Atticus began class with a 4-minute run and 1-minute cool down walk around the perimeter of the playground. Next, he practiced his jump rope skills. Atticus successfully completed 14 consecutive jumps, doubling his previous high-score. Then, he learned about the game of badminton and the equipment used for the sport--a racquet and a shuttlecock/birdie and the importance of hand-eye coordination. Lastly, Atticus practiced his racquet skills by keeping the shuttlecock in the air. He was able to string together 9 consecutive hits. The period concluded with a review of the class.

Today, Atticus and I completed our daily gardening log observations. We continued working in our Inspire Science Unit 1 workbook on lesson 1. We investigated whether or not different things are alive or not alive, and Atticus recorded his reasons for each decision he made. We watched a short video clip of fire burning and discussed similarities and differences between fire and living things. We also watched a short video about sponge reproduction, because sponges were on the list of things to categorize as either living or nonliving. We discussed that sponges are the oldest and first animal to evolve. In the workbook, Atticus wrote down his "claim" which listed the main things that living things share.

Atticus started off class with his daily sketch. He chose a fall themed prompt and worked on drawing the contour lines on a pumpkin. He then got to color in his drawing. Afterwards, Atticus worked on his Lino Printing. He finished carving the larger spaces around the figure and any spaces in the background that needed to be deeper. We then practiced changing out the blade on the gauge. For the smaller, fine lines, we used the small V blade. First, I demonstrated how to use the small V blade and then Atticus and I took turns carving out the small areas of the figure. We focused on creating a variety of different line quality (thickness/thinness) to make sure that the details of the figure are distinguishable.

As part of our writing lessons, Atticus is answering study guide questions on the novel. Today, we first focused on a more careful reading of the text as he harbored a few misconceptions about the plot . After rereading certain passages, I asked Atticus to review some of his answers and to make modifications based on the reading and our discussion of the reading . I then addressed capitalization and punctuation in his written responses. We then completed discussion and notes tracing Claudia's character development from the beginning of the novel. Atticus does very well in character analysis.

-chapter 2 review

Atticus and I continued to prepare for the unit test that he will take at the end of this week. Today, we reviewed how to divide decimals and multiply fractions. Atticus worked independently to solve each type of problem and was assigned the remainder of the practice problems for homework. Our lesson expanded on dividing fractions to include dividing mixed numbers. Together, we solved example problems by changing mixed numbers to improper fractions, using the keep, switch, and flip phrase, multiplying straight across, and changing the improper fractions to mixed numbers. Atticus will continue to work on these problems tomorrow.

As we completed the penultimate chapter of the novel, we paid close attention to Claudia's search for self by her quest to ascertain the provenance of the Angel statue. We studied Mrs Frankweiler's comments as a key to unlocking the novel's theme of finding meaning within oneself ,not externally. We then continued to work on a practice essay discussing aspects of Claudia's character as evidenced in the text.

Atticus and I completed our daily gardening log observations. We finished graphing our potato plant growth over time. We observed the trend-line and discussed the significance of the line's direction and steepness in reference to our plant growth and environmental conditions that may have affected growth. We continued our Unit 1 Lesson 1 workbook assignment in which Atticus recorded his ideas about the topic: if seeds and fire are alive.

Today, our lesson was focused on reviewing how to use the operations to solve decimal problems. We reviewed and corrected a few problems from last night's homework on adding and subtracting decimals. Then, we discussed the key concepts of multiplying and dividing with decimals before Atticus worked independently with multiplication. Division with decimals was assigned for homework. Finally, flashcards were made to help Atticus remember the steps needed to solve each type of problem.

Today's lesson focused on the cultures around the world. Atticus reviewed material and watched a video clip detailing uncontacted civilizations worldwide. Atticus participated in class discussions.