The campers have learned two “camp songs” and sing them with great enthusiasm and volume. We hope to be able to sing them for you at the performance on Saturday, as well as presenting a play for you. I adapted the play from an old Chinese folktale and added in some characters for the sake of humor. We have an interesting cast of characters, and I believe that they will entertain you. The younger campers have more fascinating things to do and think of than lines in a drama, so they have non-speaking–but still important!–roles. The older campers will have more opportunity to demonstrate their talents. We hope that you will enjoy “The Seven Special Brothers and the Emperor,” which you may recognize as a tale of seven brothers who look indistinguishable but each of whom has a special gift. When one sets out to repair a hole in the Great Wall of China, the Emperor fears that a man strong enough to do that is strong enough to be a threat to his own dynasty, so he tries to execute that brother. The gifts of the young men, however, allow them to evade the Emperor’s plan repeatedly.

We think that you will enjoy the “wicked Emperor,” and the squabbling father and mother, and the amazing brothers–particularly the one who cries constantly. I’m very proud of our actors and actresses, and I know that you will be even prouder!

So let me know if you would like to see those photos: you can email me at you_orientation@yahoo.com–and check out the songs below. “Lenny” is the name of “Little Kevin’s” beloved stuffed animal guinea pig that often accompanies him to camp. We used Lenny to represent all the stuffed animal friends who give your children comfort through the long hours when they are missing you.

By the way, congratulations to our “Campers of the Week.” I don’t have the list before me, but I know that we have honored Catherine, Leo, “Tall Lily,” Linda, “ever-smiling” Ethan, and our Korean-American friends Elena and Robbie, who were extraordinarily helpful in all of our endeavors. We took pictures of all of them and gave very tiny prizes–although no one liked his or her prize as well as the prizes of the other winners! (This is human nature, I think. . . .)

Looking forward to meeting you or meeting you again! The songs are below.

Mrs. Debbie

Hey, Lenny!

Hey, Lenny, you’re so fine!
I’m so glad that you are mine!
Hey, Lenny! Hey, Lenny!

Hey, Lenny, you’re so fine!
I’m so glad that you are mine!
Hey, Lenny! Hey, Lenny!

So when you’re not around,
I’m lonely and I’m sad.
And when you’re close to me,
I’m happy and I’m glad.
So stay here by my side—
I’ll never treat you bad,
‘Cause we’re friends, Lenny,
Friends, Lenny,
We’re always friends, Lenny!

Hey, now,
My favorite pet
Is the one I won’t forget.
I like to take it everywhere—
It likes to go with me!

Hey, now,
I won’t pretend
I don’t like my little friend!
When I need to talk to it
It listens close to me!

Hey, Lenny, you’re so fine!
I’m so glad that you are mine!
Hey, Lenny! Hey, Lenny!

Hey, Lenny, you’re so fine!
I’m so glad that you are mine!
Hey, Lenny! Hey, Lenny!

We Are Great Wall

Welcome to our camp!
It’s a good camp, fine camp:
Chinese language and culture, too!
We got sports to play,
Math and ballet,
Chess and music and real kung fu!
We are, we are Great Wall!
We are, we are Great Wall!

Summer is a sweet time,
Sunny time, happy time
Time to hang with our all-time friends,
So CPEA
Gave us a way
To have some fun till the summer time ends.
We are, we are Great Wall!
We are, we are Great Wall!

If you like to sleep late,
Procrastinate, vegetate,
Better spend your life with your TV.
We got drama to learn,
Energy to burn–
That’s why we sing so audibly!
We are, we are Great Wall!
We are, we are Great Wall!

Your campers are intelligent and often creative, but they tend to focus on one side of the brain and let their imaginations doze–and all those college admissions people (and exams–I used to work on the ACT, the competitor of the SAT) demand using both sides. Since our campers range in age from 5 to 12, their levels of sophistication vary widely as well, and we have not been able to work together as a single group. So far, we are doing “warm up” exercises to prepare for real acting, and our youngest participants may not be able to sustain much in the way of real theatre.

However, their charades, their story-telling, their puppet shows–all of these pursuits show evidence of progress, and I think that we are all growing pleased and comfortable with one another. We are posting some photos to give you some ideas of the things we are doing, but the best way to gauge your own child’s experience, of course, is to ask the child herself or himself.

Enjoy the photos, and if you have ideas for simple Chinese stories or folktales that we could act out, please let me know. The older ones can work on this.

By the way, to encourage our actors and actresses, we give a small ribbon and reward to one girl and one boy each week starting this week. For his constant good nature and creativity–and ability to stay on task!–Alec Huang was our boy Student of the Week. For her attention and willingness to try, despite being a bit reserved, Emily Fan was our girl Student of the Week.

If these were my kids, though, I’d be proud of each and every one of them. A lot of talent in this group!

I’m attaching the next prompt–the stimulus–for the next essay/story in English class. It is in a file called “Escher,” and I am hoping that it will upload successfully.

