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Day 15 (From the Unit on Ancient Egypt)
Language Arts (Vocabulary)
New words in chapters six and seven:
- trifle – something that is unimportant, that has very little value
- sarcophagus – an outer, stone coffin that held another coffin with a mummy
- reluctantly – indicates doing something unwillingly
- nocturnal – occurring at night, like animals who only come out at night
- emerald – a clear, deep green, the color of the gemstone that bears its name
- malevolent – wishing evil or harm on others
- desiccated – dehydrated, completely dried up by removing all the moisture
- stealthy – done in secret
- akimbo – hands on hips with elbows bent outward
- sullen – gloomy, moody
- stolid – not easily moved mentally, dull and stupid
- disconsolate – sad and heartbroken to the point of not being able to be cheered up
Language Arts (Literature)
Read chapters six and seven of The Golden Goblet aloud together.
Comprehension Questions for Discussion:
1. What happens on several occasions during the night that puzzles Ranofer? (He hears noises of footsteps, a door creaking, and the gate rattling and
creaking. He can't explain why Gebu, or someone else, would be sneaking around in the middle of the night.)
2. Ranofer begins taking walks during his midday break and one day wanders near the gold
house. Whom does he meet, and what do they agree to do? (He meets Heqet and they agree to meet at the fish dock that evening.)
3. That night they agree to meet every day at midday so that Heqet can share
what he is learning with Ranofer. The following day at lunch, Heqet offers Ranofer some of his food. What happens next? (Ranofer is about to take it, when he realizes that Heqet is only being nice,
"showing pity" so he refuses to take it and they begin arguing.)
4. Who breaks up their argument and how does he do it? (The Ancient One breaks it up by making them look silly – two good friends arguing
over such a foolish thing.)
5. What do the boys end up doing? (They invite the Ancient One to stay for lunch and decide to tell him all about the stolen gold. All three agree to meet daily during the
midday break.)
Bible
Continue working on memorizing the Bible passage - Psalm 24.
Heqet knows that Ranofer is hungry and offers to share his food with him. What does the Bible say about what we should do for those in need? Read
Matthew 25:34-45. These verses speak about our actions. Although we are not saved by the things we do, our actions show where our heart is. We should follow Christ's example of giving unselfishly and
with mercy, for our heavenly rewards are not based on selfish motives, but on serving and ministering without any thought of reward.
Language Arts (Figurative Language)
The author, Eloise Jarvis McGraw uses figurative language in The Golden Goblet to make her writing more interesting and creative. Two types of figurative language used in chapters six and seven are simile and metaphor. They are both clever ways of comparing two things.
- A simile compares two different things using the words like or as. For example, as sly as a fox is a simile because it compares being sly with a fox by using the word as. On
page 113, we find this simile: "Yet he insists that I sit here like a pig in a trough rooting my way through cheese and fish and bread and figs while he eats a wilted onion." What is the comparison in this
sentence? (Heqet compares himself eating, to a pig rooting through a trough, by using the word like.) Isn't that a much more fun, interesting, and creative way to say that Heqet was eating a lot
while Ranofer was not? The reader can actually picture that pig and really understands what message Heqet is trying to give Ranofer. Try writing two of your own similes.
- A metaphor compares two different things without using the words like or as. For example, "the candle was a beacon to
the travelers" is a metaphor because it compares the candle with a beacon but does NOT use like or as to make the comparison. On page 103, we find this metaphor: "To work under Pai these days
was to feel yourself caught in a swarm of angry bees, all stinging, buzzing, and hurling themselves at you tirelessly." What is the comparison in this sentence? (Ranofer compares working under Pai to
a swarm of bees – without using the words "like" or "as.") What a creative way to describe how much Ranofer hated working for Pai. Instead of merely saying that Ranofer did not like working for
Pai because he was crabby, the author uses a word picture to describe it better. You can just feel those bees, buzzing and stinging, and you can feel what Ranofer was going through. Try writing your
own metaphor.
Watch for similes and metaphors in your reading and try to use them in your writing to make it more exciting and colorful!
Language Arts (Grammar/Spelling)
We can usually make a singular word into a plural word by adding an –s to the end of the word (river/rivers, desert/deserts). That is easy – but for some words that system doesn't work. Words that end in –sh, -ch, -x, -s, and –z need a different ending to make them plural. (We couldn't say glass/ glasss or fox/foxs!) These words need an –es to make them plural and you can even hear that when you say it – glass-es, fox-es. But
there are some other tricky endings that we have to use to make words plural. One of them is for words that end in –y. Here is the rule: When a word ends in –y, and it has a
consonant letter right before the –y, you need to take off the -y and add –ies instead (sky/skies, baby/babies).
