Hank continued his reading of 'The One and Only Ivan' after reviewing what he has learned about Ivan. A new character is introduced today, and we see the others behave as expected as they welcome her. In looking closely at each of the animal characters, Hank predicted how each of them would respond to a particular event. He also gave his opinion about his favorite and supported that opinion with events from the story.

Hank and I began our session with practicing parts of speech with a MadLibs. We then spent the rest of our session completing Hank's informational writing piece on salamanders. Hank completed typing his final draft and printed two copies- one for his mother and one for Judie.

Hank continued his work with identifying themes in a literary text. He read four short passages and gave a theme for each. As he continued reading 'The One and Only Ivan,' we focused on the characters and their actions, learning who they are and what we may expect from them later.

Hank was introduced to the concept of perspective, horizon lines, and vanishing points. We worked together to make 2-point perspective cubes and a staircase.

Hank began typing the final draft of his informational writing piece on salamanders. He added clip art to his writing piece. Hank chose his font and font color, which he enjoyed choosing. We will continue typing his final draft on Wednesday. We ended the last ten minutes of our session with a game, "Guess Who?"

Hank previewed three new books by viewing trailers of each. He selected "The One and Only Ivan' as his next book. We previewed the book by examining the cover and illustration, chapter headings (noticeably numerous), and the glossary (curiously located in front of the TOC). Hank pointed out from the first page that Ivan is the storyteller; thus, in his short chapters, we will see from his perspective what is important in his life as a captive gorilla. We left off today when Ivan first learns that he is not the only gorilla left in the world.

After briefly reviewing the last chapter he read, Hank read the final three chapters of "Wonder." We talked about the ending and how the characters have changed since the beginning of the story. We also talked about why they behaved as they did toward Auggie at the start. Hank looked for lessons learned from the story, which he can take from it to apply to his life. We watched a Khan Academy video about story themes and applied the information to "Wonder." Hank identified the theme as "Even though people may seem different, they often aren't once you get to know them."

Hank and I began our virtual session with discussing his break and his hockey tournament. We then worked on part of speech, participating in an online mad libs. I read aloud each part of Hank's informational writing on salamanders. We discussed that when we see each other in person, he will type his writing and add images. We searched for images of salamanders that went along with each paragraph in his writing that we will add to his typed final piece. Hank then discussed his creative writing prompt, instead of writing or typing it. His writing prompt consisted of, "How can you make the world more awesome?"

Hank continued reading 'Wonder,' returning to Auggie's point of view once more. As Auggie prepares for a weekend field trip with his fifth-grade classmates, Hank pointed out several behaviors that demonstrate Auggie's personal growth. We see Auggie face some internal fears and seem to overcome them. He begins to relax and believe that this trip will be just fine. We wonder if things really will go that smoothly throughout the trip, and although we can't find any foreshadowing of trouble, we are still unsure.

After a brief review of recent story events, Hank read the next section of 'Wonder', told from Miranda's perspective. Much of what Miranda told us, we had already read from Via and Auggie's perspectives. Now, we learned the reasons why Miranda had behaved in the ways she did. Hank made several connections between Miranda and Justin. Both characters have less than ideal relationships with their parents, and they feel more at home with Auggie's family. This sparked some discussion about how Auggie, Via, and others, may take a loving, supportive family for granted.