Classical Conversations CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Tutor Ideas

Here is everything that I did with my Masters class for week 8 in cycle 2 of Classical Conversations!

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Memory Work

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Timeline

This week for timeline, I had my class play the game Before or After.

Before or After is a great game for the Masters class because it tests their knowledge of the timeline order rather than just singing through the timeline.

That being said, the game is not too advanced for even the Abecedarians to play.

To play Before or After, sing the timeline song and pick one of the week’s cards at random. This first card is the reference card. Sing the song for the 2nd time, then pick another card at random. Ask the class, “does {this card – say the actual name of the event} come before or after the {reference card – say the name of the event}?” Direct the students to move to your right if the card comes before and to move to your left if the card comes after.

Listen to the song for the 3rd time and see if students were correct. Draw a new card and the second card you drew is the new reference card. Keep repeating this pattern until you have sang the song seven times for your seven repetitions.

Supplies needed to play Before or After:

• 7 Timeline cards pertaining to the week

Approximate time it takes to play Before or After: 5 minutes

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Math

Yay for only one times table this week! Since I have the Masters class we say the entire equation.

This week, we played a minute-to-win-it game called Dice Stack.

This game works best for a class of seven students or less. If you have eight students, have the first two students go at the same time, then one student at a time after that so that there are only seven repetitions.

If you have less than seven students, do one for each student and then you can either just say the facts quickly for the remaining repetitions or hold competitions between the top competitors.

I would not recommend this class for the Abecedarians but all other classes would likely do well.

To play Dice Stack, give one student (or two, see note above) two plastic spoons and five dice. Have the rest of the class recite the math fact one time through. The student with the dice needs to see how many dice they can stack within that one repetition. The person stacking does not do the recitation.

Continue playing with each student and see who can stack the most!

Supplies needed to play Dice Stack: 

• two plastic spoons (if you have a class of 8 students, grab four plastic spoons and see note above)
• five dice (again, double if you have a class of 8 students)

Approximate time it takes to play Dice Stack: 5 minutes

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 History

My class loves playing Hot or Cold for history so we have done it every week since I introduced it week 3.

I assume we will do it until at least everyone in my class has had a chance to be the finder.

To play Hot or Cold, listen to the history song one time all together. Then, show the class the item you will be hiding.

This week, we hid a plastic boat from my kids’ beach toy set since we were learning about European exploration in the 1400s/1500s.

Have one parent bring the chosen student outside into the hallway while the rest of the class chooses a place to hide the item.

Once hidden (tip – only give them 30 seconds so it’s not a big time suck), invite the student back in. Have the class sing the history song loudly if the student is close to finding the object and quietly if the student is farther from the object.

The student has six repetitions to find it. If they find it in time, they win, if not, the class wins. If the student finds in before six repetitions are over, have everyone sing or say the history song as fast as they can for the remaining repetitions.

Supplies needed to play Hot or Cold: 

• object to hide – I used a plastic toy boat for this week’s European exploration theme
• timer – if students are likely to be indecisive on where to hide the object, set a 30 second timer

Approximate time it takes to play Hot or Cold: 5 minutes

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Latin

I informed the class that a way to remember the perfect tense is with the sentence:

The farmer in the dell had a perfect day so he said “ee!”

We then sang the CC Latin song quickly seven times through, which starts with the Latin conjugation ending “i” which is pronounced “ee.”

The CC Latin song goes along to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell.

I got this idea from Joys of a CC Mom on YouTube. Here is the video I referenced:

Supplies needed for Latin: None

Approximate time needed for Latin: 2 minutes

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Science

This week was a fun song for the aquatic biomes.  I found the song and hand motions from Kimberly Vieley on YouTube.

Here is the order I presented science to get all seven repetitions in:

1. Read the question and say the answer, making sure to say “Some aquatic biomes are…”
2. Read the question and have the class answer
3. Introduce the song to the class
4. Sing the song with the class
5. Introduce the hand motions to the class
6. Practice hand motions with the class
7. Sing and do hand motions together

My class enjoyed the song as it goes to the tune of Baby Shark.

 

Supplies needed for science: None

Approximate time needed for science: 4 minutes

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 English

We are still singing along to the Chicken Dance song on YouTube; however, this week I was losing my voice in class so we switched it up.

I let the class know that this week’s content is still a part of the Chicken Dance song so they can sing it at home but for class we would do this:

1. I read the reflexive pronouns to the class
2. I had each student say one word, taking turns – for example, the first student said “myself,” the next student said “yourself,” you get the idea. We did this for the remaining six repetitions to give my voice a break!