Social Studies (History/Culture)
One morning, Ranofer finds a dish of stewed lentils on the storeroom shelf. Lentils are grown in Egypt and are among the most nutritious legumes, rich in
protein and carbohydrates. They contain calcium, phosphorous, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin A and vitamin C. Remember the story of Jacob and Esau? Well, Esau sold Jacob his birthright for a
pottage of lentils. They grow well in poor soil and are raised all over the Holy Land. You can find lentils in the dry beans and dry peas section in your grocery store. They look a bit like split
peas. Make some lentil stew and see if you like it:
Lentil Stew
¼ cup butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, shredded
2 cups dry lentils
6 cups water
1 ham bone (optional)
¼ teaspoon thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
Rinse the lentils and set aside. Melt
butter in large pan. Add onion, garlic and carrots and sauté for a few minutes, but do not brown. Add lentils, ham bone and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20
minutes. Add tomatoes, thyme, cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer for about 45 minutes longer, until lentils are tender. Serve with a salad and warm bread.
Science
At the beginning of chapter seven of The Golden Goblet, there
is a description of life on the Nile, as the annual spring flooding takes place and farmers begin their work in the fields. Each year in June, Central African rains caused the Nile to rise, overflow, and flood
the valley (called the Inundation). After peaking in September, it receded, leaving a 10,000 square-mile-layer of rich mud on the fields. Farmers could raise two crops per year if their fields were
irrigated well. Pharaoh owned all the land, decided on types and quantities of crops that would be grown, and rented it to the farmers. The farmers then paid taxes in grain or cattle, and received food and
necessities as wages. Beans, vegetables, barley, wheat, flax, sesame, flowers, pomegranates, olives, figs, and date palms were some of the things that were grown in Egypt. Farmers also kept donkeys, oxen,
goats, pigs, sheep, ducks, geese, and bees on their farms. To work their fields, they used wooden plows, tools, and bronze sickles. At harvest time, grain was placed in mud storage silos to be ground later
for bread. Farms were along the Nile River; in fact, most Egyptians lived within a few miles of the Nile. The Greek historian, Herodotus, called Egypt the "Gift of the Nile." He meant that there was
so little rain in Egypt that it would have been just a desert without the Nile. The Egyptians saw the Nile as a friend and adapted their life style to its cycles, looking forward to its "gifts." The
"gifts" were the fertile soil, transportation, a source for a variety of materials, and a natural barrier for protection from foreign invasion.
The fertile soil
made Egypt, "Land of the Kemi" (the ancient name for the river-borne silt on which their lives depended), the breadbasket for the ancient world. The Nile was also the "Highway of Egypt" and was used for
transportation, trade and communication. Sailing up the Nile (heading south) was easier than sailing downstream (heading north), because boats were helped along by a strong wind. Going north meant
going against the wind, but they were also going downstream and were able to move with the current. The first boats were simple papyrus stalk rafts, with stronger, flat-bottomed boats carrying crew and cargo.
The Nile River provided an abundance of materials for ancient Egyptian life: papyrus (used to make boats, baskets, boxes, mats, sandals, furniture, and paper), mud along riverbanks (used for bricks,
pots, and jars), and a variety of animals living in marshes along the Nile (used for food). With the natural barriers of deserts to the east, west, and south, along with the Nile and its cataracts, invaders
could only hope to come in through the north – which was easily defended.
The Nile, an oasis in the desert, is the longest river in the world. Flowing south to north, it rises in the Central
African mountains of Ethiopia. It empties into the Mediterranean Sea by way of several streams. This is the famous Nile Delta, which is named after the Greek letter because of its resemblance to the shape.
Continue to work on your desert booklets for the remainder of this science period.
Fine Arts
The Egyptians built magnificent temples and buildings. The temple of Amun-Re, at
Karnak, is said to be the greatest building ever erected. Gebu and his men were working on projects for a temple addition, and coffins, by order of Pharaoh. The materials they were using are typical
of those used in Ancient Egyptian times: acacia wood, cedar, copper, bronze, gold and stone (granite, alabaster, limestone, sandstone).
Words to know from Ancient Egyptian Art:
- bronze - brownish, gold metal made from copper and tin; hard-wearing, easy to work on with a chisel – a metal tool with a shaped tip
- alabaster – creamy, white stone that you can slightly see through
- granite - hard gray stone
- limestone - gray or creamy white rock, fairly soft, easy to carve
- mallet - wooden hammer used to hit the end of a chisel when carving
- quarries - where stone is taken out of the ground
- sandstone - rock made of sand, usually red, yellow, brown, gray, or white
- stonemasons - people who cut, shape, and build with stone
Math
Typing
Personal Reading
Day 95 (From the Unit on The Middle Ages)
Language Arts (Vocabulary)
New words in section 5:
- lectern – a desk or stand with a slanted top, used to hold a book at the right height so someone who is standing can read to an audience
- cassock – a long, close-fitting garment worn by ministers or people participating in church services
- cotta – a tunic that has short sleeves or is sleeveless
- Sanctus – a prayer, usually sung, as part of the Roman Catholic Mass before the prayers in the celebration of Holy Communion
- verger – an official of the church who is in charge of taking care of sacred objects, and serves as a general caretaker, usher, and attendant
- faggots – bundles or bunches of sticks or branches that are bound together and used as fuel (the British spelling is fagot)
- cutpurses – pick-pockets, people who steal by cutting purses from the belt
- roisterers – ruffians, lawless bullies
- downs – a range of low ridges
- spire – part of a steeple, a cone-shaped projection
- nigh – nearly or almost
- lark – innocent and good-natured fun, a merry and carefree thing to do
Language Arts (Literature)
Read section 5 of The Door in the Wall aloud together.
