February 28, 2022February 28, 2022 litalive

2022

Assignments due for the week of February 28th, 2022

Valentine's Day heart candy

Debate

Next week, we will be presenting the ads for the Senate candidate. I will give you 15-20 minutes to practice together before you present them to us. We will discuss, and hopefully recognize, the logical fallacies illustrated. Please don’t forget to contact anyone in your group today who was absent. Then we will begin our one-on-one debates. Remember what you have chosen for a topic and begin to do research for your debate.

Explorations in British Literature

Continue your reading of Oliver Twist by completing Chapters 15-27 and answer the corresponding study guide questions. We will continue going through the book and watching the BBC version of it. It’s great to put an image to the description if you have not already done so.

Watch this brief scene where Oliver meets Jack Dawkins:

No-Spin Economics

We took our quiz today on Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Chapters 3 and 4 and then went over the handout for Crash Course Economics #4. Next week, we will have a quiz on video #4 and then use the rest of class to study our “coins” and the dollar bill.

DON’T FORGET TO BRING A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO CLASS WITH YOU NEXT WEEK.

Here is Crash Course Economics #4 if you need it again.

Watch this video to review the principle of supply and demand:

Quick Looks at Great Books

Continue your reading with the following assignments and complete your study guide questions 83-93.

Abridged version: Chapters 54-63
Unabridged version: Chapters 82-103

Watch the following video that show how Carnival (and Mardi Gras) are celebrated in Venice today. This is presently the key location in Europe.

Previous Assignments for 2021:

February 21, 2022February 21, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 02/21/2022

Assignments due for the week of February 21st, 2022

Valentine's Day heart candy

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Debate

Please you use this week to make up any work that you are missing. You have an assignment due in two weeks. You are to do a promotional ad to promote the candidacy of Sylvia Snidely for the Senate. You were given a group that you will be cooperating with. Look over and have some ideas about the setting and lines. The presentation should be about 3-4 minutes. (1 minute per person in the sketch) Each person should participate equally. You will be given a specific logical fallacy that you must use. You may use other fallacies if you choose as long as you use the one assigned to you. Look over the questions on the back of the assignment sheet. You will be given time in class next week to work with your team to prepare your presentation. We will cover some other areas and select topics for our one-on-one debates coming up.

Watch the following video to review the basic logical fallacies:

Explorations in British Literature

We took our two quizzes on Romanticism and matching the works and authors of this period. Then we began our discussion of the author and background of our next book. We took a quiz on the first seven pages of your study guides and went through the Victorian Age, along with the Industrial Revolution. The writing of the time reflected what was going on in history as well.

For next week, begin Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens by reading Chapters 1-14 and answering the few questions in your study guides for those chapters.

Watch these two brief videos to understand more about the material portrayed in Oliver Twist.

First video:

The Victorians | Life in a Victorian Workhouse (1)

Second video:

No-Spin Economics

We took our first test on the video on The Law, Chapters 1 and 2 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?, and Crash Course Economics video #1. We then played a game which illustrated the benefits of free trade as we learned in Crash Course #2. Then we covered the handouts for Chapters 3 and 4 in your book. Next week, we will have a quiz on Chapters 3 and 4 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Please study your handout sheets and reread the chapters if necessary to get the whole picture. We now can answer the question of why there is no longer penny candy! 🙂 Also, please make sure you know the accurate definition of inflation and the result of this practice.

For next week, watch the following video (Crash Course Economics #4) and answer the questions on the worksheet you were given in class.

Watch this video to reinforce the term TANSTAAFL.

Quick Looks at Great Books

Continue your reading in The Count of Monte Cristo with the following chapters and answer your study guide questions 77-82. Note the new characters introduced in each new set of chapters. What a vast array of personalities!!

Abridged version: Chapters 42-53
Unabridged version: Chapters 63-81

Previous Assignments for 2021:

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 02/14/2022

Assignments due for the week of February 14th, 2022

Valentine's Day heart candy

Debate

We collected the deductive reasoning sheet you did for homework and then went over the questions on Susan B. Anthony’s speech. We then checked listening skills by answering the questions on page 18 in your notebook after you listened to the speech on the death penalty. We then went over the logical fallacies on page 24 and explained each one. You were also given sheets of logical fallacies where you were given examples of these and other fallacies.

For next week, create a bumper sticker illustrating one of the logical fallacies. You may use color or drawings when possible, or create it on your computer. Please identify the logical fallacy that you are illustrating. (Use an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper to turn in.)

