Teacher Scott's Polar Bears

2010-03-05T09:21:00.002+08:00

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

2010-02-26T09:09:00.007+08:00

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.

2010-02-12T13:34:00.002+08:00

February 12th

2010-02-12T08:58:00.003+08:00

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

2010-02-05T15:04:00.003+08:00

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.

2010-01-30T15:43:00.003+08:00

Hello

2010-01-28T14:44:00.004+08:00

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.....

2010-01-22T09:25:00.004+08:00

Hello,

On Monday this week we learned about solving number problems in math class. For example: (This number is less than 30. This number is more than 25. This number has a 6 in the ones place. It's 26)

On Tuesday we went to a nature reserve to learn about bugs, plants, and an assortment of other fun facts about outdoor life.

On Wednesday we continued working on the pinata we started last week. It's a slow process applying the paper mache, but I think once it's finished the kids will be proud of the hard work they put into such a large project. I also think they will be excited to the candy inside!
On Thursday we read the story " Peter's Chair" in reading class. We also started learning how to look up words in the glossary. Also we started learning how to answer questions from the reading using the reading books. The kids have continued writing questions and then used the book to write each answer.
On Friday we reviewed long and short o in phonics class.

photos

2010-01-15T16:25:00.003+08:00

2010-01-15T10:46:00.004+08:00

Hello everyone,
It's been a quiet but busy week in Polar Bear class...
This week we learned about long and short O sounds in Phonics class. in previous lessons we had been learning about beginning and ending sounds, this time around the students are learning about middle sounds.
In reading class we started a new story " The Lady in the Moon". (a nice story about Moon Festival) This time we tried something new; this was the first time the students wrote out questions and the answers. They were then allowed to use the text book to look up the answers to the questions and write them out in sentence form....They all did a great job!
In science class we continued studying about animals. This week we did a few fill in the blank exercises in the workbook to review the material and give the students some needed reading practice.
In math class we started learning about ordinal numbers ( 1st, 2nd, 3rd,first, second, third, etc...)
And finally this week we've all been working hard on making a paper mache pinata for art class...

2010-01-08T17:23:00.000+08:00

2010-01-08T16:48:00.002+08:00

It's been a hectic past few weeks, but we've finally moved back to our old classroom...if the kids reactions are any indication, it's been well worth the wait! Anyway, this week we read a new story in reading " The Dot" a cute story about a little girl that thought she didn't have any art ability, but through the motivation of her teacher she became a very gifted artist...the words in the story were pretty easy for the kids..I'm not sure the message was as easy, but I was pleasantly surprised when I asked the kids about the story. Most of them were able to understand. In math we started learning about odd and even numbers, and continued reviewing counting and number order. ( no problems here, everyone is doing great! ) In science we studied the 6 species ( mammals, insects, reptiles, birds, fish, and amphibians ) and their main characteristics, not to mention how to compare and contrast animal traits. And finally this week in phonics we reviewed learning about short u and long u by reading an assortment of words and choosing which u sound it would be.

Kyle is doing well. He's been doing well in all subjects, and has also been a huge help around the classroom.

Albert is doing great in reading and phonics, but he's really made huge improvements in math. He's doing great!

Irvin does well when he pays attention.He's been having a little trouble paying attention recently though.

Rain is doing very well. He's made constant improvements in all his classes, but has really excelled in reading. He's becoming a very good reader!

Devon has fallen behind the other kids a little bit in phonics. He used to do an excellent job, but seems to have lost confidence recently and seems to be struggling a bit where he once excelled.

Claire is a good worker and attentive listener who performs well in everything she undertakes

Estella is reading very smooth, and fluently. She also comprehends what she reads very well.

Hanna has a good attitude towards school and is working well in all subjects! Especially reading and phonics.

2010-01-03T23:37:00.002+08:00

Happy New Years!

