The instructor’s monthly notes
You might have noticed that ever since we started level 2 of 《小羊上山》, each lesson took a much longer time to complete. This is because beside more vocabulary and characters, each lesson contains rich information of other disciplines. For example, 《小熊和妈妈》introduced seasons, bear’s habitats, food, and hibernation. Connection, as one of the 5-Cs in the ACTFL standards for learning languages (https://www.actfl.org/educator-resources/world-readiness-standards-for-learning-languages/standards-summary), is emphasized in this level of 《小羊上山》 now. At this age, mastering basic characters and being able to read the content that is as in-depth as the books they read in English is critical. Measuring the quantities of characters they can read and write is one way to estimate students’ language proficiency levels. Under that measurable iceberg, the unseen connections students made with other disciplines, the comparisons they made between languages and cultures, the understanding of cultural products and perspectives, are the foundation that supports their visible communication skills.
A conclusion of September 2023 sessions
Besides learning 《小熊和妈妈》, we added two stories and a poem to this month’s learning content and theme: Mid-Autumn Festival. One book was 《小星星的大月饼》 and the other story was 《月亮灯》. The former book is the Chinese version of a Caldecott Honor Book A Big Mooncake for Little Star from award-winning and bestselling author-illustrator Grace Lin. This heart-warming story has many words we already learned and it also shows phases of the moon. The latter story uses metaphors to talk about different shapes of the moon. For the theme of the moon, 《静夜思》 was added to this month of learning naturally, after we learned many characters of this classic poem. I enjoyed hearing students sing this poem in class.
We completed our September sessions with a mini celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Thank you for joining us to make snow-skin mooncakes last Sunday! Someday when they recall their Chinese language lessons, the great time they spent with their parents and grandparents and the unique and sweet taste of the mooncakes they handmade with their families will emerge in their minds. This cultural practice will lead them to explore cultural perspectives and connect them with their parents and grandparents deeply in an unspoken way.
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