Hunter and I read aloud today "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson in class. Afterwards, Hunter wrote an alternate ending. He did a great job at writing, getting a lot accomplished. We discussed grammar, foreshadowing, sentence structure, name choice and new vocabulary we encountered along the way. We also discussed comprehension questions. We planned our strategy for "The Book Thief" in an effort to get through it together next week. He will have guiding questions with him while reading to be certain he is comprehending what he is reading at home.

This afternoon Hunter and I continued our project on how to purchase a car by looking at financing options which include bank, dealership and other (insurance, credit union, etc.) sources. Hunter has been asked to look at the different programs and determine how the purchase price of the car can be misrepresented by ambiguous financing plans.

Hunter shows strong problem-solving skills in determining the best way to repair a small Christmas tree. He accepts the new challenge eagerly with a wonderful attitude. We then looked at what a typographical map is and how it is made. Excellent session.

Hunter has difficulty discussing questions related to his reading, so we will do more reading in class. We went through some guiding questions and quiz questions related to his reading of "The Book Thief". He also chose a quote from Part Four and completed his writen response to it. I asked him to read "The Lottery" at home. He did this, but could not answer most discussion questions afterwards and did not annotate. He could not detect foreshadowing and irony and was supposed to look for this while reading. Again, we might have to do this assignment in class from the beginning. He was also supposed to write an alternate ending and would need to recall what he read to do so.

Hunter completed some online grammar practice. We also read through a lesson on grammar on Quizlet. Hunter put this new knowledge to work in editing his O.J. Simpson essay. He completed this and produced a decent final version, althought completely factual and objective. We discussed the next essay topic and will attempt more figurative language and subjectivity. He began reading "The Lottery" and took it home to continue. He is to write an alternative ending, answer discussion questions, and consider foreshadowing and irony while reading. He will also finish reading the assigned portion of "The Book Thief" before our next class.

Hunter is asked to try his talents at attempting to repair an electrical steamer. He carefully disassembles the various parts storing parts and screws in a small storage container. He determined that the heating element was damaged; therefore, further repair would not be possible. Good session.

Continue playing through Sweet Home Alabama - work on playing and switching chords in rhythm.
Work on basic technique on the piano.

Hunter really did a good job, and seems to be especially interested in the piano. We will spend some of our class time learning basic piano technique and music theory.

Continue playing through Sweet Home Alabama - work on playing and switching chords in rhythm.

Hunter and I laid the groundwork for this project by discussing some of the many considerations needed in order to purchase a car. Our primary focus was to compare purchasing a new car versus a preowned. We tied our discussions into his personal budget which provided some consideration for car repair expenses and also how his monthly salary will have a major bearing on what kind of financing he is able to secure. Homework: None

This morning we began our project on how to purchase a car. We laid the ground work for this long term project by identifying three possible car prospects which gives us a good starting point in terms how much we are willing to spend and what constitutes a practical purchase versus one that will cost too much to operate, insure, etc. Homework: Continue to work on the worksheet.