Specialty Highlight March 2024: Mandarin

First Grade

The First Grade class has had a lot of fun making origami hats, fortune tellers, and more. We learned the poems Gesse, Gesse, Geese, and The Two Tigers. The students are learning the basic strokes for Chinese characters. The class also practiced simple conversations about greeting each other, asking each other’s names, saying thanks to each other, and how to apologize to others. Students are learning more vocabulary and using them in simple conversations.

Second Grade:

In Second Grade, the students learned how to write numbers 1-10 in Chinese characters. Two classes were spent writing numbers from 1 to 99 in Chinese characters. Everyone did a great job. Now, the students are learning a new song about facial features. Later, they will continue learning new vocabulary and using it in simple conversations. If time allows, the class will practice the Chinese abacus.

Third Grade: 

The Third Grade students learned a new song, Little Stars. They also learned the first set of twelve basic Chinese characters and memorized how to write them in the correct stroke orders. The students have also put a lot of effort into speaking beautiful Chinese with the correct pronunciation. In April and May, the class will practice Chinese abacus and new vocabulary. 


Fourth and Fifth Grade:

The Fourth and Fifth Grade students practiced using pinyin** to pronounce the characters that they had learned before. The students have learned the second set of basic Chinese characters. Besides practicing pinyin and tones for the characters, students have learned the methods to build up to more complicated Chinese characters. Through the characters, the class has a view of the Chinese culture and way of thinking. The Fourth and Fifth grades will continue to learn new vocabulary and conversations.


Sixth Grade:

In sixth grade, the students continue to work on building more vocabulary for our first Chinese book, My Family. The goal is mastery of at least 70 Chinese characters. Students practiced using pinyin to pronounce the characters that they had learned before. With this book, the students will learn simple sentences about introducing family members, how to describe a person’s appearance, and how to ask simple questions.

**  Pinyin

Phonetic writing system, the most common Romanization system for Standard Chinese. In official documents, it is referred to as the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet. It is the official system used in China, Singapore, Taiwan, and by the United Nations.

Specialty Class Highlight August 2023: Mandarin

First Grade:

Greetings to our adorable first-grade students as you embark on your journey into the realm of Mandarin. Throughout this semester, we will immerse ourselves in the beauty of Chinese songs and poems. Starting with the enchanting greeting song, we will discover the art of exchanging pleasantries and expressing politeness in Chinese. Through melodious tunes, we'll unravel the names of facial features and body parts in the language. The wisdom of ancient poems will grant us insight into the rich tapestry of Chinese cultures. Moreover, we'll embrace the skill of counting from one to a hundred, unlocking a fundamental aspect of the language.

Second Grade:

Welcome to the second year of Mandarin! In this phase of our journey, we'll revisit and reinforce the songs and poems we acquired during the previous year. Throughout this semester, our focus will shift toward the art of writing Chinese characters, commencing with the exploration of fourteen fundamental strokes. In response to popular demand, we're excited to incorporate more Origami into our activities as well!

Third Grade:

Having thoroughly reviewed numbers ranging from 1 to 100, we are now prepared to delve into the world of the Chinese abacus. Our next focus will be on mastering the multiplication tables using the abacus, beginning with the 2s and 3s. Anticipation builds as we embark on this journey, and we are eager to witness the extent of our progress!

Fourth and Fifth Grade:

At the start of this semester, we engaged in basic conversations to enhance our vocabulary skills. Moving forward, our class will delve into the practice of using the Chinese abacus to master the concept of the timetable.

Sixth Grade:

This marks the commencement of our middle school journey. Throughout this academic year, our class is set to expand our vocabulary and delve into crafting uncomplicated sentences. Through dedicated conversational exercises, we aim to proficiently grasp the material with a focus on enhancing our oral communication abilities. Additionally, we are working towards cultivating the aptitude to compose straightforward sentences in writing.

Specialty Class Highlight March 2023: Mandarin

1st Grade:

The first grade class has had a lot of fun making origami hats and fortune tellers.  They have learned the poem: Gesse, Gesse, Geese, and the Farmer. Together, we have practiced simple conversations about greeting each other, asking each other’s names, thanking each other, and learning how to apologize to one another. We are learning more vocabulary, and applying what has been learned in simple conversations.

2nd Grade:

In our second grade class, we have learned how to write the numbers 1-10 in Chinese characters. We spent two classes writing numbers from 1 to 99 in Chinese characters. Everyone did a great job. Now we are learning a facial song. Later, we will continue learning new vocabulary and using this in simple conversations. If time allows, we will practice using the Chinese abacus.


3rd Grade: 

The third grade class finished the first set of the twelve basic Chinese characters. We have memorized how to write them in the correct stroke orders. The students have put a lot of effort into focusing on speaking beautiful Chinese with the correct pronunciation. Now, we are moving on to learning the finger song, and new vocabulary. If time allows, we will practice the Chinese Abacus.


4th Grade:

Our fourth grade class has practiced how to use pinyin to pronounce the characters from previous lessons. We have learned the second set of basic Chinese characters. Besides practicing pinyin and tones for the characters, we have also learned the methods to build up more complicated Chinese characters. Through these lessons, the students have a window into Chinese culture and way of thinking. We will continue learning some new vocabulary and apply these new concepts to our classroom conversations.


