Catherine: John C. Haines Elementary School is the only Chicago public school here in Chinatown. Our demographic is about 82 percent Asian and about 16 percent African-American. Thirty percent of the students are just coming here from China.

Jeannine: The dual-language program is about bringing the cultures together, so it’s the exchange of two teachers, one regular ed teacher and then one bilingual teacher.

Catherine: We thought of a way for our bilingual teachers to teach our general education students some basic Mandarin words, whether it’s the days of the week, whether it’s the numbers, and we also felt like the general ed teacher could assist with the oral language for our bilingual students.

Jeannine: Hi, you guys!

Wanzhi: Miss Woods come to our class, she teach us how to say a lot of English.

Jeannine: It brings them a different style of talking. This gives them the opportunity to hear other accents, to understand the language a little bit better.

Katie: My favorite part is she made up a fun game for us to play.

Jeannine: So there are some cards on the floor.

Jeannine: The first activity today was a memory game. We were learning about action verbs.

Jeannine: I’m going to say the word and then you guys are going to try to find the word on the floor. Jump. [bell dings] Go! Jump. Jump.

Student: I found jump!

Jeannine: Good job!

Jeannine: If they found it, they would have to say and then they would do the action.

Jeannine: So go ahead and jump! Okay. Next word. Run.

Wanzhi: When Miss Woods say the words, we pick the cards up. Now I know all the action words.

Jeannine: Run! Everybody run in place!

Jeannine: So the second activity I did was I read them a book.

Katie: When she finished reading the book, she want us to tell her the verbs in the book.

Boy: Cook.

Jeannine: Cook? Very good. What were they cooking?

Boy: Pancakes.

Jeannine: Pancakes. What else were they doing with the pancakes?

Boy: Flipping.

Jeannine: The bilingual teacher and myself, we work together. Whatever activity it is that we’re doing for that week is aligned with the curriculum.

Yan Hong: We have a unit we teach animals in our reading lesson, and we went to the zoo to study different animals, and I incorporate that into my lesson.
[class speaking Mandarin]

Janice: My favorite part of the class is singing the songs. When I sing song, it help me learn what the words are about.

Mazimus: The rabbit song is about a rabbit hopping and eating carrots.
[class singing in Mandarin]

Yan Hong: Very good, very good, you must sit down. [Mandarin]

Yan Hong: After that, I teach them the different part of the body.

Student: We learned how to write them in Chinese.

Yan Hong: So the Chinese character looks like a picture. This is called, they call–

Class: Call.

Yan Hong: [in Mandarin]

Yan Hong: I have a little book, and they have the English and they have the shape of the mouth, and then they have the writing, the direction that teach them how to write.

Yan Hong: Really good, okay. Good job!

Yan Hong: Because of the dual language program, the children learn the different language and then experience a different culture, so I know that my students that they have more opportunity to learn in a different way.

Jeannine: A lot of students, this may be their first exposure to different races, or different cultures. They get a sense of, “Yeah, you may look different, or you may do this differently, but I want to learn more about your culture.” It’s a lot of fun. My students really enjoy the whole program.

Class: Jump rope.

Schools That Work

John C. Haines Elementary School