2014 Startalk/NHLRC Heritage Teacher Workshop
UCLA, CA
July 23-27, 2014
Traditions and Customs
of the Chinese New Year
G. Wang
Jessica Hung
W. Zhang
Student Profile
Grade Level – 9~12
HLL – both HLL(B) & HLL (N)
L2
Language proficiency:
Interpersonal speaking – Intermediate Low
Interpretive reading – Novice High
Presentational writing – Novice High
Other information about HLL:
Significant exposure to the language in the
community- signs, newspaper, commercials,
TV shows, and members in senior
community center.
Areas of need in HLL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Presentational Skill
Formal language
Writing
Connection to the community
Understanding of the heritage root
Theme: Customs of Chinese New Year
Content Objective:
Tap into community resources to
learn more about the customs
(dos & don'ts) for Chinese New
Year
Language Objectives:
1. Understand use of homophones
in Chinese New Year celebration.
2. Properly use conjunctions 要不
然 (otherwise) & 要是／假如 …
就 （If…, then)
Resources
•
-
http://finance.takungpao.com.hk/hgjj/q/201
3/0208/1273581_7.html
http://chitchat.hk/cny-whats-allabout/?lang=zh
http://finance.takungpao.com.hk/hgjj
/q/2013/0208/1273581_7.html
Community resources
•
•
•
•
Festival event
TV shows
Newspaper
Elderly members in community centers
Unit Plan
Day 1 :
- Check for prior knowledge (KWL)
- Reading authentic material
- Highlight known vocabulary
- Underline unknown vocabulary and use vocabulary
rubric to teach vocab in context
- Re-read the passage and practice text-to self
connection
Homework: Provide a glossary of key vocabulary and
assign homework to use new vocabulary to write
sentences about their experience of New Year
celebration.
Day 2:
1. Green/red cards to check understanding of the key
points of the reading
2. Teach sentence structures 要不然 (otherwise) , 假如...
就 (If.., then) by pulling out sentences from the reading
3. Use sentence starter to practice structures. Ex. 假如你
年初一掃地, 你就....
4. Complete tasks in three stations to categorize food,
activities and rationales, including homophones when
applicable.
5. Tier activities to visit the reading for the 3rd time.
• reduce the text
• change the genre
• orally summarize the text
Day 2
Homework: Write down 5 interview questions
to gain information about the customs for
Chinese New Year
Day 3:
Formative assessment:
Ss share their interview questions in pairs. They will also check the
character writing and the use of grammar for their partner.
Preparing for the interview:
- teachers elicit from Ss and create a list of questions
- talk about interview etiquette: how to address people, the use of
honorifics
- conduct practice interview in class
- whole class interview one person
Mixed tasks: Students will be paired with mixed abilities in pairs for
the interview. (Tasks that require oral output & character writing)
Summative Assessment:
Using the interview information, students will
present their finding with an essay, oral
presentation, or role play/video.
Presentation needs to include things Chinese
people eat, do or cannot do and the related
homophones.