Term Three Review

ENGLISH:

Reading:

All three boys read lots of books for their independent reading time. I do not dictate what books they choose for their “free” independent reading time. I keep a list of all the books the boys read in their portfolio for easy review.

Monster: Is no longer participating in Premiere’s Reading Challenge this year as he completed it in Year 9. However, if he finds PRC books in the library that look interesting to him, I’m certain he will pick them up and read them.

Monkey: As this year’s Premier’s Reading Challenge is finished Monkey is keen to start working on reading books for next year’s challenge. We own several books that are on the list, but we are all praying that the library opens soon.

Munchkin: As Munchkin is the most voracious reader of the three boys, the Premier’s Reading Challenge is quite easy for him. Even with the frustration of the long library closure, Munchkin will have no trouble completing the challenge even if he waits until March 2022 to get started.

**Historical Note: the library has been closed since Friday 25^th June and this review was written on Monday 20^th September**

 

Writing:

All three boys continue to use the Institute for Excellence in Writing: Teaching Writing Structure and Style curriculum. It allows each boy to work at a level appropriate for their age and ability. It “grows” with the child so to speak. See below for a list of the types of writing each individual boy did during Term Three.

Due to the library closure and total lack of quality non-fiction books for science, history, geography, and health, I had the boys do some review writing. We worked on really cementing the writing process which meant for slightly shorter/easier writing assignments through the term.

Monster: Hockey (Unit 1 non-fiction with a focus on making sure all sentence openers and dress-ups were included in the paragraph), The Holocaust (Unit 4/6 non-fiction research), Lockdowns (Unit 8 Persuasive Essay), Untitled (Unit 5 Writing From Pictures).

 Monkey: Hockey (Unit 1 non-fiction with the same focus as Monster), Ancient Egyptian Food (Unit 1 non-fiction), Housing and Religion in Ancient Egypt (Unit 4/6 non-fiction), Ancient Egyptian Life (Unit 8 Standard Essay – non fiction), The Invisibility Cloak (Unit 8 Creative Writing Standard Essay).

Munchkin: Rocks (Unit 1 non-fiction), Hockey (Unit 1 non-fiction with same focus as Monkey and Monster), The Goose Who Laid Diamond and Gold Eggs (Unit 3 Narrative), Ants (Unit 4/6 research), Red Imported Fire Ants (Unit 4/6 research)

**Term 4 plan: If we still have NO access to the library during the final term of the year, we will continue with the review plan from term three to further improve their understanding of the process of the IEW program.**

 

Spelling:

Monkey:  I use the Ozspeller website to choose and create weekly word lists for him. I quiz him orally Monday – Thursday and then he takes a written test on Friday morning.

Munchkin: It has become apparent that he didn’t learn as much on Reading Eggs as I thought he did. While he did learn to read well, he hasn’t memorised the spelling rules well. So I am doing some review spelling work with him. This term he began working through Year 2/2^nd Grade Targeting Spelling book. Each week he works through a two-page unit focusing on a specific reading and/or spelling rule. I quiz him orally on the spelling words in the unit. If he gets them all correct on Monday morning then he doesn’t have to take a written test on Friday. We will continue this review work until I feel confident that he has spelling rules memorised.

 

Literature:

Below are the books I selected to read to the boys for their literature this term. Munchkin’s books were read to all three boys, Monkey’s books were read to Monster as well, and Monster’s books were read only to him.

Along with “classic literature” there are three books that we read aloud repeatedly. The first is the Bible and then we also read “The Book of Virtues” and “The Moral Compass” by William Bennett.

Munchkin: This term we read the following books: “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, “The Horse and His Boy”, “Prince Caspian”, and “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” all by C.S. Lewis

Monkey: This term we finished the following books: “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne, “Black Beauty” by Anna Sewell, and “Pinocchio” by Carlo Callodi

Monster:  This term we read “The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis, and we started "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl"

Grammar:

Monster completed Analytical Grammar Season Three this term. He completed Units 26 - 34 which are Semicolons & Colons, Possessives, Capitalization, Punctuation Review, Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement, Who & Whom, Adjective & Adverb, and Assorted Errors.

