Draw/color a picture and write about it in the journal. Go over the list of sight words. Play Bingo...identifying both lower/upper case letters of the alphabet. Read "I Lost My Kisses."

Yanuell decided to begin his session by reading I am Jane Goodall by Brad Meltzer. He had read most of the book yesterday, but decided that it was important to reread everything so that he could think about it and have a book discussion. After reading and discussing, Yanuell wanted to research Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots (he learned about this in the biography). This program is Jane Goodall Institute's (JGI) global youth-led community action program, comprised of thousands of young people inspired by Dr. Jane Goodall to make the world a better place. Yanuell was thoroughly impressed by this organization and went through the website carefully, reading various articles about endangered animals, recycling, and global environmental work. Yanuell was interested in extending this lesson and reading more about Jane Goodall. Her decided to read one of the biographies that we checked out at the library called Jane Goodall: Chimpanzee Protector by Robin S. Doak. This book takes an engaging look at the work of ground-breaking conservationist, Jane Goodall, and her work with chimpanzees. It covers Goodall's inspiration, her methods, findings, and the impact of her work in Africa. The pictures do an excellent job of creating a visual image for readers. Yanuell was particularly impressed with the African countryside and it's beauty. After reading and discussing the incredible work that Jane Goodall did, we transitioned to another story with an African setting: Cecil’s Pride: The True Story of a Lion King by Craig, Juliana, and Isabella Hatkoff. Known as the King of Beasts, the lion has always been a symbol of strength and courage and is by far, Yanuell's favorite animal. But there was one real lion that earned the title of Lion King. He was known simply by name: Cecil. News of his tragic death spread across the globe like wildfire, raising questions to an unprecedented level about human's relationship with animals and our planet. Cecil's Pride is a tale of resilience and responsibility--a triumph out of tragedy. This nonfiction book does an excellent job in helping readers to understand Cecil's struggle as a young lion to survive, his rise to power, and his extraordinary alliance with Jericho, his former arch-rival. Cecil is gone, but his legacy lives on. While many have focused on how Cecil died -- this is the story of how he lived. The photographs in this book were taken by Brent Stapelkamp, a photographer and lion researcher with the Oxford University Wildlife Conservation. He is part of the Hwange Lion Project team that tracked Cecil for nine years and adds important insights to this story. After completing the book, Yanuell wanted to immediately research how Cecil’s pride is doing currently and whether or not they are alive. He was happy to learn that all but one cub lived, and that Jericho is doing an excellent job of taking care of Cecil's pride.

Yanuell wanted to begin his morning by rereading, I am Jackie Robinson by Brad Meltzer. He was thrilled to go back through and discuss the things he had learned. After reading, discussing, and analyzing, Yanuell wanted to do some Jackie Robinson research, so we found a great website called: www.jackierobinsonchangedsports.weebly.com. This site contains a great deal of information about Robinson's life. We learned about his sports accomplishments at UCLA, his time served in the military, his work on the Civil Rights Movement, and of course, he incredible baseball career. Yanuell was excited to see a picture of Jackie Robinson with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Upon completion of this work, Yanuell took a trip to the library. We immediately picked up: I am Jane Goodall and I am George Washington, two books that we had put on hold last week. In addition to these, Yanuell spent quality time in the stacks choosing new books. He got biographies of Jane Goodall and Jackie Robinson and also checked out books about chimpanzees, lions, tsunamis, Thomas Jefferson. Yanuell was interested in checking out an I Survived chapter book. This series tells amazing true survival stories. This specific book is called I Survived: Five Epic Disasters and features stories about Tsunamis, Blizzards, Tornadoes, Floods, and the Titanic. He is looking forward to trying a new chapter book. After checking out the new books, we reserved a library study room and went there to read. After sorting and organizing the books by subject, Yanuell decided to read: Tsunamis by John Hamilton. In this nonfiction book, Hamilton describes the 2004 Indian Ocean disaster and explains the causes and nature of tsunamis. Information is shared about the tsunamis in Hawaii in 1960, Alaska in 1964, and Krakatoa in 1883. The book included a closing chapter that covers the risk of future tsunamis. We discussed this at length and reviewed why we wouldn't have tsunamis in Florida. The book included excellent, informative color photos include several that we had never seen in previous tsunami research. After reading and discussing the book together, Yanuell took some time to re-read it to himself which truly shows how his reading maturity has grown! Next we transitioned to some Jane Goodall research. Yanuell looked through the Jane Goodall biographies that we had checked out and watched a short National Geographic video about her life. We then dove into, I am Jane Goodall by Brad Meltzer. This tenth book in the "I am" series features Jane Goodall, the scientist and conservationist who is famous for her work with chimpanzees. The story of Jane Goodall immediately inspired Yanuell. The book included great lessons about following your dreams, equal opportunity for women, how being smart is important and cool, care and empathy for animals, value in science and research and geographical lessons as well. As always, Brad Meltzer's love of history shines through and infuses a spirit of learning and aspiration. We cannot get enough of his incredible biographies!

