|Mandarin Journal| 形狀歌 The Shapes Song

Refer to your child's Mandarin Journal for The Shapes Song.

Week of October 19-23, 2015

This week we wrapped up Gravity in Science and Directional words in Math. Students experimented gravity through art, and a bouncy ball we made in class.

In language, we are wrapping out the "My Body Parts" thematic unit. Students are now able to point and name a body part (head, hair, eyes, nose, ears, shoulders, hands, tummy, knees, and feet), name how many of each body part, express if a body part hurts, and the color of a certain body part.

During language center, we continue to practice writing, recognizing sight words, reading, singing, and building sentences. The newspaper sight words scavenger hunt is a huge hit!

Next week, we will be sharing our Chinese Restaurant experience with classmates and begin to start exploring two dimensional shapes as well as motions.

|WATCH| Reading Body Parts Book in Mandarin

Have you wondered how students take off to read...in MANDARIN? My kindergarten students have been with me for two and half months, but they began to build sight words starting day one. The theme of the month is Body Parts, and some students are really taking ownership of the words and their meanings. Watch how two friends read the book by matching the words to the pictures and using one to one correspondence skills.

|WATCH| What's the weather? Turn and Talk

So many of you are wondering what calendar math looks like in another language, or what IS Calendar Math? For starters, this is where we begin our day. The students learn about the date and day of the week. There are counting involved (counting forward, backward, skip counting, patterns) and there are skills we spiral throughout the year. So whatever we are not focusing on in Math, we may still be reviewing at this time. This is such a key event of the day, it sets the tone.

In the video below, you will see how my kindergarteners turn and talk. They each asks, "What is the weather today?" and their partner has to respond, "The weather is_______ today". The language structure is the foundation and paves the way of new and more complicated sentences later on.

Week of October 13-16, 2015

This week, we are all about positional words. The students placed the ball above, below, inside, next to, in front of, and behind a box. They also practiced with a figure and a cup. You may do this at home by incorporating any objects. Reinforce those vocabulary words in English! 

In language, we continued to work on body parts. We made our flash cards and are now learning to tell someone/ a teacher if a body parts. Your child may sing the body parts song to you if you ask! 

In centers, we are testing our sight words reading muscle! It's exciting how many words we already know and it's only been 40 something school days. 

In Science, we continued on experimenting with gravity. Look at the gravity art our class made on this beautiful fall day. 

Board Game Day!! 

Our second graders and kindergarteners were giggly when they saw each other. So many leaders in the group, which made the experience more meaningful. We encouraged the children to apply all the Mandarin words that they know. By playing familiar games with friends in Mandarin not only reinforce oral skills but also improve critical thinking abilities. There are so many times a second grader tries to explain the rules in Mandarin mixed in some English. 

|Mandarin Journal| 多和少 Comparing Numbers

For the past two weeks, we have been learning ways to compare numbers. We first compared two sets of uni-fix cubes, then we drew two groups of circles, then we moved on to compare numbers. The students now apply greater than (>), less than (<), and equal to (=) symbols to compare two numbers. 

Songs are a huge part of teaching and learning in my classroom. Because every new concept involves new and unfamiliar words, we sing songs to help them stick. 

So to translate the song (don't tell your children I translated for you, because we NEVER translate in immersion)..

Here is how it goes...

How many do you have? How many do you have?

You have more, I have less.

More More Less Less, not the same. 

You have more, I have less.

More More Less Less, not the same. 

                                     CLICK HERE------> 

|Home Project| Due Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Time to eat! What? Yes! Your homework involves eating out.

Where: Any Chinese restaurant in your neighborhood! Don't have a clue, look at the suggestions below.
Why: So your family can immerse in the culture, language, and food. Your child is ENCOURAGED to speak to the servers in Mandarin. You will sit back and feel proud.
Due Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2015
What: Collect artifacts from the experience (pictures, menu, chopsticks, fortune cookies...etc) and put them in a shoe box. Assist your child to be as creative as possible.

I would love for you as parents to share your positive experience in the comments below. Questions? Just ask!

Authentic Chinese Restaurant suggestions:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hunan-inn-chinese-restaurant-atlanta
http://greensproutga.com
http://www.harmonyvegetarian.com

Have loads of fun!!