Today Baylie recapped her field trip to Charleston, South Carolina. She discussed the various events and places she visited there. Charleston has an interesting history from pirates to the beginning of the American Civil War. Baylie also discussed her visit to the USS Yorktown and the eco tour that she went on. One of her assignments was to select ten photos from this field trip and write a paragraph about her trip.

Today, Ben learned about famous patriots in the American Revolution, including Benedict Arnold and Paul Revere. He watched a short video and satisfactorily answered questions about the material, indicating good comprehension, integration and synthesis of information. Ben learned why the term Benedict Arnold is synonymous with the term traitor. He defected to the British. We discussed why 1776 was significant for John Adams because the Second Continental Congress approved his proposal that the colonies form independent governments, and he then wrote the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. We concluded our session discussing why Washington voluntarily gave up the presidency after 2 years and that John Adams became the second president. When queried, Ben's responses indicated good understanding and retention of the material.

Ben reviewed material from both text and media. He demonstrated an understanding of the causes, course, and consequences of the American Revolution and the founding principles of our nation (SS.8.A.3 in the Florida standards). Ben was engaged in watching a supplemental resource and demonstrated good comprehension. He answered questions and commented on-topic and insightfully with regards to issues raised, demonstrating thorough and accurate synthesis of the material.

We briefly reviewed the circumstances leading to the Constitutional Convention and the replacement of the Articles of Confederation. Next, Ben listened to a video about Washington and learned the distinction between formal and informal authority. We reviewed some of the personal characteristics for which Washington was known. Ben brought up the fact that he was also a slave owner, at which point we reviewed opinion from fact and discussed one of the most controversial issues confronting the delegates - that of slavery. Ben was interested to learn that 25 of the Convention's 55 delegates owned slaves. Therefore, whether slavery was to be regulated under the new Constitution was a very controversial issue. At this time, we reviewed the Three-Fifths Compromise between the Southern and Northern States. As an interesting connection between art and history that I hoped might pique Ben's interest, I showed him a video about the Lascaux cave paintings. He found it interesting. His overall take-away was that we should not open these exhibits to the public as the presence of visitors create carbon dioxide and humidity that damage the paintings, which resulted in its closure.

Ben was given a study guide and was asked to read it out loud. As he was reluctant to read aloud, Ben was asked to highlight the most significant facts. When queried, Ben was able to answer some questions pertaining to what he had read. We then watched a video about the making of the Constitution. Ben was very attentive and focused while watching it. He often interjected with his opinion on the material being discussed and it held his attention and interest.

The session began with questions about the freedoms we have as citizens in America. Baylie read from the text about the Indus Valley civilization and the impact of pagan religion on the peoples of that culture. Baylie and the instructor compared and contrasted their way of life with the American way of life. Excellent discussion and session. Great thinking, Baylie!

We started discussing the Framers of the Constitution - the main Founding Fathers, who helped draft the Constitution. They were: Adams, Jay, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison and Washington. After a few minutes, Ben complained of experiencing intense stomach pain. He said he was unable to work or to sit comfortably, and spent a lot of time in the rest room. We complied with his request to contact his mother and request an earlier pickup time. I will make a study review sheet for Ben with bullet points covering the most important topics we've discussed the past few sessions.

Today Baylie took her chapter test on The Age of Exploration: Asia and the Americas. She read the questions aloud and responded orally prior to recording her answers. Baylie submitted the results after she completed the test. The test had multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions.

Ben watched a video about Shay's rebellion on the Khan Academy site. He recalled that it ultimately led to the creation of a stronger central government as it exposed the weaknesses of the government under the Articles of Confederation. We reviewed the plight of farmers and veterans and their conflict with the Federalists, and Ben expressed his support for the farmers because they opposed the economic policies and corrupt politics of their state (Massachusetts).The take-away from our readings and the video clip supported the understanding that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate and urged support for the Constitution. We reviewed significant historic dates, following which Ben completed a matching exercise involving such vocabulary terms as: 'ratify,' 'execute,'federalism,' 'republican,' and 'propose.' Ben required some supportive prompts to help him with this matching exercise; however he expressed that he was tired today and apologized for his lack of concentration.

Baylie and the instructor completed the section check up on Spanish explorers. Baylie does excellent work.