I explained to Jaydn how the properties of parallelograms can be related to how overlapping congruent triangles can be shown to be congruent. I listed basic and derived properties and then informally tested her on whether described quadrilaterals were parallelograms. There was no assignment.

Today we continued our unit on the Russian Revolution. The last Tsar, Nicholas II, has just married Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Granddaughter of Queen Victoria. They had four daughters and their youngest, a son and future Tsar of Russia was born with hemophilia. The Russian Tsarina had tremendous guilt over passing hemophilia on to her son (although this was a common genetic illness among Europe's royal families). Unfortunately, this made the Tsarina dependent on the crude mystic Rasputin. The Tsarina's relationship contributed to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty (but we'll see in future classes that there were many other issues that lead to the dynasty's collapse, murder of the Romanov family and the Russian Revolution. It's a long story and the events span many years.

Jaydn read, analyzed, and discussed two chapters of A Thousand Splendid Suns. Jaydn then wrote a short essay analyzing the quote from the novel, "Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman," as Nana told Mariam in her girlhood.

Taught and reviewed money signs. Provided an activity regarding deaf education.

Jaydn read, analyzed, and discussed chapter 26 of A Thousand Splendid Suns. We discussed the setting of the war taking place in Kabul during this time period and its effect on the characters. Predictions were made for the characters motives and character development. We discussed Rasheed as the foil of Laila. Jaydn then reviewed yhe SAT vocabulary being studied.

I reviewed with Jaydn how triangles can be proven to be congruent. I showed how parallelograms can be thought of as overlapping congruent triangles. I explained what the properties of parallelograms are and why they are formed by congruent triangles. There was no assignment.

Jaydn read two chapters of A Thousand Splendid Suns. We discussed the use of verbal, dramatic, and situational irony in the chapters and its effect on the character's motivation and conflictions, and how it drives the plot. Jaydn then wrote how she would have handled the situations the protagonist found herself in during this ongoing war in Afghistan.

Taught and reviewed numbers 1-100 and money signs in ASL.

Today we began to look into the lives of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. Tsar Nicholas was born in Alexander Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. Tsarina Alexandra was born on 6 June 1872 at the New Palace in Darmstadt in the region of Hesse, a Grand Duchy that was then part of the German Empire. She was the a child of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert. Some historians place Alexandria as Queen Victoria's favorite grandchild. One of the many fascinating things about Nicholas & Alexandra is that this was not an arranged marriage as they truly fell in love and their union forever altered the direction taken by Russia in the 20th century. During the turbulent years of WWI, the Tsar & Tsarina were overthrown, ending 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia. In this next unit, we will follow the 1917 Russian Revolution that occurred in the middle of WWI, the phases of this revolution and ultimately the results of the revolution that forever altered Russian as well as modern world history.

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