Friday, December 14, 2012

December 14 Newsletter

圣诞节快乐!

Merry Christmas!

*Please bring your glass jar for the project in Mrs. Campo's class.


What is being taught this week in English/Chinese?


English literacy
  • Story: "Rosa and Blanca" Unit 3 Week4
  • Question of the week: "When does a creative idea lead to a surprise?"
  • Spelling words: 
    • find
    • child
    • sky
    •  bright
    • wild
    • fly
    • right
    • flight
    • spider
    • cry
    • blind
    • myself
    • their
    • buy
    • Bonus:
      • generous 
      • abundant
    • Amazing words (words introduced but not tested on):
      • abundant
      • assist 
      • generous
      • dismay
      • efficient
      • beam
      • forever
      • situation
  • Unit 14- about numbers and classifiers for objects (quite a bit of review). Test will be Tuesday, December 17.
  • Vocabulary we will be learning to write:
    •  两 liǎng - two, pair
    • 支 zhī - classifier for long, skinny objects (pens)
    • 毛 máo- fur, feathers
    • 笔 bǐ - writing utensil, pen, stroke
    • 石shí - stone, rock
    • 块 kuài- piece, lump, or dollar (measurement word)
    • 百bǎi - hundreds, many
    • qiān - thousands
  • Vocabulary we will be learning to read/listen to/say
    •  ALL pulled from the stories/songs you can listen to on the Singapore website (unit 14). See earlier blog posts for information on how to access this site.
Math:
  •  Unit 7 - Mental Subtraction 
  • Review of past units

Homework Expectations:

In both English and Chinese classes, homework will now be given Monday-Thursday.

English: daily practice of spelling and vocabulary from weekly story. 
Math: English worksheet reinforcing concepts taught in Chinese class daily.
Chinese: homework will consist of character practice, character worksheets, or reading (stories from website or readers with CD listening portion)

Reminder of Upcoming Events:
  • December 18 - Christmas Movie Fun!
  • December 19- Song Sing-a-long and Christmas party @ 10:30 am
  • December 19- Early-out Day
  • December 20- Winter break begins
  • January 2- School Resumes

Friday, December 7, 2012

Newsletter 12/7

圣诞节快乐!

Merry Christmas!

Congratulations to both classes who were rewarded doughnut/ice cream parties for good behavior in both classes. We are so proud of you! Keep it up!


*Don't forget to bring in your glass jar for the Christmas project!

What is being taught this week in English/Chinese?


English literacy
  • Story: "Anasasi" Unit 3 Week 3
  • Question of the week: "How can creative thinking solve a problem?"
  • Spelling words: 
    •  basketball
    • someone
    • weekend
    • something
    • birthday
    • riverbank
    • bathtub
    • driveway
    • bedtime
    • raindrop
    • mailbox
    • been
    • believe
    • Bonus:
      • shrewd
      • consume
    • Amazing words (words introduced but not tested on):
      • consume
      • prey
      • shrewd
      • boast
      • gloat
      • snicker
      • cure
      • incident
  • Unit 14- about numbers and classifiers for objects (quite a bit of review). Finishing this unit hopefully by Friday. TEST on this unit will be Friday as well.
  • Vocabulary we will be learning to write:
    •  两 liǎng - two, pair
    • 支 zhī - classifier for long, skinny objects (pens)
    • 毛 máo- fur, feathers
    • 笔 bǐ - writing utensil, pen, stroke
    • 石shí - stone, rock
    • 块 kuài- piece, lump, or dollar (measurement word)
    • 百bǎi - hundreds, many
    • qiān - thousands
  • Vocabulary we will be learning to read/listen to/say
    •  ALL pulled from the stories/songs you can listen to on the Singapore website (unit 14). See earlier blog posts for information on how to access this site.
Math:
  • Unit 6: Adding 2-digit numbers using mental math, Unit Test Wednesday 
  • Starting Unit 7 on Wednesday (Mental Subtraction)

Homework Expectations:

In both English and Chinese classes, homework will now be given Monday-Thursday.

