Mercer continued exercises from the 6th grade math Envision textbook, metric weight measures and comparisons.

Today, Mercer participated in judging an art contest in which he was asked to evaluate teacher artwork that was submitted for an art contest. The theme was ‘power,’ and Mercer was asked to participate along with the other students in judging the work in a blind study, based on a value system whose criteria included the following: how much the piece reflected the theme, its creativity, and how much it 'spoke' to you/how much you liked it. It was an interesting exhibition and experience that involved students’ critical appraisal skills and was a fun way in which to participate in a school activity.

Lesson 6 Forces: We learned how forces affect motion. Then we learned how to calculate the net force on an object. Next we learned about Newton’s three laws of motion.
Assignment: Add Newton’s 3 laws of motion to our science notebook.

He learned how to write the letter d in cursive connecting it in words like glad, video, and drive. We reviewed his spelling words and their meanings, along with what his spelling homework is for this week. We read and discussed a reading comprehension activity, "Land of Contrasts." He answered questions about this story using his Wordly Wise vocabulary words in context.

Today's lesson focused on the Greeks. Mercer reviewed material that provided details about The Minoans, the earliest people to live in Greece, even though they weren't Greek. They lived on the island of Crete in about 3000 B.C. He learned that the Minoan homes had running water and bathrooms with flushing toilets and were excellent sailors. Mycenaeans learned much from the Minoans and eventually conquered the island of Crete. Mercer spent the remainder of the class learning fun facts on real-life lore.

Mercer began exercises from the 6th grade math Envision textbook, metric capacity measurement.

Mercer did research on the capybara. We started by accessing prior information - specifically, what Mercer already knew about the animal. Mercer knew that it is the largest rodent in South America. We learned that they are semi-aquatic and that they have webbed toes which make them excellent swimmers. Mercer and I researched more facts about the capybaras and listened to the sound they make, which sounds a lot like a dog's bark. He discussed his 2 dogs, a male and female English Cocker Spaniel, and we researched some interesting facts about them which Mercer either verified or disputed. However, he did note that there are differences among individual dogs' temperaments, which might explain the variations in the personality traits and dispositions.

After he helped advise a peer in a game of Territorial.IO, by discussing his strategy for occupying territory, we began our lesson on the use of powerful words to create vivid images. We reviewed how adjectives and verbs may be considered amongst the most powerful words that writers can use to create images. Mercer read 2 paragraphs and asked to identify the one he found most effective at painting a picture. He was then asked to select a phrase or sentence in either of the two paragraphs and to rewrite it using more descriptive verbs and adjectives. Given supports and modeling, Mercer added adjectives to make the sentence more complex, descriptive, and interesting to the reader.

He learned to write the words name, calf, picnic, vacuum in cursive. He did an activity on analogies using his Wordly wise words. We read Chapter 4 of, "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler," discussing the characters, story details, plot, and sequence of events.

Today's lesson continued the focus on the age of exploration. Mercer read about two of Christopher Columbus' ships, the Pinta and Nina, which were caravels. He learned about explorers such as Bartolomeu Diaz and Vasco da Gama, who also chose to sail caravels, and why the ships were so popular because they had two to three square or triangular masts that could sail into, or against, the wind. This made it a mighty, fast-moving ship, about twice the speed of the oar-driven galley ships. It also required fewer men to operate, and with less crew, labor was cheaper, and there was more space left for cargo.