CERCLL2009Summer_ReadingActivities

Reading Activities for Chinese Classes with Different Textbooks

CERCLL Workshop 2009 Summer | University of ArizonaKe Peng | [email protected]

Textbooks Sampled Here

I. Learn Chinese with Me 跟我学汉语People’s Education Press

II. Communicating in Chinese 汉语交流Far Eastern Publications

III. Integrated Chinese 中文听说读写 Cheng & Tsui Publications

IV. Jia You: Chinese for the Global Community 加油Beijing Normal University Press

Reading Activities for Chinese ClassI. Various types of reading activities for Chinese class

- top-down versus bottom-up reading model- reading for fun versus reading for learning- communication-oriented versus grammar-emphasized exercises…. impossible to make a inclusive list …

II. Reading activities may vary with different purposes, for students at different proficiency levels.

III. Some Sample Reading Activities Here ：- Picturization with Flashcards- Reconstruction of Texts- Incorporating Authentic Materials (pictures, audio, Video, online resources)

- Mutual Dictation & Group Presentation

Features o Learn Chinese with Me is a series of textbook designed especially for middle or

high school students. It is mainly targeted at high school students or teenagers aged between 15 and 18 learning Chinese as a second language whose mother

tongue is English. Online Resources

http://www.hanyu.com.cn/oldedition/genwxhy/Fram02.htm

Textbook Snapshots1. Look & Say

2. New Words

3. Dialogue

4. Read Aloud

5. Ask & Answer Questions

6. Class Activity: Interview

7. Phonetics

8. Learn to Write Characters

9. Examples of Components

Learn Chinese with Me | Lesson 20 你每天几点起床？

http://www.hanyu.com.cn/oldedition/genwxhy/Fram02.htm

Evaluation• The textbook is excellent for children who learn Chinese in middle school or high

school. The textbook includes colored pictures/ texts with simple activities. From the second book of the series, songs and poems are also integrated into the book. It is designed with children’s characteristics in mind.

• Even though students start to learn Chinese characters from the very beginning, the textbook provides systematic phonetic rules and strategies to memorize characters step-by-step.

• The companion website provides an animated clip for the text, however, no other resources or activities are available from the site.

Sample Reading Activity for Lesson 20• Warm-up: to ask students to create their own flashcards • Picturization: to associate the flash cards with pictures• Put Flashcards in Order [Pair Work] • Read Aloud: to retell the story with flash cards

Learn Chinese with Me | Lesson 20 你每天几点起床？

Online Resource Snapshots

o Warm-up Tell students that they are going to learn about time and schedule. Ask students to

make their own Chinese flash cards. Divide the students into two groups. Group 1 make their flash cards with Chinese characters only, while Group 2 make their flash cards with pictures only.

o Picturization

Ask students to work in pairs. When the teacher say one word, students need to find out the word from their flashcards. Help each pair of students to associate the characters with the pictures. Allow a few minutes for students to ask questions.

o Put Pictures/ Flashcards in Order

The teacher can play the animation clip online or read the text. Accordingly, ask students to lay out their flashcards/ pictures in order. Make sure all the students get the right order.

o Read Aloud Ask students to read aloud the character flashcards and retell the story in their own

words.

Learn Chinese with Me | Lesson 20 你每天几点起床

Features o Communicating in Chinese is for the beginning learner. The series includes three

student books and two teacher activity books (the activity books are available online as PDFs at yalebooks.com/cic), and provides the framework for a proficiency-based approach to learning standard Chinese.

o The program consists of a series of graded tasks that approximate the real-life tasks that a student might face. The approach requires students to learn and manipulate vocabulary and structures to achieve specific real-life ends. The content of each lesson provides the student with the necessary resources, and the practice to develop the necessary skills, to use Chinese to achieve these ends.

Online Resourceshttp://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/cicancillary.asp

Textbook Snapshots for Unit 51. Basic Monetary Transactions

2. Color, Size & Shape

3. Common Objects

4. Clothing

5. Comparing Size, Color, Price & Quantity

Communicating in Chinese|汉语交流Unit 5 Let’s go shopping. 我们去买东西吧！

Evaluation• The textbook utilizes task-based approach to introduce basic vocabulary and

patterns in real-life scenarios. Each unit blends different types of authentic materials into a coherent theme and develop the theme with necessary resources and exercises. The focus is on the learner, and students need to take imitative to develop their own strategies to determine and express meaning.

Sample Reading Activity• Since this textbook itself provides resourceful authentic pictures, words and

exercises, the students have plenty of exposure to real-life texts and signs. Whole Language Approach is suggested when using this textbook in order to help develop students’ strategies and skills in reading Chinese as a foreign language.

• It would be a great idea for students to communicate and interact on a web-based community or social-network (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The teacher can suggest a discussion online. For instance, ask students to talk about what they bought in the last three months and show the pictures of the goods. Other students can evaluate or make comments.

