The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. Dr. Seuss
讀萬卷書，行萬里路
September 21-25
Transitional Kindergarten
Chinese: This week in Chinese class, we reviewed previous lessons and read 你幾歲? How old are you? We learned to say the greetings, 你好, 早安...etc.
In Math, we learned to count number 1-100 in Mandarin. We also practice writing the numbers.
In Chinese culture, we learned about the legend about the Moon Festival. To celebrate the Moon Festival, we made 燈籠 lantern and 月餅 mooncake. Our mooncakes were yummy!
English: Students practice the "an" family words this week. They have learned to blend sounds together by sounding out the first letter of each words and by adding "an" to the end to put the words together. Students worked on many "an" words activities as well.
Art: Fall is now here, so we kicked off art this week by getting our hands messy! Students used their handprints as their trees. They made nice red and yellow apples on their trees and became creative by putting some on the ground and even making it look like if they are falling off the trees.
The students enjoy picking up leaves off the playground and collecting them. Therefore, we decided to continue art that relates to our tree activities. Students used crayons to trace leaves and worked on it as a group. They collaborated all their leaves on the paper and outlined them together. Later, we expanded by using watercolor paint and made leaves ourselves. After, we cut them out and made a fall wreath to hang on our classroom door. Then the students decided to put our extra leaves around the door.
Science: For science, students made fizzling dough. Students learned that vinegar and baking soda are best friends when it comes to experiments.
Kindergarten
Chinese: This week in kinder, we reviewed words for assessment at school. We practiced daily conversations discussing activities at home, weather, dates and children's feeling. We then sang and danced Tang Shi. The new poem that we sang was 紅豆 Red Bean by 王維 Wang Wei. We also sang the new pop song, 我愛洗澡 by 范曉萱.
For Chinese culture, we did Chinese calligraphy writing 花好月圓 which literally mean the time when the flowers bloom and the moon is round. We then moved on to draw the Jade Rabbit on the big and round moon.
English: We worked on the initial sounds: p, r, k, j, q, anf v and the final sounds v, and x. On Friday, we did journal on the topic, My Favorite Animals. and cat topped our list.
First Grade
Chinese: We read the story 中中教中文 from our textbook. The story illustrated the pronunciation in Mandarin could be tricky sometimes. We then practiced Chinese words for identification and writing assessment. The best part in Mandarin class was singing. This time we sang a new song,我愛洗澡 I Love Showering.
For Chinese culture, we drew the Jade Rabbit. It was fun drawing. Our Jade Rabbits looked so cool.
English: We read a historical fiction, The Cable Car is Coming! The selection reminded me about riding on the San Francisco cable car. We discussed the key words and practiced using them on sentences. On Friday, we wrote about our favorite animals.
Second Grade
Chinese: The key skills for this week: to make phrases using vocabulary we learned. We read the story, 薔薇花 and completed the story map to identify the characters, setting, problem, and the ending of the story. In addition, we moved on to a new lesson in our Mei Zhou textbook. Most importantly, we will put effort in preparing for vocabulary test at upcoming assessment at the school
For Chinese culture, we drew the 玉兔 The Jade Rabbit. We wish everyone a happy Moon Festival!
English: This week we began Unit 2. We read a magazine article, Driving on route 66. We paid attention to the highlighted words and used them in sentences.
Third/Fourth Grade
Chinese: This week we read the story 你們都是天才. The story was about children talking about how Chinese words were formed. We then continued to read 我是一個紅蘋果 and use the key words in sentences. Most importantly, we worked on the intonation and technique in read aloud.
For Chinese culture, we drew the Jade Rabbit 玉兔. Wish you a happy Moon Festival.
English: We began reading Unit 2, Sybil Ludington's Ride. The selection is a historical nonfiction. Sybil Ludington was a hero of the American Revolution who made a midnight ride to warn Maerican patriots. We paid attention to the highlighted words and used them in sentences.
September 14-18
Transitional Kindergarten
Chinese: This week in Chinese class, we read 我愛我的家 and 這是誰?
We learned to write Chinese calligraphy. We wrote the words 大, 小, 人. For oral language, we learned to say polite sayings, such as, 對不起, 沒關係, 謝謝你, 加油! We also learned to count to 50 in Chinese! Yet, the most fun part is to sing and dance to tunes of 小蘋果 and 北京歡迎你!
Art: This week is all about the fishes! Students worked on building an aquarium. The next art project the class worked on was a fishbowl. We used goldfishes (yes, the snack) for our fishbowl!
English: This week story is called, “A Lot of Fan”. Students enjoyed reading the book and thought it was funny! They continue to learn how to sound out unknown words through phonics.
