We began the session with a discussion of the weather in Florida. This provided a natural segue to a review of cardinal directions. We used both a wall map and a globe to review the directions, and Analise learned to spell them and pointed on the maps. She enjoyed an activity where the globe was spun around and she was blindfolded and asked to stop the spinning globe with her finger. It ended up on Dallas, Texas, which Analise correctly identified as being in the southern part of North America. Analise was happy to point out that she was born in Ohio, and lived in Missouri but is now living in Florida. She correctly pointed to all the states on the map and we identified the capitals of the three states (Cleveland, Jefferson City, and Tallahassee, respectively); Analise noted that a star was used to identify the all capitals. She is observant of detail and retains knowledge well. The discussion allowed us to review the seven continents. We also reviewed the continents, land masses, and oceans and utilized the map skills book to focus on the similarities and differences between maps and landmarks, naming the oceans, continents, and reviewing vocabulary words along the way. Analise enjoyed it when I clued her in on a memory trick to recall the continents. I asked her to count how many of the continents started with the latter 'A’. If you count North and South America in the mix, 6 continents begin with the same letter (North America; South America, Africa, Asia, Antarctica, and Australia). Analise enthusiastically commented that this trick will help her remember them and when quizzed, hesitated only on Europe. Finally, we discussed map symbols and how they're used to point out places and things on maps. To better illustrate the point and bridge learning to the abstract concepts taught, Analise was asked to draw her own symbols for objects in her room. She concluded the session by completing a matching exercise connecting pictures symbols to photos (Ie; a fireman's cap with a firehouse). She then taught some make-believe students some of the many things she had learned in today's session, using a whiteboard to illustrate maps, symbols, and weather. This is a valuable strategy to note and for her teachers to employ if she grows fatigued or becomes disengaged in the lesson at hand. Analise was commended for her stellar performance, completion of assignments, attentiveness, and cooperation. This was a most productive session.

Jackson focused on the creative element of the project. He printed out visual aids with text that he can apply to a poster board. He started with the title of the project and started to think of ways he can organize his findings. Jackson still needs to continue researching topics for additional information.

We began with a review of the three branches of government. We discussed the main responsibilities of each and the people involved. We then read, Washington D.C.: The U.S. Capital by Blake Hoena. This selection told about the area and land of Washington D.C., described the Mall area and some its landmarks (such as the Washington Monument, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and other war memorials), and told about the Smithsonian Institute. We completed her American Symbols booklet by adding the Washington Monument and The Capitol.

Bobby looked at iMovie today. He decided on a theme and became familiar with all the features. He made solid decisions related to ways he can use the storyboard, music and visuals. He is excited about learning about Ali, as well as, being able to display what he is learning in a creative way via iMovie.

We read aloud information related to one of the main characters in the book, Charles Pierce. Then, Stephen started to work on the post-reading assignment. He is going to write a review of the book. Stephen started to make a list of pro's and con's and then decided on a rating that falls between 1-5 on the scale. He will start to support his rating in writing during our next session.

Today we reviewed the cardinal directions song. We then found the directions in the room. Danny can find them when I name them but is still having difficulty naming them himself. We also reviewed his town, state, country and planet. We enjoyed a Brain Pop Jr. learning video about U. S. Symbols. We saw that symbol is an object or item that stands for something. We learned that the Bald Eagle, Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, and American Flag all stand for the liberty and the freedom of our country. We also saw that monuments and buildings can also be symbols for America. We generated a word list about things we learned about and Danny copied them: symbol, flag, bald eagle, bell, and Statue of Liberty. We then read statements and found the American Symbol (picture) to match the statement.
Note: Danny is doing a great job learning to use the iPad. He is able to find the apps we use. He is also able to search a title on Brain Pop Jr. using a provided word source. He is navigating through the video and quiz as well as typing in his name at the end for his score.

This morning we continued studying American Symbols. We read, Bald Eagle by Lisa M. Herrington. This gave us basic facts about the bird and why it was chosen as a symbol for America by the founding fathers. Danny then colored a template to make a bald eagle. We traced Danny's hands on brown paper to use for the wings. Danny was having trouble cutting out the ends of his fingers rounded as they were coming out squared. We worked together on turning the paper and not closing the scissors all the way when he got to the ends. It was challenging for him and we celebrated working through the difficult task! We glued it to the paper for our booklet in progress and we sounded out how to write "I see" to complete the sentence, I see a bald eagle.

Today we read a nonfiction book, The Statue of Liberty by Lisa M. Herrington. This informative book contained real pictures of the statue now and in its development. We supported this book with a Brain Pop Jr. video. In these two presentations, we learned that the statue represents freedom and stands to welcome our land's newcomers. Its seven rays on the crown represent the seven continents and seven seas. We saw that the statue was built in France and then taken apart to ship to the United States. The 350 pieces were sent in 214 boxes. It weighs 225 tons, the equivalent of 45 elephants. It is made of copper which has turned green due to water and air exposure. Morgan scored 4/5 on the follow-up easy quiz and we added this to her American Symbols booklet.

We read aloud from The Barefoot Mailman. We read two short chapters today. Ethan was asked to speculate what the chapter may be about based on the title of the chapter. We are nearing the end of the book. I asked Ethan to explain what he has to do related to the post reading assignment. He articulated a clear understanding of what is expected.

Jackson continued to look for visuals for his project. He changed the presentation format from an iMovie to a poster board display. He was searching places on google map relative to migratory patterns.