Tuesday, May 18, 2010

assignments for our last day

Good Evening, Families!

We had a good day of learning together. We had an amazing treat when Mrs. Beth joined us and shared some amazing family mementos. We saw pictures of the Berlin Wall, Berlin, Viet Nam, Woods and Mills' grandfather's medals, a hunk of schrapnel.etc. WOW! It was very educational. Many thanks! And thanks to Mrs. Irvine for being our helper.

The children read about the influenza epidemic of 1918--1919. They were very attentive to this topic. (Ask them why they paid such close attention.) We listened to a poem that Ronald Reagan memorized as a child called "Dangerous Dan McGrew". For history we made replicas of China's coat-of-arms and listened to a great library book about a boy's life during the Cultural Revolution. Both were enjoyable. Spencer wowed us with his memory of the presidents and EVERY science fact (even the elements of the periodic table!) All the kids that had a chance to recite did well. However, Spence must have put in alot of time. Bravo! to all of you.

Monument Projects are due next week. However, Talia had hers ready today and it was outstanding. A Harriet Tubman Monument that is "UNDERGROUND". Very clever! We will have show-and-tell next week just for the heck of it! We will have learning--I promise. However, it will be a relaxed and fun day. I hope you can all make it to the sock hop Tuesday evening. It will be a lot of fun.

Students, please work hard for your parents this last week of Trinity. I love you each very much and am "shamefully" proud of you!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Memorize your favorite Bible passage. Be ready to recite it to your class and tell why it is your favorite.
2. Review Week 12--24 in Math and be ready to recite. Watch the hand motion videos on youtube for the Veritas cards. I plan for us to challenge each other in class to recite the cards.
3. Finish the Ronald Reagan book.
4. Read chapter 42 in SOTW.
5. Complete lesson 27 latin work. Answers will be e-mailed.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

assignments for 5/18/10

Dear Families,

We had a good day yesterday. As I reflect on the year, I am very proud of the literature selections the board approved for us. It is not easy to find books from this recent time period that have proven themselves and are on our level. The children took a minute to reminisce and reflect and they have the same opinion as I do.

We learned about a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah celebration. We listened and watched people dancing to "Hava Nagila" and did a little dancing ourselves. We, also, took turns lifting each student up in a chair, as is done at a Bar Mitzvah.

We continue to press on in Latin and I'm VERY proud of the children's translating capabilities. We reviewed memory work (Presidents and science) and had a probability lab about odds and ratios in science. Geography shows the children are coming along nicely in memorizing and locating features across our country.

We joined Mrs. Fowler's class as they presented projects they've been working on. It was so impressive that I have decided to have my class do the same project--see below.

Enjoy your week of learning and teaching your children.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read the second half of ch. 64 in Bible. (We began this book my first year at Trinity. For Woods and I, we have been through every story.)
2. If you have not mastered the presidents and the science facts, please have them ready to recite to the class next time. If you have, work on the math facts for weeks 12--24. We will begin reviewing the Veritas Cards in class next time.
3. Read chapters 1--6 in Ronald Reagan.
4. Read Chapter 41 in SOTW.
5. Please complete a monument project. Drawings are acceptable but models are encouraged. I will e-mail you the details of this assignment. This will be due the last day of class.
6. Complete lesson 26 in Latin. On Monday, write the words and translations from lesson 27 three times each.
7. Review states and capitals, and continue memorizing the names and LOCATIONS of our countries features from Classical Conversation Weeks 11-24.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

assignments for 5/11/10

Dear Families,

We had an action packed class day. After learning about the Sikhs in India we led the whole school in a small worship service and served them aN Indian meal called Aloo goobi. We spent the morning preparing the meal. Your children are ready to peel all your potatoes for you.

The majority of us are enjoying "The Dog of Knots". We discussed it and looked at a map of Israel to see the localities mentioned in it. We also looked at some pictures of Eliat stones that Uri was buying for his mom. I encouraged the children to make use of the glossary in the back of the book as they read.

We had a good latin lesson and broke into pairs to review our memory work.

Enjoy your week of learning!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

p.s. We had fun celebrating Talia's birthday with some yummy treats that Mrs. Irvine provided.

p.s.s. SHOW AND TELL IS NEXT WEEK!!!!!

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read ch. 63 in Bible
2. Work on memorizing the presidents. If you have that down, work on the 24 science facts.
3. Finish reading The Dog of Knots
4. Read ch. 40 in SOTW
5. Complete lesson 25 in latin. On Monday, write the ch. 26 words and meanings 3 times each.
6. Continue working on memorizing the names and locations of the features of the US geography map.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

reflections and assignments for 5/4/10

Dear Families,

This was a Tuesday I am glad to have behind me. I am sad to say that behavior was not satisfactory. I seemed to constantly have to tell the children to stop talking. There were way too many private conversations while learning and listening should have been happening. There were a few bright spots of undivided attention, but very few. Please tell your children to keep all attention on the subject at hand, to not speak out without raising hands to be recognized and, most importantly, to obey my directions promptly. I am most mindful of the teaching time we lose when those three courtesies are not followed. I want all of us to work hard and finish the year well. No coasting!

