Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Something Bigger Than Themselves
Every year we participate in the annual Spring Production with our homeschool group. This is in addition to the Christmas Production, which kicks off our extremely busy Christmas season.
The Spring Production brings all sorts of challenges for our family. For years we had several boys playing baseball. And then throw in Speech and Debate season, and you have a full regular schedule, never mind the additional rehearsals that a Spring Production brings.
Years ago, I came to grips with what this kind of production meant. Years ago, we had tech rehearsals, dress rehearsals, principle actor rehearsals, harmony singer rehearsals, and this was all in addition to the regular once a week rehearsals. Some years I had a kid make a cameo. Some years I had a kid who actually had a line or two. Some years I had to find some elaborate costume for one of my kids for a 1 minute appearance, and then they needed to change back into a choir t-shirt. (Did you know that dryer vent hoses, the silvery kind, make really cool robot arms and legs?) In recent years, my younger boys have lost all previous inhibitions and go big, with lots of lines. Those are the years where "The Production" means we set aside 40 minutes EACH day to go through the whole play to make sure the lines are memorized. (That was this year.)
Many years, because the kids are together so often in the last week, rehearsing extra hard, they get sick. Yes, all of them. They share the same cold. One year we got to all share the same stomach flu. I remember when my daughter had a cameo as an angel. She went on stage, delivered her message (it was in a box on her angel wings), and then she walked back stage and threw up in a bucket. Why was there a bucket handy? Oh, you just take a guess! She had been with all of these kids all week!
But what does this kind of production really mean? The lessons are simple. No matter how small or how big your part, you are all part of the show. If it were just the principle actors, how boring would that be? Robots making appearances, Professors of Theology scootering in with some profound one liner, angels delivering messages... these are the parts that make the play interesting. We are all part of the body. We work together to make the play more interesting.
As a homeschooler, I can teach all sorts of things with life lessons: Math, English, Foreign Language, Sciences. I do have a hard time illustrating how the body all works together, even though I divide out chores. (Maybe it's what we are doing, not how we are doing!) I am blessed that our homeschool group offers us the opportunity to be in a choir and to have a Spring Production. Through this vehicle, my students can learn how all parts make a big whole! They will see that their small part in service to their church and their community can equal something big. They can see how if they cast their one vote at election time that it can equal a victory.
Yes, I take all of these lessons from the simple Spring Production. And when the show is over, everyone has done a good job. Solos were perfect, lines were perfect, dancers were perfect, and even the camera men with no lines lent a great deal of fun to the show! And I can also mention how fun the air guitarists, air drummers and "make up" girls were! Kisses and hugs go all around. Flowers are given, along with bunches of kudos. The hard work paid off, and it took the whole cast to make it a success. May my children always remember the lessons that they learn from their Spring Productions: that they were part of something bigger than themselves!
The Spring Production brings all sorts of challenges for our family. For years we had several boys playing baseball. And then throw in Speech and Debate season, and you have a full regular schedule, never mind the additional rehearsals that a Spring Production brings.
Years ago, I came to grips with what this kind of production meant. Years ago, we had tech rehearsals, dress rehearsals, principle actor rehearsals, harmony singer rehearsals, and this was all in addition to the regular once a week rehearsals. Some years I had a kid make a cameo. Some years I had a kid who actually had a line or two. Some years I had to find some elaborate costume for one of my kids for a 1 minute appearance, and then they needed to change back into a choir t-shirt. (Did you know that dryer vent hoses, the silvery kind, make really cool robot arms and legs?) In recent years, my younger boys have lost all previous inhibitions and go big, with lots of lines. Those are the years where "The Production" means we set aside 40 minutes EACH day to go through the whole play to make sure the lines are memorized. (That was this year.)
Many years, because the kids are together so often in the last week, rehearsing extra hard, they get sick. Yes, all of them. They share the same cold. One year we got to all share the same stomach flu. I remember when my daughter had a cameo as an angel. She went on stage, delivered her message (it was in a box on her angel wings), and then she walked back stage and threw up in a bucket. Why was there a bucket handy? Oh, you just take a guess! She had been with all of these kids all week!
