Happy Holidays!

Christmas Break Homework is given to you to keep your skills fresh. If you are traveling you can bring it all with you because it is light. Do as much as you can, if you are busy with other activities you do not have to finish everything. This is your break have fun!

Everyday read 20 minutes from a book and every other day read out loud to someone (mom, dad, friend, brother, sister, cat, fish, etc) for 15 minutes. Be sure to write it in your Library Journal.  

Write two journal entries;

1) What is more important in life: presents or people?

2) What do you think is the “perfect” age to be? If you could choose one age and stay that age forever, what would you choose?

Study spelling words

*Be ready for class on Monday (1/7)! 

Homework 11/17

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Write sentences for new words: village, bridge, fence, strange, chance, twice, glance, damage, since, dodge. Bonus Words: average, excellence, approach, carpenter, pattern
Reading Comprehension WB "The Big Egg"

* May bring in a lite snack or drink to share with our holiday celebration.

Merry Christmas!

December 17 - January 11

Happy Holidays!

What a busy week we've had with plenty of activities - baking holiday
cookies, making Santa lanterns, practicing for the concert, and of
course our regular class work!

In English, the students have started writing their own story.  We
will revise and make an e-book out of the story after we return from
the Christmas break.

In Social Studies, we continued working on Unit 4 "People Long Ago"
and learning about how America gained it's Independence and some
important people in Americas history.

In Math, we continued with Chapter 8 on Solid Shapes and on Monday we
will have a quiz on this.

Next Tuesday (December 18th) we will have a small class Christmas
Party.  There will be fun Christmas activities for the class to do.
If your child would like to bring in a light snack or drink to share with
classmates, they are more than welcome to do so.  School will finish
after lunch on this day.

Congratulations to Jin for being this week's Student of the Week!

I will assign some homework for the children to do over the break.  I
do this so that all the lessons the kids have learned are kept fresh
so we are all prepared to get back to school in January.  However, the
students are not required to complete the homework if you are
traveling or busy with other activities during the break.

Monday 12/17 Spelling and Math chapter 8 quiz

Have a wonderful holiday!

12/14 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Journal "Write about your brothers and sisters. If you don't have any, do you wish you did?"
Spelling Review for quiz,
Math Review for Chapter 8 quiz,
Reading WB 222-225

Please arrive at 6:30pm for tonight's show. Children should wear a red shirt.

12/13 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Reading Comprehension WB "Bananas and Pineapples"

* Rest for Christmas show tomorrow.
Please wear a red shirt and arrive at or shortly after 6:30. The show starts at 7:00pm.
When you arrive the students are to go to the downstairs music room and parents may help themselves to refreshments.

12/12 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 8.5,
Reading WB 215-220

*Wear red shirt on Friday night.

12/11 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 8.4,
Reading WB 208-214

* Please have you child wear a red shirt on Friday night for the Christmas performance.

12/10 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Spelling - write sentences for new words; attack, public, question, jacket, blank, topic, blanket, mistake, squirrel, struck Bonus Words; sphere, cylinder, submarine, depart, collide,
Reading Comprehension WB "Main Ideas"


* We will be making a Santa lantern in class on Wednesday (12/12). It would be helpful if the students brought into school the following:
1) Liquid glue (if you can not bring in the liquid glue I have some but will have to share with multiple students)
2) 2 double A batteries

December 10-14

It has been a wonderful Literacy Week and Christmas is just around the corner!

Appreciation at HIS

The second grade class has had an eventful week.  The highlight had to be
our class competition on a book report
poster.  Mr. Harris, Mrs. Welz and myself had such a hard time judging
the posters since all the students did such a wonderful job.

3rd place - Shunta Toyama
2nd place - Kisa Koda
1st place - Jessica Lin

Book Report Poster Winners! 

The students also gave their best at the Spelling Bee.

3rd place - Phillip Luan
2nd place - Veronica Kuo
1st place - Ayden Smith

Great job everyone!

Spelling Bee Winners!

