We read an article about the dolphin and porpoise. First, Max looked at the text features and described their purpose in the test. He identified captions, labels and text boxes. Max read each paragraph and either circled the main idea in the text or jotted a note in the margin. After his first read, Max went back through the article and highlighted the sections that described how dolphins and porpoises are alike. Then, he used a different colored highlighter to mark the sections in the text where the author stated the differences between the two animals. Max answered comprehension questions before filling out a Venn Diagram. He had to label characteristics of each animal and compare the similarities. Max enjoyed a word puzzle in which he had to unscramble the vocabulary words found within the passage. Finally, Max practiced his spelling words.

Max worked on several enrichment pages today as an introduction to his piano lesson. We reviewed "The Scale","Tones", "Lines and Spaces",and "Notes and Staff." He then applied this information to the actual piano. He learned a Major C scale as well as the names of the notes.

We learned that the commutative property of multiplication means that no matter how you order the numbers you are multiplying, you will get the same answer. Then we looked for patterns in the number of zeros of the product, when multiplying a number by powers of 10.

Max read his spelling list. We identified the base word and suffix of each word. Max put his spelling words into sentences. He proofread them by rereading each one, checking for proper punctuation. Next, Max matched multiple meaning words and used each one in a sentence. For example: The bat flew over the player holding the bat at home plate. We explored figerative language. Max chose the ocean as his topic. He wrote an example of simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, alliteration and imagery. After that, we reviewed text features in nonfiction books. He identified several text features and described their purpose in the text. Max selected a chapter in a book about sharks. He read a paragraph before pausing to retell the main idea of each paragraph to help build comprehension. Max worked on fluency and using context clues when he came to an unfamiliar vocabulary word. Finally, Max filled out a graphic organizer to retell the main idea and key details of the article.

We read Diary of a Wimpy Kid and discussed the unfamiliar vocabulary words and answered comprehension questions. We also did research on marine animals.

We worked on two and three-digit subtraction with borrowing, even and odd patterning, rounding to the nearest ten, and the hundredth and thousandth place.

Today we worked on verbs: past, present and future. Also, we worked on his homework he had to do from school and we completed a full page including exercises and explanations.

Max built a gingerbread house and decorated it with candy. He glued on pictures from the story, "The Gingerbread Man". Max began to brainstorm ideas for his version of the story. He sequenced the events and edited his work. He typed his story and glued it on the gingerbread house. He compared the two stories and found the ways they were alike and different.

Max continued to practice comparing numbers. He identified the larger number and glued on the alligator mouth to represent the larger number. Max completed a cut and paste activity by pasting the standard, expanded, and word form of a number on a chart. Max read an article about three different types of bears. He answered comprehension questions for the article. He practiced going back into the article to find the right answers. He compared the bears to the red pandas we learned about last week. Max took the information about polar bears and wrote a new story about Goldilocks and the Three Polar Bears.

We began by identifying the two and three black key groups, and high and low tones on the keyboard. Max then learned the "Knuckle Song," which he played solo and with accompaniment. Max also learned the musical alphabet and learned to identify all of the white keys by letter name.