2015
International Links
4 years ago I visited Beijing No.2 Experimental Primary School, China. During that time we saw their 100 piece choir perform 3 part harmonies in perfection. It was then that I had the idea to start my own Chinese Choir. We now have performed in the centre of Birmingham for Chinese New Year and Mid […]
UCL IOE CI Chinese Conference – Meryl James
Meryl James shared some fabulous ideas of initial approaches to beginning Mandarin. She began with explaining that once you knew the numbers, you could say the months of the year and days of the week. I liked the idea of writing the Chinese characters with your body, 人 Rén meaning person. Stand up straight with […]
12th Annual Chinese Conference UCL IOE CI – Friday
It was great to be part of the UCL IOE CI Chinese Conference. The exhibition of the Confucius Classrooms students and teachers hard work was impressive and looked beautiful after the hard work of the Hanban teachers. Katharine Carruthers, Minister Counsellor Shen, Dame Nicola Brewer and Professor Chris Husbands started the Conference with encouraging words […]
12th Annual Chinese Conference UCL IOE CI
I met so many wonderful teachers at this years conference. I promised I would share all my links and my online presentation. https://app.emaze.com/@ALCOTTTF/chinese-conference-2015 Jess McCulloch @jessmcculloch was the Australian teacher who introduces the lesson by jumping into the lesson. Follow her on twitter to see the great work and fun activities she uses in her […]
Ideas for activities for Chinese New Year 中国新年 Zhōngguó xīnnián – Couplets 对联 duìlián
Chinese couplets对联 duì lián, are a pair of poem lines that decorate the door on either side as decorations for Chinese New Year. We have been making them in our lessons to decorate all the classroom doors around the school. Here are the two couples we have been using Sìjì píng’ān 四季平安 Four seasons peace […]
Ideas for activities for Chinese New Year 中国新年 Zhōngguó xīnnián – Chinese Lanterns
I will be sharing some great ideas for activities for your students to be decorating your classroom for Chinese New Year 中国新年 Zhōngguó xīnnián. Make a simple lanterns 灯笼 Dēnglóng by folding your paper or card in half and cutting every 1.5cm from the fold but not the edge of the paper leaving about 1.5cm from the […]
Getting them writing #2 中国书法 Zhōngguó shūfǎ – Writing on mini white boards and desks!
Using mini white boards means that the children are more confident to give it a go. They are free to make mistakes. You can photograph as well as photocopy them for paper evidence to go in their folder. You can instantly see how the students are progressing if you get them to hold their boards […]
Getting them writing series 中国书法 Zhōngguó shūfǎ – APPs
There are a lot of apps available for iOS devices that will immediately engage students to practice writing Mandarin Chinese characters. One app is called Kids Doodle that changes colour each time you write a ske, helping you asses stroke order. It has fun rainbow colours and students can practice their characters and share the, […]
Year 2 Drawing Chinese Temples
I have been working in a school in Worcester, and in Year 2 they have been looking at Phileas Fogg and 80 Days around the World. The teachers have been very creative and the classrooms are decked out with fluffy clouds and hot air balloons and this week they have been looking at China. The […]