Lots of festivities happened last week. The students brought in creative and beautiful homemade lion heads for Chinese New Year. They sang songs and watched professional lion dancers perform to celebrate the holiday. We had a chef visit the class, and a dentist came to demonstrate proper way of cleaning teeth. Then we wrapped the fun week off with Sock Hop.
lion heads
Awesome Lion Heads - a fun Kindergarten Mandarin tradition!
in our festive outfits
Happy Chinese New Year!
Loving the lion dance!
Despite a string of events outside of the classroom, we make centers as relevant as possible. Lots of cultural related centers planned for the week! The children love the calligraphy center the best.
Calligraphy - You can purchase these at China Town. Write them with a brush and water, once it dries off you can start over again and again!
To honor the year of Monkey
Chinese Restaurant Center
We continue to investigate and become fluent and efficient in addition and subtraction. Next week, we will be moving into ways to make a 10 as well as solving word problems. In language, word problems are delivered orally, while in English, the students will solve simple word problems by reading them with support. An example of a simple word problem: Amy went to the birthday party, she ate three lollipops. Her brother Aiden ate two. How many lollipops do they eat in all?
Below is a video of the children acting it out after a Read Aloud. Read aloud is a way to peak children's interest in literature as well as introducing vocabulary. Reading aloud in an early age is vital and exciting. The students get to make fun noises and learn new phrases. In the video you will hear, "Hey! Little pig! Where are you going?" Which is a very relevant phrase in any language.
What a beautiful week with my favorite GLOBE kindergarteners. We began to investigate addition, ending the clothing thematic unit in language, and compare/sort plants. The students enjoyed hands on addition centers and will be moving into the concept of subtraction next week. We will be investigating addition and subtraction as well as reinforcing the concept through word problems in English class. The skills are fundamental and will last for about two months.
Here is a winter clothing game kids learned to play! You can do it with other sets of thematic unit vocabulary, math and science vocabulary words, and just about anything. A great way to reinforce vocabulary memorization.
Watch how one of our students counts up while speaking Mandarin. It comes so natural!
February 8 marks the first day of Chinese New Year and we are celebrating the year of Monkey! Each year our kindergarten family has the most fun creating their own Lion Head! We will be parading the heads through the school building on 2/10! Please see the instructions below and remember to make it a fun and exciting family project.!You can find a good size box at any grocery store.
Due Monday, February 8!
See the photos above and here is what you have to do:
1. Find a box that isn't too big or too small for your child's head
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!
