We began with "It's a Small World." We practiced the piece in its entirety. Then Gracyn enjoyed playing the piece while improvising several verses of lyrics. We also played rhythm follow the leader on drums and piano, and rhythm hopscotch.

Today Gracyn and I made chocolate covered strawberries. First we washed all the strawberries. Next we melted the chocolate and dipped each strawberry into the chocolate. Gracyn placed each chocolate covered strawberry on parchment paper so they wouldn’t stick to the plate. We let the chocolate harden in the refrigerator before adding the decorative white chocolate.

Gracyn did a quick review of place value by making a quick picture and describing a given number in two ways. Then, she practiced the different ways to write a two-digit number. Gracyn was given numbers in four different methods. She then had to write the number another way such as fifty-nine, 5 tens 9 ones, 50 + 9, or 59. We also did an even and odd numbers coloring page. The last few minutes we spent reviewing the material in her binder for next week's Skype lessons.

Gracyn continued the unit on plants today. We discussed germination and what it means. She took a rubber glove, 5 types of seeds, and 5 cotton balls and did a seed germination experiment. She soaked the cotton ball in water, added a seed to the cotton, and put it into one finger of the glove. She did this for each finger with four other seeds. She labeled each finger with the type of seed she put in and then wrote a germination chart to see how long it should take each seed to begin growing. She taped up the glove and hung it on the wall to see what will happen.

Gracyn did a great job on the representing data unit assessment this morning. She comprehended all of the questions and was able to answer them correctly. The assessment covered the ability to read and create picture graphs, bar graphs, and tally charts. Then, we reviewed the concept of place value before Gracyn determined a two-digit number from given word problem clues.

Since Gracyn will be primarily Skyping from now on, we had a fun day playing Twister. Gracyn really enjoyed the game and said her family used to play it often. Gracyn put herself in complicated positions. We also did a new partner pose, the sailboat, that stretches legs and arms.

Gracyn and I finished reading 'Stink the Incredible Shrinkiing Kid'. We reviewed the events and problem/solution in the book. Gracyn noted that this chapter book was shorter than the others we have read. I asked if she could think of a reason for its shorter length, she grinned and said yes but she didn't want to talk about it. She is aware that she will be reading books like this one on her own very soon. :). We did a word sort and then wrote the words from the sort. She read a Raz book at level H...great job!

Gracyn and I did many activities related to Presidents' Day today. She completed some reading comprehension activities and matching exercises. She also wrote answers to fill-in-the-blank about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, monuments, currency, coins, and history. Gracyn made books about each President and understood what we remember each for. We reviewed vocabulary in preparation for a Quiz next week, which we will conduct via Skype, if necessary.

When I first arrived, Gracyn was not feeling 100% because of all the sugar she had eaten for Valentine's Day :). We sat together and I read her a few stories until she was feeling better. Once she recovered, we had a good session practicing walkovers and back handsprings. She continues to be dedicated to learning these new skills and I am excited for her! While she is in Tampa I hope she will continue to work on her strength and flexibility as well as her basic skills.

Today, Gracyn and I finished up the unit on representing and interpreting data with reading and writing bar graphs. She used different color pencils to show data on bar graphs and answer questions correlating to the data. Then, we read a book called Graphs, Graphs, Graphs by Kelly Boswell. Gracyn has shown comprehension of the material and will take the assessment for this unit tomorrow.