Also, continue any research for your mini “Candy” debates next week. You will have 15 minutes to meet with your teams and make final adjustments and additions. Then each team will make a 4 minute persuasive presentation, followed by a Crossfire to the speaker or his/her teammates. Please come prepared to share your research and ideas with the team.

Explorations in British Literature

We reviewed all of the Romantic poets and writers in preparation for our two quizzes next week. One will be a matching quiz with the writers and their works. We added Lord Byron to the group with his famous verses, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, which told of his travels in Europe and Asia. We discussed Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias” and reviewed the differences between Romanticism and Neoclassicism. Jane Austen and Mary Shelley were the two novelists we covered in this period.

We will finish “The Lady of Shalott” next week with exactly what happened to the lady who dared to look directly toward Camelot. Tennyson wrote during the Victorian Age which is what we will be starting as we begin our study of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. In addition to the two short quizzes on Romanticism, read pages 1-7 in the study guide you were given and be prepared for a quiz on the life of Dickens and the background and reasons for the writing of Oliver Twist. We will actually begin the book itself next week as we cover other aspects of the Victorian Age in British literature.

Watch this brief video telling why we should read the novels of Charles Dickens. 🙂

No-Spin Economics

We went over your past homework–Chapters 1 and 2 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? and Crash Course Economics #2 on Specialization and Trade. Please keep these worksheets to study for future quizzes and tests. Next week, we will have our first test on The Law, Chapters 1 and 2 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy, and Crash Course #1. Review your notes to prepare.

Also for next week, read Chapters 3 and 4 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? and watch the Crash Course Economics video #3. Please complete the worksheets you were given for each of these.

Here is this week’s video, Crash Course Economics #3.

Quick Looks at Great Books

Continue your reading in The Count of Monte Cristo with the following chapters and answer your study guide questions 52-76. The plot continues to thicken!

Abridged version: Chapters 28-41
Unabridged version: Chapters 36-62

Previous Assignments for 2021:

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 02/07/2022

Assignments due for the week of February 7th, 2022

Valentine's Day heart candy

Debate

We discussed the faulty logic in the Monty Python video. The video made many unrelated assumptions that were not even true! (sound) We continued to practice deductive reasoning by completing three worksheets and learning to solve the problems logically. With a plan in hand, we then completed pages 5 and 6 in your notebooks, following the logic-solving plan. Each problem was a bit more difficult and challenging, but they did a fantastic job! We then tackled the deductive thinking problems on pages 5 and 6 in the notebooks. We also practiced the debate exercises on pages 10-15 to improve each student’s oral clarity of expression. We then covered inductive reasoning on page 21 and applied it on page 23. We have some “great thinkers”, so I hope they will learn how to express themselves and persuade others throughout this semester.

For next week, complete the deductive reasoning problems on the sheet you were given in class. (“Men’s Quartet and “Letter Perfect”) Also, read Susan B. Anthony’s famous speech on pages 16 and 17 and answer the three questions. We will continue to discuss these principles and begin to learn about logical fallacies. These are often used in debates but are not effective ways of persuasion!

Explorations in British Literature

Great comments about Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein and what the elements of a horror story contain! Watch the following summary of the entire book so that you can better understand the excerpt you read.

We covered several Romantic poets–Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. We will finish by covering “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

For next week, read “Ode to a Nightengale” by John Keats on pages 120 and 121 and answer the questions on pages 123 and 124. Read the excerpts from Jane Austen’s novels on pages 125-129. Write a brief paragraph on page 129 about life in the early 19th century as revealed in her writings.

Lastly, read Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” on pages 133-137. Complete Parts B and C on page 137. (This poem may be reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables if you have read the book or watched the video! This was her favorite poem.)

No-Spin Economics

We went over the worksheets on The Law and Crash Course Economics #1. Please keep these sheets in your notebook to study for future quizzes and tests. Great ideas on some ways to stop people from littering! 🙂

For next week, read Chapters 1 and 2 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? and complete the worksheets you were given. Also, watch Crash Course Economics #2 below and answer the questions you received in class.

Quick Looks at Great Books

Continue reading this exciting novel with the following chapters and answer your study guide questions 19-51.

Abridged version: Chapters 13-27
Unabridged version: Chapters 16-35

If you missed it last week, watch this brief look at the Chateau d’If where Edmond Dantes was imprisoned. In many ways, it looks the same today as when Dumas wrote the novel.

