The 5 Minute Homeschool LESSON PLAN Podcast: Home

When Does Your Church Celebrate Christmas? When I was in my 30’s, I sang in the soprano section of my church choir.  I remember hearing a friendly argument between my choir director, Leah Davis, and pastor, Steve Drury, about when to sing Christmas songs like “Away in a Manger” and “Joy to the World.” Leah said, "we don’t sing Christmas songs until after baby Jesus is born," and Steve said, "no way, the people want Christmas songs in December!"  Pastor Steve won the argument, but Leah was actually more in line with Church history. Traditionally, the Christmas season ran from December 25th to January 5th; so the Church celebrated Christmas for twelve days (did you ever wonder what the composer meant when he sang, on the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree?), but they anticipated it for 4 weeks and a few days.  The twelve days of Christmas were called Christmastide, and the hopeful, season of anticipation before Christmastide was called Advent.  An authentic classical education is all about understanding big ideas, so let's chat about this meaningful idea called "advent." What Exactly Is Advent? Here’s a little tradition of Church history that is fading from popular use. Just like the ancient Jews kept a calendar of feast days, so too, the Christian Church followed their own calendar called the ecclesiastical, liturgical, or church year. This calendar was an organized cycle of seasons that told the global church when to celebrate important events (called feasts) like Christmas, Palm Sunday, or Easter. The liturgical calendar also outlined appropriate Scripture readings in an annual cycle or even a cycle of several years; this is called the lectionary.  You may worship in a Church where the ecclesiastical calendar is followed; that’s why your pastor reads certain Bible verses at certain times, and why the colors hanging from pulpit or cross change with the seasons (purple, gold, green, white, or red). Instead of starting on January 1st, the church calendar begins with Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve.  So if we were following the ecclesiastical calendar in 2015, the New Year’s Day would be Sunday, November 29th, and New Year’s Eve would be Saturday, November 28th. Today the Church celebrates Advent as a season of expectation, leading up to Jesus’s birthday, but in terms of the full 2000 year life of the Church, that’s only a tiny piece of the puzzle.  To understand the historical meaning of Advent, we need more background. Way back 1000 years ago when the Church was still young (4th-5th century AD), the Christians in Spain and Gaul (France) celebrated a Feast that they called “Three Kings Day” or “Epiphany."  This festival was held annually on January 6th to honor three events that inaugurated the incarnation or coming of the Divine King - two events from the Gospel of Matthew and one from the Gospel of John:  (1) the visitation of the three wise men or magi to the infant baby Jesus at Bethlehem - Mt.2, (2) Jesus’ baptism when the Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove - Mt. 3, and (3) Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding Cana he turned the water into wine (Jn.2). The word epiphany means “manifestation of a divine being or king", and of course,

Learning How to Punctuate Sentences Skill:  Reading | Punctuation In today’s 5 Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan podcast, I’m going to share a Grammar Lesson Plan for improving reading skills, specifically how to punctuate sentences using the comma. The English language has 14 common punctuation marks; your child needs to master the meaning and proper usage of each symbol. Of all the possible punctuation errors, most mistakes involve three marks: the period (missing mark in run-on sentences = merger of 2 complete thoughts) the apostrophe (when to show possession like it's and its) the comma (like how to organize lists, non-essential details, and tag questions) Unfortunately, there's not just one common error when it comes to the comma; there are multiple ways to make mistakes when punctuating with a comma.  Today, we're going to focus on teaching your child the most frequent usage for the comma:  the SERIES list. In This Homeschool Lesson Plan You’ll Learn: why learning the meaning and placement of symbols is key how to make the mental leap from math operations to punctuation marks five things a comma is supposed to do in a sentence how to punctuate a series list of 3+ words or phrases the kinds of words used in a series (noun, verb, adjective, phrase, compound) the meaning of "parallel construction" how the mantra "find - add - correct" can help you teach the skill the five most typical comma errors and how to correct them how reading aloud (back/forward) will help your kid find errors in punctuation Download app + subscribe in itunes | stitcher | soundcloud It’s time to tackle that homeschool lesson plan. Budget 5 weeks to practice this skill set. By the end of this learning unit, your child will be one step closer to mastering his English language reading skills because he’ll know how to punctuate any series list to perfection! Teaching Resources for this Lesson Plan: Your "done-for-you" Punctuation Lesson Plan (pdf) Download 12 Punctuation Facts Every Teacher Needs to Know (INFOGRAPHIC) Watch Mom's Workshop: Using FUN GAMES to Teach Punctuation (video 29:58) Instructions for How to put together a sugar writing tray Print a copy 100 Common Nouns (pdf), and cut into individual words Search google for "spelling bee words" to find lists like this 3rd grade list of verbs Symbol Meaning  Comma Rules FINAL Lesson Plan   If you’d like to revise my example or create your own unique homeschool grammar lesson plan, DOWNLOAD A BLANK TEMPLATE (pdf).   Get Another FREE Lesson Plan Did you like this 5 Minute Lesson Plan podcast? Write an honest review on iTunes, and get a FREE homeschool lesson plan. Click here or below to find out how.

