Studying the history of the United States has caused Yanuell to think about the history of Puerto Rico. He decided that we should dedicate the next class or so to reading and researching this topic. We began with Puerto Rico’s native Taino population, whose hunter-gatherer ancestors settled the island more than 1,000 years before the Spanish arrived and called it Borinquén. The native people referred to themselves as Boricua (a term that is still used today and one that Yanuell is extremely proud of). The second expedition of Christopher Columbus took place in 1493 and was the beginning of some dark days for the native Taino population. Columbus claimed the island for Spain, calling it San Juan Bautista. Yanuell found a letter that Columbus had written to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain where he was quoted as saying, "...There I found very many islands, filled with innumerable people, and I have taken possession of them all for their Highnesses, done by proclamation and with the royal standard unfurled, and no opposition was offered to me." Being that Yanuell has already done extensive research on Christopher Columbus and understands that he was not a kind person, the "taking" of the Taino population did not surprise him. Sadly, Spaniards removed men from villages to work in gold mines and colonial plantations. This kept the Taino from planting the crops that had fed them for centuries. They began to starve; many thousands fell prey to smallpox, measles and other European diseases for which they had no immunity; some committed suicide to avoid subjugation; hundreds fell in fighting with the Spaniards, while untold numbers fled to remote regions beyond colonial control. Yanuell took all of the information that he learned today and compared it to what he knows about the treatment of the Native Americans here in the US.

13-6 Maps and Scale Drawings
We learned that a scale drawing is a drawing that shows the object larger or smaller than its actual size. Then we learned that scale drawings often represent objects that are too large or too small to be shown at their actual size. Next we learned that a map is a special type of scale drawing which usually represents a particular region or place as if looking down from above and the scale is a ratio between the measure of the drawing and the actual measure.

Yanuell was introduced to trivia in the last session and began a fun game of Kid's Jeopardy. After three rounds Yanuell played well but lost to his sister. Yanuell was a great sport and congratulated his sister on her win.

Yanuell was shown a couple of YouTube videos about some of the Kajiu that we have been putting onto his website. We used the information gathered from the video to complete the page. Yanuell saved his work.

13-5 Similar Figures
We learned that two figures are similar when they have the same shape and all of their corresponding parts are proportional. Then we learned that all squares, equilateral triangles, circles, and regular polygons are similar. We learned that congruent figures are also similar. Then we learned that proportions are important in finding missing lengths in similar figures. We learned to recognize corresponding angles and sides regardless of how the triangles are oriented.
Assignment: Homework Practice Page 13-5

We began by completing some brief comprehension activities on the sections of the book read yesterday. We also discussed the essay questions. We then defined the term epilogue. We began reading the epilogue of the book.

We completed the unit of his vocabulary book. We finished the activities for his words this week. We answered the comprehension questions for the section of the book from yesterday. We continued reading the novel. We also continue to discuss and to preview the essay questions.

Yanuell completed his rough draft of an essay comparing and contrasting the main characters in the novel,"Crash". He continues to show good initiative in combing the text to locate good examples supporting his topic sentence. After discussing the various options for textual support , Yanuell incorporated these examples into his rough draft and composed a conclusion. We then began revisions and rewriting . I continued to emphasize that the art of writing is actually in the rewriting . We broke some long sentences into separate sentences for clarity and eliminated duplicative phrases. Yanuell has often proven to be a good editor of his own work which is a very positive development.

13-3 Ways to Solve Proportions Day 2 - We learned that the products can be found by multiplying diagonally which is called cross multiplication which produces cross products.
13-4 Problem Solving: Writing to Explain
We learned that mathematical explanations can be given using words, pictures, numbers, or symbols. A good explanation should be correct, simple, complete, and easy to understand.
Assignment: Homework Practice Page 13-3

Yanuell and I went to his Godzilla webpage, opened the page editor, and added toggle buttons to the monsters. Yanuell added the stats to the toggle section. I instructed Yanuell to add some movie posters to the bottom section of the page and save his work.