Tzu Chi Elementary School

Parent Newsletter October 4, 2019

NEWSLETTER https://education.tzuchi.us Page | 1

Head of School’s Message We have officially ended our first testing cycle. By now all parents should have received their individualized child’s Family Report with their MAP Growth scores for Reading and Mathematics. The Family Report details specific information regarding your child’s personal progress over the year. The information received is based on your child’s Math and ELA MAP Growth scores for the Fall Schedule. There are a total of three testing cycles within the school year; Fall, Winter, and Spring. Now that the results are in, teachers have begun to build each student’s individual learning plan. The learning plan consists of understanding each student’s needs, strengths, skills, challenges, preferred learning styles, and interests. Students will soon began to create their own SMART goals with teacher’s guidance. A Parent NWEA/MAP session is scheduled to take place duirng the upcoming “Coffee and Conversations” which will take place on Thursday, October 24th at 8:30a.m. in Room #4.

“The beauty of people lies in their virtues; it is displayed through their good deeds, good words, and good heart.” –Dharma Master Cheng Yen

Upcoming Events: Oct 8th: Character Trait Awards @8:15 a.m. Oct. 11th: Ten Ren Tea Fundraiser Oct. 15th: Picture Day/ Tea Ceremony Oct. 17th: Tentative Pumpkin Patch Field trip Oct. 22nd: Award’s Assembly @8:30 a.m. (Fellowship Hall) Oct. 24th: Coffee & Conversations @8:30 a.m. Room #4 Oct. 31st: Fall Festival

Character Education

We had a terrific turnout at our first Family Night event. Thank you to our teachers, students, and parents for participating in our successful event. To recap the night, teachers began by reading the story “How Full Is Your Bucket? Students were introduced to the meaning of “bucket fillers.” Together with parents, students generated affirmations, compliments, and learned that those who help without being asked generally spread the love and good feelings to others. The second station consisted of students and families engaging themselves in creating and owning an idea on how to demonstrate respect through words and actions. Teachers, students, and parents contributed by putting together a rose garden with words or phrases on how each can contribute positively to society.

Tzu Chi Elementary School

Parent Newsletter October 4, 2019

NEWSLETTER https://education.tzuchi.us Page | 2

Mandarin Language Arts Program

Since the beginning of the school year, students have been exposed to the thematic units which include Listening, Comprehension, Language Development, Reading Comprehension, and Writing in a balanced manner. The lessons students have already been exposed to are organized around a central theme. The themes serve as a focus to tie together the vocabulary, sentence patterns, characters and all other activities. Both Meizhou Chinese美洲華語 and Living Mandarin生活華語- are currently being used within our MLA Curriculum.

Mandarin Language Arts Penmanship Contest

Chosen scholars from our first and second grade class will be participating in the Mandarin Penmanship Contest. The contest is sponsored by Southern California Council of Chinese Schools. The contest will take place on Sunday, November 3, 2019 at Arcadia High School. We want to wish all participants good luck. We are happy that they will represent Tzu Chi with pride. For more information, please visit www.scccs.net.