We held today's session outside, behind the building, an accommodation for which Will expressed thanks. Discussion focused on the Revolutionary War's phases, a comparison of the military leadership of George Washington and William Howe, the British failure to finish off the colonial army before France intervened on the colonial side, the politicization of the colonial population as the war dragged on, and the war's effects, if any, on the lives of women, enslaved persons, and native Americans. Will participated actively in discussion.

read/discuss Act 4, scene 7/Act 5, scene 7
watch Act 4

I subbed for Walt this morning, so we did some reading and then watched Act 4. We read the Gravedigger scene, which is an all-time classic, and had a great discussion about life, death, and legacy. Will has always been willing to have these discussions, and as usual, it was extremely entertaining. We then watched Act 4 with the remaining time.

read/discuss Act 4 scenes 5,6

We continued reading today, and were reintroduced to the character of Fortinbras. Most students forget about him by this point in the play, and I was extremely pleased that will not only remembered the character, but also his motivations and importance to the play. We had a great discussion about sacrifice, and what we are willing to sacrifice for. As usual, Will played along wonderfully.

read/discuss Act 4 scenes 1-5

We're working our way toward the finish now as the last two acts go very quickly. Will completed the assignment from Monday and did a very good job with it. I'm very pleased with how well he's understood the characters and their motives. His reading and pacing has improved, but he is still missing a big chunk of the material. (To be expected.) Will truly excels in our discussions. He pays close attention to what I say, and contributes equally to each discussion.

We reviewed the Isosceles Triangle Theorem and its converse; we explored the theorem's corollaries (re Equilateral Triangles) and spent the rest of the session working problems from the text in which we used algebra to find missing parts of isosceles triangles.

We reviewed triangle congruence leading up to Corresponding Parts of Congruent Triangles are Congruent. Then we moved on to Isosceles triangles. We explored isosceles triangle theorems including congruent base angles and the bisector of the vertex angle.

We viewed the "Wheel of Fortune" episode in the BBC "Connections" series. The episode started with the punched, Hollerith card and dropped back to medieval times during whig clever use of wheels helped in the development of clocks and that, coupled with developments in metallurgy and locks led to better astronomical instruments, expanding our knowledge of the universe.

Most of today's session was spent discussing Will's wishes with respect to session lengths, breaks, and possible changes of venue in the future. Judie was present for part but not all of this discussion. Will and I agreed that, henceforth, each 75-minute session would include 2 breaks of 5 minutes each, at roughly 30-minute intervals. These are guidelines and not set in concrete. In the remaining time today, I returned Will's graded Chapter 4 quiz (26/30) and went over it with him. Thereafter, we began consideration of the Declaration of Independence, focusing on its structure, text, and (for lack of a better word) radicalism.

Will reviewed the latter sections of chapter 15, including how several concepts (mercantilism, capitalism, privateers, etc. link to modern day events and situations around the world. Will then successfully completed an oral exam of all chapter content. Finally, we previewed the next chapter: The Age of Absolutism.

* Review.
* Vocabulary: Family.
* Culture: Sempe 1 & 2.