Hank was eager to return to 'Wonder,' so we jumped right in. He gave a detailed retelling of the events from Tuesday's reading, and we read the next 5 chapters. At this point, we have really come to know Auggie and what to expect from him as he encounters new people and situations. He behaves as we have come to expect. The secondary character, Jack Will, also shows himself to be a friend to Auggie, as we expected from our first meeting with him. However, as Auggie settles into the school setting, he learns that all is not quite as it seems. Hank predicts that Auggie is about to get his feelings hurt again, hopefully not by those he believes he can trust. Hank also watched a BrainPop video teaching the reading strategies of previewing and visualizing. He played a context clue game afterward.

Ben read the next two chapters in 'My Father's Dragon,' seeing Father safely on Wild Island. We notice the detailed setting as we meet new characters on the island. Ben also used some of Father's actions to assign him the traits of bravery and resourcefulness. He used the Reading Eggs site to practice identifying frequently occurring root words (e.g.,
look) and their inflectional forms (e.g., looks, looked,
looking).

Ben watched a BrainPop video teaching about characters and their traits. He scored 80% on the related quiz. We previewed three potential new books, and he chose 'My Father's Dragon.' We read chapter 1, looking for setting details and meeting the main characters. This story includes a map of the fictional setting, which helped Ben visualize. He made some predictions about the main character's success in freeing the captive dragon.

Hank watched a BrainPop video demonstrating how to use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words. He scored 90% on the related quiz. We read the next three chapters of 'Wonder,' looking for opportunities to apply context clues, but Hank didn't encounter any unfamiliar words. He did meet a new character and make some accurate inferences as he read.

What a treat, Jayne shared her story about 5 Goddesses who balance the Earth. She did such a great job of introducing her characters and describing the setting! I can't wait to hear the progression of the events. Her commentary on the thinking behind the writing was so insightful. She described the character traits of each of her Goddesses as if she knew them personally.
We read the next chapter of 'The War that Saved My Life.' This chapter brought Ada's internal struggle to a climax, fittingly on Christmas Eve. The author strategically birthed a new Ada on the first real Christmas that Ada and Jaime had ever experienced. Jayne 'the writer' saw this as an important choice for her to make.

Ben completed lesson 104 on the Reading Eggs site, where he practiced the following phonics skills:
Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
Read words with inflectional endings.
Recognize and read grade-appropriate words.
He also read a fictional story on the ReadWorks site. We focused on the story elements of setting, character, events, and differentiated real and imaginary components.

Hank completed lesson 101 on the Reading Eggspress site, which included the following skills:
• Predict actions and outcomes
• Understand the meanings of words
• Make inferences
• Find facts and information
• Identify base words, prefixes, and suffixes
• Understand word meanings.
We reviewed what was happening when we last read "Wonder," and recalled that Auggie was about to go to lunch on his first day of school. Hank predicted some potential problems he might encounter in the lunchroom. We learned that in addition to looking different, Auggie has problems chewing his food because of his mouth formation. We are hopeful that he will find a friendly person to eat with because the next chapter is titled The Summer Table. Hank read ahead enough to learn that Summer is a girl's name, and he predicts that she will befriend Auggie.

Ben practiced decoding and analyzing words with the -ole spelling pattern. We read four fables, noticing the story elements and determining the moral or lesson. After reading to the end of 'Flat Stanley,' Ben gave his opinion of the story. He would not recommend it to a friend because it was too long, and the characters were unrealistic.

Hank practiced identifying the narrator's point of view and how it impacts the telling of a literary text. We watched a PowerPoint of 'The Real Story of the Three Little Pigs' and compared it to the original tale. The importance of the narrator's point of view is demonstrated clearly in this humorous tale. We continued reading about Auggie's first day of school, as told from his point of view.

Hank used a Reading Eggspress lesson to practice making judgments based on clues in the text. He also worked on identifying base words, prefixes, and suffixes. In today's reading of "Wonder," we analyzed Julian's actions when adults are around, and when they aren't. Hank agreed with Auggie's mom that Julian is the type of kid who changes his behavior based on who his audience is. In other words, he is sneaky. We were glad to confirm that Jack is still behaving like a friend.