Ayden did not do his homework reading last night. We agreed that I would enter grades into the Teams app so that Ayden can keep track of his progress in class.

We co-read Chapter 26. I am pleased with the improvement in Ayden's reading. He is much more intuitive with unfamiliar words, and I see much less "global guessing" when he doesn't know a word. While reading, we paused to make predictions and discuss themes.

Ayden created a Quizlet to review the vocabulary word list and shared it with me on Teams. We spent the last 15 minutes of class investigating Teams' functions that will enable us to have better collaboration. There is a lot of functionality with the app that we haven't been using. Ayden is intuitive with technology, and I appreciate his help.

His homework is to read Chapter 27 and study for a vocabulary quiz on Tuesday.

At Nicole's request, I spent some time talking to Ayden about his schedule. I explained that the Palm Beach County School District had extended the calendar to mid-June. To finish at the end of May (like his siblings), Ayden needs to add some hours to his English and Chemistry schedule. He agreed to work with me Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30-4:30 and to add an hour of Chemistry on Fridays.

Ayden did not do his reading homework, so we began with co-reading Chapter 24 of Ready, Player One. Turning to research, we figured out how to collaborate on note-taking using the ClassNotes feature on Teams and read an online article on video games' history. Ayden is working on writing only the most salient points. To conclude, we reviewed the vocabulary list.

Ayden and I co-read Chapter 23 of Ready, Player, One. We reviewed his vocabulary list and Ayden wrote a sentence for each word. Next, we worked on research and note-taking for the Ready, Player One project and paper. Ayden struggles with independent note-taking. Google Docs is not an efficient process within the Teams app. We are going to switch to the Class Notebook feature within Teams that he has been using successfully with Andy in history class.

Ayden was concerned about recent schedule changes, so we spent a few minutes brainstorming possible solutions. I realized that I am free from 2:30-3:30 (when Ayden's has lunch scheduled.) Ayden said that he would prefer to eat lunch earlier in the car (1:00-1:30) and work with me at 2:30-4:00. I sent Nicole an email with that request. Since we are both free at that time, I don't see a problem.

We co-read Chapter 23; the action is building as more and more players proceed through the game. The main character re-connects with some of his friends that he had neglected. After reading, we reviewed ten vocabulary words gleaned from Chapter 20. Ayden looked up the definitions, and we discussed the nuances of the words' usage. Next, we turned to research the history of video games for Ayden's paper. Ayden found a terrific article online that covered an earlier time (1940-1950). It was interesting to learn that the first video game was introduced at the 1940 World's Fair. Ayden was unfamiliar with the World's Fair, so we discussed that. Ayden took notes on the article; we will finish it tomorrow.

Ayden and I resumed our reading of Ready Player One, co-reading Chapter 20. The quest for Halliday's "Easter egg" continues (as do the 1980s references, a key theme of the novel). This chapter coincided with the research we did on video games yesterday, referencing the orgins of gaming in the scientific labs of Cambridge and MIT in the 1950s. Ayden's homework is to read Chapter 23. We will work on research and writing an outline for his paper on Monday.

Today we spent the session researching the history of video games. Ayden found three articles from respected sources. We brainstormed methods of note-taking, and watched part of a video from the IDA on note-taking. Ayden decided that he wanted to take notes on Google Docs as a shared screen. With that approach, we co-read an article from history.com and took notes (and compared them.) Using the citation feature on Google Docs, Ayden created the Reference page. I explained in-text citation.

After the long weekend, Ayden and I reviewed where we are in the book, summarizing the story so far. We co-read Chapter 20 and identified ten vocabulary words, read them in context, and looked up the definitions as we read.

I introduced our writing project for the next few weeks. With my support, Ayden will research and write a five paragraph essay on the history of the video game. My goals for this project are to hone research and writing skills, including proper citation. To begin the process we watched a short video on YouTube about the history of the video game.

For tonight's homework, Ayden is to find two articles on the early history of the video game, specifically how it emerged from the code-breaking technology of World War II. Tomorrow we will read the articles and devise a note-taking strategy that works for Ayden.

I was absolutely delighted when Ayden appeared on my screen and announced that he read two chapters last night. He said that he "really liked the book and it was getting good and he wanted to know what was going to happen." We had a productive class discussion, summarizing the plot and analyzing emerging themes such as loneliness and identity. We co-read Chapter 16. Ayden will read Chapter 17 over the weekend.

Ayden read for homework last night. After verbally summarizing the reading, he wrote short answer questions on the chapter. To review the vocabulary he created a Quizlet. I feel like he is more engaged with the words this week. We co-read Chapter 14 and 15.

I am delighted to report that Ayden read for homework last night. After verbally summarizing what he read, Ayden wrote the answers to short answer questions using Google Docs. We reviewed the vocabulary words from Chapter 11. I pointed out that words have ways they are typically used, i.e., they often have a preposition that they "hang around with." For example, we usually use the word glee with the preposition "with." (The children laughed with glee when the magician made balloon animals at the birthday party.) Ayden wrote sentences using each word.

To conclude, we co-read Chapter 13. His homework is to read Chapter 14.