Previous Assignments for 2021:

February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 01/31/2022

Assignments due for the week of January 31st, 2022

Winter cottage

Debate

Welcome to second semester! We had a great participatory class with many great responses from students! I think we’re going to have lots of fun as we work through basic methods of logic and logical fallacies as well as learning deductive and inductive reasoning. We will do some sample pages of deductive reasoning next week and learn how to take information and come up with logical conclusions. We will be using a Public Forum format for our debates this year, which we will go over in depth in future classes.

For next week, you have two things to do. First, watch this brief clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Be prepared to discuss how this is faulty logic!!

Next, create two syllogisms of your own and make sure they are both valid and sound. (Refer to pages 8 and 9 in your Debate notebook.) Put them on a sheet of paper with your name and be ready to hand in the assignments. Let me know if you have any questions at all.

Explorations in British Literature

“Robbie” Burns was a poet and Scottish hero whose songs, as well as his poetry, are still sung and read today. Watch the following video of one of his most favorite songs.

In your literature notebook, read the two poems by William Blake (“The Lamb” and “The Tyger”) and try to answer the questions about each one. Then read William Wordsworth’s poem about Tintern Abbey and answer the corresponding questions on pages 111 and 112. “Kubla Khan” is by Samuel Taylor Coleridge on pages 113 and 114. Notice the “induced dream” and how Romantic poets felt about it! 🙂 Read the excerpt from Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein and answer the three questions that follow. Lastly, look at the drawing and then read the short poem “Ozymandias” along with the six questions regarding the poem. (Remember that “theme” refers to the main idea or message of a novel or poem.)

No-Spin Economics

Great participation on some of our introductory comments and terms used in economics today! We will gain Bastiat’s basic principles of economics in his famous book written in the 1800’s. Watch the following summary video and answer the worksheet (front and back) that you were given in class today.

Next, watch the following Crash Course Economics video and learn the basics of economics and what we will be covering. Then complete the questions you were given in class. We will discuss all of this next week.

Quick Looks at Great Books

We will begin our next novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. This is an intriguing story that you will not want to put down! 🙂 This novel was written in a serial format as Dickens did with all of his works. People had to buy the next magazine to read the next chapters of the book. Answer questions 1-18 in your study guide and we will define any unusual terms you find. You will meet the main characters that you will follow throughout the book.

Watch this brief look at the Chateau d’If where Edmond Dantes was imprisoned.

The Count of Monte Cristo reading this week:

Abridged version: Chapters 1-12
Unabridged version: Chapters 1-15

Previous Assignments for 2021:

January 24, 2022January 24, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 01/24/2022

Assignments due for the week of January 24th, 2022

Winter cottage

Debate

We will begin our new semester of Debate next week. We have several new students joining us, and we hope to see all of our present class as well. This is a difficult class to cover at home and is crucial to students’ learning how to defend their beliefs and persuade their listeners of their point of view. They will learn to work together as a team and share ideas on presentations. It is a great opportunity to learn from others! It builds sound principles of logic as we will cover this subject in the first weeks, along with many other games and learning opportunities. All you need to bring to class is a three-ring binder to hold the workbook I will give you. This will be a half-credit to finish your transcript for the year. 🙂

Explorations in British Literature

We took our quiz on the Elizabethan Age today and went over satire in the 1600’s and all the work they had done in their notebooks. We will continue going over the 1665 plague in England and the common children’s rhyme, “Ring Around the Rosey”, and how it was related to their plague. I gave the students their second semester pages for their notebooks. Read page 102 and note the characteristics of Neoclassicism and Romanticism. On page 103. categorize each item in Literature, Government, People, and Places & Things into either a Neoclassical element or a Romantic element. (Hint: There will be 16 under each heading.) On page 107, read the poem by Robert Burns (A Red, Red Rose) and answer the four questions. “Robbie Burns” was a Scottish poet and their “national hero”.

Watch this brief video about the life of Robert Burns.

No-Spin Economics

It’s exciting to begin a new semester and a new area of study. For Economics class, bring a three-ring binder to hold the pages I give you in class throughout the semester. Also, make sure you have access to the book, Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard Maybury. You can purchase the book online or borrow it from a fellow homeschool family. Students will need this by the third week of class. This course is directly related to our first semester study, and the students will see the political importance of understanding economics and how it is applied in current events today!

Quick Looks at Great Books

Since you have completed your reading of Cyrano de Bergerac, we will do a game review of the book before we have our final test next week. Take time to complete the following pages in your Literary Terms notebook: Dialogue (pages 60-61), Genre (pages 66-68), Mood and Tone (pages 74-76), Moral and Theme (pages 77-78), and Plot (pages 81-82) I will check these pages during our test on Cyrano de Bergerac.