Comprehension Questions for Discussion:
1. Find the words from the text that describe how Robin was probably feeling when John-go-in-the-Wynd brought the letter from his
father. Explain in your own words what he must have been feeling. (His hands shook – he was eager, excited, and a little nervous to hear from his father for the first time since
winter. Adding to his excitement, was his newly-acquired skill of being able to read this all-important letter all by himself.)
2. John-go-in-the-Wynd, Brother Luke, and Robin set out for Shropshire -
headed for the home of Sir Peter. Where do they stay their first night out, and where does Robin sleep? (They take a wrong turn and when darkness falls with no inn in sight, they decide to camp out at
the side of the road, near an old hollowed out log. Robin sleeps inside the hollow log.)
3. What is Robin's reaction to having to sleep inside a log? (He loves it and looks at it as a wonderful
adventure. With his crippled legs, he feels unsure that he will ever be a knight in battle. However, he is sure that this adventure will come quite close to the adventure of any battle! To sleep
outside and roast apples over a fire was too good to be true as far as he was concerned!)
4. Tell the meaning of the last sentence in the chapter, "They roasted apples in the fire, but ate the pasty cold, and
hunger sauced it better than the finest cook could have done." (Have you ever been SO hungry that you felt ANYTHING would taste good? That is what this sentence means. A sauce is meant to make
something taste even better, and in this case, the fact that they were so hungry made even the cold pasty taste delicious. Isn't this an interesting and descriptive way of saying "hunger makes food taste
better." Remember that when your parents tell you to eat your food because starving children in Africa would be glad to have it. We sometimes do not appreciate what we have, because we do not know what
it means to really be hungry. Be thankful for what you have!)
Bible
Continue your work on memorizing the books of the Bible.
Continue your work on memorizing the Bible passage - Hebrews 4:12.
As the three friends journey and begin thinking about nightfall, Robin tells them that if his father were with them, they would not have to
be afraid of anyone. Brother Luke uses this opportunity to remind Robin that they should have faith in the "Father of us all" to keep them safe.
Psalm 91:4 gives a wonderful word picture of the Lord's protection. Read it. Just as a bird protects its young by covering them with protective wings,
so the Lord lovingly shelters us under his loving "wings." A good reminder for us all, for in the span of our lives we will not always be in situations where someone is there to protect us – parents,
friends, and family cannot promise to always be near us in every situation. But there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother, (Proverbs 18:24) and He will be faithful to shelter us under his
wings. Our Heavenly Father knows our every need and hears our every prayer.
Language Arts (Spelling)
Write complete sentences using each of your spelling words.
Language Arts (Grammar)
We have learned three of the eight parts of speech. They are
– nouns, verbs, and pronouns. A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. Verbs express action or a state of being. Pronouns are words that we use in place of nouns. Today we are going to
talk about adjectives. Adjectives make our language beautiful because they are the words we use to describe nouns or pronouns.
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pretty girl
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handsome boy
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red car
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colorful rainbow
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hideous giant
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In all of the examples above, we described a noun by adding an adjective. Pretty is an adjective because it describes the noun girl, handsome is an adjective because it
describes the noun boy, red is an adjective because it describes the noun car, colorful is an adjective because it describes the noun rainbow, and hideous is an adjective
because it describes the word giant. Adjectives describe nouns by answering questions about them – such as: Which one? What kind? How many? How much? We call
adjectives modifiers because they modify (or CHANGE) nouns. They describe nouns and change them so we will know more about them. Let's look at the examples above again. The adjective pretty changed girl to a pretty girl. The adjective handsome
changed boy into a handsome boy, and so on. Adjectives are fun to pick out of a sentence. They often come right before the noun, but not always. Sometimes adjectives
follow linking verbs as in these examples: The girl is pretty. The boy is handsome. Pretty is the adjective because it describes the noun girl and handsome is the adjective
because it describes the noun boy. Try to pick out the adjective in each pair of words orally and then tell what the adjective described (or modified):
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crippled boy
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steaming porridge
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loving Luke
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patient monk
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useless legs
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stained glass
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Gothic cathedrals
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smooth wood
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bright morning
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great lad
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(ANSWERS): – (crippled is the adjective because it modifies boy, steaming is the adjective because it modifies porridge, loving is the adjective because it modifies Luke, patient is the adjective because it modifies monk, useless is the adjective because it
modifies legs, stained is the adjective because it modifies glass, Gothic is the adjective because it modifies cathedrals, smooth is the adjective because it modifies wood, bright is the adjective because it modifies morning, and great is the adjective because
it modifies lad.)
