October 28 - November 8

Happy Halloween! This is always a fun holiday for the kids. It was nice to see so many costumes and the students enjoying themselves so much.  

This week in Math class we continued learning about counting coins. It was neat to see all the coins that the students brought in from around the world. Next week we will conclude this topic and start Chapter 6, Mental Addition. 

In English we learned concepts and practiced using Nouns. Next week we will continue this and also publish our personal narratives. 

In Science we reviewed Chapter 2, Animals are Living Things. Next week we will start our animal research project. This project will conclude with a class presentation about the animals the students researched. 

Next week in Reading class we will continue with our study in the Reading Practice Book. There will be no class story next week as we will need to spend some extra time completing our research project. 

Congratulations to Katrina So for being this week's Student of the Week. Katrina was a good leader when we practice our Halloween song and she asked such good questions in class. Keep it up! 

Next week is the parent/teacher conferences. I look forward to speaking with you. Please return the Pre-Conference form to me on Monday. Each time slot is 15 minutes with each student's parent/s. These are sometimes scheduled back to back. If we need more than 15 minutes to discuss things we can schedule another time to meet.

Dates to remember
Monday - Spelling Quiz (Cost, Club, Equal, Grade, Least, Broke, Check, Copy, Group, Agree. Bonus words: Hawk, Quality, Moss, Swamp, Hollow) 
Tuesday - Comprehension Quiz
Tuesday - Parent/Teacher conferences
Wednesday - Parent/Teacher conferences

10/31

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Spelling - Review words for quiz,
Journal - "How do you try to be a good friend to others?"

* Happy Birthday Jungwon and Duncan on September 3rd!

10/30

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Workbook 5.5,
English Grammar Practice 19-21,

* Come to school in costume (if possible)
From 9:00-9:40 we will listen and sing our Halloween song. Parents are welcome to come and watch.


Site we are using for our animal research project.
kids.nationalgeographic.com

10/29

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Workbook 5.3 (bring in any foreign coins you may have to show the class)
English Grammar Practice Workbook 16-18,

* I have most of the appointment forms back for parent teacher meetings. I have had to send quite a few back home today with a message asking if you are able to change the time. This is due to a high demand for certain time slots.
If you are not able to change the time that I suggested please suggest another time perhaps on Thursday or Friday afternoon (3:30 - 4:30).
Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

I look forward to talking with you next week.

10/28

Homework, read for 20 minutes, Spelling: write the sentences for the spelling words week 9;Cost, Club, Equal, Grade, Least, Broke, Check, Copy, Group, Agree. bonus words; Hawk Quality Moss Swamp Hollow Math : workbook 5.2 "quarter and half dollar * I'm looking forward to returning tomorrow. See you then!

Grade 2 Class

October 21-25

From what I've heard, it's been a wonderful week for the second grade class. I will be able to write a more detailed blog post next week when I make my happy return to class Tuesday the 29th. 

I would like to thank the second grade students, parents and Mr. Dinh for making this week run smoothly while I've been busy helping usher in the new addition to our family, Hunter Hugh Anderson. 

In Math the students completed Chapter 4, Numbers to 100 and started Chapter 5, Counting Money. 

In English we put the Personal Narratives on a slight hold until I return next week and started the following unit in the book, Nouns and Pronouns. 

In Reading this week the students read the story, Around the Pond. 

For Science this week the students looked at Chapter 2, Animals are Living Things. 

The Student of the Week this week is Kaylee. Mr. Dinh informed me that she has been very helpful and a very good participant in class. Keep it up, Kaylee!

Every year, each class will choose one student (although there are so many caring students in this year's class) to receive the Caring Kid Award.  This year the award went to William Lu.  Congratulations!  William has a wonderfully agreeable personality and looks to be kind to all students. Well done everyone!

Dates to remember for next week ...

Monday - Spelling quiz

Thursday - Fancy Dress Day (Halloween) when students can dress up for school and parents are welcome to watch the students perform a song on the basketball court starting at 9:00am.  

See you next Tuesday! 

10/25

Homework : Read for 20 minutes,  

Journal " What qualities do you look for in a friend? ",

Spelling Review the words for quiz,

Math 5.1 

10/24

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,

Homework Book 1 page 102 to 105,

Comprehension Homework, "Where is Kitty" and then answer the questions.

10/23

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Workbook pages 93-95,
Science Workbook pages 55-60 (3 pages)

The second grade class

10/22

Homework: read for 20 minutes,
Science workbook (2 pages)
Reading workbook 100-101,

* Happy birthday Anita!

10/21

Homework: read for 20 minutes,
Write sentences for new spelling words,
Math workbook 4.9,

My wife and I  are proud and happy to announce the birth of our son Hunter Hugh Anderson.  He was born at 7:30 PM on October 20 weighing 3.3kg (7.3 pounds). Both Hunter and Feng Yi are healthy and well. 

