CAIS Partial Immersion Experience


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CAIS Partial Immersion Experience

• Andrew Corcoran
• Chinese American International School
• Head of School

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Chinese American International School

• School founded in 1981 w/4 students now 420
• Started with 90/10 C/E immersion Kindergarten
• Traditional characters and Bopomofo Zhuyin
• Moved to 50/50 partial immersion PreK5th grade
• Middle school added 1998
• Initially 25/75 Language Arts and Social
  Studies
• In 2005 changed to 35/65 added electives

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CAIS Continued 1

• Chinese and English programs compliment each
  other PreK5 50/50 with 2 teachers 1 at a time
• E aligns with CA State Standards
• English LA SS Science Math PE Music 35
  Art Computer
• Chinese LA SS Health Math Music PreK2
  Computer
• 5th grade exchange to Taipei
• Some topics introduced in C some in E
• Taught in both C and E. All computers C enabled
  
• CSS is about Chinese culture history etc.

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CAIS Continued 2

• Middle School
• English aligns with CA State Standards
• English LA SS Math Science
• Chinese LA SS
• Significant interdisciplinary/cross language work
• Process
• Immigration/migration
• Electives include language requirements.
• Those taught in Chinese include brush painting
  calligraphy Chinese instruments guzheng erhu
  pipa yueqing Yangqing dance
• 8th grade exchange to Shanghai

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Materials

• Initially from Taiwan
• Planning started in 1979
• Use traditional and zhuyin fuhao initially
• Now from Hong Kong
• Emerging materials of higher quality include
  support materials
• We start with traditional and hanyu pinyin
• Authentic materials
• Learn both traditional and simplified by
  graduation

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CAIS is not just Immersion

• 7 off site after school programs
• Summer School
• High school alumni classes
• SAT2 Intermediate Advanced AP
• Summer classes SFUSD credit
• Administrator Workshops
• For those starting or sustaining/expanding
  programs in both immersion and Chinese as a
  foreign language
• National Conference for teachers building
  administrators and parents in March each year in
  San Francisco started in 2007
• Teacher Acculturation for teachers from China w/
  China Connections teachers gain classroom
  experience w/American Students
• Teacher Interviews

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Things to Do When Starting 1

• Be Clear on Purpose
• Culture
• Include other disciplines
• Communication
• Film email OPI
• Literature
• Reading
• Advanced study
• AP

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Things to Do When Starting 2

• Select a teacher
• Language Level CAIS assist for Chinese
• Classroom practice CAIS assist w/ acculturation
• Teacher vs. Student centered
• Differentiated Instruction
• Past experience 60/class vs. 16
• School Culture
• Parents

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Things to Do When Starting 3

• Select Materials
• Significant improvements last few years
• Traditional/Full Form or Simplified
• Advanced learners should know both
• Refer to Hopess
• References at the end or in IS article
• Authentic materials including films

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Things to Avoid/Pitfalls 1

• Expectations purpose
• Literature in 3rd year?
• Parent expectations
• Assessments not just AP
• Noella STAMP SOPI
• Adequate Resources
• Computers enabled
• Audio Visual

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Things to Avoid/Pitfalls 2

• Geopolitical world view
• Opportunity
• Flags and One China Policy
• Stability vs. Individuality
• Form vs. Creativity
• The three Ts
• Visiting Stanford
• Please do not ask the students

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Resources Films

• The Story of Qiu Ju 1993
• Set in a Chinese village the pregnant
  peasant Qui Ju seeks justice after the village
  elder assaults her husband. In the process she
  gets caught in the mess of an exasperating legal
  system.
• To Live 1994
• An impoverished couple faces their
  personal and political problems from 1940 to
  1960.
• The King of Masks 1999
• Forced by the custom of handing down his
  crafts to a male successor Mr. Wang the
  heirless mask magic performer has to buy a child
  in order to preserve his unique art. After
  learning the childs secret Mr. Wang faces some
  very hard choices.
• Yi Yi 2000
• Yi Yi chronicles three generations of a
  family in Taiwan mired in a crisis of selfdoubt.
• Not One Less 2000
• The inspiring tale of Wei a 13yearold
  girl who is asked by her community to serve as a
  substitute teacher in a poor farming village
  school.
• Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles 2005
• Hoping to mend a deep rift with his dying
  son a Japanese fisherman sets off for Chinas
  Yunnan province to fulfill his sons dream where
  he encounters a jailed Chinese folkopera singer
  and his little boy.

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Resources Books Software

• BetterChinese www.betterchinese.com
• China Books and Periodicals Inc.
  www.chinabooks.com
• ChinaSprout Inc. www.chinasprout.com
• Cheng Tsui www.chengtsui.com
• Asia Books www.asiabooks.com
• Eastwind Book Store www.eastwindbooks.com
• IQ Chinese www.iqchinese.com
• Pan Asian Publications USA Inc. www.panap.com
• Nan Hai Books www.nanhai.com
• Simplex Publications www.simplexpublications.com
• Tuttle Publishing www.tuttlepublishing.com
• U.S. International Publishing Inc.
  www.usipusa.com
• The Office of Chinese Language Council
• International Hanban www.hanban.edu.cn/en_hanban

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Resources Other

• Word Processing Software
• TwinBridge Software Corporation
  www.twinbridge.com
• NJ Star Software www.njstar.com
• Online Resources
• YuanLiou Publishing Taiwan www.ylib.com
• Popular Singapore www.popular.com.sg/jsp/index.jsp
  
• YouFu Books Taiwan www.168books.com.tw
• Asiapac Singapore www.asiapacbooks.com
• TsaiFong Books www.tsaifong.com/Chinesebook/Defaul
  t.asp
• Huawenwang book4u www.book4u.com.tw

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Online Chinese Newspapers Chinese
News http//chineseculture.about.com/library/news/
blns_news.htm China .org http//www.china.org.cn/e
nglish/ China the Beautiful http//www.chinapage.c
om/china.html Exploring China http//www.kn.pacbel
l.com/wired/China/scrapbook.html Xinhua http//www
.xinhuanet.com/english/ Ming Bao http//www.mingpa
onews.com/
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Thank [e-mail]