The Big Question

Teaching children with low linguistic and literacy skills in two languages is a daunting task, what should we do to ensure their academic success?

Our Core-Values
To use target language, authentic materials and literatures to connect childrens learning to real-life experiences

To develop strong biliteracy skills from day one

To create interdisciplinary thematic units and project approach to help children synthesize, recognize, and transform knowledge, and develop creative and independent thinking over time

To focus on student learning

First Thing First

Identifying Teaching and Learning Goals
Age appropriate goals and standards in the content areas Enduring understandings for intellectual and personal growth Linguistic developmental goals to support academic learning

Interconnection with the community and with the world

Our Helping Guides

The Understanding by Design Framework by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in all subjects, and District learning guidelines

National Foreign Language Learning Standards

Our Students and Their Families!

CARLA, CAL, TWIOP, WIDA

Local museums, the community, the real world, and the World Wide Web

Our Curriculum Sample

Unit Theme: Organisms

Curriculum contents:
Life Science Physical Science Literacy Chinese Language Math Comprehensive Health Arts Social Studies

Unit Theme: Organisms Stage One: Identifying the Desired Results (Subject areas and critical content)
Life Science Characteristics of living things (Life Science 2, 3): - Differentiate between living and nonliving things - Group both living and nonliving things according to the characteristics they share - Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for different living things. (Connection - T/E 1.1, 1.2) Livings things and their environment (Life Science 6) - Recognize that people and other animals interact with the environment through their senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. (Connection - T/E 1.1, 1.2, 1.3) Physical Science Observable Properties of Objects (Physical Sciences 1) - Sort objects by observable properties such as size, shape, color, weight, and texture. (Connection - T/E 1.2, 2.2)

Connecting to ACTFLs 5Cs

Connections: Connect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information. Communications: Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational. Comparison: Comparing Chinese and English linguistics representations in print, and in oral language. Community: Local museums, libraries, the agencies, and educational foundations - . Culture: Compare and discover how children in different cultures care about their environment.

Essential Questions for Jr. K/K Chinese Unit: Organisms

What are organisms? Where do organisms live? What can we learn about organisms by investigating them? Why should we and other organisms help each other?

Enduring Understandings Through Interdisciplinary Approach

Student will understand that Through Life Science: Plants and animals are two kinds of organisms. Organisms are similar in some ways and different in others.; The new starting point in the life cycle of a plant is a seed.; Terraria and aquaria may be used as models to examine the interactions between plants and animals in their natural environments; Humans, like other organisms, depend on, and have an impact on, their environment; & Animals and plants in nature have evolved to form closely knit, interdependent systems. Through Chinese Language Arts: Some Chinese characters resemble the shape of nature; Many Chinese characters share the same radicals when they are grouped in the same category & is used in an adjective. Through Math: Mathematical patterns are abundant in nature; & We use math to measure and weigh organisms and graph our results.

Language Arts: - Read aloud, poetry, ask and answer key details from a text, read book illustrations - Learn basic features of print - Develop comprehension and collaboration - Present knowledge and ideas

Social Studies: - Human relationships - Interdependence - Sustainability Science and Technology: - Characteristics of living things - Living things and their environment - Observable property of objects

Math: - Counting and cardinality - Geometry - Measurement and data - Number and operation

Me and the Environment: Organisms

Comprehensive Health: - Healthy bodies and healthy growth

Fieldtrips: - School garden - Neighborhood walk - Franklin Park Zoo - Harvard Museum of Natural History - Public Library

Arts: - Symbolic representations in music, dance, and visual arts to tell about ourselves and our world.

Turn & Talk

How do you help your students to understand the whole picture and not just the pieces? In what ways do you direct students to search for understanding to attain knowledge? Why do you help them to develop original thoughtful answers? What will happen if you do not activate their critical thinking and higher level cognitive skills?

Our Curriculum Sample

Previewing and Brainstorming

Words that help us learn

Daily Learning Objective is Critical

Our Curriculum Sample

Guided Discovery

We use our eyes to observe

Scientists use tools to help them find correct data.

We use our hands to feel

Scientists keep good records

This is what seaweed looks to me

We planted peas and pumpkin seeds!

This is my record sheet

Look! My seed is growing!

Seeds are like us, they grow so fast!

Next, we are going to learn about BUGS!

Things that help us learn

Our wonderful teachers and the classroom BLOG http://immersionchinese11.blogspot.com/ Seeds, plants, bugs, an aquarium, a terrarium, learning words and sentences, and Chinese stories that Chinese children read and listen to! Our curious and inquisitive nature, too!

Some of the books we like for this unit

Books by children in the MLK Chinese Immersion kindergarten class