Semester 1  Week 1 update 2014

We are off to a wonderful start and I am looking forward to a great year with a great group of students.

                                              Canterbury Tales- Geoffrey Chaucer

Jan van Eyck, 1434, The Arnolfini Wedding, National Gallery, London

Here is a recap of each seminar.

Algebra 2- We reviewed lessons A, B, and went over questions and most concepts (basically, a whirlwind tour through Geometry review). We tackled angles, perimeter, area, and volume along with many of the reasons behind the formulas we use. Please complete lessons 1 and 2 and attempt the practice problems. The student should read through each lesson again before they do the practice and problem set. If there are any questions, feel free to ask. I am also available during lunch if a student has questions.

Latin- We discussed the Introduction and reviewed 3^rd Conjugation verbs via video. We will attempt to spend 20 minutes each week on the current Henle 2 lesson, 20 minutes on a review video and 20 minutes with a class participation skill related to the video. Next week both tracks do lessons 1 and 2. Henle 2 will cover the third declension and review Adjectives, word order, cases for prepositions, and also review the 1^st - 5^th declensions. Please review all of the vocabulary, read all of the grammar rules and follow the guide for homework. Continue using flash cards for vocabulary.

Logic- We went over the Introduction and reviewed well-known men of logic throughout the centuries. Some of these deep thinkers dealt with formally structured logic, some added symbolic elements, and some reached out farther to add calculated propositions. This week, finish the questions in the Introduction. Students should read chapter 1 and finish the questions. Get familiar with all of the terminology. Making a vocabulary list will help you.  Next week we will start doing readings from the book Elements of Style. Please bring this to class each week, as we will be reading from it at the end of each Logic class. Grammar Highlights:  Simple Apprehension, mental act, truth, validity, soundness, sense perception, & concept.

Western Cultural History – we discussed art’s definition and the effects on artistic expression when a surrounding culture becomes philosophically and morally bankrupt. When people groups become complacent about their art, the society as a whole begins a downward spiral into degraded thinking and ultimately sets the stage for an age of tyranny to rise.

Follow the guide for all reading and research assignments.

Debate- The resolution is “The National Endowment for the Arts should be abolished.” Research “The National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities.”  Be able to tell me what it is and what they do. This information can be found at the NEA’s website. I just want to know their merits.  Keep all of your information on this topic in a folder or notebook. Look at what the constitution says (if anything) about the arts. We will deal will pros and cons in the coming weeks. I will assign debate teams next week. Our debate preparation schedule may be different from the guide; however week 5 will be our target. The guide says to read the chapter 3 of the State of the Arts. 

Art History Notebook - Begin Time Line by adding the Renaissance time period to it. Also add Ancient Rome before the Renaissance. The Time line is something you will build upon each week. Start studying the first piece of artwork for the semester. We will study Jan Van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Wedding this week and think about the symbolism used in the painting. (Week 4 will be the Art Essay after we look at Durer’s St.Jerome in His Study.)

How Then Should We Live- Read Chapter 2.  Fill out the question sheet on page 104 in the guide as best as you can. Whatever you can’t answer we will do in class when we watch the DVD.

British Literature- We covered Beowulf and epic poetry in general. Some of the students came up with great examples of alliteration. We also talked about the 7 main guidelines for declaring a book a “classic.” Follow the Challenge 2 guide for next week’s assignment and read “The General Prologue” and “A Knights Tale” from Canterbury Tales. Make a list of all the pilgrims and their occupation (see guide). Also, read the Words Aptly Spoken Literature Guide before and as you read each book. It has valuable info on each book we are reading. The first essay for Literature will be due next week once we read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  Make sure the version you have of this book is a modern translation. We will write our first Literature essay this year by using all the questions about the topic of “Definition” as we look at heroes from each of the three books.

