Kelly completed a grammatical exercise on the different types of verbs (linking,helping, and action), then completed a reading comprehension/vocabulary activity. She read a story about how the modern-day marathons started with a Greek messenger who ran many miles to warn his town of the victory over the Persians. The reading used new vocabulary words and Kelly answered questions that challenged her to use context clues and synonyms to test her understanding of the new vocabulary. During the reading, I asked her questions that required higher order thinking about the role of soldiers and their motivations for fighting wars. My goal was to try to get her to understand the connection between the battle in the reading and other wars, like WWII and the Civil War.