5th Grade:

In our fifth grade class, we practiced how to use pinyin to pronounce the characters that we have learned before.  Next, the students will learn the second set of basic Chinese characters. The class has put a lot of effort into speaking beautiful Chinese with the correct pronunciation with the help of pinyin. We will continue to learn new vocabulary that will be introduced and applied to classroom conversation. Additionally, as we enter into these last weeks of school, we will continue to practice pinyin and tones for the characters and we will learn the methods to build up more complicated Chinese characters. Through the study of Chinese characters, the students have an opportunity to learn about Chinese culture and ways of thinking. 


Chinese New Year Puppet Show: February 2023

The Chinese New Year puppet show, created by the fifth grade, was a success!  The students put great effort into all aspects of the show from writing the play, learning their lines in Mandarin, sewing puppets, folding origami rabbits and firecrackers, and practicing before presenting to the early childhood and grades classes this past Wednesday. 

They did an amazing job and all aspects of this experience were beneficial.  A special thank you to Ki Cerina for leading the fifth grade class in this endeavor and to Ki Ieva for the many extra handwork classes to help the students sew their sweet puppets! 

Specialty Class Highlight: Mandarin - January 2023

1st Grade:

This is our first Chinese New Year! We have learned the Chinese zodiac of twelve animals in the order and the Chinese New Year story: the monster Nian. We understand the Chinese custom for Chinese New Year. We have learned how to draw rabbits, which is this year’s animal. We also made a rabbit dragon. We also have learned Chinese New Year Song. After Chinese New Year, we will learn more traditional poems.

2nd Grade:

This is our second Chinese New Year! We reviewed the Chinese New Year song that we learned last year. We will learn a new song as well. We have mastered the Chinese Zodiac and Chinese New Year custom. We have learned how to draw rabbits, which is this year’s animal. We also made a rabbit dragon. We will continue to learn origami arts. After Chinese New Year, we will learn new songs and how to write Chinese characters.

3rd Grade: 

We have finished our 2023 Chinese calendar. We have learned many things during this project, including patience and concentration along with how the calendar works. We reviewed the New Year's custom, and learned how to make origami rabbits. After we finish up lessons around the Chinese New Year, we will learn the first set of Chinese characters.

4th Grade:

We have learned pinyin and pinyin songs from through thiese exercises we are able to pronounce Chinese characters. We practiced how to put pinyin on the Chinese Zodiac. We have reviewed and practiced Chinese New Year customs. We have learned how to make origami rabbits. In our next block of lessons, we will learn the second set of Chinese characters.

5th Grade:

We are working hard to prepare for the Chinese New Year puppet show. Our class students wrote the story with the teacher translating it into Chinese. We have learned pinyin, and how to use the pinyin to pronounce Chinese characters. The students made puppets for the show with the help of their handwork teacher.  After the Chinese Puppet Show, we will learn more Chinese characters and songs.

Specialty Class Highlight November 2022: Mandarin

1st grade:

Yeah! We can count to 100 in Chinese now. And we also learned a Chinese number song. This semester, we will end with learning Thanksgiving and Christmas songs, as well as some Chinese vocabulary. 

2nd grade:

We have finished learning all fourteen basic strokes. Everyone tried hard to practice every stroke, and did a wonderful job. Our class is ready to learn the real Chinese characters. 

3rd grade:

We have finished reviewing all fourteen basic strokes, and learned how to write numbers below one hundred in Chinese. Now we are practicing how to do numbers and simple math on Chinese abacus. 

4th grade:

Our class has learned the first set of twelve basic Chinese characters. Everyone did a very good job.  Now we are practicing the math time table on Chinese abacus.

5th grade:

After we have reviewed the first set of twelve basic Chinese characters, we are finishing the math time table on Chinese abacus. Later, we are going to learn some Chinese vocabulary and prepare the puppy show for next Chinese new year.

It is fun learning and playing together!

Kindly,

Ki Cerina



Specialty Class Highlight September 2022: Mandarin

Dear Garden Families,

I am very excited to start this year’s Mandarin lessons with the Grades students. I hope that my students will have a good time learning Mandarin, and at the same time, learn valuable wisdom to become a happy person.

First Grade:

This is our first year of learning Mandarin. We start with a greeting song, learning how to greet each other properly and how to pay respect to each other.  We have learned how to sing the facial songs, color songs, and tiger song.  Later, we will learn how to count to 100 in Mandarin.

Second Grade:

We reviewed all the songs and contents from last year. Our class quickly learned a new song: figure song. Now our class is ready for Chinese characters. Chinese characters are made of basic strokes. We begin by learning the 14 basic strokes. Once we have mastered all the basic strokes, we will learn how to write numbers in Chinese.

Third Grade:

We reviewed all the songs from last year in the first two weeks. Now we are concentrating on reviewing the basic strokes of Chinese characters, as well as numbers. We will make a Chinese calendar this year.

Fourth Grade:

We reviewed all the songs from last year. We also learned a new ancient poem and reviewed the content for Chinese characters. Now we are concentrating on learning new characters, understanding how the characters are formed, and setting the foundations for more complex characters in future. Homework for writing characters will be assigned. 

Fifth Grade:

We reviewed all the songs from last year. We also learned a new ancient poem and reviewed the content for Chinese characters. Now we are concentrating on reviewing the old characters as well as learning new characters. With more characters, students will learn how to form a term with different characters. Homework for writing characters will be assigned.

Warmly,

Cerina