We began with a review of yesterday's topic of the Ninja of Feudal Japan. Charlie did an excellent job of demonstrating his understanding of the role, purpose and philosophy of the group. Next, 17 forms of government were presented. Each was discussed. Examples of each were identified. Charlie was interested and attentive.

Charlie and I added new geography vocabulary cards today - harbor, bay, gulf, mesa and butte. He illustrated them, we wrote down an example, looked at images, and defined them. We looked to Studies Weekly to wrap-up our year's study of ancient civilization, discussing global interconnectedness, culture and customs. We also read in the Federal Reserve publication "Globalization" to connect and understand these concepts better. We read about Pompeii and compared it to what is happening today in Hawaii - volcanic lava preserving remains for archaeologists to unearth later, uncovering artifiacts. Finally, we read about the Amazon Rainforest and discussed migration and human-environment interaction.

Craig was absent today.

We began a new unit on landforms today. We watched the Brain Pop Jr. learning video on the topic. We worked through the easy quiz together. We read from the book, U.S. Landforms by Dana Meachen Rau. This gave us information and colorful pictures about the various landforms. We began working on pieces to add this to our Interactive Notebook project. Danny colored a picture and we read about volcanoes and watched some video of volcanoes erupting in Hawaii as well as some National Geographic Kids informational videos on volcanoes.

Craig and I completed new geography vocabulary cards - strait and isthmus. We reviewed definitions of these words and "quarantine." Afterwards, we completed an exercise together translating the preamble of the Constitution to words he can understand. During our second session, we added new geography vocabulary - harbor, butte, mesa, bay and gulf. We looked to maps and definitions of these terms and created new flashcards. We continued to read together from "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates." We read about how Thomas Jefferson waited for Congress to declare war, approving a bill, and waiting for the Senate to approve it afterwards.

We began with a discussion of current news stories of interest to Charlie. He offered a few stories from websites he visits. I offered the events in Israel and a brief discussion followed.
At Charlie's request, I presented information about the Ninja of feudal Japan. We discussed origins, philosophy, and roles in the Ninja clans. Charlie was interested and involved.

Henry continued with the Revolutionary War today. We discussed the first major victory on the American side when George Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas night and surprised the Hessian troops and captured Trenton and later Princeton, NJ. He watched an episode of Liberty's Kids called "Across the Delaware".

Charlie and I continued researching about Atlantis today. We watched a short video on National Geographic and also finished watching the Discovery Channel's "The Mysterious City of Atlantis: Documentary HD." We learned about different theories and geologic evidence of the location of Atlantis - mudflats on the coast of southern Spain, Crete and the Bahamas. We saw how volcanic eruptions and earthquakes buried artifacts (like the volcanic activity today in Hawaii). We also saw evidence of color in art and architecture found by archaelogists, much like the Newsela article we read last week. We saw how archaeologists looked for non-geologic evidence, man-made structures, evidenced by right angles, vertical walls underwater, and circular structures visible in photos. We learned the new word "anomaly." Finally, we created two geographic vocabulary cards with the terms "isthmus" and "strait", which was ironic since much of the discovery we heard about today centered around the straits of Gibraltar.

Henry continued watching the series "Liberty's Kids" in social studies. Today's episode was on the battle of Ft. Washington and how the British won the battle and took over the fort.

Craig shared a new rap video he was aware of called "This is America" by Childish Gambino. I am glad that he did. He realized that it touched on many social studies topics. It contained 17 seconds of silence in honor of the Parkland shooting. It touched on gun violence in America - the Dylan Roof shooting, Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Jim Crow - and other issues. It discussed how cellphones are useful tools today. It made a striking impact with contrasting images in the background. Afterwards, we read in The Washington Post about the issues and statements made in the video. We read a Snopes article checking and fact-finding the coincidences that existed (or didn't) between the assassination of Kennedy and Lincoln, because Craig always admires and expresses interest in these comparisons, which are posted in my office. We began making geography vocabulary cards, like flashcards. The first two were "isthmus" and "strait". Finally, we continued reading in the book and learned more about history, foreign diplomacy, and the declaration of War. We commented on the concept of globalization, which we discussed in our last class, and noted it lacking here, waiting two to three months to learn of war or of a newly elected President.