Kaitlin was absent today.

We continued reading and discussing the developments in the plot, and the dynamics between the characters, Ponyboy and Johnny Cade - the narrator and one of the 7 main characters in 'The Outsiders,' respectively.' We continue to discuss slang words from 1960 that S.E. Hinton uses in the novel and Cam effectively used contextual clues well to figure out unfamiliar terms. We discussed why we are now in the Middle of plot development, the point also known as the Rising Action which includes events that lead up to the climax. We identified the specific events that have arisen to complicate the problem and discussed how the characters are dealing with their stressful situation. Cam ventured a prediction about what might happen as the plot continues to unfold.

Kaitlin completed her homework from last night. She read, discussed, and answered comprehension questions pertaining to a story about the Eiffel Tower.

Kaitlin completed several activities pertaining to her Wordly Wise and Spelling Words demonstrating her understanding of how these words can be used in context. She learned how to look for the subjects and verbs within a complex sentence of prose and rewrite the sentence to make the meaning of the sentence more understandable. She answered comprehension questions about "The Cask of Amontillado."

Cam had brought in his lizard today and Ms. Judie came into class and asked questions about him. A few other students came in as well to view the bearded dragon and engaged in discussion about them. Cam then also challenged his visitors to solve a riddle, and he had his peers and teachers making every effort to solve it. As such, he enjoyed a different session today, April Fool's Day. Cam expressed that we had read several chapters yesterday and had so many unexpected distractions today which were interesting, informative, challenging and enriching - in and of themselves; he agreed to resume reading 'The Outsiders' tomorrow.

Kaitlin took her test over the Odyssey. She completed several activities pertaining to her new spelling and Wordly wise words. She completed a reading comprehension story about "Women at War," focusing on comprehension, critical thinking, and vocabulary.

Kaitlin reviewed for her test over the Odyssey, spelling test, and Wordly wise tests for tomorrow. She began an exploration into her new Wordly wise list discussing and completing several activities using the words in context demonstrating her knowledge and understanding of how these words are used.

Cam and I reviewed the homework assignment he was given over the break. His responses demonstrated excellent comprehension and inferential reasoning skills. We then continued to read the novel together and discuss the dynamics between characters and plot developments. We read chapters 3 - 5 and Cam discussed his predictions, which were logical, rational and cogent, based on events that transpired in the story.

Kaitlin completed her Spelling and Wordly Wise activities using the words in context demonstrating her understanding and usage of these words.

Cam was absent today.