Jaguar Class

Hello Jaguar Family,

This week was another busy week for the class, this week we:

Science book: Read about plants and the parts that are involved in a their growth.

Phonics: We reviewed the prior consonants and high frequency words.

Song: We sang Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Individual comments:

Yo-Yo was out for half the week, but he was behaving very well when he was in class. He clearly enjoys sciences and I am glad to see him getting back to his hard working self.

Andrew did decent with the phonics this week, but it took him quite a bit longer with the science. I will have to spend a little extra time to get him up with the rest of the class, but that wont be a problem.


Irene had a lot of challenges with understanding the concepts, but like most of the others she stayed focused and was able to do all the science written by her self, and most of it was error free!

Gwen enjoyed the plant part of science this week. She got most of the vocabulary already on the first day! Sorry I was unable to give her a new book this week, I will be sure to next week.


Timmy had a few problems at first with the science, but he stayed concentrated the whole week and by the end of it, was able to understand everything.

Tony was behaving exemplary. He was participating a lot and did all his work with minor problems along the way. He was more independent than weeks prior and hes continuing to improve!

Julia had some challenges with the science, but she kept a great attitude and put in a lot of effort.

Leo was gone most of the week, he has quite a bit to catch up on!

Devon was misbehaving all week, he needs to make sure he keeps paying attention at all times.

-T. Jason

Reading
We read over "The Vet."

Phonics
We went over the W,Z, and R consonants.

English Second Language Book
We finished the second week of the chapter on "learning."


Student comments:


Yo-Yo was doing well with memorizing the content as usual, but his writing speed was incredibly slow this week. I had to have a serious talk, since I haven't seen him this distracted since early on in the semester.

Andrew was leader again and he really shines in the role. He also did well with his work, he just needs to make sure to enunciate his words more clearly.
Irene

Gwen was leader for the girls this week. This is where shes most confortable, since she enjoys talking and helping boost other peoples spirits. This is a constructive way for her to speak out and I am glad she enjoys it!

Timmy spoke quite a bit more vocal this week, I hope he realized how advantageous voicing his problems can be.

Tony as a whole was good this week. However with his written, he did try to get me to give him the answers before really trying it himself. He just needs to keep pushing himself!

Julia was sick for monday but caught up on what she missed quickly. Also, She excelled in the mapping concept we learned!

Leo had a few troubles with how to use a map properly. But after a little explanation, he was able to understand and soon was actually assisting me on helping students with questions regarding the topic.

Devon was behaving better this week. He finished a lot of his written work done, without me having to say it many times. Hope the trend continues!

-T. Jason

Science
This is the start of the new part of our curriculum. So, this week I evaluated the kids on this new style of reading, though this new book is challenging, I believe we are ready to make science part of our weekly agenda!

Phonics
We went over J and B Consonants and high frequency words.
Science book

Song
"Better Together" by Jack Johnson. Shows simple metaphors and a very soft melody.

Student comments:
We started our next unit on Learning. We started discussing what is learning and how we can learn faster. This was a more difficult chapter, since the concept is more abstract, but the students are continuing through with stride.

Yo-Yo loved the addition of the science book to our curriculum. But, he did again repeat some behavioral problems, so he was not able to do the extra curricular activity at the end of Thursday lesson.

Andrew was exceptional this week. This is his first week as the role of leader of the class, and I am happy to say he was a great example!

Irene is now consistently improving in not only her behavior but also in her reading. Great job Irene.

Gwen didn't have a hard time adjusting to the science styled reading.

Hanna as always did great with most of her work, but behaviorally speaking she was a bit naughty. she wasn't as focused this week causing her to have a harder time with some of the science vocabulary.

Timmy was awesome, he understood all the new science vocabulary with ease. He also

Tony was a bit distracted this week. I had to tell him several times to get on the right page, so I will be keeping a better eye on him next week.

Julia I hope you feel better. You did great as the female leader this week, and hope to see you on Monday.

Leo was superb this week. He enjoyed the science reading even though it was a lot more challenging than the material he was previously reading.

Devon was misbehaving this week, he wasn't following directions on Thursday so he was not allowed to do any of the extra activities.

