Dear parents and students,

Welcome to Day#3!! Thank you for working so hard at home. Together and with patience, we will make this distance learning very fruitful!

Today, we are going to do Math and Mandarin Language Arts. Please see instructions below.

Math (40 minutes)

You may keep Math time for 40 minutes. Once the time is up, your child may stop doing Math. If you want your child to do more, feel free to do so.

For math on Khan Academy, make sure you have selected 作业 (homework) first (see picture below). Please do the homework that I have assigned there.

Also, please click the “next page” button (as shown below) to check if there are more work.

2nd Math

You have done a good job on yesterday’s work. Thank you for working so hard at home.

For today, please go to Khan Academy and do the homework assigned there. Again, watch the video first and then do the exercise. There is no math quizlet vocabulary for today.

3rd Math

1. The answer for yesterday’s question is 等份. Congratulations to those who have answered my question. You all have got it right.
2. Go to Khan Academy, finish the homework that I have assigned yesterday and the day before. Do this for 20 minutes. When 20 minutes is up, stop doing it and go to the next step.
3. Go to https://flipgrid.com/01b24b63   Watch my video.  Find two fraction examples in your life and record your response there. This might take 15-20 minutes.
4. Go to https://www.timestables.com/ practice 5’s multiplication. Then, go to https://flipgrid.com/f606d563 to record yourself reciting 5’s multiplication. You would say, “5, 10, 15…” You can also have your parent/sibling test you and record it.

Mandarin

If your child is confused about yesterday’s story worksheet, please watch this video. https://flipgrid.com/3f2bdf8f

Word Work (20 minutes)

1. Please visit https://flipgrid.com/e6a64023  Watch my video and record yourself making a sentence using 偶尔。
2. Please visit https://flipgrid.com/2c2dad09 Watch my video and record yourself making a sentence using 偶然.

Reading (20 minutes)

1. Watch my video here: https://flipgrid.com/5c7536f2
2. Read your book-bag book for 10 minutes.
3. Go back to https://flipgrid.com/5c7536f2 Record your response there. My question: Summarize what you have just read. Tell me anything that you have discovered while reading.

Writing (40 minutes)

1. Go to https://flipgrid.com/958c2234 and watch my video. In the video, I have given them instructions of what to do. Below is what I have told them in the video.
2. Go to https://quizlet.com/_87raat?x=1jqt&i=2eu679 Review all the words there. First, read all the words by yourself. Then, listen to its Chinese pronunciation and English definition. Afterwards, go through the list and read all the words again. You may listen to its pronunciation again if you forget. It should take 5-10 minutes.
3. Choose at least three words from the quizlet list. Take out a blank sheet of paper. Write a story using those words. Use as many words on the quizlet list as possible. If you don’t know how to write a character while writing, just make a circle for it and continue. You may draw a picture for your story. Drawing time should not exceed 5 minutes. This takes around 25 minutes.
4. Go to https://flipgrid.com/958c2234 Record a video. In the video, please show me your writing and read your writing to me. (5-7 minutes for this part)

Thank you for doing your homework today.

Have a great day!

Danchao

Dear parents and students,

It’s SO GOOD to see your kids’ faces (and their dogs/cats) on flipgrid. It’s such a fun experience. I’ve given them video responses on flipgrid. Please check it out. Below are the links to go there.

https://flipgrid.com/32dc6756    https://flipgrid.com/e953e04e

Also, a few parents have shared with me a very helpful app called Google translate. It reads your kids’ Mandarin work and translate it into English immediately. It helps your kids learn Mandarin and do the homework. However, as always, please keep it to the minimum. Another great feature is that it can read the Mandarin text out loud. When your kid reads his/her book-bag book and encounter unknown words, this app can read it out loud for him/her. This is very helpful! I’ve put some basic introductions of it at the bottom.

Today, there are two parts in our learning plan- Math and Mandarin. Please follow the instructions below.

 Math

• Please watch the flipgrid video below.

