Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 

Dear Alvin's parents,

It is such an honor and a privilege to meet Alvin. Alvin is such a joy to teach! He was very active, eager to learn and involved in the class. He also picked up the concepts and language we discussed very quickly demonstrating high-intelligence. He has a great attitude which coupled with hard work will ensure he develops a very high aptitude for English in the long-term. Keep up the great work, Alvin! You're a great student! 

WHAT WE COVERED IN TODAY'S CLASS:

In today's lesson, we covered the following literacy concepts and strategies from Grade 2, Lesson 1 - Task 1 - U1L1 - Family and Friends:

(1) Key conceptual foundation themes: identification, clues pre-reading and post-reading

(2) Key / New vocabulary: translations, definitions, context, synonyms and antonyms

(3) Reading strategies: decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

(4) Genre study: Fantasy and Poetry (example of rhyme 押韵)

(5) Author's Message: What do the characters learn?; What is the moral of the story?

(6) Understanding Character Development: How a character changed

(7) Understanding Themes and thematic development: different key ideas in the text

(8) Connections and comparisons: text-to-self and text-to-world connections

To supplement the curriculum we also explored verbal phrases, collocations which are critical in native dialogue including: depend on, quite good (meaning just okay), take a break (instead of get a break).

HOMEWORK AND WRITING PRACTICE:

If Alvin has time, could he please complete the following:

(1) Lesson 1 - U1L1 - Phonics & Spelling Practice

(2) Before the next class, read the passages in Lesson 2 (Online Reading)  - U1L2 - The Quest

(3) Complete the Writing Practice below to be written in full sentences.

a) What are the main themes (ideas) in Little Flap Learns to Fly (e.g. fears, secrets, trust, depending on others, friendship)?

b) Summarize the reading passage in one sentence.

c) How did LitFlap change in the story (e.g his fears, secrets, feelings about flying)? You can use discourse markers at the beginning of your sentences such as, "At first, he", and "But later, he".

Have a wonderful week ahead and I look forward to seeing Alvin again.Warm wishes and all the best for Alvin and the entire family during the Spring Festival! Happy New Year to the entire family!

Kind regards,

Teacher Philip.