2009-12-31T10:52:00.003+08:00

Happy New Years everyone,
This week we learned about about how many in math class. For example: 34 is about 30, or 58 is about 60. We also practiced counting to 300 by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's. For an added visual aid we put together 300 blocks to see just how long it would be. In reading class we started reading a new story, " Mister Bones-Dinosaur Hunter" in book 4. In science class we red about animals. We learned about what all animals need to survive, and how some animals are the same and how some are different. In grammar class we started studying verbs and reviewed nouns. And finally in art class we made firework paintings for New Years.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year...see everyone next year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:38:00.001+08:00

Merry Christmas!

Everyone has been doing a wonderful job this week in the Panda class….

On Monday morning we leaned about greater than, less than, and equals to in math class. This is review for most of the students, so everyone was able to pick it up pretty quickly. In the afternoon we went to the Far Eastern Hotel to see the large Christmas tree and the gingerbread house.

On Tuesday we went to the Taipei Discovery Center. The exhibits weren’t the interesting for the kids, but the movie at the Center was definitely worth the trip. A must see for any tourist visiting Taipei.

On Wednesday morning we reviewed different math concepts in math class (addition, subtraction, greater than, less than, and equal to) In the afternoon we started making Santa decorations in art class.

Thursday morning we watched A Shrek Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas for a little holiday treat…In the afternoon we finished the Santa Clause decorations in art class.

Albert has gotten much better at doing math. He’s able to pay attention more, and has done a very good job improving his addition and subtraction skills.

Kyle enjoyed seeing the Christmas decorations at the Far Eastern Hotel this past Monday.

Estella had trouble this week in math class. She usually does very well as long as she understands the concepts we’re studying; however, if the work is a little to challenging for her, she doesn’t try very hard to figure out how to solve the problem and always asks me to give her the answers…I’m trying very hard to get her to not give up so easily with challenging work, and I hope she can see that it can be very rewarding to figure things out with a little more effort.

Claire made a nice Santa Christmas decoration this week.

Rain has been doing very well with his class work.

I’d like to thank Irvin for the wonderful Christmas present!

Hanna is very thoughtful and helpful of the other students in class. She’s always very eager to offer help!

Devon is doing great…Keep up the good work, Devon!

Hello

2009-12-18T15:09:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone had an enjoyable time at the Tree House Christmas show. I'm very proud of the amazing job everyone did on Wednesday night. They all worked so hard, and I think their effort was clearly shown!

Now that the Christmas show is out of the way it's back to work...so far this week we practiced reading some old stories from week's past and started writing Christmas stories in writing class. In addition we also made snowmen in art class. For an added bonus we watched UP on Thursday. A few kids were a little frightened ( Estella ) but for the most part everyone had a wonderful time...

Estella has been much better this week about tattle talling. She's been more respectful of her classmates as well.

Kyle did a wonderful job on Wednesday. He used to be so shy on stage.... but he was very brave the other night

Claire is doing great! She's still very slow eating though...

Devon has been doing very well in class. He still needs to improve his reading skills though.

I hope Irvin has a nice vacation this weekend. We missed you this Friday!

Hanna made a great snowman on Friday. She's a very talented, creative girl.

Albert and Rain have been talking a lot in class. I've talked to the two of them many times, but they continue to talk. I hope they can be better next week.

Christmas Show

2009-12-18T13:18:00.002+08:00

2009-12-11T16:12:00.002+08:00

We have less than one week to go until the 2009 Tree House Christmas Extravaganza! In preparation for next weeks upcoming event we spent more time rehearsing this week. When we weren't singing and dancing, we also found some time to do a little classwork. On Monday we did a Christmas themed addition worksheet for a little math refresher.On Tuesday Estella, Kyle, and I made a Christmas wreath to hang on our classroom door.On Wednesday we re-read a few stories the kids read when I was on vacation, and also watched the cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. On Thursday we learned about proper nouns in grammar class, and finally on Friday the kids did phonics and practiced writing original sentences without my assistance. I was pleasantly surprised how well they did!
I look forward to seeing everyone next Wednesday!

Claire has been doing very well in class, unfortunately she's been incredibly slow eating lunch this week.

Kyle has been good ( as usual ) His writing is improving, and he was able to write some creative sentences on Friday. He's doing an excellent job. way to go, Kyle!!!

