Yanuell began today's language arts session by logging onto The Magic Tree House website and completing the comprehension quiz for Soccer on Sunday. He answered all of the questions easily and was amazed that he had reached the final page of his Magic Tree House book passport. Next, he wanted to do some research on Pele (because he was a main focus in Soccer on Sunday) and learn more about the soccer superstar. Yanuell read a lot of interesting information on various websites and ended the research by watching a few videos of Pele on YouTube.

Yanuell began his morning by reading a holiday book called: Peter Claus and the Naughty List. In this story, Peter Claus thinks the yearly question of naughty or nice is most unfair. As Santa’s son, he should know; for the second year in a row his name appears on the dreaded Naughty List. That means no presents for Christmas! But Peter doesn’t remember misbehaving—at least not enough to deserve such a harsh punishment. Taking the reins to Santa’s sleigh, Peter rounds up all the naughty children all over the world. He wants Santa to hear their side so that maybe Santa will see that not receiving gifts at Christmas isn’t the fairest way to deal with kids who do bad deeds. Peter’s not sure if his plan will work, but he does know that a lot of boys and girls need his help if they have any chance of waking up to a merry Christmas. The story ends with reader's thinking contemplating the gentle message about fairness, forgiveness and saying you're sorry. This message was not lost on Yanuell and he was excited to discuss how this scenario impacts possible friends that may be on the naughty list. After the holiday reading, Yanuell took a trip to the library to check out books for the next two weeks. He absolutely LOVES going to the library and looking at the many different book options. He searched the shelves to find books about all of his favorite subjects and found a lot of awesome reading material. After checking out a massive bag full of books and returning to school, Yanuell couldn't wait to read: Aaron and Alexander: The Most Famous Duel in American History by Don Brown. This book covers the most famous duel in American history, dramatized by leading nonfiction picture book illustrator, Don Brown. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were both fierce patriots during the Revolutionary War, but the politics of the young United States of America put them in constant conflict. Their extraordinary story of bitter fighting and resentment culminates in their famous duel. For young patriots who may not yet know the shocking and tragic story, Aaron and Alexander captures the spirit of these two great men who so valiantly served their country and ultimately allowed their pride and ego to cause their demise. Because Yanuell had previously researched this subject, he had excellent perspective and was able to analyze the conflict and duel. After reading, Yanuell wanted to listen to one of the songs from Hamilton the Musical to celebrate the amazing history behind these two patriots. Next, Yanuell transitioned to reading: America the Beautiful: Puerto Rico, by Darlene Stille. This book begins explaining that while not quite an independent nation, yet not quite a state, either, Puerto Rico enjoys a unique relationship with the United States. Yanuell was thrilled to learn how Puerto Rico was first settled and how it came to be a part of the United States. The book shared amazing details about its rich cultural heritage and how its people live today. In addition, detailed descriptions of the islands topography and wildlife give readers an up-close tour of Puerto Rico's wilderness. During the reading process, Yanuell added many details to his Puerto Rico report and is looking forward to sharing with his schoolmates. He was especially excited to further research and add details about the Puerto Rican boa, mongoose, and monkey island.

In today's language arts session, Yanuell began by reading a new library book called: United Tweets of America: 50 State Birds by Hudson Talbott. This book is part geography lesson and part introduction to ornithology. Yanuell felt like United Tweets was a fun-filled feathered pageant. This colorful parade of state birds competing to be Top Tweet had us laughing out loud. From Alabama's Yellowhammer to Wyoming's Western Meadowlark, each bird is portrayed as a winner, and each bird loves to show off the state it calls home. The author, Hudson Talbott created an inspired introduction to the states and their birds; two of Yanuell's favorite subjects. Talbott's vibrant, detailed illustrations infuse the birds' interactions with energy and humor, making this a great way to spark interest in United States history, geography, and, of course, wildlife! The book also includes fun facts, a full map of the United States, all the state capitals, and hilarious illustrations of each state bird! I'm not sure that we could have found a more perfect book for Yanuell at the library. He loved reading each bird's commentary with enthusiasm and excitement. While reading about Maine, the state bird mentioned a Nor'easter. Yanuell was unfamiliar with that term and wanted to research after finishing the book. When he learned that it was a type of extreme weather, he could not have been more excited. He spent quite some time reading and learning about Nor’easters. Yanuell ended his language arts session by reading the 52nd Magic Tree House book: Soccer on Sunday. In this exciting Magic Tree House story, Jack and Annie have tickets to one of the most exciting soccer games ever—the 1970 World Cup! They are sure the famous soccer player Pelé will tell them a “secret of greatness,” to help complete their mission for Merlin the Magician. The game is nonstop action and the stands are packed. But the siblings are concerned about how they will find Pelé in a crowd of 100,000 soccer fans. Along the way, Jack and Annie meet a new friend named Roberto that accompanies them on this exciting adventure.

