Weekly Newsletter #22

Friday, August 31^st, 2007

Dear Parents,

Things are going smoothly in class 3-1, and we had a very interesting week while learning many new things. We now have a pet praying mantis in class, and we even measured everyone to figure out the “average” height for all students in class. Before I update you on these things, however, I would like to introduce more about the EOP rules (English Only Policy). So far, it has proven effective. With the help of Mrs. Choi, students are beginning to respect my demands for less talking and more listening. The rules for the system are as follows:

1-Student is told to be quiet.

2-If student continues to talk, his/her name is written on the board in the “Warning” box.

3-If student continues not to listen, they are taken out into the hallway and spoken to, and his/her name is moved to the “EOP Violation” box.

4-Once three students names are in the box, they are taken to the office to speak with Mrs. Choi and principals, and a small punishment (Special Training) is decided on.

5-After three EOP violations, parents will be contacted and asked to visit the school

As well, I would like to remind that each student should have at least one ClearFile folder for loose papers that I give to them.

Now, I will update you as to what we covered in class.

Reading

We are finished with the Harcourt book, and from now on I will be using copied books from the library. These books are much more interesting, and more appropriate for our level of study. This week, we read a book from the famous “Curious George” series. We read “Curious George Flies a Kite.” I gave the students a homework assignment where they have to answer questions about the story. Please make sure students respect these books, and do not write in them or fold the pages. Students can take them home over the weekend, but they must be back on Monday.

English with Mr. Bean

This is a new activity I am beginning, which is similar to the Weekly Pop-Song we had last semester (we will continue to learn songs as well). I have included this on the class website for this week. Students watch an animated Mr. Bean cartoon which is 10 minutes long. They are then given a question sheet where they must fill in the blanks while watching Mr. Bean. We will do this activity every Monday or Tuesday. All of these episodes are available on the YouTube website.

Science

We are now using the Earth Sciences Unit B book, and learning about weather and forces of nature (tornados, volcanoes, hurricanes etc).

Megaflash

We are on Unit 7, page 110. We are focusing on prepositions, and opposites. A test will be scheduled soon. I have noticed that students are finally beginning to understand verb-tenses more effectively. Learning how to use past-tense is the most important thing third graders should master at this level. If I can see evidence of this in their journals, I am happy.

Math

Math is not something I plan to do continually, and I just wanted to spend a week on it to ensure students know the English terms for simple math equations. They now know them, so I will not continue with it.

Now here is the spelling list for next week. Many deal with Science and the “water cycle.” Others deal with “homonyms” – words that sound the same or have same spellings but have different meanings. Example: Which witch is which? Where should I wear my hat? They’re over there with their friends. As these are simple words, students will have to use them in a sentence for the test and know which spelling to use.

1. curious

2. exchange

3. helicopter

4. vapor

5. evaporate

6. condense

7. water cycle

8. cause

9. camouflage

10. precipitation

11. homonym

12. which

13. witch

14. their

15. there

16. they’re

17. wear

18. where

19. praying mantis

20. enjoyable

Now here is this week’s Daily English:

1. Curiosity killed the cat!

2. Which witch is which?

3. Heat causes water to evaporate and become water vapor.

4. Cool air causes water vapor to condense, and turn back into water.

5. Water moves up to the sky and down to the earth in a water cycle.

6. My favorite season is _______________, because I like _____________ and __________ weather.

7. The praying mantis is a predator and a carnivore. It is very good at camouflage.

8. I promise to listen in class and stop talking when my teacher is teaching, because I don’t want an EOP Violation.

9. I think it would be funny if Mr. Bean (think of something funny Mr. Bean could do).

Ex: I think it would be funny if Mr. Bean became my new teacher at KISQ.

10. They’re (doing something) over there (use a preposition and a place) with their (use a noun of something they own).

Ex: They’re playing soccer over there next to the mountain with their ball.

English with Mr. Bean!

Mr. Bean – Comprehension

Vocabulary:

foxes Teddy costume animals toast find on butterfly chasing picture door morning turn angry frog locks plant camera keys birds photographing animals

1) Who is Mr. Bean watching TV with? He is watching TV with _________________.

2) What is he eating? He is eating ______________.

3) What is the television show about? It’s about ________________ _____________.

4) What does Mr. Bean find under his bed? He finds a ________________.

5) Mr. Bean hides many _____________ under a ___________.

6) Mr. Bean is a _______________ driver. a) interesting b) good c) wonderful d) dangerous

7) Mr. Bean can hear ___________ singing.

