Children's Book of the Month: The Hundred Dresses

This is more like a book of the YEAR update... hahaha. I haven't been so good with these book recommendations but will try to get back on it.

Yesterday, I finished reading The Hundred Dresses with my 3rd graders. I've read this story before and it's one that I treasure and love! In our classroom, we're currently coming up with ideas about characters in stories to write a essay off of. The kiddies LOVED this story so I hope your children or students will love it too!

The Hundred Dresses

It's a story about a poor polish girl named Wanda who wears the same plain blue dress to school everyday. She gets teased by the other girls in school. The teasing becomes worse when, Wanda mentions that she has a hundred dresses all lined up in her closet at home. Eventually it turns into a game where the girls in school ask Wanda how many dresses she has every day, and belittles and laughs at her. 

It's a story that teaches about friendships, bullying, and forgiveness. 

As a teacher, I'm always looking for good books that will teach the students about being kind, accepting, and loving towards one another. These kinds of books are hard to come by so when I do find one I treasure it. Though it's a longer chapter book, I think it's one of the most heartfelt and touching stories ever.

October's Book Recommendation: The Hundred Dresses

Author: Eleanor Estes

Recommended for: Grades 3-5

One Super Teacher Smoothie Coming Right Up!

MS. KIMPOP'S 

SUPER TEACHER SMOOTHIE 

1/2 cup vanilla soy/almond milk

1/2 cup tangerine orange juice (I've also tried Orange Peach Mango juice from Trader Joe's)

1 tablespoon of Blueberry Flax Seed from Trader Joe's (sold grounded up and not in seeds)

Handful of frozen berries (I usually use a mix of blue, black, and ras) 

*OPTIONAL* 

Sometimes, I add in a tablespoon of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder which keeps me FULLER longer...

Blueberry Flax Seed from Trader Joe's Supermarket

I take all the ingredients and put it into my magic bullet & BLEND for about 30 seconds. I take the cup right off of the bullet (put a secure lid on it, which comes with the bullet) and drink it on my way to work.

I have been drinking this smoothie since the beginning of this school year and it really helps me get my morning started without feeling too FULL. I hope it inspires you to create your own teacher, doctor, nurse, _____ smoothie.

a GREAT tool for SMOOTHIE experiments...

Happy blending!

Where in the World is Ms. Kimpop?

My overseas adventures came to a bittersweet end on August 13th. 

After I wrapped up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam... 

I extended my trip and visited South Korea for 2 weeks.

Mainly to visit extended family since I haven't been there since 2003 and before that was when I lived there.

For those of you who might be wondering OR already know from my not SO obvious blog name...

I am 100% Korean. Which is why, I named my blog after Kimpop (usually spelled as kimBAP... not sure why I went with pop and not bap haha) a very popular Korean food dish. See picture below.

Yummm!

@ Korean Folk Village (OLD Korean village set up for tourists like me!) 

Anyways!

On my most recent trip in Korea, I stayed with my aunt from my dad's side in Yong In (about an hour away from Seoul by car).

I had a great time meeting and spending time with aunts, uncles, and cousins I didn't know I had and I got to do some touristy things like visit Lotte World (famous indoor/outdoor amusement park), visit the beach, and shop for cute little Korean things in Seoul. Haha.

Korean beaches are not too shabby~

I am glad I extended my trip because it was a perfect way to end my summer expeditions in Vietnam.

Already almost a month into the new school year.

I am back on the grind.

Have 31 little kiddies this year who are already melting my heart in all different kinds of ways AND I am also taking two graduate courses at Queens College.

One of my favorite meals in Korea. 

Tofu. Kimchi. Pork.

More blogs to come REAL soon!

Ending with a Bang

For my last weekend in Vietnam, I flew up to the north to the North of Vietnam, to spend 1 night & 2 days aboard the Bhaya cruise. The cruise sets sail on Halong Bay, which is about a 4 hour drive from the city of Hanoi (which is the city I flew into).

Ha Long Bay a popular travel destination, located in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. The bay belongs to Hạ Long City, Cẩm Phảtown, and part of Van Don district. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes.

After flying into Hanoi, my teacher friends and I stayed 1 night at Hanoi Elegance (a great hotel in Hanoi with staff who will pamper and attend to your every need). Then early in the morning, we drove for about 4 hours to port.  The cruise itself, Bhaya was really nice and all the staff on board really did try their best to make you feel at home ...
from handing you wet towels as soon as you got on the boat to finding you a deck of cards to play with!

I shared a room with Michelle and we couldn't believe the view outside of our window! It was just breath taking and it really felt like we were in paradise even if it was for a night!

All day & night, our ship the Bhaya Classic #4 sailed along the bay except for a couple of times when we stopped & docked to check out a fishing village, swim, and of course for the night.
We did lots of things such as participating in a cooking demonstration(learned how to make fresh spring rolls!), sunbathing, swimming off of the boat, and visiting a cave. We also had nice buffet lunches of crabs, shrimps, and various other foods along with a nice 5 course dinner.

(vino on the the top deck of our boat) 

(our chef on board)

(one of those crispy spring rolls is by me!)

(view from up high on one of the limestone karsts/cave)

(inside the cave)

(after we climbed down from the cave, making our way back to our boat!)

(squid fishing on the boat.... )

(dipped my feet right in!)

I don't think any words can truly describe the beauty that is of Halong Bay. It was incredible to witness one of the 7 wonders of nature. I do hope that I can return one day or one of you reading this entry can also witness this for yourself! This weekend was a great way to end my Vietnamese adventures with a BANG! 

GRADUATION!

Today, 159 students graduated from SEAMEO's Summer Fun program. All the students had caps and gowns with little white bows. How cute are they?!

I think every gown in the world should come with a bow tie! Haha. 

The auditorium was beautifully decorated with balloons & flowers. 

The ceremony started off with a welcome speech by the deputy of SEAMEO. Then we (the teachers) were called up on stage to receive certificates. Felt like I was graduating too... :). All the students received certifications as well. When all the paper work was handed out, the fun began!

My kiddies receiving certificates!

Each level performed a special song or skit, which they have been practicing all summer long~ It was really awesome seeing them perform on stage AND it made me realize that they have grown a lot this past month! I felt SO proud of them. 

Though it was a short time with them, 
seeing their little mouths mouth the words to songs such as...
Take me out to the ball game, 
Heal the World by Michael Jackson,
and act out plays such as...
The Ugly Duckling,
and The Shepherd Boy in English made me smile from ear to ear. 
The best part was that they were having a lot of fun as well. 

Doing the Hokey Pokey led by Dennis teacher. 

The students I've met this summer have REALLY TRULY grown on me and I will definitely miss them a lot! It was towards the end of work week #3 that I started thinking that I've fallen head over heels for my Vietnamese students. I will surely miss their cheerful "HELLO TECHA!!!" and smiles as I make my way back to New York City. 

Some of the artworks that the students produced over the past month were displayed throughout the auditorium and it's a great feeling to know that I helped create these projects. 

(all of us teachers would like to bring this cute little munchkin, JULIE back with us... 

not sure how her parents would feel about that, though :P) 

BUT, I don't have to start missing them YET because we still have 1 more work day tomorrow!

All the teachers of SEAMEO Summer Fun Program 2012