木偶奇遇记

Photo courtesy: Walt Disney

Dear Students,

Homework for this week:
1. Watch the following short video in Chinese. Tell me what are some differences you have noticed between the video and the story in our book. Write at least 3 sentences in CHINESE CHARACTERS in the "comment" area. Please call me or email me if you don't know how to do this one.  Use the translation I give you at the bottom of this post.

2. Retell the story at Voicethread. Remember you have to use ALL the words given. Please practice to your parents or yourself for a couple of times BEFORE you do the recording.

3. Study the new words for a quiz next week.

Translation

I like a fairy tale very much, and it’s called “The Adventure of A Puppet”.

In the story, an old man called Geppetto made a puppet. The puppet is very special because he can open his eyes to look at things, and can open his mouth to talk and sing, and also can move his legs to walk. The old man named him Pinocchio. He made him clothes, and sent him to school. But Pinocchio loves to play. As soon as he gets to the street, he goes where crowds are in the Grand Puppet Theater with other kids. At the theater, he makes trouble, and is almost thrown into the fire to be burnt. He doesn’t like to study, and wants to play in the Toyland all day long. Once, he was changed to donkey in the Toyland. A circus bought him, and pulled him away in a cart. He suffered a lot on the way, and in the end, he ran into Geppetto in the ocean. Geppetto brought him home. Since then, Pinocchio dropped all his bad habits, and learned to work. He now also knows how to study hard, and look after his papa. One day, Pinocchio woke up to find that he is no longer a puppet, but has changed into a pretty child.

达芬奇画鸡蛋

Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci

Dear Students,
Homework this week:

1. Using the translation below, try to read the story of Da Vinci (Refer to Set L12.2) and record it at Voicethread.

2. Review Set L1.1 on the Quizlet for the test next class. (Remember you are supposed to be able to write as well as to read these new words!)

3. Workbook exercises (Wed-Fri).

Translation

Da Vinci is one of the most outstanding painters in Italy.

When little, Da Vinci’s father hired a teacher to teach him drawing. On the first day, the teacher got an egg for Da Vinci to paint. Da Vinci thought, “It’s so simple.” So he picked up the pen to paint, and soon finished drawing. The second day, his teacher again brought an egg for him to paint. Da Vinci was a little unwilling, but still he did it. For several days in a roll, the teacher had been asking him to paint eggs. Now Da Vinci was not happy and asked the teacher: “teacher, how come you asked me to paint eggs every day? Don’t tell me I can become a painter by drawing eggs.” The teacher said smiling: “you see, is today’s egg different from yesterday’s egg?” Da Vinci looked at the egg and said: “no difference.” The teacher said shaking head:  “No two eggs in the world are totally the same. You can draw well only when you observe things carefully.”

The teacher’s words inspired Da Vinci greatly. From then on, Da Vinci continued to draw eggs every day. Nobody knows exactly how many eggs in the world he drew. Starting from that, Da Vinci finally becomes a great painter after his diligent practice.

在公园里

Dear Students,
Here is the homework for this week:

1.  Review the new words of L1.1 at Quizlet. Then do the oral assignment at the Voicethread websit. (Read sentences and make sentences of your own.)

2. Review the Most Frequently Used Chinese Characters (6)
for the test next class.

3. Do exercises in your workbook (Mon-Tues) You can listen to the text and refer to its English translation at this site.

Happy studying,
Gao Laoshi

The most frequently used Chinese characters (6)

罗丹

Dear Students,
I'm very glad that all of you spent some time studying Chinese before last Thursday, and most Ased in today's quiz. Many Kudos!
Homework this week:
1. Review the new words in Quizlet, and do the oral homework on Voicethread. You will be asked to read some sentences, and then to make some sentences of your own with the highlighted words.
2. Continue reviewing the Most Frequently Used Chinese characters (5) We will have a test next class.
I've also attached a translation of the text in the end of the post. Hope it's helpful.
Gao Laoshi

Translation of L1.2

“The Thinker” is a great piece of sculpture work. Its creator is the outstanding French sculptor and art master Rodin.

Rodin liked to draw pictures when little. On his fifth birthday, his aunt gave him several paint brushes. He was so happy that he started to paint on paper, wall and floor. In a few days, his paintings could be found everywhere at his home.

Having grown-up, Rodin entered a school of fine arts to study oil-painting, as he wanted to become a master of oil-painting. But soon after, he had to change to study sculpture because he couldn’t afford the pigment and canvas. Very quickly, he was fascinated by sculpture, and took it very seriously. Every morning he learned to do sculpture, and went painting outside in the afternoon. He scarcely took a break even on Sundays. He often shut himself up in his room to either painting or making statues.

Rodin is very gifted in sculpture and painting, plus his hard work and great effort, he created many famous sculpture work.

The most frequently used Chinese characters (5)

我爱我的英文学校 by Erik Ma

我以前在Olympic View Elementary上学，并且我会坐校车去学校和回家。但是我现在去Lakes Elementary上学，而且我妈妈需要每天送我，这样增加了很多路程。我去这个学校是因为我考上了TAG（Talented and Gifted Program)。

我喜欢Lakes是因为：首先，它很像一个大迷宫。你要是新来的话，很多东西你都会找不到的。 Lakes 的教学楼有红、蓝、绿、和黄颜色的门。其次，老师们都很好，而喜欢孩子们培养自觉性。例如，孩子们应该自己当天晚上准备第二天的东西。再次，我喜欢我们每天做的事情。我们做Daily 6 traits、Wordly Wise、Small Moments Memory Box Stories、和很多事情。我喜欢这些事情 因为它们很有趣和很重要，而以后会很有用的。

     我在这个学校学了很多知识。这就是为什么我喜欢Lakes Elementary的原因！