Presidential Elections: Ben watched videos on Presidential Elections. Terms were used such as primary elections, caucuses, delegates and each was defined. Ben showed interest, as the video explained each term and how the election is conducted. When the face of Trump was shown, Ben said, " I don't like him". The lesson was a good presentation and we will review it again to better understand it. Good going, Ben

We continued our biography studies by further examining two courageous American women. First, we read “Rosa Parks” by Wil Mara. We discussed Parks’ courageous act and read about her life overall. We talked about higher level vocabulary words such as defiance and boycott. Additionally, we reviewed her timeline in the book and noted that 7 key events in Parks’ life were noted. We then watched a brief You Tube video that gave us a tour of the Rosa Parks Museum in Troy, Alabama. Next, we read “Helen Keller” by Sean Dolan. We also watched an Animated Hero Classics Learning Video that spotlighted Helen Keller’s childhood. The video gave us a visual representation of the challenges and struggles that Helen, the Keller Family, and teacher Anne Sullivan experienced during the beginning of Helen’s training to communicate. We both agreed that Anne had a very tough job at first and we celebrated when Helen finally began to have success.

Today Jackson wanted to speak about the Egyptian Airplane that disappeared. There is not much information out on that so we only discussed it briefly. A very interesting thing we discussed was an original letter that Christopher Columbus sent to Ferdinand and Isabella was found in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It had been stolen but now has been sent back to the Italian Museum where it had been. We spent time discussing the Russian Olympic team and how many of them may be banned from the Summer Olympics in Rio due to taking steroids illegally. We spoke about 76,000 soccer fans being evacuated from a stadium in Manchester, England due to a "false" bomb scare.

World War 1 & 2: Ben had interest in World War 1 and 2. He told me about his grandfather's positions he held in WWs 1 and 2; Ben highly respected his Grandpa . I admired Ben for his respect toward his heritage. On Brain-pop we watched how allied forces fought against Germany's Hitler. The United States entered WW 1 after the ship Lusitania was sunk by u-boats in 1915.

Today we read a biography about "George Washington" by Wil Mara. We went through his birth, his success as a General, his election and accomplishments, and finally his retirement to Mount Vernon. We looked at the pictures and captions, using these text features to expand on the text. We also looked through Washington’s timeline and discussed how timelines capture important events in a person’s life.

Today we read a biography about "Wilma Rudolph" by Eric Braun. The book told the story of how this heroic woman overcame illness and disability to become an Olympic medal winner in two separate games for track. We compared her to Gracyn's favorite Olympic gymnast, Gabby Douglas.

Famous people: Ben is fascinated with famous people inventors, explorers, etc. He searches for ancient cultures and enjoys the structures, foods, and lifestyles of the people. For a second grader I'm impressed with his interest and questions.

We watched the final portion of a Nest Learning Video about "The Wright Brothers". This video provides an animated retelling of the invention of the first flying machine. We watched their final failures and then their successful flights. The video also included real footage of early flights. We discussed the competition they faced and how some close to them were pushing them to fly and make their place in history. However, the Wright Brothers chose to continue working on the plane for a safer, more effective flight. We then discussed inventions we'd like to see made.

Polar Regions: life on the South and North pole. We discussed tundra and animals, how they survive and extreme temperatures. Topic Supply and Demand: We discussed how prices affect goods and services we use daily. Great job, Ben.

We watched a portion of a Nest Learning Video about "The Wright Brothers". This video provides an animated retelling of the invention of the first flying machine. We discussed reasons they initially didn't want to share part of their discoveries. We also discussed feelings including frustration and how important it is not to give up even when things are tough.