Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Hi everyone,
Well, this is the last Panda post of this semester. Looking back, it's been a great couple of months. I'm very proud of the kids, and I feel like they have all worked very hard and have shown tremendous improvements. When we started this semester back in August the kids were still learning their abc's and counting to 100. Now all the kids have a very good understanding of addition and subtraction. The kids are also doing excellent in reading and phonics. I can't wait to get started on the new semester. Until then, have a safe and happy Chinese New Years!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Brrr.....

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is staying warm this week. I keep waking up each morning expecting snow. Luckily this hasn't happened yet...but who knows?
This Monday we worked on subtraction in math class. If it seems like we are always doing subtraction, it's because we are...the math book has A LOT of pages dedicated to addition and subtraction. In the afternoon in phonics class we worked on long A ( rain, pail, mail, nail, etc.) In addition to long A, we've also have been reviewing blended consonant-vowel blends ( -am, ag, an, etc..), as well as Tops. In Tops we've been studying this,that, these, those, as well as adjectives.
On Tuesday we had a wonderful field trip to Yami Mountain. Although it was very cold, it was very fun, and the kids had a great time. We made bamboo sticky rice, sweet potatoes, painted bugs, made a leaf print, and finally had enough time to go for a short hike.
On Wednesday in art class we made a panda collage in the morning, and in the afternoon we finished the book two reading book. We re-read the story "Camping", and also read the glossary words at the end of the book. We also worked on the accompanying work in the workbook.
On Thursday we'll do math in the morning, and reading, phonics and ESL in the afternoon. Friday we'll do more math work and phonics. And finally on Saturday we'll do an art project and more reading.

Aston has done very well this week. He's getting very creative, and always draws some wonderful drawings.

Devon is getting very good at math. He's always very attentive and eager when we have math class.

Kyle always surprises me with the depth of his English vocabulary. Yesterday he was drawing a picture of fish in the ocean and I asked him what he was drawing and he said " an angler fish, Teacher Scott."

Albert made a very nice panda collage in art class. He's made tremendous improvements with his fine motor skills. He's been doing much better cutting, coloring and especially writing. Good job, Albert!

Claire had fun on our field trip on Tuesday. She especially enjoyed making bamboo rice.

Serena has been very helpful in class this week.

Bonnie has been very well behaved this week.

Benson is finally starting to be less shy in class.

Irene has done an excellent job this week in reading and phonics.

Eason was great last Saturday. His behavior was excellent, and he was also very helpful during class time.

Phil seems to be trying harder to speak more in class. He's also doing well in reading and phonics.





Friday, January 9, 2009






Wednesday, January 7, 2009

January 9th

Hi everyone,
I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year. Now that Christmas and New Years is over it's time to make the final push for the end of the semester.
This week we're still working on subtraction in math class. I think the extra work is starting to pay off, and the kids are starting to have a greater understanding of the concepts. In phonics class we've started working on vowel and consonant blends (ug, eg, ed, um, ut, ig, etc...) and started learning the long A sound. In reading class we read "Snakes" again for review and started the new story " Camping". In science class we talked about animals and their habitats. In art class we're going to make a winter craft. And finally in ESL and Tops we're going to study clothes.

All last week Aston talked about going on an airplane. Each day he would say that "tomorrow" he'll be going on an airplane. I was surprised when he went to Thailand. I hope he had a nice vacation.

Devon is getting excited for his birthday. He's been talking about it all week...

Kyle has been very good this week. He's also been in a happy mood everyday. He always has a big smile and is always eager to say " Hello!" to everyone.

Albert is doing very well in reading class. He still struggles a little bit with subtraction though.

Serena was very attentive and enthusiastic to learn this week!

Claire is getting very good at math! She always asks for difficult problems to solve when we're doing work on the white board, and she always answers them correctly!

Bonnie is getting better at addition and subtraction.

Eason has been behaving much better recently. He's really made an effort and it shows. I'm very proud of him!

Benson and Phil are always well behaved in class. They both do an excellent job on book work, however, they are still very quiet during class. I really hope to see them make more of an effort with their conversation skills and talk a little more in class.

Irene is doing well with phonics. I also think she's making steady improvements in reading as well.

Just a quick reminder that we'll have class on Saturday.....