Jonathan reviewed making change by watching a brainpop junior video. He completed the hard and easy quiz that followed the video. Jonathan solved making change problems on ixl. Jonathan created a lego store with prices on his legos. He created making change money problems and then solved them.

Jonathan reviewed double digit addition by playing the puppy canoe game. He practiced adding with regrouping with speed and accuracy. Jonathan reviewed three-digit subtraction with regrouping by solving five word problems. Jonathan watched a YouTube video on making change. Jonathan practiced making change by solving problems based on a "yard sale."

Religion: Today Jonathan practiced memorization of the Hail Mary. Language Arts: This morning we began our next novel, Polar Bears Past Bedtime (Magic Tree House #12). We read chapters 1 – 3. Today’s chapters lent the opportunity for a lot of predictions! We discussed what we thought about the riddle and what brings out courage, as well as what could be howling in the chapter entitled “The Howling”. In our oral reading, we worked to make sure we pause at periods and commas. After each chapter, we worked through comprehension questions and critical thinking activities. This included drawing a picture to visualize what he saw in chapter one, recalling facts he learned about the arctic in chapter two, and inferring meanings of words from their use in the text (puzzled, parka, and dashed) in chapter 3. We are working to recall specific facts and find evidence from the text vs. generalizing information. We also discussed the vocabulary terms of sled runners, stirred, and barren as used in the text. Jonathan had one question from the text in which he felt the author used the wrong subject-verb agreement. We discussed that the verb for “pack of wolves” would agree with “pack”, not “wolves”. To enrich our study, Jonathan practiced some higher-level spelling words including words such as surprise, sculptures, journey, and ceremony. For writing today, Jonathan drew two illustrations for his story about a boy’s pet that can talk. He continued writing the middle of his story. We discussed that he needs to identify in his story that the talking is only temporary as he has not yet informed the reader. He will need this piece of information to start wrapping up his story. Jonathan then just wrote another sentence or two and then “the end”. He again was focused on the length of the story, but when prompted, he could tell me that the goal is a good beginning, middle, and end. I inquired about his ending and he was able to determine that he doesn’t really have an ending to his story. We will continue to work on wrapping up his story. This creative writing is providing a nice opportunity for growth in Jonathan’s writing.

Jonathan is beginning to learn the animal taxonomy of animals. We have discussed how all animals are first divided by Kingdom because the other great kingdom is plants. He has learned the word Phylum. Jonathan learned that the reptiles he is studying today belong to the animal kingdom and the Chordata Phylum. He understands that Chordata relates to having a backbone. Jonathan drew the animals in their habitat while we discussed the distinguising characteristics. Jonathan took special note of characteristics that were new to him. For example, Jonathan learned that the iguana and the bird have a "third eye" called the parietal eye. This eye helps the animal know when a predator is near and that it may be flying or moving above them. Jonathan learned that the salamandar starts its life out with lungs when it lives in the water, but later when it is no longer a tadpole, the lungs disappear and the skin of the salamandar and the inside of the mouth both serve as a way to breathe in oxygen. Jonathan learned that the iguanas fall out of trees when they are cold because they go into a dormant state when they cannot keep up their internal temperature. The iguana is extremely threatened by the hawk and will fall into its dormant state if it sees a hawk. Jonathan studied the hellbender and found out it could be a pet for 30 to 50 years. He studied the sea turtles and drew a loggerhead sea turtle. Jonathan learned the word carapace to understand that this is the backbone of the turtle. Jonathan is moving on to exotic animals and has now drawn the Giant Panda Bear. He found out that the Panda Bear can eat small animals, but does love to eat bamboo. The Panda Bear eats so much bamboo that to get enough, it has to eat all day long. Jonathan has discussed the eating habits of each animal and the locations of where these animals are found throughout the lesson.

I opened up Jonathan's assignment and went over all of the parts and points associated with the project. Jonathan moved on to complete the last two Pokemon, Rock and Ground. Once Jonathan finished the drawing, I opened his webpage, opened the page editor and we placed images for two of the featured trainers of Pokemon. Jonathan wanted to draw and illustrate the trainers, I agreed and he completed a drawing of Professor Kukui. To complete the first section, I gathered information about the character that Jonathan drew and applied it to the page.

Jonathan started his lesson stuying the bactrian camel. He made a drawing showing the camel with two humps. Jonathan learned that the humps are full of fat, but that when the animal is not near a food source or water source, the fat can help stave hunger, and the fat can be reduced to water. Jonathan learned the vocabulary word oasis. We discussed how in the middle of the desert, there may be an underground spring or aquifer which has fresh water. Trees and grass grow in the oasis. This is a place where desert animals can replenish their food and water needs. Jonathan read about the African wild dog and compared it to the hyena. He learned that the two are different. The hyenas are not dogs. Jonathan was interested in working on reptiles. We started with the komodo dragon. Jonathan learned that these animals have only been found as recently as 100 years ago. He found that the komodo dragon can be very fierce. It can swallow its prey whole. The komodo dragon is at the top of the food chain on four islands in Indonesia. The second animal Jonathan picked was the anaconda. He knew that the anaconda was a constrictor. Jonathan learned that it is considered the largest snake on Earth. Jonathan learned about the strong sense of smell that is deveoped in the tongue. Jonathan did great drawings for each animal and wrote vocabulary words on the back of the page. He did a Brain Pop on reptiles and answered review questions.

Discuss things found in a forest and then draw a picture.

Religion: Today Jonathan practiced memorizing the Hail Mary. He just needs a little assistance with the final two lines. Next, he read the Morning Offering from the prayer booklet in his We Believe textbook. Finally, we worked through a digital word scramble game with his vocabulary flash cards from Unit 4. He still gets a little stuck on “gospel”, but he has the rest. Language Arts: Today we read chapters 8 – 10 to finish up our novel, Lions at Lunchtime. After reading each chapter, we worked through comprehension and critical thinking questions. In our shared oral reading, we focused on dialogue today. At several points, the characters interrupted each other. Jonathan got a little confused on the way it was written and lost track of who was speaking. We worked through the way dialogue works a bit to help understand better what was happening. Jonathan scored a 6/6 on his final assessment of the novel, which entailed sequencing events from the book. To enrich our subject matter, Jonathan practiced some novel-based spelling words. He scored a 5/12 on the pre-test a few days ago and improved to 10/12 today and ½ of the bonus words! We will keep practicing the tricky word “rhythm”. We also read a nonfiction article and watched an informational video about lions from National Geographic Wild. We learned that lions vocalize early in life, but don’t really develop their roar until the age of 1. Their roar can be as loud as thunder cracking! Next, we worked on identifying base words and suffixes and adding suffixes. Our focus today was on -less, -er (a person who), -ful, and -ly. Jonathan separated base words from their suffixes and then added suffixes to base words based on a description. Finally, for writing today, Jonathan continued working on his creative writing piece about a boy having a pet that can talk. He added more to his story and he is now working on the middle of his piece.

We will do the same routine as yesterday and add a new block (Outside-Inside Block).
Warm-up Cardio will consist of jumping jacks, pushups and situps, and skipping. Then we will stretch all the major muscle groups in the body. Review all our basic karate techniques: Including front kick, roundhouse kick, punches, and blocks. Complete our workout with a lesson on respect and discipline.

Warm-up Cardio will consist of jumping jacks, pushups and situps, and skipping.
Then stretch all the major muscle groups in the body.
Review all our basic karate techniques: Including front kick, roundhouse kick, punches, and blocks.

Complete our workout with a lesson on respect and discipline...