Dear Parents,
We studied changes in the Earth this week in science class. They learned about how the Earth changes slowly, from erosion, and quickly, from earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes. It's kind of funny that the day after we studied earthquakes, Taiwan had a big earthquake near Kaohsiung. Maybe I should be more careful about what I teach to the students? They really enjoyed learning about these things and already have a good idea of what earthquakes are about. We will have a science test next week on this chapter about the weather and changes in the Earth.
For grammar the Aliens studied linking verbs (to be) and helping verbs. They also learned how to read charts and find out what information is on them.
The students took a vocabulary test today on the week 1 words and had some grammar questions too. They were given a new vocabulary list to write into their books for weekend homework.
Also for homework they are to do their Student Journals. We read the story 'Thomas Adams Invents Chewing Gum' about an inventor who first made the kind of chewing gum we still chew today. They are to read the story to parents, answer the questions, draw and color a picture about the story, and bring them back on Monday. I enjoy the creative pictures that students come up with.
Lasertag was fun as always last week. The kids really enjoy this outing. I was proud of Frank because he was really scared at first of playing, but I went in with him and he ended up having a terrific time! This Friday we will begin our elective classes. I will be teaching music class with Mr. B.
Have a wonderful weekend!
All the best,
Teacher Andy
Friday, March 5, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Welcome Back!!!
Happy New Year everyone!
I really hope everyone had a nice, safe, and relaxing holiday break. I traveled to Taidong, Kenting, and Xiao Liou Chou island, just south of Kaohsiung. We took time on the first day back for everyone to share what they did during the holiday, which was a great chance for the students to practice speaking in the past tense. Thanks to Irene, Phil, and Albert for bringing snacks to share with the class. Yummy!
Thanks also to the students who have been helping Carson get around the school. He hurt his foot early this week and seems to be getting better. I even had to pick him up a few times and carry him around.
The students learned about weather and the water cycle in science class. They also learned about extreme weather, like floods, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, and tornadoes.
We read a story called "Charlie Anderson" about two sisters who take care of a cat that appears out of the woods at their house. They feed the cat, it spends the night there, and leaves for the forest each morning. The sisters later learn that the cat has another home with a family that lives on the other side of the woods. The cat, Charlie Anderson, gets the joy of now having two families that love and take care of him. The sisters' parents are divorced and the father lives in the city with the stepmother while the kids live with their parents during the week in the country. I helped the students understand that even if the parents are divorced, it doesn't mean that anything is wrong with the kids.
Students were given new vocabulary to write in their book for homework this weekend. They also have to do their Student Journals. We read the story "An International Food Fair" together in class.
Today for Fun Day we will do one of the students' favorite activities - Lazertag!
I'm glad to have all the students back and ready to have another great semester together in Alien Class. Have a great weekend.
All the best,
Teacher Andy
I really hope everyone had a nice, safe, and relaxing holiday break. I traveled to Taidong, Kenting, and Xiao Liou Chou island, just south of Kaohsiung. We took time on the first day back for everyone to share what they did during the holiday, which was a great chance for the students to practice speaking in the past tense. Thanks to Irene, Phil, and Albert for bringing snacks to share with the class. Yummy!
Thanks also to the students who have been helping Carson get around the school. He hurt his foot early this week and seems to be getting better. I even had to pick him up a few times and carry him around.
The students learned about weather and the water cycle in science class. They also learned about extreme weather, like floods, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, and tornadoes.
We read a story called "Charlie Anderson" about two sisters who take care of a cat that appears out of the woods at their house. They feed the cat, it spends the night there, and leaves for the forest each morning. The sisters later learn that the cat has another home with a family that lives on the other side of the woods. The cat, Charlie Anderson, gets the joy of now having two families that love and take care of him. The sisters' parents are divorced and the father lives in the city with the stepmother while the kids live with their parents during the week in the country. I helped the students understand that even if the parents are divorced, it doesn't mean that anything is wrong with the kids.
Students were given new vocabulary to write in their book for homework this weekend. They also have to do their Student Journals. We read the story "An International Food Fair" together in class.
Today for Fun Day we will do one of the students' favorite activities - Lazertag!
I'm glad to have all the students back and ready to have another great semester together in Alien Class. Have a great weekend.
All the best,
Teacher Andy
Thursday, February 4, 2010
End Of The Semester!
Dear Parents,
The Alien class just finished its first semester together and now it it time for a nice Chinese New Year Holiday. Although I see some students were lucky and got to begin their vacations early! In our last week of the semester, the students learned about salt water habitats and how to take care of our Earth. I feel it is very important for these young students to be aware of how they can be very helpful in protecting our Earth. If they learn and practice this now, hopefully they will turn into wonderful and caring adults.
The students got to watch another "Planet Earth" DVD produced by the BBC about the shallow and deep seas. They really enjoy watching these amazing videos and learning more this way about topics we covered in class. We enjoyed some healthy snacks and orange juice while we watched the DVD too, yummy!
