Charlie and I read and learned about the rise and fall of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. He learned new words - republic, patrician, plebian, latifundia, etc. We learned about Julius Caesar and "bread and circuses", the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the pax romana.

Craig and I began a unit on the presidency today. Craig played a game on Time labs where he tried to match the President's face to the term when he served - putting the presidents in order. Craig again showed me the "Presidents Song" on YouTube, which helps to recite the names of each in order. We briefly read about Theodore Roosevelt. Tomorrow he will choose one or two to research further. We briefly discussed news of independent counsel investigation into "collusion" and raid on Attorney Cohen. Craig wanted to discuss Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg in the news.

This morning we worked on a Florida Studies Weekly packet focusing on Celebrate America. We saw symbols such as The Liberty Bell, The Statue of Liberty, bald eagle, and Uncle Sam. We were reminded that patriotic means showing love for your country and liberty means freedom. Danny answered fill in the blank questions, determined fact or opinion, and completed a crossword puzzle to practice the vocabulary terms from the lesson. We watched a Pebble Go reader about a The Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell weighs 2,080 lbs. and got a large crack the first time it was rung! This symbol of American freedom rang to announce our independence in 1776. Danny cut out a picture of The Liberty Bell and wrote sentences for his flip page project. We worked together on sentence development and sounding out words. He wrote that it is in Philadelphia, it is over 200 years old, it is for freedom, and it has a big crack.
Danny left school before the end of our session.

Craig and I discussed "globalization." We finished the textbook today, discussing the Iran Contra Affair, the hostage crisis, the war in Iraq, and recent terrorism. Afterwards, we looked to many different types of maps to understand geography and change over time - U.S. history from beginning to end. We looked to many different kinds of maps - resource, elevation, climate, slavery, population, migration, and more. Craig understands how different maps can convey different things at different periods in time.

Henry began a lesson on the southern colonies today. We reviewed the New England and Middle Colonies and found them on the map of the 13 colonies. He looked at and named the southern colonies and compared their size to the size of the other colonies. He discovered they were much bigger. We read an article on farming and plantations and how they needed laborers to work the fields so they used slaves or indentured servants and read about the difference between the two. We began reading about Georgia and will continue with the other colonies on Thursday.

This morning Henry and I read a Time for Kids magazine article entitled, Animal House. We read about how the Philadelphia Zoo in Pennsylvania is changing the zoo experience for animals and for people. They are incorporating more natural vegetation, room to roam, and abundant light. The animals are given more room to walk around with elevated meshed-in walkways, which offers unique viewing experiences for the guests. The question about whether or not these animals should be in captivity has continued to be argued. Henry and I discussed our feelings on the matter. We discussed the rights and responsibilities of people in relation to zoos. We also read an article called, A Thing for Strings. This historical selection told about a woman who was a pioneer in the design of stringed instruments, making around 500 instruments. In both articles, we discussed vocabulary such as coercion, natural vegetation, abundant light, flaws, and luthier (a person who makes stringed instruments).

Charlie and I reviewed geography, the 5 themes and latitude and longitude. We also reviewed some U.S. government conepts in relation to the Roman Republic. We discussed the organization of government and important foundations that were taken from Rome. We read in the textbook about the rise of Rome, the story of Romulus and Remus, conquest, the Etruscans, and the Roman legionary. We also learned about patricians, plebians, consuls, dictators, Cincinnatus, the forum, the twelve tables, and the Rule of Law, ideas that are reflected in our U.S. government.

Yanuell was absent today.

Craig and I spent time this morning reviewing geography and government in preparation for the upcoming standardized test. We reviewed all aspects of civics - the Constitution, the three branches, separation of powers, checks and balances, U.S. symbols, and more. We looked to illustrations of the same. We also spent time reviewing the 5 themes of geography, with a PowerPoint, and other geographical concepts. Craig played an interactive game on abcya.com to locate treasure given coordinates. Afterwards, we looked to the text and continued with U.S. history, learning about the Iran-Contra Affair and the Persian Gulf War.

Charlie was absent today.