This afternoon, we continued talking about weather. We began with a review in which Danny was able to name all five weather pictures! We noted that today was windy in Danny's weather booklet. He also cut and pasted as well as drew pictures into the booklet to cover rainy, snowy, and windy days. We assembled the booklet and then reviewed the facts on each page that tell us about how the types of weather affect us. (For example, the rain gives things water and the snow makes things cold.) We watched a Brain Pop Jr learning video about temperature. Annie and Moby explained the thermometer and that the higher the red goes, the warmer it is. They also discussed that temperature is measured in degrees. We paused the video and practiced measuring some of the thermometers pictured. We also learned that thermometers can measure the temperature indoors and outdoors, as well as of things such as our bodies, of foods, and ovens. Next, we read Rainy, Sunny, Blowy, Snowy: What are Seasons? by Jane Brocket. This book filled with colorful photos walked us through the basics of each season. We identified the weather in many of the pictures. We continued to work on Danny's animal research project by using the computer to search for real photos of whale sharks. Danny typed in the internet search bar, selected pictures, found the word "file" at the top of the screen, found "print", and the clicked the "print" button! We worked through these steps and printed four pictures. Danny did a great job using the computer and enjoyed seeing the various images of the whale shark. He kept saying "awesome" as he scrolled through the photos. We finished the day with another book in the bear series that Danny enjoys so much. We read, Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson. We found that the season was fall and the weather was sunny and windy throughout the book. We enjoyed seeing the animal friends share and be thankful.

Today we continued our discussion on American Symbols by reading the book, The White House, by Karen Latchand Kenney. We read about the history of the house and that George Washington never lived there. We learned that the president works and lives there with his family. They have tennis courts, a movie theater, and even a bowling alley inside! We also read, Washington D.C. by Joanne Mattern. This book showed us many colorful pictures of the famous monuments and historical buildings of the district. We continued with our Florida Studies Weekly program by reading the packet entitled "Celebrate America". This information reviewed the Statue of Liberty, the American Flag, and the Liberty Bell. We learned that they are symbols of freedom. We were reminded of Rosa Parks and how she is a symbol for African American equality. Danny had fun with the activity page of the packet which tasked him with finding the item that doesn't belong in the pictures of American Symbols. He completed a numerical dot-to-dot of the Liberty Bell and then labeled it. We worked on sounding out some of the letters in the words. Danny did a great job in comparing pictures of the Bald Eagle and finding three differences. Finally, we examined Rosa Parks a little further by watching a Brain Pop Jr. learning video about her. We saw how she became a symbol for equality by starting the bus boycott. We discussed segregation in simple terms.

Jackson decided to make a change related to the presentation aspect of the assignment. He is making a booklet, instead of a poster board. The new format is much cleaner and more appealing. He made a great decision related to the change. We worked on paraphrasing information and citing sources today.

Bobby did a great job today adding text to his storyline, as well as visual effects to enhance the presentation. He should finish the project during our first session next week. He will probably add music to the presentation, too.

Stephen began to label and shade the 50 states of the United States.

This morning we began by reviewing the calendar. We continued our discussion of American Symbols by completing his packet underway. Today we added the White House. We went on the computer and Danny searched "White House" on the internet by copying my written words. Once we found the pictures, he selected his favorite and I directed him in printing it out. He did an awesome job using the computer. We added it to the page and he wrote "I see" in front of the words "the White House". Next, we went through his Florida Studies Weekly packet on American Monuments. We learned that monuments honor people. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, White House, and Mount Rushmore. We also learned that Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer. We worked on the included activity page which tasked us analyzing and drawing patterns. He completed the follow up two-choice assessment and scored 5/5! We reviewed the cardinal directions. He found all 4 named, but he could not name them for me to find. Finally, we finished with an issue of Time for Kids on "Cool Inventions". We learned about five neat inventions including a robot arm for disabled children and a Fitbit type device created by UNICEF that sends food to needy children as earned through American children exercising. We also read about Ben Franklin exploring electricity in lightning.

Ethan created a Word document for his writing assignment. We saved the document to Dropbox folder for Social Studies. Ethan has an outline he can use to help him complete the assignment.

Stephen worked on his Barefoot Mailman review. We will revise and finish the assignment next week.

Stephen finished his review of the Barefoot Mailman. He began to label and shade an outline map of the 50 states of the United States.

We could not access the iMovie today. Bobby worked on creating a Word document containing information that can be copied to tthe iMovie slides for his project.