Andrew was at the dentist today.

Christopher started the lesson with a short reading from the New York Times about the present success of the Disney company in the making of new movies. Christopher found this interesting. We then started the dictation for the day. Christopher wrote five sounds and five real words. His lesson was shortened because of a meeting with Ms. Judie at the beginning of the period. Christopher is very close to moving to 3.4 in the very near future.

Andrew started the lesson by reading nonsense words on p. 41. He had a little trouble with the words: frentlap and triddop, but with a little redirection to try again, Andrew got the words correct. Andrew then read the sentences on p. 47. He did a good job scooping the phrases. In one case, we stopped to show how the phrasing should come after a direct object, not after the adjective describing the direct object. Andrew could see this correction. Andrew then played Quick Drill in Reverse. He reviewed all the vowels, their sounds and their letters, including the schwa sound. He practiced the blends and consonants: th, z, g, r, and p. He practiced the welded sounds old, ind,ing, ang, olt, and ink. Andrew began working with the magnetic tiles to practice spelling. He needed to stop the lesson by 11:16.

Andrew preferred that I read to him today. I read chapters 8-13 aloud. Sometimes I stopped to help Andrew relate to a passage in the book. His comprehension included a short discussion about catching fish. We discussed walking through the forest and leaving signs. Andrew told me he knew how to fish and that he used bait to catch the fish.

Christopher started his lesson today reading a stack of word cards from 3.3. He reviewed the vocabulary words: scalpels and minstrels. Christopher practiced writing the sight words on the whiteboard with colorful pens: water, right, talk, walk, and knew. Christopher had to make a correction on knew, but he was then confident in spelling that word. Christopher read the word list on p. 56 and got 14/15. Christopher had trouble pronouncing the word "connect." He had the accent on the wrong syllable. He was easily able to correct this with some guidance. Christopher then read ten sentences and scooped them with a vis-a-vis pen on a transparency to show where phrasing should be. Christopher needed correction on identifying the whole subject or the whole object, or the whole predicate. He had to reread these sentences making the proper adjustments. Christopher played Quick Drill in Reverse and recognized and gave letters for: a,e,i, o, u and schwa. He practiced sh, ch, wh, w, z, and g. Christopher was able to give the letters and sounds for am, old, ung, olt, ost, and unk. Christopher used the magnetic tiles to make the words: plimmut (N), tropics, and enchants. He divided these words into syllables. Christopher built the words: insect, contact, connect, instinct, and conflict. He reviewed the sound at the end of the word is made by the blend, "ct." Christopher worked hard and will move forward soon.

Andrew began the lesson practicing all the vowels and their keywords. He practiced saying the consonants and digraphs: th, g, f, and sh. Andrew practiced the welded sounds: old, ind olt, ing, am, all, onk. Andrew then read review words hamstring, badlands, and pigskin from the magnetic tiles. He divided each of these words into syllables. We did a vocabulary study on the words Badlands and pigskin. Andrew saw the pictures of the Badlands National Park. He enjoyed learning about this desolate terrain in South Dakota. Andrew also did research with me about the term pigskin as it refers to the football. He was very amazed to learn that in the 1800's the pigs bladder was inflated to use as a ball. It was hard to inflate, and sometimes they filled it with straw instead. Andrew learned that when Goodyear invented the product, "rubber," that the pigskin went out of fashion and the rubber ball took its place. Andrew practiced reading the nonsense words wigglet, contimp, thipnest, plimmut, and podjift from the magnetic tiles. He divided these words into syllables. Andrew practiced writing the sight words: another, over, under, new, and after. He used colorful pens on the whiteboard. Andrew read a large stack of 3.2 B words and 3.2 nonsense words by playing "ladder." He was given the 3.2 B word, "skeptic." We discussed this word and began to create a dictionary entry for it. Andrew focused on the lesson today.

At the beginning of the lesson, Christopher set up all of his superheroes. He named everyone of them and I took dictation. Christopher named 52 characters. Sometimes he told me how to spell them also. Christopher started his lesson rehearsing the vowel sounds with their keywords. He continued by practicing the consonants and digraphs: f, g, j, and z. Christopher practiced the welded sounds: old, ost, ild, ind, ang, and ong. Chrisotopher read the words entraps, insteps, and minstrels from the magnetic letters. He was able to divide the words into syllables. At first Christopher needed direction to remember that one consonant needs to close in the vowel of the first syllable, and the second syllable starts with the blend. Christopher could also recognize the base word and the suffix. Christopher read the words impact, addict, abstract, instinct, and conflict. These words are from the higher level B list. Christopher needed a vocabulary workup on the word minstrels. Next lesson Christopher will continue with sight words. Happy Birthday to Christopher!

Andrew began the lesson by finishing the last sentence of his dictation. Andrew then started the analysis portion of the dictation by using a red pen to make the markings necessary to show his understanding of the syllabication of words and the sounds of the vowels, blends, and digraphs. Andrew scooped all of the real words into two syllables. He marked up the closed vowel sounds. He underlined the digraphs and blends. In one case on the word implant, Andrew was shown that the "m" goes with the vowel to close in the vowel and make it short. The "pl' is the blend starting the second syllable. Andrew divided the nonsense words into syllables as well. He spelled all of the sight words: under, another, friend, comb, and island correctly. In the sentence portion, Andrew put two lines under the first letter of a sentence and circled the punctuation. He circled all of the sight words. Andrew scooped all of the two syllable words, marked up the vowels, underlined the blends and digraphs, and boxed the welded sounds and the closed vowel exceptions. Sometimes he had to rethink as in the word, "plankton." Andrew was reminded the when spelling a multisyllabic word, the /k/ sound is spelled with a "c." Actually, in this particular word, the "ank" in plankton is a welded sounds. Andrew could see that after he reviewed the markup and made the correction. Andrew read each sentence back to me. He then spelled the words orally, correctly while I covered them up. We completed the lesson with Andrew reading "The Red Sox Win." Andrew did a good job of setting the scene when we worked on comprehension. He understood how the Red Sox started with a score of zero when the opposing team had 6 points, but then, with a "grand slam" the Red Sox were able to add four points to their score. They had three more runs and were able to beat the opposing team 7-6. Andrew enjoyed the discussion about baseball. We discussed the vocabulary word "pinch hit." Andrew was involved in a three way discussion with Mr. Marcus and me about how the team coach picks a "pinch hitter" from the line up in order to protect a very important pitcher.

Christopher is absent today.

Christopher started the lesson by playing ladder using words from 3.3 for review. Christopher then took the word charting test using the words on p. 56. Christopher got 15/15 with a little trouble on "distract." Then Christopher read ten sentences on p. 57. He did a good job of scooping the phrases. Christopher continued the lesson by playing Quick Drill in Reverse. he practiced all the vowels and the schwa. He practiced the consonants and digraphs: sh, g, ch, wh, b, and f. He practiced the welded sounds: am, all, an, ing, olt, ost, and ind. Christopher then built words using the magnetic letters on a magnetic board of his own with spongy, easy-to-move letters that have been helpful. He built the words stronghold, goldsmith, and wildcat. I pointed out that these words are all compound words. Christopher then practiced building the words: conduct, expect contract, object, and insect. These words help review the blend "ct" which is the skill for 3.3. Christopher practiced the sight words: know, knew, water, Mrs. and Mr. He learned to put a period after the titles. Christopher took the beginning part of the dictation test. He did a great job on his sight words. We will do the sentences next time.