Chinese Language and culture
HUĀN YÍNG, As we head into the second half of the school year, it is a good time to pause and reflect upon our learning. There is certainly cause for celebration -- I am continuously amazed at how quickly the students learn and retain new information, how accepting they are of new concepts and differences, and how accomplished they feel when they take smart risks and succeed. It has been enormously satisfying to work with Hiteon students and experience their enthusiasm, curiosity and independence. Xiè xie, Strub 老师 |
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Language Through Games
To keep students practicing their speaking skills, partner games are preferable. Reinforcing learning through games allowed students multiple opportunities to practice in a smaller setting. When learning colors, for example, students enjoyed playing a version of Pic-Up-Sticks. To play, students began by labeling a spinner with color words in Chinese. They then formed a pile of colored sticks. Taking turns, each player spun to determine which color stick they needed to remove from the pile without disturbing the others. If a student “forgot” to use the Chinese color word, their opponent was allowed to “steal” the stick. This new “stealing” rule didn’t come to me until after a few classes had played the game -- it is amazing how students keep each other accountable. Not surprising, a notable increase of Chinese speaking was heard after implementing that rule!
Zuǒ, Zhōng, Yòu, or Left, Center, Right was another learning game we introduced this term. Students played a Chinese version of the popular dice game, LCR (Left, Center, Right). In groups of three to four students, each player began with three discs. Students then took turns rolling the dice (labeled with our new vocabulary) to determine which direction they needed to move their discs. The goal of the game is to be the last person with a disc. This is a lively game that kept students actively participating. It didn’t take long for groups to shift into more challenging versions of the game. All groups started with dice and game boards that were labeled with both Chinese and English, but many of the students were able to eliminate the English and visual picture clues on both the dice and game boards!
新年快乐 Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!
We had such fun learning about Chinese New Year. I was impressed with how much students had retained from our learning last year. Having the opportunity to extend our learning this year allowed us to broaden our empathy and cultural awareness. This year, we had fun celebrating the Year of the Monkey.
Many Chinese people believe that, depending on what animal year you were born in, you will share similar characteristics to that year’s animal. Each time it is your animal’s year, you will have an especially lucky and prosperous year. Many of our fifth graders were born 12 years ago (January 22, 2004-February 8, 2005) in the previous Year of the Monkey. They were delighted when they realized that this would be their lucky year!
People born in the year of the monkey are thought to be witty, intelligent, and have a magnetic personality. The students enjoyed figuring out what animal correlated with their birth year. While discussing the animal traits, we realized how well the personality traits aligned with our Primary Years Programme Learner Profile. Once the connection was made, the students helped to assign attributes to all 12 of the zodiac animals.
We had such fun learning about Chinese New Year. I was impressed with how much students had retained from our learning last year. Having the opportunity to extend our learning this year allowed us to broaden our empathy and cultural awareness. This year, we had fun celebrating the Year of the Monkey.
Many Chinese people believe that, depending on what animal year you were born in, you will share similar characteristics to that year’s animal. Each time it is your animal’s year, you will have an especially lucky and prosperous year. Many of our fifth graders were born 12 years ago (January 22, 2004-February 8, 2005) in the previous Year of the Monkey. They were delighted when they realized that this would be their lucky year!
People born in the year of the monkey are thought to be witty, intelligent, and have a magnetic personality. The students enjoyed figuring out what animal correlated with their birth year. While discussing the animal traits, we realized how well the personality traits aligned with our Primary Years Programme Learner Profile. Once the connection was made, the students helped to assign attributes to all 12 of the zodiac animals.
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