Hank and I began our virtual session with a warm-up activity, learning parts of speech with a Mad Lib. Hank needed to be reminded of what an adverb was. I read aloud some adverb examples to assist him. He did really well with coming up with nouns and adjectives. He would usually choose a color for an adjective, which was great. We then continued our opinion writing lesson. We read an opinion essay about zoos. While reading, we broke the essay apart, finding the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. We also searched for the hook and topic sentences for each paragraph. We then read Hank's introduction that he wrote last week for his opinion essay on cats or dogs as pets. Hank moved on to writing his first body paragraph discussing dogs being good friends. We will continue his first body paragraph adding more details and examples on Monday. We ended our session with his brother, Ben joining us for a Mad Lib, learning parts of speech.

Hank and I began our virtual session with a discussion about his weekend/Halloween. He showed me all of his candy that he received. Hank then chose from three writing prompts- 1. If you won a million dollars, what would you spend it on?; 2. What is the perfect weather?; 3. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? Hank chose the prompt, "If you won a million dollars, what would you spend it on?" He said candy! He wrote his response in the chat box. He elaborated his writing with stating exactly what candy he would purchase. We then discussed fact and opinion definitions. We read two different essays. Hank determined whether the essays stated facts or opinions. We watched a video discussing adding reasons and examples to your essay. We then read an essay about, "which is better, dogs or cats?" We took turns reading the essay and underlining/highlighting the different parts of the essay. For the last ten minutes of our session, we focused on nouns, adverbs, verbs, adjectives, etc. through MadLibs. Hank really enjoyed this. Our first virtual session went awesome! We will continue Hank's opinion essay on Wednesday.

We recalled the four types of figurative language from the Khan video on Tuesday. Hank completed two activities identifying and creating similes. We will look for similes in future reading. We read an article on Newsela about the changes COVID has caused to the Halloween celebrations this year. Hank correctly answered detail questions from the article with 100% accuracy.

Hank and I began our session with completing his planning sheet. We brainstormed ideas for his three reasons. Hank used the article to refer to when coming up with his reasons. We watched a video focusing on writing an introduction. Hank then had five minutes to complete his hook/grabber. Hank referred back to his notes that we took on "hook." This made me very happy. He chose to start with a question for his hook. Hank then completed his introduction. I reviewed his introduction with him and we discussed what he could have left out to include in his body paragraphs.

Hank watched a Khan Academy video teaching 4 more types of figurative language, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, and personification. We will look for examples of each in our reading. He read the last two chapters of 'Wonder' from Via's perspective and the first chapter from Summer's point of view. Summer's voice is the first we have heard from outside Auggie's family, we are anxious to hear from her.

Hank and I began our session with finishing his conclusion for his creating writing. We took notes on parts of an essay, discussing each part. We read an essay and color coded each part of the essay (grabber, opinion, reasons/topic, wrap-up, evidence, elaboration, transitions). Hank and I read aloud two articles, one about cats and one about dogs. Hank was given a writing prompt, "Would you rather have a cat or a dog as a pet?" We will work on this prompt this week and next week. We began with a planning sheet. We will finish the planning sheet on Wednesday and begin the introduction.

Hank practiced identifying idioms by matching several common phrases with their meanings. After a brief review, we continued reading 'Wonder' from Via's point of view. We see her parents shift roles as Dad assures Mom that Via should be allowed more independence. We also see Via behave in an unexpected way toward Mom, and we looked for a cause. Hank pointed to several more idioms in today's reading. Good luck this weekend!

Hank and I began our session with continuing our creative writing on an animal. Hank and I brainstormed a name for his creative animal. He came up with, "Werecrow!" How creative! Hank is very creative with his ideas. We discussed ways to start his writing. We took notes on beginning his writing with a hook (question, sound effect, action, dialogue, paint a picture). Hank chose to paint a picture of what his animal looks like. Hank worked on his writing. We will finish his conclusion of his short story next week.

Hank watched a BrainPop video teaching idioms and cliches. He passed a quiz with 80% accuracy. We continued reading Via's point of view in the story 'Wonder.' Hank does a good job monitoring his accuracy when reading, self-correcting when needed. In today's chapters, we learned that Via's first day of high school was less than she'd hoped, and her parents were so concerned about Auggie's experience that she didn't get the attention she really wanted. Once again, Auggie was the sun, and the family orbited around him. We looked for examples of figurative language and talked about how it added to the story's enjoyment.

Hank and I began our session with discussing why writers write. Hank gave some great reasons such as books, chapters, notes, etc. I proceeded with more such as lists, poems, letters, thank you notes, emails. We wrote all of this down on our art crafted pencil. Hank then chose from a variety of options to do some creative writing. Hank chose to create a new animal. Before beginning, we brainstomed all of the animals that we could think of. Hank knew of some very unique animals! He had a lot of fun discussing all of the animals that came to his mind, such as salamander, badger, pangolin, Koi fish, and sailfish. We then watched a video about animals to help Hank with seeing what some animal's characteristics are to assist him in drawing his animal. Hank began to draw a picture of his animal. He is finishing his picture for homework and will return on Wednesday for us to begin his creative writing!