December 2, 2000 - Keywording Paragraphs

Keywording paragraphs (from any section - or any book) is a GREAT idea.
But all the paragraphs in the social studies, science, and fine arts
sections are simply paraphrases (my version) of notes I had taken on the
different subjects. You could just as easily choose one paragraph from any
of the books on ancient Rome or volcanoes, for example, and accomplish the
same thing. There is sometimes a really good introductory paragraph at the
beginning of each chapter - or a concluding one at the end - you might
check to see if some of these would work for your purposes. My paragraphs
don't get shorter until the Explorers unit - and even then they aren't that
short, so if you want to continue keywording, I guess you'll need to use
the books, instead.

The reason I include these informational passages is just to pull the
knowledge you have all been reading about together a little. With everyone
choosing different books and reading about slightly different things, I
wanted to get us all on the "same page" as much as I could as we move
through each unit together. There are a couple of reasons these passages
get lengthier as the units progress. The Roman Republic and Empire lasted
for SUCH a long time, and that leaves so many events and personalities to
cover. It also seems that as history marches on, there is more information
available about each of the personalities and events in each period. The
passages are merely meant to be read aloud to your children, either as an
introduction to each day's reading time in that subject, or as a review
after you have finished reading in that subject. Some parents are letting
their children read independently in social studies and science books, so
this is also a great way to pull that knowledge together for the parent who
hasn't been doing the reading with their children. It updates the parent
so that they can be more involved in the topic. (I explain more about this
in the introduction of A World of Adventure.)

Keywording - or any kind of note-taking procedure would just be a WONDERFUL
supplement to the passages, but not necessary for learning to take place.
The same goes for any vocabulary words metioned in those passages. You can
easily pull them out (they are often bolded or italicized) and have your
children add them to any notebooks they are compiling. Not everyone will
choose to do these things, but - as I have said before and will continue to
say . . . the more you put into this unit study, the more you will get out
of it!

Thanks for sharing the keywording idea!

Dorian