Dear James' parents,

During our last lesson together, James had good focus, effective engagement, and some participation, especially with my prompts. Well done, James.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 20:

Task 1 - Diary - 'Why NO is better than YES!'

Task 2 - Dog Man 3-5 - 'Crate Expectations'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'My Soldier Lego Movie' -  [Movie Map - Scenes 1-4]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Visual and Audio Movie Scenes: Summarization of Main Plot Points and Action Descriptors

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

5) Reading: Fluency and Punctuation Intonation (exclamation and question marks)

_____________________________

Have a wonderful remainder to 2023 and I wish the entire family a new year full of happiness, good health, and blessings.

It was a joy teaching James this past year. I hope to teach James again in the future. 

My very best regards,

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

During our last lesson together, James had good focus, effective engagement, and some participation, especially with my prompts. Well done, James.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 20:

Task 1 - Diary - 'Why NO is better than YES!'

Task 2 - Dog Man 3-5 - 'Crate Expectations'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'My Soldier Lego Movie' -  [Movie Map - Scenes 1-4]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Visual and Audio Movie Scenes: Summarization of Main Plot Points and Action Descriptors

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

5) Reading: Fluency and Punctuation Intonation (exclamation and question marks)

_____________________________

Have a wonderful remainder to 2023 and I wish the entire family a new year full of happiness, good health, and blessings.

It was a joy teaching James this past year. I hope to teach James again in the future. 

My very best regards,

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James had a very active and engaged lesson today. He was very excited about his new Lego soldiers! Well done today, James!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 19:

Task 1 - Diary - 'My New Lego Soldiers'

Task 2 - Dog Man 3-4 - 'No More Kitten Around'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'The Battle at Lake Changjin!' -  [Chapter Writing]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Chapter (Main Idea) Writing

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

5) Reading: Fluency and Punctuation Intonation (exclamation and question marks)

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James was a little tired today and his energy was low but he still tried his best throughout the lesson and did a great job! I hope James has a wonderful sleep tonight. Thank you.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 18:

Task 1 - Diary - 'My Big House'

Task 2 - Dog Man 3-3 - 'The Six Thousand Dollar Fish'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Plants vs. Zombies

(About plants that save people from a Zombie virus!)

[Sequence Summary - Characters, Settings, Beginning, Middle, and End]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Literary Elements: Plot (Beginning, Middle, End)

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

5) Reading: Punctuation Intonation (exclamation and question marks)

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James was very engaged and active throughout today's lesson. He was focused and he had many great ideas to help enrich all of the English language exercises we completed today. It was one of his best lessons ever! He did great!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 17:

Task 1 - Diary - 'Why I Like Rocks!'

Task 2 - Dog Man 3-2 - 'You've Gotta Be Kitten Me'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Finding Gold in China!'

[Story Web - Sequence: Beginning, Middle, and End]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Literary Elements: Plot (Beginning, Middle, End)

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

5) Reading: Punctuation Intonation (exclamation marks)

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James once again had a good overall English language lesson today and he was in good spirits, which is still great to see.

However, throughout the lesson, he did need gentle prompts to keep focused on the lesson because he was once again distracted by something else he was watching on his computer.

Nonetheless, we covered all the curriculum I had planned for him today. Thank you.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 16:

Task 1 - Diary - 'My Favorite Things About New Zealand'

Task 2 - Dog Man 3-1 - 'Recalled to Duty'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Dog Man: The Funny Disappearing Petey!' - Self-Created

[Story Web - Sequence: Beginning, Middle, and End]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Literary Elements: Plot (Beginning, Middle, End)

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

5) Reading: Punctuation Intonation (exclamation marks)

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James once again had a good overall English language lesson today and he was in good spirits, which is still great to see. However, throughout the lesson, he did need gentle prompts to keep focused on the lesson because he was once again distracted by something else he was watching on his computer. Nonetheless, we covered all the curriculum I had planned for him today. Thank you.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 15:

Task 1 - Diary - 'My Favorite Good and Bad Ultraman Characters'

Task 2 - Dog Man 2-11 - 'A Tale of Two Kitties'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Ultraman - The Story About Zero!' [Mind Map/Story Web - Problem and Solution]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Literary Elements: Plot (Problem and Solution)

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing James in two weeks. Have a really great time in Beijing! (That's where James said you were going. Enjoy!) 

My very best regards are with your whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James once again had a good overall English language lesson today and he was in good spirits, however he was once again distracted by something else he was watching on his computer, throughout the lesson.

