Curriculum Resource

Activity 1: Know Want Learnt part 1

Teaching and learning goal: Students demonstrate what they already know about the topic and what they would like to learn during the learning sequence.

Dimension(s): Writing

Teacher notes: Students work on computers to complete the KWL template In Microsoft Word. KWL stands for the following:

• K = What I Know
• W = What I Want to Learn
• L = What I have Learnt

In the K column, ask students to write down what language skills they already have to enable them to talk about travelling. In the W column, ask students to type in what they would like to order to describe their travel plans. Students will complete the L column at the end of the sequence.

Ask students to share what they would like to learn in this sequence. This will support you to plan supplementary activities to cater to your students' interests.

Activity 2: Days and times

Diagnostic test

Teaching and learning goal: Ascertain students' prior knowledge and identify any students who may require additional support with days and times in Chinese.

Dimension(s): Listening, reading and writing

Teacher notes: Ask students to independently complete the quiz sheet to revise days of the week and times of the day in Chinese. You may wish to complete section 3 first as it requires a listening component (audio file provided).

Ask students to swap sheets. Read aloud the correct answers and ask students to correct their classmate's quiz. A solutions sheet is provided.

Time match-up

Teaching and learning goal: Students revise the sentence structure 'Is it ____ or ____?'

Dimension(s): Listening and speaking

Teacher notes: Use the interactive clock to show the class 8.00 and ask them: 是五点还是八点? (Is it 5.00 or 8:00?). Select one student to provide the answer. Select three more times on the clock and model three more sentences to the class:

• 是十点零八还是八点十分？(Is it 10:08 or 8:10?)
• 是七点半还是九点半？(Is it 7:30 or 9:30?)
• 是六点一刻还是两点零五？(Is it 6:15 or 2:05?)

Next, ask students to volunteer to come to the front, set a time on the clock and ask the rest of the class 'Is it _____ or _____?' The students who guesses first may present the next question to the class. Repeat until students are comfortable with the sentence pattern.

Activity 3: Study subjects

School subjects

Teaching and learning goal: Students become familiar with the vocabulary for Year 9 level school subjects.

Dimension(s): Listening and reading

Teacher notes: In this activity, students independently explore the following Quizlet learning games to learn a range of subjects commonly taught at Year 9 level.

Subjects flashcards—Students read and listen to the subjects vocabulary in Chinese. They will need to click the 'Enable Audio' button to listen to the vocabulary.

Learn subjects – Students match the English and Chinese words. They can choose 'Prompt with English' to work from English to Chinese or choose 'Speak it' to hear the Chinese word and type the English meaning.

Subjects scatter game – Students drag the subjects in Chinese onto their corresponding English meaning to make them disappear.

Subjects speller game – Students listen to the subject in Chinese and then type in the correct English meaning.

Subjects quiz – Students test their knowledge of the school subjects with this online quiz.

What do you study?

Teaching and learning goal: Students are introduced to how to ask what subjects someone studies and how to respond to this question.

Dimension(s): Listening and writing

Teacher notes: Model to students how to ask the question: 你上什么课？(What do you study?) and the response: 我上______ (I study...).

Watch the animation containing six dialogues demonstrating this sentence pattern. Write down the dialogue number, then write down the subject that the character studies in Chinese and English.

Subject hunt

Teaching and learning goal: Students practise the above sentence structure.

Dimension(s): Speaking and listening

Teacher notes:  Students use the above sentence pattern to conduct a survey of what subjects their classmates study. When students find a student who studies a particular subject, they enter the student's name into the relevant box in the 'Subject hunt' grid provided. Once a student has a name in each subject box on their grid, they win the game. You may wish to continue on, to allocate second and third place also.

Activity 4: Timetables

Ben's timetable

Teaching and learning goal: Students combine the previously learned sentence structure with their knowledge of days and times to ask and respond to questions about the school timetable.

Dimension(s): Reading, writing, speaking and listening

Teacher notes: Students look at Ben's timetable, written in English. Students answer the comprehension questions about Ben's timetable in Chinese on the worksheet. A solutions sheet is provided.

Students then write down three questions to ask someone about Ben's timetable in Chinese, such as 'What does he study at 9.00 on Monday?' Students pair up and take turns asking their questions and responding to each other's questions.

