that needs to be transported and then build the system to get that job done.  One group built an orange grove and moved oranges over bridges and then used trucks to get them to the grocery store.

I can't wait until next week when we think about how things are powered and where that power comes from.  We'll see you all then for "Power Puzzle!"

Apples and Bees Galore!

We had a great time at the 3 Bees Farm in Griswold!  After a hayrack ride through the orchard and a walk (or run) through the corn maze, we learned much about apples and bees and how they relate to each other.  Did you know that each bump on the bottom of a red delicious apple represents one bee that pollinated that apple?  The apples trees need bees to carry the pollen from flower to flower and the bees need the nectar to make honey and build their honeycomb.  We learned that the best way to know if an apple is ripe is to just take a big bite and see if it tastes right.  In the picture above, Steve is showing us how they shine the apples up and then sort them by size.  The smaller ones go into cider and the larger ones get sold for eating, baking, applesauce, carmel apples and many other things.  Just thinking about it makes me hungry!  What kind of apple will I eat today?  

Old time radio program

      

Creativity is happening today in enrichment!  Students are working hard to write their own radio story.  Brainstorming and generating ideas for a story is the first step.  Once the story is written, students will assign parts, and then find music and sound effects to add to their production.  Younger students are working with Tina to make an advertisement to go with our broadcast.  On Thursday October 24 we will record their broadcast live!