-T. Jason

Hello Jaguar Parents!

This week we covered,

What we did this week was:

Reading
We read "What bug is it" which was their first introduction to more scientific reading.

Phonics
We went over ll sound with the combination of different vowel sounds.

ESL book
We started our next unit on Learning. We started discussing what is learning and how we can learn faster. This was a more difficult chapter, since the concept is more abstract, but the students are continuing through with stride.

Yo-Yo
Did great with class assignment but this week he had a few behavioral backlashes. I talked to him on Thursday, and will be making sure he continues to improve!

Andrew
Had difficulty with some of the questions on how we learn outside of the school but we will be continuing next week and I will be sure to go over last weeks material with him.

Irene did a lot better this week. She was eager to read out loud and did most of her written perfectly.

Gwen had some trouble with the reading we started this week. We will be going over more of the new vocabulary next week which I believe will help.

Hanna was struggling with some of the writing for the reading comprehension. This is good because before, she was just breezing through most of the material. Now that she has a challenge, I feel she will be pushing harder in order to reach the next threshold in her learning!

Timmy like other students had a bit of a hard time doing some of the reading. We will be reviewing the story again tomorrow to make sure everyone is caught up.

Tony did well with understanding the story, which is good since it was quite difficult. The only thing was he again persisted for help on many of the written questions, when in fact he already knew the answers.

Julia understood the phonics quickly and did a fantastic job breaking down the new vocab words. She pronounced every new word exceptionally well!

Leo was one of the few that excelled in reading the new story this week. His reading skills are really coming along well!

Devon is paying better attention to reading and participating a lot more!

Well hope everyone has a great weekend.
-T. Jason

Hello Jaguar Parents!

Another week is done and it was another thrilling one for the always awesome Jaguar Class.

This week we completed:

Reading
After we finished "Splash!" reading comprehension homework, I decided we needed to have a little change of pace. So this week we tried something different, I taught the kids about how to read and use simple recipes! This included not only the usual reading activities but also, on Thursday we made cookies! This gave the children a hands on understanding of a new form of reading and I think its obvious they loved it.

Phonics
F, C and N consonants

Student Comments

Yo-Yo did well this week. He understood the recipe concept pretty quickly and definitely enjoyed the experience of making the cookies himself. He did however was a bit antsy and ended up falling out of his chair. I think after the experience and a little couching, he now understands why I ask that each student sit properly at all times. Sometimes I suppose you just have to live and learn!

Andrew was working hard this week and for that reason was one of the main helpers in the cookie making day. His reading is improving daily, he just needs to keep absorbing more and more vocabulary.

Irene continued with a good stride this week. She knew how to work with rhymes quicker than most students, which showed me that she can easily succeed if she puts her focus on any concepts.

Gwen again was great with being a student helper and I am glad that she enjoys the responsibility. She however still is talking a bit too frequently so I had to have a serious sit down and talk to her about it.

Hanna is exceptional when it comes to classwork and the face she made when I told them were making cookies was priceless!

Timmy as always was well behaved. He understood the concept of recipe and I know for a fact he loved the cookie and milk experience. Considering the fact that there was chocolate all over his face afterward!

Tony Loved this week. This week he did all the written homework on his own which is a big step in the right direction.

Julia had a few problems this week but I could tell she really learned from what happened. I hope she always remembers this lesson "Cheaters never prosper!" She is a good girl and I think this was a slip up.

Leo was out for half the week again which was a shame. Because I wish he had a chance to do some of the extra activities like the cookie making which I feel makes the class feel more unified and warms up everyone. Hope next time he gets the chance.

Devon had probably the most fun this week cause we all know that he has quite the sweet tooth. He also managed to learn some vocabulary this week while chewing his way through his cookies.

Well hope everyone has a good weekend.
-T. Jason

Halloween at TreeHouse

Hello Jaguar Parents,

This week was quite the eventful one here at treehouse, with the not only the usual classwork but also the friday haunted house and class pumpkin carving experience! 