They also took a Unit Test and Mid-Term reading test. This covers the grammar and reading skills they have been developing throughout our first semester. Students who missed a lot of questions got to go back and find the answers on their own.
For Fun Day the students went to one of their favorite outings: ice skating! I hope no one is still hurting from that.
I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Chinese New Year holiday. This is a great time for everyone to relax some. See you in a few weeks, ready to begin a new semester together!
All the best,
Teacher Andy
The Alien class just finished its first semester together and now it it time for a nice Chinese New Year Holiday. Although I see some students were lucky and got to begin their vacations early! In our last week of the semester, the students learned about salt water habitats and how to take care of our Earth. I feel it is very important for these young students to be aware of how they can be very helpful in protecting our Earth. If they learn and practice this now, hopefully they will turn into wonderful and caring adults.
The students got to watch another "Planet Earth" DVD produced by the BBC about the shallow and deep seas. They really enjoy watching these amazing videos and learning more this way about topics we covered in class. We enjoyed some healthy snacks and orange juice while we watched the DVD too, yummy!
They also took a Unit Test and Mid-Term reading test. This covers the grammar and reading skills they have been developing throughout our first semester. Students who missed a lot of questions got to go back and find the answers on their own.
For Fun Day the students went to one of their favorite outings: ice skating! I hope no one is still hurting from that.
I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Chinese New Year holiday. This is a great time for everyone to relax some. See you in a few weeks, ready to begin a new semester together!
All the best,
Teacher Andy
Friday, January 22, 2010
Change for the Quarter
Dear Parents,
This week we read a story about American money, in particular, the quarter. "Change for the Quarter" talks about new designs that were printed on the 'tails' side of the coin. The new designs honor each of the 50 states. I showed them some of the special designs on quarters that I brought from USA. The students then had a chance to pick a quarter and then find the state on the map. I also showed them a one dollar bill, dime, nickel, and penny.
We talked about fresh water and salt water habitats in science. Each water habitat has it's own plants and animals that live there. On Friday we watched the BBC's "Planet Earth" DVD on fresh water habitats.
For grammar the students learned when to use the verbs have, has, and had.
The students will have a vocabulary test next week on week 20 vocabulary words, grammar, science (water habitats), and a reading test. It's the end of the semester so we have to wrap up our testing. We will do something fun for the last day of the semester too!
Thanks to the parents that returned the Progress Reports this week.
All the best and have a wonderful weekend!
Teacher Andy
Friday, January 15, 2010
New Classroom!!!
Dear Parents,
After weeks of loud noises and moving around tables and books, there is light at the end of the tunnel! Our Alien class has moved into our new classroom as part of the school's total makeover. We hope this will help make Tree House a more enjoyable learning environment for the students. Some of the students helped moved books and chairs to the new classroom and are excited to be in there.
This week we did lots of science! They have just finished learning about habitats so I showed them a wonderful educational video made by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) called "Planet Earth". The video is amazing and gives closer looks into the plants and animals that live in different habitats. Students who have been performing well in class and with vocabulary got to spend 2 classes watching this while others who have not been so good had to work more on vocabulary.
We also studied past tense verbs in grammar.
HOMEWORK THIS WEEKEND:
1) Student Journal- We read "Insect or Arachnid" in class together. Students are to read the book to parents, then answer the questions in their Student Journal in complete sentences, and draw a creative picture from the story.
2) Vocabulary- Students were given new words for Week 20. They are to write them in their vocabulary book.
3)Progress Reports- These were given to the students to take home and show their parents. Please sign your name and write any comments or feedback you would like to share. This is a great opportunity for us to all help the Aliens have a better learning experience here at Tree House. Have the students bring these back to me on Monday.
ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE ON MONDAY!
For Fun Day we will go to a night market. The weather is much warmer than earlier this week and I hope the students enjoy it.
Have a great weekend and all the best,
Teacher Andy
Friday, January 8, 2010
Happy New Year!!!
Dear Parents,
I'm back from USA and had a wonderful time there! I feel well rested and relaxed after the break and was happy to see all of The Aliens again. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! Teacher Jan said he enjoyed the class very much. Students sometimes have difficulty getting used to a new teacher and their way of teaching but I hope they enjoyed meeting Teacher Jan and having him for their teacher.
This week we read a folk tale from Laos called "Nine-in-One, Grr! Grr!" about a lonely tiger that goes to visit a wise god to find out how many cubs she will have. Tiger learns that she will have 9 cubs every year and all she has to do is remember that. She makes up a chant to help her remember and sings it as she walks. A clever black bird hears Tiger singing then distracts her so Tiger will forget. Bird then tells Tiger she was singing "One-in-Nine, Grr! Grr!" Bird was much smaller than Tiger, but because bird was so clever, she was able to help her and other animals stay safe from to many tigers.
