The first Chinese Innovation Week was held in G2 and G3 this year from October 19th to 23rd in order to foster and stimulate students’ interest in learning Chinese, encourage them to experience and feel the beauty of words, and have students enjoy the pleasure of reading. This activity concluded successfully as both grades presented awards to the outstanding participants one after another on 27th and 28th.

Grade 2

During this activity, G2 native Chinese classes centered on poems and had students complete and publish two pieces of writing in a week. They saw the world with curious eyes and put their innocent views down on paper.

“School Scenes” Poems

On October 19th, G2 native Chinese students all went outdoors and walked around campus with iPad in hand to capture the beautiful moments at school. Based on the “Scene Poetry” texts that they have learned in class, they went to different places and took photos to gather information. On October 20th, they all shared their own stanzas, had a discussion with their teammates and worked hard together to finally compile their writings into complete pieces. On October 21st, all groups gathered together again to make Keynote projects to present their work, using all of their photos and words that recorded their precious and unforgettable memories of SHSID.

If I Were ...

Imagination is the soul of poetic creation. If kids had the super power to transform into anything, what would they be? Would they be the ever-changing clouds, the endless sea, or maybe a green-leafed tree? On October 22nd, G2 native Chinese students continued to explore the world of poetry. In their poems, they became a vaccine to protect the world, the birds flying up in the sky, the wind blowing through all four seasons, and the sun lighting up the universe. On October 23rd, they all read their poems with confidence. Then, the three poems that stood out in every class were all collected together for a total of 24 poems. Finally, the 24 poems were put on the LC platform so that all students and teachers could vote for the best ones. On October, 27th, the awards were presented to the winners during the G2 assembly. All of the outstanding work are already displayed in the hallway, and everyone can come to scan a QR code and listen to them!

Grade 3

When G2 students became immersed in the world of Chinese poetry, G3 students also became immersed in a fairy-tale world. Through the learning of fairy-tale texts in Chinese, G3 carried out a series of rich and interesting activities related to fairy-tale stories for this year’s Chinese Innovation Week.

Share Your Favorite Fairy Tale and Dress up as Your Favorite Fairy-Tale Character.

A couple weeks before the Fairy-Tale Week, G3 teachers had students start reading the fairy tales they were interested in and write “fairy-tale reading logs.” The students selected their favorite fairy tales and characters from the stories they had read. Then, students wrote down their explanations and reasons for their choices in their reading logs. They also made exquisite illustrations of their favorite plots. Finally, students dressed up as their favorite fairy-tale characters for a day! We saw great furry little foxes, handsome little princes, and wolves! Students in lovely costumes introducing their favorite fairy-tale characters was a truly vivid sight!

Tell Fairy Tales, Show Your Personality.

Fairy-tale week, of course, was about telling fairy tales. Before the fairy-tale week, each class of grade 3 held the preliminary rounds of a “fairy-tale storytelling competition,”, and each class selected its own fairy-tale storytelling champion. On October 21st, in the auditorium of the primary school, the third-grade students finally welcomed the long-awaited “Final Storytelling King Competition.” The grade also invited Nick and Judy from Zootopia. Their appearance made the teachers and students very excited. After Nick and Judy introduced themselves, the competition began.

Eight storytelling kings from each class came onto the stage in order. In the end, Qian Jinghua from class 3-2 and Huang Youran from class 3-5 won the first place in the competition. After the competition, Nick and Judy said, “The students did a great job. We will definitely come back for this wonderful competition next year!”

Dubbing is fun!

On The 22nd of October, students again welcomed the “Fairy-Tale Cartoon Dubbing Activity.” Each class was divided into groups that dubbed over the muffled clips of fairy-tale cartoons.

Some students had deep voices that made you think Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda was really in the classroom. Some students deliberately slowed down their voices to make others laugh by mimicking a sloth from Zootopia. The students’ dubbing was so wonderful that if you only listen to the sound, you would think you are watching the original movie! The students learned many dubbing and reciting skills during this lively activity.

Write a Fairy Tale, Create a Cartoon Video, Let Your Heart Soar

The last activity of Fairy-Tale Week was the “Fairy-Tale Cartoon Creation Activity” that teachers and students had prepared for a long time and were greatly looking forward to. Long before the Fairy-Tale Week, each class had been divided into groups and each group had created a fairy tale. The children also used keynote and other software to create animated movies for their fairy tales! On the day of the event, each group presented their finished animation. The students’ final products were really impressive! Some animations had richly imaginative stories, while others had exquisite videos using pieces that were drawn by the students themselves; some others, in addition to the dubbing of the necessary story, also added special background sound effects such as the rustling of leaves and tapping of footsteps. The students created their own animation works through team cooperation, learned to appreciate each other during the animation exhibition, and gained a lot!

The annual Chinese Innovation Week has come to an end. The wonderful Chinese activities let every student experience the unique charms of Chinese while also expanding their fun and expectations for Chinese learning!

(Written by Jenny Zhang, Yonghui Chen Pictures by Teachers)