This week in Math we started Chapter 8 on solid shapes and next week
we will continue with this chapter.

In English we started the pre-writing phase of Unit 4 Writing a Story.
I look forward to next week when the students will draft and revise
their story.

In Social Studies we started Unit 4 People Long Ago and will
continue with this next week.

Next week we will also be getting ready for our Christmas Show. The
show will be held on Friday evening and will be filled with many
special performances that are not to be missed!  More information to come.

Configurations to Shin Naito for being this week's Student of the Week.
Shin has been putting excellent effort into his work and has been very
kind to other students. Keep it up!

December 10-14

Monday - Spelling quiz. New words: beauty, lazy, empty, valley, duty,
lonely, alley, hockey, plenty, turkey. Bonus words: history, colony,
independence, landmark, obtuse angle.

Thursday - Reading Quiz

Friday - Christmas Show

Spelling Bee Competition 

12/7 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 8.3,
Spelling Review for quiz,
Social Studies Finish family tree (see 12/6 blog entry for details),
English Journal "Should children have strict bedtimes? What do you think is a fair bedtime for children your age and why?

12/6 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 8.2,
Reading WB 199-202,
Reading Review words for spelling bee,
Social Studies - Start making your family tree (just immediate family, you, parents, grandparents) with family members name and date of birth. Use an A4 size paper. Due Monday (12/10)

12/5 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 8.1,
Reading WB 190-196,
Reading Review for Spelling Bee on Friday

* Caves Book sale 12/6

12/4 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Review for Chapter 7 quiz,
English - Book Report Poster is due,
Reading - Review words for Spelling Bee

12/3 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 7.8,
Spelling Write words for new sentences; beauty, lazy, empty, valley, duty, lonely, alley, hockey, plenty, turkey. Bonus Words; history, colony, independence, landmark, obtuse angle.

* Book Report Poster is due on Wednesday.

Dec 3-7

What a week!

In Math, we are continuing to learning aspects of Plane Shapes.  Next
week we will conclude this chapter and start Chapter 8 Solid Shapes.

This week in Science the students have been busy preparing for their
Animal Presentations.  The students did a wonderful job with
presentations.  I was impressed with their effort.  Well done!  Please
see the pictures below.  I look forward to working more with the
students to improve their presentations skills as the year progresses.
* Towards the end of the year, I will invite the parents in to see the
students' presentations.

Next week we will start Unit 4 in Social Studies titled People Long
Ago.  Each student will make a family tree.  This assignment may
require your assistance for spelling family names and birthdays of
some of your relatives.

For Reading, we will read "A Trip to the Firehouse" from the
Adventures book next week.

Next week is also Literacy Week at HIS.  We have lots of things
planned for the class that will focus on all things "literary".  We
will be concluding our first big chapter book "The Witches" by Roald
Dahl.  We will also have a class competition to make a poster/book
report on your favorite book.  I will pass out the posters to the
students on Friday (11/30) and this assignment is to be completed at
home by the student alone.  Posters are due on Wednesday (12/5).   The
students' work will be judged by Mrs. Welz and myself on the following
criteria - written content, grammar, artistic ability, and effort.

There will also be two book sales next week. Please see the schedule below.
December 5th - HIS Book Sale in Foyer, 8:30AM - 5:00PM
December 6th - Cave's Book Sale in foyer 15% off - 8:30AM - 5:00PM
December 7th - Spelling Bee Assembly, 2:20PM - 3:00PM, Students
present work, competition winners awarded

Regarding the Spelling Bee, please see my post on 11/26 for
information.  The second grade class will compete at 1:10PM on Friday.
 Parents are welcome to come and support the students and stay for the
school assembly at 2:20PM to close out Literacy Week.  The Book Report
awards will be given out during this time as well.

Congratulations to Ayden Smith for being this week's Student of the
Week.  Ayden always takes good care with his work and has become much
more responsible in the class.  Keep up the good work!

