Week 5 Transformers Class!!

Reading:
We read "Seal's Journey" - talking about the incredible journey that Harp Seals take every year to reproduce. To relate to the story I also talked about the seal hunt that goes on around the world (Ex: Canada) and why it is cruel to wear any type of animal products. I tried to bring in the issue of animal cruelty and introduce the topic to the kids. We also read the short article "The Amazing Traveling Tern".

Related workbook and grammar book were also completed - grammar focused on conjunctions and complex conjunctions.

Science:
This week's unit focused on "Changes in the Ecosystem". We talked about how ecosystems can be caused naturally and how humans contribute to these changes as well. I explained ecological footprint and carbon footprint and had the students go home to look up their own contribution to pollution in our society. In class we did a web brainstorming of how our society adds to the pollution in Taiwan and how we can help to conserve more resources.

We also completed the corresponding Science workbook in class and made corrections.

Writing:
I had the students do an "Interview Essay". I put the students in to pairs and they had to interview the other student. The topic was "Which city do you want to live in and why". The students had to write in third person format and had a time constraint. This teaches the kids to work under a certain deadline and learn to focus under pressure.

Vocabulary:
We also learned new vocabulary this week. I did not give very much vocabulary this week because next week we will have a Week 1-6 vocabulary test. The students know this already and should be already studying for it.

P.S. I've written sentences on the vocabulary sheets as examples, the students should not just change a word or two when making sentences. They should try to make up an original sentence using the chosen word.

Song:
This week we learned a new song called "Mirror, Mirror". The song talks about a person regretting what she did and hoping that she had done things differently.

Take Home Reader:
For homework, the students have to read the take home reader "Lois and Clark" and answer the corresponding questions. Due next Wednesday.

Video: This week I also brought in a 28 minute video made by "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" (PETA). The short film talks about how animals are just like us and that we should treat them with respect. I chose to show this video this week because it relates to our story reading.

Passport:
Student passports were given out this week. This can not be lost and should be brought back to every class! If parents have any questions, please feel free to call the school and I would be happy to speak with you!

Also, I would like the parents to know that at Tree House, learning doesn't just happen when the teacher is lecturing. Much of the learning also come from discussions, workbooks, making corrections, writing, interactions etc. I hope you understand I try to incorporate a variety of teaching methods to achieve the greatest outcome.

Individual Comments:

Class A:

Livia: This week Livia handed in her student journal late, but she did a good job with it. It was creative and she was the only one who got an A grade in the writing. Her vocabulary sentences were great as well and I love how she will write more than one sentence for each word. That shows she's willing to learn and push herself to achieve more. She's a quick thinker, even if she's not sure about the answer to a question, she is able to connect the dots and make a logical conclusion.

Jay: Jay can be a good writer but he needs to follow the writing criteria!! When I want at least 8 sentences he'll write only 7. Jay needs to be careful with punctuation marks when doing his work book and write nicer!! His vocabulary sentences were illegible!! Jay has improved a lot though, working faster and doing better work. Jay also needs to learn his song lyrics and practice reading at home. His reading tempo and tone needs to improve. Jay seems always tired in class, he needs to be more focused.

Belinda: Belinda is a great drawer and pretty good at writing but should try to be a bit more creative. She needs to watch her spelling errors and follow the writing criteria! I am very happy that Belinda is so much more focused in class now. I am proud of her for doing so. Her work ethics has definitely improved. She is always willing to participate in discussions and express her opinions.

Ryan: Ryan's writing has to improve. I got him to re-write his sentences in class. Next time I will have no choice but to get him to re-write the whole thing. This is part of the learning process. He has more down time than other students partly because of this. He needs to learn to write nicely like Livia and Belinda. He also needs to follow the writing criteria I give him. I feel he tries to compete to be the first one to finish work and therefore not do the best that he could. His vocabulary sentences are still very good and continues to impress me. Ryan definitely has a lot of knowledge in his head!

Class B:

Brian: Brian needs to watch his punctuations marks and capital letters!! These are basically careless mistakes that he is making. He also needs to watch the use of tenses (he often gets future and past tenses mixed up). Brian is however a very serious worker and really smart. He can think quickly and able to answer questions well!

Sydney: Sydney is a good reader and fast worker. However, sometimes when she gets too excited she can lose her attention. Sydney needs to put more effort in to her creative writing and take it more seriously. She also needs to practice verbally asking questions and answering questions in class.

Tiger: Tiger needs to practice reading at home. He is stutters a bit when he reads, which may be the result of not looking ahead at the words. Tiger pays a lot more attention now and I am very proud of him!! He concentrates and seems engaged in the lesson. Tiger is good at thinking of questions to ask and is a quick learner.

Richard: Richard needs to practice reading at home as well. He needs to be more expressive when he reads and needs to stop at punctuation marks. Richard's biggest problem is that he likes to joke around in class. This distracts other students and also interrupts the class. He needs to practice better time management skills and also not make careless errors when writing his work books. However, I am proud of Richard for beginning to finish his work on time!

Fun Day: Pin Pong! :)

Below is a video of the 2 classes singing last week's song "Beauty in Ugly" - Jason Mraz.