But what does this kind of production really mean? The lessons are simple. No matter how small or how big your part, you are all part of the show. If it were just the principle actors, how boring would that be? Robots making appearances, Professors of Theology scootering in with some profound one liner, angels delivering messages... these are the parts that make the play interesting. We are all part of the body. We work together to make the play more interesting.
As a homeschooler, I can teach all sorts of things with life lessons: Math, English, Foreign Language, Sciences. I do have a hard time illustrating how the body all works together, even though I divide out chores. (Maybe it's what we are doing, not how we are doing!) I am blessed that our homeschool group offers us the opportunity to be in a choir and to have a Spring Production. Through this vehicle, my students can learn how all parts make a big whole! They will see that their small part in service to their church and their community can equal something big. They can see how if they cast their one vote at election time that it can equal a victory.
Yes, I take all of these lessons from the simple Spring Production. And when the show is over, everyone has done a good job. Solos were perfect, lines were perfect, dancers were perfect, and even the camera men with no lines lent a great deal of fun to the show! And I can also mention how fun the air guitarists, air drummers and "make up" girls were! Kisses and hugs go all around. Flowers are given, along with bunches of kudos. The hard work paid off, and it took the whole cast to make it a success. May my children always remember the lessons that they learn from their Spring Productions: that they were part of something bigger than themselves!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Teaching Boys to Write Papers
I remember reading the first letter my husband ever wrote to me. I was 21 and had just finished my Junior year in college. Actually, it was a thank you note, but I remember thinking, "Wow, he doesn't write like an engineer." He had a degree in Physics and a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but I thought that he really wrote like a Liberal Arts major! Not only was his penmanship neat and "pretty", but his language was "flowery" and very interesting to read.
I don't know when I developed my perception of how people wrote, or what it said about them, but here I was 21, and passing judgment on a young man who had innocently written me a letter. Well, come to find out, law school fit him to a tee, and maybe I was right after all!
So, here I am given the task to educate four boys. However, NONE of them have demonstrated strong liberal arts tendencies. My daughter started journaling as soon as she could form letters. I have precious little notes that she wrote while on a field trip in first grade stuck in my photo albums. A couple of years later she was appalled at her spelling, but I know that probably now, as a senior in college, she can appreciate the process of becoming a fully functional writer. Her journaling turned into essays, critiques and term papers. Giving her ANY instruction in style only enhanced her writing, as she'd instantly try to adopt the new style. When she went back to Strunk and White, she said, "I don't consider all of that writing a waste. It basically gave me a bigger piece of marble to sculpt from." Ahhh.... music to a mother's ears.
Back to the boys. The Science boys. So far, I have one that graduated with a degree in Chemistry. Son number two has expressed an interest in getting an Electrical Engineering degree. Jury is still out for sons three and four, but I still have to go through the wringer trying to get them to write papers.... needless to say, they didn't start journaling at the age of 5.
Here is what I do. 9th grader needs to write a cultural paper for Geography. I supplied him with ideas for about 5 different papers and let him pick his favorite topic. He chooses the topic that sounds the most interesting: Religions of Asia.
I grab a stack of index cards. I make him ask me at least 20 questions on Religions of Asia. I set the timer for 30 minutes. He knows some of the main Asian Religions. But, he starts with the easy one: What are the Religions of Asia? He gets warmed up, and starts asking varied questions. How did Buddhism get started? How did Islam spread? How many people practice Hinduism? I am furiously writing his questions down, separately on each card. Before he has finished, in 1/2 an hour, he has come up with over 30 questions.
Next, we take the stack of index cards and I have him categorize them. Now I have him line them up on the dining room table in an outline form. Still just questions on the cards, but he has an outline. Sometimes I'll have them transfer the questions onto a sheet of paper, but when they are younger, it is easier to just tape them onto a poster board, and let it sit up against a wall until the paper is done.