Watch this final scene from Act V of your reading.

Previous Assignments for 2021:

January 17, 2022January 17, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 01/17/2022

Assignments due for the week of January 17th, 2022

Winter cottage

PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep

Great job studying the cards today for each of the different subjects on the ACT test! The examples on the English and Math cards would definitely help on the PSAT and SAT as well. For next week (our last class for this semester), don’t forget to turn in your writing assignment if you have not already done so. Go to the bottom of this page to last week’s assignment for specific instructions. Next week, we will also do game competitions to review all that we have covered this semester.

Explorations in British Literature

We will take our quiz on the Elizabethan Age next week. I went over today all that you will need to know. Studying the terms in your Twelfth Night study guide would be a good way to cover the terms you would need from there. We covered all the other things you would need to know from that period. We discussed all the work that you had done so far and will go into more detail about the history of the great fire of London in 1666. We will also discuss the devices of satire and the distinctions between them. Read the satirical passages on pages 91 and 92 and answer the questions about them. Read the satirical piece on the Elizabethan Theater and answer the corresponding questions.

Read the following satirical writing by Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”.

Try to answer the questions about Swift’s writing on pages 94 and 95. (Remember that Swift is NOT really serious about his proposal! This is satire!) On pages 96-98 read Samuel Johnson’s brief bio of Alexander Pope and answer the questions on the last page. Finally, on pages 100 and 101 read Daniel Defoe’s fiction based on facts about the 1665 plague. After you have read the excerpt, answer the questions on page 101.

Watch the following brief video for more historical facts about the plague in London. How does it compare with the pandemic we are experiencing right now?

U.S. Government

Review your past quizzes and tests as well as your notebook for our final exam next week. We will do a game review of the entire semester before we take the exam.

Watch once again the songs and mottos of the branches of our military.

Watch this brief video on our newest branch of the military:

Quick Looks at Great Books

Finish your reading of Cyrano de Bergerac by completing Acts IV and V. Don’t forget to have your study guide in class as we will work on it together. We went over Acts I-III and watched some of the scenes from the classic movie. We will continue finishing our study guide, taking our quiz on Acts IV and V, and watching more reenactments of the play.

Previous Assignments for 2021:

January 11, 2022January 17, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 01/10/2022

Assignments due for the week of January 10th, 2022

Winter cottage

PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep

We went over the ACT Writing section today and also how to prepare for the actual day of testing. Parents and students will get an email in the next two weeks of how to sign up in your local school district to take the PSAT or SAT free in April. Please let me know if you have any questions about your scores on the two tests and what percentile that would put you in. By the end of the semester, you should turn in a writing plan for any essay assignment. It should include three things:

10 Vocabulary words that you could use in a variety of situations. List the word and the definition. Choose words that could be used commonly in a variety of situations.
List two personal experiences that you could be prepared to write about and a lesson you may have learned.
List two references to a person or event in history or literature that you could use in a number of different ways.

If you need help coming up with good vocabulary words, I will have the SAT cards available next week in class. These simple tips will help your essay to “stand out” to graders who evaluate it.

Explorations in British Literature

We discussed today how and why Shakespeare ended up writing sonnets and what the rhyme scheme for his sonnets was. We also covered the reading in your notebooks on sonnets by English authors and how poetry also took the shape of the subject about which the “bard” was writing. Review for a quiz on the Elizabethan Age. Review the terms listed in your Twelfth Night study guide or just review that section on the test itself. We will also review all of this one more time in class next week. We also discussed the shift to the 17th century, a time of political insecurity, religious controversy, and intellectual agitation. The Cavalier poets and their “Seize the Day” philosophy became prevalent even as the Puritans took over rule of the country. We found that Francis Bacon, the father of the English essay, introduced prose to his country. We discussed essays and John Donne’s metaphysical writings. For next week, read the excerpt from Pilgrim’s Progress and answer the questions on p.78. Read the excerpts from Milton’s Paradise Lost and answer the questions on pages 80-85. Then, continue with Milton’s poem on his blindness and answer the questions on page 86. Finally, read the description from Samuel Pepys’s diary on the great fire of London and answer the questions about it on pages 88 and 89. We will talk more about the history of the fire next week.