8) Mr. Bean can see far away with: a) glasses b) a telescope c) binoculars d) pizza

9) There are many __________, but he can’t ______ any. They are hiding ______ his car.

10) He is trying to take a picture of a ___________ and a _______________, but the ____________ eats the ______________. Mr. Bean is ___________!

11) Why does Mr. Bean phone his home? He wants to ___________ on the television.

13) When he wakes up in the _____________, he sees many ___________. He takes a _____________, but he forgot to take the lens cap off! Poor Mr. Bean!

14) Oooops! Mr. Bean made a ______________! a) problem b) lie c) joke d) mistake

15) Mr. Bean calls his home again to ___________ off the television.

16) Wow! Mr. Bean finds a family of _____________.

17) Mr. Bean drives quickly to the _______________ store! He is going to pretend to be a fox!

18) Oh no! Many dogs are ___________ him!

19) Oh oh! He has too many ________ and too many _______! He can’t open the _______!

20) Mr. Bean is very: a) smart b) handsome c) clever d) strange

Friday, August 24th, 2007

Dear Parents,

The new semester has begun, and I hope everyone had a relaxing summer vacation and has saved up some energy for the next few months. There have been some changes made to our schedule, and things will be more structured. Classes are now 45 minutes long, and a bell system has been installed to manage time more efficiently. Within the next two weeks, more details will be added as we plan our next books. We are nearly finished with some of them at this point.

We have begun a new sticker chart, and this will continue to encourage good behavior, diligent study, and an active English diary. I have noticed some excellent improvements with the students writing and penmanship. Students, tutors, and parents: keep up the good work! I’m really happy and surprised with how well class 3-1 learns and improves.

I also hope to make this next semester more interactive, as I want to build up the students free-speaking skills. Everyday, I will ask the students a new “Question of the Day” to start the morning, and they can answer freely and listen to what other students have to say. For example, I might ask: “If you had to live in any country in the world besides Korea or China, where would you live? Why?”

Over the summer, I taught in Korea at the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy in Gangwondo. This school has a very strict policy towards student discipline. Students are not allowed to speak Korean, as they follow an EOP - “English Only Policy.” I really enjoyed how the students never made noise in class, and always paid attention to what I was saying. Now that I am back at KISQ, I will expect similar respect from the students in class 3-1. In order for the class to have maximum effectiveness, I am going to be very strict about listening from now on. If students do not listen, and interrupt and make noise, they will be punished. So, I hope that you, the parents, can encourage your children to pay attention. Please remind them that you are aware of the new rules, and that there will be punishment. I also want to encourage students to speak as much English in class as possible, and not just to me, but between themselves. If I hear them speaking in English with each other during break-time, similar to an EOP policy, stickers will be awarded.

Here is next week’s spelling list. I plan to spend a few lessons teaching “Math English” next week. I hope students are familiar with their times tables.

One of the words for this week’s vocabulary is “souvenir.” For Show and Tell this week, I would like each student to bring a souvenir from another country.

1. average

2. equals

3. divided

4. subtracted

5. added

6. total

7. percent

8. decimal

9. multiplication

10. brackets

11. mathematics

12. calculator

13. centimeter

14. visited

15. souvenir

16. activities

17. hobbies

18. enjoyable

19. humid

20. traveled

Daily English for this week will focus on discussing summer vacation in the past tense using good adjectives.

1. I had a _______________ summer vacation. I ____________________________ and ___________________________. (Tell me about two interesting things you did)

2. The weather is so hot and humid. I feel sweaty and sticky!

3. How tall are you? I’m ____ centimeters.

4. What is the average height for all the students in class 3-1? I predict it will be _____ centimeters.

5. I really (adjective) studying mathematics.

6. When I visited ______________, I bought a souvenir. It’s a (describe the souvenir).

Example: When I visited Japan, I bought a souvenir. It’s a small geisha doll.

7. Seven multiplied by nine equals fifty-four.

8. If you see brackets in a math question, answer them first.

9. The four oceans cover seventy-one percent (71%) of the earth’s surface.

10. I hope I can (what is your goal) this semester.

Example: I hope I can improve my spelling this semester.

Now that the new semester has begun, I will continue to use the website at

www.3-1kisq.blogspot.com to communicate with parents and students. I have many photos to upload from last semester. The Chinese government continues to block this website, but if you use http://www.unblockall.net/ or http://www.dontfilter.us/ you can easily see the website.

That is all for this week! Let’s try to make this semester even better than the last!

Regards,

Mr. Garrioch