Jonathan observed the results of his hands-on 'leaf' experiment he started yesterday. He had made predictions about the leaves, which in actuality were represented by moist paper towels. Jonathan predicted that the moistest leaf would be the one he had wrapped in wax paper. While all the towels were drier than expected, Leaf # 3 was a bit more moist than the other two, supporting Jonathan's prediction, or hypothesis. We defined 'hypothesis' as an explanation made using limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation. Jonathan completed a chart labeling parts of a plant and we reviewed their functions.
Jonathan solved problems in the "Ready Common Core Mathematics instruction" book I am using as a supplemental resource. He created his own picture chart of shapes, and answered questions about it and made up his own. Jonathan has demonstrated that he understands the convention of grouping tally marks in groups of 5 and is able to describe what the tally chart and picture charts represent.
Religion: Today we began chapter 25 in Jonathan’s We Believe textbook. This lesson is entitled, We Honor Mary and the Saints. We read about how Mary is the mother of Jesus. We discussed things that Jonathan’s mother does for him and then read about things Mary did. We also read about how the Church honors Mary and Jonathan read the Hail Mary prayer. Language Arts: In his iReady textbook, we used a fiction source text to look at the story words and pictures. We examined what the text said the character felt and then what the picture showed about the character’s feelings. Then, using a nonfiction text source, we looked at what the words specifically said about a key detail and then found the key information being presented in the caption. To continue our study of nonfiction text features, we watched a fun video on You Tube that used a cartoon drawing style to present the text features. Jonathan read a paragraph and answered questions for a text feature activity that focused on maps. Jonathan then drew a map of his home and neighborhood for his All About Me project. We also labeled a diagram and he drew a picture of this family and labeled it for his project as we will utilize the text features of map, diagram, and chart. For literature today, we first watched a Brain Pop Jr. learning video on compare and contrast. Jonathan scored 4/5 on both the easy and hard follow-up quizzes. Next, we read chapter 4 in our novel, Pirates Past Dawn. After our reading, we exercised the literary skill of compare and contrast between the two characters, Jack and Cap’n Bones. Additionally, we read chapter 5 and Jonathan then illustrated and used a few words to describe the beginning, middle, and end of the chapter. Jonathan also practiced his book-specific spelling words.
Jonathan reflected upon and explored the question, "what kind of leaf stays wet in the desert?" He participated in a STEM hands-on experiment. Jonathan explained that he thinks the experiment is going to prove that cacti has leaves that stay wettest because of their ability to store water. We discussed how cacti survive without water because of the structure of their leaves; the skin's waxy coating helps retain moisture. Cacti have developed what's known as 'succulent' tissue and waxy skin, a very developed root system that allows it to take every advantage in their harsh ecosystems (the desert). We discussed how succulent plants (so named after their tissue and waxy skin) can survive for long periods without water. In addition, the stem acts as a reservoir; the plant will expand and contract depending on the amount of water it holds. We performed a hands-on experiment in which Jonathan helped gather required materials and followed guidelines that required him to moisten paper towels, to represent leaves, ,and note how they react under different conditions. One moistened towel was left as is, one was rolled up loosely, and one rolled up in wax paper with its ends tied with paper clips. He was asked to make predictions about which 'leaf' he thought would remain the wettest under warm conditions. With assistance, Jonathan typed up his experiment on a data sheet, and made his predictions. He predicted that the leaf that would remain the wettest would be the one rolled in wax paper as it was most like the leaves of a cactus, with its ability to retain and store water.
Jonathan finished the math workbook sent by his teacher, and I continue to supplement the material with another comparative math resource workbook. Today, Jonathan solved problems based on classifying data. He demonstrated a good ability to organize data provided to him, and to group it via tally marks and number charts. He completed several exercises in class and got all but one problem correct - and that one was only because he failed to double-check his work. He had the right answer, but represented it incorrectly in the second part of the problem. Jonathan is very capable of organizing, comparing, and grouping data and prioritizing the main classification elements represented. He employs effective strategies and logical reasoning abilities.
Religion: We wrapped up lesson 24 in Jonathan’s We Believe textbook. Jonathan drew a picture of himself giving his mom a present as a way of showing he loves her. He also drew a picture of himself praying as a way of showing God that he loves him. He finished coloring a stained-glass picture of the words God’s Love. Jonathan then scored 5/5 on his follow up assessment for this lesson. Language Arts: Jonathan did a terrific job with his daily language review working with capitalization, commas, homophones, and contractions. In his iReady textbook, we looked at dates on a timeline. Also, using a source text, he labeled a picture and then wrote about what the caption explained. We read chapters 2 and 3 in our novel, Pirates Past Noon. Jonathan completed a sequencing chart for chapter 2. Jonathan then wrote a few pirate facts we read in chapter 3. He also practiced his spelling words for this novel which include swords, treasure, and captain. For our All About Me project, we worked on Jonathan’s personal glossary. He chose the words creative, pleasant, sweet, funny, and playful to describe himself. He put the words in alphabetical order and then we used the Children’s Dictionary to write the definitions for each word. His skills using the guide words in the dictionary are really growing! He decorated the pages with marker accents. Next, we read a fun book about prepositions entitled, Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse. We discussed how prepositions are not found alone, but are part of a phrase. We then went back to a subject/predicate activity he completed in a prior session and marked the prepositions in each sentence. Jonathan also worked on providing the irregular past tense verb to the present tense for sample sentences. Finally, we had a great time with another version of Jeopardy! Our categories today focused on identifying the part of speech of the underlined word, spelling of words when adding a suffix, spelling plural nouns, and finding the adjectives and adverbs in the sentences. Jonathan did a great job answering five questions in each category with increasing difficulty.
