Kindergarteners also listened to the Story of the Twelve Zodiac Animals 十二生肖的故事 to learn how the animals were chosen, learned to name the twelve animals in order, and sang the song Gongxi Gongxi 恭喜恭喜. At our Lunar New Year party, we enjoyed making dumplings餃子／水餃 and sticky rice balls 湯圓. A big thanks to the parents for helping with the prep work and coming in to help teach the students to make the food!

In CLIP kindergarten, students are not expected to speak fluently in Mandarin, but we encourage them to use the words and phrases they have learned to express themselves as best as they can.  Some of the phrases that we know and use are 上廁所 （to use the restroom), 吃點心 / 午餐 (eat snack/lunch), 洗手 (wash hands).  In each theme, students will also learn to express their thoughts and ideas in a short sentence or phrase related to that theme. In the Chinese culture theme, students learned to tell others what their zodiac animal is (我屬雞／狗。) and that this is the year of the dragon (今年是龍年。).

Ms. Polly Huang
Ms. Grace Lee

To see more Kindergarten work, visit http://www.cusdclipco.org/files/classes/2011_2012/kindergarten.

In Chinese, our students formally started learning Chinese characters in mid November. To better help families with limited Chinese background, the first grade team held a Make and Take Workshop in November to prepare the parents for ways to help their students. Color strokes, dictionary skills, scrambled sentences, some strategies our students learn characters, are introduced in the workshop. It's amazing to see how much the 1st graders have accomplished so far—they are able to make words, make sentences, and even write short stories in Chinese!

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, the CLIP first grade classes, teaming up with our neighborhood counterparts, are going to put up a full day celebration on Friday, February 10, from recess until the end of the school day at the Meyerholz GLC. Ten centers featuring Chinese arts, traditions, and crafts are to be followed by an afternoon parade and then the highlight of the day—the Drum Song, performed by our CLIP first graders. Parents are welcome to join us and enjoy an informative, entertaining, and culture-rich day.

In Chinese social studies, we started the third theme of the year—My House. Corresponding to their study of maps in the English social studies, the students are learning about each room in the house: its function and items found in that room. Besides, Chinese New Year is a major topic at this time. So we are decorating our rooms with red couplets and firecracker ornaments, making art works using red envelopes and different media and materials, reading stories related to the Chinese New Year, learning about the customs and traditions, and practicing good-luck sayings! Happy Chinese New Year of the Dragon!

Math

In Math, we are learning to use different strategies to add and subtract up to 20. We also practice addition and subtraction in word problems. We create and solve math problems that relate to our daily life. We also talk about the relationship between addition and subtraction and fact family.
To develop number sense in tens and ones, we use manipulative, such as ten blocks and one to enhance math learning. We will learn about money and time, shapes and relative measurements in the coming months.

Social Studies

For social studies, we talked about different cultures. To respect and celebrate different cultures, CLIP first graders did a project on family culture. Students drew what they usually do with their families on a square of the class quilt. They each dressed up their paper dolls as their ancestor Students presented the doll and quilt as well as a tradition that their families celebrate in class. We have been learning about symbols that represent our nation. We also talk about different national holidays and what we celebrate on these days. Recently we learn the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and practice fairness and no violence or bullying in class.

Ms. Sheng-Yin Lin
Ms. Anna Tsai
Ms. Jenny Tsang

To see more First Grade work, visit http://www.cusdclipco.org/files/classes/
2011_2012/1st_grade

The Chinese Language Contest was held on Friday, January 20, 2012, was a success! We had a total of 215 students from Meyerholz & approximately 133 students in Miller and Lawson participated in five language categories and 146 students from Meyerholz and Miller participated in three art categories.  The CLC Committee was able to provide this great opportunity for our CLIP students to gain experience outside of their classroom environment in public speaking, writing, reading, listening and typing in Chinese.

The Chinese Language Contest wouldn’t be successful without the dedicated, hard working parent volunteers. We would like to thank all the parents who helped in various capacities – check in/out, runners, EmCees, calculators, setup and clean-up. Big thanks to the CLC Committee to their hard work by pulling everything together and the support from Mrs. Hickey and her staff for this event.

We would also like to thank all our wonderful CLIP teachers - Mrs. Chu, Ms. Chiang, Ms. C.C. Lin, Mrs. Tsai, Ms. C. Hunag, Ms. P. Huang, Ms. G. Lee, Ms. S.Y. Lin, Ms. Tsang, Ms. J. Lee, Ms. Deng, Ms. Chen, Ms. Peng and Ms. Pao in Meyerholz, Mr. Kuan and Ms. Chern in Miller and Ms. Lu in Lawson - who helped judge the language contest, our amazing CLIP Art teachers - Ms. Tseng, Ms. Lim, Ms. Sung and Ms. Ting - who helped judge the art contest.

In addition, CLC was sponsored by Dining for Dollars to cover the cost of teacher judges’ gifts, snacks for judges, trophies, duplication and supplies. Please help the CLC fund in full by attending the rest of Dining for Dollars throughout the end of this school year.

The Chinese Language Contest Assembly will be on Thursday, March 29 in the GLC. The selected students who will participate in ANCCS speech and read aloud categories will have this chance to practice in front of all CLIP students before they enter the ANCCS contest on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at Sierramont Middle School in San Jose. We won’t be able to accommodate any parents for the assembly.

The CLTAC contest is for speech category only and it is open to all students who are interested. Please contact your CLIP teachers for registration. The CLTAC contest is at Lowell High School in San Francisco, and it will be on Saturday, April 14^th, 2012.

For more information, check out our Dining for Dollars website or contact Tina Wang at dining@cusdclipco.org.

Ogisan Ramen
5293 Prospect Road
San Jose, CA 95129
408.973.8228

Rewind to two months ago: it was the holiday season and there was an overwhelming amount of work to be done in the weeks leading up to our annual ASEP winter showcase. However, on the evening of December 7th, 2011, as our two Emcees, 7th grade ASEP students Sam and Nicole, took center stage at the Meyerholz GLC, the event started on time and ran as smoothly as ever. In front of a full house including two of our principals, Ms. Hickey and Mr. Gumina, the kids delivered a great performance that everyone enjoyed. The show consisted of the following performances:

March of Heaven's Dragons 步向天龍 By Percussion 打擊樂隊
Basic Form 基本拳 By Wushu I 武術一
Eagle Claw 鷹拳 By Wushu II 武術二
Trinity 三元 By Lion Dance Troupe 醒獅隊
Oh ! Susanna 噢！蘇珊娜 By Chinese Flute I 笛子一
Dance of the Golden Snake 金蛇狂舞 and Ma-Yi-La 瑪依拉 By Chinese Flute II 笛子二
The Joy of Brush 毛筆樂 By Calligraphy 書法藝術班
Crouching Lions, Hidden Dragons 臥獅藏龍 By Chinese Brush Painting 國畫藝術班
Dance of Youth (Fan Dance) 歡樂童年 By Chinese Dance I 舞蹈一班
Flying Ribbons 彩帶紛飛 By Chinese Dance II 舞蹈二班

ASEP children represent that part in us that wants to learn and understand the Chinese culture and language. They represent our imagination, creativity, and hope that we don't often get a chance to tap into. The showcase was an exciting moment for the children to remember for a lifetime. The audiences left with a richer understanding of the 3000-year-old culture of China.

We appreciate and give thanks for all the support from our principals, school staff, instructors, class coordinators and parents who made this possible. If you would like to be a part of the ASEP family, please contact Wendy Chew at asep@cusdclipco.org.