We were able to cover all of the lesson curriculum planned for today's lesson however I needed to shorten the amount of time allotted to today's Book Report. Nonetheless, we completed all lesson activities, on time. Thank you very much.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 14:

Task 1 - Diary - 'Facts About Me - Games I Play with My Friends!'

Task 2 - Dog Man 2-10 - 'An Ice Ending'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Dog Man 2-10 - 'An Ice Ending' [Mind Map/Story Web - Sequence: First, Then, Finally]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/Personal Experience

2) Literary Elements: Plot

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing James next Wednesday. 

My very best regards are with your whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James had a good overall English language lesson today, however he was distracted by something else he was watching on his computer throughout the lesson.

We were able to cover all of the lesson curriculum planned for today's lesson however I needed to go over 10 minutes of the class time for James to finish his class work.

Can you please have a talk with James to help him understand that he needs to focus in class so we can finish on time. Thank you very much.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 13:

Task 1 - Diary - 'Lego Ninjago Characters'

Task 2 - Dog Man 2-9 - 'The Mysterious Stranger Returns'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'A Transformer TV Show' [Mind Map/Story Web - Sequence: introduction, first, then, last]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text/TV Show

2) Literary Elements: Plot

3) Descriptive Word Choices and Key Details

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing James next Wednesday. 

My very best regards are with your whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James had another excellent lesson today! He was positive, fully engaged, and self-motivated to be successful with his English language learning. I think being on holiday and playing video games with his cousin helps alot, lol! Great work today, James!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 12:

Task 1 - Diary - 'Video Game Gun Safety - Play Safe!

Task 2 - Dog Man 2-8 - 'Flat Cat Fever'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Dog Man 2-8 - 'Flat Cat Fever' [Sequence Chart: characters, settings, beginning, middle, and end]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text

2) Literary Elements: Plot

3) Descriptive Word Choices

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful week and happy holiday! 

My very best regards are with your whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James had another excellent lesson today! He was positive, fully engaged, and self-motivated to be successful with his English language learning. Great work today, James!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 11:

Task 1 - Diary - 'My Superpowers!'

Task 2 - Dog Man 2-7 - 'Big Fight'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Dog Man: Unleashed (Chap.9): Story Web [Problem and Solution]

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text

2) Plot: Problem and Steps to the Solution

3) Descriptive Word Choices

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James next Wednesday. 

My very best regards are with your whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James came to class in positive spirits and motivated to successfully complete his lesson exercises, which he did. Your trip to New Zealand has most certainly improved his engagement and eagerness to learn! Wonderful!

For today's lesson, James was once again engaged, excited, and active throughout the lesson. 

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 10:

Task 1 - Diary - 'My Favorite Transformer: Optimus Prime'

Task 2: Dog Man 2-5 - Petey's Big Escape (Lesson 9)

Task 2: Dog Man 2-6 - A Buncha Stuff That Happened Next

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Dog Man 2-5 - Petey's Big Escape - Sequence [character(s), setting(s), beginning, middle, end] - Chart

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text

2) Plot: Beginning, Middle, and End

3) Descriptive Word Choices

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James next Wednesday. 

My very best regards are with your whole family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

It was so very nice to see James once again. He was so excited to tell me all about his trip to New Zealand! He was so happy, my goodness. It was so wonderful to see.

For today's lesson, James was very engaged, excited, and active throughout the lesson. He seems to be in much better spirits which is so great!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 9:

Task 1 - Diary - 'Snowboarding in New Zealand'

Task 3 - Book Report: 'Dog Man - Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea' - Sequence (beginning, middle, end) - Story Web

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text

2) Plot: Beginning, Middle, and End

3) Descriptive Word Choices

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James next Wednesday. 

My very best regards are with the whole family.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

It was very nice to see James once again. He was very engaged, excited, and active throughout today's lesson. He seems to be in much better spirits which is very nice to see.

One wonderful reason for James being in great spirits might be because he is going to visit New Zealand next week! He was very excited sharing all that he is looking forward to.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 8 - Task 3 - Book Report: 'Dog Man - Book #3' - Summarization - Story Web

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Summarizing Key Details from a Text

2) Plot: Beginning, Middle, and End

3) Descriptive Word Choices

4) Sentence Structure: Simple to Complex

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing James again soon. 

My very best regards are with the whole family.

Mr. Grande

Dear James' parents,

James had another strong lesson. He did get confused with some of my instructions for lesson activities however overall, he did great!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 7

Task 1 - Diary - 'Describe My New Planet!'

Task 2 - Dog Man 2-3 - 'Happy Birthday, Chief'

Task 3 - Book Report - Self-created - 'My New Captain Underpants Book!'