The dedication of the kids continues to impress and inspire me. The imagination of the “Accordion Girl” work illustrates just how creative these young people can be, and some other gifts are also very much in evidence. I am posting essays along with comments. If you feel uncomfortable with this–either as a parent or as a student–please let me know. I mean the postings to be an incentive and a motivation, not a punishment or a way of criticizing.

I am still waiting to post Elizabeth’s “Accordion Girl” story, as well as the one by Eileen and the one by Toby. And yes, Lin! I continue to look for your work!

We are still reading pieces of *The Fruit Bowl Project* every week, and our discussions are lively and–here’s a pun!–”fruitful.”

The Escher assignment is due this coming Friday, April 17. If you are a student, remember to bring that writing as well as your book and your notebook and A SHARPENED PENCIL, that would be extremely helpful. If you are a parent, please remind your student.

A final note: as far as I know, participating in the English class is voluntary. I hope that everyone who comes enjoys herself or himself and feels that she or he is learning something valuable. If that is not the case, please talk to me about what we can do to improve the situation. My email is you_orientation@yahoo.com, and I am always glad to hear from you.

Mrs. Debbie

2 months past, a earthquake hit calafornia. Annie left the accordian in the house to save the old couple. She wanted to save her accordian from being smashed, but she didn’t want to let the old couple die like her birth parents. They escape freely, but she couldn’t play the accordian. The nice couple said nicely “Thack you for saving us” They tried to buy an accordian, but they didn’t have enough money to buy one. They went to their friend Alison’s house to live.

They lived there 1 years, but never talked about wanting an accordian, because they’ll make fun of Annie. 1 day she exclaimed “I want a accordian.” Alison screamed “Stop screaming” Annie began to cry and sobbed “Can you plase buy me one accordian?” Alison beathed and answered “O.K., but don’t break it.”

The next day, they shopped for a cheap accordian, so they brought a cheap one and lived as fantacic as possible.

Comments: Alec still needs to work on some “mechanical” issues such as grammar and proofreading–and sometimes spelling. Many problems could be solved by proofreading.

Despite these drawbacks, though, Alec has written a story with many creative touches. I particularly like “the nice couple said nicely” and the wonderful ending about how they “lived as fantacic as possible.” Thrifty parents will no doubt also be proud that “they shopped for a cheap accordian”!! It’s a nice touch, too, that under pressure, Alison collects herself: she “beathed and answered.” Grammar can be fixed by a child paying attention. Imagination, though, cannot be taught. Alec has what is most important.

It was a chilly and windy day when the little girl dressed in only a short shirt, a puny jacket and a pair of ripped up jeans. If you just peek at her you could see she was poor.

When the school bell rang, the little girl hurried to the side of the school and sat on a rusty chair, picked up an old accordion and put a can on the ground. Then she started playing wonderful music that attracted many people but she only earned a few coins.

After many hours of playing, she got up, took the can and walked down a narrow road with a big smile on her face because when she looked down in the can there were 5 GOLD coins! She knew they were worth a lot.

So after a walk to home she gave the can to her parents but all they could say was “Wow Alice!” They gave each other a big hug. From that day on they lived a happy peaceful life.

Comments: This is a pretty sophisticated essay! The sentences are complex. There is good detail–notice how much we know about the girl’s clothing. The plot is simple, but the girl is very virtuous. When she has her miraculous good fortune–the result of hard work and effort–she immediately turns over her reward to her parents. A lovely story, isn’t it?

It was lovely to meet a few more of you last Sunday.

I am posting some essays and plan to begin posting homework as well. These first essays are in response to a photograph.
I have posted the photo in a file called “Accordion Girl photo.”

I would like to thank you all for the opportunity to be part of the Great Wall Enrichment Center. I feel privileged to work with such intelligent young people. For more than three decades, I have been teaching in various colleges and universities. You may be interested to know that I have NOT adapted my teaching methods so that I can “teach down” to the class. Further, I am not at all surprised to find that the students are perfectly capable of keeping up with all of our work–and keeping the class lively!

We are continuing with our reading of *The Fruit Bowl Project* and with vocabulary work and writing. I would like to ask that students bring their notebooks, pencils, books, and COMPLETED WRITING ASSIGNMENTS every Friday. From what I have seen of the writing so far, this is a talented class. It is also a forgetful class! If there is a way that I can help the kids remember what to do and what to bring, let me know. I have been giving them quizzes and written assignment sheets as well as lists of vocabulary words to study.

We are looking forward to performing a drama this summer. Some of you know that I have been teaching international students for many, many years, and that I was once engaged to a physician from Qingdao. (That’s another story!) I bring this up to mention only that I have a long-standing interest in Chinese culture and love and respect for Chinese people. Fortunately, when my daughter was in elementary school, I convinced her teachers to hold a Chinese New Year celebration one year. I wrote a play based on a Chinese folktale, and I am hoping that we can use that play–and perhaps another–in our theatre study this summer.

In any case, I am glad to work with such bright students and such involved parents. I look forward to getting to know you better as time goes on.

Debbie Ghosh