Reviewed for post testing for book 3.

Maya had a fun day participating in holiday festivities. We left to go on a group field trip to pick out our very own Christmas Tree. The owner showed us around and pointed out the various kinds of trees, which came from his brother's property in Lake Placid, NY. We walked around and found just the right one for our school. Once we returned to the school all of the students participated in a read aloud about The Gingerbread Man. Afterwards they all shared in watching a short movie about cinnamon and where the tree came from and how the spice is made. Then we used followed a recipe to make different shaped ornaments made up of cinnamon and applesauce. The students had holiday spirt while making them. After lunch, they listened to another holiday story and made another type of ornament. We listened to holiday music and strung our tree with lights. It was a festive day where the students had a great opportunity to socialize and spend time with one another.

yoga flow with pigeon, twists, dolphin, cobra, bow and down dog; gymnastics practice; ended class with reading 2 yoga picture books. Maya continues to work hard to excel in class.

Group activities.

Upon returning from our trip, we read The Gingerbread Man. We discussed what was occurring, and made and confirmed predictions. Maya helped mix in ingredients to make gingerbread ornaments to later decorate for the tree.

Maya took her Topic 5 test today. She received a 100%. It was very easy for her and her efforts paid off. Super job! I did not have her for FF or LB because I had a parent conference.

Rehearsal practice; Maya and her peers read Thanksgiving stories and worked side by side decorating Thanksgiving crafts. Maya made a cornucopia out of her footprint. She brainstormed things she is thankful for and typed them onto a Microsoft word document, printed out, and added this to her project to take home as a keepsake.

Maya watched a BrainPop Jr. clip on Ellis Island. Throughout the video, we stopped and discussed what was occurring. She was introduced to new vocabulary; ancestor and translator. We did role playing to act out a translator and the significance of the role. Following the clip, she played an electronic game where she unscrambled the sequence of events of immigrating to Ellis Island in the 1800's. She began to create a Family Tree with the immediate members of her family, extending vertically to her great grandparents. We will extend horizontally to her aunts, uncles, and cousins. Maya completed her Ch. 4 test on Immigration and earned a 100%. Maya answered many multiple choice questions, read a paragraph on topic and responded to reading with 2 short written response questions. Finally, she wrote a letter "home to her country" after becoming a citizen of a new country. She included a benefit and cost to the transition. Maya was very engaged and roleplaying before she actually wrote down what she wanted to. Beautiful job!

Maya re-read Giving Thanks to strengthen fluency and respond to the reading with three short response questions based on the sequence of events. She found text evidence to support her claims and paraphrased her responses. She was able to do this with very little prompting because she was confidant with where to find the information she needed based on being familiar with the text from reading and re-reading. Maya completed another section in her cursive book focusing on combining c, a, and d. She is doing a beautiful job of connecting letters without breaking her flow of writing. While working with her vision stick, she seems to be able to view the image as "one" at a slightly closer range before her left eye shifts. We played Guess Who, an inferencing game. We played one rounds with people and the other with animals. She is getting better at organizing the feedback she gets in her mind to be able to eliminate the people or animals sharing/not sharing the characteristics mentioned. (Ex: Are you bald?) If answered yes, she needs to knock down the people that are not bald. If answered no, she needs to knock down the people that are. I encourage her to rephrase it aloud so she understands the process. (Okay, so you are bald, so I need to get rid of the people that are not) We also are working on asking general questions to eliminate a majority. (look for many common characteristics, as opposed to one small detail such as one that only applies to one animal or person) She needed some prompting with questioning: Are you a man or woman? Are you African American or white? Do you have glasses or no? Are you a farm animal? Could you be a household pet? Are you a mammal or reptile? etc. Great job, Maya!

Today Maya practiced writing her own two step math problem. She was very enthusiastic and successful. The first part included an addition problem with money and the second part she had to figure out how much change (subtraction) she would receive. Maya reviewed and accurately solved 7X table problems. Then we went over her homework and moved to a lesson in the next topic. Maya also began a test review packet in preparation of tomorrow's test. She is ready, since she's been working so hard on her learning her multiples. In LB, Maya began the next lesson in her activity book. She listened and visualized the story and responded to questions which helped her add more details to her mental picture. Maya continued in her FF program. She is enjoying a new story about the three little pigs. Great day, Maya!