English: daily practice of spelling and vocabulary from weekly story. 
Math: English worksheet reinforcing concepts taught in Chinese class daily.
Chinese: homework will consist of character practice, character worksheets, or reading (stories from website or readers with CD listening portion)

Reminder of Upcoming Events:
  • December 12- School Holiday Program for Parents 10:15 am
  • December 19- Song Sing-a-long and Holiday party 10:30 am 
  • December 19- Early-out Day
  • December 20- Winter break begins

Friday, November 30, 2012

Newsletter 11/30


What is being taught this week in English/Chinese?

English literacy: starting a new unit this week.
  • Story: "Dear Juno" Unit 3 Week 2
  • Question of the week: "In what creative ways do we communicate?"
  • Spelling words: 
    • bowl
    • toad
    • slow
    • most
    • told
    • open
    • show
    • hold
    • ago
    • toast
    • float
    • goat
    • school
    • answer
    • Bonus:
      • transport
      • postage
    • Amazing words (words introduced but not tested on):
      • correspond
      • postage
      • transport
      • cove
      • footprint
      • deaf
      • imitate
      • sign language
Chinese literacy: We will continue Chapter 13 from Singapore website. Test is Tuesday December 4. After that, we will begin Chapter 14.
  • Unit 14- about numbers and classifiers for objects (quite a bit of review).
  • Vocabulary we will be learning to write:
    •  两 liǎng - two, pair
    • 支 zhī - classifier for long, skinny objects (pens)
    • 毛 máo- fur, feathers
    • 笔 bǐ - writing utensil, pen, stroke
    • 石shí - stone, rock
    • 块 kuài- piece, lump, or dollar (measurement word)
    • 百bǎi - hundreds, many
    • qiān - thousands
  • Vocabulary we will be learning to read/listen to/say
    •  ALL pulled from the stories/songs you can listen to on the Singapore website (unit 14). See earlier blog posts for information on how to access this site.
Math:
  • Unit 6: Adding 2-digit numbers using mental math
* There was a mistake for the math units - we will not be learning regrouping/adding or subtracting money amounts until after Christmas. There was a confusion about the curriculum order. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Homework Expectations:

In both English and Chinese classes, homework will now be given Monday-Thursday.

English: daily practice of spelling and vocabulary from weekly story. 
Math: English worksheet reinforcing concepts taught in Chinese class daily.
Chinese: homework will consist of character practice, character worksheets, or reading.



Reminder of Upcoming Events:
  • Tues Dec 4 - Chapter 13 Test for Chinese (writing, listening, reading)
  • Thurs Dec 6 - Vocabulary Comprehension Test in computer lab (English)
  • Fri Dec 7 OR Mon Dec 10 - Math Unit 6 Test 
  • Fri Dec 7 - Spelling Test
  • Wed Dec 12 - Holiday Program for Parents 10:15 am (time uncertain?)

    Tuesday, November 20, 2012

    Unit 13 youtube video and voiceover

    Here is a powerpoint of the vocab we will be learning/reviewing from Lesson 13. Please review it with your kids!

    Saturday, November 17, 2012

    Newsletter 11/16

    What is being taught this week in English/Chinese?

    English literacy: Monday Nov 19 will be a review day of the skills that were learned over the last several weeks. Tuesday Nov 20 is a short day and we will begin the following unit Mon Nov 26.
    • Story: Pearl and Wagner Unit 3 Week 1
    • Question of the week: "When does support from others help with a creative idea?"
    • Spelling words: 
      • read 
      • feet
      • easy
      • deep
      • seat
      • party
      • wheel
      • leave
      • windy
      • sleep 
      • teeth
      • team
      • guess
      • shoe
      • Bonus words:
        • contraption
        • construct 
      • Amazing words (words introduced but not tested on):
        • construct
        • sidekick
        • unique
        • contraption
        • foolproof
        • daydream
        • project
        • scrap