Monkey is working through Analytical Grammar this year. Monkey completed Unit 4 (Subject & Verb), Unit 5 (Adverbs), Unit 6 (Patterns 1 & 2), and Unit 7 (Pattern 3) this term.

Munchkin is not doing any grammar curriculum this year. I have learned that (for our family) grammar is best introduced in the late primary grades or early high school grades.

 

MATHS:

Monster: Continues to work through his Haese Mathematics for Australia Year 10A textbook. Through the course of the term he completed chapters 20 - 22 which covered the following content: Exponential Functions and Logarithms, Geometry of Circles, and Polynomials.

Monkey: Completed chapters 2-6 and also chapter 8 in the Yr 7 book which covered the content: Angles, Lines, and Parallelism, Properties of Numbers, Positive and Negative Numbers, Fractions, Decimals and Percentage. We will back up at the beginning of Term 4 and do chapter 7, but chapter 8 was a much more logical follow-on from fractions and decimals, then chapter 7 which is Algebra.

Munchkin: Continues to review Year 4/4^th Grade math on the Khan Academy website. Through the course of the term he completed six sections which covered the following content: Multiplication of Fractions, Understanding Decimals, Plane Figures (types, introduction to angles, parallel and perpendicular, classifying triangles, classifying geometric shapes, and lines of symmetry) Measuring Angles, Area & Perimeter, and Units of Measurement (mass, volume, length, time, and money).

 

SCIENCE:

For the remaining school subjects I try to teach all three boys together as a group as much as I possibly can. So I will now start listing Munchkin’s work first and work from youngest to eldest boy rather than repeatedly recording the same things.

I rely heavily on our library for quality books to cover the content we study in the remaining subjects. When I am planning a unit study I do a subject search for books and reserve any and all that look like they will be suitable for the boys. I include picture books, junior non-fiction, and I’ve just started including adult non-fiction for both Monkey AND Monster.

 

** Due to the COVID Delta strain lockdown that began on Friday 25^th June (the beginning of our July school holidays) and still continues, we had NO access to our local public library during the entire term. Also, because of my decision not to reserve Term 3 library books early, we were left with NO books for science, history, geography and health. Thanks to modern technology we had some wonderful online resources to use through the term. It wasn’t ideal for our family, but it did fill the gap, and I’m thankful that the technology and the resources exist.**

Munchkin, Monkey, Monster:

Chemistry 101 DVD Series: We have been watching this series all year long so it was simply a continuation for us through Term 3 and we completed the series at the end of the term. Content Included: The Last Alchemist, The Birth of Modern Chemistry, The Bold Russian, Lots of Mystery Rays, The Likeable Rutherford, The Periodic Table at Last, The Periodic Table – Main Group, The Periodic Table – Quantum Mechanics, Neutrons, Isotopes & Ions, Compounds & Molecules, Balancing Equations, Essentials Wrap-Up, The Four Main Columns, Non-Metals & Poor Metals, Transition Metals, Rare Earths & Radioactives, and The Future of Chemistry.

We also watched the show “Full Proof” on the ABC television station as this show was more appropriate for Munchkin’s level of science learning. Content Included: Lenses, Evaporating & Freezing, Plastic, Waves, Salt, Flying, Mathematical Shapes, and Sound.

 

HISTORY:

Munchkin: (The two older boys enjoyed watching this series as well)

We watched “My Place” on the ABC television station to fulfill our history learning for the term. The episodes we watched during Term 3 included: 2008 – Laura (Sorry Day), 1998 – Mohammed, 1988 – Lily, 1978 – Mike, 1968 – Sofia (Vietnam War), 1958 – Micahelis (Television), 1948 – Jen (Post WWII), 1938 – Colum (Great Depression), 1928 – Bridie, 1918 – Bertie (WWI ending) and 1908 – Evelyn

This is one of the online learning resources that we will continue to watch even after we get access to library books again as it is based on an excellent children’s book.