In today's language arts session, Yanuell wanted to begin by reading one of his new library books about extreme weather called: Hurricane Katrina by Judith Bloom Fradin. The book Hurricane Katrina is part of the Turning Points in U.S. History collection and is packed with information. The book begins with an early timeline and statistics of Katrina: "On the evening of August 25, Hurricane Katrina slammed into southeastern Florida near Miami. With winds blowing at 80 miles (129 km) per hours, Katrina at this time was a Category One hurricane, the weakest kind. It toppled trees, knocked down power lines, and flooded streets. In all, Katrina killed sixteen people in Florida. This was a bad situation, but Katrina was just getting started." Yanuell was on the edge of his seat and completely enthralled with the information at hand. This book provides a comprehensive look at one of our country's biggest disasters. Six chapters outline the science of hurricanes, a chronology of events, the plight of those left behind, the aftermath of the disaster and lessons learned. The facts are presented without politics or bias, but do include the controversy that followed the government's handling of the crisis, which Yanuell was intrigued about and excited to discuss. This book is an excellent study of nonfiction texts as it provides inset text boxes that add context to the story, related hurricane facts, hurricane history, and individual experiences - both positive and negative. Numerous photos are included as well as a glossary, timeline, and index. This book was an excellent platform for much discussion and prompted Yanuell to research geographic areas that are below and above sea level. He researched the relationship between climate change and sea-level rise and learned that heated water causes sea level to rise through a process called thermal expansion. Yanuell already knew that melting land-based ice contributes to greater sea-level rise and wanted to review and discuss. The discussion of rising sea levels made Yanuell think about marine life which led to his interest in rereading the section on orcas in his library book: Extreme Animal review. After reviewing the information provided in the book, Yanuell wanted to research orca feeding habits. We watched several YouTube videos of orca pods hunting. Next, Yanuell transitioned to reading more of the latest Magic Tree House book: Soccer on Sunday. This book is full of exciting information about the 1970 World Cup Soccer Tournament in Mexico city. After the Magic Tree House fun, Yanuell decided that he wanted to read another new library book called: American Museum of Natural History: Inside Dinosaurs. The book includes a 10 page fold-out spread of more than 75 meticulously hand-drawn illustrations, plus ten gatefolds, experts from the world-famous American Museum of Natural History recreate the world of the dinosaurs as it was over 250 million years ago. Each gatefold presents a dinosaur-related subject, from the characteristics of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous time periods to dinosaur classification using a cladogram. After reading, discussing, and analyzing this amazing book, Yanuell ended his language arts session by working on a Word Ladder. Each Word Ladder puzzle takes just ten minutes but actively involves learners in analyzing the structure and meaning of words. For Yanuell, this is an extremely beneficial activity because it focuses on both vocabulary and phonics. To play, students begin with one word and then make a series of other words by changing or rearranging the letters in the word before. With regular use, Word Ladders can go a long way toward developing students’ decoding and vocabulary skills.