In science we continued to learn about habitats. They learned about the arctic and what kind of plants and animals live there. We will watch a video next week about different habitats that I'm sure the students will enjoy and help them better understand life in different habitats.
We also reviewed the vocabulary they learned while I was away. We will take a vocabulary test on weeks 17 and 18 on Monday, so they are to study for that this weekend.
The school is getting a make-over and adding new classrooms to make a nicer learning environment for the students. Things have been pretty crazy and unusual for the kids with all of the work going on now, but the work is almost finished and we'll be in a new classroom very soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time as class arrangements and work may be unusual.
For Fun Day we will make New Year's resolutions. The new year is a good chance to start over, make a new beginning, and make changes for the better for the new year.
Detailed progress reports will go home with the students next week.
All the best,
Teacher Andy
I'm back from USA and had a wonderful time there! I feel well rested and relaxed after the break and was happy to see all of The Aliens again. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! Teacher Jan said he enjoyed the class very much. Students sometimes have difficulty getting used to a new teacher and their way of teaching but I hope they enjoyed meeting Teacher Jan and having him for their teacher.
This week we read a folk tale from Laos called "Nine-in-One, Grr! Grr!" about a lonely tiger that goes to visit a wise god to find out how many cubs she will have. Tiger learns that she will have 9 cubs every year and all she has to do is remember that. She makes up a chant to help her remember and sings it as she walks. A clever black bird hears Tiger singing then distracts her so Tiger will forget. Bird then tells Tiger she was singing "One-in-Nine, Grr! Grr!" Bird was much smaller than Tiger, but because bird was so clever, she was able to help her and other animals stay safe from to many tigers.
In science we continued to learn about habitats. They learned about the arctic and what kind of plants and animals live there. We will watch a video next week about different habitats that I'm sure the students will enjoy and help them better understand life in different habitats.
We also reviewed the vocabulary they learned while I was away. We will take a vocabulary test on weeks 17 and 18 on Monday, so they are to study for that this weekend.
The school is getting a make-over and adding new classrooms to make a nicer learning environment for the students. Things have been pretty crazy and unusual for the kids with all of the work going on now, but the work is almost finished and we'll be in a new classroom very soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time as class arrangements and work may be unusual.
For Fun Day we will make New Year's resolutions. The new year is a good chance to start over, make a new beginning, and make changes for the better for the new year.
Detailed progress reports will go home with the students next week.
All the best,
Teacher Andy
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Good Bye Tree House
Dear parents,
First of all I hope you had a great Christmas!!
Personally, I didn’t have the Christmas feeling that strong as at home in The Netherlands where it is a large celebration of two days, by a cold temperature of -15. For the first time since 1981 The Netherlands had official a “White Christmas” with 30 cm of snow.
So this was unfortunately my final week at the Tree House Academy, the two weeks has gone so fast, it’s been a great experience!
Teacher Andy will be back at the academy within the next a few days and take over his classes as usual.
Both classes did more less the same home work this week, on Monday we started with the story of “Best Wishes Ed” which was about a Penguin on the North Pole. Tuesday we did all the questions related to yesterday’s story of Ed the Penguin, plus we reviewed the vocabulary for the Thursday. Wednesday we did the grammar about “commas and present Tense Verbs”. On my last day of class on Thursday we did “Science Desert” we learned more about the desert, animals and plants. We did another story of Student Journal “Mina’s Day” the students were given three questions related to the story to be answered at home.
I would like to thank, The Tree House for this amazing teaching experience, all the children and other teachers for making me feel “at home” at the academy.
Wishing you all the best for 2010! with a lot and happiness and luck in the year of the tiger..
First of all I hope you had a great Christmas!!
Personally, I didn’t have the Christmas feeling that strong as at home in The Netherlands where it is a large celebration of two days, by a cold temperature of -15. For the first time since 1981 The Netherlands had official a “White Christmas” with 30 cm of snow.
So this was unfortunately my final week at the Tree House Academy, the two weeks has gone so fast, it’s been a great experience!
Teacher Andy will be back at the academy within the next a few days and take over his classes as usual.
Both classes did more less the same home work this week, on Monday we started with the story of “Best Wishes Ed” which was about a Penguin on the North Pole. Tuesday we did all the questions related to yesterday’s story of Ed the Penguin, plus we reviewed the vocabulary for the Thursday. Wednesday we did the grammar about “commas and present Tense Verbs”. On my last day of class on Thursday we did “Science Desert” we learned more about the desert, animals and plants. We did another story of Student Journal “Mina’s Day” the students were given three questions related to the story to be answered at home.
I would like to thank, The Tree House for this amazing teaching experience, all the children and other teachers for making me feel “at home” at the academy.
Wishing you all the best for 2010! with a lot and happiness and luck in the year of the tiger..
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