June 2016
Issue No. 9
D.Y.U. I.L.C.
English Newsletter
Elementary school students learn
environmental awareness at I.L.C.
Inside this issue:
Environmental 1
awareness
Connect the
Dots!
2
Agape Social 3
Welfare Assoc.
Marine Iguana
4
Edited and written by
Andrew Christopher
Edmunds
The primary focus of the classes Without doubt, the children from An Ding
was the message of environmen- greatly enjoyed their fun, informative and
Da Yeh International Language tal awareness and sustainability. interactive lessons from some of the I.L.C.’s
Center was visited recently by Teacher Martin focused on the most enthusiastic teachers!
some very special guests! A
importance of recycling, and
Surely, they have learned a positive message
class of 50 students from An making sure that the correct
about the environment, and will hopefully
Ding Elementary School, acwaste ends up in the correct re- work hard as they grow up to help protect
companied by their teachers, cycling bin.
the future of Earth for everyone to enjoy!
came here in order to experiNext, Teacher Joagni introduced
ence some immersive lessons
the “three R’s” of environmenin English.
talism: Reduce; Recycle; Reuse.
Teachers Martin, Joagni and
Meanwhile, Teacher Andrew
Andrew led the classes, with
explained the effects of pollution
support from Taiwanese
and global warming, and the imteachers. They communicated
pact of human actions on nature.
their ideas to the young visitors in simple English.
D.Y.U.
Learn English
through art
and music!
I.L.C.
I.L.C. teachers
“Connect the Dots”!
This month, I.L.C. teachers were fortunate to enjoy an instructional workshop
led by Teacher Jenny from the English Pie English and Art school! Teacher Jenny
emphasizes learning English through the use of art and music, and teachers were
encouraged to “Connect the Dots”: a learning process that uses many small
easy steps that are put together to build towards a larger learning outcome.
The lesson was anchored by the art of Monsieur Claude Monet, a French artist
working in the 19th and early 20th centuries who founded the painting style of
Impressionism. The lesson begins by teaching some basic facts about Monet’s
life and his art style, before viewing his beautiful, vibrant paintings. Students
should then have their ability to recall these facts in English tested. This “dot” is
then “connected” to the next “dot”, as students listen to detailed descriptions
of Monet’s paintings, before repeating these and adding their own descriptions.
There are several advantages to the “Connect the
Dots” learning strategy. For example, a gradual increase in
the complexity of the lesson encourages greater participation from students. Even beginner learners can connect the
first few dots, which encourages them to go further as the
lesson gets harder! Moreover, the inclusion of material relating to various subjects in art and music leads to more
interest and engagement from students with artistic minds.
I.L.C. teachers were very grateful to Teacher Jenny
for sharing her insights and experience teaching English, and were highly enthused by the prospect of
“Connecting the Dots” with their own students!
Claude Monet
Page 2
So, watch out Da Yeh students! Monsieur Monet
and his Impressionist paintings of water lilies, Japanese bridges and beautiful landscapes will surely be
visited upon your English language classes at the
I.L.C. very soon! Please “Connect the Dots” with us!
June 2016
The Agape Social Welfare
Association
Written by 王心煜 F0420215
The Agape Social Welfare Association has been active in Yuanlin since 2004. ‘Agape’ in Greek
means ’love’, which indicates the goal of Agape is to love your neighbors as yourself. It is
composed of members of the Christian Ling Liang Church, the pastor couple Jheng Ming Ren
and Lyu Cyong Huei, volunteer staff, and a group of friends, who serve people with a great
enthusiasm. The purpose of the Association is to help residents to participate in community
service, promote a sense of community cohesion, and enhance the quality of life in this
community as well as to help disadvantaged groups find life goals.
Services include: providing shelter and food for the homeless; meal delivery for elders living
alone (including disabled ones); offering disadvantaged children aid, such as after school
classes and snacks; and service points for foreign spouses to help sort out whatever problems
they may encounter.
In the mornings, you can see many older people reciting the Bible loudly in prayer room there.
In the afternoons, you can see groups of junior high school students and elementary school
students reviewing their course subjects, smiling and eating snacks in the classroom. Agape
abounds with a festive atmosphere! At lunch and dinner time they prepare food delivery for
elderly people living alone and those living on a low household income, and try to take care
of what they need.
Fortunately, they can support themselves without taking funding from the government as they
have their own farm named Asylum, to plant and harvest food. In addition, Asylum is a farm
with non-toxic vegetables and with organic fed chicken, living in a natural environment. Thus,
all the meals are cooked with the freshest vegetables, the healthiest chicken and the best
ingredients by the kindly hearts in Agape’s kitchen. Meanwhile, they can also sell extra vegetables and chickens to both balance the delivery costs and avoid food waste.
In the beginning Agape was just the dream of a few people. However, they conquered their
difficulties and kept Agape growing, until it became a hopeful, peaceful and cheerful place
where everyone likes to gather and share their lives. Just as Jheng Ming Ren said: ‘It is better
to keep working on the improvement, rather than saying our success will be here in 10 years’.
Indeed, they believe the next decade will be more exciting, and a lot more lives under God's
guidance will be changed and we will all have a bright future!
Page 3
Strange animal: Marine Iguana
King of the lizards,
under the sea!
It is not an uncommon sight in the Galapagos islands to see
hundreds of these black lizards basking in the sun to raise
their body temperatures. Their black skin is great for absorbing sunlight and heating their blood quickly.
Here we have a very unusual member of the lizard
family, the marine iguana! These lizards live on and
around the Galapagos Islands, off of the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. They are unique amongst
lizard species because they forage for food on the
ocean floor, making them the only known marine lizard. These lizards routinely dive to depths of over 9
meters in their search for food, and their favourite
thing to eat is red and green algae!
Another crucial adaptation for the marine iguana is a special
gland in their nose which helps them to remove excess salt
from their bodies. We all know that the sea is a very salty
place, and these lizards end up consuming a lot of seawater
while they graze on algae. If this salt were to accumulate in
their blood it could result in death, and so the lizards instead sneeze the salt out of their noses!
Although these lizards live on some remote islands, and
exist in huge colonies there, their numbers have been slowAlthough these lizards are great swimmers and divers, ly declining over a number of years. As with many species,
the sea can still be a dangerous place for them: the
the arrival of humans to their territory has caused a few
seas around the Galapagos islands can be very rough, problems that now threaten them. For example, rats, dogs
and the volcanic rocks on which they live are very
and cats sometimes venture near the iguanas’ breeding
sharp. Moreover, the lizards are much like their land- grounds to eat eggs and young lizards. Meanwhile, certain
based cousins, and have cold blood. This means that
diseases brought from the mainland can also damage their
they will lose body heat very rapidly in the cold sea,
health. These unique creatures definitely deserve our admiand must frequently return to the surface to warm up. ration, respect and protection, now and forever!