I usually have only one opportunity a day to have a spiritual interaction with Daniella. When that time comes I haven’t been taking advantage of it because I think I’ll have another opportunity that day and I’ll be ready or feel prepared. From now on, I’m going to listen to the Spirit and see if NOW isn’t the right time. God loves her so much more than I do and I know he’ll reach her heart somehow. If he chooses me I’m trusting him to make me ready right then.
A very talented and creative 10 year old boy named Christian wrote the following play for our class. He agreed to let me post it here for others to benefit from his work. If you find it useful please email him at: charsketch@yahoo.ca. He also mentions there is one error in the script that you can change if you want to.
FINDING URANUS
CAST:
Ensemble= Customers, Government Officials, Herschel Children, Audience /Hecklers
William
Caroline
Father/ Walking Dictionary
Mother
Ensemble (GO#1)
Announcer/Ensemble (C#1, GO# 2)
Customer # 3/ Fritz Herschel
SCENE 1
The Herschel who Homeschool
(Enter Mother, Father, William, Caroline, and All Herschel Children)
FATHER: (Speaks with the air of a Very Intelligent Person) Now. Sit down, Fritz, and stop fidgeting, for goodness sake! Ok, now we can continue. Math lesson. (Writes 2+2 on board. William raises his hand.) Yes, William!
WILLIAM: It’s five, Father! It’s Five!
FATHER: Eeer… No, William, just a Bit wrong… (Caroline raises her Hand) Yes, Caroline.
CAROLINE: (Speaks Wisely) Four.
FATHER: Yes, Caroline.
CAROLINE: William was wrong, Wasn’t he father?
FATHER: Eeer… Yes, Caroline. William was slightly wrong.
CAROLINE: Hah! I Told you That you Couldn’t do math, mister Two- Plus- Two- is Five Herschel!!!! (William Sticks out his tongue)
FATHER: Eeer… yes, Caroline… (Slightly more confident) Now. Music Lesson. Repeat: (Sings Horribly) LA!!!!!!!
ALL BUT FRITZ: LA!!!!!!!
FRITZ: Ha, ha! I mean- LA!!!!!!!!
FATHER: Ok that went well. Now, My Favorite; ASTRONOMY!!!!! Ok, now: (Draws the simple star shape) What’s This?
CAROLINE: a Supernova!
WILLIAM: No, you silly girl! (To FATHER) A comet!
FATHER: (highly aggravated) No!!! No, no, no, no! (To MOTHER) YOU teach them! They’re YOUR children! (Goes and sits)
MOTHER: All Right now, If Y plus 17 equals 20, then Y equals…
END OF SCENE 1
SCENE 2
Goodbye, Germany! Hello, England!
(Enter William, Caroline, and Mother)
CAROLINE: Goodbye, Mom!
WILLIAM: Goodbye, Mom!
MOTHER: Oh, no you don’t Caroline Herschel! You are going to stay here and be my servant for the rest of my life!
CAROLINE: No, actually, mom, William and I are going to England!
MOTHER: No, Actually, Caroline, YOU are staying right here and mopping the floors, feeding the fish, cleaning the house, washing the dishes -
CAROLINE: Don’t we have a dishwasher?
MOTHER: Those haven’t been invented yet.
CAROLINE: Oh.
WILLIAM: (from the door) Caroline! I’m leaving without you!
MOTHER: See? See? I TOLD you that you were staying!
CAROLINE: He was just kidding, mom! (To WILLIAM) I’m Coming! (Runs out door)
MOTHER: Oh, then who’s going to mop the floors, feed the fish, clean the house, Or wash the dishes?
FATHER 
off right) You Will!
END OF SCENE 2
SCENE 3
The tiring opera, the wonderful telescopes!
(Enter ANNOUNCER)
ANNOUNCER: And Now, William and Cordyline Herschel–
CAROLINE: (Offstage) Caroline!
ANNOUNCER: Caroline, I mean, will be Performing…uh…
WILLIAM: (Also Offstage) Jingle Bells!
ANNOUNCER: Jumble Bulls!
WILLIAM: Sigh… Announcers… (Enters with CAROLINE)
CAROLINE: Ladies and Gentlemen! (Everybody keeps chatting and talking) Friends, Romans and Countrymen! (Everybody keeps chatting and talking) Dearly beloved! (Everybody keeps chatting and talking) (Desperate now) Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury! (Everybody keeps chatting and talking) SHUT UP!!!!!!!!
PAUSE
Thank You. Now, Jingle Bells!
(Sings Horribly) Ji-i-ingle Be-e-e-lls, Ji-i-ingle Be-e-e-lls, Ji-i-ingle a-a-all the wa-a-ay! (Hecklers yell and throw fruit) (Dodging fruit) o-o-o-oh wha-a-a-a!! HELP ME WILLIAM! (Hecklers chase WILLIAM and CAROLINE off.)
