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!

|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 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! 

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! 

|WATCH| 形狀歌

In February, I had the pleasure to learn about teaching through songs. Tunes the children are most familiar with are the best. I picked Let it Go for one of the Math standards - Flat Shapes. Although we had learned about shapes back in the fall, the students are pleasantly surprised to review through singing. Some boys resisted at first, but then the songs kind of just got stuck in their heads. :) 

|WATCH| Mid-Year Chinese Performance

Thank you for all the parents for celebrating all the hard work the children and teachers have put in thus far! Can't wait to see what is in store for everyone in the second semester!

Week of September 15-19, 2014

:: Project Alert :: A home project will be assigned at the end of this month or early October, get ready! You and your child will dine at an authentic Chinese restaurant while your child converse with the waiters/waitresses. To make the project more worthwhile, we will be practicing basic greetings and ways to order water and tea. The feedbacks from last year's families were positive, so I am excited to hear what's in store this year! 

Writing - The children continued working on an Opinion Piece. They copied the statement and illustrated. Next week, we will be brainstorming on why readers should eat certain vegetables or fruits. You will find their writing in English to be similar, that is because the teachers collaborate frequently to ensure understanding. 

Reading - It is important that your child is familiar with the Routine Phrases in their journal by now. I will continue to assess and provide one-on-one support during center. 

Math - Please review numbers in Mandarin (1 to 10) with your child. Encourage him to count objects (cars sitting in traffic, trees, crackers...etc) in Mandarin and perhaps even make words out of pretzel sticks. 

And as always, pack water bottle and fresh fruit/veggie daily! :)  

1st Week of School!!

Welcome and good-bye to the first week of school at the GLOBE! Can't believe first year has come and gone and here we are. I am sitting at my dining table blogging, and my head is literally spinning. There has been moments when I wasn't so sure I was meant to teach five and six year olds...but those smiles, those innocent and honest words have made it worth it. This week at the lunch table, I listened to two boys having a conversation about what would happen if you swallow a whole watermelon versus if you cut it up first.  This is when you realize silence is not golden. It is the sweetest and precious moment that you want to preserve forever.

So, I welcome you join me for school year 2014-2015. Let's have fun, laugh, create, stay positive, make a mess, and sometimes, take a nap when needed. There will be bumps on the road, but let's build the village our children deserve, and be problem solvers.

This week your children were introduced routines, basic greetings and farewells, and numbers - and yes, all in Mandarin. Some were unsure at first, but most jumped in like brave little sailors. Because each child learns at different rate, I am never worried about the ones being silent and shy at the moment. Some children are simply taking it all in. 

Friendly Reminders - 
* I have sent out an email to all parents, if you have not received an email from me, please email me ASAP at vliu@theglobeacademy.net so I can keep you in the know!
* Fresh fruits or veggies for snack daily! It is important that we keep snack break at ten minutes maximum so it does not impact instructional time. Please pack palm sized fruit that your child can enjoy without making a lot of mess. 
* Water Bottle is essential to keep your child hydrated. Please label water bottle and lunch bags as these items get lost quite frequently.

Bare yet organized space ready to be filled with children's work!

 Fresh Fruit Keeps our Mind Sharp!

Top Left: 1st Grade Mandarin Kids Lending a hand.

Top Right: Learning to Count in Mandarin!

Bottom Left: Making Mandarin Characters with Sticks.

Bottom Right: Math Matching Game

|Optional Homework| Due Monday, May 19, 2014

I am going to compile a video clip for the upcoming kindergartners, and I need your help. All you need to do is choose one of the following topics and respond in the most genuine way possible. You, I mean your kid. I plan on showing the video on the first day of school for the new kindergartners.

Some topics I brainstormed during this morning's traffic. You're more than welcome to come up with your own if you'd like.

* What was your first few days of Kindergarten like? What was difficult? What was exciting?
* What did you have to learn when you first started K? 
* What phrases did you have to start speaking in the Mandarin class in the first week?
* Did you think Mandarin was hard? Has it become easier? What made you become confident?
* How long did it take you to get used to being in a language classroom? 
* Did you ever get confused in K? Give me an example. 
* What would you say to the new kindergartners? 
* What would you say to the new kindergarteners' parents? 

Please send me the clip/file NOT the youtube link this time by Monday, May 19 to my email address vliu@theglobeacademy.net

謝謝！

Happy Mother's Day to All!

Mother's Eyes is a sweet song but it does contain two verses and took some hardcore practice for them to become fluent. I realize one video is a lot simpler than the other, and that is because I only got to see them two days this week while one of them being a JA day for half day. I am super proud of every child who puts into lots of thoughts into the Mother's Day cards. Loved hearing all the wonderful things they love about Moms.

母(mǔ)親(qīn)節(jié)快(kuài)樂(lè)  Happy Mother’s Day!

我(wǒ)愛(ài)妳(nǐ) I love you!

:) Enjoy!

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Small Grass

K-Man will perform the famous Taiwanese campus folks song "Small Grass" at the graduation. Below is the lyrics and a video clip for extra familiarity at home.

大風(dàfēng)起(qǐ)，把頭(bǎtóu)搖(yáo)一(yī)搖(yáo)；
風(fēng)停(tíng)了(le)，又(yòu)挺直(tǐngzhí)腰(yāo)。

大雨(dàyǔ)來(lái)，彎(wān)著(zhù)背(bèi)讓(ràng)雨(yǔ)澆(jiāo)；
雨(yǔ)停(tíng)了(le)，抬(tái)起頭(qǐtóu)站(zhàn)直(zhí)腳(jiǎo)。

不怕(búpà)風(fēng)不怕(búpà)雨(yǔ)，立志(lìzhì)要(yào)長(cháng)高(gāo)；
小草(xiǎocǎo)，實在(shízài)是(shì)並不(bìngbù)小(xiǎo

Big wind rises, shaking its head side to side;
The wind stops, and straighten its back up once again.
Big rain comes, bending its back letting the rain drench it;
The rain stops, raises its head standing up straight on its feet.
Unafraid of the wind unafraid of the rain, determined to grow up tall;
Small grass, truly is not that small.