    Chinese literacy: We will be doing review Monday Nov 19, Tues 20. The next unit (Unit 13) will begin Nov 26, post-Thanksgiving break. Here is info about that next unit since we will not be doing a newsletter during Thanksgiving:
    • Unit 13- about coloring and "giving color" to different things (mixing colors, etc)
    • Vocabulary we will be learning to write:
      • 送 sòng -to deliver, carry, give
      • 给 gěi- to, for, for the benefit of, to give
      • 红 hóng- red
      • 色 sè- color
      • 土 tǔ- earth, dust, clay, local
      • 地 dì - earth, ground, field, place, land
      • 什 shén- what
      • 么 me - question word in "what?"
    • Vocabulary we will be learning to read/listen to/say
      •  ALL pulled from the stories/songs you can listen to on the Singapore website (unit 11). See earlier blog posts for information on how to access this site.
    Math:
    • Unit 14- Adding, Subtracting, Estimating Sums will begin Monday, Nov 19 and continue the following week after Thanksgiving.
    Homework Expectations:

    In both English and Chinese classes, homework will now be given Monday-Thursday.

    English: daily practice of spelling and vocabulary from weekly story. 
    Math: English worksheet reinforcing concepts taught in Chinese class daily.
    Chinese: homework will consist of character practice, character worksheets, or reading.



    Reminder of Upcoming Events:
    • Tues Nov 20- Early-out Day
    • Nov 21-23 Thanksgiving Break
    • Nov 26 Switch Morning/Afternoon Classes

      Monday, November 12, 2012

      Newsletter 11/12/12


      What is being taught this week in English/Chinese?

      English literacy:
          • Story: Unit 2, Week 5 "One Good Turn Deserves Another"
          • Question of the Week: "How can we help together to solve problems?"
          • Spelling list: (Test Friday 11/16)
            • main
            • wait
            • say
            • away
            • play
            • raise
            • brain
            • paint
            • stay
            • today
            • tray
            • tail
            • everybody
            • sorry
            • Bonus:
              • armadillo
              • deserve 
      * Don't forget to read every day and keep up with your reading log!

      Chinese literacy:

      • Unit 11- about hygiene (showering, brushing your teeth) (Test Thurs 11/15)
      • Vocabulary we will be learning to write:
        • 下-xià - go down/under/to fall
        • 妈-mā - mother
        • 雨-yǔ - rain
        • 到-dào - to arrive/go
        • 少-shǎo - few, lack, be missing
        • 可-kě - can, but
        • 早-zǎo - morning, early
        • 是-shì - to be, right, yes
      • Vocabulary we will be learning to read/listen to/say
        •  ALL pulled from the stories/songs you can listen to on the Singapore website (unit 11). See earlier blog posts for information on how to access this site.
      Math:
      • Unit 13- Counting Money UNIT TEST Wednesday, Nov 14 then begin Unit 14 - Money (Adding, Subtracting, Estimating Sums)
      Homework Expectations:

      In both English and Chinese classes, homework will now be given Monday-Thursday.

      English: daily practice of spelling and vocabulary from weekly story. 
      Math: English worksheet reinforcing concepts taught in Chinese class daily.
      Chinese: homework will consist of character practice, character worksheets, or reading.

      **We will be sending Chinese "readers" home with the students (which you have probably already seen by now). They will have CD's that go with them. Please have the students listen to the audio and read the book (they are numbered and correlate to the track number on the CD). If they don't know what the character is, the audio will help them figure it out! 


      Reminder of Upcoming Events:
      • Wednesday, Nov 14 Unit 13 Math Test
      • Thursday, Nov 15 Unit 11 Chinese Quiz (writing, listening) 
      • Friday, Nov 16 English Spelling Test, Vocabulary Comprehension Test
      • Nov 20 Early Out day
      • Nov 21-23 Thanksgiving break/recess

      Friday, November 2, 2012

      Speaking Chinese practice

       I have just learned about a great new learning tool to help your kids start getting more individual feedback with their speaking. It is through a website called "lingt." Teachers can post assignments and students can record their responses. I can then give them feedback (that will be sent to the email you provide). This is a great way for your students to practice what we learn in class, and also to become more comfortable with speaking. Here is a link to the first assignment (reviewing what we just learned in Unit 10):

      Make sure the student first specifies which class they below to (yellow or blue). I'm excited about this new tool, so make sure to give me feedback or let me know if you have any questions.

