Many great things are happening in third grade. We are working hard in Math be practicing our money counting skills and figuring out elapsed time from word problems. We are discussing different types of landforms in Science and using online resources to support the topic. We are focusing on our Discipline with Purpose skills during Religion as we work to improve “listening” and “following directions”. Our Smart board continues to be a wonderful asset to our daily studies. We can’t seem to find enough uses for it.

The 5th grade just finished a fabulous jigsaw project to study the different seasons in the Liturgical Year. The children worked with a partner to study a particular season, created a PowerPoint presentation to convey their information, and then reported back to the whole group to create a comprehensive presentation of the entire year. We have also begun a study of mean, mode, and median, having finished our study of algebraic equations in math. We continue to focus on writing 5 paragraph essays on a variety of topics and will begin working on timed writings in the month of December.

All middle school students are studying poetry for the next few weeks. To help students learn poetry and literary concepts, there is “Poetry Café” once a week. It is a relaxed atmosphere where students perform a designated task with poetry and enjoy treats and hot chocolate while doing so. This week for “Poetry Café”, 8th graders worked with a partner to analyze a poem of their choosing. At Poetry Café, students shared their poems and the analysis of it with the class. They liked it so much they asked to do it again! Wow! At Poetry Café, 7th graders went on a poetry scavenger hunt, looking for two poems, one with alliteration, and one with onomatopoeia. Students shared their results with the class. They also had a lot of fun! At Poetry Café, 6th graders memorized a poem and acted it out with props. What an awesome job they did!

In eighth grade science, the students have made a compass using a needle, water, cup and a magnet. They “magnetized” the needle, then place it on a floating cork, and watched as the needle pointed to magnetic north.

The seventh graders have been classifying shapes and animals to use the Animal Classification System starting with kingdom which includes: animals, plants, bacteria, protists and fungi. They then divided their shapes and animals into more complex groups.

The sixth graders made a poster showing an ocean food web. They read about twelve different sea animals, and then they placed them onto a poster showing the ocean from surface to the bottom. The animals were placed according to their habitat. They then drew arrows showing the food chain for each animal.

Mr. Brown would like to thank Mrs. Hughes (Tripp) and Mrs. Schaff (Carson) for donating drinks for the boys during the flag football season.

By Susie Bitto

Angel Ayala

Published Tuesday, December 4, 2007

The first point I would like to emphasize is that traditional characters are not obsolete. The current Chinese curriculum encourages the idea that simplified characters are the script for modern Chinese and that traditional is the script of ancient Chinese, something which should be left for scholars to study and not “modern” students. This way of thinking does not do justice to a large portion of the Chinese population. The Chinese in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the United States who use the traditional script do not deserve to be excluded in order to just meet the interests of the mainland. For modern speakers, traditional Chinese is as valid as simplified. If we limit our studies to simplified Chinese, we are separating ourselves from this important part of the Chinese community, and therefore not getting a complete picture of Chinese language and culture.

The second point I want to discuss is the phobia of traditional characters among students of Chinese, many of whom have been led to believe that the fewer strokes characters have, the easier they are to learn. As a student of both simplified and traditional Chinese, I can confidently say this is far from the truth. In my experience, learning traditional has in some cases been easier than simplified. While I do not want to advocate one system over the other, I do think traditional Chinese makes more sense and might help students to learn Chinese characters more efficiently. I do understand that many students would not be willing to learn how to write these “complex characters”, but learning to at least recognize them will already benefit learning the entire Chinese language. Many students also seem to believe that traditional is very different from simplified, but if they start to study traditional, they will quickly realize there are many characters that are completely the same. Those characters that are different mostly vary in predictable ways. Thus, traditional and simplified compliment each other, instead of creating many of the difficulties some students and teachers fear.

The last point I would like to discuss is the political implications of the traditional versus simplified debate. As much as I wish this were not the case, many reactions to this issue are due to political rather than linguistic reasoning. The Chinese people are currently engaged in a number of political disputes, which I shall not discuss here. These political issues should not play a part in how we view traditional Chinese. If the East Asian Languages and Literatures department focuses more on traditional characters, or at least provides students with the option of which script they want to learn, it will encourage a greater unity among the Chinese community. I urge students and teachers who reject the traditional script for political reasons to realize that they are creating more divisions in the Chinese community by encouraging the exclusive use of the simplified script. Take this new policy as an opportunity to encourage less animosity among Chinese from different regions.

As much as certain people try to downplay the importance of traditional characters, all students of Chinese will at some point have to face the fact that they need to recognize them. All you have to do to see this is to go to a nearby Chinatown and try to read a Chinese newspaper — which will be in traditional script. Many also think that the mainland is completely immune to traditional characters; in reality, it shows up in many places there, too. Therefore, if we encourage students to learn to recognize both scripts from the beginning, we will be doing everyone a favor in the long run.

I encourage students and teachers not to view this new policy as a punishment, but rather as an opportunity to have a deeper and more realistic knowledge of the Chinese language.

Angel Ayala is a sophomore in Morse College.

It’s not a language most in this country would consider easy. In fact, it’s not a language most schools in Clark County even offer. “As far as I know there are no other elementaries with Chinese as a language,” Priest Elementary School teacher Robyn Covey told Kids First.

But at Priest Elementary, about sixty 4th and 5th graders give up their lunch period a few times a week to learn a language many believe will become vital.

“With Chinese it’s tones, so like if you say it one way you could say it wrong,” 5th grader Dani Spencer explains. “By providing this service we’ll actually be providing great jobs for these kids in the future,” Covey adds.  

The emergence of China as a global power has schools all over the United States adding chinese to curriculums.

