Tapestry of Grace – Narrations, Summaries, Outlines

Lower Grammar Narrations – This is something I add to what’s listed for LG Tapestry students.  I’ve previously shared about the workbox system I use to aid in independent Tapestry work at this level.  In addition to that time, I spend 20 to 30 minutes with my LG students twice a week.  Most of this Mom-time is spent with read alouds and narrations.  My LG students have an encyclopedia that is not included in Tapestry’s reading assignments and I read a two page spread from that and have them narrate back what they learned.  Usually, the encyclopedia covers one of the main Tapestry themes from the week.  We were in Ancient Mesopotamia last week and she did a narration on the birth of writing.  Other books that I read aloud to them might be an option for narration as well.  Some books are read for fun or exposure at this age.  I have no desire to take away from thatl.  Others might be read independenty.   Typically, the narration might be of a particular event (Tower of Babel, for instance) or of a major figure like Moses or Abram. 

I recently shared a few samples of my current 2nd grader’s narrations with a friend.  I was amazed at the difference in her ability when I compared the narrations she gave in week one to those given in week 3.  This is a middle of the road sample of Abby’s current narrations. 

Sumerian Daily Life

Sumerian Farmers worked hard.  They raised crops and tended canals.  Sumerians used a lot of pottery.  They invented the wheel.  Most lived in small, one story houses made of mud brick. 

Upper Grammar Narrations -  My Upper Grammar students follow a template for their Tapestry work each week.  We transition from oral narrations to written summaries betwen 2nd and 3rd grade.  When their template asks for a biographical summary they write about one of the main figures from that week.  Last week it would have been Moses, but it might be Michaelangelo or President Roosevelt depending on the week.  They also write event summaries.  This would be a narrative on a war or other major event.  Literature summaries are done when I want them to summarize a book they’ve read.  I usually put a post it note on the book when I hand it to them to note that assigment.  As a clarification, we do use Writing Aids and it’s been a great program for us, but the assignments often move at a snail’s pace from week to week.  I want them in the habit of daily written response to their learning.  These summaries are corrected during their weekly Tapestry meeting time with me and are revised as needed. 

A recent summary from Holly’s folder:

Moses

Moses was born in Egypt when Pharaoh sent out the order that all Hebrew newborn boys would be thrown into the Nile.  His Mom made a basket for him and put him in it.  Then she put him in the river.  She sent her daughter, Miriam, to watch over him.  The Pharaoh’s daughter was swimming in the Nile and found the basket.  She raised Moses as an Egyptian prince.  When he was older he killed an Egyptian and fled from Egypt.  Then God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. 

I find that summaries at this age vary greatly by topic and mood of the student.  Sometimes they flourish and other times they’re somewhat stiff.  This one is a bit stiff, but that’s okay.  She clearly understands the flow of events and can write about them from memory in a cohesive enough manner. 

Dialectic Level Outlines – We’ve used many recommendations from The Well Trained Mind through the years and I’m quite sure this sequence comes from SWB, but sometimes it is a help to see it fleshed out in someone else’s home and with a different curricula.  I also have a Montessori background and have a strong inclination to have my children research and respond.  My LG, UG, and D students have grade level encyclopedias that they use for this research.  I mentioned that my LG narrates from hers after read aloud time with me.  My UG student uses hers for summaries and my Dialectic students use them for outlining.  We use Rod and Staff for English, so teaching them how to do this has never been a problem.  I believe The Well Trained Mind breaks it down further, but we’ve rarely needed to do that.  We do start with main points from articles first and then we move into supporting points and multi-paragraph articles/outlines. 

My kids need to write – a lot.  They’d breeze through Tapestry’s one writing assignment per week way too quickly if we didn’t add this to their week.  I think (or hope) that it’s given them meaningful work to do around meaningful material and that it’s providing vocabulary enrichment, mental training in remembering or finding key points, and ease with writing.  We’ll see if they learn to write well by the end of high school…

Preparing for Second Grade

What a blessing it is to learn together! 

The West – Holly Grade 2

The Pony Express

       The Pony Express carried mail from the east to the west.  Sometimes it travelled all the way from New York to California.  They wanted to make it possible for people in the west to receive mail from relatives in the east.  The Pony Express used very fast horses.  Only men and boys were allowed to ride.   Families built houses called stations in the west and Pony Expres riders stayed there for a rest . Normally, the riders got two or three days rest.  After they had gone fifteen or sixteen milkes there would be another station and a man would be waiting with a horse.  They put the mail on the other horses back and the new rider would ride off swiftly.  The tired horse was put in the stable and fed and given water to prepare for the next rider.

The Wild West

       European settelrs moved west because the east was becoming crowded.  Some settlers made treaties with the Native Americans that said they wouldn’t take their land away, but most of these treaties were broken.  Railways were built and linked the east to the west.  Hunters killed hundreds of buffalo for the people who built the railway tracks.  The settlers and indians fought and the indians won many battles.  When the settlers eventually won, the indians had to live on small places called reservations. 

Civil War Times – Holly Grade 2

The Civil War

The Civil War started in 1861 when the southern states broke from the union and elected their own president.  The northern states wanted to stay together, but the south felt threatened.  They didn’t want to fee their slaves.  The war was mostly faught in the south.  The battles were very bloody.  Southern towns were burned and people all over the south fled.  President Lincoln wanted to make peace last, but he was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre in Washington. 

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was given in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on a cloudy and rainy day.  Some people were crying.  They were there to bury the dead.  They had invited a senator to speak who spoke for two hours.  During that time, most of the spectators left.  Then, Abraham Lincoln spoke for two minutes.  He said, “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberety and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  Now we are engaged in a great Civil War testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived can long endure.  We are met on a great battlefied of that war.  We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.  It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.  But in a larger sense we cannot consecrate, we can not dedicate, we cannot hallow this ground.  the brave men, living and dead, who fought here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.  The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.  It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.  It is rather for us to here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”