Learning How to Articulate Speech With Tongue Twisters Skill:  Public Speaking | Body Language In today’s 5 Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan podcast, I’m going to share a Rhetoric Lesson Plan for improving public speaking skills, particularly by practicing exact articulation and intentional verbal pacing.  We’re going to learn how to warm up the tongue, lips, and vocal cords using challenging tongue twisters. Precise articulation is an essential component of compelling, persuasive body language. This homeschool lesson is going to be fun…AND it teaches lots of public speaking skills including (1) how to relax your body before a speech; (2) how to accurately pronounce vowels and consonants; and (3) how to regulate delivery speed for maximum effect.  I’ve given you a list of 60 tongue twisters to start with, but feel free to add more as you come up with creative variations of the lesson. In This Homeschool Lesson Plan You’ll Learn: what is diction and why you should warm up before a speech how brain tells your diaphragm, vocal cords, and tongue what to do why accurate pronunciation increases your authority how regulating delivery speed is like a musician’s counting beats when to use the power of a pause to emphasize key ideas what MIT scientists say is the hardest tongue twister in the world Download app + subscribe in itunes | stitcher | soundcloud It’s time to tackle that lesson plan. Set aside 2 weeks to practice this skill set. By the end of this learning unit, your child will be one step closer to mastering his public speaking skills. He’ll know how to physically prepare his body before stepping out in front of the audience. He’ll know why accurate pronunciation and articulation increases his perceived authority. He’ll know how intentional pacing can improve his performance. Not only will he give a better speech the next time he stands before friends and family, but he’ll also be prepared to deliver impressive, persuasive adult speeches for life! Teaching Resources for this Lesson Plan: Your "done-for-you" Tongue Twisters Lesson Plan (pdf) 60 Common Tongue Twisters (pdf) + 10 MORE fun tongue twisters (pdf) Mrs. Tongue Does Her Housework (exercise) How to relax body before speech - 11 exercises in pictures MIT Hardest Tongue Twister in the World (video) Infographic: 10 Common Pronunciation Mistakes How to Use Punctuation Pauses (MLK example pdf) Watch video:  Martin Luther King, Jr. ("I Have a Dream" speech - 1963) Need to organize that speech?  Check out episode 3, Outlining Key Ideas 60 Tongue Twisters Punctuation Pauses FINAL Lesson Plan   If you’d like to revise my example or create your own unique homeschool rhetoric lesson plan, DOWNLOAD A BLANK TEMPLATE (pdf).    

How to Measure Slope Using Graphs & Coordinate Geometry SKILL:  Thinking | Problem-Solving In today’s 5 Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan podcast, I’m going to share a Logic Lesson Plan (skill # 2 of the classical trivium) for measuring slope using coordinate geometry. We’re going to capitalize on what your child is already learning (or has learned) in his packaged […]

Learning How to Draft Paragraphs for a Multiple-Source Science Essay SKILL: Writing | Essays In today’s 5 Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan podcast, I’m going to share a Rhetoric Lesson Plan for writing a multiple source essay. We going to use the work we already did in episode # 3, Outlining Key Ideas.  In case you […]

Learning How to Outline Key Ideas for a Multiple-Source Science Essay SKILL:  Writing | Note-Taking In today’s 5 Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan podcast, I’m going to share a Rhetoric Lesson Plan (skill # 3 of the classical trivium) that focuses on the skill set called note-taking.  Note-taking is an essential writing skill that your teen is going to […]

How to Teach Narrative Journaling Welcome to the 5 Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan, a weekly podcast where I demonstrate (in 5 minutes or less) how to write lesson plans for teaching your kids reading, thinking, writing, and public speaking skills.  Each Thursday afternoon, I’ll share a new k-12 homeschool lesson plan that you can incorporate immediately […]

Read, Think, Write, & Speak with the 5-Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan Welcome to my new podcast, The 5-Minute Homeschool Lesson Plan.  My name is Diane Lockman, and I’m a homeschooling coach and the author of Trivium Mastery:  Classical Education from Birth to ’Tween.  The purpose of this weekly series is to show you in 5 […]