Today with Danny we worked on the short letter a. We started by looking at picture cards that had pictures and sounds with the short letter a. They were pictures such as cat, mat, bat and rat. I had him pronounce the short a with the the other letters. He showed me how he holds his pencils and he wrote a couple of letters down. We started reading a book about Otters which he seemed to like. He wanted to play the color and numbers game that I usually bring but I had forgotten it at home so I promised him I would bring it next Friday.

Yanuell began his session by reading: When I Grow Up: Abraham Lincoln by AnnMarie Anderson. The When I Grow Up readers are a perfect introductory biography series. Each book takes the reader on a journey from a recognizable figure's obscure childhood to famed adulthood. Aspirational first-person text is accompanied by a mix of photography and illustrations. This fun take on the early biography is ideal for inspiring children to live out their dreams. This edition of the series begins with the introduction of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president of the United States. Yanuell was drawn in by the sections of the book that were written from Lincoln's point of view. The book follows Lincoln from his childhood, teen years, early career, how he led the country through the Civil War, helped end slavery, and sadly, his assassination. Yanuell was able to read up to the Civil War and then ran out of time. He book marked the page where he left off and was excited to pick back up on Tuesday.

Yanuell began his session by reading where he had left off in: When I Grow Up: Abraham Lincoln. He went to his bookmark and couldn't wait to continue reading. The book was an excellent catalyst for research and conversation. We discussed many advanced vocabulary words like: secede and democracy. Yanuell reviewed the high points of the Civil War and the reasons behind it. He wanted to learn more about the confederate flag because it was shown in an illustration and did some brief research on it. We discussed the reasons behind why many people today find the confederate flag to be offensive. Upon completing the book, Yanuell went to the History.com website and read several articles about the assassination of Lincoln and the background behind John Wilkes Booth. There were two short videos that showed the inside of the Ford Theater which Yanuell found to be extremely interesting. After the Lincoln reading, Yanuell wanted to review what he had learned about Babe Ruth. He wanted to do further research and we found an amazing website called Babe Ruth Central: The Site that Ruth Built. Yanuell read all about Ruth's childhood and was amazed to learn that he went to live in an orphanage when he was 8 years old. There were many parts of the text that I had to explain to Yanuell because it was above his reading level, but he never lost interest and couldn't wait to read and learn more. Yanuell ended his reading session by starting another book in the America the Beautiful series. This book was about Washington State and was packed with interesting information and beautiful photographs.

Yanuell wanted to begin his morning by re-reading The Giant Cutaway Book: Inside the Titanic by Ken Marschall. After reading, Yanuell was interested in researching the passengers that were both in this book and on the Titanic. Frank Goldberg, a young boy at the time, wrote a book called Echoes in the Night, detailing his account of the Titanic. We went to the Titanic Historical website and found a plethora of fascinating information. After the research, we switched subject areas and read Angry Earth: Terrifying Tornadoes. This book covers a great deal of information beginning with how tornadoes are formed and what to do when a tornado warning is issued. It is packed with astonishing photographs of twisters and the destruction that these terrifying winds can cause. Yanuell is very interested in the terrible damage caused by tornadoes and that they strike quickly, violently, and almost everywhere on Earth. In reading, we learned that the United States has more tornadoes each year than any other country. After a morning of destruction, we transitioned to social studies reading, and read Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream by Jacqueline A. Ball. This book is part of an excellent series that introduces biographies to elementary students. The authors write in a story format that permits the books to be read independently by students in grades 3-5, which is ideal for Yanuell. Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream! covers everything from his childhood in the south to the historic march on Washington, D.C. It does an excellent job detailing the story of the civil rights leader's crusade to gain equal rights for all people. As readers, we were able to explore the life of one of history's most courageous people, while learning about the civil rights movement in the United States. There were amazing full-color photographs and a timeline in addition to the compelling biographical narrative. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been and continues to be one of Yanuell's favorite people to read about since he started school. Now that he is able to read biographies on his own, his excitement has even grown. In continuing with reading about Yanuell's favorite people, we ended today's reading session with I am Abraham Lincoln (Ordinary People Change the World) by Brad Meltzer. The book jacket had some insight into this amazing series, “Kids always search for heroes, so we might as well have a say in it,” Brad Meltzer realized, and so he envisioned this friendly, fun approach to biography – for his own kids, and for yours. Each book tells the story of one of America’s icons in an entertaining, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction readers, those who aren’t quite ready for the Who Was series. Each book focuses on a particular character trait that made that role model heroic. For example, Abraham Lincoln always spoke up about fairness, and thus he led the country to abolish slavery. This book follows him from childhood to the presidency, including the Civil War and his legendary Gettysburg Address. The cartoon illustrations combined with the actual story had Yanuell reading from beginning to end with a smile on his face.