(SCENE CHANGE: WILLIAM AND CAROLINE’S TELESCOPE SHOP)
WILLIAM: Well, That went well!
CAROLINE: I don’t know WHY dad ever got us interested in music! That wasn’t even the worst production!
WILLIAM: Yeah, remember that production in the Shakespeare theatre?
CAROLINE: (Shudders) Don’t remind me! (Both Laugh )
WILLIAM: Sash! Here comes today’s first customer! Now, remember, let me do the talking! (Business- like) Now ma’am-
CUSTOMER #1: No, No, No, I’m Very, very, very, sorry but imp in a big, big, big hurry. One telescope, here’s, uh… (Glances at sign marked ONE TELESCOPE FOR 5 POUNDS) 5 pounds. Thank you very much now bye!
WILLIAM: (glances down at the absent- minded customer’s 6 pounds) Eeer… Ok… (Enter CUSTOMER # 2) Ah! Sir! What would–
CUSTOMER # 2: YOU like for sight- seeing, Do-nny? Telescopes! That’s right! At Herschel’s Telescopes, we know that telescopes make the best Sight-seeing! So-
WILLIAM: Oh, be quiet! (Shoves CUSTOMER # 2 Offstage) Now.
CAROLINE: I think that we should be getting home now. It’s getting late.
WILLIAM: Yeah, I think you’re right. (Packs up telescopes) Last one to the house is a bowl of rotten Mittelscharf! (Both exit quickly)
END OF SCENE 3
SCENE 4
Finally, we discover URANUS!!
(Enter WILLIAM)
WILLIAM: Phew! That was an exhausting day. Now I can sit back, relax, and- hey, where’s Caroline?
CAROLINE: (enter) I’m right here, William. Now, I just saw something through your Exo- super ultra uber-power telescope! It doesn’t look like a meteorite; it can’t be a star–
WILLIAM: Let me look. (Looks in exo- super ultra- uber- powered telescope)
CAROLINE: I think it’s a comet.
WILLIAM: But it looks like a disk! Comets look like - like- little white smudge things!
CAROLINE: what else could it be? It Can’t be a comet, meteor, meteorite, asteroid… Surely it’s not another planet!
WILLIAM: (‘lightbulb moment’) Of Course! Let it be known that on this day, William X. Herschel discovered the 7th planet!
CAROLINE: All right, all right, but what are we going to name it?
WILLIAM: Well, we’re going to name it George, of course!
CAROLINE: Uh, George??
WILLIAM: After King George, of course!
CAROLINE: Um, shouldn’t we follow the old tradition and name it after one of the roman gods? I mean, it look pretty strange to say ‘Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, George’, Wouldn’t it?
WILLIAM: Of Course not! We’re Christians, not Pagans! We’ll call it George!
CAROLINE: How about … Hmm… Uranus?
WILLIAM: George!
CAROLINE: Uranus!
WILLIAM: George!
CAROLINE: Uranus!
WILLIAM: George!
CAROLINE: Uranus!
WILLIAM: George!
CAROLINE: Uranus!
WILLIAM: Fine! Have it YOUR Way! Then everybody will think that we’re PAGANS!!!
CAROLINE: Uranus! Nice name. Glad you thought of it!
WILLIAM: I didn’t, you id…! never mind…
END OF SCENE 4
SCENE 5
Government Officials at your Door?
(Enter WILLIAM and CAROLINE)
WILLIAM: Well, That was a tiring- (knocking sound) What’s that?
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL # 1: Open up, in the name of the government!
WILLIAM: (opens Door) Hello, Who’s–
GO#1: (Barges in with GO#2, taking notes on a notepad) All right, now, come on the governments waiting for you to make the announcement about you discovering Herschel, the 7th planet From the Sun!
WILLIAM: Actually, it’s called–
CAROLINE: Uranus!
WILLIAM: You mean, its–
GO#1: Well, why not Herschel? After all, you find it!
WILLIAM: We’re going to call it–
CAROLINE: Following the old tradition, we are naming it after a Roman god, Uranus!
GO#1: Interesting name! Who thought of it?
CAROLINE: William di-
WILLIAM: (shouting )GEORGE!
(Pause; all look at WILLIAM )
GO#2: (suddenly animated) George who…?
WILLIAM: King George! THE King George!
GO#2: uh, what about him?
WILLIAM: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH!!!!
CAROLINE: ‘Yaaaaaarrgh?’ What does ‘Yaaaaaarrgh’ mean? And what does it have to do with this conversation?
