Presidents and Patriots: Introduced Abe Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass and the contribution each person gave to this country. Marina named the contribution each person gave to this country. Very good lesson.
Assignment
name the contribution each person gave to this country.
Today Stephen and I completed a review for his 1st test. We reviewed cardinal and intermediate directions. We also reviewed all of the continents and oceans. This tests also covers all the different landforms that Stephen has been researching for his flip book.
Bobby and I reviewed this week's EStudies weekly regarding the government's functions (civil servants, uses of taxes). He took a short quiz on the material. We also continued our study of Florida Native American tribes by reading about the Timucuan tribe. He completed a series of comprehension questions on the story we read.
Yanuell had a VERY exciting day filled with holiday fun! He wanted to begin the morning re-reading both the Hanukkah and Christmas books that we have looked at this month. Following our reading, we joined Ethan for some group social studies/reading work. They continued working on yesterday's craft. They completed their reindeer by cutting legs and adding them as well as adding the handprint antlers and finishing touches. During the activity, they sang holiday songs and discussed the meaning of Hanukkah and the upcoming celebration. The boys then brainstormed what they knew about winter holidays and logged into raz-kids.com to read one of Ethan's level L books, titled World Holidays. Yanuell was extremely excited to be working on one of Ethan's book - it made him feel very advanced!! The boys outlined basic information on Chinese New Year, Christmas, Hanukkah, Holi, Kwanzaa, New Year, and Ramadan. During the reading, we stopped to summarize, clarify, and work to connect the holidays and find common traits among them. At the end of the story, we had a wonderful group discussion. Yanuell wanted to finish writing his T-Rex book before the Hanukkah celebration, so we went to the computer lab and added more photographs as illustrations, more text and several images copied from the internet. Yanuell looked over the book several times before printing to make sure that he was happy with his finished product. We did not get a chance to read the printed copy - so that is on tomorrow's agenda. The rest of Yanuell's day was filled with Hanukkah fun! He made crafts, ate Hanukkah snacks, played the dreidel game, sang songs, and made latkes. It was a fantastic afternoon filled with activities to help learn about Hanukkah!
Will and I reviewed the vocabulary that describes the benefits and privileges that Congress people enjoy. We then learned about the different types of bills that Congress people can pass, including budgets and pork barrel projects.
Assignment
a voluntary assignment: read an article in a newspaper regarding the government, and then bring the paper to the first class in January for discussion.
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Will seemed more self-absorbed today, and had more difficulty concentrating and reading than in most previous sessions. Still, he's a willing student who tries to learn.
Legislative staff and what they do; the main jobs of a legislator
Lesson Outline
Will reviewed several types of staff that legislators depend on, including the important CBO and CAO committees. I noted that there are only 535 federal legislators representing more than 310 million people, thereby showing him why we place such importance on these individual legislators
Assignment
study for a vocabulary test
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Will showed a great deal of interest in the budget and accounting committees on which the legislators depend to create their bills.
Us Presidents: Marina did very well today. She looked up different president's biographies. She decided to write about President Obama. We viewed John F. Kennedy, President Washington and discussed their lives. Good Job Marina