      Here's the link:

      lingtlanguage.com/lhatch

      Some useful learning tools/websites

      Writing Characters:

      The following website is a great Chinese-English dictionary and even shows you HOW to write each character with the right stroke order! This is a great tool for helping your children learn to write correctly ( and know what they are writing). You can also hear each character pronounced.

      http://www.nciku.com/

      Counting Money:

      The following website is great for making worksheets for your child to practice counting money:

      http://aplusmath.com/Worksheets/OnlineMoney.html

      And to have FUN playing games to count money:

      http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/money/moneycounting.html

      http://www.mathplayground.com/count_the_money.html

      http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/matching/memoryMath_coins_level1.htm









      Newsletter November 2

      What is being taught this week in English/Chinese?

      English literacy:
      • Unit 2, Week 4:
        • Story: "The Bremen Town Musicians"
        • Question of the week: "Why is it a good idea to work together?"
        • Spelling List:
          • baby
          • lunch
          • notes
          • stories
          • tunes
          • babies
          • story
          • switches
          • tune
          • note
          • lunches
          • switch
          • people
          • scared
      Chinese literacy:
      • Unit 11- about hygiene (showering, brushing your teeth).
      • Vocabulary we will be learning to write:
        • 下-xià - go down/under/to fall
        • 妈-mā - mother
        • 雨-yǔ - rain
        • 到-dào - to arrive/go
        • 少-shǎo - few, lack, be missing
        • 可-kě - can, but
        • 早-zǎo - morning, early
        • 是-shì - to be, right, yes
      • Vocabulary we will be learning to read/listen to/say
        •  ALL pulled from the stories/songs you can listen to on the Singapore website (unit 11). See earlier blog posts for information on how to access this site. Also check blog for a youtube video posted by Ms. Hatch with a voice over of pronunciation.

      Math:
      • Unit 13- Counting Money 
      Homework Expectations:

      In both English and Chinese classes, homework will now be given Monday-Thursday.

      English: daily practice of spelling and vocabulary from weekly story. 
      Math: English worksheet reinforcing concepts taught in Chinese class daily.
      Chinese: homework will consist of character practice, character worksheets, or reading.

      **We will be sending Chinese "readers" home with the students (which you have probably already seen by now). They will have CD's that go with them. Please have the students listen to the audio and read the book (they are numbered and correlate to the track number on the CD). If they don't know what the character is, the audio will help them figure it out! 


      Reminder of Upcoming Events:
        • November 7, 8 -Grandparents and Goodies in the gym 7:45 am
        • Parent-teacher conferences November 8-9
        • Spelling, Vocab & Comprehension test November 9- ENGLISH
        • Math Unit 13 Test Monday November 12

        Friday, October 26, 2012

        WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

        What is being taught this week in English/Chinese?

        English literacy: 
        • Unit 2, week 3:
          • Story: "Scarcity"
          • Question of the week: "How can we work together to meet people's needs?"
          • Spelling List: 
            • person
            • nurse
            • turn
            • dirt
            • serve
            • birth
            • curb
            • curl
            • turtle
            • skirt
            • her
            • purse
            • whole
            • enough
        Chinese literacy:
        • Unit 10 - on Singapore website, covers exercise vocabulary
        • Vocabulary we will be learning to write:
          • 们- mén- plural marker for nouns/pronouns (like I vs. we, you vs. you all)
          • 好- hǎo- good
          • 爱-ài- to love
          • 身体- shēntǐ- body
          • 打-dǎ -to hit/strike/play
          • 玩-wán - to play 
        • Vocabulary we will be learning to read/listen to
          •  ALL pulled from the stories/songs you can listen to on the Singapore website. See earlier blog posts for information on how to access this site. Also check blog for a youtube video posted by Ms. Hatch with a voice over of pronunciation.