My timetable

Teaching and learning goal: Students translate their own school timetable into Chinese.

Dimension(s): Writing

Teacher notes: Students translate their own timetable into Chinese. A template is provided.
They then compose at least 5 sentences about the subjects they study at different times of the week and write them in their notebooks. For example:

我星期四一点四十五上中文课 (I study Chinese at 1.45 on Thursday)

Asking about timetables

Teaching and learning goal: Students further practise describing what subjects they and their classmates study at different times of the week.

Dimension(s): Speaking and listening

Teacher notes: Divide students into groups of about five. Each student in the group will pick a day of the week and a time of the day which aligns to the start of a lesson in the school timetable (e.g. 2.00pm on Tuesday). Students then interview the other students in their group in Chinese to find out what they study at that time, e.g. 你星期二两点上什么课? (What do you study at 2.00 on Tuesday?)

Students take turns to ask their question to the group. All students should note down each person's response to each question (brief notes in English are fine).

Then, looking at the notes they have taken about their group members' timetables, each student thinks of a 'True or false' question to ask the group, e.g. "True or false: Jane studies ICT at 2.00 on Tuesday". Students in the group can say their name as their 'buzzer'. The first student to 'buzz in' and respond to the true or false question earns a point. Students take turns at asking their quiz question.

Activity 5: Why Chinese?

Elective or compulsory

Teaching and learning goal: Students describe whether a subject is compulsory or not and to apply their knowledge of the sentence structure 'Is it ___ or ___?'

Dimension(s): Listening, reading and speaking

Teacher notes: Introduce students to two new words: 必修 (elective) and 选修 (compulsory). Students should note these words down in their notebook or glossary.
In the interactive provided, students listen to the example sentences (e.g. 'Art is an elective' etc) and drag and drop the subject into the correct column. They press Submit to check if they have the answered correctly.

Students look at their own timetable and write down in their notebooks whether each of their subjects is elective or compulsory. They then work with a partner and looking at each other's timetable in Chinese, they ask the question 这门课是必修还是选修? (Is this subject compulsory or elective?) in relation to each subject that their partner studies. Students take turns to ask and respond to the questions. 

Why do you study Chinese?

Teaching and learning goal: Students are introduced to the sentence structure for asking 'Why?' and responding with 'Because...'.

Dimension(s): Listening, writing and speaking.

Teacher notes: Students watch the tutorial to learn how to ask 'Why do you study_____? and to give a reason using 'Because....'

Students then write the question 你为什么上中文课？in their workbooks and write a response that explains why they study Chinese.

Adjectives revision

Teaching and learning goal: Students to revise some useful adjectives for explaining why they study a particular subject.

Dimension(s): Reading and listening

Teacher notes: In this activity, students independently explore the following Quizlet learning games to learn a range of adjectives which could be used to describe school subjects.

Adjectives Flashcards – Students read and listen to the adjectives vocabulary in Chinese. They will need to click the 'Enable Audio' button to listen to the vocabulary.

Learn Adjectives – Students match the English and Chinese words. They can choose 'Prompt with English' to work from English to Chinese or choose 'Speak it' to hear the Chinese word and type the English meaning.

Adjectives Scatter Game – Students drag the adjectives in Chinese onto their corresponding English meaning to make them disappear.

Adjectives Speller Game – Students listen to the adjective in Chinese and then type in the correct English meaning.

Reasons why I study my subjects

Teaching and learning goal: Students practise using the sentence structure explained above to explain why they study particular subjects.

Dimension(s): Listening and writing

Teacher notes: Students listen to the dialogue in the cartoon story between two students. They then transcribe it in Chinese into their notebooks and translate it into English in their notebooks. A transcript is provided to enable students to correct their work.

Then, looking at the timetable of the same partner they worked with previously, students write down how they will ask their partner why they study each subject in their timetable. They leave space to write the response to each question once they ask their classmate. Students should also prepare the reasons they will give for studying their own subjects.

Students then interview their partner and note down their reasons for studying each subject in their timetable.

Activity 6: Timetable comparison

Teaching and learning goal: Students contrast an authentic school timetable from China and their own timetable.

Dimension(s): Reading and writing

Teacher notes: For this activity, you will need an online collaborative space¹ that your students and the students at your Chinese partner school have access to. Work with the teacher at your Chinese partner school to designate a 'study buddy'² to each student.