Communicating in Chinese |Unit 5 我们去买东西吧！

Features o Integrated Chinese is already the leading introductory Chinese textbook at

colleges and universities around the world. The Integrated Chinese series is a two-year course that includes textbooks, workbooks, character workbooks, audio CDs, multimedia resources, and teacher's handbooks. Materials are available in both simplified character and traditional character versions.

Online Resourceshttp://eastasia.hawaii.edu/yao/icusers/

Textbook Snapshots1. Vocabulary List 1 & 2

2. Dialogue 1 & 2

3. Grammar

4. Pattern Drills

5. English Translation

Integrated Chinese| Lesson 15 生日晚会

Evaluation• The textbook is widely used in colleges/ universities and therefore has enormous

amount of online resources for teachers (e.g. PowerPoint Slides, Flashcards, etc.). This textbook elaborates on grammar patterns and drills, however, it does not provide any communicative or interactive activities. Teachers have to work hard on their own to figure out how to make their class more interesting and interactive when using this textbook series.

Sample Reading Activity for Lesson 15 – Text Reconstruction• Preparation: make copies of the text you want to be reconstructed• Pre-questions or Video Clips: to engage students in the activity • Reconstructing the text: to help students to develop reading strategies and skills

Online Resource Snapshots


o Preparation Select a passage that is related to the topic of the lesson and make copies of it. Then

divide the passage by the number of students you have in your class, and cut the text up in small pieces. (Or, you can pair students up and have them work on only one piece of the text, which allows students to interact even more during the activity. ) You can also take some dictionaries into the classroom. They could be used in case students have problems in guessing the meaning of the new words from the context.

o Pre-questions Ask the students the pre-questions, so they can get more interested and motivated to

perform the activity. In this case (Birthday Party), you could start by asking the students what their birthday parties are like. You might even show a few minutes of a clip of birthday party, and then propose the activity for the students.

o Reconstructing the Text

After you have asked the students all the pre-reading questions you should give each one of them a piece of the text. If students cannot guess the meaning of a new word from the context they are free to use a dictionary. After the students have read and understood their part, they should summarize it to the class using his/her own words. The class, as a group will reconstruct the text so it returns to its original sequence. After they have finished, the teacher may hand in the original text and discuss it with the group.


Features • Jia You! Chinese for the Global Community is a full-year program for advanced

intermediate students of (Mandarin) Chinese. It is designed for college students in second or third-year Chinese as a foreign language program and senior high school students taking the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam.

• Jia You! encompasses 10 units and is divided into two volumes. Each unit addresses a specific theme of contemporary or historical Chinese culture with two lessons designed around the theme. Each lesson consists of Chinese texts, content-based presentations of vocabulary, grammar, common expressions, and exercises. The complete program includes the textbooks, Workbooks, Audio CDs, Video on DVD and a companion website.

Companion Website (http://jiayou.cengageasia.com) • Three Reading Activities:

– Reading a notice and finish some multiple-choice exercises;– Read some Chinese words/ phrases and type in Chinese texts；– Explore the web and read some authentic materials online.

Jia You 加油！ | Lesson 4: 伴娘的服装

Jia You 加油！ | Textbook Snapshots1. Pre-reading Text

2. Vocabulary

3. Vocabulary in Context

4. Language Connection

5. Common Expressions

6. Recap & Discussion

7. Communication Corner

8. Writing Task

9. My views on Unisex

Clothes

Jia You 加油！ | Online Reading Activities (Snapshots 1-2)

1. Reading a notice and finish some multiple-choice exercises

2. Read some Chinese words/ phrases and type in Chinese texts

Jia You 加油！ | Online Reading Activities (Snapshots 3-4)

3. Explore the web and read some authentic materials online

4. One web link

Evaluation• The textbook includes many pictures, which is very helpful for students to grasp the

main idea. However, there are many new words in the vocabulary for each unit. It is a big challenge for students.

• The theme/ content is highly culturally-based and it is very interesting. • The Companion Website provides some web links for further exploration of online

materials on the topic. However, some links do not work (e.g. video links). Besides, no specific instruction or aid is provided for the linked website.

Sample Reading Activity for Lesson 4– Warmer: wedding video & picture sharing– Mutual Dictation: to get familiar with the text/ vocabulary/ expressions – Group Work: plan a wedding & prepare a short presentation.


o Warmer Show students some wedding pictures and a wedding video. Invite students to share

their experiences with wedding. Encourage them to discuss the differences between Chinese weddings and western weddings. Tell students that they are going to learn about the Chinese customs with wedding.

o Mutual dictation

Give each pair one copy of the incomplete text and another version of the incomplete text. Tell the pairs to face each other but to conceal their worksheet from their partner. Explain that they must fill in the gaps in their text by asking their partner for the information they need. When they have finished, ask the students to swap worksheets and compare their answers. Finally, allow a few minutes for students to read the text through as a whole. Answer any vocabulary questions that arise.

o Group Planning Organism students into small groups and tell them that they are going to plan a

wedding for a couple in the group. Give out a checklist to each group and explain that these are their guidelines. Tell them that they will need to prepare a short presentation on their wedding. You could also provide them with some colored pens so they can make a poster to exhibit it.