Supplies needed for English: none

Approximate time needed for English – 3 minutes

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Geography

This week we did geography first. I like doing this on days that I want a quiet start to the class – which was important as I had to tell them my voice was going out and I’d need lots of focus for ears on me.

Here is what we did to get our seven repetitions in:

1. I read the components of the Mid-Atlantic World
2. I read and then showed them on my map the locations
3. I read and had them mark it on their maps
4. I introduced the song
5. We sang the song together and pointed to the locations
6. We sang the song together and erased the locations
7. I asked them review questions to either say the name in the question or have them tell me the name in the answer

Here are the questions I asked for week 8 geography:

1. What continent is by the Strait of Magellan? (South America)
2. Does anyone know what two countries signed the Treaty of Tordesillas? (Spain and Portugal)
3. What continent is by the Canary Islands? (Africa)
4. What continent is by the Cape of Good Hope? (Africa)

I like to ask review questions for the Masters class, and, since we studied Spain and Portugal week 3 and continents week 1, I incorporated those into the questions.

Here is the YouTube video by Danyel LeDoux for the song we sang:

Supplies needed for geography: 

• dry erase map for each student
• dry erase marker for each student
• eraser for each student

Approximate time needed for geography: 4 minutes

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Tin Whistle

While I have the masters class this year, half of the class is new to CC/homeschooling altogether. So, I make sure to take things slow.

I asked the class to put their tin whistles away for the first part of the session as we will be playing a game which got them excited.

We started tin whistle by singing Mary Had a Little Lamb together. I reminded the students to sing all together with the same speed and start time.

I then defined Dynamics as how soft or loud you play.

I asked the students to sing Mary Had a Little Lamb as soft as they can while still singing. I told them this is pianissimo. I had them sing the song as loud as possible WITHOUT yelling, it still needed to sound like singing. I let them know this is fortissimo.

I showed them notecards with pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, and > and <. I introduced all of the definitions for these symbols and arranged them in order from softest to loudest.

We then played the game which is similar to Heads Up. I had each student come up and I taped a notecard to their foreheads. They were not allowed to look at the notecard or tell others what was on their forehead.

I told them they had two minutes to put themselves in order from quietest to loudest and that they could not tell other students what was on their forehead. They must sing Mary Had a Little Lamb at the dynamic level to each other.

So for example:

• Student A and student B face each other. Student A sings Mary Had a Little Lamb to student B according to what is on student B’s forehead. Then, student B would do the same for A, singing whatever is on A’s forehead.
• If the student had crescendo, for example, they would start singing quietly and then get louder.

My students were able to successfully order themselves just under the 2 minute clock. There was a bit of accidental slips (one student repeatedly would say, okay you’re ff so.. and then sing loudly). I don’t think it was purposeful.

Once the game was over, we then got out our tin whistles and practiced just the finger motions for the song. I sang the song and had students show me how their fingers should go on the tin whistle as I sang.

We then practiced the first two bars together. Students that felt comfortable could continue on with the rest of the song.

We practiced playing loudly (while still playing notes) and quietly (without just blowing soft air into the whistle and, thus, not making notes).

I let them know that the tin whistle is not meant to play pp or ff, as some instruments don’t have a full dynamic range.

Supplies needed for week 8 tin whistle:

• each student needs to bring their tin whistle (give students a pencil to finger along if they forgot their whistle at home)
• notecards for pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, >, and <
• tape

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Science

For science this week we walked through a proportional solar system built by the director and the script in the Sandbox Ezine. Our director also had us do CC Cycle 2 Week 11 this week as she has a fun activity planned for week 11 in our community.

CC Cycle 2 Week 8 Review

For review this week, we played human tic-tac-toe. I split the class into two groups. Each student gets either a piece of paper with an O on it or an X on it.

I used painters tape to make a tic-tac-toe board on the carpet before class started.

I had one representative from each time play one round of rock paper scissors to determine which team would go first.

I then asked that team the first review question and then they got to place a team member onto the board.

Then I went to the other team.

If the game was going to be a draw, we would clear the board. I think we ended up with one winner one round but the masters are pretty good at their defensive and offensive skills!

Supplies needed for human tic-tac-toe: 

• painters tape
• 8 pieces of paper – 4 with an O drawn on it and 4 with an X drawn on it

Save These Masters Tutors Ideas for Later

If you have a masters class for Classical Conversations this year, make sure to save this plan to reference during your CC Cycle 2 Week 8 tutor planning!