Term Three Evaluation ~ Monster

ENGLISH:

Reading ~
* You can see from my Weekly Review posts that we read (aloud and independently) a LOT.
* A book list is included in Monster's portfolio with all the books he reads each term.

Writing ~
We still use and LOVE the following curriculum
Institute for Excellence in Writing Program
Teaching Writing: Structure and Style

In Term Three Monster wrote eight paragraphs on the following topics: The Shang Dynasty Worship and Burials, The Shang Dynasty Peasants, The Shang Dynasty Wars, Confucius, Aboriginal Life, Water in Australia, Lake Eyre and Salt Lakes.

I cannot say enough good things about the IEW program. It is truly worth its weight in gold. Along with improving the boys writing skills, it is a quick and easy way for them to show their learning in a variety of subjects without having to complete stacks of boring worksheets.

Spelling ~
We continue with Ozspeller lists that I source online.
Monster is working through the Advanced lists.

Handwriting ~
Foundation Handwriting Yr 6

Grammar ~
This year we are using Junior Analytical Grammar
Term Three we worked through units eight and nine: sentence pattern 3, as well as linking verbs and sentence patterns 4 and 5. We slowed grammar down a little bit this term as it was getting a bit stressful for some of us.



MATHS:

Cambridge Year 8 textbook.
We completed chapters five, six and seven, covering the following topics:
Ratios, Simplifying ratios, Dividing a quantity in a given ratio, Scale drawings, Introducing rates, Ratios and rates and the unitary method, Solving rate problems, Speed, Distance/Time graphs, The language, notation and conventions of angles, Transversal lines and parallel lines, Triangles, Quadrilaterals, Polygons, Line symmetry and rotational symmetry, Euler's formula for three-dimensional solids, The Cartesian plane, Using rules, tables and graphs to explore linear relationships, Finding the rule using a table of values, Gradient, Gradient-intercept form, The x-intercept, Solving linear equations using graphical techniques, Applying linear graphs, Non-linear graphs.
We also completed pre-tests and chapter summaries for each chapter.



SCIENCE:

Our science topics were a bit eclectic this term. We didn't really do any intense study on one subject. We learned a bit about products and how they are made, read about Benjamin Franklin, and started a heating/cooling unit that will take us into Term Four. Below is a list of the science related books we read.

"How are They Made? Pencils" by Wendy Blaxland
"Drought" by Jackie French
"Water in Australia" by Rachel Dixon
"How are They Made? Plates and Mugs" by Wendy Blaxland
"Benjamin Franklin" by Kathleen Krull
"Threatening Skies! History's Most Dangerous Weather" by Suzanne Garbe
"Tsunami" by Anne Rooney
"Weather in 30 Seconds" by Dr Jen Green
"Dingo" by Clair Saxby
"Exploring the Earth" by Peter Grego
"Heating" 



HISTORY:

For Term Three we concluded our in-depth study of Ancient China
We read the following books as part of our unit study:
"Confucius and the World He Created" by Michael Schuman
"Chinese Cinderella - The Mystery of the Song Dynasty Painting" by Adeline Yen Mah

We finally got started on our combined Medieval Europe/Black Plague unit study.
We read the following books as part of our unit study:
"Meet the Medieval Folk" by Encountering the Past
"The Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World"


Monster also listens in to the Australian history books I read aloud to Monkey, even though he has already completed his Australian history unit some time ago.
He listened in to the following books as part of his brother's Australian History unit study:
"Meet Grace" by Sofie Laguna
"Children in Australian History: Little Felons, Child Convicts: 1788-1853" by Melanie Guile
"A Friend For Grace" by Sofie Laguna
"Bush Boys & Girls: Pioneer Children in the 1800s" by Melanie Guile
"Another Mouth to Feed: Children in War and the Depression" by Melanie Guile
"Baby Boomers: Growing Up After WWII" by Melanie Guile
"Grace and Glory" by Sofie Laguna
"A Home For Grace" by Sofie Laguna
"First Australian" by Karin Cox
"They Came to Australia" by Joel Weston
"The Voyages of James Cook" by Simone Bradfield
"Grims, Crims and Convicts" by Jackie French

Below are other history books we read on various topics:
"The Story of Silk" by Richard Sobol
"Rescue and Jessica" by Jessica Kensky
"Famous Phonies" by Brianna Dumont




GEOGRAPHY:

We continued our landforms unit through third term, and kept reviewing water as well. As with Term Two, I'm also listing Monkey's Countries of Southeast Asia books we read as we finally wrapped up that unit this term. Monster listens in on Monkey's focused read aloud time in the evenings, so it is only fair to include the books on his list as well. 
Below is the list of books read aloud and/or independently through Term Three:
"Deserts and Savannahs in Australia" by Rachel Dixon
"The Adventures of Kubi" by Erik Speyer
"Forests in Australia" by Rachel Dixon
"Vietnam" by Robert Gott
"Drought and El Nino" by Melanie Guile
"Volcanoes" by Learning About Landforms
"Australia's Deserts" by Frank Gibson
"Australia's Mountains and Rock Formations" by Frank Gibson
"Vietnam" by Exploring Countries
"This is My Culture: Vietnam" by Carmel Reilly
"Australia's Rainforests" by Greg Pyers




ELECTIVE #1 ~ LATIN:

Monster completed Visual Latin 1 and got a start on Visual Latin 2.
We discovered that even after the cut-off date of 31 August, he still had access to the online video portion of the curriculum, and since the worksheets and quizzes are PDF files downloaded onto the computer, he can now work on Visual Latin 2 at his own pace for the remainder of this year, and into next year if need be.
His quiz score for Visual Latin 1 was 92.5%




ELECTIVE #2 ~ MARINE AND AQUACULTURE TECHNOLOGY:
During Term Three Monster concluded his Water Birds unit and we began looking at the ocean units.