I brought books by Sharon Draper and Walter Dean Myers. I asked Ben to read the back covers to see if one of these books appealed to him. He looked up a sci fi book he had read and wants to read other books in the series. He wrote, by voice to text, about The Bluest Eyes.
Carson was not present today. I worked out the solutions to the assignment I sent him yesterday and emailed it to his mom. I hope he can use those if he gets stuck or needs help.
Today Matthew and I met on Teams.
We discussed literal equations and how to solve for a given variable. We used equations that may or may not have a functional application, but the exercises were to practice the Algebra to isolate a given variable. Matthew was not confident at first. But then with a few practice problems he did great. We had a few minutes left at the end of class. He got started on his homework, working independently. When he finished, he shared his answers with me. We only had to correct one problem. Way to go Matthew.
Today we met on Teams. We completed notes for 2.7A and part of 2.7B. We are going to pick up the pace this month because we are about a half unit behind. To ensure we have enough time to review for the AP Exam, we need to move a little faster. Today's lesson was on composition of functions. This was a review from Algebra 2. Joshua did a great job of recalling how to do these problems. We reviewed compositions given the equations, tables, and graphs. Tomorrow we will discuss how this affects a function's domain.
Today we met on Teams. We started a new chapter on Algebraic Expressions. We will go back and review ratios, percents, and proportions a bit later.
Aiden had an excellent class. We reviewed a problem where an automatic dog feeder, which holds 20 cups of food, dispenses the food at 2/5 cup per day. First, we came up with an expression for the amount of food dispensed for d days. We determined after, say 2 days, the amount dispensed would be 2/5+2/5 or 2/5(2). After 3 days, it would be 2/5+2/5+2/5 or 2/5(3). We noticed regardless of the number of days d, we could get the amount dispensed with the expression 2/5d. Then we considered the expression for the amount remaining in the bowl after d days. We started with the original amount of 20 cups and then subtracted the amount dispensed 2/5d, to get 20-2/5d. Aiden had no trouble making these connections. To confirm, I gave him a hypothetical question, to come up with an expression for the total cost. We let Apples cost $3 per pound and Bananas cost $2 per pound. We let "A" represent the amount (in pounds) of apples you buy, and "B" represent the amount of bananas you buy. Aiden was able to determine expression 3A+2B would represent the total cost.
We were supposed to meet online via Teams today. I was logged in ready to go and Ben never came online. I contacted the school to let them know. They checked on him and encouraged him. He first said he forgot. Then he still never showed up. I had a lesson ready for us.
Austin was animated and excited to share that he received a Nebula hand projector for Christmas. He was also excited to receive a cool holiday gift from Ms. Judie, a '16 million color super bright rechargeable flying disc,' which one throws as a Frisbee. We had fun giving it a trial run before starting our lesson. This afternoon, Austin was given a writing prompt as a beginning exercise. He was asked to write a 3 paragraph composition responding to the prompt asking him whether the winter break met or exceeded expectations. Austin is not hesitant to request clarification if he is unsure of terminology or expectations. After I explained the exercise, Austin got right to work and began writing in cursive. He brainstormed his thoughts but combined them all in one paragraph. Once reminded of the directions (a 3-paragraph composition), Austin was receptive to following my explanation on how to break his writing down to organize his thoughts into a more carefully organized and coherent paragraph. We reviewed the topic sentence structure, transition phrases, and how to develop his essay into a logical order, using varied vocabulary and following the rules of grammar and syntax. Austin remembered to add proper punctuation marks in his writing. We then moved onto synthesizing an article about the history of Soccer, as I know it is his favorite sport. Austin remained engaged as we collaboratively read the article, and he recognized and identified a player in one of the illustrations. We worked on defining words based on context clues and noted how the article was organized and structured. Furthermore, we analyzed the reasoning behind the placement of topics and noted the introduction and development of concepts and the use of literary devices to illustrate points through imagery and figurative language. Vocabulary terms included: secretions, demeanor, escapades, brethren, sphere (which he knew and was able to offer additional synonyms to explain it), and migration. Austin delivered an excellent animated example of migration as he pretended to flap his wings and fly away. He demonstrates good analytical skills and higher-level thinking. I was impressed to note that he observed how the article seamlessly transitioned from explaining the development of a rubber sphere that is thrown or bounced to an actual sport once people noted it could be kicked. Austin is able to explain concepts well and absorbs information functionally. He is an active, inquisitive, and receptive learner who responds well to cognitive challenges.
