Jayne was given an assignment to summarize a book or movie she's read or watched, respectively. She chose a book. Jayne answered three open-ended questions in a STARS workbook (Strategies to Achieve Reading Success). She completed the assignment but needed reminders to edit her answers to insure proper capitalization and to identify the subject in pronouns before using them. Jayne has begun to take things home from her room. It is a bit bittersweet. I am excited for her new adventure but we will miss her here at Batt.

Jayne researched the novel, The Yearling, to get the main idea of the book. She understood the main ideas and identified them as: courage, family, strength and skill, and man in the natural world. Jayne made a prediction about how she thought the novel would end; she was correct.

We finished reading the last chapter of, "The Indian in the Cupboard," he decided he liked the book's version of the story better.

We discussed items we would need to take in preparation for the field day event, including an emergency kit, sunscreen, insect repellent, and even toilet paper - in addition to sports equipment and the snow cone maker for activities there that have been planned. Jayne has been vacillating about participating, but is currently leaning towards going. She intends to take her book to read there but may also assist Ms. Emily.

: Jayne has been really absorbed in the graphic novel she's been reading and clearly restated the most important ideas. She wrote the three most important events from the book and included a plot twist that had left her in suspense. Jayne finished all three books in the series and highly recommends it “to all who are able to follow a lot of lore...it took me about 3 hours to explain it to my sisters!"

This morning, Jayne brought in 3 graphic novels. She is currently reading the third novel, adapted by Scott Cawthon. Jayne said she found two of them when she got home yesterday; "my cool dad bought them for me." Jayne has been reading them out of series but has been able to piece together the sequences of plot developments, which she summarized using excellent word choices and descriptive phrases. Jayne intends to bring them along to field day on Wednesday. She remains an enthusiastic reader and a fluent reader. She asked if she could continue reading and was able to keep me updated on plot developments when queried. We discussed the literary devices and techniques used to create suspense and intrigue.

: This afternoon, Chris worked with a peer in class, and the two collaborated on an activity. They agreed to make a picture from a comic using relevant figurative language (onomatopoeic words to demonstrate action and effects. We reviewed the meaning of onomatopoeia and when it's used, most often in comic books. Examples were used and Chris was asked to mimic or describe the sounds different animals made when given the names of the animals. It was a fun exercise and we capped off the exercise by watching a video of onomatopoeia using every single letter of the alphabet. Chris enjoyed the animation in the video and it served to further refresh and consolidate his comprehension of the concept and recently acquired skills.

I continued to introduce Jayne to figurative language, specifically imagery, and related it to onomatopoeia, using plenty of examples. I used different strategies to introduce the idea, primarily using descriptive language that appeals to the five senses; since onomatopoeia occurs when a word is structured in a way to imitate the sound of an object, this was directly related to imagery appealing to sounds, a strategy which Jayne seemed to enjoy and understand well. Jayne then completed two exercises that demonstrated her comprehension of the subject. A third exercise was introduced at the end of the lesson but due to time constraints and the need to explain the directions more clearly, it will be addressed when we reconvene next week. Jayne does not hesitate clarification if she does not understand something - a trait which works to her advantage.

Jayne arrived to class just as our session was ending, so we will pick up on our lesson when we meet again tomorrow morning.

Onomatopoeia practice activity.
Onomatopoeia video review.