NOVEMBER 2022

Each month we will be sending out a brief update so you are informed of the happenings at RIS MS!

We will feature a content area each month... Enjoy!

INTRODUCTIONS TO THE MS THAI / WORLD LANGUAGE TEAM

Who We Are & What We Teach

Asawin Mung-Guy: I teach Middle School Intermediate Thai classes (for grades 6, 7, and 8) as well as Non-Thai (grade 6). This is my tenth year teaching at Ruamrudee International School. I enjoy teaching and learning new applications for teaching and also love spending time with my family.

Yasussawin Khemdaeng: I teach whole Middle School Advanced Thai classes, plus grade 6 and 8 Beginner Thai. I am a 100% Thai who was born and raised in Thailand. I have been teaching Thai in international schools for many years. I hold a bachelor degree in Thai language teaching and curriculum; a masters in business administration; a master's in educational management; and am currently doing a doctorate in educational administration. I feel very lucky to have a wonderful group of middle school students to work with alongside all of my colleagues. I enjoy exploring something new for my life by reading my favorite books on weekends and getting to try all of the wonderful dishes around the world that are available.

Kunnuo (Nova) Xu: I teach Mandarin language for grades 5 to 8 and Origami and Paper-cutting during Focus Block. This is my 2nd year teaching at RIS and tenth year teaching internationally. I am Chinese from mainland China, and my hometown is called Dalian, which is considered the "Northern Pearl" and summer resort of China in the northeast. Before moving to Thailand, I taught and lived in Indonesia for 8 years. I am so grateful to meet and introduce the Mandarin language to my students here. Besides teaching, I like to explore Thai culture and food, and also learn the Thai language.

Up & Coming

Thai Language, Culture and History Courses: We normally divide students into four groups according to their background knowledge and skills:

1. Beginner Thai

2. Intermediate Thai

3. Advanced Thai

4. Non Thai

The purpose of this is to help students to have proper interventions and extension in each Thai language class in view of helping them improve their Thai language skills which are going to focus on four standards—Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Culture.

Literature Based Approach: The middle school Thai courses are designed to integrate Thai language, culture, and history along with the necessary knowledge and skills as per required by the Thai Ministry of Education. In each quarter, students will be required to read Thai literature and various non-literary texts in Thai to receive the Thai context along with their reading.

Project-Based Learning: Students are required to create a final project at the end of each quarter. All students are assigned to work either independently or with their group to reflect their knowledge and understanding from the lesson they have learnt under the supervision of their respective teachers.

Thai Cultural Events: These Thai Cultural Events allow students to learn and experience the richness of Thai culture:

Loy Krathong Celebration in the middle of November

Thai Day during RIS Cultural Week

Wai Khru Ceremony at the beginning of the second semester

Songkran Festival in the middle of April

MS Thai Field trip: These Trips allow students to learn and experience about Thailand as described in Thai language, culture and history courses in each grade level beyond the classroom.

Grade 6 to the Ancient City in Samut Prakan

Grade 7 to the Arts of Kingdom Museum in Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya

Grade 8 to the Nitras Rattanakosin Museum in Bangkok

Mandarin Language

Grade 6 Mandarin: In Mandarin G6 classes, students are introduced to Hanyu Pinyin, radicals, and simple sentence patterns, along with learning how to sound out Chinese characters, speak basic terms of greeting, count numbers in Chinese, and explore Chinese culture/festivals (Mid-autumn Festival). We also did a unit on celebrating the Chinese New Year, including activities that included making a rabbit lantern, singing the Chinese New Year song, speaking lucky CNY phrases to parents, and making rabbit-shaped paper cuttings. After the Chinese New Year celebration, we will continue with the topics of name, family members, and appearance, and also practice writing and speaking the related Chinese characters and simple sentences.

Grade 7 Mandarin: In Mandarin G7 classes, students have been introduced to the topics of countries, languages, and occupations. Students learned how to speak and write the related terms and sentences, and also performed using the learned words and sentences through class discussion, short dialogue, oral presentation, and paragraph writing. We also did a unit on celebrating the Chinese New Year, including activities of making the rabbit lantern, singing the Chinese New Year song, speaking lucky CNY phrases to parents, and making rabbit-shaped paper cuttings. After the Chinese New Year celebration, we will continue with the topic of how to welcome and greet people who are guests. We will also practice oral and writing skills through class discussion, short dialogue, and paragraph writing.

Grade 8 Mandarin: In Mandarin G8 classes, students have learned vocabulary that would provide them with the opportunity to talk about moving house, room settings, having three meals a day, and the weather they like. More complex grammar items are also introduced to students that allow them to talk about daily articles, accessories, and seasons they are fond of. We also did a unit on celebrating the Chinese New Year, including activities of the CNY celebration assembly dance, making the rabbit lantern, singing the Chinese New Year song, speaking lucky CNY phrases to parents, and making rabbit-shaped paper cuttings. After the Chinese New Year celebration, we will continue learning the topic of illness: describing symptoms and using conjunction words in both writing and speaking format.

Chinese New Year Celebration: Chinese New Year Celebration symbolize hopes for good luck and prosperity for the new year. Explore Chinese New Year activities for our students that introduce how the new year is celebrated in China and help promote awareness and acceptance of the Chinese and other cultures.