James

= = =Semester 1=

"Who are you" project
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My photo
This is a photo of me on a jet ski in Hebei province

language map
I am James and I am a 9th grade student in Mr. Nordmeyer's EAL class. I was born in Atlanta Georgia. My family moved to Guangzhou, China when I was 5 years old. I studied in AISG for 5 years, until my dad found a new job in Nantong. Because there weren't any American schools, I had to study in a local school. Since my Chinese wasn't that well too, I endured a tough period at school. I studied there also for 5 years. In 2008, I had my first dog, we taught it how to shake hands, sit down, and lay down. Now I am a member of he SAS community, I enjoy studying, I'm interested in different topics of science, and I am trying hard not just to get a good grade in academics, but also to make more friends and have fun in SAS.

[[image:James3.png]]


Chinese flag & American flag

SAS Mission statement:
1. A lifelong passion for learning. 活到老，学到老.

2. A commitment to act with integrity and compassion. 诚信，热情.

3. The courage to live their dreams. 追求梦想.

The Cafeteria of SAS The cafeteria of SAS at lunchtime is always very busy; I often see a lot of classmates and some teachers sitting together, chatting with each other happily in the cafeteria, there are also some classmates who prefer to use their own laptops, and also a few students quietly studying or reviewing what they have learnt in classes. I hear the noises of classmates walking with trays in their hands and with their friends in the cafeteria, and there are sounds of students in their seats talking and eating, there are also sounds of people talking to the people that work in the food stations, choosing their favorite foods. In the cafeteria, I can smell the scent of Italian food, Mexican food, Chinese food and salad mingled together, tempting people to eat there. I feel very excited to be part of the SAS community.

Interview: Mr. Stelzer (Asian History teacher)
The teacher I interviewed is Mr. Stelzer, he is my Asian History teacher. This is my History teacher's 4th year teaching in SAS, he has 5 years of teaching experience, and he sponsors a Forensics club. Mr. Stelzer thinks that Asian History is very interesting, he also told me that to be a successful student at SAS, to be well organized, to be good at time management, and to ask questions when needed. Mr. Stelzer is a very profound teacher.

5 ways to improve my study
1. Ask more questions during classes 2. Listen more carefully 3. Be more well organized (organizing time of doing which homework) 4. talk more in class 5. review what I learned in class

Learning Summary From the SAS Culture Project, I learned that I am a reading/writing and visual learner. That means I mainly learn by reading or writing and also by looking at things such as graphs, diagrams, or demonstrations. Knowing my learning styles will help me to study more efficiently. SAS is different from my old school, because it doesn't only consider our academic grades, but also cares about our behaviors and attitudes towards studying. I have learned that in order to do well at SAS, I need to listen actively, take responsibility for learning, persist consistently through frustrations, have a positive attitude to learning, have good time management, and work effectively with other students. So in classes, I should listen carefully, be well organized, bring necessary materials to classes, and ask more clarifying questions.

Bilingual Story
media type="custom" key="23041944"

=Semester 2=

2012 Review
2012 was a special year for me. Some of the best things that happened last year were changing my school to SAS and visiting Hawaii State. Firstly, SAS has changed my life. From studying in SAS, I have become more social with others, and my English also improved a lot. SAS’s special activities made studying very unique. Secondly, having my vacation in Hawaii was very astonishing for me, because we explored the cities, beaches, and other amusing tourist attractions in Hawaii’s capitol, Honolulu; and we had a tour through the impressing volcanoes of Big Island and the star gazing on Mauna Kea. From my trip to Hawaii, I experienced many things that are unavailable in China. Therefore, 2012 has been a very unforgettable year for me.

=Semester 4=

**Listening**
**L1: I can distinguish between multiple meanings of oral words or phrases in social and academic contexts** In music monday, I was able to fill in missing words in the blanks of the song's lyrics. For example, one of the songs was //Fireflies//, and the line was, "A disco ball is just hanging by a _ ". The word I filled in was "thread", which matched with the original lyrics.

**L2: I can analyze content-related tasks or assignments based on oral discourse** When learning about cellular energy in Biology class, our teacher told us the purpose, experimental method, and procedure of the lab, which was to calculate how much energy there was in a peanut. I was able to follow the teachers instructions, complete the experiment, and write a report for lab. The score for my lab report was 100%.

**L3: I can categorize examples of genres read aloud** * Categorizing genres from texts:
 * [Text A]: I think that it is a **technical report** because it is detailed, it uses technical terms, and it states that it is from a research project.
 * [Text B]: I think that it is a **poem** because the sentences aren’t long and each sentence doesn't necessarily have a complete, it uses rhyme and other poetic devices.
 * [Text C]: I think that it is a from a **Shanghai newspaper** because it narrowly talks about the cause of cancer explained by a professor in Shanghai.
 * [Text D]: I think that it is from an **international newspaper** because it is much more general than text C when it talked about the pollution in China.
 * [Text E]: I think that it is from a **blog entry** because it sounds more like an essay than the rest of the texts, and the contents are more related to the common lives of people.