In our reading, we read the poem "Pets" and the story "Splash" by Jessica Clerk. This was the first week, where I didn't have them follow along as I read it, instead each student was reading pages in a rotation. This is great because, the kids are now feeling comfortable not just out loud but also to their peers.

In Phonics, we worked on Long A sound and constants V.

Student Comments

Since this seems to be the birthday month, I wanted to first wish Gwen a happy birthday. She is growing very fast, and I want her to keep striving past her challenges and always stay the same cheery person we all love.

Andrew did great with reading to his peers, which was great to see. He did however have a hard time with some of the new vocabulary, so I will encourage now to start studying his vocabulary more outside of class, like when hes waiting to be picked up.

Irene is keeping up the positive attitude. She read out loud not just once, but volunteered to do some more after!

Yo-Yo did supurb this week, he as always picked up the vocabulary quickly and enjoyed reading with the class. His behavior was also good and minus the Haunted house, I know he enjoyed the festivities. I say this because Andrew and Yo-Yo were so scared that they threw water at me during the haunted house on friday. 

Devon loved the pumpkin carving and was able to use some of the related vocabulary while we did the activity.

Julia did fantastic in her reading this week! I would love to see her continue and I will plan on giving some extra books next week, for her to take home to read with the family.

Hanna all around was great this week. She was the only student in the class that didnt complain about the messiness or smell of the pumpkin carving. Instead she went all out and made sure that her groups pumpkin looked great.

I was glad to see Timmy back on friday and look forward to seeing him back in class on monday.

Tony was a rock star! He clearly is confident in the class, Tony read out loud with a high volume and clearly. Also, he still has a bit of a dependency issue, where he will ask me how to say words without trying them himself first. What I would recommend is that at both home and school, he continue to try to solve problems on his own. 

Leo probably has the easiest time, when it comes to reading. That being said, I had to remind him quite a few times this week, to slow down again and read over words properly. Leo shows that he is very bright and a good heart, he just needs to instill harder effort, so that he can maximize his capabilities. Also, cheers to Leo's dad for beating me at chubby bunny on friday!

Anyways hope everyone enjoyed the Annual Halloween Activities,

-T. Jason

Hello Jaguar Family

Hello Jaguar Parents!

This week we covered:

This is Week two of Halloween/Evaluation and I am glad to say that all the students are improving already after just the first quarter of the Year!

This week, the evaluation was two parts. First being some of the grammar concepts, like the proper "is and are." The second was a verbal phonics recognition of the short vowel sounds. The second was a bit harder for the students, but this challenge really gave the kids a real life application of the use of these sounds.

We had a lot of new Halloween vocabulary and we also discussed what the meaning of Halloween is all about. We made paper versions of Jack-O-Lanterns which all the kids really enjoyed. Photos will be up next week!



Student Comments

Andrew was superb this week. On the grammar concept part, scored a perfect 100! He just needs to work a bit on his listening comprehension.

Gwen was better this week behavior wise and in fact also did well on the first evaluation.

Irene is on the right track, she just needs to keep up the same performance consistency. After the review, she improved substantially on the concept part of the test. Keep striving hard!

Yo-Yo was a model student this week. He not only did well on the evaluation, but also showed me that he is able to concentrate without anyone telling him to focus. He really is trying a lot harder and I think hes enjoying his new found role in the class.

Devon writing and behavior was better this week!

Julia is continuing to suprise me as each day goes by. She seems very confident in her English ability, and when she isn't she asks questions right away. That is the exact kind of mentality I want her and other students to attain. She did well on the test and consistently gets three stars, Keep it up Julia!

Hanna did great on her grammar conceptual evaluation! There is still room for improvement but, she definitely is on the right track.

Timmy loved the second halloween vocabulary which showed a lot since he particpated a lot in the verbal test! His behavior always is exemplary but he still sometimes is a bit shy toward asking questions.

Tony is now looking at challenges he has with a better attitude. He first tries to find the answer on his own and if he is really unsure he asks me right away! Great job this week!

Leo is already nearly caught up from the work he missed before joining the class. He just needs to make sure to slow down on his reading because he will sometimes rush over words he cant pronounce.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I hope to see all parents at our Halloween Festivities next Week!

Cheers,
Teacher Jason