I have seen so many great ideas for review games out there. I thought I would compile a list of my favorites to have as a resource. I figure if I could come up with 6 great games that work, I only have to use the same game 4 times in a year! 1. Zap! - This is my favorite game so far simply because the smartest group doesn't always win. It's kind of like Jeopardy, but with a curve ball - if you get the "Zapped" card, you lose all your points! Thanks for sharing, Mathtastrophe! Game instructions and printable here. Another take on this game is Bazinga by Simplifying Radicals. 2. Nerf Gun - Love this idea! Draw a bullseye on the board. Divide the kids into teams. Ask a team a review question. If they get the answer correct, they get to shoot at the board to see how many points they earn. So fun! 3. Jenga - I really like how Living Out His Love blog does this one. She writes with a sharpie marker directly onto the Jenga piece. And, she write a subject and week on both sides of each piece. Though, if done this way, it seems like you could only do this at the end of the semester (because if you have Sciene, week 7 written in sharpie and you're only at week 3, that wouldn't work!). Another idea is to tape the subject and week with clear packing tape and then re-do it as your progress along in the year. 4. Power Tower - Similar to Jenga, but with paper cups. Write the question on the cup. If the class answers correctly, they get to stack the cups. If the tower falls, they have to start over. via Mrs. Lewis' Learning Library 5. Mr Potato Head - For every question the class gets correct, they get to add a body part to Mr. Potato. I also like the idea on 2nd Grade Rocks! blog. She uses it as a behavior incentive. Every time the class has good behavior, they get to add a body part. When Mr. Potato is completely put together, they get to have an ice cream party! 6. Snowball Fight - Love this idea for Texas as this may be the only snow the children ever see. Write the review questions on a piece of paper. Divide the kids into 2 teams. If the kids get it correct, they get to crumble it up into a ball. After all the questions have been answered, they get to have a snowball fight using the paper balls! 7. Chair Tic-Tac-Toe - Put nine chairs in 3 rows of 3 to make a square. Divide the class into 2 teams. Ask a team a question. If they get it correctly, one of their players gets to sit in one of the chairs. The first team to have 3 players sitting in a row wins. 8. Memory Mogul - Awesome (and free!) printable game from Sola Gratia Mom blog. This one seems like it could take some time printing out the cards and possibly creating a game board. But, the game board and cards could last all year. Click here for instructions and printables. 9. Stinky Feet - My 7 year old son would love this one. Very simple with little prep time. Idea and instructions can be found here at Teaching in the Fast Lane blog. 10. Classroom Board Game - This game may require a little adapting, but it looks like fun. Turn the classroom into a life size game board. Great ideas for how to do this game here at Blessings for Bible School Teachers.