Rain has been very sensetive to the other kids recently. He's cried a few times this week because he was fighting with Albert and/or Devon. The three of them are very close friends but thet are very jealous of each other if one of them isn't getting as much attention as the other two.
We had a long talk the other day, so hopefully things will be better next week.

Irvin has been a little naughty this week. He's been very slow doing his classwork, and he has also developed a bad habit of talking back to me and the other students. I've tried to talk to him about this and I really hope he will stop doing this as soon as possible.

Albert had a fun time watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Estella hasn't been behaving very well recently. She has been very rude and has also been talking back to me as well. She's shown a lot of attitude and will choose to argue and question me over almost anything I ask her to do. She's also been tattle taling on the other kids. I've tried to talk to her about not worrying about other students...hopefully she can behave better next week.

Hanna is doing great! Her handwriting is improving, she's able to read very well, and she has also done very well with her writing.

Devon has been doing well. He still needs to work a little bit harder on writing sentences though.

My trip home....

2009-12-04T12:31:00.003+08:00

Hello everyone,
I missed everyone during my vacation....It was nice to go home for Thanksgiving, but ti's also nice to be back. I can't believe I left a little bit after Halloween and it's already time for Christmas! We've been hard at work preparing for this year's Christmas show on December 16th...it's been a fun-filled, jam-packed week of rehearsal, rehearsal, and rehearsal. It's nice to see how much they have all improved in such a short time. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the show!

I'd like to share a few photos from my trip....

The Empire State Building

The Empire State Building at night

Cupcakes...cupcakes, and more cupcakes

Candy galore

A Huge Ben 10 poster for all the boys...

..and a huge dinosaur

Thanksgiving turkey, fresh out of the oven...

..and ready to eat!

Me and my grandmother

my dog

and Santa Clause!

2009-11-27T16:38:00.013+08:00

Dear Parents,

On Tuesday this week, we visited the police and fire station. The children had a great time as the policemen and firemen generously showed us their work place, and the necessary tools and equipments they use daily or when they have duties. The policemen showed the children their guns, handcuffs, etc. and have us pass them around for each child to hold and feel and explore them. The children were impressed with them and all wanted to have a chance to wear the bullet proof vest. At the fire station, the firemen demonstrated how to use the oxygen mask, and showed us the ambulance and water hose, etc. The children were all very excited and at the end, they all gave the firemen a big warm hug. They all enjoyed the trip.

On Thursday, the children had a turkey meal with mashed potatoes, salad, toast bread to celebrate Thanksgiving day. We had the meal outdoor by the tree house, and all of them were wearing the turkey hats we made at school.

This week for classes,

Mathematics - we learned the meaning of digits, ones digits and tens digits. Each student learnt them quickly and knew the definition of it when I asked them individually. For reading, we learnt about "Community in Nature", we learnt about bees and bee hives. For science, we learnt about "mammals" - a group of animals with hair or fur, and that we as human are all mammals too. For phonics, we reviewed the high frequency words from last week, and did a crossword puzzle. For grammar, we leanrt the meaning of "statement" - it's a sentence that tells something, and starts with a capital letter and ends with a period.

As Christmas is approaching, our class used up alot of class time to prepare for our Christmas show and dance, children have to memorize their lines from the script, and also the song lyrics. I am glad that we are progressing.

This week,

Irvin - He is quite active this week, and he likes to talk and play with his classmates. He likes to read story book.

Devon - He is playful and he also likes to participate in class. He is friendly to his classmates.

Hanna - She is diligent and she does her work nicely, and she takes her work seriously.

Kyle - He has been good, and when he does his work, he concentrates well.

Albert - He is active and sensitive, he likes to read story book, and works faster than his classmates.

Claire - She eats and sleeps well. She is obedient, and likes to read story book aloud.

Rain - In class, he has been talkative. He likes to participate, and he does his work nicely.

Estella - She is independent, and she likes to help teacher in doing tasks. She likes to play with her classmates, especially her friend in the baby class.

