Language
Arts: This week in Spelling/Vocabulary, we
will be studying chapter two in the GYV
book, which is titled “All in the Family”. Here are the Latin words, roots, and derivatives your child will
be learning:
Latin Word
|
Root (part of word)
|
English Derivatives
|
mater, matris (flower)
|
mater, matr
|
maternal,, matrimony, matriarch,
|
pater, patris (father)
|
pater, patr
|
paternity, patriarch, patriotism,
patron,
|
frater, fratis (brother)
|
frater
|
fraternity, fraternal
|
The proverb we will discuss this
week is “The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill”. I
encourage you to bring the idiomatic phrases we study into your conversations at home!
We will also continue learning more Latin and Greek words from our English from the Roots Up curriculum. (Your children are making an index card with each root. We will have a quiz upon learning 25 words. We will cover 100 words total this year!)
Have
you been reading along with us in The
Secret Garden? We will continue reading this book (both aloud in class and
independently), while the students become acclimated to the language and story.
We are currently working on identifying quality vocabulary words from the
reading, as well as answering explicit comprehension questions from the book. Your
child should be progressing in his/her ability to identify an explicit question
from an open-ended discussion question. We are working on writing quality
discussion questions of our own. Please encourage your child to spend time on
these assignments, as they do take
time and effort.
In
Writing and Grammar we are continuing our study of analogies and essential parts
of a sentence. Several new vocabulary words will be presented and integrated in
our study of analogies. We will take a close look at subject nouns and verbs.
We will practice identifying, writing, and diagramming sentences that include
these parts of speech. The students will also do some journal writing this
week.
History/Geography:
The
students will be coming home with their first History test grade of the year!
Overall, the students did a fantastic job on this test! The class average was 92%,
so high fives are certainly in order! Please be sure to ask your child to show
you his/her test. Please sign the small, colored sheet attached to the test,
and have your child return it.
At the end of last week, we began our next history
unit on Ancient Civilizations. We began by learning about the Maya and some of
their customs, like the thrilling game of pok-ta-pok. We were also very fortunate to have the
opportunity to view a photo montage of real Maya ruins! (One of my former students
went on an amazing family vacation to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico over the
summer!) We will continue our study of the Maya by learning about their daily
life and discoveries as well as theories about their disappearance. This will
lead us into learning about the culture and traditions of another intriguing
civilization: the Aztecs. The students
will learn about this fascinating group of people and the traditions that we
have come to know about them. Please be
sure to ask your child all about these fascinating civilizations!
Science: Did you hear about the outcome of our water balloon
experiment? Please ask your child to share the exciting details and conclusion
we came to! Don’t forget to ask whether his/her hypothesis was correct! Your child will also be coming home with their graded science tests this week. (Check back for a posting of the class average!)
This week we will be moving
into our next unit, which is the classification of living things. The students
will learn about taxonomy, Aristotle, Carolus Linnaeus, and the concept of
binomial nomenclature. We will focus on the 5 Kingdoms this week. Before you
know it, your child will be breaking down the classification of your pets at
home using scientific Latin terms! J
