The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step--Lao Zi, Chinese Philosopher
3/23-3/27
Transitional Kindergarten: This week in Mandarin, we learned to sing the song, 家. We learned to recognize the characters:朋友, 滑梯, 溜滑梯, 點點頭, 握握手. We learned to write the characters: 雨, 衣, 小, 子, 走, 食.
Kindergarten: In Mandarin this week, we read the lesson 比一比. We learned the measure words for the following items:筷子, 李子, 桃子,麵包, 蛋糕, 葡萄. We all loved to sing and dance to the tunes of the songs: 卡加不里島 and 妞妞舞.
For English this week, students continued working on blending front letter sounds and began working on blending end letter sounds. Students also worked on reading short stories to improve their word flow and pronunciation.
First Grade: In Mandarin this week, we read the lesson, 春天到了. We learned to recognize the characters:春天, 冬天, 再見, 彩色, 道路,春假, 一年. Most importantly, we learned about the origin of Easter 復活節的由來.
For English this week, students read an article about Yellowstone National Park and it's beautiful wonders. Students learned what geysers are and how steam and water are released from it, they also learned new words and practiced using them in complete sentences.
Second Grade: This week in Mandarin, we read the story,檸檬汁和小鳥. We learned the phrases:數一數, 賣東西, 賣掉了, 花謝了. We also learned an idiom about Spring: 春暖花開. Tang poem for this week is 清明 by 杜牧. The poem depicts the scenery of tomb sweeping traidition.
For English this week, students worked on writing a story about Easter. Students were free to use their imagination as long as it involved elements relating to Easter.
Third Grade: In English, we read a journal article Extreme Forces of Nature. We read about tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes. We learned about hurricane facts and tornado facts. Some new words that we learned are coarse, troublesome, marine, magnify, quake, and grasp.
Fourth Grade: In Chinese, we reviewed the story of 東方人棒球隊 and did a fill the blank exercise. Then we constructed sentences with a mixture of these phrases: 歡迎，參加，舉辦，運動營，決定，專心.
In English, we studied words with the roots port and mit. These words include emit, portable, porter, import, submit, and transmit. We also practiced figuring out the meaning of idioms based on context clues; against the clock, got cold feet, out on a limb were some of these idioms we learned.
3/16-3/20
3/9-3/13
Transitional Kindergarten: In Mandarin class this week, we learned new phrases: 老師好, 同學早, 做早操, 慢跑. We learned to write 早, 好, 來, 去, 同. We also learned about plural form for 你, 我, 他. Most important of all, we learned to sing 捕魚歌.
Kindergarten: In Mandarin class this week, we read the lesson 比一比. In the lesson we learned the phrases:比一比, 不見了, 正在, 沒來, 不去, 不是, 沒有. We unscrambled to words to make new sentences. This helped us to become better at speaking in complete sentences. In addition to Tang poems, we also sing 卡加不里島.
This week for English, students worked on blending letters, like -sp, -st, and -gl. Students worked on coming up with new words, using them in a sentence, and identifying them with pictures.
First Grade: In Mandarin class this week, we reread the lesson 小水滴旅行. We reviewed the phrases we learned last week and added 從前, 遲到, 裡面, 水果, 果汁,過去, 過來, 送給, 開車, 快, 慢. We also learned to use punctuations correctly.
This week for English, students worked on reading a short story about different types of trains. Students also came up with sentences for a new set of vocabulary words, in addition they created their own word search.
Second Grade: In Mandarin class this week, we reread the lesson 明明的存錢桶. We added to our list the phrases: 洗車窗, 窗戶, 窗簾, 煙囪. We learned a new idom related to spring 春意盎然.
This week for English, students worked on a new set of vocabulary words. Students worked on word association and sentence flow by assigning words to their appropriate usage.
Third Grade: in English, we practiced identifying the synonyms and antonyms for words such as missionary, chant, blockade, elevate, heroic, and toxic.
Fourth Grade: In Chinese we learned new words: 投球，傳說，球隊，排隊，很棒，專心，上網，決定。
In English, we read the story Ireland's Great Famine. We learned new words such as portable, famine, brittle, condemned, descended, and dictator.
Transitional Kindergarten: In Mandarin class this week, we learned greetings: 早安, 午安 and 晚安. We learned to sing the song 太陽出來了. We were also able to name the fruits: 西瓜, 蘋果, 橘子 and 草莓. What kind of fruits do you like?
