Mercer finished taking all portions of the Stanford test. He completed his comprehension questions over chapter 10 of, "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." We reviewed his spelling words and their meanings for his test tomorrow. He completed an activity using his Wordly Wise words in a story about silkworms.

Today we learned the terms: Desayuno (breakfast), Almuerzo (Lunch), and Cena (dinner). Then, we reviewed some foods we had learned and he started a Rockalingua activity to practice vocabulary.

Mercer completed an exercise from the 6th grade math Envision textbook, similar triangles. He also participating in a school wide event: an author talks about her book.

This afternoon, I encouraged Mercer to write a thank you note to the author (Sarah Trulaske) who visited the school today and read her book, "Nellie meets Charlie the Crab." Although initially resistant to the activity, Mercer came around and we brainstormed how to organize and prioritize our thoughts. He learned about proper formatting, what is meant by a salutation, provided with a basic letter structure, and encouraged to add his unique voice and word choices. Although a bit cynical, Mercer was prompted and encouraged to express gratitude in the note. We typed it, Mercer signed it, and I will show him how to properly address, stamp and mail the envelope tomorrow. I find that Mercer will often question the purpose or value of an activity or lesson, but he has so much to offer when he complies with the task. I also found it quite humorous when he insisted he was not going to say 'Love Mercer" at the end, which provided the perfect opportunity to discuss different ways to close a thank-you letter. We ended up enjoying a productive and valuable lesson.

This morning, we discussed Greek society and government and noted that the Ancient Greeks are well known for their ideas and philosophies on government and politics. We accessed information learned in a prior session and reviewed that it was in Greece, and particularly Athens, that democracy was first conceived and used as a primary form of government. Mercer also learned that ancient Greece was made up of city-states which sometimes fought each other, and that Athens and Sparta were the two largest city-states. Finally, we reviewed the types of government, which include democracy, monarchy, and oligarchy. Mercer impressed me with his recall and retrieval skills regarding these forms of government and their definitions.

Mercer took his language arts portion of the Stanford practice test.

Mercer played a game of chess.

Mercer did practice questions from a standardized test. He also completed exercises on similar triangles from the 6th grade math Envision textbook.

From Scratch FF and Ketchup-

Made Grilled cheese using French bread and 3 different cheeses. Basic weights and measures-