1080 North 900 East
Provo, Utah 84601
Phone: (801) 374-4910
Fax: (801) 374-4912
1080 North 900 East
Provo, Utah 84601
Phone: (801) 374-4910
Fax: (801) 374-4912
Feb 16 th 7:00pm
Come meet the First Grade Teachers and ask questions about the program.
Applications will be available at the meeting that night and also in the office anytime following that date.
(If you have already attended a parent orientation meeting you do not need to come to this one too.)
You can fill it out and either e-mail it to wasatchinfo@provo.edu or bring it into the office.
All Applications are due by Feb 19th by 4:00
Wasatch Elementary School, in conjunction with the federally funded StarTalk program, held a two week Chinese Immersion Day Camp for 75 first graders July 27 - August 7, 2009 to help "jump start" the children for the inaugural 2009-2010 Chinese Immersion program to be held at Wasatch Elementary School in Provo School District. The children spent two hours of their four hour day completely immersed in the Chinese language. The children were taught beginning vocabulary for concepts such as colors, numbers, animals and family member names. In addition, the children worked on learning about Chinese culture during the two hour English portion of the day. Culture awareness included activities such as learning a simple ribbon dance and Tai Chi exercise as well as making Chinese crafts like landscape paintings and Chinese lanterns.
The children performed a culminating program for family and friends at the end of their two week camp on Friday, August 7, 2009. This program included a recital of Chinese vocabulary learned through songs and the play, "The Little Red Hen" as well as Tai Chi and ribbon dance demonstrations. It was amazing to watch many of these eager young learners recite their lines in Chinese or dance to Chinese music before a large audience with confidence. The beaming faces of all the participants at the conclusion of the program reflected the success of this 2009 Chinese Day Camp.
We look forward to a great year ahead!
Mandarin Chinese Immersion ProgramI am pleased to announce that a Mandarin Chinese Immersion class will be offered, as an option, to first grade students at Wasatch the upcoming fall. This past year has been a study year. We have visited several language immersion programs as we have worked in partnership with the Utah State Office of Education and the BYU Chinese Flagship program. Dr. Mimi Met, Director of the National Foreign Language Center, is consulting with the utah language immersion programs too.
Students will begin in first grade; each year the next grade will be added so students will have the opportunity to participate through sixth grade. Students will spend one-half of their day learning in Chinese and the other half learning in English. We will provide integrated thematic instruction in all subjects - math, science, social studies, music, physical education and art. Chinese will be the medium for content instruction rather than the subject of instruction. This opportunity will provide a challenge that a number of our students would enjoy.
China is emerging as one of the global centers of the world; learning Mandarin Chinese can help prepare our students for the opportunities to compete and cooperate on a global scale. Provo High offers a three-year Chinese program as well as AP Chinese. BYU has on e of the Flagship Chinese Language Programs in the country. Their partnership, as we move forward, will be very beneficial.
We will be hosting an orientation meeting on March 11th at 6:30 for parents interested in learning more about the Chinese immersion program.
Children
Learn
More than forty years of research consistently documents the power of immersion programs to help students attain high levels of second language proficiency. No other type of instruction, short of living in a second-language environment, is as successful.
Young children especially thrive in this type of instructional environment. Happily, language immersion is also the least expensive way to deliver second language instruction.
Students achieve high proficiency in immersion language
Immersion students perform as well as or better than non-immersion students on standardized tests of English and math administered in English.
Immersion students typically develop greater cognitive flexibility, demonstrating increased attention control, better memory, and superior problem solving skills as well as an enhanced understanding of their primary language.
Immersion students are more aware of and show more positive attitudes towards other cultures and an appreciation of other people.
Immersion students are better prepared for the global community and job markets where a second language is an asset.
Dual language immersion offers a rich bilingual experience for young learners when their minds are developmentally best able to acquire a second language.
Instruction is divided between two high quality, creative classrooms: one English and one Chinese. Students enjoy the advantage of two caring, qualified teachers. The English speaking teacher uses half of the instruction time to teach science and English language arts (reading, writing, and spelling).
The Chinese speaking teacher uses the other half of the day to teach math,social studies, and health topics from the grade–appropriate level of the USOE core curriculum.
The Chinese teacher speaks only in Mandarin and communicates using a range of engaging strategies including pictures, songs, games, body language, expressions, pantomime, drama, etc. Children at this age are adept at picking up language in meaningful contexts. After a brief period at the beginning of the year, students too will speak only Mandarin during Chinese class.
You’ll be delighted how quickly your child becomes a comfortable and competent Chinese speaker.
Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world. The Mandarin dialect is the official language of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan and is widely understood in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines and Mongolia. Also, according to the U.S. 2000 census, Chinese is now the third most commonly spoken language in the U.S.
China is heir to the traditions of one of the world’s richest and most ancient cultures and home today to the world’s second largest economy. Its political, economic, and cultural impact in generations to come will be significant. As business and political relationships between the U.S. and China deepen and become more complex, having the skills to communicate with people in this increasingly significant part of the world will be a valuable asset at home and abroad.
The immersion program seeks to enroll students of varying backgrounds and all abilities. Applications are open to all students entering kindergarten. However, it may not be a wise choice for children experiencing communication delays in their primary language
