We were thrilled to kick off the new school year with our first & second graders' Mid-Autumn Festival performance on Friday, September 13, 2019.
Our Squirrel (first grade) and Grizzly Bear (second grade) students began the night by giving their families a tour of their classrooms. They were proud to show off the work they had already completed in the first three weeks of the school year.
After touring the classrooms, students and their families participated in our Mid-Autumn craft. The students demonstrated their creativity by painting their favorite phrases or images onto paper lanterns.
Following the crafts, our show officially began. The first grade students led with an English presentation about light and shadows. They explained how shadows are formed and what shapes they can take. At the end of the presentation, they even put on an interactive guessing game, asking the audience to identify different shadow puppet animals that they created with their hands!
For their mathematics performance, first graders came to the stage in pairs to demonstrate how they practiced subtraction up to 20 using regrouping. We were thrilled to see how confident our students were during their math performance.
Finally, the first graders recited Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's classic poem "Quiet Night Thought" 《静夜思》, complete with hand motions and expressions that conveyed the meaning of this famous work. Students were proud to share this poem, in which the reflection of the moon inspires the narrator to reflect upon his hometown.
Our second graders' performance also included three parts. Their English presentation built upon their monthly theme, "People who Make a Difference." In pairs, they presented information on Clara Barton, Benjamin Franklin, and the Wright Brothers, asking the audience to guess these figures based on the biographies they offered.
Second grade students showed off their multiplication skills for their mathematics performance. In pairs or on their own, they recited the times tables up to eight. Then, as a whole class, they recited the nine times table in unison. Again, we were excited to see the students' genuine enthusiasm towards learning math in Chinese.
The second graders demonstrated their strong Mandarin skills in their Chinese Language Arts performance. With partners or small groups, they recited two poems by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei. They added explanations and hand motions to help the audience interpret and understand these difficult poems. Their performance impressed our audience!
Our students' presentation culminated in two performances of Teresa Teng's "The Moon Represents My Heart" 《月亮代表我的心》. First, they sang and danced inside the classroom, just as they had been practicing for weeks. But the real Moon Festival celebration began when the students lit their handmade lanterns and assembled on the steps outside of our school. Under a bright, full moon, they sang "The Moon Represents My Heart" again, and were each rewarded with a mooncake from their teachers! We loved learning about the Mid-Autumn Festival with our students and look forward to their next performance.
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