Lower School Mandarin and Tech Teams Collaborate on Student Showcases

By Fish Tung, Assistant Communications Officer

Our Grade 3 Lower School students recently tackled a Mandarin project with the help of our Educational Technology and Design coaches! In order to showcase their Mandarin skills at the end of the semester, our students learned some iMovie magic from their coaches. 

At the end of their Mandarin unit this semester, our Lower School Grade 3 students needed to create a showcase of all that they had learned. They decided to make a presentation to highlight TAS and provide a captivating introduction to our community.  

In a bid to enrich their presentation, Grade 3 Mandarin teacher, Ms. Amanda Hsiao, coordinated a joint effort involving coaches from our Educational Technology and Design team, Mr. Alfredo Papaseit and Ms. Winny Wang. Our students are developing their technological savvy across many of their classes, and this project presented a perfect opportunity for them to do so in Mandarin! 

Utilizing skills from their STEAM curriculum, they spent two days under Ms. Wang's guidance, delving into the ins and outs of iMovie. Their journey began with crafting detailed descriptions of various spots around campus, especially those that their fellow students would like!  

Once they had their storyboard, they went on a film walk, capturing vibrant images and clips of their favorite locations. At the same time, they thought deeply about the best Mandarin vocabulary and sentence structure to accompany their images and to introduce TAS to their viewers. 

Ms. Hsiao highlighted the importance of integrating language skills with technology and emphasized how the project allowed students to apply their learning to a real-world scenario.  

“I observed our Grade 3 students’ interest in media usage, and I wonder if this could motivate them to learn Mandarin,” Ms. Hsiao said.  

Ms. Hsiao also expressed gratitude to Mr. Papaseit for supporting her idea and teaching goals on this project and to Ms. Wang for integrating technology and teaching iMovie in Mandarin to the kids. This positive learning experiences they gained from this project are preparing them for future collaborations. 

“It was an amazing experience, and I enjoyed working with the Tech coaches, who not only supported my teaching but also enhanced the quality of the students' clips, turning their ideas into reality,” Ms. Hsiao added. 

This project exemplifies not only the power of collaboration among our educators but also the impact of interdisciplinary learning. By blending their Mandarin skills with their movie-making skills, our students offer us a glimpse of TAS through their eyes! Great work, Tigers!