Preparing Hearts for His Glory:
One of my favorite things to do in PHFHG is the creative writing lesson based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classical poetry! It has been amazing to see the growth Emmet has made from start to now in this area. The mini-lessons in PHFHG have helped draw his attention to what makes RLS's poetry so wonderful, and they have also taught him to begin to add these poetic devices to his own poetry. This week the lesson was on onomatopoeia, which is using sound words to add mood and drama to writing. First, he found examples of onomatopoeia in RLS's poem "Windy Nights." Then, we did a prewriting activity about some things Emmett sees, hears, and feels during a winter blizzard. He has really learned to take his time and add some details in the way he phrases things at this point in the lesson. He's figured the more thought he puts in up front, the easier it is for him to write the poem later. As he came up with various phrases, we jotted these on paper for his reference. Then, using RLS's poem as a structure in which to add Emmett's ideas, Emmett wrote his own poem. Sometimes, when Emmett begins this part of the assignment, he tends to forget about using some of his prewriting, and starts to kind of simplify his phrases so they rhyme. We've really worked on this, as his original ideas are much better typically. So, this time, I had him check off each idea as he used it in his descriptive paragraph. This helps him stick to the thoughts in his prewriting, and it resulted in a super writing piece! When I snapped a picture of him with his poem, he wanted to wear his 'lucky writing hat' (you have to love the free spirit of the youngest child, don't you?!?). I'm also the youngest of 3, so I thought this a fantastic idea!
Another highlight of this week was our Medieval Feast. We've been reading about the Middle Ages, and let's just say table manners and cleanliness overall have come a long way since then! Emmett planned cheese, browned beef, oranges tossed with cinnamon and sugar, beans, and a desert. Of course, we used the trenchers he'd made previously, which were quite salty and hard (as intended). Shockingly, I loved the trencher! I've rarely met a 'bread' with 'salt' I haven't liked though.
They were quite hard, and only a blunt knife and spoons for dessert were to be used. I never realized how handy a fork was until this meal. Anyway, we had a blast, and Emmett was beaming! He read his poetry to entertain us, which we loved. I ate my trencher, but the rest of the trenchers went to the dogs (literally, as we have 3). What fun!!!
In Christ,
Julie