Language Arts (Writing)
Continue working on your essay about Brother Luke's friendship to Robin. You will
finish it tomorrow.
Social Studies
On their journey, the three travelers walked with many others going toward London
because it was market day. Traders or merchants of the Middle Ages often traveled great distances in order to carry out their business of buying and selling goods. Many
traveled over rivers and seas, others traveled over land on pack animals such as donkeys and camels - all to get as far as India, China, and eventually North and South
America. Any travel was extremely dangerous with the threat of attack by robbers by land or sea. The risk of losing your merchandise or your life was very real.
Trade was, and still is, an important part of everyday life. There are not very many
areas that can grow and/or produce everything that is needed for their community to carry on a normal life. Start thinking about what is grown and produced in your area -
let's say it is an area of grain crops (which would provide bread). Although you would have plenty of bread, you would lack citrus and tropical fruits and may not have a
proper amount of meat or fish. Once you begin thinking about it, you realize how dependent we are on each other, both inside our own country, and on other countries as
well. It was the same way for the people in the Middle Ages. They did not have a way to keep their food from spoiling, so they used a lot of spices to both preserve and
cover up the bad taste of foods that were rotting. Since spices were not grown in Europe, the people either had to go to where the spices grew, or PAY SOMEONE ELSE
TO DO IT. That is exactly what traders and merchants did. They went out to all different places, bought the things that were needed and desired, and brought them
back so that they could sell them to people who wanted them. Cloth, timber, food, grain, wine, silk, and spices, are only a few of the goods that were traded. Certain areas of
the world were famous for specific things – Flanders, for example, became famous for its wool. Other regions or towns, such as Genoa, became famous as trading centers,
with the great center of trade being the Mediterranean. Great trade fairs were held with buying and selling going on as well as food, music, and other entertainment to attract buyers.
Read more about the Middle Ages from your library books for the remainder of this social studies period.
Science
In today's reading passage, Brother Luke, Robin, and John-go-in–the-Wynd set out on a
journey. Before the journey begins, the saddlebags are filled with food, including larks and a rabbit seasoned with herbs and colored yellow with saffron. Before those herbs
could be used in cooking, they had to be picked and before they were ready to be picked, they had to grow, and before they grew, they probably came from a tiny little
seed. Today we will look at how a flowering plant is "born." Inside a seed is actually a tiny plant that can someday grow into a mature plant. It even comes packaged with just
enough food to get it started and keep it alive until it can make its own food. (Can you see God's amazing handiwork here?) The tiny new plant is called the embryo and the stored food is called the
endosperm. They are tucked safely inside the protective seed coat. The seed will not sprout or grow until the right conditions exist for it to "come
alive." What might those "right conditions" be? Most seeds need dark and damp conditions in order to germinate (come to life). When the seed absorbs water, the
cells of the embryo begin to divide and soon the seed coat bursts open. Now the embryo that we spoke of above is made up of three parts – the cotyledon, the plumule and the radicle
. When the seed coat bursts open, the radicle is the first thing that pokes out. It "sprouts" and starts to grow downward into what will eventually be the
root system. Next, comes the plumule, which pokes out and will eventually produce the stem and leaves.
Right now, take a handful of pinto beans and soak them in water (leave them soaking for
about 24 hours). After they have soaked, take one out and split it to see if you can see the embryo and the endosperm. Can you find the coyledon, the plumule, and the radicle
? Keep the rest of the beans soaking until they sprout. Point out the radicle and then the plumule as they burst out of the seed coat. How many days did it take for them to
sprout? See what happens if you let your seeds "grow" for awhile.
Now, back to the germination process. If your seeds were planted in the ground, the
plumule would grow longer and break above the ground. At that point, it will naturally straighten up because it reaches toward the sunlight. Then the first true leaves will
pop out and the little plant (called a seedling) will finally be able to produce its own food through photosynthesis. After many days (different for each type of plant) the
seedling will mature and eventually produce its first flowers, whose job it is to produce the seeds through pollination and fertilization. The seeds are scattered in one of a
number of different ways and make their way to the ground where, when conditions are right, they will germinate all over again – the plant life cycle! We will learn more
about photosynthesis, pollination, fertilization, and seed dispersal in the following days.
For the remainder of this science period, read more about plants in your library books..
Math
Typing
Personal Reading
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