These past few months have flown by! I'm still in shock that there are only two weeks left. I always struggle with this time of year because I know there is still so much for me to teach and engage with these little ones. This is the most favorite time of year because their Chinese is blooming and there is so much I can still teach them. I'm never ready for the year to end. The past few months we have engage in a variety of STEM projects including bridge design, building a racetrack that reinforced lines, forces and motion, and discovered what makes items float and had them design their own boats out of tin foil. Here are a few of the pics! As part of our Art Integration in our final Monster Unit, I discovered this book that discusses a Monster waking up one morning and feeling yucky. He had all these emotions inside and he didn't know what to do with them all. He met a little girl that helped him identify each emotion with a color and taught him how to separate each emotion. I decided to take the book a step further and introduced the kids to various classical musical pieces as the Nutcracker, Moonlight Sonata, Bach's Air, and a Russian Sailor's Dance. They had to decide which emotion represented which emotion. It was so fun to see that the kids couldn't keep their bodies still for more than 10 seconds. The next week, we went to the gym and let the kids creatively dance to each piece. This allowed them to explore the emotion, explore their bodies, and explore what their bodies would do when feeling that emotion. It was so insightful to me to see more of their personalities and what I can do to help them when feeling angry and sad. The best part of it all, we did it all on in Chinese! Here's a few videos.
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,This month I was able to experiment with some new art techniques that tied in with the Chinese New Year, and a new technology that promotes 100% engagement and gives me and students real time feedback and growth. As part of the Chinese New Year, part of the holiday is the celebration of spring. This year I experimented using different tools to create a Cherry Tree. The students used straws to create their tree trunk and their fingers to design the blossoms. The children had a fantastic time, and it was fun for them to connect the characters to spring, integrate science of the seasonal changes, and for them to use their right brain. I have loved having a chrome book for each student. It definitely enhances instruction at times. I also want to make sure to find a balance because I firmly believe that students still need tactile and personal experiences with their learning. Especially in the younger grades. However, this new website I discovered this last month also allows student to use art as part of the lesson. It allows students to engage with me in real time and I can quickly assess any gaps. I have been able to figure out how to not only use it in English, but in Chinese as well. It has brought out so much language as the children begin to connect to new terms and things they want to communicate. Love it! In my art class, they taught us the benefit and skill of teaching our students of using both their right and left hands together. It helps them strengthen their hand and eye coordination, spatial visualization, and helps them understand the concept of symmetry. I first had them experiment in their sketch books, and then we transferred it to making our Christmas trees 圣诞树 ! I know art and testing each have their own purpose and function. However, why not combine the two? There are so many ways to assess a student's knowledge, and I know standardized tests have their time and place. However, I have found through art that not only can I assess their character recognition, but I can also see the connections they have made to the character. Making connections not only strengthens the retention, but also enhances joy in learning the language as they are using both sides of the brain! Last month in the English classroom, we were learning about communities and different buildings you find within. We were able to integrate the classic literature of the three little pigs to engineer our own structures. I provided various materials and then I let their imagination go to work! It was great to discuss our predictions, but to also evaluate what they would have changed or done differently. Here are a few pictures of the day! I've always believed as a teacher that there is more to learning than passing a test and memorizing information continue to move forward in our current educational system. I believe in helping to develop the whole child, and that means accessing both the right and left sides of the brain. So much of our education is geared to the left side. Memorization, structure, organization, etc. However, we sometimes miss the mark of tapping into the other side that enhance learning on so many deeper levels. The right side offers so much more enriching conversations and learning as it probes a child to think outside the box, create, access the depth of a imagination, problem solve, connect to a community, and develop empathy in daily interactions. Kids bodies are meant to move, find rhythm and patterns, sing, draw, act, and problem solve. I firmly believe the beauty the arts and STEM instruction is invaluable to each child's success, and I have loved seeing how it can also be integrated using Mandarin. Language learning happens in the left side of the brain, but I have loved seeing how the right deepens their connections in the language and makes the learning so much more engaging and meaningful. Here's just a few things we have done so far! I used our number tape for them to practice their retelling skills of a story. Many of my kids still can't write complete sentences, so this offers everyone a chance to show what they know. I was able to assess who needed extra support, and the students loved showing me what they drew while they practiced retelling a story. Awesome! Here is a quick and easy assessment of the characters using dance. Unfortunately, you can't hear the music in the background, but the kids had a fantastic time, and I was able to assess the holes. I also couldn't help but join in! As part of our pumpkin unit, I always had them do a pumpkin art for their October calendar. This year, I decided to expound on teaching the different emotions in Chinese and discussing how they can tell when someone is happy 快乐, sad难过, angry生气, or scared怕. We used one of our Chinese literature books to further the discussion and each child practice being a mirror with a friend. They were able to mirror each while expressing the emotion using Mandarin. Finally, they created their pumpkins using an emotion. I loved how they turned out! Today, we talking about buildings and a STEM bus came to our school to talk about geometry, spheres, and problem solving. We also used pumpkin candy to make our own building. |
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