Yanuell began his language arts session by reading, Costa Rica ABCs: A Book About the People and Places of Costa Rica by Sharon Katz Cooper. The book goes through amazing features of Costa Rica with the letters of the alphabet. Yanuell was thoroughly impressed by topics like coffee, brightly painted oxcarts, quetzals, the Montverde Cloud Forest Reserve, and Arenal Volcano. The book does an excellent job portraying this exotic, treasure-filled Central American country. After reading, Yanuell wanted to research Arenal Volcano which was an active volcano in Costa Rica up until a few years ago. He also did some research on the many birds of Costa Rica. Yanuell was amazed to learn that there are more species of birds in Costa Rica than North America or Europe. Next, Yanuell transitioned to reading Puerto Rico by Sarah Tick. This book features topics like: Puerto Rico Up Close, Important Cities, Puerto Rico in History, Hometown Heroes, Fast Facts, and a timeline of the history of Puerto Rico. Yanuell was happy to learn that Barack Obama was the first president to make an official visit to Puerto Rico since John F. Kennedy. Using this informative book, Yanuell added some new details and facts to his Puerto Rico book. We transitioned from the tropics to Pierre the Penguin by Jean Marcello. This book begins when Pierre, an African penguin living at the California Academy of Sciences, begins to lose his feathers. The zoo staff is at a loss as to what to do but understand the direness of the situation. The lack of feathers causes Pierre to lose warmth, making him afraid to swim in the zoo pool. And the other penguins start to shy away, giving Pierre the "cold" shoulder. Unfortunately, heaters and medications fail to correct the situation. But one rainy day, inspiration strikes a biologist named Pam. While walking her dog in the rain, Pam notes that her pet wears a raincoat. Could a "raincoat" or wet suit, help Pierre? A tiny neoprene wet suit is designed especially for Pierre and it saves the sweet penguin's life! Yanuell absolutely loved reading this book because is was told in rhyme and was a true story of how veterinary ingenuity saves the day. Upon completing the book, Yanuell wanted to immediately research, and watch actual news stories about Pierre. Yanuell wanted to continue with our action-packed reading day and transition to Wild Weather: Floods by Angela Royston. He is drawn to books about extreme weather and was impressed with the photographic scenes of large-scale disaster in the Wild Weather series. Using recent examples, Royston describes in simple terms how rain, storms, and climate change in general can cause destructive floods and mudslides. She also explains in very general ways how to prepare for floods, and ways of preventing or at least adapting to them. A few of the photographs are certainly transfixing, the layout is sharp and colorful, the glossary is strong, and the cover shot of a rocking chair caught inside a tree is arresting. Yanuell was especially interested in the section about Global Warming and how it plays a role in extreme weather. We had a lengthy discussion about how Global Warming works and how we can help our environment. He ended the session by finishing the 52nd Magic Tree House book, Soccer on Sunday. The book had an amazing ending with the siblings presenting their findings in Camelot!

In today's language arts session, Yanuell was very interested in researching and reading about acid rain. He had heard the term in his prior session and wanted to further investigate. We began by watching a Brainpop video about acid rain, air pollution, and fossil fuels. In the video, Tim and Moby will explain about all the nasty stuff that burning fossil fuels can add to our atmosphere, and how this stuff can lead to global warming, ozone depletion, and acid rain. They also cover the effects that air pollution can have on both sick and healthy people, and the steps we can all take to reduce the amount of chemicals we put into the air. Finally, Tim and Moby will show how not all air pollution is manmade. Yanuell found this to be extremely interesting and wanted to continue researching chemical and mechanical weathering and erosion. To extend the lesson further, Yanuell read a new article on the Newsela website about the effects that cows have on global warming. He found the article to be fascinating and did an excellent job answering the accompanying comprehension questions. Yanuell ended his session with his "Student of the Month" interview with Jackson. He was beaming with excitement throughout the interview and thrilled to have been chosen!

