Hello everyone! It's almost time for school to begin! The Flint staff has been in inservice all week and we're getting really excited, anticipating the coming school year. This year I will be conducting morning devotions with my homeroom class, teaching literature and writing to all of the upper school students, and teaching the art elective. All of my favorite subjects! I will pass out my syllabi for these classes on the first day of school, but I thought I'd post them here, just in case the paper copies never make it home.
Devotions Syllabus
2011-2012
Course Description
We will begin each day with a twenty minute devotions class, which will help everyone start their day on a positive, uplifting note. For devotions the students will have daily copy work from the book of Proverbs, which we will also discuss. In their copy books, the students will also list things they are grateful for. As we progress in the year, we will discuss ways to find gratitude and good even in things that do not initially seem positive. We will also read and discuss books filled with Christian purpose and meaning, such as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and the allegorical writings of George MacDonald.
Classroom Expectations
Students are expected to have a positive and questioning attitude for devotions, as well as practicing their habits of attention, self-control, perfect execution, and sweet temper.
Literature and Writing Syllabus
2011-2012
Course Description
We will read classical literature in class, following the Charlotte Mason method of narration, where the teacher reads aloud as the students follow along in their own copies of the book, then the teacher calls on individual students to narrate and discuss what was read. This year we will study David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, a selection of Greek mythology and philosophy including The Allegory of the Cave by Plato, as well as a selection of poetry by poets such as Tennyson, Longfellow, Dickinson, Stevenson, and Henley. Poems will be memorized via choral recitation at the beginning of each class.
Writing assignments will be drawn from our literature studies and discussions, and will incorporate concepts and strategies from The Lost Tools of Writing curriculum. This includes methods for gathering and classifying ideas, use of a traditional outline format, and elements of classical rhetoric such as exordium, amplification, refutation, parallelism, antithesis, alliteration, assonance, anaphora, and epistrophe. We will also touch on common verb and subject errors and nominalizations in writing.
Classroom Expectations
Students are expected to practice character-building habits at all times. Our classroom habits include the habit of attention, the habit of self-control, the habit of perfect execution, and the habit of sweet temper. We also strive to cultivate an atmosphere of joy in the classroom.
Although the majority of our writing work will be done in-class, work will be sent home occasionally. This work is assigned solely to the students, not their parents! If a student is unable to independently complete a homework assignment, we will find time during the next day to work one-on-one. I am available before school, during breaks throughout the day, and after school to answer questions and help students write their papers.
Assessments
We will have midterm and final assessments each semester, which will involve written summaries of our book so far, brief essay questions, and definition questions regarding terms and concepts from our study of classic rhetoric.
Art Syllabus
2011-2012
Course Description
We will study art for a two and a half month block before rotating electives. The art elective this year will cover artistic expression of ancient civilizations, to coincide with the historical period that the students are studying. This will include:
- The
- Sumerian sculpture
- Egyptian tomb wall frescoes
- The Bust of Nefertiti
- Minoan frescoes
- Greek red-figure and black-figure pottery
- Progression of Greek sculpture
- Nike of
- Aphrodite of
- Roman busts
- Roman mosaic
We will use a variety of approaches when studying these works of art, including the Charlotte Mason picture study strategy, sketching sculptures and artwork, and recreating through imitation. When we study the Lascaux Cave Paintings, for example, students will study the paintings, learn their history, and sketch various samples. They will then make their own paintbrushes and paints from Paleolithic materials such as horsehair, crushed minerals, and animal fats, and then recreate a portion of the cave paintings on individual chalkboards. In addition to studying the techniques and compositions of ancient art, we will also discuss the way various works of art reflect the cultures that produced them, the purposes that ancient art served, and ways that the visual arts influence other arts.
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I can't wait to see everyone on Tuesday morning and dive into all of this!
~Nicole Hallford
