Hunter will Understand the basic structure of the United States Constitution and identify how the Constitution creates checks and balances and implements principles of Federalism.

"On Going Home" by Joan Didion. Hunter and I spent time discussing Didion's unusual point of view. She is disarmingly transparent and reveals information about her family and herself that a lesser author would hide. Thus she demands an active reader question her motives. Of course we examined her rhetorical gifts. Assignment: Continue reading essay.

Hunter spent this class period writing more about Costa Rica. It is very difficult for him to focus on the descriptive aspect of the writing and not on sequential story-telling/ "what happened next". He is almost finished and ready to write the conclusion.

Is is possible for a robot to lay bricks? Can old schools buses be used as a nuclear fall out shelter? What is the latest construction technology available today? All these questions and more are answered in the unique videos that we watched today. Hunter, once again, is very engaged in watching and reacting with questions and observations. Good session.

Hunter will 1. Understand how society is reflected in and shaped by Supreme Court decisions. 2. Relate Supreme Court decisions made in the past to life in the present. 3. Identify and explain the role and responsibilities of the Supreme Court. 4. Discuss the importance of Constitutional authority and the rule of law in America from the perspective of the Court and the citizen/student.

Hunter spent half the time writing his essay on Costa Rica, adding two more paragraphs about the rainforest and white water rafting. We spent the last portion of class practicing grammar. Hunter rewrote sentences, correcting the mistakes in grammar. He did a good job with this.

Hunter will learn about the Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. United States (1971) and
discover how it changed the trajectory of the Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press.

We covered a variety of topics today. First, I taught Hunter the quadratic pattern for factoring polynomials to the 4th power. He did (21-26) on p.330. We then talked about continuous and discrete numbers and situations. We watched a video about discontinuity in movie edits. We did p.334 orally. I then introduced Permutations to him. A permutation is a way to arrange things. He worked exercises (1-8) on p.348

Hunter and I looked at a website that talked about the Basic Counting Principle. This principle allows us to see how many possible outcomes there are when given different options. For example, how many different choices in cars can you purchase when you have 2 styles, 5 colors, and 3 engines to choose from? Multiplying all of the numbers together yields 30 options. We also looked at Combinations, where the order you choose things does not matter. Hunter did exercises (9-32) on p.348. He was engaged and worked well today.

Hunter and I read aloud together in "The Book Thief." We read "The Snowman" and "The Presents." We discussed the use of figurative language and analyzed the characters and their changing relationship. Death visits Max. Leisel brings presents to his bedside in the hope of telling him stories about them.