        Math:
        • Unit 13- Counting Money
        Homework Expectations:

        In both English and Chinese classes, homework will now be given Monday-Thursday.

        English: daily practice of spelling and vocabulary from weekly story. 
        Math: English worksheet reinforcing concepts taught in Chinese class daily.
        Chinese: homework will consist of character practice, character worksheets, or reading.

        **We will be sending Chinese "readers" home with the students (which you have probably already seen by now). They will have CD's that go with them. Please have the students listen to the audio and read the book (they are numbered and correlate to the track number on the CD). If they don't know what the character is, the audio will help them figure it out! 


        Reminder of Upcoming Events:
        • Halloween party/parade 9:15 am Wednesday Oct 31
        • Early out day Thursday Nov 1
        • Picture retakes Tues Oct 30

        Tuesday, October 9, 2012

        Unit 9 Chinese Literacy

        Here is a link to a youtube video of our next unit (Unit 9) for Chinese. Hopefully this is useful for you all to review with your children. We will be learning this new vocabulary over the next week and a half. Hopefully, we will be ready for a test/quiz next Wednesday.

        Let me know if you have any questions!

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq4pzH2GJNA

        Friday, September 28, 2012

        Singapore Directions

        I finally figured out how to post these on this blog! If you didn't receive my email, here are the directions to access the program/materials we use in 2nd grade to learn Chinese.

        The website is: http://www.xuele.edumall.sg/xuele/slot/u107/index1.html

        When you click there, you will see this screen shot:
        When you choose this option, you will have a drop-down menu. Choose the 2nd option.

        Then you will see this screen:
        After that, you will come to this screen:
        You can explore the options in the center. The first option usually contains a dialogue, the second option is a song that we'll learn in class.

        Some of the options in the center will ask for a username/password. Because of copyright issues, we do not have access to some of the materials.

        It would be great to review the song/dialogue with your kids daily or at least frequently!

        Let me know if you have any questions!

         

        Tuesday, September 18, 2012

        Basic Review (new learners and old)

        There are a few students that have not ever taken Chinese before. I can only imagine how overwhelming it would be to jump in year 2! Below are some resources for those students/parents.

        It would be great for ALL students to review this info at home so that they can remember it from last year.

        Here is a link for numbers with pronunciation. They should have these down so that they are automatic.

        Here is a link to the basic commands that we use in class. This is a GREAT resource because they can make flashcards and play games. Some of the most important commands include: "Sit down," "Be quiet," "Stand up" (although they are all useful and said in the classroom).

        Here is a link to some other basic vocabulary words that we use in the classroom. Some of the most important one's are for: homework, test, desk, paper, pen.

        You can also find lots of popular kid's Chinese songs here, although I had problems loading it (but maybe you won't!)

        I hope you all find these useful!



        Thursday, September 13, 2012

        Powerpoint of Literacy 1B6A vocabulary!

        You can view the following video of the vocabulary (plus pictures) with my voice saying how you say them. It would be great to go over this with your kids so that they can learn the tones and the meaning/pictures. I am sick/have a cold, so I apologize for any weirdness in my voice.

        THERE WILL BE A QUIZ/TEST NEXT THURSDAY (not Friday/tomorrow like I originally planned) on this information. Of course, we will review in class but it would be awesome if you could go over it at home. Any questions, leave a comment or email me!

        Here is the video:

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anqXOENutLw

        Wednesday, September 5, 2012

        Welcome!

        Welcome to my blog! I am very excited to work with you and your children! I have a passion for Chinese, teaching, and love to work with kids. Here on this blog you will find weekly posts with ideas of how you can help your kids learn Chinese. The posts may include links to websites, youtube videos with vocabulary and pronunciation, or other supplemental materials that can aid in learning Chinese. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at lindsey.hatch@canyonsdistrict.org.

        Get ready for a great year!