Thanks to the support from the incoming families and the school district, our students will have an instructional aide this fall!
The position is for 7 hours / day, with benefits.
See details and apply here: == job posting on edjoin ==
Mandarin Immersion Program in Redwood City, CA
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Green Thumbs (All Thumbs) Wanted!
Calling gardeners and gardener-wannabes! Next Saturday, June 27, is Garden Beautification Day at John Gill. We invite students, parents, and neighbors to help us make the garden a welcoming place with vegetables and native plants.
Tasks include weeding, amending soil, planting seeds and seedlings. If you are new to gardening, there will be experienced gardeners to guide you. We will also have pizza to keep us fueled!
Where: Garden @ John Gill Elementary (park on Myrtle between Jefferson and Harrison)
When: Saturday, June 27, 10am-2pm (pizza provided)
Contact: Cesar, (650) 444-6560
See you there!
Tasks include weeding, amending soil, planting seeds and seedlings. If you are new to gardening, there will be experienced gardeners to guide you. We will also have pizza to keep us fueled!
Where: Garden @ John Gill Elementary (park on Myrtle between Jefferson and Harrison)
When: Saturday, June 27, 10am-2pm (pizza provided)
Contact: Cesar, (650) 444-6560
See you there!
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Searching for a Teacher Aide
The 2015-2016 school year is about to start! We are in search of a talented and dedicated Mandarin speaking teaching aide to work with the teachers in our Kindergarten and first grade classrooms. Pass this on to anyone you think might be interested!
Candidates should apply directly through edjoin.org. The job posting should be up by early next week.
Candidates should apply directly through edjoin.org. The job posting should be up by early next week.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
New After School MI Program at John Gill
We had been talking about it for a while, but it really is happening! In collaboration with REACH, an existing after school program, John Gill will offer an on-campus, Mandarin immersion option starting this fall 2015.
The Mandarin immersion option, called REACH-MI, is open to any John Gill student. The program aims to assist children in exploring, creating, and making friends in a language-rich environment. Through a mixture of guided activities and free play, children will learn and practice Mandarin naturally. Children will also have time to complete their homework and receive help (if suggested by their classroom teacher).
REACH-MI will provide a project-based, hands-on, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) - focused curriculum that will complement the John Gill MI classroom curriculum. Children will engage in activities led by a classroom teaching aide, a leader from REACH and 3 specialty teachers (e.g. music and kung-fu), all mandarin-speaking. Parent volunteers are also welcome to come lead a fun activity of your choice!
Below are some basics on the program. For more detail see REACH-MI Curriculum and REACH-MI FAQ.
Schedule: Follows the John Gill academic calendar and schedule. 8/24/2015 - 6/9/2016 for this coming school year, and starts every school day at school dismissal until 6pm.
Cost: $325/month, paid separately to REACH ($125) to cover the general REACH program cost and to PlayThrive ($200) to cover the MI portion of the curriculum, material and staff.
Registration: Fill out the REACH application form specifying the Mandarin Immersion (REACH-MI) program along with:
See you after school!
The Mandarin immersion option, called REACH-MI, is open to any John Gill student. The program aims to assist children in exploring, creating, and making friends in a language-rich environment. Through a mixture of guided activities and free play, children will learn and practice Mandarin naturally. Children will also have time to complete their homework and receive help (if suggested by their classroom teacher).
REACH-MI will provide a project-based, hands-on, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) - focused curriculum that will complement the John Gill MI classroom curriculum. Children will engage in activities led by a classroom teaching aide, a leader from REACH and 3 specialty teachers (e.g. music and kung-fu), all mandarin-speaking. Parent volunteers are also welcome to come lead a fun activity of your choice!
Below are some basics on the program. For more detail see REACH-MI Curriculum and REACH-MI FAQ.
Schedule: Follows the John Gill academic calendar and schedule. 8/24/2015 - 6/9/2016 for this coming school year, and starts every school day at school dismissal until 6pm.
Cost: $325/month, paid separately to REACH ($125) to cover the general REACH program cost and to PlayThrive ($200) to cover the MI portion of the curriculum, material and staff.
Registration: Fill out the REACH application form specifying the Mandarin Immersion (REACH-MI) program along with:
- Check to REACH: $125 (1 month of tuition) which covers program cost until end of September 2015 plus June 2016 (2 weeks free!).
- Check to PlayThrive: $200 (1 month of tuition) which covers program cost until end of September 2015 plus June 2016 (2 weeks free!)
See you after school!
Friday, April 17, 2015
MI Transitional Kindergarten still a possibility!
For all the 4 and half year olds out there, the school district just notified us that Transitional Kindergarten may still be a possibility for 2015-2016!
Depending upon how many confirmations for enrollment are received, the school may create a Transitional Kindergarten/Kindergarten combo mixed grades class and/or a Kindergarten/1st Grade combo mixed grades class.
There are a limited number of spots still available in the program. Please visit the Redwood City School District Schools of Choice page for registration information.
