Today we read about empathy and kindness. We discussed the meaning of empathy and read about examples of how to express empathy. We also discussed the importance of kindness towards others.

Liam discovered that protists are simple organisms. He watched a Brain Pop video about Protists and DNA, he took notes, we discussed the topic, and he took a quiz over what he had learned.

Liam completed his multiplication and division math drills. He watched a video on adding unlike fractions. He worked on completing activities adding unlike fractions.

This morning, Liam and I collaboratively read from a new book I had taken out of the library entitled, 'There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom," by Louis Sachar. We discussed that the writer is an acclaimed author, having received the Newberry Award, which is a prestigious award given for distinguished contributions to American literature for children. I had procured two copies so Liam and I could read the book together. After learning about the author, we collaboratively read the first chapter in the book. Liam thinks he will like it because "it's funny." After reading it, we discussed the main characters that were introduced, the dynamics between them, what we could infer about their personality traits and reputations based upon their actions or statements they made, and the setting (a school). I wrote these on the whiteboard. Liam was interested in the two covers and was encouraged to make predictions based on his observations, and what we read thus far. Liam was afforded supportive prompts and strategies to guide his thought based on the illustration on the book's cover.

Liam participated in the Halloween celebrations.

Liam completed an activity with his science program pertaining to inertia. He performed several experiments exploring inertia. He watched and took notes from a Brain Pop video about Isacc Newton.

Liam learned how to apply attributes to different characters to make them speak, move, shrink, and interact.

Liam completed his Multiplication and Division drills. He completed several activities pertaining to adding mixed fractions with like denominators.

We studied making inferences as we read today. We also discussed word choice, deciding which word was the stronger word to use in a sentence. Then we talked about fact vs. opinion. Liam struggles with this concept, so we will continue to work on this to develop his understanding.

I discussed the book I ordered from the library, by the author, Louis Sachar who also wrote the book Holes for which he received an award. I explained that I got a notice that it came in this morning and Liam asked if we could go to the library together to get it but I explained I would go over the weekend and have it for our Tuesday class. I think Liam will enjoy the content of this book and hope to engage his interest so that we can continue to work on organizing his thoughts and composition skills. This morning, Liam was afforded supports to organize the most important details to include in a summary of 'Sadako and the Thousand Cranes, using the book to guide in the recollection of characters and events. For the last 15 minutes of class, we reactivated prior knowledge about figurative language and read a story entitled Princess Penelope and pointed out the metaphors and similes. We also discussed and identified the alliterative references in the story. Liam was encouraged to replace words with synonyms that did not change the content of the sentence. He was afforded prompts and supports to guide him in this process.