In the season of fragrant osmanthus, the Chinese-language group of Shanghai United International School Qingpu Campus invited an expert to come and give guidance to two language classes taught by two language teachers, Yao Ming Yun and Zhao Jia Nuo. The experts also gave guidance and instructions on how to implement the standards in the classroom. Ms. Helen Liu, the campus’ Assistant Principal, and Ms. Michelle Song , Executive Deputy-Head of the school’s Primary Division, participated in a comprehensive teaching and research activity.
The two teachers and the whole language team worked together to study and polish the language curriculum design around the requirements of the Standards, focusing on the main idea of the unit, and carefully setting up classroom sessions and exercises, presenting two distinctive and fascinating language classes.
Ms. Yao Ming Juan, a fifth grade teacher, chose the ancient poem “Shi Er” and “Ti Lin An Di” and designed three reading sessions using inter-textual references, aiming at building students’ emotions more deeply by setting up a three-dimensional structure for understanding the poetry. Ms. Yao closely followed the unit’s objectives: to combine information to appreciate the thoughts and feelings expressed by the author and to skillfully add background information about the poet’s era. By learning what was appropriate and unique, students could enter the poet’s heart and appreciate the feelings of family and country contained in the poem.
Ms. Zhao Jia Nuo, a second grade teacher, chose the text –“The Wonderful Stones of Huangshan Mountain” to create the real sense of visiting the scenic area of Huangshan Mountain. She led the children to experience the interesting and magical wonders experienced there by grasping key words, connecting with the context and performing physically, and expressing their feelings through various forms of reading aloud. Based on this, Ms. Zhao guided students to acquire vivid language from the text though her attempt at being a small tour guide at Huangshan Mountain, introducing the wondrous edifice to both Chinese and foreign tourists. She also combined the theme of the unit “Hometown” , guiding students to experience the great rivers and mountains of our country while at the same time developing their language expression.
After class, the expert gave full encouragement and affirmation to the two teachers’ lessons, and provided targeted suggestions and guidance to the teachers based on the interpretation of the curriculum.
The Chinese-Language Curriculum proposes that: “the language curriculum should guide students to love their national language, to appreciate literature, to accumulate language experience through active language practice in an authentic language use environment, to experience the characteristics and laws of language and script use, to develop the ability to use language and script. At the same time, students should develop thinking skills, improve the quality of their thinking , develop an aesthetic consciousness, cultivate an elegant aesthetic sentiment, accumulate rich cultural heritage, inherit and carry forward traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture, enhance understanding and awareness of Xi Jinping’s socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and comprehensively improve their core literacy.”
Accordingly, the expert pointed out that language classes should create as many authentic language use situations for students as possible and encourage them to engage in active language practice from which they can be motivated to accumulate language experience, thus slowly teaching them to live by the language as a native language tool in modern society. She also dissected the nature of the core literacy developed by the language curriculum. The core language literacy is constructed by students’ engagement in language practice activities, is expressed in authentic language use situations, and is a combination of cultural confidence and language use, thinking skills, and aesthetic creativity. The expert also provided teachers with many forward-looking and practical suggestions and strategies, which effectively broadened the teaching vision and pattern of every teacher in the language team of the primary department, and empowered teachers to begin implementing the curriculum in their future teaching. We believe that the teaching activities of the whole language team will have clearer and more curriculum-oriented goals in the future.
We have gained a lot from this teaching and research activity, and for each teacher in the language group, it also provided an opportunity for deep reflection. So, let’s listen together to teachers’ thoughts.
Ms. Ma An Qi: Ms. Zhao followed the practices for students’ physical and mental development and language learning, used teaching strategies creatively, and paid attention to the use of teaching techniques. The teaching effect of “interest is stronger in the eyes” was achieved. The teaching method was active, the language training was practical, and the effect was remarkable. Students were able to fully understand the interest of the Earth and feel the beauty and magic of Huangshan Mountain in the process of reading. Ms. Zhao used reading, acting, speaking, comparing and other forms, supplemented by the appropriate use of e-learning media, so that throughout the learning activities students maintained a strong desire to learn, in a state of active participation. The experts’ analysis of the classroom with the new standards was very beneficial to our practice. The language classroom is a place to let children practice language actively in a real language environment so that they can accumulate rich language experience.
Throughout the lesson, Ms. Zhao interspersed various forms of reading activities, allowing students to use their brains and hands more often, mobilizing multiple senses to participate in the learning process, and improving the effectiveness of the language classroom. The design of the whole lesson fully respected the students’ main position. At the same time, the teacher’s heart with beautiful pictures, students into the mood of the recitation, rendering the atmosphere, through the study of the strange stone, so that students appreciate the “strange” Huangshan strange stone. Ms. Yao’s lesson was surprising in that she interweaved the two poems with the context of the time period of “Shi Er” and “Ti Xi Lin Bi”. She compared and contrasted Lu You’s poems, advancing the emotions and encouraging students to spontaneously add deeper understanding and emotional experience to their readings. The teacher’s guiding language was also expressive, emotionally charged, advanced step by step, and stirred to the heart.
The essence of education is not one-way indoctrination but awakening the potential within people. In Ms. Yao’s and Ms. Zhao’s classrooms, I felt that their classroom charm brought more than just book knowledge to the children, opening up the students’ knowledge of language subjects and encouraging them to explore and think on their own. I also benefited from the interpretation of the latest language curriculum standards by the famous expert, who pointed out the fundamental meaning of language teaching from both the nature and concepts of the new curriculum, which helped me grasp the teaching objectives and directions more clearly in the subsequent lesson preparation process.
The Chinese-language team from our Primary School division actively collaborated and explored throughout this teaching and research activity, constantly broadening their teaching horizons, improving their teaching skills, and reaping fruitful learning results. In addition, this activity also inspired the teachers to implement the new requirements of the curriculum into their own classrooms more effectively and efficiently. It is believed that the Chinese-language team of will continue to make new breakthroughs in teaching under the tutelage of experts.