U.S. Government

Complete the final pages of your notebook by finishing the branches of the U.S. military. We will go over each of them in class next week and discuss the important terms to study for the exam. Complete pages 82-84, 86-88, 90-92, and 94-96. We will also begin our review for the final exam. Watch the following video on the four branches of the U.S. military. (Be prepared for questions next week.)

Quick Looks at Great Books

We began reviewing our literary terms in the notebooks and began the new study guide you were given. For next week, read Acts I-III in Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. We will discuss the events and have a quiz in class next week. Also, complete page 6 in your new study guide. (Directions on page 5.) This will give you an idea of what the theater setting looked like in Act I of the play. We will continue to work on the study guide together in class. Watch Cyrano’s famous “Nose Speech” from Act I.

Previous Assignments for 2021:

January 3, 2022January 3, 2022 litalive

Assignments for 12/13/2021

Assignments due for the week of December 13th, 2021

Merry Christmas and Tree

PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep

Great job today as we took the ACT Reading test and practiced the three kinds of tests on the ACT Science test. Next week, we will try one more practice test on Charts and Graphs and then take the last test on the ACT–Science. We will then practice more vocabulary to pick up a few new words.

Explorations in British Literature

Great review of Twelfth Night! I think you all did well on your test today! For our last week before Christmas break, read page 67 in your notebooks about “How to Read an Essay.”

Read Sir Francis Bacon’s essay on “Studies” and answer the questions on page 69. On page 70, read Herbert’s poem and note how the shape of the poem is related to its meaning. Read the Cavalier poems on pages 71 and 72, and answer the three questions about them. Lastly, read John Donne’s metaphysical writing and answer the questions on pages 75-77.

Watch the following analysis of A Christmas Carol on this video:

Note the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement that we learned about in Twelfth Night.

We will also go over Macbeth and its storyline and discuss how the Elizabethans celebrated Christmas.

U.S. Government

Great review of Lessons 13-17! I have great hopes for the grades on this test! Next week, we will finish the last page of the lesson on State Government. You were given the crossword answers for the next two lessons. Complete pages 74-76 (City Government) and pages 78-80 (Post Office).

Watch this brief video about our postal system:

Quick Looks at Great Books

Complete the Chronolog you were given to review (in chronological order) the events and characters in Silas Marner. We will do a quick review and take the final test. We will also experience a Victorian Christmas with some of the traditions that England created for us.

Watch this brief video on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens:

Previous Assignments for 2021:

December 6, 2021December 6, 2021 litalive

Assignments for 12/06/2021

Assignments due for the week of December 6th, 2021

Christmas downtown

PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep

Great review today as we did some practice tests for the ACT Reading section. We also worked on some new vocabulary words that would be helpful on the Reading sections of all standardized tests. Hopefully, you learned some new words today!! Next week, we will take our ACT Reading test and then begin practice work on the ACT Science practice tests.

Explorations in British Literature

We will have a game review next week on the entire play (Twelfth Night) and then take the final test. Today we watched the last two acts to see how it played out watching it instead of reading it. In your literature notebook, read and complete the questions on pages 51-54. (excerpt from Twelfth Night) Complete page 56 for the play we just read, Twelfth Night. Read and answer the questions on pages 65 and 66. (Sir Thomas Wyatt’s translations of Petarch’s sonnets) We will compare them to Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Read the following summary of Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. We will discuss the story and then have a quiz on the play.

Watch the following 60 second recap of Macbeth.

U.S. Government

We discussed the “quizzes” you took last week and all the policies they represented. We discussed the video on how to amend the Constitution from the website last week. We also went over Lessons 16 and 17 (The Law and Trial) Next week, we will do a game review and then take the test on Immigration, Citizenship, The Supreme Court, The Law, and Trial. Review these lessons in your notebook.

Also for next week, complete pages 70-72 in your notebooks. (State Government) Below are the answers for page 69 (Crossword page) as you begin this lesson.

STATE GOVERNMENT
Across Down
1. Political 2. Legislature
6. Auditor 3. Superintendent
8. Attorney 4. Four
9. Constitution 5. Secretary
12. Governor 7. Rhode Island
13. Appeals 10. Nebraska
14. Ad Interim 11. Property

Watch this brief video on Citizenship:

Quick Looks at Great Books

For next week, complete Silas Marner by George Eliot and answer questions 87-164 in your study guides. We will finish going over the entire book and see if the ending was a surprise for you!! We will finish the final quiz and begin to review for the test on the book. Sixteen years have passed as Part II begins and as all situations are resolved. If you have any questions at all about the events, bring them to class next week.