We looked at a map and reviewed the regions of the continental United States. Jonathan demonstrated his knowledge of the geographic location of various states. He was interested to learn fun facts about various states and shared his knowledge about a few states as well, pointing out Maine and Hawaii, for example. Jonathan is looking forward to going to Legoland tomorrow. The topic came up when we were talking about Florida and DisneyWorld being a popular tourist attraction. Jonathan has a very good wealth of general information and enjoys researching topics of interest.

He refined the drawing and filled in empty space with more shades of blue. He decided to mount the drawing on top of a canvas panel and painted blue zebra stripes around it.

Jonathan reviewed the parts of a plant: the roots, stem, leaves, flowers, buds, and the fruit and seeds. We learned about six plant parts. The first three help plants get water, make food, and grow; they are roots, stems, and leaves. The second three help plants grow new plants; they are flowers, fruits, and seeds. We discussed that the fruits and veggies on his plates and in his lunchbox come from specific parts of plants. Jonathan helped label a chart identifying the different parts.

Jonathan continued to refine his ability to collect and compare data, with up to 3 categories, using tally charts, picture graphs, and number charts. He was encouraged to think about other questions he could ask and answer about the graph. Jonathan was also asked to look for interesting differences and similarities between the categories, summarize their key features, and offer explanations for why he thinks the data came out the way it did.

Jonathan and I worked on creating the outline for all of his characters in his Pokemon painting. I showed Jonathan how I wanted him to place the lines and instructed him to follow the process for the other Pokemon characters. Once we had completed the outline of his characters we noticed that there were missing areas of paint. Jonathan painted in brown, flesh tone, and a second coat of orange over the parts of the canvas.

Religion: Today we continued with lesson 24. We read about how we share God’s love with others. We discussed ways to help other people and identified each way demonstrated in the pictures on the pages. Jonathan wrote that he will help his mom with the groceries this week. We read a verse of the song, Walk in Love. Jonathan then filled in the blanks for sentences about sharing God’s love. Language Arts: It is Word Work Wednesday! We used the word “fret” to focus on today. We found the definition and part of speech in the dictionary, the guide words on the top of the dictionary page, identified a synonym and antonym, and used the word in a sentence. Jonathan is doing a nice job with learning how to find words in the dictionary and found it independently today. Next, we worked through some pages in his iReady textbook focusing on digital text features. We examined how to use the search field, electronic menu, and icons. We practiced these tasks by using source photos from a website and searching on Brain Pop Jr. as well. He also completed assessments on past verb use on various tasks. He had to choose the correct verb (multiple choice) for some to fill in the blank and for the rest, he had to just write the proper verb. We looked for clues in the sentences to determine if it should be past or present tense. After our verb work, we began learning about prepositions. We read a book entitled, Behind the Mask by Ruth Heller. This book used eloquent pictures and phrases to explain and demonstrate the use of prepositions. We then read a story booklet called, Up, Down, and All Around, which was filled with prepositions! We found the target items and then Jonathan completed a fill in the blank activity in which he inserted the proper prepositions. Jonathan was excited to begin our next novel study, Pirates Past Noon. We read the first chapter and then completed a sequencing activity in which Jonathan illustrated and wrote a few words to describe the events of the beginning, middle, and end of the chapter. Finally, we brainstormed 5 adjectives to describe Jonathan. He will use these in his nonfiction text features All About Me project to create a glossary to define himself.

In today's session, Jonathan reviewed the parts of a plant and what plants need. He reviewed and compared information about the needs of plants as compared to animals to complete a chart and list the basic needs of the two. This use of information builds upon the skills he has been practicing in math, and improves his ability to refine his knowledge in analyzing and comparing data. Jonathan understands that both animals and plants require many of the same needs to grow and flourish. He completed a chart using a word bank reflecting his knowledge and ability to compare, contrast, and analyze information.

Jonathan took a quiz this morning to assess his ability to use, compare, and interpret data. He was reminded to review his answers before turning in his paper; however, he turned in his work without completing the last question and omitted a partial answer. When this was pointed out to him, he knew the answer(s) and wrote them in. He was told that he would be unable to do this on a test and his overall grade would be lower due to his haste in completing it, and not an accurate evaluation of his actual ability. Had he completed the test, he would have achieved a grade of 100%; however had he turned it in without completing the other answers, it would have been a 70%; an avwerage between the two scores gives him an 85%. Jonathan was reminded to check over his work so that it reflects an accurate assessment of his knowledge and ability. He continues to build his repertoire of analytical skill, comparing categorical data, charts, and graphs using what he knows about addition, subtraction, and comparison. The use of this categorical data will help to build and facilitate the skills he will need in real world problem-solving.

Religion: Today in his textbook we read about how when we pray, we show God that we love him. We talked about things that we discuss in our prayers. Additionally, we talked about the ways we share God’s love with our families. We looked at pictures of families interacting in various ways and discussed how God’s love was being shared in each example. Language Arts: Today in Jonathan’s iReady textbook, we used one of our source books to help us examine what the text was telling us and then what information we were getting from the picture. Next, we enjoyed another fun, rhyming adverb book called, Lazily, Crazily, Just a Bit Nasally: More about Adverbs. We then worked through a fun story about pancakes! Jonathan read the 12 sentences and identified the adverb and word each described. He then told if the adverb was telling where, when, or how. He got to solve a fun riddle using a key at the end. He did a terrific job with this activity! For our All About Me project, Jonathan wrote about his “big dream”. He wrote that he wants to be a paleontologist because he wants to learn more about dinosaurs. He also wrote the final three items on his personal timeline. We then used markers to fancy-up the pages we’ve completed a bit. After that, we finished reading our novel study, Mummies in the Morning. Jonathan answered his questions for this chapter and then we moved on to his final assessments. He completed his 15-question full book assessment and then a 7-question vocabulary check-up. He scored 14/15 and 7/7, respectively. He was torn on mirage and procession, but worked it out correctly. Finally, he ended his day with some spelling work on Reading Eggspress. Today’s lesson was on double consonants. He watched a video which explained the rule of when there is a short vowel, the consonants will be doubled. He worked through various activities practicing spelling words such as grill, doll, and fell. He scored 10/10 on the spelling test.

Jonathan worked with a peer this morning on a social studies assignment which asked him to choose a state to research, and to cite three main fun facts that most interested him. Jonathan chose to research the state of Texas. He learned that it is known as the Lone Star State, that one ranch in Texas (the King Ranch) is bigger than the entire state of Rhode island, that Austin is considered the music capital of the world, that the armadillo is the official state mammal, and that the soft drink, Dr. Pepper, was invented in Waco Texas 135 years ago. He was also interested in fun facts that were shared by his peer during this collaborative exercise.