December 3-7

Spelling - New words: dancing, skipped, hiking, flipped, snapping,
checking, dimmed, wasting, traced, fainted;  bonus words: symmetry,
vertex, rhombus, trapezoid, acute angle

Wednesday - Book Report Poster is due

Thursday - Math Chapter 7 quiz

Friday - Spelling Bee at 1:10PM

Animal Research Project Presentation

Well Done!

11/30 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
English Journal "If you could choose a superpower to have for a day, which would you select? Describe in detail your activities as a superhero.",
Spelling Review for quiz and Spelling Bee,

* Start book report. Due on Wednesday.

11/29 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 7.7,
Science Practice for presentation tomorrow,

*Tests sign and return.

11/28 Homework

Homework; Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 7.6,
Science Practice for presentation using note-card,
Science review for chapter 2 quiz

11/27 Homework

Homework; Read for 20 minutes,
Math WB 7.4-7.5,
Reading WB 185-189

Happy Birthday Veronica!

11/26 Homework and Spelling Bee information

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Spelling Write sentences for new words; dancing, skipped, hiking, flipped, snapping, checking , dimmed, wasting, traced, fainted. Bonus Words; symmetry, vertex, rhombus, trapezoid, acute angle.
Reading WB 179-182

Below are the rules and words for the Spelling Bee that will be held on 12/7.

*Not all of the words in the list will be used in the Spelling Bee. There will also be additional words not on the lists as we do want this to be a spelling competition rather than just a memory test.

November 26-30

The second grade class is thankful for all the parents who brought in food to share this week.  What a great feast we all had on Thursday!

Grade 2 been busy with their animal research projects for the science class. Next week we will be making a poster and the students will present their animal to the class on Friday afternoon . This will also conclude the chapter of study on Animals. 

In Math, we have been learning many new vocabulary words for shapes. There have been so many new words that we have constructed our own Math Dictionary Book to keep track of them all. Next week we will continue with Chapter 7. 

In Reading this week we started a new unit "Neighborhoods" and read a story "China Town". Speaking of reading, December 3-7 will be Literacy Week for H.I.S. We have many things planned for this week including the Spelling Bee (word list will be handed out soon) on Friday and a competition in the second grade class for the best book report poster. More information to come on these next week.

In English, the students completed the unit of study on Nouns and Pronouns and next week we will start Unit 4 when the students will be writing their own story. 

Congratulations to Abigail Kang for being this week's Student of the Week. Abigail is always excited to learn and makes a strong effort with her classwork. Keep it up!

November 26-30

Monday: Spelling Quiz (new words: total, eagle, middle, special, bottle, double, towel, battle, trouble, cattle; bonus words: triangle, rectangle, circle, pentagon, hexagon)

Tuesday Reading quiz 

Wednesday Handwriting quiz

Thursday Science Quiz on Chapter 2

Friday School Assembly in the library at 2:20. Parents, as always are welcome to attend. 

Best Wishes,

James Anderson

2nd Grade Teacher

Hsinchu International School

November 23

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
English Journal "Describe a fantasy day in your life. Where you can do anything you want.",
Reading WB 176-178,
Spelling Review for quiz

11/22 Homework

Homework; Read for 20 minutes
Reading WB 170-175

11/21 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
English Review for Unit 3 quiz on nouns,
Math WB 7.3,
Reading Comprehension WB "Homework"

* For Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow, parents please arrive at school as close to 12:30 as possible. The secondary students will be using the cafeteria until 12:30, then we will be able to set up for the Thanksgiving lunch. The lunch will finish around 2:00pm. Thank you in advance for your support. Gobble Gobble!

11/20 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
English Grammar WB 31-34,
Math WB 7.1-7.2
Reading WB 165-168

11/19 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Spelling Write sentences for new words; total, eagle, middle, special, bottle, double, towel, battle, trouble, cattle Bonus Words; triangle, rectangle, circle, pentagon, hexagon
English Grammar WB 25-27

November 19-23

This week was highlighted by Fun Day (or fun afternoon) on Wednesday. 
The students seemed to really enjoy doing all the activities created by the 6th
grade students. A big thank you to all the parents for coming out to support the children.


