We are comparing certain facts about 4 different planets and Earth. Today we worked on writing the equation of an ellipse (orbits follow approximately an elliptical path), calculating the surface area, and volume of a sphere (the earth), and then the circumference of the equator using information found online.

Watched Crash Course videos on the agricultural revolution and the rise of mesopotamia. Finished Chapter 2 Section 2 reading on Mesopotamia and their economies.

Today, we began with Hunter writing a new Penzu journal entry about his favorite football player, Andrew Luck from the Indianapolis Colts. He wrote with the purpose of persuading his audience to agree that Luck is an outstanding player. His first draft was very broad and needed specific details, so he took time to research his statistics and added them to the journal entry.
We also read chapters 2 and 3 of The Giver, focusing on plot, characterization, and vocabulary review.

I gave Hunter an 11 question test. After throwing out one of the questions, he scored a 50%. We will need to loop back to these concepts, but will move forward with Ch. 2. We reviewed Ch. 2-1 One-Step Solving and 2-2 Two-Step Solving. I assigned HW from these two chapters.

We covered the last two planets, and some facts regarding those. Hunter chose 4 planets that we are going to do comps on. We will compare different facts regarding those planets to Earth. We also got a little bit off topic talking about the speed of sound, its velocity and what is Mach 2?

We went over his Ch. 1 Test Review HW and worked problems. I assigned HW to do more problems from the chapter review. Tomorrow we'll have a quiz/test.

Today, Hunter completed a short reading about the 1966 Gemini 8 space expedition, and he answered reading comprehension questions. He still struggles with identifying the main idea of a passage, as he does not properly label sample main idea statements as "main," "too broad," or "too narrow." We will continue reviewing main ideas.
We also began reading his new novel, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. We reviewed chapter 1 together and discussed setting, characters, conflicts, and vocabulary usage. He typed up a Penzu journal entry summary of the chapter, and learned two new vocabulary words: apprehensive and transgression. We will continue reading the novel.

We are continuing to learn little facts about each planet. We went through Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.

After grading his HW, we continued reviewing Review Ch. 1-5 Adding and Subtracting Real Numbers, 1-6 Multiplying and Dividing Real Numbers, 1-7 Distributive Property, and 1-8 Introduction to Equations. We then covered 2-1 Solving One-Step Equations and 2-2 Solving Two-Step Equations. I assigned HW.

Finished up learning the first Civilizations of Sumer; moved onto the rise of the Mesopotamian Empires.