We spent a good portion of the session reviewing the material we covered last week. I was very pleased with how much information Will retained. He has a very good understanding of the first act, the characters, and the major themes of the play. He's doing a great job so far!
Using Algebra to Find Angles Where Lines Intersect
Lesson Outline
We worked a series of problems from the text in which we had to find pairs of angles (linear pairs, vertical angles) using by solving equations involving given variables.
Assignment
None.
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Will was attentive and was able to solves most of the problems on his own. I jumped in for some "coaching" only occasionally.
We finished up the first act today, and I am very pleased with the effort Will has put into this week. He's an active participant in the reading and discussions, has brought a multitude of insights to the material based on his own experience, done a great job with understanding the characters, and has retained most of what we covered on previous days. Great first week!
Today Will learned about the extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal of products in terms of the world economy, populations and environmental effects, and human resources. We linked this directly to the time period in history we are studying: global exploration. We discussed how the Europeans engaged in global exploration which led to increased consumption, colonization, slavery, and the mixing, altering, and destruction of cultures.
We discussed described and sketched supplementary angles linear pairs and congruence in the context of supplementary angles. We explored complementary angles in a similar context.
Assignment
None.
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
We also held a sidebar discussion related to yesterday's viewing of the PBS "Connection" video episode in which I related a true story involving punched-paper tape used as an input vehicle for a firing data computer with nearly disastrous results. Will was attentive throughout. He still needs a textbook.
We watched an Episode from the BBC/PBS "Connections" series which explored the development of fabrics in Europe, automating looms (and a variety of other machinery) using punched cards which led to early digital computers.
Joseph Campbell/Journey of the Hero
Read/Discuss Hamlet Act 1, scene 5
We started off the session with a great discussion about mythology and Joseph Campbell's Journey of the Hero. Will picked up on the main idea immediately, and got a lot of out of it. We then worked our way through the Ghost scene of Hamlet. He's getting more comfortable reading and volunteered to take the larger part today.
Assessment of Renaissance and Reformation/Introduction to next topic
Lesson Outline
Today Will successfully completed a comprehensive assessment of the Renaissance and Reformation. We then previewed the upcoming chapter: The Beginnings of Our Global Age: Europe, Africa, Asia. To give background and offer an introduction to the topic of trade across continents, we viewed a short documentary on the Silk Road.
Will had another day of solid and focused effort. He's always willing to read, and is really trying to put some life into the words. The vocabulary is a hurdle, but I was pleased that he was stopping to ask question as we went along. Great work!
