Denver Public Schools
Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! – A Chinese New Year Celebration
Looking for ideas for your Lunar New Year celebration? Check out an interdisciplinary unit of study that includes lessons in counting, calligraphy, culture, geography, literature, art, and music. Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! (May you...
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Chinese New Year
Students explore the Chinese New Year celebration. Through the use of interactive video and the Internet, they will examine the sequence of events that occur during the preparation and festivities. Students compare the Chinese New Year...
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New Year Celebrations Around the Globe
Students view art images of Norman Rockwell's family traditions and celebrations. They search the internet for information, and complete reflective and creative writing and sketch assignments. Students recognize and name emotions shown...
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Our Friends in the East
Learners explore Chinese New Year. For this Chinese culture lesson, students visit websites to research the traditions and culture of China as they relate to Chinese New Year.
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Day of the Dragon King
Second graders explore various cultures to compare them to their own culture. They read Mary Pope Osborne's Day of the Dragon King and identify the Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, and how the zodiac differs from ours. After reading,...
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Chinese Lanterns
Pupils research Chinese culture, the lunar calendar, and how the new year is celebrated in China. They research several different meaningful Chinese characters. Students paint animal figures and Chinese characters then cut and fold...
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Paper Dragon Puppet
Young scholars construct simple dragon puppets in honor of Chinese New Year. They are introduced to Chinese mythology, make the puppets out of recycled materials and put on a show with the finished puppets.
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Animals of the Chinese Zodiac
Third graders study the elements of the Chinese zodiac. They observe the placement of the animals on the zodiac chart while studying the Chinese New Year.
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Research Project
Students explore Chinese New Year, complete a cyber hunt, and write a report which includes pictures, using the information they found.
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Predicting a Solution to a Problem
Students explore story structure. In this story structure literacy lesson, students listen to the story Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, stopping at points to identify a problem and predict possible solutions which are then written on...
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Chinese New Year: Paper Lanterns
First graders study the celebrations of Chinese New Year. They practice measuring and cutting to make paper lanterns.
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Chinese Inventions
Students identify inventions as coming from China. In this Chinese inventions lesson, students are given a list of common items such as cast iron, a wheelbarrow, and the decimal system, then conduct research to identify where they were...
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The Year of the Rabbit
Learners explore a portion of the Chinese Zodiac with projects centered around the year of the rabbit. Students research types of rabbits, actual and fictional. Working in groups, they create a written or multimedia presentation.
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How Cultures Differ "Two Different Perspectives on the Same Event
Learners read excerpts from Peter Hessler's River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze and discuss his difficulties in learning the language, cultural clashes and how cultural perceptions shape our understanding of the world.
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Language Arts: Biography and Autobiography
Students examine autobiographies and biographies through a series of reading and writing exercises. By writing journals during this semester-long course, they improve writing skills and discover their own voice. Among other activities,...
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Journalism: Foreign Language Summer Program for Teens
Young scholars research the new Foreign Language Academy and other free summer programs at colleges for teens. They write features stories about the opportunities and interview deans and university officials. Students also interview...
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Historical Moments
Here is a instructional activity designed to be an ongoing task for the entire year. Each day of the week, learners must perform research to answer a simple historical question. This particular instructional activity covers the month of...
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Keep Heritage Alive
Youngsters share ideas about cultural and/or spiritual rituals by participating in a fishbowl discussion, which explores the ways rituals have changed over time. They write reflective essays about their own cultural traditions.
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Picnics-- Chinese Style
Third graders explore about the Chinese rituals of poetry competition. They compare and contrast Chinese picnics with American picnics. Students create short poems, celebrating their own spring poetry picnic. They discuss words or...
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Poetry Coffeehouse
This resource contains a vague plan for a poetry unit conducted at an elementary school during the month of February. Although this plan does not included detailed instructional strategies, this does outline a basic unit, some creative...
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How a Writer Conveys Descriptions With a Wallop Lesson 3 for Running (From River Town)
Students examine strategies an author uses to provide qualitative and quantitative aspects of life in China. They apply the strategies to their own writing.
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A Day in the Life of a Homeless Person
Learners examine the day in the life of a homeless person. In this humanitarian lesson, students examine the life of a homeless person while discovering the importance of social justice in our society.
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How Cultures Differ - Two Different Perspectives on the Same Even
Students explore the effects of culture through the story Running by Peter Hessler. For this geography and cultural lesson, students act as newspaper reporters covering the story of the race. Students write newspaper articles as...
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On the Road with Marco Polo: Marco Polo in China
Young scholars trace Marco Polo's route into China and use the Internet to research major products fabricated in 13th century China. They discuss their findings and write a report on either: silk, porcelain, jade, lacquerware or tea.