My oh My

What a day.

"This is the best day of school ever!!!!" one breathlessly exclaimed as she waved goodbye out the door. And indeed it was enjoyed. Yes there might have been too much sugar and too many presents. And we now understand so fully why they can't bring toys to school and eat candy all day. But no one would have or could have enjoyed them more it seems than they did today.

So thank you to all who helped, who brought, who did anything to help with the fun that was today.

I decided to send home two books over the holidays. They will be up on the lingt site starting tomorrow so you can work on them if you have time.

And thank you for all the wonderful presents! You are all so kind!

Be safe and have fun over the break, and we'll see you all next year/.

Sing along sung.

It's almost Christmas. Something you wouldn't have to be told if you were around kids for any amount of time today. Excitement is in the air.

But we did actually learn some things today as well. We played a bingo type game with a blank board on which they wrote in 16 of the characters we've been working with. It was hard to concentrate that long, but most did very well.

And all were extremely excited about parents and friends visiting the school today, not to mention the Christmas movie we saw this afternoon.

Tomorrow there will not be time for both classes to take a quiz, since we will be switching classes and going to an assembly first thing. But I will be sending home two books which will be on the lingt site you can work on in any spare time over the break. If you have time to work on any math concepts as well, please focus on money, telling time (to the nearest half hour) and review of basic addition and subtraction facts. 

How do you say Merry Christmas in Chinese?

Sheng dan jie kuai le !  圣诞节快乐！

Also a reminder that the sing along for parents assembly is tomorrow morning. We'll be singing around 9:15 if you want to see your child preform.

Today we practiced a song that goes along with the book we're reading. It is, in fact, the book we're reading. Just put to music. The tune is one some of you may be familiar with--- "We are a happy family". To sing it, start on page two with "wo ai ma ma ".

We also worked with money, something they all need continual practice with. Many are still having troubles distinguishing between the coins. So any practice you can give them would be good.

Please ask your child to show you the book and vocabulary list they were given as homework today. Everyone should have one. These books should be sent back Friday. Each child has a number so I can track who has brought them back or not. I'll be sending a note home with your child if you have some missing.

Also, there wasn't a math homework sheet sent home in the folder this week. I will send one home Friday along with some Chinese things you can do (optional) over the break if you have time.

Holiday party news: Mrs. Strasser and I will be switching classes for the day on Friday. Because of the assembly, we won't have our normal Friday schedule. We will just keep the same class all day, meaning the holiday party in my class will be with my afternoon group. If you are a parent who wants to or knows of a parent who wants to help with the party, please email me asap so we can get you involved. 

bchipman@graniteschools.org 

*Reminder: Please send your child in clothes suitable for going outside to recess in the snow. 

Next week's vocabulary

It's going to be a crazy week next week, so here's a heads up on the vocab and book we'll be focusing on.

It is about love in the home, and is made up of many characters they already know as well as a few new ones.  Below are the new ones, next week's vocab:

家  jia  house or family

爱  ai      love

家人   jia ren      family members

不错  bu cuo     not bad

最  zui       most

可爱   ke ai       lovable／cute

The whole book is written out in English and Chinese on the lingt site if you want a little extra practice this weekend when you may have more time.

Xia xue le! 下雪了！！

That's how you say " It's snowing". Which it did. In great abundance. And I'm so glad you all made it safely to school today. When the bell rang we had about 7 kids. The excitement about such great amounts of snow could hardly be contained. But we somehow managed and actually had a very productive day.

In centers we practiced writing shape characters and simple sentences, worked with tan grams, addition and subtraction, and math seat work.

We did an activity with the sentence 看起来像  kan qi lai xiang (looks like)  and  什么形状 shenme xing zhuang (what shape). We pulled objects out of a bag and filled in the sentence frame:

_______looks like what shape? ______looks like_______. Then extended the activity with a sheet at their desk where they looked around the room for objects that looked like shapes and drew them into the same sentence.  

This same phrase is the one that is repeated in this week's book. Each new page is not new characters. Basically the only thing that changes on each page is the fruit being compared and the shape.

Monday again!

But don't worry.  There was no homework sent home today. You will be getting it tomorrow. There will be a book, vocab list, and math sheet, so keep your eyes open.

And please send your child with as warm of winter clothing as possible. If it's too cold, like it was today, we have inside recess. But when we do go outside, it is COLD. Gloves, hats, scarves. Send em all:)

This week we're doing a review of shape names they already know but now placed into a story and with new phrases they don't know.

Also, I'll be re recording the book on the lingt site, page by page. I was told this would be easier from the parent's end to practice and record with your child, so we'll give it a go. Let me know if you like it that way or not.

Progress!

It was a great day today! I am so happy with the progress the kids are making not only in the language, but in being first graders. They are learning how to be good listeners, how to do their work, how to focus. It's so great to see! You should be proud of your children. I know I am :)

Today we practiced writing characters, telling time, sorting and graphing m&m's, counting coins, and worked with the week's vocabulary.

We also taught the other first grade classes the beginning of Pai Pai Shou for our sing along assembly on the 17th.

At home encourage your child to use as many chinese words for things as they can. Speaking "Chinglish" is a good thing to help they progress in language production.