Water

This week we will be learning all about water, as well as all the vocabulary that comes along with it. So you can ask you child to tell you (in chinese) what water looks, tastes, smells, and feels like, as well as what we use it for, where it's found on the earth, and what forms it can take.

My friend from Taiwan is coming to visit and is excited to make a trip to visit my classroom and hear american children speaking chinese. I must say, it is still simply incredible to me how well they are doing with the language and how much they enjoy functioning in "Chinese mode". They are not afraid to try and make mistakes, and their amazing minds pick up and absorb so much every day that they then immediately put to use. Put simply, I am proud of and amazed by your children. Thank you for letting me teach them.

Spring is here (almost)

And we are excited to be able to play outside. We are learning how to say the names of sports.

In Chinese, to play with a ball, the verb "hit" 打（da） is used in any sport in which the hands are used to play. For example, to say "play tennis" you say "hit net ball", or 打网球( da wang qiu)。The word for ball is 球 qiu.

The exception is soccer, where instead you kick, or ti 踢。

Characters __Pinyin ________English_____ literal translation:

打棒球 _____da bang qiu _______play baseball ______hit stick ball

打网球 _____da wang qiu _______play tennis _______hit net ball

打乒乓球 ___da ping pang qiu _____play ping pong___ hit ping pong ball

打冰球_____ da bing qiu ________play hockey ______hit ice ball

打篮球 _____da lan qiu_________ play basketball ____hit basket ball

提足球 _____ti zu qiu ___________play soccer______kick foot ball

打美式足球 __da mei shi zu qiu _____play football ___hit american style soccer

Great expectations

Last week I was privileged to attend a summit on Chinese literacy hosetd by Utah Cinese Immersion. Principals, teachers, and program directors of mandarin immersion schools from accross the country were in attendance. A small group, numbering about 30, we were able to dicuss, share, and compare the most effective practice as well as challenges faced by these programs. It was an energetic, knowledgable, and passionate group, and much was learned. Your children will derectly benefit from the many things I learned and saw.

I have also been attending weekly iSchool trainings along with two other teachers at our school to learn how to best use our new cart of iPod touches. We three will be sharing the cart, which houses enough iPods for each student to have their own to use in class. I have been exploring many chinese apps, and am really excited about all the things we will be able to do with this great new technology.

As the students continue to try their best to speak only Chinese in the classroom, I am seeing much progress and excitement about the language.

We will be sending home information about SEP conferences with Mrs. Cretsinger's Monday homework folder, so be watching for that.

If you missed it last night.....

Utah leading the nation in dual immersion programs - ksl.com

Our Neighborhood

Hope everyone had a great long weekend! This week we are learning about the different places in our neighborhood as well as map skills. By the end of the week, your child should be able to say:

grocery store

hospital

park

school

restaurant

library

zoo

museum

"Where are you going?"

"Where is the _____"

"Where is your house?"

across from

next door to

close to

In math, continue to help them break numbers up into hundreds, tens and ones as well as counting money and subtraction practice. We will be introducing 3-D shapes next week (sphere, cone, cube etc)

The cookie dough fundraiser began with an assembly today. The kids were reminded "No talking to strangers, and no door to door sales."

What do you want to be when you grow up?

We're looking at community and the people that help us. We've looked at people in our school, and now are talking about what we'd like to do with our lives, or what we want to do when we grow up. They were excited to hear I wanted to be a teacher when I was little and now I really am "So you really can become what you always wanted to?!!" one exclaimed. Yep.

The vocab is as follows:

doctor 医生 yi sheng

teacher 老师 lao shi

actress/actor 演员 yan yuan

police 警察 jing cha

chef 厨师 chu shi

architect 工程师 gong cheng shi

We are working with counting money, story problems, and subtraction from up to 12 this week in math.

reminders:

School Chinese New Year Celebration this Thursday, February 10th, 6 p.m. Please have your child there on time so they will be able to sing with us.

Class Chinese New year celebration this Friday. Email me if you would like to come in and help. I will be emailing those interested on Wednesday with party details.

Happy Hundredth day of School!

And groundhog day! And chinese new year! All in all, a great day to be in first grade. Ask your child to count to a hundred for you (in chinese) by 10's, 5's, and for a challenge, 2's. And congratulate them on 100 great days of first grade and being immersed in Chinese.

We are working on making math sentences from stories. So if you can practice telling math stories or having your child make up math stories, then talk about if they could use addition or subtraction to figure it out, it would be great practice.

Example: I finished my juice in three big gulps. You finished yours in six. How many more gulps did it take you to finish?

Great website for them to practice this.

Or click here to play addition and subtraction games

Also, since within hours it will be the year of the rabbit, here is a little info. First, know that New Year is the biggest holiday of the year in China, and celebrations last for weeks. Families return home, much food is prepared and enjoyed, and emphasis is on a fresh new start, a prosperous year to come, and family ties.

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2011 is the Year of the Golden Rabbit, which begins on February 3, 2011 and ends on January 22, 2012. The Rabbit is the fourth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animals signs. The Rabbit is a lucky sign. Rabbits are private individuals and a bit introverted. People born in the Year of the Rabbit are reasonably friendly individuals who enjoy the company of a group of good friends. They are good teachers, counselors and communicators, but also need their own space.

According to Chinese tradition, the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves. It is a time for negotiation. Don't try to force issues, because if you do you will ultimately fail. To gain the greatest benefits from this time, focus on home, family, security, diplomacy, and your relationships with women and children. Make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise.

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