This week Mark and I rowed Climbing Kansas Mountains.  (Five in a Row Volume 3)  Mark thought it was neat because Brooks is from Kansas and the little boy in the book's name is Sam.  Here is what the book is about:

When Sam's father suggests that they "climb a Kansas mountain," skeptical Sam says, "Sure . . . and watch pigs fly," but he changes his mind after his father drives him to the grain elevators where they climb "as high as eight houses stacked like blocks." Sam thinks the land looks like their tablecloth, "but with ribbons of road instead of red," and his house seems to be "hiding under trees like a sneaky cat." With homespun imagery and a laconic style, Shannon's ( Dancing the Breeze ) text emphasizes Sam's pleasure in "sharing time" alone with his father: "just me--no brothers--in the big front seat." Allen's ( In Coal Country ; Going West ) pastel illustrations are among his best and are particularly well suited to the text: the green patchwork countryside fairly shimmers in the hazy sunlight, while the heat at the dusty, small-town intersection is nearly palpable.

Mark placed the story disk on Kansas.

We also placed a story disk on our time line at 1993 because the book was written in 1993.  We learned about the State of Kansas and the state flower, animal, insect and tree.  We had lots of fun discussing metaphors and tried using metaphors throughout the week.  We talked about how fun and special times are with just he and Daddy and added a picture to his book of Mark and Brooks at a hockey game together.  It was also very sweet for me to hear Mark say "but family times are great too" 

Of course Mark worked in his phonics and math book this week as well.  One day he was waiting on me to come do his phonics work with him and I arrived to see he had done some pages by himself.  I was even more pleased to see what a nice job he had done.  He did great spelling all of the words.  He has his "s" backwards in "sip" and in "lips".