In Class... EEL Board Work--True/False questions and Undiagram an interrogative sentence New Part of Speech--Conjunctions Chart H 5 types of conjunctions--will learn them throughout year correlative (co-relative=2 words always go together) relative pronouns--also on pronoun chart (F) these begin who/which clauses subordinating conjunctions www.asia.wub for main ones coordinating conjunctions FANBOYS Did a cheer to help remember Also sang these, along with the definition of conjunction to "Father Abraham" Foundations, Cycle 2, weeks 21-22 compound subjects and verbs are diagramed with a "rocket ship" Looked at Chart A and how much we have covered so far this year. It is a lot in just six weeks! New Sentence Structure--Compound 2 independent clauses (house diagram) combined using a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) Must have a comma before the FANBOYS Diagrammed with the FANBOYS on a "chair" in between the clauses New Sentence Pattern--S-Vt-Do Direct Objects are nouns/pronouns and must follow verb; answer who/what Transitive verbs transfer action from subject of sentence to the direct object Diagrammed like the pattern is shown on chart A When studying chart A, it is a good idea to have your child mark the diagram lines as well as the abbreviations. (Thanks Jennifer B.!) Conjunction Junction! Math Played Battleship with partners www.nationalnumberknockout.com IEW Read our papers within our table groups Silly Sentences at tables Dressed-up boring sentences with at least 3 given dress-ups or decorations New Structure--Summarizing a Reference (Unit 4) "Some-a-rize" Key words for outline come from interesting, important, or relevant facts NOT from each sentence! 5 to 7 facts (lines) in Key Word Outline Still only 3 words per line Topic Sentence is Roman Numeral "I" in KWO Clincher Sentence just write clincher on KWO (no need for key words) when writing sentence in paragraph, remember rule: "The clincher sentence MUST repeat or reflect 2-3 key words from the topic sentence." At Home... EEL page 108-109 (110-111) in EEL page 109/111 is a test/proof for the first six weeks This is great to do sometime over break to see where your student is and see where there might be areas you need to work on. Remember, mastery is not expected for 1st or 2nd year students! Study Chart H (conjunctions) Also study chart G (compound sentence structure)--we ran out of time for this, but it is important! Continue practicing all charts learned so far (A through F) Work on the vocabulary words and definitions at the beginning of each lesson covered so far. Analytical Task Sheet Try to complete 1 practice sentence each day Sentences 1 and 2 are the only true basic ones this week You can change the words in the sentence to create new ones (if you feel confident), or you can use the history practice sentences I sent out by email a couple of weeks ago or ones on CC Connected. Remember the section in Lesson 3 that gives all of the details for the ATS, and remember the steps are laid out for you on each sentence's page. Optional--Editing exercises and Spelling List in EEL Don't feel that you always have to simply write the charts to practice. Get creative! Math Practice Number Knockout at home Practice and work on speed and accuracy of math facts IEW Lesson 9 from the US History Based Writing book Follow this lesson as closely as you can/would like to. I don't teach from this book (other than reading the source text) on purpose. I leave all of the great teaching helps and ideas in the USHBW lessons for you to use at home! There are some great ideas in there! The text on "The First Thanksgiving" is to help you teach the topic-clincher rule. It is a great resource! You are only doing one paragraph. The idea is to take the 2 paragraphs and summarize them into one. Don't forget about vocabulary words! There are flashcards for these in the back of the student US history book Optional--Bring a completed paper to turn in and share on Tuesday This should be a marked copy with a signed checklist if you want feedback. Should also have a clean (and even illustrated) copy for the published student book Optional--If you are continuing to do school throughout break and would like more writing to do, don't forget about the blackline masters download in the front of the USHBW book. There is another source text that goes along with the one in lesson 9 that would work great for additional practice. Reminders... Be sure to read your lessons for the week after break--Week 7 in EEL Guide and Lesson 10 in USHBW book. Our next Pudewa night is not until the end of October, but make plans to join us on October 26! My Prayer for you this week... "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory." Proverbs 24:3-6 May you remember not only the premise and philosophy behind Classical Education, but may you also be encouraged by each other ("wise guidance" and "abundance of counselors"). I love how we are all in this together, encouraging each other, learning from each other, and supporting each other! Have a great break!

Exactly what you need to know to prepare for Essentials from an Essentials Tutor and Challenge Mom. Prepare for Essentials with these four skills areas.

I'm sharing my summer study plans for the upcoming year as a Classical Conversations teacher and tutor for my Challenge students.

