Script & SWI Lessons in November

Friday, November 2

• review terms morphology, prefix, suffix, and base
• look at how the addition of suffixes can change the part of speech as well as changing (morphing) the word's meaning, using < joyfully > as an example; use the box of Montessori Grammar Symbols to present the symbols for noun, article, adjective, verb, and adverb

  < joy > is a noun

  < joyful > is an adjective

  < joyfully > is an adverb

• explain terms morpheme, phoneme, and grapheme
• focus on Script, reviewing the letters learned so far (u, a, o, c, d, e) and introducing new letters (q, y, g, n, m, r)
• brainstorm what words we can write with the additon of each new letter and practice writing them
  do
  doe
  code

  queue

  you

  go
  you dog
  doggy

  noun
  queen
  cone

  my good dog and me

Friday, November 9

• explore < gnomom > (the part of the sundial which casts a shadow), a word we discovered in the book The Story of Clocks and Calendars

  

• look at its meaning (step 1 in SWI)
• look at its structure (step 2 in SWI) and consider the graphemes and phonemes; consider other words which also start with < gn > where the < g > is silent and which might be possible relatives:

  < gnome >
  < gnat >
  < gnarled >
  < gnostic >

• brainstorm word sums for < gnomon > and review that a vowel suffix can replace a single final non-syllabic e (like in < make + ing --> making > :

  gn + o + mon

  gno + mon

  gn + om + on

  gnome/ + on

• look up < gnomon > in the Online Etymology Dictionary (step 3 in SWI) and discover that it is a loan word (a word which has come to us from another language with its spelling completely unchanged):
  < gnomon > comes from Latin gnomon from Greek gnomon
• look at the Proto-Indo-European root *gno which means "to know" and consider the list of modern words which also come from this root and where we can easily see it carry a sense of knowing, such as
  < diagnosis >
  < recognize >
  < ignore >
  < ignorant >
• consider the words on this list which are more of a surprise, such as < gnome > and < nobility >
• continue working with our fountain pens and learning Script:
  review previous letters in emblem < u >:
  u, a, o, c, e, d, y, g, q

  review previous letters in emblem < n >:
  n, m, r

  introduce remaining letters in emblem < n >:
  k, h, b, p

  introduce the diagonal downstroke family:
  x, v, w

  introduce the single downstroke letter family:
  l, t, f, i, j

  

Friday, November 30

• review that SWI proceeds scientifically and systematically as it delves into exploration of our orthography system
• explore < welcome > and < history > by making draft word sums; check < welcome > & < history > in the online etymology dictionary and read about their origins (Old English and Greek, respectively)
• list other words which have the base < histor >
  < historic >
  < historian >
  < historical >
  < prehistoric >

• finish up learning our Script alphabet, with a focus on the single downstroke letter family (l, t, f, i, j) and the sibilant pair (s, z); begin to write some phrases now that we can write whatever we want!
  ice cream melts fast

  jam and jelly are yummy

  

now we can write our main lesson book pages in Script!

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