很高興與你分享：我們的兒子 Hunter Hugh Anderson 於10月20日晚上7點30分於新竹出生，體重3300公克，母子均安。謝謝大家在這些日子以來，給我們的關心與鼓勵！

October 14-25

It has been a very productive week!

The weather is getting a bit cooler. Please have your child bring a
few layers of clothes as temperatures do change during the day.

In Math this week, we continued with Topic 4, Numbers through 100.
Next week we will finish this topic and start Topic 5, Counting Money.

In Social Studies, we concluded Chapter 1, Governing the People and
had a quiz. Well done to all the students learning so many challenging
vocabulary words and new concepts!

In English, we continued to practice the writing process by revising
and proofreading our Personal Narratives (please find pictures below).
We also started publishing the writings and will display them on my
blog once they are completed. Next week we will complete the Personal
Narratives and start Unit 3, Nouns and Pronouns.

In Science this week, we started Chapter 2, Animals are Living Things.
We will continue with this next week. For a culminating activity, the
students will be doing a research project where they research an
animal and present their findings to the class.

Congratulations to Ashley Cheng for being this week's Student of the
Week! Ashley is dedicated to finishing all her work and rarely gets
distracted from her studies. Keep up the hard work.

Dates to remember

Monday - spelling quiz (light, long, much, myself, never, only, own,
pick, seven, shall; Bonus Words: sunrise, thunderstorm, waterfall,
rainbow, campfire)
Tuesday - Anita's Birthday
Wednesday - Math Topic 4 quiz
Thursday - Yu's Birthday
Friday - Assembly in library 2:20PM


Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind

October 31 - Fancy dress day (Halloween)
October 31 - Reports go home
November 1 - Mid-Semester break
November 5-6 - Parent/Teacher meetings
November 13 - Fun Day
November 28 - American Thanksgiving/Lunch
November 29 - Monthly Assembly
December 2-6 - Literacy Week
December 6 - Spelling Bee
December 11 - Christmas concert rehearsal
December 13 - Christmas concert (evening)
December 18 - Half day
December 19 - January 5 - Christmas Vacation

Peer Reading Conferences 

10/18

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Workbook 4.8,
Reading Journal #8 "Remember your favorite holiday and write what traditions you and your family have."
Spelling Review for quiz,

10/16

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Workbook 4.6,
Social Studies - Review for Unit 1 quiz,
Reading Comprehension WB "Lunch Box",

10/15

Homework; Read for 20 minutes,
Math Workbook 4.5,
Reading Workbook 1, 90-94

Here is a link to the Halloween Song  that the second grade class will be singing to the school on October 31.

Practice writing letters correctly at Letter Writing

10/14

Homework: Read for 20 minutes,
Math Workbook 4.4,
Spelling Write sentences for new words; light, long, much, myself, never, only, own, pick, seven, shall; Bonus Words; sunrise, thunderstorm, waterfall, rainbow,campfire.

October 7-18

This week was awareness week at HIS.  We had lots of learning points relating to "Understanding"  and how all people are different and each of us are "one of a kind." Awareness week was capped off by the second grade class singing a song to the school about respect. Well done for such a wonderful job promoting "understanding"! 

In Math this week we completed chapter 3 and started Chapter 4, Using numbers 0-100. We will continue with this chapter next week.  

In Reading we started Unit 2 and read a story about camping and the story Henry and Mudge. Next week we will read a non-fiction story titled, Ranger Docket. If you would like a CD with all the stories for unit 2 please let me know and I will send a copy home with your child. 

In English this week we worked on the first two stages of the writing process, which are pre-writing and drafting. Next week we will continue with our personal narratives, working on editing and starting to publish the writing. 

This week in Social Studies we continued to investigate Unit 1, Governing the People. Next week we will continue with this, review what we have learned and have a quiz on Thursday. 

Congratulations to Ashley Wang for being this week's Student of the Week. Ashley consistently tries her hardest and always asks questions when she is unsure of what to do. She also drafted an excellent personal narrative this week in English class. Keep up the great work! 

Dates to remember. 
Monday - Spelling quiz (fall, far, full, got, grow, hold, hurt, keep, kind, laugh; Bonus Words: mayor, governor, capital, border, map key.)
Thursday - Social Studies quiz on Unit 1, Governing the People.
Friday - Reading Comprehension Quiz

On a personal note, my wife and I are expecting our first child (boy) very soon. The due date is October 21, but as you all know it could be any time now or even later into November. Once the baby is born I will be taking a few days off from school to help care for my wife and the baby. During this time the school will arrange a substitute teacher. I will prepare lesson plans beforehand and check in from time to time while the substitute is here. We are both very excited for our new addition! 

Best Wishes,
 
James Anderson

Care Team at HIS

Rock Painting

Fire Drill 

Happy Birthday Kristopher!