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Jennifer

2009-11-20T16:18:00.017+08:00

Dear parents,

This week went by quickly. We continued to learn the concepts of tens and ones in math class, and worked on math worksheets on subtractions. Most students got the answers all right! For science, we learnt how animals are alike and different, and for grammar class, we learnt about Irregular plural Nouns. Every student is a quick learner. They did their workbooks on grammar themselves and didn't really need teacher's help. For Tops, we played a game with the meaning of "behind", "next to", and "above", which we had gone over last week. For phonics, we learnt some high-frequency words like, "would", "because", "under", "good", "sure", etc. Because Thanksgiving is approaching, we read a story about it and wrote a few sentences on who we want to thank on this special day. We made Thanksgiving turkey hats. Also, we are going to visit the firemen next week and thank them for saving lives.

For this week,

Devon - He seems to take his work seriously, and he concentrates pretty well.

Hanna - Although most of the time she seems quiet and reserved, when she has a question, she is not shy to ask teachers.

Kyle - He likes to share ideas and thoughts with his classmates, and he enjoys playing with them.

Irvin - He does his work slower this week perhaps because he has a cold; he sleeps well during nap time.

Estella - During playtime, she enjoys playing with her classmates and students from other classes, she likes to help other classmates with their work.

Claire - She told me her birthday was on Wednesday, so everyone in class sang a birthday song for her. She gets along well with her classmates.

Albert - He has been very active and talkative in class. He does his work nicely.

Rain - He is talkative in class. At lunch time, he is often the first one to finish eating.

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Jennifer

2009-11-13T19:53:00.015+08:00

Hi everyone, you may not know me that well yet, but days after days, you eventually will. I am teacher Jennifer. I love children and feel joyful to see them everyday. I substituted teacher Scott's class for the past two days. Above I posted a few pictures from the trip to the TV station, and some others.

When students come to class in the morning, we did some stretching and exercising. We worked on math skills, and learned what are tens and ones. Also, we did the Tops books, and the meanings of "next to", "above", and "behind". We also did the phonics and science workbooks.

I am glad to know every student. Each student is unique, active, and friendly.

Estella - She is a great helper, she would sometimes act like a big sister to help others in class.

Claire - She is sweet and gets along with everyone, and she does her work nicely.

Devon - He cares alot about friendship, and often tells his classmates that they are good friends.

Albert - He is active in class, and does his work fast as he knows most of them. He is clever and adorable.

Hanna - She is quiet, but she also helps her classmates, and she is creative.

Kyle - He likes to answer questions, and he is good in math.

Rain - He cares alot about friendship and what others think of him. He is lovely and sweet, and likes to share with others.

Irvin - He is caring and thoughtful, he gets along with everyone, and he is observant.

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Jennifer

Halloween Photos

2009-11-07T11:03:00.002+08:00

Hi!

2009-11-06T08:18:00.007+08:00

Hi everyone,

Well, Halloween is finally over and we've now settled down and gotten back to work.

( Next up: Thanksgiving and Christmas! )

In math class we're still learning about subtraction and addition.Slowly but surly the kids are all gaining more confidence with their math skills. We also reviewed counting by 1's, 2's,5's, and 10's.

In reading we read the story "The Big Circle" as well as re-read the stories "Who Works Here?, and "The Farmer in the Hat".

In Phonics we're learning about rhyming words, as well as spelling of common English words. In addition we've been practicing listening for the beginning, middle, and end sounds of each word and how to spell them accordingly.We've also been learning about putting words into alphabetical order. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly all the kids picked this up.

On Friday we were fortunate to have nice weather do we went to the park for PE class.

I would like to thank all the parents for coming in this week for the teacher-parent conferences. It was very nice to have the time to discuss each of the kids and show off their hard work to each of you. They all try very hard each day, and it's very rewarding to see their continued progress.

One final reminder...I will be going back home to the United States this coming Thursday
( November 12th ) to visit my parents and celebrate Thanksgiving with them for the first time in nine years. While I'm away Teacher Jennifer will be teaching my class. She has already met all the kids and they have already forgotten about me....I'll be back to Taiwan and the Polar Bear Class on Tuesday, December 1st....see you all soon!

Photos

2009-10-24T13:13:00.003+08:00