2nd grade: https://flipgrid.com/adf70c7b

3rd grade: https://flipgrid.com/c66880aa

• Please visit Khan Academy and finish the homework assigned to you there. Please follow the same steps that I shared yesterday to enter. Please watch all the learning videos first. Then, go to the quizlet website (see below for each grade). The quizlet lists the important vocabulary that you might need when you do the exercise. Go through this list. Look at the vocabulary word, press the audio button, listen to its Mandarin pronunciation and English definition, and take a look at the picture. Go through every word. You may go back to this list if you need to when you are doing exercise. Afterwards, go back to Khan Academy and do the exercises.  You may go back and watch the learning videos whenever you need to.

2nd grade: https://quizlet.com/_8821pt?x=1jqt&i=2eu679

3rd grade: https://quizlet.com/_8822tm?x=1qqt&i=2eu679

Mandarin

Please find the story sheet in your homework folder (as shown below). Please read the story by yourself first. If you don’t know a word, just skip it. Afterwards, you may listen to my audio reading of this story.

Students should finish the three questions on the sheet. Please encourage them to try their best. After they are done, they can look at the answer keys below. He/she needs to use a pen/pencil of another color to correct their own answers. Please take a picture of his/her corrected homework and send it to me. Thank you!

Answer keys:

1. 因为他不会说英语，很想念中国的朋友和老师。
2. 我们每个人都花时间陪他玩、说话。父母给他讲故事，猜谜语，带他去公园踢足球，或者去湖里游泳。
3. 他现在变得越来越开心了。

Resources: Google Translate

Find it on your app store.

Have it set up to go from chinese to English as seen on the top of the picture.

Click the camera button. Use your camera to hold it over mandarin characters and it translates the characters to English. 

You could also take a picture of the Mandarin text beforehand. Go to google translate, click the camera button, choose the upload option, upload your picture, use your finger to color all the texts, click the blue button once it pops up, and you will be directed to another page. On that page, there is a sound button above the Mandarin text. Click it and it will read the text in mandarin out loud. (It’s a great tool to help your kids practice reading. )Also, there are English translations on the bottom.

Answer Keys for Yesterday’s Fill-in-blank sheet

(Disregard this part if you have sent me your kids’ fill-in-blank work.)

If you haven’t sent me your kids’ fill-in-blank work yesterday, your kids may check their answers after they are done by themselves. He/she needs to use a pen/pencil of another color to correct their own answers. Please take a picture of his/her corrected homework and send it to me. Thank you!

1. 难看
2. 迷路
3. 难过
4. 谜语
5. 耐心
6. 摸
7. 迷路
8. 模仿
9. 难看
10. 耐心
11. 谜语
12. 摸
13. 难过
14. 模仿
15. 摸
16. 迷路

Thank you very much for your hard work today!!

Danchao

Dear parents and students,

Welcome to our first day of distance learning!! It’s quite an adventure for all of us. And I’m sure we will learn and grow a lot in this exciting journey.

Before starting, as you all know, English is my second language. If I didn’t express myself well, please ask me. If my words sound rude, which I know often occur, please do forgive me. Sometimes, I want to get my words across but didn’t think about how to beautifully word it. Sorry!

Now let’s go back to our learning. Today’s work are mainly made up of four parts: introduction, math, writing practice and word work. Please follow instructions below.

1. Log into your kid’s school google account.
2. Introduction and sharing.  Go to https://flipgrid.com/32dc6756. Watch my video on the upper left, and record a video sharing what you did in these past few days and your prayer request. To record a video, click the big green plus button at lower left. Then, click “log in with google” to log in and choose your child’s google account. A screen will pop up to record his/her response. After they are done, they may watch one or two other students’ response. If they want and have time, they may record a video to give others a response. Please keep this part under 20 minutes. Thanks!
3. 2nd and 3rd Math. Time: around 40 minutes. We are going to use Khan Academy in Mandarin for our Math study today.

Detailed steps:

1. Go to https://zh.khanacademy.org/
2. Click the button called 登录. See picture below.

• Click 使用Google账号. See picture below.