Science: In science, the class learned that oil and water does not mix. They were surprise when the bottle would be shaken up and stayed unmixed. The class enjoys watching oil and water turn into a lava lamp!
Kindergarten
Chinese: We reviewed previous lessons and moved on to the lesson, 一年有幾個月? How many months in a year? From the lesson, we learned to write 大 and 小 and identify the characters 手, 上, 中, 下. It was fun to learn these characters playing catching the turtles
For Chinese culture, we learned to say the Minion in Chinese 小黃人 which literally meant the yellow man. The best part is we got to draw our favorite Minion!
English: We worked on the initial sounds: l, d, c, n, g and the final sounds l, d, n, g. We also reviewed and did an assessment on the initial sounds on t, m, h and final sounds on f, t, s and b. On Friday, we did journal on the topic, My Favorite Color. In our writing, we focused on finger space and the ending period.
First Grade
Chinese: We worked on the words, 把, 又 and 合 in lesson 1. We reread the lesson, 倉頡造字 for fluency. Most importantly, we practiced the characters for the assessment at our school with flashcards and the shooting game.
For Chinese culture, we drew the Minion. Our enjoyed drawing the Minion the best!
English: We completed unit 1. We read the story, All Gone and answered the questions using the context clues for the key words: dash, brave, went by and greedy. On Friday
Second Grade
Chinese: The key skills for this week: to identify characters, use the words in appropriate context and to follow stroke orders. We read the story, 獅子和蚊子 and completed the story map to identify the characters, setting, problem, and the ending of the story.
For Chinese culture, we drew the Minion. Our minion looked so different but they were so cool!
English: This week we wrapped up Unit 1 by working the words with multiple meanings such as bound, tire and store. We also worked on words associated with taste, bitter, bland, and spicy to classify food and complete sentences.
Third/Fourth Grade
Chinese: This week we continued to focus on reading for fluency. We worked on the intonation and technique in read aloud.learned to enrich our vocabulary through radicals and to retain these vocabulary through using them in different combination of phrases. For examples, 試can be used as 考試, 試一試, 試試看...etc.
For Chinese culture, we got to take a break from doing class work and relax a little bit before doing academic work. It was quite refreshing drawing the Minion.
English: We completed Unit 1 by wrappying the Word Study, using a dictionary for multiple meaning words, such as coat, uniform, drill, and veteran. We also worked on simile and apply them in sentences. These similes were as hungry as a bear, as sweet as honey, like a deer caught in the headlights, like a snail, like a fish out of water...etc.
Third/Fourth Grade
Chinese: Our third/fourth graders recited the poem 太陽的話. We made improvement on the tone and accent. We learned the differences between 的 and 地 enriching our vocabulary.
In Chinese culture, we drew a scene of Houyi shooting the suns. The art was difficult than it looked. Yet, we enjoyed doing it.
English: In English this week, we read a Russian folk tale and found out that why bear sleeps so much! While we were familiar with some of the key words, we were not quite sure of some key words such as scuffle, solitary, and blunder.
September 7-11
First Grade
Chinese: Our first graders reviewed lesson 1, 倉頡造字. We practiced writing the characters in the lesson, 牛, 馬, 鳥, 魚,名, 字 and practiced the characters that were given for trimester one assessment. Most importantly, we practiced oral skills answering questions using complete sentences.
For Chinese culture, we learned about the legend and drew Houyi Shooting the Suns后羿射箭.
English: In English this week, we reread the story, A Sudden Storm. We went over the key words, identifying the meaning and matching the meaning of the key words. On Friday, we did a free write for our journal.
Kindergarten
Chinese: Our kindergartners reviewed lesson 1, 上山找老虎 and 我的朋友在哪裡? Then we moved on to lesson 2, 一棵樹上十樣果. In the lesson, we talked about different kinds of fruits growing in a tree. We continued to practice the numbers one to ten and added hundred 百 and thousand 千.
For Chinese culture, we got to meet Houyi 后羿. Once there were ten suns in the sky. Houyi shot down nine suns and the earth became cooler. The legend was interesting. However, we loved drawing Houyi shooting down the suns even better.
English: In English this week, we learned the initial sounds, l and d. We were able to identify these two sounds in two selections. On Friday, we did a free write and that was the best of all.
Transitional Kindergarten
Chinese: Our TK learned to sing and dance to the tunes of the cute songs: 我的朋友在哪裡? 你的名字叫什麼? We learned to write numbers 1 to 10 and the characters 大.