In Math Class this week we completed the unit of study on Number
Concepts and Patterns. Well done to all students on this unit! Next
week in Math we will start Chapter 7 - Plane Shapes. There will be lots of new

Math vocabulary words that we will be learning this chapter related to shapes.

In English, we will complete unit 3 on Nouns and
Pronouns. We will have a quiz on this next Thursday.

In Science we started a new chapter on Animals. Next week we will
continue with this subject, focusing on mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds
and how animals have adapted. We will also start a research
project on animals. Each student will pick one animal and conduct
research, put it on a poster and present their animal to the class.
The presentations will start the last week in November.

In Reading this week we read and discussed five different fables. Feel
free to ask your child which was their favorite and if they can
remember all the morals in the stories. Next week we will start a new
unit of study, "Around Town, Neighborhood and Community". We
will read and discuss a story called, "China Town."

Congratulations to Keiji Tung for being this weeks' Student of the
Week. He has shown great improvement in contributions to class
discussions by raising his hand and by always asking when he is unsure
of the answer.

Next week is Thanksgiving. We all have many things to be thankful for.
During the week the second grade class will reflect on what they are
thankful for. Also thank you to all the parents for volunteering to
bring food in for the school's Thanksgiving Celebration. It will start
on Thursday (11/22) at 12:30 in the cafeteria. It will last about an
hour and a half.

November 19-23

Monday - Spelling: write sentences for new words; sailor, doctor, weather, suffer, temper, cellar, collar, beggar, solar, feather (Bonus Words; mammal, reptile, amphibian, reed, blurry)

Thursday - English Unit 3 test on Nouns and Pronouns

Thursday - Thanksgiving Lunch 12:30 - 2:00

Have a great weekend!

James Anderson

2nd Grade Teacher
Hsinchu International School

11/16 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Journal "Describe a typical day in your life. Use 2 sensory details (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste) to make your daily experience come to life.
Spelling Review for quiz

11/15 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Review for Chapter 5 and 6 quiz,
English 29,30,
Reading WB 160-162

* Sign Reading Quiz

11/14 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
English Grammar WB 19, 21, 22, 23,
Science WB A49 (as much as you can) A50

11/13 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Reading Comprehension WB "The Pet Store",
English - Grammar WB 27-28

* Fun day is tomorrow afternoon (1:15 - 2:55). If the children have the same color clothes as their team color they should wear them but if they do not have that color it is fine, just wear comfortable sports clothes. All the students will receive a headband with their teams color on it.
All students should bring their water bottle and PE shoes. Hat's, sun screen and layered clothes are up to your discretion. If it rains, Fun Day will take place on 11/21. Looking forward to fun afternoon of activities.

11/12 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes
Spelling Write sentences for new words; sailor, doctor, weather, suffer, temper, cellar, collar, beggar, solar, feather Bonus Words; mammal, reptile, amphibian, reed, blurry
Math Review for chapter 6 quiz
Reading WB 156-159


* For the Thanksgiving Celebration many parents have
volunteered to bring in a "Bread" dish.  So far no one has signed up
to bring in sweet potatoes or pies (dessert). Would 
anyone who signed up to bring in a "Bread" dish be willing to switch 
to one of these? 
If you haven't returned the form yet, please do so by 
11/13 so I may find out how many people will be coming. Thank you.

November 12-16

It was wonderful to talk with so many of you during parent/teacher
meetings this week. If you would like to follow up with anything we
discussed please call between 3:00-4:00 pm, write me an email or drop
in before or after class.

It has been a busy week.  For next week we will continue with our
school work as well as having a "Fun Day" on Wednesday afternoon.
Please see my blog post earlier in the week to help remind your child
what color they should wear that day and to see which team they are
on. Please come along to cheer for the students.

In Math, we continued with Chapter 6 "Number Concepts and Patterns."
Next week we will complete this chapter, review and take the Unit 2
quiz (Chapters 5 and 6).

