For our second achievement party of the year, we held a Chinese New Year's feast. First, the students practiced their origami and lantern-making skills, and then we strung up the decorations on the ceiling in the all purpose room. We are leaving them there for the whole month of February for our February Fun Days decorations.
After sipping a few cups of tea, we served the students homemade egg drop soup in authentic Chinese cups I've collected. We then enjoyed an egg roll appetizer. Before the main course was served, I gave them a lesson on how to use chopsticks. Every single one of the students ate their fried rice using chopsticks. I didn't hear one complaint.
After a dessert of fruit and sherbet, Mr. Choppy-Choppy came out and amazed us with his culinary skills--sorta. The APR smelled like onions for three days.
After the students helped us clean up Mr. Choppy-Choppy's mess, we played a fast and furious chopstick relay game. They were glad they'd had those chopsticks lessons then.
* "Achievement party" means that each student has met his goal for the quarter. For most students, that is making all As and Bs on their report cards. For others, the goal is all Cs and above. At times, we've made the goal for a student to just turn all their work in and have no incompletes for the quarter. This way, every student is capable of making it to the party if they put forth reasonable effort.
** We also strive to make these parties educational, cultural, and fun as well. While having a hot dog roast and volleyball party would be fun for them, we try to broaden their horizons. They learned a lot about Chinese culture at this party, and that is part of true education.