at home reading tutoring part 18

This Monday SJ had his weekly tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  He was in a great mood at the end of his school day.  No normal Monday tears, so I was very pleased at his mood.  We got home and I got the kids that I watch off of the bus. 

It was fairly nice out, so Bob wanted to play outside.  He was going to play soccer with the second grader.  He wanted SJ to play, but he was more interested in using his scooter.  I could feel that Bob was sad that SJ didn't want to join in with him.  I told him it was time for "Brother Time".  He was a little resistant at first and then he complained A LOT.  After a few minutes, I was glad to see him having fun outside. 

Mrs. Banks arrived fifteen minutes later.  They started off their session with SJ looking at two pictures to see if he could find the differences.  SJ was supposed to find 10, but he was only able to find 9.  (I looked myself and couldn't find the tenth difference.) 

They then did a Reader's Theater called "The Kites Fly High" by Brenda B. Covert.  There were six characters.  SJ asked Mrs. Banks if the characters were boys or girls.  She explained that they were different kinds of kites.  He looked through the play again and picked his character according to how big their parts were.  The play was about a reporter interviewing different kinds of kites (delta, sled, diamond and box kites) and what is special about them. 

After they finished the play, SJ told her that we have a few kites.  Bob has a delta kite that is designed after the Space Shuttle.  He told her that he had a diamond kite with a Toy Story design.  He said he wasn't going to use it anymore, since it is for babies.

Next, they read a short paragraph on kites called "Out of the Box Kites" by Jody Williams.  He started to complain about the length of the paragraph and it literally was 13 sentences.  The story was about the inventor of the box kite.  SJ had to answer a few questions about the story.  Mrs. Banks said that SJ did very well with this activity.  After he answered the questions, he had to design his own kite and write directions on how to make it.  These were his directions.

My kite is made gold and tire marks.  1. Draw the shape to make a kite.  2. Put gold on it.  3. Run over it with a car.  4. Put a string on it and put ribbons on it.

Then Mrs. Banks had SJ fill in words for a Mad Lib style story.  She thought maybe he snuck a peek at the story, since some of his word choices were working a little too nicely.  This is his story.

The Kite-eating Tree

There is a tree in New York City that snatches kites right out of the sky.  It does not matter how soft the kite is.  The kite-eating tree will strike!
Yesterday I went out to fly a delta kite.  The playful wind picked it up as I flew.  It soared high in the sky.  I stayed away from that happy tree.  It was no use.  Before I could stop it, my boring kite blew into the tree's greedy branches.  I wrote on the string, and it snapped!  My kite was gone. 
Today I will teach that tree a lesson.  I have a new kite.  I will sprinkle hot chili pepper on it.  Then I'll let it soar into the sky.  When the tree tries to eat it, it will spit it out.  That tree will never eat another kite again!

The last thing they did was a glyph on kites.  SJ had to chose the color of the dog (light brown-he has flown a kite), color of the kid's outfit (blue-kites should not be flown near trees), color of the kid's hair (blonde-he never made a kite), color of the grass (dark green-he's a boy) and the color of the kite (blue-I have not had his string get tangled).  He had to write on the line something else that has a tail (dog) and he had to draw a kite that he would design.  See the following finished glyph.