Week of December 16-20, 2013

If this was not the most exciting, fun filled, and care free week...then I don't know what is! The children hand made calendars for their family for year 2014 for the new years, they practiced songs Ms. Mashburn taught them, and they accomplished their first holiday program on the stage in front of hundreds of people without a tear. This was a true GLOBE spirit we all shared and embraced. We do not have fancy technology, shiny bathrooms, or a grand entrance - what we do own is the pride, confidence, and the sense of family.  

We ended the week with Polar Express, some yoga, and a birthday celebration for Noopur and Nandini. Ms. Salzillo read Pollar Express to the classes and even punched holes in their golden tickets! I am fortunate to work with such creative and positive friend like her.

Just to share a huge transformation my family chose in 2013, we became not only vegans, but animal rights activists. I also left my previous general ed. job as a first grade teacher to teach Mandarin at GLOBE. GLOBE has gone through many ups and downs in the short five months it has opened, but I am so lucky to have been there to witness and embrace it all. I love all of my students and their parents who have been loving, supportive, and overly generous. You have made my job and life more rewarding than ever. So, thank you! 

More to come in 2014, can't wait to share what we have in store for the kiddos!! 

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 

Ms. Salzillo punching kids golden tickets before Polar Express

"How to" Writing Unit - How to build a house?

"Cake for Daddy's Birthday" made by Dylan

"Spring" 

Personalized 2014 Calendar by Lillian

Better Chinese

| Better Chinese |

Last month I was thrilled to be attending the ACTFL conference in Orlando. Asides from all the great learning going on, I was also introduced to several book publishers. One of them is Better Chinese whose curriculum and materials are excellent. Please sign up for a one month free trial lesson HERE! The activities are engaging and will be a great resource for extra practice from home especially during long breaks.

Very proud Mandarin kids perform in front of Grace Lin on 12.12.13! The program will be aired on WSB-TV sometime in January, 2014! 

Week of December 2-6, 2013

This week we focused on reviewing a few characters, reciting poems, singing new songs, and adding.

Below are two poems the students have been reciting in class. They are also working on recognizing some of the phrases within the poems during center. We have lots of fun reciting them on the way to the Village Plaza or to the park. Sometimes I just start reciting them to get the kids back on track. :)


Little Ball

Five Finger Song / Five Little Squirrels

 

Lyrics - in case you want to "study" 

Also I never realized even a poem can get very "violent" as this boy is carrying a bat wanting to hit the innocent tigers and squirrels. It was definitely a teachable lesson. :)

 

Writing Center

 

Writing Center

 

Got some Mandarin dice at the ACTFL convention and immediately put them to use! 

 

Working on adding using Pattern Blocks

 

Thank you parents for fulfilling my wishlist at our first Book Fair!! I will treasure them forever!

When is Your Birthday?

(((Important!))) If you have sent me your video but do not see them here...it's because it's not uploaded to YouTube. I had first started to upload the first few videos (sent to me as a movie clip) to YouTube with permission myself, but it was very time consuming. So please please upload the video, forward me the link, and make sure it's not set to private! Thanks so much!! 

I really enjoy the intimacy of these videos. Thank you for taking time and effort into the assignment. I hope you all had a restful and fantastic Thanksgiving break!


PS) Please email me the link to your Youtube video..for some reason the .mov ones won't play on here. 



                             

                              
     

|Home Project| Teach Someone How to Speak Mandarin Video Due Monday, 12/2/2013

Due Date: Email me the video clip or a link to it by Monday, December 2, 2013 at vivian.liu@theglobeacademy.org

Instructions: Take advantage of family time during Thanksgiving Break. Have your child teach someone (a family member, a neighbor, sister, or brother...doesn't matter!) how to say their birthday in Mandarin!!! Yes, your child will TEACH the other person how to say their birthday in Mandarin.  I will post a video on how to say the months and days in Mandarin if I receive enough comments below. (beg.)

Fine Print? With your permission I'd love to post them on my blog!

Sorry- dogs were not in the mood for today's shoot...

http://youtu.be/lQDwOfhy4eY

Week of November 11-15, 2013

THANK YOU PARENTS FOR SUCCESSFULLY FUNDED OUR FIRST DONORS CHOOSE PROJECT WITHIN 2 DAYS! YOU ALL ROCK! 

Friendly Reminder
*Fresh Fruit Snacks and Water Bottle in Your Child's Backpack Daily!
*Please Label Coats and Jackets!

 Aside from all the excitement from Fun Run, we had a lot accomplished this week. The children are now asking and responding birthdays with accuracy. Since questions do not begin with the typical "What, When, How, Where, Why", Mandarin beginning learners do take awhile to get accustomed to. Thanks to all who have completed and sent in the flash cards in the reading bag. We identified the words during Poetry Reading, and played games during teacher directed literacy centers. I am amazed by how quickly the children catch on and how much fun we had "playing"!

In Math we continued to learn different ways of making a number and solving word problems by manipulating objects. The kids all enjoyed solving problems on the individual dry erase boards as well as the paper Aja Mann donated! It is interesting to see how some kids decided it was okay to write a number sentence with Chinese characters. Ha! They make my day!

As part of the immersion experience, I introduced my favorite song writer / singer Jay Chou to the children this week. Here is the song "Listen to Mom's Words" I played for the kids. They begged for more...I promise you, I am going to sob when they learn to rap in Mandarin. Oh my!

 

My Husband Came to help with Math :)

 

Puppet Show

 

Semi-Concrete Problem Solving

 

The Poem We are Reading and all...

                                   

Week of November 4-8, 2013

This week in Math, the students were introduced Story Problems. There are problems with numbers in them, and the kids had to be the detective to figure them out. Problem Solving is a huge part of Mathematical thinking as well as a lifelong skill. It could be a complicated task, and to do it in Mandarin has got to be more challenging! I was able to engaged the kids by using their names within the problems. Let's just say, we had fun!

Do not forget to bring in FINISHED vocabulary cards on Monday, 11/11 (or Tuesday, if your child is in my homeroom class). We will be familiarizing them during read alouds, singing, and literacy center.

Thank you for all the parents who made it out to the parent teacher conference on time and with those warm and fuzzy smiles. You mean the world to me with your kind words and positive spirit. Looking forward to seeing the rest of you!!! :)

Last but not least, I'm trying to raise money for a projector for our class. Currently my project is on donorschoose.org. For the next 6 days, DonorsChoose will match ANY donation made to the class. If you have the time and the funds, we would really appreciate a donation. Even $1 will help (because really it will be $2 when DonorsChoose matches it). Please do not feel obligated to donate.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to donate within the next seven days, enter the code {CHEER}. DonorsChoose will only match dollar for dollar if the code INSPIRE is entered.

Link to my project: http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/2046698.-876216288?supporters=true