Arts: Our TK started off this week with a fun art project! Who doesn’t love Disney characters, right? We definitely enjoyed making Eeyore from “Winnie the Pooh”. The next art project we did was “A for Apple”. The children enjoyed having apples for snacks! With lots of love for Apples, we loved working on this project.
English: This week story is called, “Lill, Matt, Tim”. We practiced many vocabulary words, such as - I, him, mitt, it, in, pal. The students recognized twin consonant: -itt and -att. Further, they learned to sound out words with emphasis on the ending sounds.
Science: This week for science, we decided to give the “Color Changing Milk” experiment a little twist. First, we explore the different effects of food coloring and the various types of milk we drink on a daily basis. We used, half & half and fat free milk to show us. The children learned that milk contains fat and protein. With that in mind, the food coloring and dish soap shows us the molecule of fat bend, rolls, and twist. After using the milk to show the effect, we decided to create a science art project using glue. The glue represents the milk and the children enjoy watching it again and were allowed to take it home. With lots of exciting feeling left behind from the previous science experiment we did on milk, this week, we created “flubber”. The children were entertained and wondered how liquid can suddenly turn into flubber! They were amazed on what chemical reaction can do.
Second Grade
Chinese: Our second graders read the story 寫字很有用. The story is about the worm wanting to send a message to the ant but couldn't because it doesn't know how to write. The story teaches us that it is important to learn to write. We then worked on the correct stroke rules, left to right左到右 and top to bottom 上到下 and practiced dictation for characters that will be tested next week.
In Chinese culture, we drew Houyi 后羿, the famous legendary figure who was well known by Chinese. We loved our art work!
English: In English this week, we read an Aesop Fable, The Fox and the Grapes. The moral of the story is to teach us that do not want what you cannot get. We defined the key words in the story and then worked on identifying the synonyms and antonyms.
August 31-September 1
Transitional Kindergarten
Chinese: Our TK learned to count in Mandarin up to ten and write Chinese numbers. We also sing the number song, 一二三四五. We listened to the moon lady story and drew the moon lady. In math, we did addition. We will continue to work on addition facts next week.
English: This week, we practiced reading “An Ant Got on Top”. They practiced beginning and ending sounds that helped them sound out words they did not know. They were able to read the whole book.They also got a copy of the book to take home to read.
Science: Elephant Toothpaste. TK explore the meaning of Chemical Reactions. Science is fun because we got to do experiment!
Kindergarten
Chinese: We learned the lessons, 上山打老虎 and 我的朋友在哪裡? From both lessons, we learned to write the numbers in Chinese. We also learned to make phrases with these numbers. In addition, we sang the Tang poem, 登鸛雀樓 and the cute song, 小蘋果.
For Chinese culture, we learned about moon festival and drew the moon lady. Our moon ladies look different but all of them look so pretty!
English: We worked on initial sounds, b, h, t, s. We began to sound out words that begin with these initial sounds. On Friday, we did free writing on our journal and that was the best part of the week!
First Grade
Chinese: We began our lesson by reviewing words that will be tested at the school. We then moved on to lesson 1, 倉頡造字. We learned that Cang Jie 倉頡 invented Chinese characters about 5000 years ago. The characters are based on pictures. For examples, 山 looks like the mountains, 日 looks like the sun...etc. The best part we liked about the class was that we got to know each others!
For Chinese culture, we learned about the moon lady and her friend the Jade Rabbit. We drew the moon lady and we were proud of our art work!
English: We began with our Vocabulary Workshop. We read the realistic fiction. From the story, we learned the key words: branch, brave, dash,..etc.
We will continue to work with these word next week.
Second Grade
Chinese: We were happy to see our classmates again! This week we reviewed first grade characters and jumped right into the first lesson, 王小毛看報紙. The lesson illustrated how Chinese characters are sometimes look funny. The boy in the story wondered why the number three 三 stand up as in 川. The word 川 means river which is totally different from the number three 三. We then discussed about others interesting characters.
In Chinese culture, we learned about The Moon Lady Flying into the Moon 嫦娥奔月. Our moon ladies look fantastic!
English: We worked on our homework from school. We will need to work faster and be responsible with our homework.
Third/Fourth Grade
Chinese: We worked on our homework for the first three days. We realized that the amount of homework is much more than in the previous years. After finished with homework from the school, we began to read the selection, 字的對話. We will go in dept next week!
In Chinese culture, we drew the moon lady flying in the night with the full moon on the background. We were happy that our moon ladies are realistic and pretty!
English: We read the Atalanta the Huntress. We worked on finding evidence to support each character's feeling, qualities and motivations to explain how he or she acts. This was a tougher text but we enjoyed helping each other through the tasks.