This week had a more varied curriculum.

On Monday, we did presentations about what we did this past weekend, and students were encouraged to ask each presenter questions about what they did that weekend. Benson went to his Chinese school and ate fruit, Phil and Leo watched TV, Irene walked up a hill, Eason went to Yilan, Andrew went to his grandparents’ house, Yo-Yo went to his friend’s house, Gwen went to her friend’s birthday party, and Aston played. We also did several pages of exercises in our phonics books.

On Tuesday, we played a vocabulary review game. It was Optimus Prime (Aston, Irene, and Yo-Yo) vs. Ben10 (Phil, Henry, Gwen, and Benson). The game ended in a tie – 21-21.

On Wednesday, we read Our School, a book that discusses: Our Classroom, Who Works at School, and What Happens at School? We drew pictures of school workers and did presentations about what tools they use.

On Thursday, we went over vocabulary for clothing: shirt, sweater, pants, shorts, belt, shoes, etc. Many students did not know what “shorts” are, what a “sweater” is, etc.

Andrew was the only student who knew what shorts are. He can daydream to distraction, but generally is good about doing his work.

Aston does his written work significantly better if he does it in the office. As we discussed, he will do more of his written work in the office if he cannot get it together and do it in class.

Benson continues to do good work, listens in class, and absorbs the material. He is a very sweet and cheerful boy.

Gwen gets a little too hyper during class and needs to be told to focus on her work. But she is usually good at getting her work done.

Henry is only in class half the time, so it feels like his body of work is a lot more scattered. It would help if his attendance were more consistent.

Irene continues to do good work in class and is eager to answer questions. But she can be a little impatient with the other students.

Leo has been good about catching up on his classwork. But he gets out of his seat a lot to ask questions, rather than raising his hand.

Phil is almost always the first to finish his vocabulary lists. His handwriting could stand to be neater though. He hurt his leg jumping into a table and we had a talk about how jumping in the classroom is not acceptable.

Yo-Yo had to stay late on Thursday because he didn’t finish his classwork because he didn’t focus on his work during classtime. He was upset but was much better about doing his work. Perhaps this will serve as motivation for the future.

This week, we read a story called Little Gorilla. It was about Little Gorilla, who everyone loved, and one day he grew and grew... and everyone still loved Little Gorilla!

We did several pages of classwork reading exercises, as well as phonics. We did a lot of work on ending sounds.

We also learned new vocabulary from the Little Gorilla story, including: aunt, uncle, forest, through, everybody, began, parrot, etc.

Andrew has been better about focusing and completing his work, though he is still more distracted compared to the other students in the class. He wrote some very good sentences this week.

Aston needs to complete his written work. He is slow because he cannot focus. During a writing exercise, he managed to finish his worksheet around the same time as everyone else, which demonstrates that he is capable of doing the work if he just focuses long enough.

Benson continues to do good work. He is good at trying to sound out the words when he reads. He speaks and reads quietly but clearly.

Eason does his work well but has a bad attitude about doing it and is very disruptive in the classroom.

Gwen has been more distracted this week. As a result, she hasn’t been able to follow the reading as well.

Henry did a very good baseball illustration of a pitcher, batter, and catcher this week. He has the best handwriting in the class.

Irene is very eager to learn: she loves to read and work on her writing.

Leo is very eager to give answers in class. Sometimes he has trouble understanding the directions for classwork exercises, but after doing a few together, he understands the concept of what he should do.

Phil is always among the first to finish writing out his vocabulary words. But he has to work on remembering what the word means as he writes them so that he can remember them better in the future.

Yo-Yo likes to talk instead of doing his work. He has been better about finishing his work when it became clear that he would have to stay after class if he didn't finish his work during class time.

New workbooks & Families

This week, we received new workbooks. We did several pages of classwork exercises.

We also read a story about families that discussed what families do, what they did for work long ago, and what they did for fun long ago. We learned new vocabulary: care, share, listen, hug, raise, furniture, invite. We talked about how we show our families that we love them and how our families show that they love us.

Andrew continues to do good work. He is very good at learning and remembering the vocabulary definitions. He completes his written work more slowly, but has been focusing better this week. He said that his parents work late and usually don't have time to play with him, especially his daddy, but he knows that they love him.

Aston had to go face the wall because he kept playing instead of focusing on the reading. He is very verbal but his reading is lagging.

Benson continues to do good work. He tends to come in late because he is finishing up his Chinese homework.

Gwen has been more distracted this week. As a result, she hasn’t been able to follow the reading as well.

Henry always wants to free draw. He needs to remember that class is for reading, writing, and speaking English, and that we only draw occasionally. He tends to come in late because he is finishing up his Chinese homework.

Irene has been great. Her classwork is always completed well and she is quick to help her classmates.

Leo gets very excited in class. He has difficulty staying in his seat. His speaking continues to develop. He gets very excited but has difficulty finding the right words to express himself. This week, he shared some candy and cookies with his classmates during break time, which everyone enjoyed.

Phil continues to do good written work, but has more difficulty expressing himself verbally. He tends to come in late because he is finishing up his Chinese homework.

Yo-Yo focuses better on his reading than on his writing.

Our Neighborhood!

This week, we read Our Neighborhood, a book that explores the themes of “What is in Our Neighborhood?”; “Neighborhood Helpers”; and “Vehicles People Use.”

We learned a lot of new vocabulary that explored new concepts, such as what is a neighborhood, people who work in our neighborhoods, and how people and things travel.

This week was heavy on vocabulary, and group and individual reading. On Thursday, we played some vocabulary review games. Next week, we will try to mix it up a bit more.

Andrew: Andrew continues to demonstrate good fluency in his reading and understanding of the material, but he is still a bit unfocused at times, which is slowing down his work. But he always comes to class with an upbeat attitude, which is great to see.

Aston: Aston was very distracted by his new ruler (which he for some reason continues to call his “stapler,” despite numerous attempts to correct him) and eraser, but after I confiscated them from him, he was better able to complete his work.

Benson: Benson continues to demonstrate a good work ethic and understanding of the material. At times, he plays with his ruler and eraser too much, but he settles down quickly after I take them away from him.

Gwen: Gwen has really shown a lot of improvement. Her ability to retain the vocabulary words has really helped her reading, and she has shown increased fluency.

Henry: Henry has been having trouble controlling his temper and frustration. While he continues to do his work meticulously, he goes to such an extreme with the detail of his drawings that it slows down his work.

Irene: Irene continues to keep up the good work. She is also great at helping other students, such as Aston.

Leo: Leo has become more comfortable in the class. He has been reading well and seems to enjoy it. He has been having trouble staying in his seat.

Phil: Phil continues to keep up the good work. His attitude has improved a great deal and he hasn’t had any tantrums this week.

Yo-Yo: Yo-Yo demonstrates good reading skills but has difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words. He is slow and a bit lazy about doing his work, and is easily distracted. Hopefully, once he gets used to the curriculum, he will be able to focus and work faster.