Ask your students to upload their timetable that they created previously to the collaborative space and ask the Chinese students to also upload their weekly timetable (in Chinese or English).

Students in the Chinese and Australian partner schools look at the timetable of their 'study buddy' and write down their immediate observations about the differences and similarities between their buddy's timetable and their own. Students then form groups of 4 and share their observations with their classmates. They then discuss in their small group what kinds of questions they would like to ask their study buddy to find out more about their timetable and the subjects they study.

Students draft their questions in Chinese in their notebook, including which subjects are compulsory, why they study certain subjects and any other information they would like to find out. Students may use a Chinese-English dictionary to assist them.

Schedule a series of video conferences with your Chinese partner school, so that small groups of students (about 4 Australian students and 4 Chinese students) can interact with one another in each session. Ensure that each student's 'study buddy' is in their group.

Hold a practice session with the Chinese teacher beforehand to ensure you are able to clearly communicate with each other using your selected video conferencing application³.

Discuss with the teacher the objectives for the sessions, so that they understand the type of questions that your students will be asking them about their timetables. Collaboratively plan any additional activities for the video conference that will assist the Chinese class with their English studies or other projects they are working on.

¹Two online platforms you may wish to explore for collaboration with your partner school are Wikispaces and Edmodo.
²A 'study' buddy' system is one in which each student in the Australian class will have a designated partner in the Chinese class with whom to collaborate. You may wish to change 'study buddies' each term or each topic you teach. 
³It is recommended that you test a number of different video conferencing applications to determine which will work best for your school and your partner school. Some free applications to try are: Skype and BlackBoard Collaborate vRoom.    

Activity 7: Video conference

Teaching and learning goal: Students ask and respond to questions about their school timetable and subjects in an authentic and meaningful dialogue with native speakers.

Dimension(s): Speaking, listening and writing

Teacher notes: In their groups, students connect using the video conference application and each take turns asking questions about their study buddy's timetable in Chinese. All students should take notes during the conference to note down any unfamiliar words and any interesting observations from the responses given.

Students engage in further English discussion based on the needs and requests of the Chinese partner class.

You may choose to record the video conference as it may assist students with their reflection activity later⁵.

⁵Ensure that you have parental permission to video record your students and/or the students in your Chinese partner school and permission to upload their videos to the online collaborative space. 

Activity 8: Talking about timetables

Teaching and learning goal: Students demonstrate their understanding of the language skills covered in the sequence and evaluate their proficiency.

Dimension(s): Writing, reading, speaking and listening

Teacher notes: While groups of students are engaged in the video conference, other students may work on this video production activity.

In pairs, students draft a dialogue between a Chinese student and an Australian student exchanging information about their timetables and subject choices. Once they have reviewed and edited their written draft, students audio-record their dialogue.

They may use audio-editing software to disguise their voices if they wish. Students should also create visuals for their audio recording and publish their work as a video file. The visuals could simply be subtitles on a blank screen or could be subtitles as well as digital illustrations⁷

Students upload their completed video file to the online collaborative space to receive feedback from their Chinese study buddies. Ask the Chinese students to provide feedback on your students' pronunciation, intonation, fluency, accuracy (of vocabulary and grammar) and creativity. The Chinese students may wish to leave their feedback in English and Chinese, or by audio recording their feedback.

⁷If students use Windows PCs, they may choose to use Audacity for audio recording, Microsoft Paint for creating illustrations and PhotoStory3 for video publishing.

Activity 9: Conclusion

Reflection

Teaching and learning goal: Students reflect on the video conference and the learnings from this topic.

Dimension(s): Listening and speaking

Teacher notes: Students reflect on the video conference in their notebook or blog, responding to the following prompt questions:

• What differences and similarities did you notice about the timetable of the Chinese students and your own school timetable?
• What were the reasons for the differences?
• What did the Chinese students find surprising about your subject choices or timetable?

Students then prepare a one-minute presentation to the class to report back on the most interesting things they discovered.

Know Want Learnt Part 2

Teaching and learning goal: Students demonstrate what they have learnt during the learning sequence.

Dimension(s): Writing

Teacher notes: Students complete the L column of their KWL sheet, reflecting on what they have learnt during the learning sequence.