This week we started learning about telling time using both the hour hand and the minute hand. In preparation for this we made clocks in art class. The kids know how to tell time by the hour very well. They struggle a little bit when it comes to telling time with minutes. Hopefully the clocks we made will be an added tool to assist everyone learning. If not, at least they all look pretty cool!

In reading we read the second story in book 5 "Mole and Baby Bird " . The kids also copied 4 sentences from the white board and used their books to answer each question.

In Tops we continued learning about items in the house, and did work in the workbooks practicing spelling the new words we've learned.

In science class we continued learning about weather. In this weeks lesson we studied changing weather, especially storms, and the instruments scientists use to track the weather.

And finally in grammar class we began learning about adverbs ( adverbs tell about verbs ). The kids seems to understand the concept but they've had a harder time thinking about words that are adverbs. Practice, practice, practice.....

Happy Lantern Festival

Welcome back everyone!
I hope everyone had a nice Chinese New Years. Well, it's back to work this week. In math class we've been reviewing one digit addition in preparation for learning two digit addition later in the month. In reading we started the story "Chick, Go!" in book 5. In phonics we've been learning about rhyming words as well as taking and changing one word into another word by changing the first vowel in the word

( for example : cAt=cUt, rUn=rAn, strOng=strIng ) it's been a little challenging for everyone but with a little effort they were able to learn the concept. In science class we started reading about weather and how clouds are formed, and finally in art class we painted lanterns for Lantern Festival.

Also, on Tuesday we went to see the lanterns for the lantern festival and on Friday we made snacks for Lantern festival.

Estella has been doing really well in both reading and phonics class. One area I hope she can improve on however is to try a little harder on work that might be a little difficult for her. Often she will say something is easy but then when it's time to do the work and she realizes it isn't something she knows already, she seems to give up and not put much effort into solving the problem.

Rain and Albert have been fighting a lot recently. The two of them are close friends but they always seem to have something to argue about, especially on Tuesday when we went to the Lantern Festival. They fought for almost ten minutes about whether or not 7-11 had cheese burgers. Albert said yes. Rain said no...they continued to fight...

Welcome back Irvin. We missed Irvin this week, but it's good to see him and I'm happy he had a nice vacation!

Kyle has done very well this week. He was very insightful in science class and was able to think about the concepts we've been studying and tell about weather in his own voice.

Devon has been doing well. He's been putting more effort into his class work and is making slow but steady improvements.

Claire did well this week. She was a little sad for a few mornings at the start of the week but has since been much more happy and cheerful.

Stephanie is doing great! She's settled into class and has been trying very hard on all the work we've been doing. I know Claire and Estella are probably excited about having another girl in class.

I'd like to welcome Owen to the Polar Bear class. He's in the first grade and will be joining us in the afternoons. So far this week he's done very well. He was a little quiet and shy at the beginning of the week but has since warmed up and is starting to make friends with everyone.

February 12th

This week we studied counting money in math class. The kids have all done well counting bills 100-2000, but they have had a little trouble learning to count change. I think it's just going to take a little more time and practice.
In Tops we started learning about the rooms of the house and what's in each room. ( living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom ) ( sink, bed, radio, shower, sofa, etc...)
In art class we made Valentine's Day cards and bookmarks.
In reading class we started reading the story "Tippy-Toe Chick, GO! " from book 5. I can't believe how well everyone has been doing in reading class. Everyone has made remarkable improvements in their pronunciation and phonics. (It's been rewarding to see how much they all enjoy reading.)
Earlier in the week we finished the pinata, so on Wednesday we finally had our pinata party. The kids all had a fun time. They especially enjoyed getting the candy inside the pinata!

I'd like to welcome Stephanie to our class. She's done very well so far in math, reading, and Tops. Since she knew everyone before coming to our class, she's adjusted well, and should do great!

Estella has been doing fantastic in class. Her reading, phonics, science, and math are all coming along nicely. However, she's been VERY slow eating both her lunch and snack. She's been the last person in the school to finish her lunch all week. On Thursday it took her an hour to eat. (Everyone else had finished their lunches at least a half hour before.) I'm not sure why she's been so slow this week. If you have any suggestions to get her to eat faster I would greatly appreciate it.

Kyle was very proud of his father last Saturday. ( Kyle got hurt last Saturday and his father came in to help him ) After his father left all the kids kept on telling him how cool his dad was...

Claire has been eating slow as well during snack and lunch. She tries hard, but I just think she's a slow eater.

Rain did very well this week in class. He was a little naughty on Thursday though. He's been much better today ( Friday ).

Albert did a good job this week. He's been well behaved and eager to do work. Keep up the good work, Albert!

Irvin's reading has improved a lot over the past few months. He's become a very good, confident reader with a strong ability to not only read, but to also understand what he's read and explain the story in a clear and concise manner.

Finally I'd like to wish everyone a safe and prosperous Happy Chinese New Years!!!

February 5th

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the beginning of the Spring 2010 semester. I can't believe we have one more semester to go before graduation. Everyone has progressed tremendously since our class began way back in August.
This semester we'll continue where we left off last semester. We'll be reading more, writing more, and hopefully get everyone ready for 1st grade in the fall. This week we continued learning how to count Taiwanese money in math class. In reading we reviewed several stories we've read over the past month. In phonics we studied long and short vowels. In grammar we began studying comparative adjectives. ( The house is taller than the car. ) And finally in art class we finished the pinata for next weeks pinata party.

Hello

Hi everyone,
This week we've been busy finishing up the work for the fall semester. With two weeks left we still have lots to learn.....

In math class we started learning about counting money. I'm pleasantly surprised with how quickly everyone learned how to count the money. On Thursday we held an auction in class for a little fun. I was amazed at how quickly the kids got into the exercise. They were quickly outbidding each other for the items for sale. ( pictures on the board )

In reading we read the story "Henry and Mudge " about a boy and a dog who stay with their next door neighbor. We also continued last weeks exercise by writing questions and answers based on the reading.

In phonics we're learning both long and short E sounds. While this may be review, it's good to build on previous lessons and has also enabled the kids to learn to read and write new vocabulary.

In science we started a new chapter learning about the planets and how they are the same and different. Everyone is very inquisitive about outer space and they love talking about how long it would take to travel to each planet.

In phonics we continued learning about adjectives. For a little fun we played a new game in class. The kids had to think of different adjectives as well as how each word is spelled. I think they all loved playing the game because they were all asking to play it several days later...we also did work in the workbook.

And finally in art class we finished the paper mache tiger we were making. Unfortunately it looks more like a pig than a tiger, so we decided it will now be a paper mache pig, not a tiger.....