http://www.learner.org/libraries/tfl/chinese/fu/analyze.html
- Dictation
Students write self-selected keywords from previous class on the blackboard in Chinese. The class beginning ritual is to review the previous lessons, practice the Chinese characters, and build learners autonomy. In groups (level-based), one student says the keyword and other students write it down. Practice the pronunciation and hand motion for the characters. When finished writing themselves, students exchange the sheet and check each other’s writing.
- Differentiating Instruction
Level 2: Being able to explain general situation: describe restaurant location.
Level 3: Learned food vocabulary: describe restaurant review.
Level 4: Finished classical romantic poem unit and moving towards modern ones. They are supposed to explain the history behind the poem and recite as a group.
Level 2/3 students mixed in a small group and explain each other their project in turn (help each other for pronunciations and new words), while level 4 students went to a different room to practice their skit.
- Poem
Level 4 students explain about traditional poems, which uses some directions. The level 2-3 students don’t understand everything the fellow students are saying; yet they are able to identify some directional keywords. Teacher chose authentic materials not only with directional words but also enough repetition. The students took turns to recite the poem with emotions.
- Introducing a new song
New reading for a poem. First students individually & silently read, then read aloud while helping each other for pronunciation. Watch video of the song with the poem. The music represents the Yellow River, the important cultural representation for Chinese culture and central theme for the poem.
The class was combined with level 2-4 students, very possible situation in less-taught language class at K-12 schools. In the video I found some situations where lover level students learning from upper levels, but also upper level students learn from lower level students by being reminded of keywords pronunciation and meanings. The teacher was very creative to make connections through each level, so the curriculum design is very important (as well as class management).
As for the usage of poems, I thought it’s a great idea in a language classes because poems usually use simple tense and short sentences. In Chinese, there are some differences between traditional poems and modern poems. In Japanese, we could also use Haiku or Tanka, as well as variety of poems. The students paid attention because it was the fellow students (themselves in a couple years later) who recite the poem and explain about the history behind it. Reciting also emphasized the distinct rhythm in Chinese poems.