WALKING DICTIONARY: (enters) YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH!: an expression of frustration, invented by William Herschel in the 18th century, used commonly to express anger when people misunderstand your meaning of GEORGE!(exits )
CAROLINE: Um, What’s with the walking dictionary thing?
CHRIS: (offstage) my sister thought it up! Blame her!
CAROLINE: alright, back to the 18th century.
GO#2: anyway, you are going to come with us, and find more comets and stuff!
CAROLINE: Ok!
WILLIAM: Ok!
(All Exit)
BOWS:
Ensemble
Mother and Father
Fritz
William and Caroline (William still muttering ‘George, Uranus, Herschel, George, Uranus, Herschel,’ etc.)
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I love the way Aaron is learning to study his Bible. Here are my notes for this week’s study. Please let me know if you use this because it’s tremendously encouraging to know. Thanks!
James 2 Week 3
Do three things each day as you read the chapter at least once each day:
- Using a pen, put a triangle around the words related to God (Jesus, Lord, He, Himself, Father, Him).
- Circle the time words (but, therefore)
- Color “faith” green for growing
- Again, who is the letter to? Draw small blue circles on top of the word “brethren”
- Using a pen, draw ten-commandment type tablets around the words “law” and “word.”
- Color “works” brown.
- Draw a sunburst around the words “see” or “show.”
- Find the opposites and write them in the margin in blue with a slash between the words*:
- Using green ink, find the similies and divide them with a colon.
- List three reasons to not show favoritism (write by the verses)
- List how the faith and works problem is solved
- List the two things that perfect your faith
- Find the key verse of the chapter and circle the number
- Write a good title for the chapter - what is the theme?
- Write the topics, like paragraph divisions, in the margin.
* 8. opposites I found: rich man/poor man, love your neighbor/partiality, mercy/judgment
9. Similies I found: law: word of Christ and God, faith: works, body and spirit = life: faith and works = life, body with no spirit: faith with no works.
Posted in Schooling | Tagged Bible Study for Older Children, Youth | 1 Comment »
James
Supplies needed:
copy of James double spaced, with 1 to 1.5 inch margins
ink pen(s) with black, red, green, blue colors
colored pencils or a pale highlighter
Week 1: Read the entire book Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Observe how James introduces a subject then follows it up with more information.
Week 2: Read Chapter 1 every day this week while looking for the following:
Use the right margin for all, except #15. Write that in the left margin.
Do three things each day (see underlined numbers).
1. Using a pen, put a triangle around the words related to God (Jesus, Lord, He, Himself, Father, Him).
2. Circle the time words (but, therefore)
3. Using colored pencils or a pale highlighter, color “faith” green for growing.
4. Who is the letter to? Draw small blue circles (3) on top of the words “brethren” and “twelve tribes.”
5. Color “trial” and “tempted” the same color.
6. Using a pen, draw ten-commandment type tablets around the words “law” and “word.”
7. Draw a red tongue above the word “tongue.”
8. Color the words “doer” and “works” brown.
9. Using blue ink find opposites and list them with a back slash between.
10. Using green ink find similes and divide them with a colon (:).
11. Make lists in the margin using black ink. A. Trials, B. God, C. How to Get Wisdom,
12. There is a progression in v. 14 - 15. Write this out using arrows to connect following events. Label it Temptation.
13. Using black ink make a list of what you learn about God in Chapter 1. Write verse numbers by each idea.
14. Find the key verse of the chapter and write a good title for the chapter. What is the chapter’s theme?
15. Find topics and list them in the left margin.
Was this helpful to you? Please email me at steelefamily@embarqmail.com and let me know if it is helpful.
Posted in Christian Life, Schooling | Tagged Book of James for older children/youth | 1 Comment »
While we were at the Zoo last week Daniella wanted a Slushie. I try not to buy anything extra when we go out, so when I agreed the kids were happy! I even went back to buy popcorn. While I stood in line, Bethany came and compassionately said Daniella spilled the Slushie. Refills were only $1.00, but the kids didn’t know that.
I finished in line and walked to the picnic table to see Daniella crying and hanging her head. I gave her the new drink and said it would be okay. The wind was so strong that a blast most likely blew the drink over. Daniella didn’t feel much better so I asked if she’d like to sit in my lap. She said yes! I liked that. I straddled the bench and Daniella leaned back against my chest. I held her around the waist with my hand full of popcorn and she pretended to be an animal eating out of my hand. When my hand was empty she turned it upside down and shook it. We laughed. I got another handful of popcorn and we continued that way until all four of us consumed what was in the pail.
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Since it’s Spring Break I took the kids to the Knoxville Zoo!! We had a GREAT time!
