Little Dragon Summer Camp ，Week 4 Newsletter，Exploration of Chinese Ancient Architecture

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We celebrate the end of 4th and final week of Little Dragon Summer Camp! The architecture in China is fundamentally a cultural enterprise which flows with the intersections of place and time. This week gave us a lot of hands-on experience in turning abstract concepts into concrete and vivid learning experience. We interwove the Chinese language lessons and STEM classes together to make learning by doing, thinking, discussing, and playing, as groups and as pairs. We also had two basketball ball coaches to help students improve their basketball skills. Our students were also able to participate in their favorite activities, such as activity centers and chess. Lunch, snack and recess were only a small portion of time we spent together, but we still had a lot of fun!  Let’s provide a glimpse of what it feels like to restore a sense of belonging to our Little Dragon Summer Camp.  Morning Meeting 早会 Morning meeting was a hub of social emotional learning. Greeting, sharing, and games introduced students to each other and prepared them to learn. Chinese &STEM 中文课&STEM 第一天 On the first day, we talked about the earliest days when Northern Chinese lived in caves, and introduced the modern form of living in caves -- cave dwellings. The students did pertinent hand experiments to explore why the cave dwellings had semi-circular roofs. When it came to Chinese learning, we introduced the words with the radical of “soil” and related to architecture. 第二天 On the second day, we described how and why the earliest people in Southern China lived in trees, and introduced the modern form of living in trees -- stilted buildings. The students used their imagination and creativity to design and build their own miniature treehouses out of twigs and paper. For the corresponding Chinese learning part, we introduced the words related to architecture and with the radical of “wood”. 第三天 On the third day, we introduced Beijing courtyard houses and Anhui folk houses in the morning. And the students painted the Huizhou horse-head wall in their impressions. In the afternoon, we introduced Mongolian yurts and Fujian Tulou with the latter being a unique residential architecture in Fujian Province. Then, our students made a variety of handcrafted models of Chinese folk houses. 第四天 On the fourth day, we explained the special production method of ancient Chinese architecture - mortise and tenon, as well as its function. Our students learned how to design tenon-and-mortise structures and made a phone holder using only paper and scissors. In the Chinese learning section, we introduced the construction-related words with the radical of “factory”. 第五天 On the fifth day, we studied the most special structure in ancient Chinese architecture -- the bucket arch and its function. Our students built bucket arch models and designed the decorative colors for the bucket arches by themselves. Basketball 篮球课 We worked on dribbling and ball handling at beginning, and then moved on to passing and shooting. In the stations, K-2nd Graders focus on building up the fundamental skills; while 3rd graders or up play more games. English Language Arts 英文课 <ul class="ql-block"><li>Group A </li></ul> This week, our K-1 students worked on spelling from vowel sounds and compound words, and then practiced these skills in reading. We also did some reading comprehension questions together. <ul class="ql-block"><li>Group B </li></ul> This week, our second and third graders learned about the important types of words that constitute a sentence, including nouns (common, proper, plural), adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. Students actively participated in providing examples of these word types to improve their understanding of grammar. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, they generated funny stories using these word types and also participated in a word search. Although this was a lot to remember in one week, our students did a great job, and we hope they keep up the good work! <ul class="ql-block"><li>Group C</li></ul> The students read three short stories, a nonfiction text, and two poems this week. Every student got the chance to read aloud, and afterward, we had many lively discussions and answered questions about the readings. If there was remaining class time, the students would have individual or team spelling quizzes. They all had a great time practicing their English language arts skills! <ul class="ql-block"><li>Group D </li></ul> Students read short stories such as The Lottery and The Cask of Amontillado. They used these stories to identify theme, irony, conflict, and plot structure. They also practiced annotating stories for vocabulary, plot and character development, and the setting. Activity Centers 活动角 Activity centers are physical locations in or near the classroom where students can work individually or with others to solve problems and learn some skills using the materials provided.This created opportunities for a diverse student population to actively engage in their learning and explore their interests. Teachers and volunteers provided the scaffolding to meet each student’s personal goals. Chess Class 象棋课Students learned many advanced chess tactics and solved puzzles to develop theirskills. They also learned about important endgames skills and got to a chance to play against other students. Birthday Celebration 庆祝生日 Duck Feeding 喂鸭子 Library Experience 图书馆体验 Outdoor Playground 室外游乐场 Maze 室内游乐场 Indoor Swimming Pool 室内游泳池 Outdoor Swimming Pool 室外游泳池 Popsicle 冰棒 We finished the week expressing our pride for our amazing students and teachers.  Nothing can accomplish this more than seeing the smiles on the faces of many of our students, parents, teachers, and volunteers. Every time we hear, “See you next year!”, we all feel incredibly grateful to each of our amazing students and parents. Thank you for your continued support and being a part of Little Dragon Summer Camp. We will see you next summer! 下学期快乐，明年见！(Have a great school year, see you next year!)