In English we continued to focus on Nouns and Pronouns.  In Reading
next week we will focus on Fables.

This week in Social Studies we concluded Unit 2, "The World Around Us."
The students were interested in this chapter and raised many great
follow-up questions. Well done!

Next week we will start a new Science unit, "Animals Are Living
Things". During this chapter of study the students will give a class
presentation on an animal of their choice. More information to
come....

Thanksgiving Celebration Forms have gone home with your child this
week. Thank you for returning them so quickly. Many parents have
volunteered to bring in a "Bread" dish.  So far no one has signed up
to bring in sweet potatoes or pies and only one for a meat dish. Would 
anyone who signed up to bring in a "Bread" dish be willing to switch 
to an item above that our class is missing?

Congratulations to Veronica Kuo for being this week's Student of the
Week. Veronica has been taking good care when completing school work.
Keep it up.

November 5-9
Monday - Spelling Quiz on railroad, airport, everywhere, homesick,
understand, anything, ourselves, forever, breakfast, whenever. (Bonus
Words: equator, pole, hemisphere, pierce, novel)

Monday Social Studies quiz on unit 2

Tuesday - Math Chapter 6 quiz

Tuesday - Reading quiz on vocabulary

Friday - Unit 2 test (Chapter 5 and 6)

Best Regards,

James Anderson

Homework 11/9

Homework: Read for 20 minutes
Math Review for quiz
Social Studies Review for chapter 2 quiz
Spelling Review for quiz
Reading Journal "Have you ever had to apologize for something you did? How did you fell before and after the apology?

Homework 11/8

Homework: Read for 20 minutes
Math WB 6.6
English Grammar WB 24-26
Reading sign and return quiz

Fun Day Teams with what color they should wear. 1:15 - 2:55 Nov. 14th

Homework 11/7

Homework: Read for 20 minutes
Math WB 6.5
Reading Comprehension WB

* Please compete the H.I.S. Thanksgiving Celebration Form and return by Monday November 12th.

11/6 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes
Math WB 6.4
Reading WB 142-150

11/5 Homework

Homework: Read for 20 minutes
Spelling Write words for new words: railroad, airport, everywhere, homesick, understand, anything, ourselves, ourselves, forever, breakfast, whenever Bonus Words: equator, pole, hemisphere, pierce, novel
Math WB 6.3

* Please return the Parent/Teach Pre-Conference forms if you haven't done so already.  Also if you are going to be late or can't make the meeting please let me know via email.  

November 5-9

We had a short but sweet week for the second grade class.  The
students practiced hard for their Halloween song and we all had a fun
morning parading in our costumes and listening to the songs sung by
other classes.

Next week will be a full week with the parent/teacher meetings on
Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and evening. A pre-conference form has
been sent home with your child today. If you can fill it out and send
it back on Monday that would help me be more prepared for our meeting.
My meeting with each parent(s) will be 15 minutes.  I will stick to
this schedule and if we require more time we can arrange another time
to meet either later that day or later in the week.

First quarter reports have been sent home with your child today.

In Math we will continue with Chapter 6 Number Concepts and Patterns.

In Social Studies the students have been very curious about what
we've been learning and we will continue learning about climate and
weather patterns next week.

In English we will continue Unit 3 on Nouns and Pronouns. We will also
have a Reading Comprehension quiz next week.

In Reading we will read and compare a non-fiction story ("Owls") with
a fiction story ("Owl Moon").

Congratulations to Jacob Chen for being the Student of the Week! He
has been doing a great job of asking questions when he is unsure of
the answer and is always ready for class in the morning.

 November 5-9

Monday - Spelling Quiz (horse, chore, firm, dirty, curve, world, pure,
thirteen, search, shirt. Bonus Words: immerse, coax, transparent,
transfer, greasy)

Thursday - Reading Comprehension Quiz

Friday - Science Quiz on Chapter 2 "The World Around Us"

I Want Candy! The song.