Max and I read several sections of his book. We are working on stopping and thinking about the content. There is a lot of dry humor in the series he selected where we need to discuss the meaning at times. Max does a great job reading overall. We are working on stopping and using our reading strategies to solve words we are unfamiliar with as opposed to sounding something out, it not making sense, and then moving on. I would love for Max to stop and think.

Max worked on memorization of his multiplication facts. We played numerous games to reinforce the double facts as well as all facts. He does have his doubles facts memorized but still needs reinforcement with many other facts. We used the same facts we practiced for multiplication to create division facts. He did a great job of seeing the connection between the multiplication and division fact families. He used a program on the iPad as well as card games and the dry erase board to practice. He was very motivated and initiated which games he wanted to play next.

Today Max and I began our session with some oral reading. He summarized his reading, and we continued yesterday's discussion regarding his main character. We took a trip to the library where he bagan a short research projuct on "creepy creatures under the sea." He loved reading about them and taking notes. When we returned to the school, he continued reviewing 2 and 3 digit subtraction and we played multiplication war.

Max was very busy during our session today. He read with me for half an hour from his assigned reading book. We discussed character traits, and he began a character chart for his main character "Greg". After that, we moved on to math. He practiced his multiplication facts, and reviewed angles and basic fractions. He also completed several two-digit subtraction problems on the board.

Max worked on subtracting two digit numbers with borrowing when necessary. I wanted to see what he knew so I gave him a sample problem and he immediately began to "borrow" from the next tens place but it wasn't necessary, so we backtracked and went through the process of when and why. He made tremendous gains with this concept and felt satisfied once he got the hang of it. By the end of the lesson, he was able to subtract triple digit numbers with borrowing as suggested on the list provided.

Max used a character of his current book, Old School, and compared him to himself through discussion. He needed a little prompting/brainstorming but was ultimately able to generate 3 similarities and 4 differences. He recorded this information on a Venn Diagram. Max is very interested in Research so we walked to the library and used an animal encyclopedia to search for interesting information. Max drew charts, a diagram and recorded facts.

Max worked on counting by tens out of order, from any given number. (For example: 47: 57, 67, 77, 87, 97. He used a Hundreds Chart as as we began to help him recognize the pattern of the ones and tens place. He was initially unfamiliar with this concept but progressed throughout the lesson. By the end of the lesson he was able to do this mentally without the use of the Chart. He was thrilled that he accomplished this. I love his attitude :)

Max knew all of his regular doubles facts by memory which helps him, but uses his fingers to count while adding any other numbers. I would like to see Max know all of his basic addition and subtraction facts through rote memorization to help him when it comes to solving more complex problems like double digit subtraction with borrowing. We will work on memorizing facts that "make ten" to give him a broader base of facts by memory.

We worked on recognizing and solving Doubles Plus One Facts and played "21" to work on mental math.

We walked to the library and checked out several books on his recommended reading list provided by his mom. He was very enthusiastic about our choices and couldn't wait to begin reading. We discussed the following vocabulary that appeared in the book. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Old School: ancestors, generation, luxuries.

Our last day :( Max and I worked hard to finish his homework! Over the past five days Max's use of strategies improved tremendously. Specifically, when faced with a challenging problem Max either tried to make 10, identify and start with a larger number, count up and/or tap it out. We also played a variety of math games and practiced mixed math skills on the white board.

Max had an absolutely wonderful day!!! The challenging concepts we have been working on seem to be clicking for him! We started with a mixed review warm-up. Max was mostly successful, but still needs daily practice to improve his basic addition and subtraction fluency. After the warm-up, we went to the patterning homework, where Max made a huge breakthrough. I helped him identify the constant and use place value understanding to complete the patterns easily. Once he recognized that the ones stay the same and to focus on the tens he got it! He did several problems successfully. Then we played a few rounds of Go-Fish where Max started using 3 digits rather than 2 to make 10. After that I modeled how to use addition to check subtraction problems in the hundreds. After a few examples Max was successful in applying this method to his algebra homework page.

We began our session with a mixed review. The mixed review showed that Max is doing wonderfully with comparing numbers in the hundreds, ones and tens. He is also successfully ordering numbers up to the hundreds! Max is still working on fluently subtracting numbers, conceptually understanding place value and identifying and completing patterns (based on homework). Today we spent a lot of time on determining and completing patterns. With continued and consistent practice I am sure he will begin to grasp the concept. We also continued to practice making numbers (based on homework) using 3 out of 5 digits. This seemed to come easier to Max today. He did not seem as overwhelmed as he did when we began on Tuesday. I am really trying to teach him to break challenging problems into smaller parts and to identify what he can do to solve the problem rather than focusing on what he feels he cannot do. Max and I played a few rounds of his favorite game, Make-10 Go-Fish and then we continued to work on his homework.