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Using Technology to Showcase Writers

Mrs. VanHaitsma, our English Language Learner teacher, uses every tool available to help her students learn the complexities of the English language.  In December, Mrs. VanHaitsma shared a story written by Leah who is a native Chinese speaker and is quickly becoming very skilled in her second language, English.

Visit Mrs. VanHaitsma’s blog to hear and see Leah’s well written story. She will brighten your day!

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Leah’s Summer Adventures

Those of you who followed our blog last year may remember Leah, our third grade student who was born in China and now living with her American family.  Leah taught her classmates about the traditions, games and culture of the Chinese people.

We have been amazed by how quickly Leah has learned the English language and traditions, expectations for learning and playing…and so much more in her first year here.

This has been Leah’s first ever summer with her family and  friends.   You can see from these photos that she is very happy!  Leah will be a fourth grader in Mrs. Huizenga’s classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Year of the Rabbit by Leah

rabbit

你知道,我们的三年级学生一讲两种语言?范登堡夫人莉娅在弗洛里的阶级,她是从去年春天在中国孤儿院通过。

因为在2010年3月抵达利亚生活已经改变了最引人注目和令人惊讶的方式。她已经数百名儿童和她收养家庭生活杰尼森美好的家园建设生活。利亚已经从一种语言来说汉语说英语和汉语。已经调整到新的美食,度假日常工作,乘坐一辆汽车,校车学校,大括号和这么多,我不能捕捉到这个博客帖子

一天,她的学校英国的家庭生活我经常利亚,而她学习,并认为她必须回家精疲力竭我说一种语言。之一。我也尝试学习其他语言,但是没有成功….我不得不选择退出我的研究

利亚别无选择。为了生存,我们的英语世界,她必须学习我们的语言。利亚都取得了惊人的进展,使今年以来

为了展示她的学习她解释说,农历新年对她的同班同学。这个假期1月6日发生在地方,许多顺应春节沿丰富的传统欢迎利亚解释她的同学们,这是兔子的一年。中国人民庆祝特殊食物,庆典和装饰这个节日。

利亚做了非常出色我们学到尽可能多她,因为她离我们学习。

How did you do with reading about the Chinese New Year in Chinese?  Would you be willing to live in China for 10 months with the goal of learning how to read and speak Chinese so that you could work successfully in school, at your job, grocery shop and more?   It makes my brain hurt to think about this.

The Chinese text tells this story in our language, English. Read on:

Leah Poster

Did you know that one of our third grade students speaks two languages?  Leah Vandenberg is in Mrs. Flory’s class and she was adopted from an orphanage in China last spring.

Since arriving on May 31, 2010, Leah life has changed in the most dramatic and amazing ways.  She has gone to living in a building with hundreds of children to a living with her adoptive family in a wonderful home in Jenison.  Leah has gone from speaking one language, Chinese to speaking English and Chinese.  She has adjusted to new cuisine, holiday’s, daily routines, school, riding in a car and school bus, braces, and so much more I can’t capture in this blog post.

Her school day and home life is in English.  I often watch Leah while she is learning and think that she must go home exhausted.  I speak ONE language.  ONE.  I’ve attempted to learn other languages, but not successfully….and I had the choice to quit my studies.

Leah has no choice.  In order to survive in our English speaking world, she must learn our language.  Leah has made amazing progress so far this year!

To showcase her learning, she explained the Chinese New Year to her classmates.  This holiday took place on January 22 and there are many rich traditions that go along with the welcoming of the Chinese New Year.  Leah explained to her classmates that this is year of the rabbit. The Chinese people celebrate this holiday with special foods, celebrations, and decorations.

Leah did a wonderful job!  We learn as much from her as she learns from us.    She ended her talk by showing her classmates how to make Chinese lanterns! Part of the Chinese tradition is to launch lit lanterns at night during a special lantern festival.   This collage below is a collection of the best parts of her presentation.

LEah VB

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Snow Day Fun

What did you do on your snow day?  Did you make a snowman?  A snow angel?  Go sledding?   I shoveled a dog run path in the backyard for Cooper — who stands 12 inches tall.  Without a path, he will disappear ten inches of snow.

I received two fun snow day photos from Leah (Mrs. Quigley’s Class) and Lucas (Mrs. Bohl’s Class) …and you can see what they did on their snow day!  This was perfect snow for play.

If you have a photo of your snow day play, send it to me and I will share it on the blog!