Alexa completed the first section of vocabulary, including Greek and Latin roots, etc. She thought of connections for new words, wrote them in her notebook, and asked good questions concerning the etymological narratives that accompanied the new terms. We discussed The Book Thief, she has assigned reading pages, and we watched another scene of the film.

Katya is continuing with her "project" on puppy mills (various required academic activities centering on this theme). She did some nice pre-writing on a book with extended analogy that she will illustrate (inspired by the character Max's book in the Book Thief). We concluded today with reading aloud in The Book Thief. She is beginning Section 9, near conclusion, next week.

Katya watched The Book Thief film and tracked the similarities and differences in her notebook, included page numbers, in preparation for her Comparison and Contrast essay.

Alexa is continuing to read The Book Thief, and learning how to use close reading for analysis. We have been taking notes from the Patterns textbook on composition, and will continue with shorter writings to be followed by a longer essay at the conclusion of this book.

Alexa is continuing to read Agatha Christie's play and comparing it with the movie, Love from a Stranger. We are practicing close reading and learning new vocabulary, especially as new or unfamiliar words appear in the texts.

Today Alexa completed a self-assessment similar to one I did at the career center during my undergraduate time. It helped her think out and identify her own tendencies and character traits, and it provided me with insight on her learning style. It was wonderful material for critical thinking discussion. Following this, we read/discussed the beginning of Agatha Christie's play -- homework is to complete reading scene one. Finally, we were able to complete most of the first lesson of a series on vocabulary that includes every required element for 10th grade, including Greek and Latin roots, affixes, and etymology. This method, heard on audio, features a dynamic professor from the University of North Carolina. His strategy is fun and creates long-term memory and deep understanding of difficult/academic words. We will complete that lesson on Thursday, and Alexa will complete the reading science one as well.

Katya has read a great deal of The Book Thief. We take time to close read parts of it as she watches the movie. Rhetorical devices are identified/discussed. There are many of these used wonderfully and creatively in Zusak's book. Katya continues to take notes in columns for compare and contrast.

Katya did well on her vocabulary test today. She also completed her essay on Puppy Mills with just a few grammatical corrections. Katya should be reading ahead in The Book Thief. She is preparing to write a comparison/contrast essay between the book and the movie.

Alexa began the contemporary play by Agatha Christie today, Love From a Stranger. She found the first film of it from 1937. Curious about early films, I asked if she had ever seen the very first ones that were silent, and she had not. So we watched a nine minute 1910 Frankenstein -- much to her amazement. After that, the 1937 Christie film appeared quite advanced! After watching and discussing these with critical thinking questions, Alexa wrote a couple body paragraphs in comparison/contrast of the two films. She then scored a 90 on a vocabulary test. The plan is to have vocabulary each Tuesday. Alexa should be reading ahead in The Book Thief.

Katya began to read/study Agatha Christie's, Love from a Stranger. We first read a book review from the New York Times about this performance that gave background on the playwright and play. We added new vocabulary words from this reading. We discussed the historical impact of the times and culture of England on the dialogue, including gathering interesting information on first electric traffic lights due to a comment by a character about how "you never know when they're going to change!" Katya is so natural at reading the lines that it sounds as if she had practiced for performance!