Aaron’s favorite animal was the Rosette Spoonbill from Central America because its bill truly looked like a spoon.
Daniella’s favorite was petting two baby camels and a huge bullfrog.
Bethany’s favorite was the bamboo. Once she climbed on the fence to get closer inside.
She loved the cute Red Pandas who ate the bamboo too.
I enjoyed the atmosphere - not the smell, but the clean, free feeling of being outside in a beautiful place with lots of things to see. Also, I was truly amazed at a huge angora rabbit!
I’m looking forward to going back to see the new butterfly exhibit that opens in a few weeks!
Thanks Mom and Uncle Paul!
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Here is a picture of today’s lapbook page, with the instructions for my Astronomy students:
Starting at the top left Matchbook: Define “hypothesis”
Underneath: Famous Asteroids. If you cut off the name of an asteroid prematurely you may not remember its name. You can google “asteroids,” then click on “images” at the top. You have images of Ceres, Gaspar, Ida, Vesta, Eros, and Kleopatra.
Upper Middle Shutter Fold : Planets that are inside the asteroid belt and closer to the sun are called the inner planets. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars)
Planets that are outside the asteroid belt and further from the sun are called the outer planets. (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)
Lower Middle Matchbook: An asteroid is usually larger than a … football field!
Top Right Tri-fold with two windows: The Exploded Planet Hypothesis. On the card inside write all you can about this idea. Try to fill up the card.
Lower Right Flap: I trust Jesus with my life because…
In this unit we talked briefly about meteorites hitting the earth. We talked about how the atmosphere and God’s sovereignty protect us. Now it’s time to make a personal declaration of trust in Jesus. No matter what happens in life, He can be trusted!
Many thanks again to Dana C. for her advice.
Posted in Schooling | Tagged Exploring Creation with Aplogia Science, Space Rocks Lapbook | No Comments »
I’m reading Henri de Toulouse - Lautrec by Jennifer Bryant and found how women began wearing pants. Bicycles were invented in France and “became all the rage in Paris” in the 1890s. In order to enjoy the fun and affordable vehicle themselves, women exchanged their long, billowing dresses for the more practical pants, beginning a trend that took root.
Posted in Christian Life | 2 Comments »
There is a great Venn Diagram comparing comets, meteoroids, and asteroids at http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/educators/resources/astronomy/module5/lesson2.asp. Number 2 can be rephrased by adding “Many ‘Old Earth’ scientists believe…”Once again I need to say that without Dana C.’s ideas, this page would still be an idea in my head. Many thanks to her!
Beginning on the left write “asteroids” on the top circle. On the green circle write “meteoroids.” The words on the arrow say “fall to earth” and on the inside yellow circle write “meteorites.”
Where would you find 10,000 meteorites? Antarctica, of course. Students dipped a pencil eraser in brown ink then sprinkled gold embossing powder on while the ink was still wet. Mrs. Rock helped with the hot air gun to complete the embossing process. Fold this in half before you glue it on as it will fold better when you close the Lapbook. I used this map: http://www.map-of-antarctica.us/antarctica-map.gif
Moving to the right is the phrase “come in all sizes.” Tear two shapes from a brown paper bag, squish them into a small ball, fold them and glue them down. You can move the edges of the larger shape towards the middle and make it pooch up. (Interesting word “pooch” since we normally use it to talk about a dog.) Underneath is a rectangle. I prefer that being purple, which is what we used in class. I also prefer the large circle on the left being red. Sometimes it’s hard to see how the colors work until it’s finished. So, on the purple card write “The largest found meteorite was the size of a …” When you open the card there should be a picture of a whale. I chose a funny picture from http://www.abcteach.com/free/w/whale_m.pdf You can draw it or past it in a Word file and shrink it.
I found the link “How to Draw a Cartoon Meteorite” and used it: http://www.drawingtips.net/how-to-draw-cartoons/meteorite.html
Finally, the best part is the scripture, listed below. Each verse is mounted on a green card. If you can think of a more interactive way to use the scripture here it might be better. More discussion at home about falling meteorites and crises in general is in order.
God is a safe place to hide,
ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of ocean,
the tremors that shift mountains.
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God of angel armies protects us.
Psalm 46: 1-2 (The Message)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under
God’s mighty hand,
That he may lift you up in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him
Because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Happy Lapbooking!
Sorry about the photo - looks like it didn’t load properly.
Posted in Schooling | Tagged Exploring Creation with Aplogia Science, Space Rocks | 1 Comment »
In Art this week we learned about Edgar Degas and discussed his paintings of ballet dancers and horses. I asked if everyone knew what jockey is. The quick answer from our “peanut gallery” was, “Underwear!”
Posted in Schooling | Tagged Meet the Masters | No Comments »
