Henry continued with the lesson on Florida resources and disasters. We also continued reading "American Jungle" by Harvey Oyer.

This morning we reviewed important features of the Hindu religion before moving on. Marcos discussed the exchange of information between differing cultures and/or civilizations. We also discussed how groups of people can literally evolve isolated from other societies and by doing so, may develop unique traditions, adaptations and religions etc. We had some fun looking at the Nasca Lines in South America and the act of mummification by three unique civilizations that occurred at the same relative time who were physically isolated from each other. How was this possible? We discussed possible explanations. We discussed the caste system in India and how other societies group or label individuals who share the same vocation, demographic profile etc. Homework is to complete the questions 1-5 on page 74.

Marcos and I knew that our study of the Hindu religion would be challenging due in part to the many aspects or complexities of their beliefs. We started by examining three of the predominant deities and then identifying the ultimate goal of the individual. We contrasted the Hindu religion with that of some of the other religions and compared the world population and how many individuals belong to one religion as opposed to another. Marcos' homework is finish reading the rest of this section and we will do the questions during our next class if time permits.

Craig and I learned about American progress today, westward expansion including the gold rush, the Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears, and inventions that led to the industrial revolution in America. We looked to video, images, and the text to learn more about Eli Whitney's cotton gin and interchangeable parts, the Erie canal, Robert Fulton's invention of the steamboat and the explosion of the cotton and slave trade. We used History.com as a resource as well. We will attempt to recreate a cotton gin by way of a Pinterest activity idea we discovered online today! We read more to learn about the Missouri Compromise and the continuing question of slavery.

To expand our studies on communities, we will explore the three main types of communities: rural, suburb, and urban. As an introduction, we read Town Mouse Country Mouse by Jan Brett. In this sweet story about two mouse couples, we watch them envy the life each other has and switch places. Each encounter new challenges and dangers in their new town vs. country homes. We practiced using our compare and contrast skills by generating ideas together to complete a Venn Diagram for the two characters. We added colored pictures of each mouse in their clothes to help us see them better. For the Town Mouse, Danny wrote: fancy clothes, townhouse inside, like the noise, and cat (chases them). For the Country Mouse: simple clothes, tree stump outside, like the quiet, and owl (chases them). We then noted that there are some things the same about the characters. We found that they were all mice, animals want to eat them, and they like their own homes best. This was a lengthy task as we worked to sound out words and Danny did a lot of writing. Using colored posters now hanging in his room, we reviewed the vocabulary terms for our three types of communities, rural (farms and open country), suburb (near a city), and urban (city and its many neighborhoods). For our history enrichment study, we continued Danny’s writing project about the book, The Knight at Dawn. We added one more sentence about how a knight rides a horse. We then searched Google and found a picture of a knight to add to the page. Next, we read chapter 4 in our book. In this chapter, Annie and Jack peered through the doors of the Great Hall to see a feast underway. Our follow up comprehension questions asked about the sounds the children heard at the feast (music, shouting, and laughter). Danny was also asked to recall some of the things they saw (fireplace, antlers and rugs on the walls, flowers on the ground, boys in dresses carrying trays of food, jugglers, and dogs getting bones under the tables). We then used a dictionary to find the word castle. Danny began to type a sentence about the meaning of a castle. We will continue this activity in our next session.

Bobby worked on his essay today. We looked at outlining strategies and discussed opposing views, current events, and rationales for ideas to form the basis for additional material for the essay. He edited and added another paragraph. He took the time at the end of class to really put some thought into his writing and his opinion. We discussed logical organization of essays and the final summary to answer questions in the title with the last paragraph.

Yanuell took an open book quiz today to complete our time on Russia. He answered questions from memory and was able to look up any unkown question online. A few questions contained unknown facts which allowed Yanuell to do further research along with questions on material that was covered in class. Then, we started to prepare the next section of his World Culture binder for research on Puerto Rico. Yanuell began with the wildlife of Puerto Rico, focusing on the El Yunque Rain Forest.

Henry began with a current event article today. He chose an article on a photographer who takes pictures of children with terminal illnesses or disabilities in super hero costumes. They were dressed as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash among others. He took pictures of them in elaborate costumes and then gave each child a movie size poster of themselves. The photographer picked their super hero based on their personalities and their strengths. Henry's thoughts on the article were that it was sad because the kids were sick, but also happy because it made the kids very happy to be thought of as super heroes.
We also continued reading "American Jungle". Henry really enjoys this book and the adventures of Charlie Pierce.

Arianna spent time today focusing on government, rules and laws, and the responsibility that comes with citizenship. She completed fill-in-the-blank questions to assess her understanding of these concepts. She has excellent mapping skills. She made a map today, identifying and coloring continents and placing them on a blank page. She also learned how to map using a grid system and gave perfect directions from one location to another using cardinal directions. Finally, she asked to color a picture of George Washington! We didn't have a chance to finish. We learned that he loved horses and that they were very important to his life while President of the U.S.

Craig and I finished watching the video about westward expansion. We discussed the Mormons, the gold rush, Sutter's Mill, the Oregon trail, and the Indian Removal Act. We followed a lesson "Headin' West: The Life of a Pioneer", which realistically puts the student in the shoes of a pioneer planning a trip to the frontier. Craig needed to consider budget, packing, supplies, animals, etc. We read about details of the trip that one would never consider (for example, 100 feet of rope to lower wagon down cliffs).