We missed Talia and Spencer and prayed for your safe return next week. I taught about the Vietnam War--a most difficult topic to summarize to a third and fourth grade level. Your student has a sheet we completed in class that I want them to go over with you. I did my best to explain why there were, and are, two views of that war and what an unsettling time that period was for our country. Mrs. Beach was my helper and had valuable input as her Dad was deployed three times to Vietnam.

We studied the Tet celebrations in Vietnam and your child should have some mementos to share with you. We cleaned our room as is done in preparation for Tet and made an interesting Apricot, coconut rice cake.

Latin had some difficult new concepts and really needs to be gone over well this week at home. We acted out the Bible story complete with palm trees and tent stakes! We broke into two groups and learned part of MLK's speech. Have your child recite their portion to you.

I look forward to seeing my students in May and having a most productive learning day.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read ch. 61 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Memorize Week 24 memory work.
3. Finish memorizing your part of the MLK speech and recite it for your family.
4. Read chapters 1--10 of THE DOG OF KNOTS.
5. Discuss the Vietnam War with your parents. Read chapter 39 in SOTW.
6. Complete Lesson 24 in Latin.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Reflections on Yesterday and Assignments for 4/27/10

Hello Families,

I hope the children enjoyed yesterday just half as much as I did. Then I know they will have had a great time. Our tour guide at Penn Center was amazing. He graduated from the Penn School in the late 1940s. He walked our legs off and I imagine him to be 70 at least. The place is beautiful and so peaceful. The children's behavior was outstanding. The first 20 minutes were spent watching a video and they remained very quiet and respectful throughout. (Although we had just watched a long video of MLK making his "I Have A Dream . . ." speech) I'm very proud of them. Please plan another longer outing there. There were many trees that needed climbing and a leisurely picnic under the shade trees is a must.

We had a good latin lesson before leaving. I hope the students had some fuzziness from last week cleared up. Have your student explain two things from Bible. How fat was the king that was killed and what cycle did the Israelites fall into. Oh, and what does it mean to "compartmentalize" our lives.

Enjoy Spring in the Lowcountry and I will see you Tuesday!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Chapter 59 in the Bible Story Book
2. Please catch up your History reading. Several children mentioned they did not have time to read chapters 37 and 38 for yesterday. We will not press on into ch. 39 for next time but, instead, will spend time learning about the Viet Nam War.
3. Finish reading the MLK book.
4. Continue practicing Week 23 memory work.
5. Complete Lesson 23 in Latin. Write the new words for Lesson 24 three times each. (Answers will be emailed.)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

assignments for 4/20/10

Hello Families!

I'm sorry to be late posting. Life with a graduating senior is a whirlwind of activity. I'll try to do better.

We had a great day yesterday. We had show-and-tell AND still got to all subjects. Yeah! We spent alot of time looking at pictures and talking about JFK's assassination. We didn't take much time with MLK since we will read a biography about him. The book reports were outstanding!!! I'm so proud of everyone and the work they put into that.

I am trying to pull together a field trip for next Tuesday. I've e-mailed you my tentative plan. The Penn Center staff did get back in touch with me. Visiting the museum and having a guided walking tour will cost a total of $8 per person. I have a query into Nicole and Alice to see if there is any funding to defray that expense and will let you know. I plan for us to have class as usual including lunch in the morning. We'll leave Trinity at noon and return at 3:00. I do not think there is anything to have spending money for.

We had some questions about our work on the Latin Review. I plan to get in touch with an expert and will e-mail the answers later this week.

Enjoy the beautiful springtime.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 57 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice and learn Week 23 memory work.
3. Read the first 6 chapters of Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. Review our probability lab with you parents.
5. Read Ch. 37 and 38 in SOTW.
6. Finish the Unit 4 Review in Latin. Write the vocab words for Lesson 23 three times each.
7. Review the features of the U.S. from the CC book. Go back to the mountains in lesson 11 and move through lesson 23. I want us to be able to point our their names and locations on a blank map by the end of the year.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Happy Easter!

Dear Parents,

I enjoyed the day with your children today. We're reading an excellent book and I enjoy discussing it with them. We looked at a map of Berlin that I hope made it home. Several of the sites in our book are shown on the map. We saw a picture of the wall being constructed and discussed writing from different perspectives. In history we learned that Castro closed schools in Cuba for eight months and sent all teachers and students into the countryside to teach the peasants to read. We made books similar to the ones used. His goal was to abolish illiteracy in Cuba. For fun we stood toe to toe and had staring contests. The first one to blink was a communist!

Latin is proceeding well. Mr. Tkach, (Thomas) was in my room after school and said he was impressed with the chants we're learning and that there were many his students don't know. We drilled the features on the US map. My goal is for us to not only be able to name all the rivers, canals, trails, etc. but to point them out on a blank map. We were actors in Bible and had fun improvising. We'll have two probability labs in science when we return.

Many thanks to Mrs. Irvine for her help, today. Please enjoy our break and I will see you in April. The first day back is show-and-tell!

love to all,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 55 in the Bible Story Book.
2. learn week 22 memory work
3. finish Escape to West Berlin.
4. read chapter 36 in SOTW
5. complete lesson 22 in latin
6. work on memorizing the names and locations of all our geography features from the Classical Conversations book.
7. Read a book over the break of your choice. Below is a link to a book report form that I want you to use to write a book report about your book. It is geared for 4th graders but I want you 3rd graders to give it a try,too.