Monkey: (Monster enjoyed watching this series as well)

We watched “Further Back in Time For Dinner” on the ABC television station. We watched the first season (“Back in Time For Dinner”) two or three years ago and really enjoyed it. The season included five episodes with each episode focusing on one decade in time from the 1900s – 1940s. Both older boys and I enjoyed this show immensely. 

 Monster: (These shows were watched by Monster alone as the content was not appropriate for the two younger boys)

“My Life in Hitler’s Germany” – two episodes documenting what life was like for various people in Germany as Hitler rose to power, Monster and I felt this was a well done program

“Children of Holocaust” – a cartoon based show with six short episodes, each about a different child and their experience of life during the Holocaust, Monster and I most enjoyed that there were interviews with each person as an adult at the end of the cartoon episode 

 

GEOGRAPHY:

Munchkin, Monkey, Monster:

All three boys watched the following programs to cover various geography topics:

Deep Dive Into Australia’s Ocean Odyssey, Water Wisdom (Aboriginal water management), Ted Ed Earth School (various topics not only to do with geography), and “A Perfect Planet” and “Life in Colour” which are both David Attenborough documentaries.

Monkey and Monster also watched both seasons of “War on Waste” which was an excellent documentary on the various forms of waste in Australia and what is being done to combat each of the issues.

Monster watched the following programs to cover geography content:

“Mumbai” which was a program about the slum regions on this mega city. Four separate episodes dealt with urbanisation and megacities, managing a megacity, inside Dharavi (a slum), and slum redevelopment challenges

“Managing Populations” – two episodes which discussed the aging population in England and compared it to the young population in Gambia 

 

PDHPE:

I finished reading the book “Murderous Contagion: A Human History of Disease” by Mary Dobson, to Monster. The chapters we have read during Term 3 include: Influenza, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, SARS and MERS-CoV, Scurvy, Kuru, CJD and Dementia, Cancer and Heart Disease

We watched the following television shows to cover the health and personal development portion of this key learning area.

“My Life” is a series with 30 minute episodes that highlight a child who deals with a different health issue – content we watched included:  Down’s Syndrome, Alopecia, Being Born Without Limbs, Mental Health Issues, Syrian Refugee camp in Jordan, Life in a Travelling Circus, A Hearing Child who has Deaf Parents, and the Kibera Orphanage in Africa

We also watched the show “Same But Different” which also dealt with children who have a variety of different situations they are dealing with. The episodes we watched included: Dyslexia, Epilepsy, Asthma, Down’s Syndrome, Type I Diabetes, Nut Allergy, and Cerebral Palsy

Finally we watched a show called “Social Media Me” which deals with correct use of social media. The episodes addressed the following issues of social media use, including: Positive Social Media Strategies, Self Esteem & Social Media, Understanding Self Esteem, What is Digital Citizenship, Cyberbullying & Digital Citizenship, and Resilience & Digital Citizenship

 

Creative Arts:

       In Term 3 we did a weekly drawing lesson on Mark Kistler’s YouTube channel

      We also watched a show on the ABC channel called “Fall in Love With Music” which I thought was going to be brilliant but it turned out not to be anything like I expected so it is unlikely we will finish the remaining two episodes. The six episodes we did watch were entitled as follows: Our Musical Focus, Why Aren’t We Listening, Is This Music, The Elements of Music, How Listening Affects Us and Paragraphs Without Words.

 

Latin: (Monster)

Monster is currently working through two Latin textbooks independently. They are Lingua Latina Familia Romana and Lingua Latina Exercitia Latina 1.

 

Marine and Aquaculture Technology: (Monster)

Term 3 Monster’s Marine and Aquaculture Technology was covered in the programs that we watched as part of our geography studies.