APPLE (Free Verse Poem)

                                                                 Apple                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                  Niah
                                                                                                                                                  8-21-2014
This assignment began as a creative writing exercise to get the mind moving.  We had read a couple of poems to start and then she wrote her first draft.  From that draft, we worked to develop the poem, expanding and fine tuning.  We did not apply too many rules, making a choice to flow with ideas and playful word expression. FREE VERSE

1.  Apple
2.  The sweet, sweet flavor,
3.  The crunchy texture
4.  And the bright red skin

5.  Oh the things it see's!
6.  He started as a little flower,
7.  Bloomed into a wee green fruit 
8.  That changed into the most beautiful red beauty. 

9.   He became who he was!
10.  Little Old Man came and picked him off his tree.
11.  Little Proud Apple was carried in a little round basket, off to Little Old Man's Little Sweet Wife. 
12.  She lovingly makes snacks for her little sweet grandchildren. 

13. The day came and she plucked that little proud apple from the basket,
14.  Sliced him in to little pieces, 
15.  Divided him up for her little sweet grandchildren. 
16.  Filled with joy, " This is the best apple ever!" the children squeeled.  Oh the things they did say!

17.  Oh, what a life that little apple had!
18.  He saw the seasons change, the birds, the trees, the big bright moon, the nice hot sun, and so much more!
19. The little proud apple knew his adventure wasn't over just yet! 
20. He left his 7 little seeds with the world! Oh, the things they will see!
                                                            The End   

SCHOOL START: 2014/2015 180 Days for 7th Grade

Hello!

The school year kicks off with the addition of a new Mac Air 13" laptop for Niah.  Only the finest technology for my little one (wink ;)! Sparring no expense, mainly due to the fact we are 'MAC People' and they've got us! Oh well.  But MAC computers are truly the finest learning tools available especially if you are into the Arts.  Niah absolutely loves the device and takes very good care of it.  It also acts as a leveraging pawn, in that she must comply with our expectations in order to keep it.

That being said...

DAY 1:  kicks off with
Computer Technology work.  Organized desktop for quick navigation to important websites and online resources.  Dashboard includes Khan Academy, our Blog, Curriculum links to other Math and ELA, etc.  Also created folders for her work and practiced saving files to folders.  Internet safety discussed.  Expectations covered.
Day 1 also included getting started with Saxon Math Placement testing.

DAY2: Easy Peasy (EP) Day 2,
reading (Hope has Wings) poem, respond to questions and writing.
Expanded Apple poem.
Saxon Math (SM) placement testing,
World History for us ALL (WHA)- discussion on how to study history.  Blind men and the Elephant analogy.  Studying history from 3 perspecitves: Panoramic, Landscape, Up CLose.  She illustrated an elephant (Landscape) with a micro-bubble window showing skin and hair follicles (Close Up), and African continent (Panoramic).


DAY3: Finished SM Placement, ready for 8/7.
Maleficent came in mail as Niah wanted to read the book.
We discussed the 'Sleeping Beauty' theme and learned about it's origins dating back to the 1300's, then again in the 1600's with Perrault (French) and Brothers Grimm (Germans).  There have been many adaptations of this story throughout the years with some of the most disturbing versions found in its earliest emergence by Perrault.  Walt Disney, a man with a darkside, of course, made this story popular in the 1959 Sleeping Beauty animated movie.  Today's Maleficent maintains  much of it's 'Walt Disney' elements but expands and spins off on its own with new elements.
In studying the story from a myth-perspective, we discovered it contains nature symbolism which I will let Niah explain in the next blog entry titled, 'Myth Analogy of Sleeping Beauty'.
Finished Lesson 1 of WHA- mapping
Khan- Human Body part 1

DAY 4:
ELA -EP, Read poem, The Second Day Before Christmas, discussed and responded to questions.  Keyboarded in the Apple Poem importing edits from written draft while using correct posture. Learned the history of proper notations, as found in the APA, and how the technological advancement of word processing allows us to italics vs underline and using quotation marks.  This a part of technological evolution.  However, not everyone has crossed over and instructors will have students use underlines and quotations.   Streamlining grammar rules, making writing easier.
Khan-Math @ 5% of 7th grade mastery
Khan Science - Cells

DAY 5:
Khan-Math GCF LCM; WHA Lesson 2; ELA Shakespeare Sonnets- discussed how the English language evolved, how poetry is used to express deep love (in contrast to the degradation of love expression in todays world as seen on Instagram, 'Hey! You are awesome! Follow me!" or 'You are hot', etc.

ORIGINAL TEXT

MODERN TEXT: My eyes work best when I’m asleep, because all day they look at things I don’t care about. When I sleep, my dreaming eyes alight on you and glitter brightly in the dark, having found your bright image there. Given that your shadowy dream-image brightens even the dark, how bright might you appear in daylight, when your own light is so much clearer? How bright, when your shadow shines so brightly to my eyes blinded by darkness? What good would it do my eyes to see you in the daytime when they already look at your beautiful image in the dead of night, as I sleep? Every day is as dark as night until I get to see you again, and every night is as bright as day when I see you in my dreams.

