Read and write every day! Record the title of the book/text and the pages read each day in your learning log.

• Compare something you have watched on TV to a text you have read in class this year. List the ideas, or topics, that are the same in both. Be sure to list at least 5 ideas, or topics, that are similar.

• Visit the New York Times list of questions/prompts. Choose a question that interests you, read the short article, and answer the questions.

• Writing Prompt: Begin by researching a person you consider a role model. Then, write a letter and create a presentation that conveys the importance of this person in your life. Also, include at least three questions you would ask this person if you had a chance.

• Draw a comic strip or graphic novel page to summarize a story you read or episode of a TV show you watched.

• Pick a song you love from the radio. Describe how the author uses the lyrics and sound of the music to send you a message or make you feel certain emotions.

• Identify components of a personal or family budget, then help them determine which budget items are a fixed or variable expense.

• Determine a budget and learn about how fixed and variable expenses affect your monthly income using themint.org.

• Balance a checkbook using a blank register and by adding and subtracting deposits and withdrawals to find their ending account balance. An interactive blank register is available at themint.org.

• Using a paper plate or circular lid (for example a Pringle chip lid) describe and name the parts of a circle such as radius, circumference, and diameter. Determine the circumference and the area of the circle.

• Practice ordering sets of rational numbers. (ex. Order 0.3, 25, 0.85, 0.09, 34and 320 from least to greatest.)

• Practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing integers. (ex. Adding: 5+6=11; (-5)+(-6)=-11; 5+(-6)=-1; (-5)+6=1)

Go on walks in your backyard, neighborhood, or community to observe the natural world around you. Observe living organisms.

• Draw a scene from your walk and label all the organisms in your picture. Write a story of how this environment supports the different varieties of organisms. (available water, amount of sunlight, places for shelter, food chain, etc.)

• In your story, mention how all the different organisms (biodiversity) help to contribute to the success of the environment. (interactions of biotic and abiotic factors)

• Draw a comic strip about any historical event that you have learned about this year.

• Make a list of five important historical figures that you have learned about this year. Add a summary about something important that each person did. If you need to research them, find multiple reliable sources online to confirm that your research is accurate.

• Think of an important historical document that you have learned about this year. Make a poster about the document, explaining why it was important and what it accomplished. Find a one-sentence excerpt from the document and include it on the poster, with an explanation in your own words of what the excerpt means.

• Find a political cartoon about a current event. Analyze it and explain the point of view of the cartoon. Then, create your own political cartoon about an event, current or past that you learned about.

• Create a cause and effect chart to explain the causes of a historical event.

• Create a cause and effect chart to explain the effects of the cattle industry on Texas.

• Create a timeline of a major event in history’s past. Include events, dates, explanations, and an illustration to represent it.