By the way, I realized that in preparing this academic focus document, I am also getting better at organizing and planning my lessons more deliberately, and am being much more intentional about making sure what I teach address the standards.
Academic Focus
In teaching Mandarin Chinese, we are guided by the “The 5 Cs”: Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities, which form the core of World Language instruction as established by the National Standards for Foreign Language Education. Even our youngest students are taught within this framework.
Communication:
In Pre-K, Kindergarten, and First Grade, students will begin to build their foundation for learning Chinese language with simple greetings and responses, as well as basic vocabulary for family, numbers, animals, classroom words, and food. We use the series “My First Chinese Words” from Better Chinese, which includes many online resources that work well with interactive whiteboards. We will introduce the concept that Chinese characters represent words, but the emphasis at this level is on speaking Chinese and developing a natural ear for pronunciation and recognizing the four tones in Mandarin Chinese.
In Second Grade, we will expand the foundation of basic Chinese from the primary grades and learn additional vocabulary and commonly used sentences and phrases. They will also continue to use “My First Chinese Words”, including the resources that can be used on Interactive Whiteboards. Some basic Chinese characters are introduced, especially the words which are also radicals (the building blocks of more complex characters in Chinese).
In Third through Fifth Grades, we will learn more conversational skills, using more complex sentences and additional vocabulary. The students will use the textbook series “My First Chinese Reader”, which teaches a series of dialogues in each chapter, and incorporates previous vocabulary as well as new vocabulary for each chapter. These include greetings, names (introductions), numbers (age), family members, numbers (day/dates), nationalities, and school/classroom words. These materials are also accessible online and will be used in class with an interactive whiteboard. There is more emphasis on learning characters, with a focus on recognizing radicals. This is an important skill that is necessary in order to learn to use a Chinese dictionary and look up new characters.
Culture:
Chinese culture is rich in traditions that span millennia. Students in all grades will learn about the major Chinese Festivals, including the Lunar New Year (Spring Festival), the Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival. They will hear the stories and learn about the myths that form the basis of some of the customs and traditions that are practiced for each holiday. The associated activities may include songs, stories, and crafts.
Connections:
When teaching Chinese, we continually make connections between what is learned in Chinese class to what is taught in other classes. These connections in curriculum and activities include mathematics, sentence structure, story analysis, science, and a variety of unit topics that are being taught in the contained classrooms.
Comparisons:
When learning about a Chinese holiday or festival, we will compare various aspects of the festival to more familiar Western holidays (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day). We will discuss the major festivals and Holidays celebrated in China. We will make comparisons between Chinese traditions and customs and those traditions and customs that we follow at home or with our families.
We also make comparisons between Chinese and other languages and cultures when discussing family, names, titles and occupations, sentence structure, and grammar.
Communities:
The greater Orlando area also has a strong Asian community including shops, schools, and organizations. This provides many opportunities for people in the Orlando area to participate in festivals and celebrations. Through these festivals and celebrations, we are able to expand the language learning experience beyond the walls of the school. We are also fortunate to have many students in our own school community that are from China, providing many opportunities for cross-cultural interaction.