Charlie and I read through two cartoons together that explained Locke's and Hobbe's ideas during the enlightenment period. Afterwards, I asked Charlie to choose a topic that he would like to learn more about. He chose eskimos. We began by learning about the history of Alaska, its purchase, Seward's Folly, statehood, resources, Native American Indian tribes, and concerns today. We read about the discovery of gold in the Yukon Territory and the occupation of two islands by Japan during World War II. I assigned HOMEWORK asking Charlie to research the Exxon Valdez oil spill and write about its effect/impact on Alaska.

Craig and I reviewed what we have learned so far about World War II, including new words on the word wall. We looked at a slideshow about the War on CNN.com. We compared the death toll from the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima and discussed this. We also looked to the text. We began learning about the Holocaust and watched a short video to learn about anti-semitism, ghettos, Kristallnacht, and the Nazi party. We will continue in our next class.
HOMEWORK: due Monday - Monologue.

We began our session by finishing our final sentence and picture on Danny’s Mummies in the Morning project (based on the historical fiction novel by Mary Pope Osborne). We added that the story takes place in Ancient Egypt and included a picture of a world map. We will label the map tomorrow to put the finishing touches on the project. For our Winter Olympics project, we watched videos of the Olympic torch traveling to the stadium and the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremonies. We also studied the sporting events of curling, figure skating, and cross-country skiing with videos and discussion. Danny was quite fascinated with the tricks in the figure skating! We explored the Olympic vocabulary of stadium and torch; which Danny wrote on the page for his project. We also used a tracking sheet to look at the medals won so far. Our sheet has 10 countries represented. We looked up the flags to label our sheet with the names of the countries. We then wrote all of the medals by type that each country has won. We talked about who has the most in each category of gold, silver, and bronze. Using our world map, we found the ten countries and compared them in relation to each other and to Florida. We discussed the pride and joy the athletes and the countries feel with their hard work and success.

Henry found the dates and wrote them on each of the explorers in his room. He put them in order and made a timeline of all the Spanish and Portuguese explorers. We reviewed each person and where they explored and discovered and talked about how they were all in search of spices and gold. He made a treasure box to go with his caravel ship.

Craig and I began learning about World War II. We fist discussed causes and effects. We looked to the textbook and to BrainPop. We discussed the three theaters of the fight, the Allied Powers and the Central Powers, and the presidencies during that time. We learned about FDR and his New Deal. We discussed the changing role of women and Rosie the riveter. We watched the "Rosie the Riveter" song. We will add new words to the word wall - genocide, blitzkrieg.

We went over Craig's HOMEWORK assignment that will be due on Monday, February 19th. I have asked him to create a character, or use a real person, and write a monologue for that person within the context of the historical time period we are discussing. We marked up the assignment. He did not return his new student organizer/planner today. He must bring this back and forth from home every day. I told him this again today. We looked at a new textbook to review the happenings and link between WWI and WWII. We began discussing WWII, but did not get very far. We will add the new word - appeasement - to his word wall.

Yanuell continued to work on Greek culture. Today, he focused on the animals of Greece, especially ones he could see on his trip. He printed out pictures of the baby animals and glued them in his binder. Then, Yanuell researched the geography and climate of Greece such as the tallest mountain, deepest gorge, longest coastline, high and low temperatures, and average rainfall. We also practiced saying the Greek alphabet and printed out a copy for his binder. Finally, to finish up our lesson on Greece, Yanuell wants to cook Kalamarakia Tiganita or calamari which we will do next Monday.

We spent today's class learning more about the enlightenment period and important people during that time. We discussed important ideas that caused revolution and led to the creation of our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. We watched a short video on History.com about the scientific revolution and the scientific method. We also looked at a PowerPoint presentation about the enlightenment period. We discussed urbanization, industrialization, and imperialism and the revolution in Russia. Finally, we learned about absolutism and communism. We watched a video on BrainPop to explain communism (as it compares to capitalism).

Craig and i finished reviewing his Quiz today. We discussed the last two questions. Afterwards, we discussed the roaring 20s, the Great Depression, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Great Migration. We looked to visuals illustrating a standard business cycle and the business cycle that occurred during the years of the Great Depression. We also discussed what happened during prohibition and the ratification of the 18th Amendment and its repeal. We read and discussed causes of the Great Depression and the devastation to farmers (the dust bowl). HOMEWORK: I noted in Craig's new organizer that he should think about next assignment - to create a monologue and character relevant to our studies. I gave specific examples as well.

Arianna and I continued learning about spending, saving and earning. She added to her interactive notebook page. We listened to Studies Weekly and learned about currency, bartering, counterfeiting, and minting of coins. We read about the history of money and secrets of money, which we will investigate further in our next class with a magnifying glass, coins, and paper money.