Biology-    For next week, finish reading all of Module 1, do the study guide questions and take the module test. All of this should go into your lab notebook.  Make sure you keep a running vocabulary list as you read! A complete glossary of the underlined words in the text should be part of your notebook also. Read the syllabus for more instructions on text reading and lab reports. Read Chapter 3 of The Student Lab Handbook. We talked about lab book layouts in class and by e-mail. Do Experiment 1.1 at home and put it in your notebook. Thoroughly read Experiment 1.2. We will be doing this in class next Tuesday. There will be 4 formal lab reports written this semester and Exp. 1.2 is one of them. Be sure to have a separate lab journal to use on any experiment at home and in class to record data as you do experiments. Good data will help create good lab reports. Theses journals should be quadrille (graph) paper. We will work on using the microscopes next week and practice using prepared slides. According to the guide, we need to begin gathering leaves and pay attention to the specific features of the nearby tree to aid in leaf identification.

Check your e-mail this week for Semester overview charts and for information about a local showing of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” I will have additional handouts this week as well as more samples of notebooks to review.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Have a good week and I will see you soon.

Mrs. Hoke

Hi Everyone, and welcome to the Vint Hill/Culpeper Challenge II class of 2014/2015.

Orientation for Vint Hill will be held at Oak Dale Baptist, August 21st, 9:00 A.M. - 10:00 A.M..
Orientation for Culpeper will be held at Open Door Baptist, August 21st, 6:30 P.M. - 9:30 P.M.

I just wanted to reiterate what needs to be completed by the first day of class on August 28/29, 2014.

You will be handed your curriculum guide at Orientation. Parents and students should become very

·       familiar with the Challenge 2 Syllabus. There is a section in the beginning with an overview for each seminar. The back has appendices which include many helps (see table of contents on page 4).

•  See Page 29 of the syllabus for assignments due on week 1. I will recap here since it would be beneficial for students to begin reading assignments early (the curriculum has a packed schedule the first 6 weeks with intensive reading in 3 books containing old English).

                          "Beowulf By Anonymous Character Analysis Character Map." Character Map. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2013. .

                                                 

 

                                            Original Transcript in old English of Beowulf

 

o   British Literature-

§   Read Beowulf before seminar (the Dover Books translation from CC catalog)but it will help to do these things first.

·        I have attached a document to the email which will help with names and definitions. It also has a map.

·        Be sure to also read the Beowulf section in Words Aptly Spoken p33.

·        Also become familiar with p32 and 33 of the before reading Beowulf. It explains epic poetry (Note- Beowulf was originally Old English) well and also has the definitions of the poetic devices we will be encountering in the weeks ahead.

 

§  Become familiar with pp 5-32 Words Aptly Spoken. This will be a great tool throughout the school year for parent and student.

o   Biology-

§  Exploring Creation with Biology- Read up to page 16 in Module 1 on Biological Classification

§  The Student Lab Report Handbook- read preface, Chapters 1 and 2.

o   Western Cultural History-

§  Look over  the texts. Read Chapter 1 of How Should We Then Live.

* Read the Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2 of State of the Arts.

o   Logic

§  No assignment

o   Algebra 2-

§  Read Introduction, Table of Contents, Glossary and Index at home.

§  Read and Complete lessons A and B. This is a review. Bring all questions to class. In this class, you will preview and complete the lessons before class, bring questions to class for discussion and be prepared to be part of demonstration and discussion.   

o   Latin-

§  Review vocabulary words from Henle First Year Latin,

§  Part III: Jesus Christus Rex Regum In Henle Second Year Latin, read pp 269-271, 1. Introduction. Consider your answers for discussion.

•  Please bring Page 15 and 16 of the syllabus (Etiquette Agreement for Classical Conversations) completed by the student and signed by both parent and student.

•  Please subscribe to my blog so you receive weekly updates. Here is the link: http://classytalks.blogspot.com/    On the right side of the page there is a place for you to subscribe. When you do so, you will receive an email which you must confirm upon receipt. Parent and student should subscribe.

 I will still send out e-mail notifications with special events, but the blog will serve to keep parents and students updated on the progress we make each week in class seminars and to preview work and assignments for the upcoming week. Enjoy the rest of your summer  :)