Moving Beyond the Page- A Wrinkle in Time Literature Unit

I wanted to talk a little about MBtP’s A Wrinkle in Time unit. 

We finished the first 3 days. Each of these days covers one chapter, but some days cover two. In addition to 4 comprehension questions for each chapter, language arts concepts are covered using A Wrinkle in Time. On these 3 days, Duncan covered hooking a reader with the first line of a story, elements of science fiction (diagram), vocabulary from the book covering prefixes and suffixes (chart),  possessive plurals (fill in the blank), characterization of Meg (diagram), creative thinking skills guided to describing a picture, discussion and illustration of things beyond human comprehension, adding –ed and –ing to words (chart and fill in the blank), read an explanation of science fiction as part of the fantasy genre, and brainstormed ideas for science fiction stories. Each lesson ends a wrapping it up conclusion that sums up what was covered, a couple of questions to discuss that are more analysis and less comprehension, and things to review.  

The comprehension questions at the beginning of the lesson include questions like:

What is Meg upset about in the first chapter?

What did the government tell Meg's mom when she went to find her husband?

The discussion questions at the end of the lesson include questions like:

In what ways is Meg's family similar to and different from your own?

What does Meg mean when she says, "I do face facts. They're a lot easier to face than people, I can tell you."?

Summer Education with the Prepubescent 10yo Male, Duncan

This week we started our Summer Schedule: MBtP Literature Study- A Wrinkle in Time; Astronomy Study- astronomy chapters from Conceptual Physical Science, George's Secret Key to the Universe, and library books; math tutor; Kumon Math; Evan Moor Daily Paragraph Editing.

What did we actually accomplish? Let’s see we skipped math tutor this week. And, well, Duncan finally finished Evan-Moor Daily Math 5. I know that isn’t on my list of summer things, but I really thought he would be finished with it before now.

Duncan completed 3 days of the MBtP literature study, Chapter 26: The Solar System in Conceptual Physical Science, 16 chapters in George’s Secret Key to the Universe, The Tour of the Solar System section in Planets, Stars and Galaxies: A Visual Encyclopedia of Our Universe, and 6 days in Evan Moor Daily Paragraph Editing.

MBtP A Wrinkle in Time Literature Unit

There is even a website for this book.

Monday, Duncan went to Kumon for several hours while I worked. Tuesday, he went to mandolin. Wednesday, he went to Games Workshop where is playing in a Fantasy league battle and went back over there today, Saturday, and did the same. He will stay there for 6 or 7 hours. It’s crazy. Duncan has rediscovered the Xbox 360 and the thrill that is Halo. No idea how long it has been since he played it, but we had to “find” the Halo disc and put new batteries in the headset. Also, MapleStory had a major update, so much excitement over that as well.   

Warhammer is a game played with miniatures on a 2'x4' playing surface.

MapleStory is a MMO that Duncan has played for half his life.

 

Thursday night we had a Mei party. Mei is my good friend’s 13yo daughter. My husband took Mei and Duncan bowling until midnight where they bowled 11 games.  Yes, you read that correctly- 11 games. Friday, Mei and Zak met a new violin teacher at 10 a.m. They both liked him, so Duncan is going to try him again next week. If it goes well, we may set up a weekly lesson with him.

After violin, we went home, had pizza, and made banana bread, but that wasn’t the fun part. We watched Pitch Perfect and Mei and Duncan worked on The Cup Song. However, they were both tired, so I didn’t make a video. They can do the cup part, but there was a disagreement over the singing. :-/ Maybe, next week. Mei has a scruffy voice that is perfect for this kind of song. 

Do you notice what is missing from this list? Yes, that is correct. We did not go outside. Friday, Mei’s mom, Sarah, did take Duncan and Mei to the pool at around 5. I did not go, because, yes indeed, the sun was still up.

I know that some children complain about being at home and want to go, go, go, but that isn’t how our house rolls. This is plenty of activity for one week.

Summer, Summer, Summer has reared its ugly head and summer school begins Monday.

Today is officially the first day of summer... although the weather in middle TN has loudly declared summer for a while now, :-/ Have I mentioned how much I dislike heat and all things green? Summer reeks of sweat and allergies. As my least favorite season, I announce that I plan to ignore its existence and, therefore, will no longer be traversing my threshold except at night, other than to skulk my way to a vehicle where the AC will produce arctic wind for my enjoyment or to allow Pretty Princess Prancey Paws to relieve herself, until the end of September and the first day of fall.

To this end, we will begin summer studies on Monday when we will jump into the 13 day Moving Beyond the Page A Wrinkle in Time Literature unit. I plan to spread it over 15 days. I did not purchase the coordinating space study, but we will be studying space via George's Secret Key to the Universe, books from the library, and the astronomy chapters from Conceptual Physical Science. During summer with the constant interruptions by friends, family, and summer events, these 15 days may take 6 weeks instead of 3, so I am not wasting my time, even though it is tempting, planning any other cool, fun, indoor projects. Ds will also continue with the Evan Moor Daily Paragraph Editing that he started in January, his math tutor, and Kumon math.

Although I dislike the hot, humid weather and the nasty botanical growth that it encourages, I find much pleasure in the more relaxed days that accompany our summer schedule. :-D