NWEA and SPAR!

There are ways to get out excess energy after a day of really focusing.....in our suite we call it SPAR! This afternoon we had 20 minutes after our material was finished and we had a short spar session on the resolution: Animals should not be used for experimentation, testing, and research. Not every scholar got to speak, but we had some great points and it made for an interesting end to our day.

Previously, however we started the day with our new list of vocabulary/spelling words, and then right into our Reading NWEA test. Three scholars will have to make up the test due to issues with computers, and missing the day. Nonetheless we got it done for the most part!

In English this morning we talked about the basics of an Essay and what I will be expecting to see each week in your scholar's writing. We then put up our first topic, sedulity, and  covered the white board with ideas and adjectives of people who were sedulous, and therefore practiced sedulity. The scholars copied the entire thing into their notebooks and were given time to pick three of those traits to write about tonight. They are putting together three paragraphs, which is the middle, or heart of their essay, the "cream" of the cookie. Tomorrow we will look at them again since a really good essay needs "simmer" time. We will then write a conclusion tomorrow night, and on Wednesday night write an introduction. On Thursday we will "dress it up" with strong adjectives, adverbs, and vocabulary words. Scholars will write it out on loose leaf paper Thursday night, in their finest cursive, and then hand it in on Friday. This will be our routine through the end of October when they will have the opportunity to perform the steps each night on their own, without as much guidance. By the end of the year your scholar will be writing a full blown essay in 25 minutes without any help! :)

In Math we continued to review our first unit, and I am moving the math test slated for tomorrow to Friday after PE. We will review again tomorrow, but with the NWEA tests going on, I don't want to tax their testing abilities. Therefore the math test will be moved to September 14th. 

I took a quick photo this morning of the scholars as we got ready for our NWEA Reading Test. They were the first class in the school to get to use the new computer lab! :)

Ready to go in the new lab!