Week 59: - Norms & Nobility - Chpt 3
February 11, 2025
In this edition:
🎉🥳 Off-Center Celebrations! 🥳🎉
🎤Podcast - The Grammar of Classical Education 🎤
📚☀️ Quick Classroom Reviews ☀️📚
💖💖 Amazing Blessings 💖💖
☕️ 🫖 Enjoying the Reali-tea ☕️ 🫖
🎉 🥳 Let’s Celebrate! 🥳 🎉
Off-Center Celebrations - 2025
Week 3 (February 16 - 22)
Honoring Random Acts of Kindness Day (12 page packet)
Introduction to Random Acts of Kindness - Word Find Puzzle w/ answer key
What Can I Do? (ideas for Random Acts of Kindness) - Worksheet
My Random Acts of Kindness Review - Worksheet & Discussion
Should We Celebrate Every Day? - Paragraph Writing Worksheets
Is Anonymity the Best Way? - Persuasive Presentation Worksheets
Week 2 (February 9 - 15)
National Hero Week
“What is a Hero?” - discussion & worksheet
“Heroes I Know” - discuss & worksheet
“Here’s a Hero” - paragraph planning worksheet & final copy page
Hero’s Thank You note - printable in black & white or color
My Hero - coloring worksheet
Because HEROES are so important, this week, you can enjoy this Off-Center Celebration packet free - without membership!
Week 1 (February 1 - 8)
Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week
2 Discussion Activities
Book Evaluation and Oral Communication Activity (w/ worksheets)
Individual Poster of Book Recommendations (w/ worksheet)
☺️ Please jump over to Classroom Collective, where you can use the “password” you received with your subscription (on EVERY level) to access many freebies like the Off-Center Celebrations (daily in 2024 and weekly in 2025).
🎤 Podcast - The Grammar of Classical Education 🎤
Sometimes we feel like we have a pretty good grasp on what we are doing, and the how we do things in the classical model may be second nature, but have you ever considered how you view those young people sitting in front of you? What are you expecting of them? Why do you expect what you do?
This week we are diving into chapter three of Norms & Nobility by David Hicks as we wrestle with the title of the chapter “Teaching the Father of Man” and how that relates to the child sitting in front of me. I can tell you, your view on this element can change your entire perspective of the purpose of education!
📚☀️ Quick Classroom Review ☀️📚
Pushin’ Up Daisies
Admittedly, the title will go over the head of your students, but it sure will make you smile! ☺️ This game is a slight modification of a game from The Lifetime Learner. It is her take on a Hangman-like game with a different name and a few procedural changes.
Items Needed:
Whiteboard
Dry Erase Marker
List of people, places, things, or ideas from the subject to be reviewed
Preparation:
Draw a plot of grass for each team and a sample daisy for each. (You need to decide how many petals and leaves!)
Review:
Divide the class into teams - this works for partners or any small number of teams.
Write lines for each letter in the word or phrase being guessed.
Each team takes a turn guessing a letter.
If the letter is there they may draw one part of the daisy. (They WANT to get as many daisies as possible!)
On a turn, the team may EITHER write a letter OR guess. (They cannot do both in the same turn.)
If they guess incorrectly - they lose a WHOLE DAISY (or all parts if one isn’t yet complete).
If they guess correctly - they may add ONE part of the daisy OR they can give 2 facts about the word that they correctly identified and they will earn ONE WHOLE DAISY (in addition to the part they added for getting the correct answer).
Play continues as time allows or you reach the end of the review list.
Notes and Modifications:
You could keep this game going for several days! Just don’t erase the plots of grass for each team!
If they answer correctly, you could allow them to add a whole daisy OR erase a daisy (or a part of a daisy) from another team. [Not recommended if your class is too crazy competitive!]
You have the freedom to erase daisy parts if a team is out of control.
Homeschool Adaptations:
This would work as a review with multiple levels together. You would just need two words running at the same time. 😎
💖💖 Amazing Blessings 💖💖
If you are like me, the beginning of Psalm 23:6 comes out as “ShirleyGoodnessandMercy shall follow me all the days of my life” - a string of words we dash through with very little thought. Well, if you’ve ever done that, you will definitely want to join us for our study on the magnificant treasures found in those 13 short words!
☕️ 🫖 Enjoying the Real-i-TEA 🫖☕️
As you may know, my goal with Leading to Wonder is to strengthen and encourage teachers, whether in the classroom, at home, in person, or on Zoom. I want to meet you where you are and help you move toward becoming the best teacher you can be. To do this, I trust you will feel free to reach out via our Substack chats or by sending an email to Newsletter@LeadingtoWonder.com.
In the next couple of months, there will be a few live chats offered online to our Substack subscribers, and I would love to have you join us! Keep your eye out for information regarding these special times to discuss the real-i-TEA of teaching!
Let us seek to “bear one another’s burdens” and “encourage one another. . just as you are doing.” (Galatians 6:2 / I Thessalonians 5:11)1
Thank you so much for joining me at Leading to Wonder! I am honored that you have spent the time reading and possibly listening to my passion project. I do want to be as helpful as possible, so if you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please use the button below, and I will try to address them in a timely fashion! Thank you again, and remember - “always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder!”2
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://www.esv.org
E.B. White