Start by explaining to students that the Chinese word for class is课, kè, and that to make a sentence about having a certain class we can simply use any pronoun with 有 yǒu (to have), 喜欢xǐ huan(to like) or 最喜欢zuì xǐhuan (to most like / like the most) and爱ài (to love).
Play the rap song ‘My Favorite Class 我最喜欢的课 (wǒ zuì xǐ huan de kè)’ by Groovi Pauli and encourage students to try the phrases.
Song (2m 21s): My Favorite Class 我最喜欢的课 (wǒ zuì xǐ huan de kè) By Groovi Pauli & Friends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kWQqoTZEdw
Students work individually or in groups on the BBC links for information and games about school life and academic subject words.
School vocabulary and sentence structures (written and with audio files): http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/mandarin/school_day
School word memory games: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/mandarin/school_day/games
Ask students what they expect modern-day Chinese schools to be like and list some of their expectations on the whiteboard. Show students the Scootle clip which introduces some interesting cultural information about schooling in China and adds some vocabulary items too. Encourage students to take notes which could be used about themselves and their own preferences and experiences.
Scootle clip (approx 4min): ‘Being Chinese - School’ (S6443) http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/S6443/index.html
Play ‘Stepping Stones’. Play this game to help students with character recognition, in this case for the characters for different school subjects. How to play: Set up a river (using large sheets of blue paper or blue tarpaulin) over which are scattered large cards (stepping stones) with characters written on them. Students can reach the other side of the river by correctly naming the characters on the cards and stepping on the cards to move across. Tip: If the cards are laminated they can be reused numerous times. If there is a number on the corner of cards corresponding to an answer ‘key’ on a separate piece of paper then students could take turns assessing each other.
Materials required: Large sheets of blue paper or a blue tarpaulin, large cards with characters written on them (these could be constructed by students as a learning activity or prepared beforehand by you)
Computer savvy students or teachers could download the Languages Online Tetris Game Maker to create the language tasks about school subjects for students to complete. To continue through playing the game, the player must type in the correct word in response to a clue and click 'check'. If the answer is correct the game continues. If the answer is not correct then a 'bomb' falls through the game space removing any blocks in its way. The clue can be either text, pictures or voice recordings.
The Languages Online Tetris Game Maker can be downloaded at www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/games/tetris/index.htm
