Research Report 2009

Animal Report
By Yuka (Bilingual Private Lesson)

Animal: Hare, Japanese Hare
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Lagomorpha
Size:
　　　Body length: 43-54cm
　　　Body weight: about 3kg


　　Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with long ears and have black markings on their fur. Their fur become white in the winter in the north part of Japan.

Hares are generally born with fur and are able to see. In contrast, rabbits are born blind and furless.


Hares usually do not live in groups. Hares live in simple nests above the ground in the woods, bushes and fields. They eat branches, tree leaves, sprouts and bark.

Hares usually have one or two babies, three to five times a year. Mothers and babies are not together for a long time. Mothers breastfeed their babies once at night only.


After researching about hares, I thought that parents should learn not to take care of their children too much!

Book Report 2008

Ratatouille
By Momoka Ono (Practical Private Lesson: 7 years old)

Remy the rat liked to cook. Remy is a rat, and people don’t like rats around food. Remy is chatty. He lived in Paris with Linguini. Linguini worked at a restaurant named Gusteau’s. Linguini is in a bind most of the time. Remy was able to cook by controlling Linguini, so everybody thought Linguini was a good cook. Linguini and Remy had a lot of fights. Remy had a lot of family and friends that he wanted to take care of but he also wanted to be a cook.

Linguini used to live in an apartment, but now he moved into a beautiful house. Remy controlled Linguini, so the Gusteau’s are famous. Then, Remy cooked the Ratatouille. Gusteau is very noisy. Skinner is in a bad mood most of the time. Linguini and Remy were cooking at the Gusteau’s restaurant for most of the story. This book is a fantasy story because in real life, rats can’t cook. This story teaches us about friendship.



Dinosaurs Before Dark
By Yuka (Bilingual Private Lesson)

This book was a historical adventure fiction in the Jurassic time. The main characters were Jack and Annie. Jack is eight years old and he loves books. He likes real things. Annie is seven years old and she is Jack’s sister. She likes pretend stuff. She goes off on her own and never listens to Jack.

Annie found a tree house at the top of a tall oak tree in the woods. It was filled with books. Jack was looking at the dinosaurs book when he said, “I wish I could see a Pteranodon for real.” The tree house started spinning and took them to the Dinosaurs’ time. They met a Pteranodon, a Triceratops, Anatosauruses and a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

They wanted to go home, but Jack left the book and his backpack in the hill. He went back there. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was standing between Jack and the tree house and he was coming towards the hill, but the Pteranodon sailed down towards the hill and helped him. He rode on the Pteranodon’s back and they rose into the sky. It was amazing and a miraculous ride.

Jack was looking for the photograph of the Frog Creek woods. He then said, “I wish we could go home.” The tree house started to spin again and they were able to go home.

The lesson of the story is to never run off on your own because it’s dangerous.



What I learned from Charlie
By A. M. (Bilingual Private Lesson)

I read “Charlie and the chocolate Factory”. This story is a fantasy story. This story takes place in the marvelous chocolate factory.

A little boy named Charlie Bucket lived in a small house with his family. He lived with his mother, father, two grandfathers and two grandmothers. They were a happy family, but they were very poor. They were so poor that they didn’t have enough food to eat.

One day, a miracle happened to Charlie. Willy Wonka, the owner of the biggest and most famous chocolate factory decided to allow five children to visit the factory. In order to go, you had to get a golden ticket to be one of the lucky five children. Every one in the world wanted to go. Of course, Charlie wanted to go. Luckily, he got the golden ticket. He and the other four lucky children went to the factory. The other four children were Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teavee.

In the Chocolate Room, Augustus drowned in the chocolate river and got sucked up through the pipe. He didn’t listen to Mr. Wonka’s warning. Violet chewed the gum that Mr. Wonka said not to, so she got herself big and blue. Veruca got thrown in the garbage because she touched the squirrels without permission. Mike got shrunk and sent into the TV. He disobeyed Mr. Wonka. These four got kicked out of the factory. They behaved badly, so bad things happened to them. Charlie, however, was good and nice, so he got the whole factory from Willy Wonka. Mr. Wonka wanted to give the factory to a child who is good, sensible, and full of love. Charlie was the child that Mr. Wonka wanted.

If you are not selfish, mean, and nasty, something nice will happen to you. Bad deeds will always come back to you. So, if you live like Charlie, always cheerful and kind, you could be happier and have a better life. Let’s be hones, kind and brave. I think that will make us a greater person.