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.