Kindergarten: In Mandarin class this week, we reread the story 紅雞媽媽 and applied the phrases in sentences. These phrases are 星期, 稻米, 幫忙,努力, 收成, 工作,好事, 好話, 好念. We also played word searched games to reinforce the phrases that we have learned. For Tang Shi, we sang 逢雪宿芙蓉山主人.
This week for English, students worked on sounding out and spelling words consisting of "-ee" and "-ir". Students also worked on reading short stories to improve reading flow and pronunciation.
First Grade: In Mandarin class this week, we read the story 小水滴旅行. The story teaches us about water cycle. In the lesson we learned the phrases: 醒, 旅行, 草原, 河, 海, 輕,飛, 跳, 累, 舒服. We learned to unscrambled words to form sentences which helped us to become familiar with the phrases we have learned.
In English this week. students worked on reading a short story about the famous Wright Brothers, who are known for their attempts and success in creating actual flight. Students also began writing their own story relating to the upcoming Irish Holiday of St. Patrick's Day.
Second Grade: In Mandarin class this week, we read lesson 8: 明明存錢桶. We were able to use the following phrases in sentences:銀行, 存錢, 美元, 硬幣, 節省. We also using Mandarin to discuss the story 烏龜賽跑 and followed the directions to paper fold a fish!
In English class this week, students this week worked on finishing up past work sheets that needed corrections or adjustments. They also worked on writing new sentences using past words, but with more focus on grammatical and punctual usage.
Third Grade: In Chinese, we learned the words 口香糖, 麥片, 食品 and also reviewed the words from last week. We did a matching exercise for each word.
In English, the students studied words that had the roots "flec", "pel", and "ject". Some of these words include reflect, inflection, propel, object, and expel. We also practiced applying words that name emotions into sentences. These words include despair, horror, jubilation, and contentment.
Fourth Grade: In Chinese, we learned new words such as 教練,市政府,參加,辦法,and 歡迎. We applied these new words into fill in the blank questions to make them correct.
In English, we read a short story called America's First Female Doctor. The story was about Elizabeth Blackwell. The main focus was on words we learned in the past, such as strive, alternate, humiliate, and industrious.
3/2-3/7
Transitional Kindergarten: In Mandarin class this week, we reviewed the lesson,大家早. We learned read the phrases 鉛筆, 書包, 朋友. Most importantly, we learned to sing the song 龜兔賽跑.
Kindergarten: In Mandarin class this week, we read the story, 紅雞媽媽. From the lesson we learned to work harder so that we can reap the reward at the end. We learned the vocabularies: 香噴噴, 雞, 稻米, 努力, 工作, 在,和
For English this week, students learned making new words that have the sound and spelling of "-ar" and "-or". Some of the words are far, park, car, horse, more, horn, and etc. Students also read a two short stories that worked on practicing saying more "-ar" and "-or" words.
First Grade: In Mandarin class this week, we read the story, 中中的門牙. We learned the vocabularies: 門牙, 跌, 舌頭, 書, 蘋果, 枕頭. We liked this story a lot because many of just like Zhong Zhong are losing front teeth.
For English this week, students read a short biography about Margaret Heffernan Borland, who was famous for guiding around 1000+ cattle across many miles. Students also worked on creating their own word search by using new words they learned from the story.
Second Grade: In Mandarin class this week, we read the story, 我要幫助爺爺康復. The story tells us how to take care of grandpa when grandpa is sick. We practiced writing the characters: 材, 第, 筆, 信, 放, 新, 安, 熱. We learned the new idiom, 唾手可得 which means acquiring things easily.
For English this week, students worked on reviews by correcting some of their past work. Students also worked on quizzing each other on past words and writing new sentences.
Third Grade: In Chinese, we learned the important phrase "意思". This phrase will let us ask any question whenever we encounter a new word or sentence we don't understand The other new phrases we learned are 吃光了，花光了，思念，沒意思，有意思。
For English, we read a report on Blockades Through the Centuries. We learned about the toxic waste blockade in 2006, the blockade of Haiti in 1993, and the blockade of Berlin in 1948. Some words we learned are extraordinary, site, elevate, chants, reflect, and missionary.
Fourth Grade: In Chinese, we learned how to incorporate "先---然後---再---" into sentences. We also read the history and achievements of the first oriental baseball team called "東方人棒球隊".
In English, we learned about adjectives and used those words to describe people. Some of these words include energetic, finicky, impatient, and resourceful. Then we applied those words to make different description of people.