Incoming students and interested families are invited to attend the John Gill Open House on Thursday, May 28, starting at 6pm. Classrooms will be open to tour along with current teachers and students presenting their classwork. As of now, Mandarin Immersion Program teachers will not yet be available to meet at the open house. However, incoming students will have an opportunity to see classrooms and meet their future classmates and schoolmates!
Depending upon how many confirmations for enrollment are received, the school may create a Transitional Kindergarten/Kindergarten combo mixed grades class and/or a Kindergarten/1st Grade combo mixed grades class.
There are a limited number of spots still available in the program. Please visit the Redwood City School District Schools of Choice page for registration information.
Incoming students and interested families are invited to attend the John Gill Open House on Thursday, May 28, starting at 6pm. Classrooms will be open to tour along with current teachers and students presenting their classwork. As of now, Mandarin Immersion Program teachers will not yet be available to meet at the open house. However, incoming students will have an opportunity to see classrooms and meet their future classmates and schoolmates!
Curriculum Update and Sample Texts
Dr. Danni Tsai (Superintendent of Spark Charter School and former Educational Services Coordinator of San Mateo County) has been working with Redwood City School District since the start of the program on developing the MI@JG curriculum. She kindly met with parents on April 17, 2015 to provide an update on teacher hiring, curriculum development, along with samples of instructional materials. Listen to an audio recording (Part 1 9MB, Part 2 32 MB) of the meeting.
Topics Covered in Audio Recording of April 15, 2015 meeting:
- Teacher training
- Sample monthly themes covered in Kindergarten and 1st grade
- Sample texts, literature, math/science/language activities
- Non-native speaking student/family support
Below are a few of the sample instructional material Dr. Tsai showed us. Please note that although some materials shown contain traditional Chinese characters and/or zhuyin (a system of phonetic notation using symbols), the MI@JG program will be teaching simplified characters and pinyin (phonetic system using a Latin alphabet). All materials, except for the supplemental workbook, were acquired from a publisher in Taiwan. Additional materials, available free of charge online from China, may also be used to supplement instruction.
Living Mandarin 生活华语 is a text available free of charge along with posters and a CD for each student to take home.
The sample page shows a story on the left page and pictographic origin of characters on the right page.
In the supplemental workbook, characters are taught using scaffolding instruction: students first color in outlines of character strokes, then practice tracing characters, and finally writing the character in a blank box.
In addition to the math text shown here, the school district is considering purchasing enVisionMATH from Pearson in Chinese.
Mandarin 华语 Language Text comes recommended by Dr. Tsai for higher grades because the sentences sound more "native" (more likely to be spoken by native speakers, as opposed to being translated from English).
Not shown here, but was passed around in the meeting, was a sample of Little Golden Books and a catalog of familiar American storybooks translated into Chinese that students can read in class or purchase through a catalog. Better Chinese also publishes many popular storybooks.
Topics Covered in Audio Recording of April 15, 2015 meeting:
- Teacher training
- Sample monthly themes covered in Kindergarten and 1st grade
- Sample texts, literature, math/science/language activities
- Non-native speaking student/family support
Below are a few of the sample instructional material Dr. Tsai showed us. Please note that although some materials shown contain traditional Chinese characters and/or zhuyin (a system of phonetic notation using symbols), the MI@JG program will be teaching simplified characters and pinyin (phonetic system using a Latin alphabet). All materials, except for the supplemental workbook, were acquired from a publisher in Taiwan. Additional materials, available free of charge online from China, may also be used to supplement instruction.
 |
| Living Mandarin 生活华语 Language Text |
 |
| Sample page of Living Mandarin ~3rd grade |
 |
| Page from supplemental workbook for K/1st |
 |
| Sample math text |
 |
| Mandarin 华语 Language Text for ~3rd grade |
 |
| Sample page from Mandarin 华语 |
Sample Instructional Materials
Living Mandarin 生活华语 is a text available free of charge along with posters and a CD for each student to take home.
The sample page shows a story on the left page and pictographic origin of characters on the right page.
In the supplemental workbook, characters are taught using scaffolding instruction: students first color in outlines of character strokes, then practice tracing characters, and finally writing the character in a blank box.
In addition to the math text shown here, the school district is considering purchasing enVisionMATH from Pearson in Chinese.
Mandarin 华语 Language Text comes recommended by Dr. Tsai for higher grades because the sentences sound more "native" (more likely to be spoken by native speakers, as opposed to being translated from English).
Not shown here, but was passed around in the meeting, was a sample of Little Golden Books and a catalog of familiar American storybooks translated into Chinese that students can read in class or purchase through a catalog. Better Chinese also publishes many popular storybooks.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Story/craft time on Sun. 2/8 讲故事 做手工
Please join us for Mandarin story/craft time at the downtown Redwood City library, on Sunday 2/8 at 3pm. All ages are welcome, but the target audience will be 4-6 year olds. This will be a good opportunity for the future Redwood City Mandarin Immersion families to meet each other. If you miss it this time, don't fret -- there will be another one on Sunday 3/1.
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