Craig and I explored news headlines - the proposed peace treaty between North and South Korea ending the Korean War, the suggestion that President Trump receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the migrant caravan from Mexico seeking asylum. We defined asylum. We also reviewed other new words - extortion, census, annex. Craig was able to describe the location of the Barbary Coast today as well as define "census." We revisited check-writing, which was something we learned about last year in an economics unit. We read about the lynching memorial in Alabama (a Newsela article) and discussed its significance, its impact, and the purposeful location. In our second session, Craig and I took turns reading from "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates." We discussed imperialism and militarism, the President meeting with his cabinet and requesting Congress to declare war, and the election of the third President, Jefferson. Craig and I read and discussed constitutional governments, comparing ours to that of England. Finally, Craig answered cause and effect questions about different regions of the U.S. and he completed the latitude and longitude exercise he began yesterday. He is remembering and distinguishing the two now, with the assistance of the visual/ ladder.

Charlie and I reviewed government and geography. I quizzed him on the structure and organization of our government and on geographic terms and locations. He completed a time zone activity and learned the four zones - ET, CT, MT and Pacific. We discussed the word "census". Afterwards, Charlie took notes on the board game he will create based on an imaginary civilization. He thought about their name, religion, government, jobs, classes, art and architecture, laws, written language, and public works.

I began class today reviewing things we've learned by reading from "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates." I have these ideas noted on flashcards. I asked Criag to describe where the Barbary Coast is and he could not, so we reviewed this as well. We have looked at maps every day during the last week. I gave him an illustration for his bulletin board to help him to remember latitude and longitude (like the rungs on a ladder). Craig completed the Social Science and the Listening sections of the Stanford practice test. I quizzed him again on the word "census." I will ask daily to hope that repetition and practice will reinforce the meanings of these words. We took turns reading in the book. The first U.S. Navy ship went throught the Strait of Gibralter to deliver a tribute to the Barbary Pirates. We have read about the presidencies of Washington and Jefferson so far during this time. Craig completed latitude and longitude practice by locating cities with coordinates. It was very difficult for him at first, but he got better and quicker after trying three examples. I will add two new words to his word wall - annex and extortion.

Henry and I discussed the beginning of the Revolutionary War and where it began in Lexington, MA. We talked about how neither side wanted the war and how the British soldiers were in Lexington to try to find and take the ammunition from the Colonists, not to start the war but things got out of control and shots were fired. He began watching the next episode of Liberty's Kids called The Shot Heard 'Round the World.

Henry did a review of everything we have gone over so far of the American Revolution. We read an article on Paul Revere and William Dawes and how they used lanterns in church to warn the people if the British were coming: one light if by land or two if by sea. They both rode through Boston at night warning people that the British were coming. He watched an episode of Liberty's Kids called The Midnight Ride about the ride of Paul Revere.

Craig worked on the practice Stanford test. We will do more practice next week. I questioned Craig about topics we learned this week - the U.S. census, the Barbary Coast, time zones. We continued to read together in "Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates," stopping to discuss historical events, geography and new words. We discussed how the Ottoman Empire used religion to justify slavery and thieving. We compared it to terrorism today. We discussed how Thomas Jefferson and John Adams weighed the cost of building a Navy versus paying a tribute for safety or going to war (foreign policy). We read more about the geography and its applications in the real world. We read about land and water. Finally, Craig completed a challenging time zone activity.

Charlie did the Social Science portion of the Stanford practice test today. We reviewed interesting information from research about Columbus and his ships. We also reviewed what we learned last week about U.S. government, civics, and geography. We read about the importance and application of geography to today's world. We also read about ancient civilizations' contributions towards the study of geography - astronomy, archaeology, tectonic plates, cartography, the themes of geography, etc. We reviewed oceans and land. Charlie began an activity about time zones. We will continue in our next class. We discussed projects for next week - ancient civilizations board game and SchoolHouse Rock video/song about Communism.

Arianna and I reviewed four new words for her word wall from our last class - amendment, preamble, ratify and veto. We discussed government and reasons for creating a government. I reminded her about our study of Lewis and Clark, to give her perspective of time/ the past and when the Gold Rush happened. We learned about the Gold Rush today and why the State of California is called "the golden state." We also discussed other related names and how they got their names - prospectors, ghost towns, 49ers, the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. We watched a short video about The Gold Rush. We discussed resource maps and natural resources, expanding upon that idea and discussing silver, diamonds, oil and resources that might be plentiful in other states. We used "Discovery Toys USA Map" and learned shapes and locations of states, while we also discussed regions, resources, oceans, and capital cities. Today we focused on Florida and Missouri, hopefully, learning capital cities, resources, location, abbreviation and shape of each. I shared the link for a 50 States game that is interactive. She can share the screen and show me where each state is. She started playing, but it will be better when we have advanced and leared more about each of the 50 states.

Danny was absent today. We were to work on needs and wants (economics).

Charlie, Craig and I went to see replicas of Columbus' ships at Harbourside in Jupiter today. The Nina is to scale and completely built with hand tools. We took the self-guided tour. We read about the ships and read history and trivia on our way there. We got milkshakes afterwards!