The 9 and 10-year-olds are soaking up not just a new language but culture. “They’ll come into my office all the time because they are researching China on the internet and they will have come in with new words,” Covey said.

Priest Elementary School actually had 150 kids who wanted to be in the Chinese Club. School staff hopes to expand the program next year.

The increasing influence and presence of China in the world motivates many people to learn Chinese.

BYU offers both Chinese (Mandarin) bachelor and master programs to help students “develop competence in the Chinese language, literature and culture.”

Studying Chinese is more time consuming than other European languages because it is a non-alphabetic system and there is a cultural distance, said Matthew B. Christensen, head of Chinese section of Asian and Near Eastern languages.

“It [Chinese] takes a lot of hard work and commitment,” Christensen said.

Jeffrey Edwards, a sophomore currently taking a Chinese course, said learning Chinese requires great dedication.

“Unless you’re seriously planning to live in China or be involved in Asia, it may not be worth it to learn this language,” Edwards said.

A Chinese major student who has a right attitude is more important than one processing an aptitude, Christensen said.

“He or she needs to be a solid student and eager to learn,” Christensen said. “You have to adjust the way you perceive the world.”

The 100- and 200-level Chinese classes are divided into two sections, one for returned missionaries served in Chinese-speaking mission, and the other for non-returned missionaries or non-Chinese speaking returned missionaries.

Christensen said he sees a growing trend of students who served a non-Chinese speaking mission majoring in Chinese and many of them are outstanding.

“Some of our best students are not Chinese-speaking returned missionaries,” Christensen said. “The reason is they work really hard and they study abroad.”

Chinese major students study modern Chinese literature as well as ancient Chinese poetry. Students can also learn Chinese art by taking Chinese calligraphy.

Students majoring in Chinese take average of eight semesters to graduate. Studying abroad may help students graduate sooner.

Christensen said he strongly encourages Chinese major students to have a strong minor such as business, double majors, or go to graduate school.

Cody Kirk, a senior from Virginia majoring in Chinese, said he is planning to attend law school after graduation because he is interested in international law.

“China is going to open,” Kirk said. “You have more opportunities when you speak two languages.”

Although many Chinese major students go into the business field, some choose to go into other fields such as law, medical, engineering and military.

Christensen advised students to take Chinese 101, Beginning Mandarin, or Chinese 345, Chinese Culture, to try out first.

Students who are interested in majoring in Chinese can go to the College Advisement Center to declare the major.

Photo by Stephanie Rhodes

Professor Fan teaches his students to write Chinese characters.

Photo by David Joles, Dml -

Teacher Dongyang Qu from China used her hands to help students with sounds during her Mandarin class at O.H. Anderson Elementary School. The district hopes to lay the groundwork for a permanent Chinese curriculum. Qu, who is an English teacher in China, is visiting through an exchange program.

The students in Mahtomedi take Mandarin Chinese as part of a free after-school program, and the teacher knows her stuff.

By Ben Goessling, Star Tribune

It’s only her second Mandarin Chinese lesson with this particular class at Mahtomedi’s O.H. Anderson Elementary, so Dongyang Qu finds it best to start small.

She flashes a picture of a Pizza Hut restaurant near her home in Beijing, explaining that American companies have made their way to China.

When Qu says she hasn’t seen a Pizza Hut in her time in Mahtomedi, 10-year-old Jack Atkins responds, “They’re all in Stillwater.”

Most of the lessons in Mahtomedi’s after-school Mandarin program are only slightly more complex, but the district hopes they’ll lead to major gains down the road.

Mahtomedi is one of several metro-area districts offering the language to grade schoolers, with an eye toward including it among high school elective options by the 2009-10 school year. Statewide, more than a dozen are offering Mandarin at some grade level.

“There’s a lot of information out there that we all need to be learning other languages,” Mahtomedi Assistant Superintendent Sue Ann Gruver said.

“The Mandarin focus is one that’s worldwide,” Gruver said.

Spanish has been mandatory in Mahtomedi elementary schools for six years. Like many districts, it is searching for ways to diversify its foreign-language offerings.

But with a language like Mandarin, which is the most widely-spoken language in the world but has little in common with English, finding qualified teachers is tough.

That’s where the 26-year-old Qu comes in. She is in the United States for eight weeks as part of the Minnesota-based International Exchange and Learning Program, which arranges short-term opportunities for foreign-language teachers. Eden Prairie and Edina have also used the program to bring teachers to their schools.

Classes filled in 24 hours

Qu, a middle and high school English teacher in Beijing, found out Oct. 16 she was coming to Minnesota. It is her first time in the U.S.

She’s currently teaching three after-school classes a week, which run an hour each and are offered to first- through fifth-graders.

The free classes were met with heavy interest; district community education coordinator Mary George said they filled up in 24 hours.

“China is developing, and there are so many American companies doing business there now,” Qu said. “A lot of Americans are interested in learning the Chinese culture.”

Qu spends about 40 minutes of each class teaching basic Mandarin phrases and explaining the nuances of the language’s different tones, where a word can have different meanings depending on how it is spoken. She touches on writing Chinese characters for 10 minutes and spends another 10 on Chinese culture.

Her biggest surprise so far? Well, that Minnesota Nice thing isn’t all it’s made out to be.

“People in Beijing are more friendly,” she said. “They see a foreigner, and they try to talk to them. I’m one of the few Chinese here, but people don’t ask questions about China.”

Those impressions must be confined to life outside the school. Inside it, the level of intrigue couldn’t be higher.

“We’re establishing relationships with teachers in Beijing and throughout China,” Gruver said. “Who knows what doors this could open?”

Ben Goessling • 651-298-1546

Ben Goessling • bgoessling@startribune.com