2023

Pdouble

In the last week of Little Dragon Summer Camp, we still accumulated a lot of learning, playing, laughing, and growing. When we played sports at camp, we weren’t only working on athletic skills; we were learning the value of mindfulness and being a good team player. We broadened our horizons when we had the “trip” to China. On the ELA course, we built confidence about reading and writing. As we learned math, we stepped out of our comfort zone. In cross stitching, we developed discipline and . We celebrated our achievements and learned from our mistakes. We helped each other learn and cared about each other’s feelings. The bonds of friendship forged at camp were strong. We are looking forward to seeing each other next summer! Chinese Language and Culture This week’s Chinese lessons combined with language learning, culture learning, and designing. Students had big pictures of China and knew the basic history of 4 big Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Chengdu). As we learned each city, we closely looked a historical site and a delicious food. We watched the video clips, read the markable facts, and wrote words and sentences. Our Chinese skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) were improved. More than these, we got multiple meanings of a landmark by thinking from different perspectives (e.g., an emperor, an ancient solider, an ordinary person, etc.…). In this way, we enriched our understanding and led to an appreciation of the role of the landmark in Chinese culture.  We had meaningful hand-on activities as learning each city. We pretended as civil engineers to make part of Great Wall/Oriental Pearl Tower. We could be ancient craftsmen to make terracotta warriors. We also drew panda in Chinese ancient style fan. Building Great Wall Making Oriental Pearl Town Carving Terracotta Warrior Drawing Panda on the Traditional Fan English Language Arts Group A Students worked on their reading comprehension skills by listening to the story of Aladdin and answering questions about what happened in the story. We took turns reading various picture books, and we learned many new vocabulary words. We also learned about prefixes and suffixes and how they change the meaning of a root word. Students worked on a worksheet to identify root words and prefixes/suffixes. Group B We read short stories focused on the relationship between humans and animals. As we read each text, we completed a graphic organizer that helped them think about how the texts work together and understand how animals are important to humans. We made big improvements of answering free response questions. Group C We worked on an interactive reading lesson. They read “Thrown” by Mike Jung which tells the story of Stevie, a boy with autism who is struggling with the challenge of advancing to a more difficult aikido martial arts class. As students read, they analyzed how a protagonist changes through conflict and dialogue with secondary characters. As we went through the packet, we went over vocabulary words to get better understand the text. We also worked on answering the writing prompt at the end to get a solid start on responding to essay questions. Group D Throughout the week, students read various articles discussing the debate over school start times. Students worked on analyzing and taking notes on these articles, and they wrote their own opinions on whether school start times should be moved later. Using their notes taken over the week, students worked on synthesizing all the information they learned to write an argumentative essay to support their viewpoint. They learned about how to acknowledge and disprove opposing viewpoints. High School Group We continued practicing SAT evidence-based reading and writing test and discussed reading and writing strategies along the way. Strategies we discussed include analyzing the author’s perspective, analyzing word choice, citing textual evidence, analyzing textstructure and so on.  Basketball Ms. Ma always helped our learners learn basic skills (e.g. dribbling, shooting, passing, and footwork) to set a good foundation in playing games. Without mastering basic skills in basketball, a player won’t be able to execute advanced moves properly. Of course, we played games to develop tactics in different playing situations. Play-DohIn this interactive class, we learned and practiced speaking Chinese through play-based learning with playdoh.  Cross Stitching To young learners, cross stitching is a fun activity that improves concentration, enhances hand-eye coordination, and encourages patience. After we assembled the equipment that would be needed to begin the textiles projects, Ms. Guo gave step-by-step instructions for a detailed introduction to cross stitch. She carefully taught our learners the basic techniques and the organization skills.  Math It is hard, but we can do it 😊Learners: Read-Do-Think-Discuss-AskTeachers/helpers: Monitor-Help-Explain-Check Chess Get Chesspired! The chess class included two main parts: whole group instruction and playing time. David helped young players build critical and strategic thinking, and then players improved their chess game while you are playing. Sound of Music This music program in Town Green was amazing. It was a divine way to teach children character education and was an explosive expression of humanity. Quark Time Maple Maze Swimming Pool