First Week of School 2016-17! (Video at the Bottom!)

It's been an overwhelmingly exciting first week of school. The students have gotten into the groove of routines and are showing so much eagerness to learn. The first few weeks of school are vital because routines are taught, practiced, and reminded. Smooth routines mean a successful school year. Our students are no different, except it IS a little more difficult. They arrived Wednesday morning expected to follow directions in Mandarin. To better help students comprehend, I incorporated gestures and pictures. By day three, most students are already able to unpack their backpacks, find their names on the table, and place snacks and water bottles in the bin. It is already rewarding for me as a teacher!

Next week, we will continue to focus on Math standard - Counting from 0 to 100 by ones and tens (a Common core standard but in Mandarin, of course) We will count using manipulative (sticks, uni-fix cubes, play-doh..etc.) This is also a good time to go over writing numbers from 0 to 9 at home and counting by touching (one to one correspondence).

In Science, we will be exploring nature using our senses. The students will record their findings on a graphic organizer.

In Mandarin, the students will continue to add greeting vocabulary words by importing songs and dialogues.

See pictures below from our first week of school! Happy weekend everyone!

Fly Swapping Sight Words / Colors 

Week of January 5-8, 2016

Happy New Year!

In language this month, we began to introduce seasonal clothing. The students will name clothing and describe them by colors. Exciting news! Culminating event for this unit is a Fashion Show happening at the end of this month. Invitation coming your way in two weeks.

In Math, we are exploring data and measurement. Students measured objects and compared their lengths. They also compared weight using a balance scale.

In Science, we are categorizing animals by skin coverings and movements.

Although it was only the first week back since the winter break, it feels like the teachers and students jumped right back into the routines without a frown. I am amazed this time of the year because I always witness so much growth both academically and socially. During one of our Math whole group discussion this week, we measured six stuffed animals using unifix cubes. I asked the students (in Mandarin, of course!), "Which two of these six are the longest?" Without any hesitation, a few answered in a complete sentence, "Both 4 and 6 are the longest!" It was mind-blown! Of course every learner progress at different rates in different subject areas. I am just excited to watch their faces light up and ready to learn, every single day.

Thank you parents for your trust, kindness, and support! Go GLOBE!

Week of November 3-7, 2015

What an overwhelmingly awesome, exciting, and successful week at the GLOBE! Our class raised over $3000 with the whole school raised over 80k in just two short weeks!! Thank you parents for being a strong voice for education. Your support makes the difference.

Below is what we have accomplished on top of all the excitements. :) Yes, we get our work done (and have fun too)!

In our third language thematic unit, we learned about names of some body parts and language structures. Specifically head, shoulders, knees, feet, hands, head, hair, eyes, nose, and ears. The students can now tell someone if one of those body part hurts by saying, " My____ hurts, please help me!" "This is my_____." "I have # (body parts)." "Please don't touch my ________."  Our end of unit assessment is for the students to match the words to the body parts. Keep going over those vocabulary cards at home! Ask your child if he can identify body parts on a family pet or a stuffed animal for fun.

For the past two weeks, we have been looking for, tracing, and identifying two-dimensional shapes. We also looked at some paintings that are made up of lots of patterns and shapes. The students were inspired to create their own artwork.

GLOBE Trot! The students were such troopers. What a memorable mud run we will remember forever.

The students were able to share their artifacts from the Chinese restaurants and make a book with their experiences. I am blown away by some of the illustrations.

 "I went to ________ to eat." 

 "I went to _______ to eat." 

 "I ate....."

 "I even spoke some Mandarin!"

|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.

|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!!

Week of August 24-28, 2015

The students completed MAP test this week! Don't forget, the tests (Reading and Math) are 57 questions long... determine your child's age and the length of the test plus the test method, the scores will NOT be the only measurement in your child's benchmark. Portfolio and parent teacher communication are your best way to see your child's growth. Don't forget reading bag is coming home mid-September. Nightly reading in your child's native language is KEY to his/her academic success!

Write and Wipe Mandarin Sight Words

Building Words with Geo Board

Writing with Chopsticks and Pom Poms

Building Sight Words with Playdoh

Skip counting by 10's using sticks

No Connections - Outdoor Play 

Thanks Suo Hsien for Reading Chinese to the children! 

Week of April 20-24, 2015

I seriously cannot believe we are reaching the end of April 2015! In just a month, our kindergarteners will officially be graduating from K! Looking back, I remember those tears vividly and those uncertainties ( from both parents and students!). Amazing growth is seen everywhere from students' social behaviors to academics. Oh hey! Learning a new language and being able to own those survival phrases is pretty practical to me. And THAT is why I believe GLOBE stands out from the rest of the nation.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the National Chinese Language Conference in downtown Atlanta. There were few students from Minnesota who have been part of the Mandarin Immersion program for six to eight years. Not only they were conversing in fluent Mandarin, but they are also very global minded. Dual language immersion students set themselves apart from traditional students. Language is just one part of the components that makes up the well balanced, open minded, and risk-taking citizen.

In the month of May, we will be reviewing addition, subtraction, flat and solid shapes, place value, as well as counting. In language, we will be wrapping up with our final project, stay tuned.

Below are examples of centers as well as a Math activity.

 
Math Story Problems
The students came up with the story problems verbally in both English and Mandarin, illustrated, and wrote out the number sentence.

Chinese Word Study

This blog post is dedicated to Chinese Word Study. Teaching in the US is a completely different battle than teaching in Taiwan. It's all an exciting learning experience for me still even though I have been teaching for eight years. Before I became a Mandarin immersion teacher, I taught lots of ELL students whose first language was not English. The commonality between teaching ELL and Mandarin immersion is that both groups require lots of TPR (Total Physical Response - a language teaching method developed by James Asher, a professor emeritus of psychology at San José State University. It is based on the coordination of language and physical movement.) and hands on learning experiences.

Chinese Word Study is essential in Mandarin because every word is basically a Sight Word. There is no phonics attached to the characters, so all that is required is memorization by sight. Several of the CWS centers are created based on sight words games on Pinterest, but some are based on teaching experience and imagination!

Race to Win

The students roll dice to advance or back-up. 

They have to say the words, and if they do not know the words, they may ask the other friend to help. 

Rub the Word

I wrote the words on the card stock using a hot glue gun. 

The students rub it on a piece of paper using a crayon. 

Bingo

Two students each receive a laminated card and a pom pom matched to the color of the card. 

Play-doh Word Building

Building words using play-doh. A fine motor skill and a fun way to introduce the complexity of characters. 

Character Art Making

Mandarin characters are pictorial, that is, words are originated from pictures or according to objects' characteristics. The center allows children to be creative and have fun learning the words through art making. 

                                                                     Character Charting

Chart how many times a character appears in the box. This is both a sight word skill and a math skill.

Chopstick Pom Poms

Students learn to use chopsticks while building words, win win!

Geo-board Writing

Geo-boards are great for 'writing' characters. 

Learn Mandarin Numbers

I love these Mandarin character dice that I purchased at a conference. In the beginning of the year, the students learned to read the numbers while counting. Another way of incorporating literacy and math. 

Scramble!

Students scramble the words to make sense of the sentence. A great way to assess students' understanding in sentence structure. 

Reading

Not a CWS center, but I love these hand-made pointers made out of popsicle sticks and tabs. A way to practice one-to-one coorespondance skill - so important at this age for both literacy and math!

Independent Reading

Students reading or singing songs independently. These have been taught during Shared Reading so there is nothing new or confusing. 

Engaged Kindergarteners during center!