Write on the board: The boy yelled “Help!” and he saw a brave dog quickly run to the rescue. 112 chart Sample sentences from below WELCOME to Essentials. 3 parts – Essentials of the English Language Math Games IEW – or Institute for Excellence in Writing Let’s open in prayer Colossians 3:17: And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Let’s study English grammar to the glory of God. Let’s go over what will be expected of you in this class: • Be open to learning • Participate in a positive and encouraging way • Take ownership and responsibility for keeping all your stuff together and bringing it each week to class. It is not your mom’s job! What do you need to bring to this class? Essentials guide Trivium tables IEW books – student and teacher When you come to class each week: • Be prompt and early. To be on time is to be late • Place IEW homework on the back table in the box • Take a dry erase board • Sit down and work on punctuation and capitalization or activity problem on the board. • Return all to the box at the end of class OK. Now that our housekeeping is out of the way, let’s get to know each other a little bit. Snowballs. Write one thing about yourself that no one here would know. Throw the snowballs at each other. Grab one; read it and try to figure out who’s it is. OK. Now that we know each other a little bit better, let’s get started. • Who has studied Grammar before? • What curriculum did you use? • What’s the last thing you remember studying? • How many parts of speech can you remember? • Noun • Verb • Pronoun • Adjective • Interjection • Conjunction • Adverb • Preposition Let’s see what you know: (write on board) The boy yelled “Help!” and he saw a brave dog quickly run to the rescue. Why does it even matter? • When people want to communicate with one another, whether it’s talking with them or writing to them, they do it with sentences. • Understanding sentences helps to get your ideas across to other people. So sentences are important! You need to know that EEL studies the English Language a bit differently than we may be used to… Let’s check it out: • EEL teaches the English Language in a similar way to building a puzzle. • We are going to spend this school year putting the “puzzle” together. Weeks 1 & 2 • The outer edges of the puzzle – An overview of the entire English language. – The “Big Picture” Week 3 and onwards • The inner pieces of the puzzle – The details of the material Most importantly, this is a three year class. If this is your first tour through Essentials, you will be overwhelmed. It will be ok. It will all start to make sense. You don’t have to know it all your first year. The English Language is actually quite concrete and fixed. It is precise, defined and specific, not vague and ambiguous (as some suspect). Like the rest of God’s creation, language has structure and order. (I believe that this is because God is the author of language, as we can read in the book of Genesis.) Because it has structure and order, it can be mastered through studying and understanding its rules and parameters. If this is the first time that you’ve opened this book, I encourage you to read through pages 9-15, 19-23. Also, if you haven’t read through this first lesson, it is a good idea to do so before teaching at home tomorrow. The big picture – sentences. (Look at the first trivium chart p. 398. And lesson one p. 25) What do we already know about sentences? • A sentence is - A group of words that express a complete thought • Each sentence must: 1. contain a subject (who or what the sentence is about) 2. contain a predicate (includes the verb, and tells what the subject is doing or being) 3. make complete sense 4. start with a capital letter 5. end with a punctuation mark We will study sentences in great detail in order to classify (categorize) them. Sentence classification is the backbone of EEL. We classify using three components: structure, purpose and pattern. - Now, just to warn you, there are 112 unique sentence classifications. It might sound daunting, but it’s really not that hard if we break it down. - Break out your trivium table – English Grammar. - There are four structures – how is the sentence built? (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex - Four purposes – the intent or function of the sentence (declarative, exclamatory, interrogative, imperative) - Finally, there are seven patterns – this is the arrangement of words in a sentence. This is possibly the most important aspect of mastering grammar. The seven patterns are: S-Vi, S-Vt-DO, S-Vl-PN, S-Vl-PA, S-Vt-IO-DO, S-Vt-DO-OCN, S-Vt-DO-OCA. - Can you figure out how we can make 112 different combinations from this chart? Let kids try to come up with a few examples Ex – Jesus wept. Jesus wept! --------changed purpose Jesus wept? (Write on board before class.) Weep. Jesus wept. Jesus wept for Mary and Martha mourned. -------------changed structure Jesus wept while Mary and Martha mourned. Jesus wept while Mary and Martha mourned, but Lazarus would live again. Jesus wept. Jesus loves me. Jesus is God. Jesus is loving. -----------------changed pattern Jesus gave me a new heart. Jesus made me his child. Jesus made me happy. One more thing – let’s break these sentences down just a little bit and talk about Subject and Predicate. Can anyone tell me ---- Subject – the part of the sentence about which something is being said. Predicate – the part of the sentence which says something about the subject. Look at a few examples - sentences already on board. (Have students mark them – one at a time) Every sentence has both a subject and a predicate. Subject may be more than one word. S P (The fat orange cat) (loves lasagna.) OK. So there is your overview of the entire English language! It might seem daunting now, but remember that this was just the forest. During the course of the year, we will be examining the trees. Also, remember that there are three tours. Don’t expect to understand it all the first year! Mastery charts - If you memorize this now, it will make the rest of the year easier - Either use the table and copy it on a separate piece of paper, or use the blank chart on page 399 (have your mom make a copy first) and fill in the blanks. - Either way, fill out the chart every day to achieve mastery. We’ll have a race next week to see who can fill it our first. - Chart B isn’t on your Trivium tablet, it’s only on page 401. This has the first 28 sentence model sentences – all the possible simple sentence purposes and patterns. Again, also copy this one from the chart on page 400 every day this week. The point of mastering these charts is that, at the end of three tours, you shouldn’t need them anymore. Editing –p. 31 If you choose to have your child edit the Bible passage provided in each lesson, use the mastery method. Don’t expect your child to correct everything that’s wrong in each passage the first week. Rather, use the Editing Rules on page 457. Teach one rule a week. The first week, only use rule #1 (capitalize the 1st word of a sentence). Week two, use rules #1 and #2 (capitalize the 1st word and use the appropriate end mark on each sentence). Week three, use rules #1 - #3, and so on. Spelling – If you wish to use this guide for spelling, memorize one spelling rule a week (p. 463) and 3 phonograms a week (p. 479). Spelling lists for each week begin on p. 467. For homework, look at the section that says, “at home”. It will tell you what to this week. Then, if you look at p. 22, it will give you a daily schedule.

Need help with CC Essentials? Learn how to set up your student notebook as well as what to do at home every day as you work on your Essentials work at home!

It is the first week of Essentials! Whether this is your very first year using Classical Conversations, or you’ve been through all three tours before, you’re in for an incredible journey! This upcoming year, my daughter will begin Tour 2 through the program. I’ve been through Essentials with my

Could it really be true?! Has someone come up with clear and complete lesson plans for CC ?! Oh, yes, friends. It. is. true! And th...

