January 18-22, 2010

Dear parents and students, can you believe it's already quarter 3?!  Here is what we will be doing in classes this week:

Kindergarten:  We will finish our work with clothing vocabulary, and we will have a quiz on Wednesday.  Also, we will learn briefly about shape words (circle, diamond, etc.)

Grade 1:  We will do some reading and writing activities to help us learn new sight words (words that we should be able to read just by looking at them).

Grade 2:  We will finish our work with health vocabulary, and we will have a quiz on Wednesday.  We will also do some work with sight words (words that we should be able to read just by looking at them).

Grade 4:  We will begin reading The Secret Garden together in class.  We will alternate our reading days with writing days when we will be writing narrative stories.

Middle School:  We will practice skimming and scanning articles, we will listen to a speech and take notes, and we will talk about collocations (the way words fit together naturally in the English language, ex."do homework" instead of "make homework").

January 11-15, 2010

Kindergarten:  We will finish learning clothing vocabulary, and we will move on to family vocabulary.  Students will learn the generic names of family members like "mom," "grandfather," or "cousin."

Grade 1:  On Monday we will start learning vocabulary for all different kinds of toys or games (like "checkers," "skateboard," and "teddy bear").  We will also take another look at adverbs as students discuss and write what they "always," "sometimes," or "never" play with.

Grade 2:  We will finish our "Going to the Doctor" skits and present them to the class.  We will also practice our listening and writing skills later in the week by copying down sentences exactly as we hear them spoken.

Grade 4:  We will continue working with Lesson 6 vocabulary words from the Wordly Wise book.  Students will have a quiz over the words on Thursday.  Remember, they can practice using and spelling these words on www.spellingcity.com.

Grade 8/9:  We will work on the skill of skimming articles for information and taking notes.  We will also present our speeches this week.

January 4-8, 2010

Welcome back!

Kindergarten:  This week we will learn some new clothing vocabulary while reviewing the words learned before Christmas break.

Grade 1:  We are starting to learn family vocabulary, and we will spend some time making our own family trees.

Grade 2:  This week we are beginning health vocabulary--lots of words dealing with sickness or injury.  We will even write our own skits that deal with this topic.

Grade 4:  We are continuing our look at using descriptive language in writing.  We will also begin Lesson 6 in the vocabulary book.

Grade 8/9:  This week we will finish writing our persuasive speeches and do some peer revision.  We hope to be able to present our speeches on Friday.

December 14-18, 2009

Merry Christmas!

As we approach Christmas, the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus, I wish you each peace and joy.  I hope you will enjoy the Christmas break and start school in January feeling refreshed and renewed.  Blessings!  ~ Miss Hatcher


This week, all classes will have a small Christmas party on Thursday, with the exception of Kindergarten who will have their party on Friday.  Feel free to send a small snack for your child to share on the party day.  This week's activities and lessons will include... 

Kindergarten:  We will continue our study of correct word order and punctuation in questions.  We will also read a story to hone our reading comprehension and prediction skills.  We will finish out the week by writing a "Merry Christmas" acrostic poem.

Grade 1:  We will finish typing and illustrating our Question Poems from last week.  We will also read a Christmas story called Wombat Divine and answer questions focusing on our use of present tense verbs.  Finally, we will write Christmas poems using adverbs like "usually," "never," "sometimes," or "always."

Grade 2:  We will finish typing, editing, and illustrating our "My Fable" stories.  Then we will read and present our stories to the class.  We will finish the week with Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia and discuss the multiple meanings of certain words in English.

Grade 4:  Our focus this week is using descriptive writing in our language.  We will play several class games (online) that focus on descriptive writing, and we will practice writing our own descriptive paragraphs.

Grade 8/9:  We will continue to work on our speeches by finishing our research, writing an outline, and writing (or beginning to write) a first draft.

Assignments for Grade 4 and Grade 8/9 Classes

Grade 4:  Open the linked document and follow the instructions.

Grade 8/9:  Open the linked document and follow the instructions.

December 7-11, 2009

Thanks to the parents/guardians who have already responded to my email about pandemic preparedness.  If you have not done so already, please respond by the end of this week.  

In all of the classes this week, we will be spending some time on the computers using this class website to prepare the students for the possibility of a pandemic situation.  Here are the additional topics of study for the ELL classes this week:

Kindergarten:  We will be learning more about "asking sentences" (questions) and will be paying particular attention to the correct word order in questions.  For example, we should say "May we play a game?" instead of "We may play a game?"

Grade 1:  Since we have been learning about and practicing the correct word order in "asking sentences" (questions), this week we are putting our knowledge to use.  We will be writing "Question Poems" as a class and individually.

Grade 2:  We have been writing fables (stories with a moral or lesson).  We will continue work on these stories by doing peer and personal revising and editing and by typing the final copies of our stories.

Grade 4:  We have been writing personal narrative stories with a focus on using vivid and descriptive language.  We will continue the process of writing, revising, and typing this week.

Grade 8/9:  Last week we began doing research on a "hot topic" for our persuasive speeches.  We have been paying careful attention to evaluating our sources for accuracy and credibility.  We will continue this research and begin the writing process this week.

Pandemic Preparation Test Assignment

Dear Parents,

If you are reading this post, I hope that you have also received an email from me about pandemic preparation.  If you did not receive an email, it is possible that I have an incorrect email address for you.  Please email me at hatcherc@mca.org.tw to provide a correct address. 

In the event of class or school closure due to pandemic conditions, I will use email and  this website to communicate lessons and assignments to you and your students.  In order to ensure that everyone is able to access this website and is able to view the documents I post to it, please do the following:  click on this link.  You will see a question in the document.  Send your answer to the question in an email to hatcherc@mca.org.tw.

Thanks so much for your cooperation to help ensure that we have open lines of communication in case of a pandemic situation.  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely, Christel Hatcher

November 30-December 4, 2009

Kindergarten:  This week we will be introducing clothing vocabulary--words like "shirt," "shorts," and "swimsuit."  We will also learn about the correct word order in asking sentences (questions). 

Grade 1:  This week we will focus on the correct word order in written and spoken asking sentences (questions).  We will play some games and even write poems to emphasize this grammar point.

Grade 2:  This week the students will study fables (animal stories with a moral), and they will write their own fable.  We will focus on including all parts of a good story (beginning, climax, end), and we will work on peer revision.

Grade 4:  This week the students will write their own personal narrative (a story that happened in their own lives).  We will focus on the writing and grammar needs of each student as we revise together.

Grade 8-9:  In this class we are writing persuasive speeches.  We will begin the week by learning about what makes a good research source and what makes a good speech.  Then the students will work on their own research and writing.