Over the course of whatever time frame we have, I have him do research in 1/2 hour increments on as many questions as he can answer. He puts the answers on the reverse side of the index card, and then puts it back into his outline. As he uses a reference, I have him make a Bibliography card, where he lists his references as he goes, and numbers his reference, and puts the same number on the question card that this reference answered.
When he is done gathering his information, he writes the body of his paper. This is where style is worked in. Using Institute for Excellence in Writing, or IEW, (http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/) has been very helpful for my boys. There is something to be said for using a checklist for them. I don't make them follow every rule, every paragraph, but it becomes like a puzzle to them, if they do try to finish the checklist. They understand how to vary their writing, and I am glad to have a checklist to give them.
In a week or so the paper is finished, waiting for me to (depending on the age): type it, run through it with my red pen making marks on all of the grammatical and spelling errors, and then let them redo it.
The "question method" of generating their outlines has really worked for my boys. The success has been that after they have done it for a couple of years, it becomes easier each time, with the goal being that when they get to college, they can just write those 20 questions into a document on their computer, and go for it. At least that's my goal. The "getting them to journal" goal never really got off the ground. And I don't know that they'll ever write like a liberal arts major, or their father, but I have hope.
I don't know when I developed my perception of how people wrote, or what it said about them, but here I was 21, and passing judgment on a young man who had innocently written me a letter. Well, come to find out, law school fit him to a tee, and maybe I was right after all!
So, here I am given the task to educate four boys. However, NONE of them have demonstrated strong liberal arts tendencies. My daughter started journaling as soon as she could form letters. I have precious little notes that she wrote while on a field trip in first grade stuck in my photo albums. A couple of years later she was appalled at her spelling, but I know that probably now, as a senior in college, she can appreciate the process of becoming a fully functional writer. Her journaling turned into essays, critiques and term papers. Giving her ANY instruction in style only enhanced her writing, as she'd instantly try to adopt the new style. When she went back to Strunk and White, she said, "I don't consider all of that writing a waste. It basically gave me a bigger piece of marble to sculpt from." Ahhh.... music to a mother's ears.
Back to the boys. The Science boys. So far, I have one that graduated with a degree in Chemistry. Son number two has expressed an interest in getting an Electrical Engineering degree. Jury is still out for sons three and four, but I still have to go through the wringer trying to get them to write papers.... needless to say, they didn't start journaling at the age of 5.
Here is what I do. 9th grader needs to write a cultural paper for Geography. I supplied him with ideas for about 5 different papers and let him pick his favorite topic. He chooses the topic that sounds the most interesting: Religions of Asia.
I grab a stack of index cards. I make him ask me at least 20 questions on Religions of Asia. I set the timer for 30 minutes. He knows some of the main Asian Religions. But, he starts with the easy one: What are the Religions of Asia? He gets warmed up, and starts asking varied questions. How did Buddhism get started? How did Islam spread? How many people practice Hinduism? I am furiously writing his questions down, separately on each card. Before he has finished, in 1/2 an hour, he has come up with over 30 questions.
Next, we take the stack of index cards and I have him categorize them. Now I have him line them up on the dining room table in an outline form. Still just questions on the cards, but he has an outline. Sometimes I'll have them transfer the questions onto a sheet of paper, but when they are younger, it is easier to just tape them onto a poster board, and let it sit up against a wall until the paper is done.
Over the course of whatever time frame we have, I have him do research in 1/2 hour increments on as many questions as he can answer. He puts the answers on the reverse side of the index card, and then puts it back into his outline. As he uses a reference, I have him make a Bibliography card, where he lists his references as he goes, and numbers his reference, and puts the same number on the question card that this reference answered.
When he is done gathering his information, he writes the body of his paper. This is where style is worked in. Using Institute for Excellence in Writing, or IEW, (http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/) has been very helpful for my boys. There is something to be said for using a checklist for them. I don't make them follow every rule, every paragraph, but it becomes like a puzzle to them, if they do try to finish the checklist. They understand how to vary their writing, and I am glad to have a checklist to give them.