The focus was on:

1) Voice: expression, intonation, punctuation

2) Key / New Vocabulary: translation and synonyms

3) Text Feature: illustrations

4) Read: fluency and comprehension

5) Sentence Structures

6) Instruction Comprehension

______________________

Have a wonderful weekend to the whole family and I look forward to seeing James, next Friday. 

My very best regards are with you all, always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear James' parents,

It is very nice to see the enthusiasm gradually returning to James, during our lessons. He is becoming much more engaged in the lesson activities, and he is reading and speaking with an increasing amount of expression and energy. This is encouraging and very good overall progress. Thank you mom and dad for all your positive support and partnership, in helping James find his way back to joy in his learning, once again. 'Slowly but surely wins the race', as they say.

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 6

Task 1 - Diary - 'My Dream Birthday Cake!'

Task 2 - Dog Man 1-5 - 'Penelope's Pets'

Task 3 - Book Report - 'Dog Man 1-5 - Penelope's Pets'

The focus was on:

1) Voice: expression, intonation, punctuation

2) Key / New Vocabulary: translation and synonyms

3) Text Feature: illustrations

4) Read: fluency and comprehension

5) Summarization: key details

6) Descriptive Writing

______________________

Have a wonderful weekend to the whole family and I look forward to seeing James, next Friday. 

My very best regards are with you all, always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear James' parents,

James once again effectively engaged in today's lesson, which is really great news! He enjoys reading Dog Man and he also enjoyed writing a Diary entry. So far, so good, fingers crossed! We even had a chance to play Blooket at the end of today's lesson because he was doing so well in class. He was very happy about that! Thank you for all your support and participation in helping James find his passion and joy in learning once again. 

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 5

Task 1 - Diary - Good Times with Friends

Task 2 - Dog Man 1-5 - 'Unleashed'

The focus was on:

1) Voice: expression, intonation, punctuation

2) Key / New Vocabulary: translation and synonyms

3) Text Feature: illustrations

4) Read: fluency and comprehension

5) Sequence Writing: first, second, third

______________________

Have a wonderful weekend to the whole family and I look forward to seeing James, next Friday. 

My very best regards are with you all, always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear James' parents,

James engaged more in today's lesson, which is great news! He enjoyed reading today's Dog Man chapter and he also enjoyed when I was reading to him (it was a very long chapter!). Very good progress today!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 4 - Task 2 - Dog Man 1-4 - 'Weenie Wars - The Franks Awaken!'

The focus was on:

1) Voice: expression, intonation, punctuation

2) Key / New Vocabulary: translation and synonyms

3) Text Feature: illustrations

4) Read: fluency and comprehension

______________________

Have a wonderful weekend to the whole family and I look forward to seeing James, next Friday. 

My very best regards are with you all.

Mr. Grande.

Dear James' parents,

It was very nice to see James today. My focus today was for James to enjoy the lesson by reading Dog Man with me. He still required prompts for him to remain engaged in today's reading but in the end, he said he enjoyed the Chapter we read. That's a good step in the right direction.

We even had time for James to play Blooket at the end of the lesson, which he enjoys, thanks to James' mother. Thank you for your help, James' mother.

Slowly but surely, I hope that we can help James find joy in his English language lessons once again. I know that with all of us focused together on James' well-being and joy of learning, he has a very good chance to find his way back to find joy in learning again. Thank you to everyone involved, for your partnership in this very important learning and life-affirming endeavor. 

We read the following Dog Man lesson:

Lesson 1 - Task 2 - Dog Man 1-1 - 'Book'em'

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Reading Fluency and Comprehension

_____________________________

Have a wonderful evening and I look forward to seeing James next Friday. 

My very best regards are with the whole family.

Mr. Grande.

Dear James' parents,

James' did have some challenges with focus and engagement today but he began to exhibit more engagement as the lesson progressed. This is a very good news! As well, thanks goes out to James' mother for her assistance with helping James log into Blooket. He really does enjoy this online game so thank you mom!

For today's lesson, we covered the following:

Lesson 1 - Task 1 - Diary: 'How Are You?'

Lesson 1 - Task 2 - Dog Man 1-1 - 'A Hero is Unleashed'

We focused on the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Key Details in Diary writing

2) Sentence Structure and Punctuation

3) Word Choice

4) Identifying Key Details in Text

5) Reading with fluency, comprehension, and expression

_____________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and following week, and I look forward to seeing James next Friday. 

My very best regards are with the whole family.

Mr. Grande.