• Now you should be in a similar page like the one below. (Easton, please excuse me for using your account as an example.) Click 作业. See picture below.

• All the items with triangles at the beginning are learning videos. See picture below.

• All the items with stars at the beginning are exercise. See picture below.

• When you click 开始, it will let you start to do that item. See picture Below.

• For the exercise part, after you choose an option, please click 检查 to check your answer.

• If you get it right, it will say, “干得好！(Good Job!).” Then, you click 下一个问题 to go to the next question. There are 7 questions in each exercise series.

• If you get it wrong, it will say, “不太对 （not quite right).” You may click “获取帮助“ to get some help. The screen then will show some prompts and videos to help you. You may read and/or watch any of them. Afterwards, you may click “再试一次“ to try again.

• Once you tried again, click the lower bottom right blue “再检查一次“ button to check again. If you get it right, it will say, “这就对啦 (that’s right).”  Then, you click the blue “下一个问题“ to go to the next question.

Note: They may encounter problems that they don’t fully understand. Please ask them to read the words that they know, take a guess, and try their best. There are thousands of sight words in Mandarin. They have only learned three or four years of it. It’s our learning reality now that they will often encounter unknown words. But I think it’s natural and ok. Also, students have learned most of these math contents in class. These are reviews and new ways of looking at these contents. Even though they might not understand every problem, the core math concepts stand out throughout the videos and the exercise.  Even though they struggle, I think they will still get the main math teaching points.

If there are problems that your kids need help with, you may also record it and let me know.

• For second graders, please watch the two learning videos first. Then, go to https://quizlet.com/_87x3gy?x=1jqt&i=2eu679. This quizlet lists the important vocabulary that you might need when you do the exercise. Go through this list. Look at the vocabulary word, press the audio button, listen to its Mandarin pronunciation and English definition, and take a look at the picture. Go through every word. You may go back to this list if you need to when you are doing exercise. Afterwards, go back to Khan Academy and do the 4 exercises.  You may go back and watch the learning videos whenever you need to.
• For third graders, please watch the four learning videos first. Then, do the three exercises. You may go back and watch the learning videos whenever you need to.

4. Mandarin Language Arts- Writing. Please do the character-practice sheet for 20 minutes. If you are done with the sheet, you may use a blank paper to practice those words. If you forget how to say each word, please go to https://quizlet.com/496759781/3162020-flash-cards/  I’ve put those words in this quizlet. While practicing, please follow the stroke order indicated on the sheet. Please pay attention to the word structure while writing. Please write neatly. When you are done with the sheet, if possible, please send me a picture of your kids’ work (both sides) via email or text ( 616-238-8189). Kids often miswrite characters. I usually check their work and correct their errors in class. If you send me a picture, I will let you know their wrong characters. Afterwards, I will make a video to talk about their common errors so they know what part specifically that they get wrong. Also, I’m planning to give them a quiz of these words some time next week. They should be able to write these words correctly by then.  

5. Mandarin Language Arts- Reading and Writing. Please find the fill-in-blank sheet (as shown below) in your kids’ homework folder. Read the vocabulary on the first line. Then your kids should start reading each exercise and choose a word from above to fill in the blank. I’ve recorded an audio of me reading all of these exercises. If your kids get stuck with an exercise, he/she may listen to my audio. But please let them read it by themselves first before listen to my recording. When your kids are done, please take a picture of their work and send it to me via email or text ( 616-238-8189).  If he/she has extra time, please make a sentence using 模仿. Please go to https://flipgrid.com/e953e04e to make a video to record your sentence of 模仿.

Thank you very much for your understanding, cooperation and patience in this new learning adventure!! Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions. Thank you!

Danchao

Dear 2Z and 3Z students and parents,

I’m writing to you in English, so parents can understand. We are thankful for your partnership during this time! We are excited to try a new way of learning, but we also recognize that we will need some patience and flexibility on both sides as we figure it out. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns, or if anything isn’t working correctly for you or your child. We will need to keep the lines of communication open throughout these weeks.

