2023

Pdouble

Summer break is approaching to the end. It is time to wrap up and to get ready for the school year. Our summer camp includes Chinese language and cultural learning, English language learning, math, sports, STEM, cultural and outdoor exploration. Parents and learners gain an appreciation for the design of our summer camp. The current challenge of our educational system demands that educators can help young learners have a wellness and balance life. On one hand, we need the young learners to be smart, critical, and innovative thinkers; On the other hand, we also want them to be happy and take things easy. A group of teachers come up on this week’s content-combination of movements and stillness, excitement and calmness, learning and fun.  Social Emotional Lesson This week, we brought the EMPOWER curriculum to our summer camp. EMPOWER is a health and wellness program for the K-12 school classrooms that utilizes student-friendly neuroscience education creatively in order to help them inspire daily movement, mindfulness, and social‐emotional learning (SEL) practices. We used Calming Chime/Hoberman Sphere Breathing, a series of Yoga movements, to activate our body, then watched a science video of brain science concepts, and lastly did a follow-up activity that includes both a movement sequence and a mindfulness/relaxation practice. <ul class="ql-block"><li>Provide basic brain science education that promotes lifelong health and wellness practices and habits</li></ul> <ul class="ql-block"><li>Improve student nervous system regulation, attention and on-task behavior.</li></ul> <ul class="ql-block"><li>Increase student physical activity.</li></ul> <ul class="ql-block"><li>Develop leadership abilities and pro-social skills. </li></ul> Chopstick Dance Dancing is not only a form of exercise, but provides physical/mental refreshment. Dancing can provide a lot of entertainment. Chopsticks can help people eat foods and can also be used as a tool for dance.The chopstick dance is originally from Inner Mongolia for marriage or festival ceremonies. As we played the chopstick dance, we did the synchronized movements and made same sound which created a lot of fun and excitement. Sports In basketball classes, kids meet every morning to develop their skills through a variety of age appropriate basketball skill drills and team-building exercises. English Language Arts Group A This week we taught children phonics, which helped them establish connections between sounds and letters, and enabled them to decode words. Group B We first focused on knowing the main sentence structures, and then worked on conjunctions with FANBOYS. We also read appropriate books and played vocabulary games. Learners worked hard and did well. Group C This week, we covered grammar and parts of speech. Students learned about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Throughout the week, we had lots of practice identifying various parts of speech in different sentences and contexts. Students continued developing these skills as well as their reading skills through our reading of stories like Snow White and The Golden Goose. Group D For the younger group, we went through 3 short stories: “Reading to Max”, “The Cat with no meow”, and “Strong for Skeena”. The lexile levels ranged from about 580-750. I had the students alternate reading different paragraphs of the story to make sure they could understand it. I also made sure to go over vocabulary words in each of the short stories to increase their vocabulary and understanding of the story. In addition to the multiple choice questions, I decided to have them take a shot at the free response questions; this was a bit hard for them but with some guiding questions from me and help with spelling, they were able to do it. Group E The older group, I got most of the group with two or three of them finishing a 13 page long packet. It is a reading lesson that is a story with interactive questions to answer as you go through the story. Describes the experience of a young girl as she struggles to adjust to life with her newly adopted brother. As students read, they analyze how a protagonist changes through their interactions with secondary characters. I have also made sure to go over the vocabulary words beforehand so they would better understand the story and questions. Group F Students this week learned about the importance of creating suspense in writing. We read two suspenseful short stories throughout the week and answered questions on these texts. We discussed the meanings of the readings and worked on identifying instances of irony in each story. Students also developed skills like using specific evidence to support answers, analyzing characters’ motivations, and making inferences. Group G We worked on classic reading and SAT reading part. STEM-Food Chemistry In this week, we have studied four topics about food science. On Monday, we learned what the scientific method was and how the scientists studied the natural world by using superconductor as an example. On Tuesday, we learned the chemistry behind bread and how sandwich bread is different from bakery bread. On Wednesday, we did research on different leavening agents (biological leavening agents vs chemical leavening agents). On Thursday, we explored fluorescent dyes and the acid - base reaction. Math We had six math groups as we were in the activity center. Learners performed best when they were taught at (or slightly above) a level they were ready for. Our volunteers and young teachers are from the University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP). They share their math skills, thinking strategies, and tricks with our young learners. Choice Time Sound of Music Play Soccer In the Maze In the Pool Geese and Ducks Excellent Volunteers