In today's language arts session, Yanuell wanted to begin by reading one of his new library books about extreme weather called: Hurricane Katrina by Judith Bloom Fradin. The book Hurricane Katrina is part of the Turning Points in U.S. History collection and is packed with information. The book begins with an early timeline and statistics of Katrina: "On the evening of August 25, Hurricane Katrina slammed into southeastern Florida near Miami. With winds blowing at 80 miles (129 km) per hours, Katrina at this time was a Category One hurricane, the weakest kind. It toppled trees, knocked down power lines, and flooded streets. In all, Katrina killed sixteen people in Florida. This was a bad situation, but Katrina was just getting started." Yanuell was on the edge of his seat and completely enthralled with the information at hand. This book provides a comprehensive look at one of our country's biggest disasters. Six chapters outline the science of hurricanes, a chronology of events, the plight of those left behind, the aftermath of the disaster and lessons learned. The facts are presented without politics or bias, but do include the controversy that followed the government's handling of the crisis, which Yanuell was intrigued about and excited to discuss. This book is an excellent study of nonfiction texts as it provides inset text boxes that add context to the story, related hurricane facts, hurricane history, and individual experiences - both positive and negative. Numerous photos are included as well as a glossary, timeline, and index. This book was an excellent platform for much discussion and prompted Yanuell to research geographic areas that are below and above sea level. He researched the relationship between climate change and sea-level rise and learned that heated water causes sea level to rise through a process called thermal expansion. Yanuell already knew that melting land-based ice contributes to greater sea-level rise and wanted to review and discuss. The discussion of rising sea levels made Yanuell think about marine life which led to his interest in rereading the section on orcas in his library book: Extreme Animal review. After reviewing the information provided in the book, Yanuell wanted to research orca feeding habits. We watched several YouTube videos of orca pods hunting. Next, Yanuell transitioned to reading more of the latest Magic Tree House book: Soccer on Sunday. This book is full of exciting information about the 1970 World Cup Soccer Tournament in Mexico city. After the Magic Tree House fun, Yanuell decided that he wanted to read another new library book called: American Museum of Natural History: Inside Dinosaurs. The book includes a 10 page fold-out spread of more than 75 meticulously hand-drawn illustrations, plus ten gatefolds, experts from the world-famous American Museum of Natural History recreate the world of the dinosaurs as it was over 250 million years ago. Each gatefold presents a dinosaur-related subject, from the characteristics of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous time periods to dinosaur classification using a cladogram. After reading, discussing, and analyzing this amazing book, Yanuell ended his language arts session by working on a Word Ladder. Each Word Ladder puzzle takes just ten minutes but actively involves learners in analyzing the structure and meaning of words. For Yanuell, this is an extremely beneficial activity because it focuses on both vocabulary and phonics. To play, students begin with one word and then make a series of other words by changing or rearranging the letters in the word before. With regular use, Word Ladders can go a long way toward developing students’ decoding and vocabulary skills.