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see, For all the day they view things unrespected; But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee, And, darkly bright, are bright in dark directed. Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright— How would thy shadow’s form form happy show To the clear day with thy much clearer light, When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so? How would, I say, mine eyes be blessèd made By looking on thee in the living day, When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay?   All days are nights to see till I see thee,   And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

Sedona Rocks! Adventures in the WEST! A Geological Study

Key words: Sedementary Rock, Sandstone, erosion, iron oxide, igneous,
Co-Authored by Niah and Baron

This picture was taken from our hotel.  Great views!  At night, Sedona has a low light policy so you can see the stars really well.  We swam and looked at the stars.  Bats flew all over the pool swooping down to the surface of the water for bugs that were attracted to the pool light.

This a picture (above) was taken when we were at this really cool hiking trail where you could see several of the enormous rock formations that make Sedona famous.  It is hard to believe there was an ocean here and the earth pushed up the layers and erosion has exposed so many years of earth’s history.  

 

This is a picture of
Slide Rock which is
in a park in Sedona, AZ.  The rocks are sandstone and with moss all over, it makes it very slippery.  After the water has run through the canyon for so long, it cut the rock into a narrow path.  The process is called EROSION.  The path cut by the water is perfect for sliding because it is smooth and the water pushes you down the river.

This picture (below) shows sedimentary rock.  The huge rock formations show many layers including limestone that contains fossils from an ancient ocean.  Under the sedementary rock, there is also igneous (from magma and lava - fast or slow cooling) and metamorphic (heat and pressure).  Picture below show crystals that formed as geodes within the rock which may show that there was water in the area.
The rocks of Sedona are red from Iron Oxide.

 

Scientific Method

http://science-fair-coach.com/scientific-method/

 Wathc video here:

The SciShow

Bill Nye the Science Guy 
When heated, water vaporizes.  When cooled, it returns to liquid.  See can crushing experiement.

MATH and Moving: Why is it Important to Know Your Calculations?

Fallbrook to South Carolina:    2,400 miles

Scenario:  Driving a truck that gets 13/19 mpg (rate)

Take the average by choosing median (halfway between 13 and 19) which is 16mpg.

Then DIVIDE the total numbers of miles by the average miles per gallon (mpg):

2400/16= 150       150 is the number gallons of gas.

Now, MULTIPLY 150 (gallons needed to drive 2400 miles) X $4 (price per gallon of gas)

150X4= $600  $600 is the amount it will cost to drive 2400 miles.



Finally, the company will pay $.56 per mile. New problem! How much will the company pay us to drive our truck to South Carolina?

MULTIPLY:  2400 (the number of total miles) X $.56

2400 X .56 = $1356  $1356 is the amount CBI will pay us to drive the truck.

Now, if it costs us $600 in gas to drive the truck and the company pays us $1356, how much is left over?

SUBTRACT: Smaller from the Larger  $1365 - $600 = $756
$756 is how much extra money we will get to drive our car.

Please note:  When you drive a car or truck, it costs more than just gas.  You must consider that the tires get worn, the oil gets dirty, we pay insurance on the vehicle, and so on.

The New World

We are watching the new movie recently released, 'The New World'.  Very good so far with excellent cinematography- everything, well done.

This movie really helps you envision what it was like when the colonist first arrived to the Americas.  Imagine what the Natives thought.  How sad for them because the European arrival marked the end of their existence.

LIFE IN EARLY CALIFORNIA

LIFE IN A SPANISH MISSION: We did a free form study on the subject.

Life in Spanish Mission.  Exercises for kids to sample lifestyle of Monks as they live a day in a life. Organized schedule, tending to agriculture, prayer, hymns, cooking, cleaining, grinding grains,  etc.  Practice silence during tasks.  Link here for more info:  SpanishMission

“The monk’s prayer did not, however, end at sundown. The entire monastic community was awakened after midnight for the most de- manding period of prayer, which lasted for at least two hours. Much of the period was spent singing.”

Monks haircuts were done to symbolize their dedication to Christ.

CHANT:  Listen while you cover this lesson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye-HAS7NUrE
48 minutes of music including bells intro.
Les Cloches means Bells

‘In most monastic churches a choir helped lead the chanting of prayers. Until about the year A.D. 800, church music held to an early Christian tradition of being a purely sung, or vocal, music. This type of vocal music is called plainchant. It did not include in- struments and had a style that consisted of melody alone, without accompaniment. Sometimes plainchant is called “Gregorian chant”, after Pope Gregory I, a scholar and a church leader. Gregor- ian chants are very simple melodies sung in Latin, which communicate the beliefs of the church.’

San Luis Rey Mission

California’s ECONOMY and How it Changed When the Spanish Came:

Hunter-Gathering to Agriculture and Farming

Missions used the labor of the Native Americans and organized agricultural practices and produced food and goods not only to sustain themselves but also to use for trade.

Note the clothing style with Spanish and Western migration infuence.

Scholars believe there were 10-over 100 million natives in the Americas before Columbus came.  Then they started to die with the period sometimes called, 'The Great Dying' which occured when the Europeans (Spanish) brought diseases.  The Natives didn't have immunity to the sicknesses so millions died.