2023

Pdouble

In a blink of an eye, the fifth week of the “Little Dragon” summer camp themed on Aerospace Technology & Outer Space has come to an end amidst the joy and jubilation of the children.Our children dreamed of flying across the solar system while secretly becoming planetary experts! We got a hands-on learning experience, grasped some fundamental physics concepts, broadened our horizons, made great friendships, and of course had a lot of fun. Sports We started the day with physical education in the morning. Numerous studies have shown that morning exercise helps students feel more energized, refreshed, focused, and optimistic. In addition, we take full advantage of basketball, soccer, and other team sports activities to emphasize persistence and collaboration, cultivated team spirit, and help our campers form more sincere friendship. When we did basketball drill practice, we created different groups based on skill level.  STEM This week is a STEM based lesson about space. On the first day, we learned about galaxies, recognized eight planets of the Solar System and learned some interesting facts about the eight planets. Then, we reinforced what they have learned by making a solar system model. As knowing Mars in the solar system, the mission for us was to get there. Students understood what and how aerospace engineers do their work. For example, we watched video clips that engineers used science knowledge and math to solve real world problems. We also learned/reviewed the knowledge of physics, such as, force, motion, friction, air resistance, motion and Newton’s 3rd law. Later, we connected what we learned in class to a real-world engineering problem through engaging, hands-on learning, making rockets. The most exciting part was that we tested their water rockets. Through the testing, we got the deep understanding how the structure of space rockets works and how the Newton’s 3rd works in real life.We engaged in learning by doing and by reflecting on the experiments. We had well-planned, supervised and assessed experiential learning to stimulate academic inquiry. More than these, we interweaved interdisciplinary learning and language learning. English Language Arts Group A This looked like 1 to 1 or 1 to 2 tutor time. We gave explicit phonics instruction in order to help emergent readers learn to read and spell. We played games, read decodable stories and engaged in fun activities. Group B Throughout this week we learned different aspects of English grammar. We studied when to use commas, capitalization, and the difference between a and an. We also read many different books to help the student’s vocabulary. Overall, we learned a lot this week. Group C Students worked on reading skills this week as we read a new story every day. They challenged themselves with new vocabulary words and reading comprehension questions. Students also completed worksheets to practice identifying and using verbs in the present and past tenses. Group D This week we finished up a thematic supplemental unit on folktales. We finished up the last 3 stories on folktales from different cultures as we focused on how the different folktales conveyed different culture values. We read through the stories, answered the multiple choice questions, and we even got through free response questions (some of them didn’t even need help).  Group E We went through two reading lessons. The first of was “Home” by Hena Khan which describes the experience of a young girl as she struggles to adjust to life with her newly adopted brother. As we read, we analyzed how a protagonist changes through their interactions with secondary characters. The second was “The Scholarship Jacket” which was a short story about a girl named Marta who learned that she won’t receive a jacket she had earned, unless her family could pay for it. As we read, we build on their learning from “Home” as they analyzed, more independently, the way secondary characters influenced and changed the protagonist. Group F This week, students read a couple stories that had the common theme of conveying courage in writing. We worked on analyzing different characters’ viewpoints and how characters’ actions impact us as readers. We had practice writing claim statements, finding textual evidence in the form of direct quotes, and providing relevant context for these quotes. Students answered various questions about the texts, including questions about vocabulary and author’s purpose. Group G Our summer camp offers the English literacy class for our volunteers. Top students work with high quality teacher to make the summer more fruitful. Culture ClassChinese Shadow Play 皮影戏 In the culture class, we learned shadow puppetry which was a Chinese traditional form of theatrical performance that used the shadow of puppets cast onto a screen. Following Ms. Wei’s instructions, students used their imagination to make story and crafted people, animals, and monsters. It was a busy week! On Thursday, they placed their puppets against translucent screens and acted out their stories by manipulating the puppets and accompanying by their exaggerated sound and funny song. What was a fun experience!  Chess This week in chess class, the students sharpened their tactical skills by solving puzzles and learned new endgame techniques. They then played each other in over the board chess to practice their new skills. Math Summer was at the corner! We prepared to have a good start of the new school year. Some of our students worked on math review; some of them worked on problems of math competition. Our teacher gave scaffolding and top students of different high schools and/or in Minnesota explained problems. Students had passions for learning math and always wanted to level up! 　　Enjoy Snack and Lunch Eat snack while listening the concert. Eat lunch either in the tree shade or in the sunshine, either on the chair or on the step. Free Time Maze Quaker Day 　　Friday was probably the park duck’s’ favourite day ! Kids were offering “quackers” as a tip for the bread buffet ! Sweet Time Let’s have a sweet break! Swimming Pools 　　Make a fun splash！It was swimming pool time for our little water enthusiasts.  Our Volunteers All of our volunteers are good models for young learners.