In a week or so the paper is finished, waiting for me to (depending on the age): type it, run through it with my red pen making marks on all of the grammatical and spelling errors, and then let them redo it.
The "question method" of generating their outlines has really worked for my boys. The success has been that after they have done it for a couple of years, it becomes easier each time, with the goal being that when they get to college, they can just write those 20 questions into a document on their computer, and go for it. At least that's my goal. The "getting them to journal" goal never really got off the ground. And I don't know that they'll ever write like a liberal arts major, or their father, but I have hope.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Teaching Spanish Vocabulary - Clothing
In trying to jump start my blogging, or actually the recording of day to day events, I thought I'd start with what I did today.
This year, I have a Spanish 1 class. 14 students, 10 of them girls. About 7 of them perfectionists. Working with perfectionists is a little different, fortunately my daughter broke me in.
But, no energy to pontificate on my policies of working with perfectionists. I'm here just to relate how I tried to teach my students clothing vocabulary in Spanish this morning.
Last week, some mothers brought in lots of doll clothes. I introduced the vocabulary basics.
This week, I hunted for 14 dolls to take into class. Quite a feat to find 14 dolls in my house...well, actually, I didn't. In addition to 9 dolls from various countries, I ended up taking in a "Woody", an Angel Rally monkey, a USC Rally monkey, and a couple of "Build-A-Bears", all fully clothed. I put one "doll" in front of each student. I gave each student a chance to tell me what their "doll" was wearing, along with the colors of each clothing item.
In advance to the class, I took the doll clothes that different mothers had brought in the previous week, and I create 14 different outfits on index cards. Some of the outfits made sense (they matched), others were just a little outlandish. In addition to writing the clothing item and it's color on the cards, I added in new vocabulary if I want to talk about a print or a design on the clothing. In class, I put all of the clothes in a laundry basket, mixed them up, and then handed each student an index card with the outfit on it and instructed them to find the outfit. It was a fun time, especially when a couple of students grabbed the wrong items and left the other students with things that didn't match their descriptions at all! Then they had to cooperate in order to get the correct outfit in front of them.
I guess I'll figure out if this activity worked next week, when they take the vocabulary quiz! But, by then, we will have moved on to "food vocabulary", which I introduced this morning. Should be a great time!
This year, I have a Spanish 1 class. 14 students, 10 of them girls. About 7 of them perfectionists. Working with perfectionists is a little different, fortunately my daughter broke me in.
But, no energy to pontificate on my policies of working with perfectionists. I'm here just to relate how I tried to teach my students clothing vocabulary in Spanish this morning.
Last week, some mothers brought in lots of doll clothes. I introduced the vocabulary basics.
This week, I hunted for 14 dolls to take into class. Quite a feat to find 14 dolls in my house...well, actually, I didn't. In addition to 9 dolls from various countries, I ended up taking in a "Woody", an Angel Rally monkey, a USC Rally monkey, and a couple of "Build-A-Bears", all fully clothed. I put one "doll" in front of each student. I gave each student a chance to tell me what their "doll" was wearing, along with the colors of each clothing item.
In advance to the class, I took the doll clothes that different mothers had brought in the previous week, and I create 14 different outfits on index cards. Some of the outfits made sense (they matched), others were just a little outlandish. In addition to writing the clothing item and it's color on the cards, I added in new vocabulary if I want to talk about a print or a design on the clothing. In class, I put all of the clothes in a laundry basket, mixed them up, and then handed each student an index card with the outfit on it and instructed them to find the outfit. It was a fun time, especially when a couple of students grabbed the wrong items and left the other students with things that didn't match their descriptions at all! Then they had to cooperate in order to get the correct outfit in front of them.
I guess I'll figure out if this activity worked next week, when they take the vocabulary quiz! But, by then, we will have moved on to "food vocabulary", which I introduced this morning. Should be a great time!
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