Ethan started to develop a Pro and Con list related to his writing assignment. He also began his first draft.

We began the session by reviewing the ordinal directions and map skills learned in prior sessions. Analise was introduced to a compass rose and we reviewed its purpose and function; a compass rose is a map symbol that shows directions. Analise then worked on an activity in her “Map Skills for Today” Scholastic reader workbook. She completed questions asking her to refer to a chart and fill in the blanks using the information provided to indicate what direction various places lay in relation to one another. Analise did well on this but answered two questions hastily and needed reminders to look at the places again to answer correctly. We then moved into the kitchen for a hands-on activity involving a variety of materials, including, paper cups, green and blue food coloring, an eye/ear dropper, and coffee filters to represent the world. Analise followed multi-step directives to arrange and lay out the materials with which we would make a map of the world. She enjoyed adding the food coloring in the water, and dripping it onto the coffee filters. We then laid it all out to dry – and Analise was able to explain to Ms.. Judie and her visitors what it was she was making. We then placed it in an area allowing it to dry and will paste it onto blue construction paper tomorrow and label it “The World” - with the blue areas representing the oceans and the green – land masses/continents.

Today we read an article about Leonardo Da Vinci's life. We then went over the vocabulary words by discussing them within the context of the article. Next, Baylie completed a vocabulary matching activity, and lastly Baylie completed her subsequent reading comprehension questions.

Analise completed exercises in the Map Skills book provided by her school. She completed the exercise "Jamie's Puppy", using her newly acquired map skills to correctly figure out in which directions the puppy needed to go in order to chase a rabbit. In a subsequent activity, Analise used map skills and directional prompts to look for a variety of animals situated in different locations at a zoo that was illustrated in the workbook. Analise seemed to enjoy these exercises and was responsive to verbal reinforcement, exclaiming loudly and excitedly, "Let's keep learning!"- so enthusiastically that it drew that attention of her siblings working next door. We next moved onto a mapping exercise in which Analise demonstrated her knowledge of the purpose of a map key when given just the definition and identifying it before even beginning the assignment. She then wrote the correct cardinal direction in blanks provided when given directions and used the symbols provided in the key correctly. She remembered to capitalize each correctly independent of prompts. Analise was proud of her accomplishment and clearly enjoyed working on map skills. We will be moving on to learning how to use a compass rose and legend next week. As if on cue, the exquisite aroma of a delicious lunch that Ms. Judie had ordered for everyone wafted through the air, piquing Analise's appetite and curiosity, and summoning her to investigate its source. It was time for lunch!

Today we began with the Lesson 16 Latin vocabulary quiz. Baylie needed to correctly write the Latin words. She had some difficulties with some of the words. Next, she wrote about the obstacles Leonardo da Vinci faced in his work in her flipbook project. She finished writing about how his inventiveness hurt him at times. For example, he burned a wall mural painting by trying to use a rope and pulley with fire system to dry the walls faster. She then moved on to some of his works. She colored an illustration about The Last Supper painting and began to write about it. She wrote about how this was one of the works that he actually did finish and that he observed faces of people in the village to get the faces for the painting.

Ethan created a word document and began to develop his review of The Barefoot Mailman. We also utilized and interactive map of the 50 states of the USA to be able to see the USA in spatial terms.

In continuing to study about America, we completed a shared reading of, Francis Scott Key's Star-Spangled Banner by Monica Kulling. In this leveled reader, we discovered that Francis Scott Key was a poet and a lawyer. He was always helping others and was called on to help a friend during the War of 1812. From a ship, he watched the Battle of Fort McHenry go on for 25 hours. After the battle ended, he knew that since the flag was still standing at the fort, America was still free. This inspired his poem, which later became our National Anthem.

Jackson printed out a few more images for his project board. He was able to organize his visuals from general to more specific and apply them to the board today.

Bobby completed the biographic research about Ali. He will begin to apply content from his research to the creative aspect of the project the next time we meet. Then, he will apply what he has learned to the two focal questions that focus on higher level critical thinking skills.

This afternoon, Gracyn and I watched a Brain Pop Jr. learning video about Lewis and Clark. We learned about how Thomas Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase and sent this team, along with the Corps of Discovery on an expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Clark handled the maps and navigation, while Lewis gathered information about plants and animals he observed on the journey. They met Sacagawea and her husband Charbonneau along the way and they accompanied them on the rest of their trip to serve as translators. Gracyn scored a 5/5 on the follow-up easy quiz and we discussed the information presented. We looked at pictures of Lewis and Clark's real maps, journals, and animal sketches online. In her social studies textbook, we read pages about the community and its helpers. We discussed the terms producer and consumer. We then read a bit about Henry Ford and how he made the first affordable car. In preparation for an upcoming field trip, we also read a little bit about butterflies. We looked at pictures of various butterflies and caterpillars. We were excited to learn that many of them can be found in Florida. We discussed that adult butterflies do not bite and are not harmful. However, in discussing the young butterfly (caterpillar), they can cause stings and eat quite a bit on our plants! Gracyn then wanted to search for some pictures of butterflies to print for a display outside of her room.