In today's language arts session, Yanuell read, La Rue Across America: Postcards from the Vacation by Marc Teague. The main character and veteran letter writer Ike, is back with the same feisty determination that established his hilarious voice in earlier Teague books. In this title, the disgruntled dog has a bone to pick with his neighbor, Mrs. Hibbins. She has been hospitalized due to a heat wave in Snort City, leaving Mrs. LaRue and Ike in charge of her two cats. Ike is incredulous that he has to change their summer vacation plans. Instead of his long-awaited ocean cruise, he'll now be taking a road trip with the detestable felines. The story is structured around Ike's cross-country adventures with his unwanted traveling companions and his ceaseless efforts to convey the supreme injustice of the situation to Mrs. Hibbins. Each of the postcards is a priceless piece of self-delusion, as Ike feigns concern for Mrs. LaRue and Mrs. Hibbins while his own motivations are quite clear. The character's endless complaints are hilarious, and his wonderful illustrations are laugh-out-loud funny. The illustrations involve large spreads with the postcards superimposed on the crazy goings-on and expressive faces on the animals and humans. Yanuell absolutely loved this book and wanted to go through and read it a second time paying closer attention to the tension between Ike and the cat which is clearly depicted in the illustrations. The back cover of the book is a huge map of the United States, marked with the traveling path of the characters in the story. There were several special places mentioned in the book that Yanuell wanted to research after our reading and comprehension discussion. He researched: Dino-Land Theme Park in South Dakota, The Empire State Building in New York City, and the Grand Canyon. Yanuell was thrilled to research these on the computer and then revisit each event in the book involving the characters.

Yanuell began his reading session with a nonfiction book called: America the Beautiful: Colorado. The America the Beautiful series has become one of Yanuell's favorites and is bursting with fascinating facts, up-to-date statistics, full-color photographs, and unusual lists guaranteed to elicit at least one WOW with the turn of every page. The series takes an editorial approach to the geography, history, people, economy, and government of each state making it one that students gravitate towards for researching. While Yanuell loved the entire book, he was particularly excited to read about the many different dinosaur fossils that have been found in Colorado. After the reading and research, Yanuell decided that he wanted to reread America the Beautiful: Missouri and compare and contrast with Colorado. This was an exciting reading activity and he used his classroom white board to list the similarities and differences. During this process, Yanuell added several new vocabulary words to his journal. He was very interested in deforestation, what it means and how it effects to environment. Yanuell transitioned to his Comprehension Skills workbook where he read a story called Silly Laws. The comprehension questions focused on the reading skill of fact and opinion and Yanuell did an excellent job answering them.

Max completed an about me robot. He identified his favorite food, activity, what he wants to be when he grows up, etc. He placed his robot on the Christmas tree. Maxs completed his assignment from his school math workbook. He completed multiple number patterns. Max identified the rule of each pattern and filled in the empty boxes. Max read Diary of a Wimpy kid aloud to me. We found the meaning of unknown words and asked questions as we read. We walked to the library and read an article about red pandas. We examined how red pandas are alike and different from panda bears and we wrote five interesting facts.

Yanuell began his day with an exciting surprise. I had ordered him a new game called Top Predator and it had arrived while he was on his trip. He wanted to play the game immediately! In this game, the deadliest, most efficient killing machines of the animal kingdom all get their moment of fame. The game cards feature predators and focus on the ways that they rely on physical attributes to outrun, outfly, overpower, poison or overwhelm through sheer numbers to kill in order to survive. The game is played in a similar style to war where each player takes a turn choosing which way the predators will be compared. The features are weight, speed, stealth, risk of encounter, and killer rating. While playing the game, Yanuell analyzed every card and was thrilled to discuss some of his favorite animals on Earth. After several rounds, Yanuell wanted to go to the company's website and play a similar game on the computer. He quickly found a Top Predator Ocean edition and again, was thrilled to read, examine, and analyze the many ocean predators. Next, Yanuell transitioned to Raz Kids reading where he read a level L book called Eggy's Easy Out. The story is about a young boy who likes to play baseball, something that Yanuell could easily relate to. Eggy's been catching things his older brother has been throwing at him since he was a baby, so it's only natural that Eggy is the catcher on his ball team. What he didn't count on catching was a big "egg". Yanuell thoroughly enjoyed reading about the familiar topic told in first-person point of view. After reading, Yanuell listened to the story and did an outstanding job on the comprehension quiz. We ended Yanuell's session by working on phonics and word building using the Wilson magnetic letter mat.