**L4: I can compare traits based on visuals and oral descriptions using specific and some technical language*** I can compare the details about the stage 13 and stage 18 of Tour de France. The greatest difference was the height of the highest point. Stage was 170 meters, however stage 18 was much higher because it was 1800 meters.

**Speaking**
**S1: I can take a stance and use evidence to defend it** In English class, we gave persuasive speeches based on prompts referring to Ellie Weisel's novel, //Night//. My prompt was: //Is it too late to prosecute Nazi war criminals? Should the world forgive, in spite of Wiesel’s words? Deliver a formal persuasive speech which either supports or challenges the idea that Nazi war criminals, no matter how old, should face justice.// My answer was that it isn't too late and the world shouldn't forgive Nazi war criminals. Briefly, the evidence I stated in my speech was that the only way to restore justice and to resolve ethnical conflicts is to prosecute Nazi war criminals by law, and I that age is not a factor to stop prosecution them. For this speaking assignment, my score was 87%.

In my research paper in English, I was able to contrast the different points of views about whether North Korea's non-conventional weapons program should or shouldn't be intervened. The score for my research project was 95%.
 * S2: I can compare and contrast points of view**

**S3: I can explain content-related issues and concepts** In history class, we watched a video about the cultural revolution. After watching the video, we were asked to explain the videos to our classmates. I was able to explain the contents and main ideas of the video to my classmates.

**S4: I can analyze and share pros and cons of choices** In the book talk of John Steinbeck's novel //Of Mice and Men//, I was able to explain the pro and con of George Milton shooting his friend Lennie Small in the back. The pro was that Lennie wouldn't need to face his terrible fate of being murdered by Curly; and the con was that George lost his best friend.

**S5: I can use and respond to gossip, slang, and idiomatic expressions**

**S6: I can use speaking strategies (e.g., circumlocution)** At home, when my parents don't understand something that I say in English, I would translate it into Chinese so it is easier for them to apprehend.

**Reading**
In English class, I wrote an essay to compare George Orwell's Animal Farm with the Soviet Union. Most of the novel's events were analogous to the historical events that occurred during the Stalin era. For example, the event of Napoleon getting rid of his political enemies and executing animals who were opposing him in Animal Farm was similar to the Great Purge that happened in the SOviet Union in the mid-1930s by Stalin.
 * R1: I can compare/contrast authors’ points of view, characters, information, or events**

**R2: I can interpret visually- or graphically-supported information** In history class, we were given photos of real events. I was able to tell that the people in the photos were Egyptian antigovernment protesting against the government, which happened in 2011. I was able to indicate it because of watching the news and the protesters in the photo looked like they were from the mid-east due to their clothing, and I could tell that they were protesters because they were agitated and demonstrating against the police.

**R3: I can infer meaning from text** In EAL class, we completed inference packets. With the short descriptions for each passage, I was able to understand the setting and situation of the text. For example, one passage from the packet was: "Ginny being late was no surprise to Frank. He just wished he hadn't mentioned it. Now he was standing outside with two movie tickets and no-one to go with". And one of the questions to the passage was: "Had Ginny been late before? How do you know that?" And my answer was: "Yes, because it was '//no surprise to Frank//'".

One of the causes and effects were in History class. For instance, we analyzed the impact of the Yellow River to the creation of complex societies in China. My flow of this cause and effect was was: loess (rich soil in Yellow River) à suitable land for farming à success in agriculture à greater food production à population growth increases à more people work on building cities and developing science and economy à complex societies are established.
 * R4: I can match cause to effect**

**R5: I can evaluate usefulness of data or information supported visually or graphically** In biology class, we had to analyze data from graphs of our lab reports. From analyzing the graphs, I was able to indicate whether my hypothesis was correct or incorrect, or if the data was reliable or not from inspecting outliers by looking at error bars.

**Writing**
**W1: I can summarize content-related notes from lectures or text** In Asian history class, we were given DBQs (document based questions) about Commodore Perry's visit to Japan in 1857. From reading and analyzing the short letter he sent to the Japanese officials, I was able to summarize the message that the US was demanding Japan to trade with the US.

**W2: I can revise work based on narrative or oral feedback** After I got back my paragraph contrasting Feudal Japan and Tokugawa Japan i n Asian history class, I read the feedbacks from Mr. Stelzer. I edited the contents and paragraph structure. The new score to the paragraph was 92%.

**W3: I can compose narrative and expository text for a variety of purposes** In EAL, I published a Bilingual book. The book was an autobiography of myself which was based on my personal experiences of bilingualism.

**W4: I can justify or defend ideas and opinions** In our research paper for English class, I used resources to state my opinion of why the US should intervene North Korea's nuclear weapons program briefly because North Korea's nuclear weapons project would be a threat to the world, and it isn't beneficial to DPRK's economy either. The score for my research paper was 95%.

**W5: I can produce content-related reports** In Biology class, we had to write a lab report about naming microorganisms that we found under the microscopes. One of the microorganisms I named was Squatinella Rotifera, because of its identical appearance, size, and its natural habitat. The score for my lab report was 100%.