Great Chinese Class!

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit one of Jung Jung's Chinese 1001 classes and was impressed by her well-structured lesson plan. She's generously given me permission to share, so take a look:

1. As the students arrived, they were immediately given a practice in which they were asked to write-out various months, dates, and times in characters. This was a great review for the students, and got them working as soon as they entered the classroom.

2. After letting the students work for a few minutes, Jung Jung pulled out a calendar from Taiwan. She then pointed to different dates on the calendar and asked students, in Chinese, for the indicated date. This gave students the opportunity to practice saying aloud the months and days as well as prompting them to formulate their responses quickly. Jung Jung also pointed out some of the beautiful photos of Taiwan, giving the students a sense of the landscape.

3. She then quickly shifted to asking students about their ages and birthdays. The questions were quick-paced and conversational, and Jung Jung's encouraging attitude made all students comfortable participating. When a student struggled, she pulled out a set of flashcards and quickly reviewed the numbers with the group by having the students look at the character and say the proper number, and then to count without looking at the characters.

To read more of Jung Jung's lesson, click below...



4. Students were then asked to take out a piece of paper and write sentences telling their own birthdays, and the birthdays of three family members. After they'd written the information in characters, they then questioned a partner about the their birthdays and their family's birthdays. Finally, students switched papers with another student, and reported the information to the class, saying "Marla's birthday is in October. Her sister's birthday is May 2nd..." (in Chinese, of course). Throughout the practice, Jung Jung was correcting mistakes and modeling pronunciation.

5. The students then reviewed the new vocabulary and used it to discuss the foods they like and don't like. Each student made an original statement about their identity and their food preferences, for example - "I am American, but I don't like American food. I like Chinese food." Students were then asked if they liked different types of foods and cuisines.

6. Students then reviewed the dialogue. After listening and repeating after Jung Jung, they discussed the new vocabulary in context. They then practiced saying the new dialogue themselves.

By the end of the period, students could answer questions about dates and times, discuss their ages and birthdays - and the birthdays of family members, and use the new vocabulary to compare their food preferences.Wonderful job, Jung Jung!