How to organize your Classical Conversations Essential's Binder and be ready for the first day of Essentials Class

Classical Conversations Essentials program week by week for the first tour/first year student and parent - a peek behind the curtain

How to organize your Classical Conversations Essential's Binder and be ready for the first day of Essentials Class

Exactly what you need to know to prepare for Essentials from an Essentials Tutor and Challenge Mom. Prepare for Essentials with these four skills areas.

Classical Conversations Essentials program week by week for the first tour/first year student and parent - a peek behind the curtain

Let's make a a DIY dry erase board today! You can use your DIY dry erase board for homeschooling, kids play, or even games! Kids of all ages, and parents,

Here are a few tips from experienced Classical Conversations Essentials Tutors to other Essentials Tutors.

As a Challenge Mom and Essentials Tutor, I am asked alot how to prepare for Challenge A Latin. Get stick in the sand advice for Challenge A Latin.

As a Challenge Mom and Essentials Tutor, I am asked alot how to prepare for Challenge A Latin. Get stick in the sand advice for Challenge A Latin.

It can be overwhelming to complete Essentials at home. Here are 10 tips I have for finding success in working through the grammar and writing at home.

Thoughtful Momma Monday As we dive into the world of Classical Conversations this week (Wow! Already?!), I wanted to be prepare...

This is a great way for the students to solidify their understanding of the principal parts of regular verbs in a fun way. Students play Bingo to identify either present, past, present participle or past participle verbs. This is also a fantastic informal assessment! The kids love this activity an...

Well, third attempt (or more) at blogging. I am tutoring in our Classical Conversations group this upcoming year. As I have been preparing...

This post was written on November 5, 2011. Our first year of Essentials has proven T-O-U-G-H. It would have been a challenge even if we hadn’t been battling all the noise from the ongoing construction. In the process of learning how to implement Essentials in our own home, I have discovered some ways to make […]

Look inside this tutoring binder to see what one elementary teacher brings to tutor struggling students in literacy and math. Lots of resource and freebies!

Classical Conversations Foundations Tutor Shirt, CC tutor Tee, Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Shirt Perfect shirt to wear to your Classical Conversations Community Day or CC Practicum! Makes a great tutor gift! Also available in Director, Essentials Tutor, Challenge and CC Mom designs! This classic unisex jersey short sleeve tee fits like a well-loved favorite. Soft cotton and quality print make users fall in love with it over and over again. These t-shirts have-ribbed knit collars to bolster shaping. The shoulders have taping for better fit over time. Dual side seams hold the garment's shape for longer. .: 100% Airlume combed and ringspun cotton (fiber content may vary for different colors) .: Light fabric (4.2 oz/yd² (142 g/m²)) .: Retail fit .: Tear away label .: Runs true to size

Memorization, Grammar Stage, Tutoring, Classical Model, Solagratiamom

It's our first year of doing Essentials, and my daughter and I both have been a bit overwhelmed. I love the class, because I'm learning more about English and writing than I ever have before, but it is challenging me more than any of my college classes ever did! Ten weeks in, we're getting the hang of things, and Alathia's writing has improved dramatically. However, we were struggling to find time to do sentence analysis tasks. Alathia also was feeling like Essentials was "hard" and "scary" because I was projecting that attitude, and she was just following my lead. A wise friend suggested that I make "Essentials time with mom" a special time. She suggested misting peppermint essential oils (essential oils for essentials...how funny!) or lighting a candle, having a cup of cocoa or tea together, and making it a special bonding time in the afternoons. I loved that idea! I realized that the corner of the guest room where my girl does her independent work each day wasn't really being used for anything. So, this weekend, I dolled it up and made it my Essentials Corner. It is now an inviting space where we can unwind and review our EEL and IEW homework. She was so excited about it that she started diagramming sentences on the new whiteboards on a Saturday! A visual cue for my art-loving daughter! New whiteboards were imperative, for they have given us a spot to list the week's work and to diagram sentences. I brought in a little glass table that was on my outdoor patio this summer to hold my Essentials bag, our books, our basket of scented pencils and candles, and our portable walls. Visuals gloriously assist us in our quest to be audaciously astounding conquerors of the Key Word Outline. A friend from church gave us these little boxes she no longer wanted. They were just the right size for sentence pattern blocks! An environment to placidly contemplate our Essentials work, where hopefully we will not squander our afternoon, but will be diligent to master the English language! *Underlined words are from our vocabulary words this year. Just for fun!

In the Collaborative Model, struggling students are never left out or left behind.