Yanuell began his session with a surprise gift from Ms. Judie! He was beyond thrilled to open two books: Cosmic Catastrpohes 7 Ways to Destroy a Planet like Earth by David A. Aguilar and Solar System: A Visual Exploration of All the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly Bodies that Orbit Our Sun by Marcus Chown. Yanuell wanted to read about Cosmic Catastrophes first, so we jumped right in to the vast realm of outer space where accidents happen all the time. Things bump into each other, stars blow up, space rocks smash into planets and black holes gobble up everything in their path. Any of this could change—or even eliminate—life on a planet like Earth. Yanuell was enthralled with everything from an asteroid hit to alien invasion. Author/Astronomer David Aguilar builds the scientific case for seven extreme events that could impact Earth. (Though not as we know it: most of these catastrophes are way down the cosmic line . . . we hope!) He tells an exciting nonfiction story about how and why these space catastrophes could happen and then creates beautiful, original art to show just how devastatingly spectacular it will be when any one of these seven “big ones” hit! The other book, Solar System: A Visual Exploration of All the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly Bodies that Orbit Our Sun covers details of the entire solar system. To start, this book follows the new scientific line that there are 8 major planets and 5 dwarf planets, but it goes so much further. It includes great photos and a special page for each of the major features in our solar system. Each page includes hard data, in the case of the Solar System, Yanuell was able to read specific date on the length of day, axial tilt, diameter, mass, volume, gravity, escape velocity, surface temperature, atmospheric composition and mean density. In addition, the side of each page indicates temperature and density on a relative scale. For easy comparison, we were able to flip back and forth between various celestial bodies. Yanuell could not have been happier with these amazing gifts from Ms. Judie and will be spending a lot of time reading about one of his favorite subjects. After the research and reading, we took a trip to the library to check out new books. We got books about Martin Luther King, Jr., Abe Lincoln, Weather, Sports, Geography, and Groundhog Day. Yanuell was most excited about two books by Brad Meltzer: I am Martin Luther King, Jr. and I am Abraham Lincoln. He is looking forward to reading all of the awesome check-outs!

Today, Yanuell began his session by working on a top-secret holiday craft for his parents. He was thrilled to be creating a wonderful gift to share with them for Christmas. Next, Yanuell read and discussed two different holiday books. The first holiday book was called: The Littlest Elf by Brandi Dougherty. This book is a sweet, holiday story filled with Christmas cheer. Oliver may be the littlest elf in the North Pole, but he has a big desire to discover his very special job in Santa's workshop. However, after getting lost in the toy shop, making a mess at the book shop, and falling in the mixing machine at the bakery, Oliver wonders if the littlest elf is just too little? While questioning himself Oliver learns that he just needs the littlest reindeer to remind him what Christmas is all about. Yanuell loved reading and discussing this story of an elf who overcomes self-doubts to achieve his goals. In continuing with the elf-theme, we transitioned to reading: How to Catch an Elf by Adam Wallace. With delightful rhymes, How to Catch an Elf slots itself into place along such classics as "The Night Before Christmas". Of course, there's some updated technology, such as the Elf Snatcher 3000 and its cute language is great for reading aloud. The adorable and comical illustrations are sure to get a giggle from any reader and Yanuell truly got a great laugh. Daring escapes and goofy traps make the story great fun. Yanuell enjoyed reading and discussing both of these holiday books and is looking forward to Christmas.

Yanuell began his morning with an exciting surprise! The chicks had hatched over the weekend! He and Arianna went running to see them and were not disappointed. They both had smiles from ear-to-ear. They learned that people and chicks can pass illnesses back and forth, so it is extremely important to wash hands both before and after holding them. Yanuell washed his hands and was ready to hold one of the babies. He decided that he wanted to hold the one that had brown fuzz on its head that looked like a mohawk. When Ethan said, “Hey – he’s got the same hair as you,” Yanuell decided that he would name him, Yanuell Jr. After lots of baby bird excitement, we went back to Yanuell’s classroom and read The Batt School Newspaper from cover to cover. We discussed each article and Yanuell had lots of writing compliments for his schoolmates. He especially liked reading the article about Student of the Month, where he was featured. Next, we transitioned to reading Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera. Auntie Claus is just another eccentric New Yorker--or so her family thinks. Young Sophie, her niece, has often wondered about her unusual great-aunt and her comings and goings. Sofie lives in penthouse 25C at the Bing Cherry Hotel and is a very curious girl! After all, Auntie Claus serves Christmas cookies all year long and her tree is always the best-decorated in the city. And then there's her annual "business trip," right around the holidays. This year Sophie is determined to get to the bottom of Auntie Claus's mysterious ways. Before reading we put on our mittens and bundled up for an adventure beyond our wildest dreams! After our holiday adventure, we reviewed and researched information about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Yanuell was fascinated with the information and we also learned all about the amazing musical currently running on Broadway.