8th Grade MandarinTop of Page

Teacher: Hui LiuEmail: hliu@woodsideschool.usPhone: 650-851-1571 ext. 1027

8th grade Mandarin Syllabus

Course Description and Objectives: Welcome to 8th grade Mandarin! This course is designed for students at intermediate level of Chinese. The goal of this class is to expand students’ vocabulary and promote their Chinese language proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and to prepare them for their high school study.  At the end of the school year, students will be able to communicate, read and write in Chinese on a variety of topics.  They will also gain knowledge of and develop insight into Chinese culture and important philosophical ideas and values in Chinese societies. 

8th Grade Mandarin Textbook: Integrated Chinese (Volume I) 中文听说读写 第一册。

Course Outcomes: Upon completion, students will be able to:

  1. Recognize and type at least 450 Chinese characters.
  2. Write at least 150 Chinese characters in Simplified Chinese. 
  3. Master 30 Chinese radicals.
  4. Master 15 measure words.
  5. Demonstrate comprehension of short reading selections (e.g., articles, dialogues and short stories).
  6. Write paragraphs or short essays on a given topics. 
  7. Apply basic Chinese grammar rules and syntax in writing exercises.
  8. Demonstrate comprehension of and respond to simple dialogues and speeches on given topics.
  9. Apply learning strategies in independent study and demonstrate problem-solving skills in Chinese.    

Mandarin Classroom expectation:

  1. Be on time and enter the classroom quietly. 
  2. Be ready to learn: take out the Mandarin folder, notebook and pencil immediately after you are seated.
  3. Be respectful: respect the class, your peers, your teacher, the classroom, and all Woodside norms.
  4. Be focused: no text /cell phone use, talking around.  Participate in classroom activities, exercises and tasks.
  5. Raise your hand before speaking. Do not talk over the teacher or your classmates.
  6. Use quiet voice when doing activities that involve speaking (interview, dialogue, etc.)
  7. You are responsible for your actions, work, and words.

Homework: Homework is assigned through Google classroom once a week on Tuesday and is due on Friday.  Although students have more than one day to complete it, they are strongly encouraged to start doing their homework as soon as it is assigned, so they can bring questions to me if they encounter any difficulties before the due day.  Homework should not exceed 20 minutes a week.

Late work: Late work will receive a 10% reduced points from the total points per day but no more than 50% off penalty.  For example, a student will receive 90% of its original point value if the work is one day late, but any work that is more than 5 days later from the due day can still receive a maximum of 50% of its original point value.

Quizzes and Tests: A test is given at the end of each trimester as a summertive assessment.  All the tests and quizzes have the same format and include four components: speaking, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing (including grammar).  Students may do test correction to a failed test within 2 weeks of the return of the assessment.  Test correction allows students to raise their score up to a maximum of 70% of original score.

Office hours: My office hours is Thursday lunchtime and recess by appointment. I would love to help you with catching up, making up works, re-teaching and more practicing.  

Grading Policies: Grades will be based on a weighted total of points accumulated throughout each trimester. 

  • Tests – 30%
  • Quizzes – 20%
  • Homework – 15%
  • Projects – 15%
  • Participation – 20%

The following is Woodside School Letter Grading System:

A 93 - 100
A- 90 - 92
B+ 87 - 89
B 83 - 86
B- 80 - 82 
C+ 77 - 79
C 73 - 76
C- 70 - 72 
D+ 67 - 69
D 63 - 66
D- 60 - 62
F - below 60