Learning can be so fun with these Science Printables! They are brightly colored, interactive, and easy to use. Perfect for little learners!

This year marks Stephen’s fourth year in Essentials (which means this will also be my fourth year in Essentials – because we started in 3rd grade, back when Essentials was recommended for 3rd-6th grade). I have thought so much about words of wisdom I could offer to others who have asked, but it really has […]

I am a first time tutor this year with Classical Conversations and I will be tutoring the Foundations program. I am super nervous because I really want to make sure that I do a good job with these …

You know I've been trying to simplify CC planning. So, I really only have about 6 games to use throughout the year. I can repeat each gam...

In truth, you need nothing more than a pencil, paper and your Foundations Guide, to teach the CC memory work well. But in life- it’s nice to have some options, for how to get all of the memor…

Week 12 History Sentence: Tell Me About the Muslim Empire HISTORY SENTENCE 1. Print memory work slide (see file). 2. Practice song with hand motions (see file). 3. Parent reviews “history highlights” (see file) for background. 4. Glance through “Muslim Empire Activities (see file) for activities your children would find interesting; note especially the activity with food coloring-in-water and the ability to connect it with the geography map, below. Hand Motions W12: Tell me about the Muslim Empire Muslim use two hands to make a dome over your head (like a mosque) Muhammad sign language “M” worshipped bow down Ottoman sign language “O” expanded hands together, palms touching. Spread out as in expanding weakness make your whole body wither as if growing weak westernization make sign language “w” with both hands. “Do the twist” with hands holding out “w”s in time to the music Week 12 Geography: Muslim Empire GEOGRAPHY 1. Print geography slide (see file). 2. Use graphic in following link (http://jfortunato.weebly.com/whi8-study-resources.html) with above-mentioned activity in history. (Coloring in water, spread of Islam.) Week 12 Math: Teaspoons and Tablespoons MATH 1. Post visual teaspoon/tablespoon chart (see file). 2. Consider this song: “Totally 3rd grade” liquid conversion song, http://www.totally3rdgrade.com/lemonade_stand.html 3. Have fun playing with actual conversions (tablespoons, teaspoons, etc.) Name _____________________________ Date ___________________ Prepositions:Weeks 7-12 W A A T D U N D E R S U D S I A 
R M E W Q I G R K C I I L E T E 
J E I I H J N O N T O N I B K S 
O S N T J X L E U E O A K S B E 
N L I F S K F O N C G W E R R H 
N W P N E A H O D O F F A I M N 
T U A K S G O P E Q P E M R R Q 
G O S R U I O N R H N T T P D T 
I N T O P T D V N S G D S D F G 
Y I R U O H Q E E A H W I S O A 
P H R T N R E G A R D I N G T L 
T O E S Z O Z I T L E T C E I T 
A Y E I P U F T H L T H E T M G 
E R I D U G E A L Z V O N B A W 
D J B E O H H P E T E U S N I T 
S Y Y E L E I R T A L T T R A U 
 Find the following hidden PREPOSITIONS: Week 7: in, inside, into, like, near, Week 8: of, off, on, onto, out, Week 9: outside, over, past, regarding, since, Week 10:through, throughout, to, toward, Week 11: under, underneath, until, up, upon, Week 12: with, within, without, SCIENCE/PROJECT 1. Post science memory work (see file) as well as plant diagram/photosynthesis slide (see file). 2. Consider adding hand motions (see file). 3. Parent reviews “science snippets” info (see file). 4. Read chapter containing info about photosynthesis (see file) by http://eequalsmcq.com/ClassicScienceLife.htm, mostly to be able to do fun activity related to photosynthesis (see file). 5. Read “classifying animals/plants” files—two for the student, two for the parent (see file). Week 12 – What are the plant systems? Hand motions: Photosynthesis – hands reaching toward sun and pulling it in Respiration – hands by your lungs squeezing/kneading motion Transpiration – hands pushing down and out toward feet

Fun ways to teach the parts of speech and conjunctions using games, videos, songs, websites, books, and worksheets.

Need help with CC Essentials? Learn how to set up your student notebook as well as what to do at home every day as you work on your Essentials work at home!

I’ve been working on this list for a VERY long time. In recent conversation with my CC tutor buddies though, I realized that this won’t be of much help to tutors and parents if I never …

Plans, resources, and ideas for Classical Conversations CC Cycle 1 Week 1.

Managing expectations in the Essentials program is important for a successful year. I wish I would have known so many things when I started.

I’ve been working on this list for a VERY long time. In recent conversation with my CC tutor buddies though, I realized that this won’t be of much help to tutors and parents if I never …