At this point, our plan is to focus mostly on reading, writing, and math. We plan to split the time equally among each subject. The school administration has required us to plan for 2 hours of remote learning per day. This first week, we will try to “ease into” the remote learning routines and begin by using some of the tools that students are already familiar with from class.

Starting on Wednesday, March 18th, you can expect the following basic schedule:

These are all done in Mandarin. Kristi Van Dyke will connect with 3rd grade parents about English-related learning plans.

*If the timing on this is difficult due to your family situation, please communicate with your child’s teacher and know that we will be understanding and can adapt accordingly!*

With regards to possible future Chromebook check out, you can expect more information in the coming weeks. We are talking about what that looks like for our class.

For the homework folders that I sent home last Friday, you will find math worksheets and Mandarin worksheets.

For math worksheets, they are mostly in English. Since I was not sure what this distance learning might look like last Friday, I printed out English Math worksheets for them. That way, you may help them at home. But now we are for sure to keep the Math learning in Mandarin. Because of that, please use these math worksheets as supplement materials for their review (we’ve already taught those content areas). You may choose when and how much you want your child to do with these math worksheets. I will have separate Math work in Mandarin for them to do during the daily 40-minute math time.

For the Mandarin character-practice worksheets, if you want, your kids may start doing it now. I’ve already taught them those words last Friday. For the flashcard sheet, it’s for their daily review and practice. I’ve already taught them some of the words. I will continue to teach them those words starting this Wednesday. Here is the quizlet link to those words. https://quizlet.com/_87raat?x=1qqt&i=2eu679   For the last Mandarin worksheet, I will give instructions to them starting this Wednesday.

Review of access to different accounts
*Not all websites will be used by all teachers*

I’ll send this blog link daily to you via email, and also post it on your child’s google classroom. I’m also planning to use Flipgrid for most of the instructions. Your kids have already used this in class. They need to log into their school google accounts first, and then use their google accounts to sign in. For now, as long as your child is able to log into their google account, they are good. Please see below for brief instructions.

We are praying for you all during this time. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing your child’s growth over the next few weeks.

Go team! We can do this! 🙂

The 3rd grade teachers:

Danchao Zhang, Matilde González, Becky Schrotenboer, Emily Sloterbeek, Jen Leenstra, Rachel Damstra, Mark Sneller, and Drew Hewitt (Mr. Sneller’s student teacher)

Dear Parents,

I pray that your weekend is going well and that you and your family are staying safe.  I have never experienced anything quite like this before. Yet, your children were fantastic on Friday. They knew something was up and things were about to change, but they certainly gave it their best. I thank each one of you for your support of your child and Zeeland Christian School in this time. Know that you are being prayed for and appreciated.

Your child came home from school on Friday with a folder (green folder for 2nd graders; dark blue folder for 3rd graders) full of papers and a book bag. Don’t worry about any of that for now. I will keep you/your child informed as we go through the weeks as to what I’d like him/her to be doing throughout each week.

The staff of Zeeland Christian School is planning to meet on Monday morning to see what things might look like in the weeks ahead. I will send an email or a new blog post when I have a better idea of what we’re to expect. I’ll send that on Monday afternoon sometime. I expect that our time of home learning will begin on Wednesday. I’ll verify that with you on Monday.

Know that I am praying for you and your family through this time of uncertainty.

In Christ,

Danchao Zhang

Pictures:

Dear Parents,

I hope that you’ve been able to enjoy the beautiful weather with your family this weekend.

no busing

Dear Parents,

I hope that you’ve been able to enjoy the beautiful weather with your family this weekend.

Mandarin Reading is Yummy!

March is our reading month. To advocate Mandarin reading, we are going to do a “Mandarin Reading is Yummy!” activity. Similar to the Pizza Hut reading activity that we do every month, students will color a part of a donut every day that they read Mandarin books for 15 minutes at home. It could be Mandarin books, books on Level Chinese, or books on Ichinesereader. Parents need to sign to validate his/her effort at home. They will get a donut when they finish this activity. I will send home the reading coloring sheet tomorrow. Mandarin Reading is Yummy