Chinese New Year
Seasonal Suggestions
Chinese New Year falls on February 5th this year. It's a great opportunity to teach your pupils about the rich culture, history and languages of China, whilst also practising digital skills.
The Language Mix
Mandarin is the most widely spoken language on Earth, let's learn a bit whilst also practising our Welsh.
Mixing Languages
Key Stage 2
Did you know that nearly 15% of the world speak Mandarin as a first language? It can be easy to learn a few words, and the pupils can practise their Welsh at the same time!
Using Google Translate, find the Mandarin for some key phrases (hello, goodbye, good morning, please, thank you etc.).
Record the English, Welsh and Mandarin for each phrase using one of these suggestions:
- Simply copy and paste them into a table (you can use this Google Doc if you wish)
- Use Google Slides or PowerPoint to create a slide for each phrase. You could find YouTube videos of the words being said and add them to your presentation.
- Use Book Creator and you can add voice recordings as well (see Year 3, 3.2 'Creating')
- Make a video of the pupils saying each phrase in the three languages. (see Year 4, 3.2 'Creating')
Ability Variation
The difficulty level can be easily changed by reducing the number of phrases or by keeping to a simple table in Google Docs/Word instead of the more time consuming Slides/Video.
Success Criteria
- I can find words in other languages using online translation.
Word Processing
- I can change the colour, size and font of text.
- I can insert images from the computer and the web.
Presentation/Book Creator
- I can insert text boxes, images, video and sound into a presentation.
- I can crop images to the correct size.
- I can change background colour and design for my slides.
Video
- I can film a video clip, import it into a movie editor and crop it.
- I can add titles and music to my movie.
Framework Elements
Main Framework Element(s)
3.2 - Creating
Other Framework Element(s)
2.2 - Collaboration
2.3 Storing and Sharing
Mapping China
Years 1-6
China is a big country, with sprawling cities that grow at an incredible rate. Use mapping tools to find these cities on a map and, for the more confident pupils, learn more about the cities and measure the distance between them.
Years 1/2
- Using Google My Maps (accessible from Google Drive's 'New' menu) pupils search for China's 5 biggest cities (give them a list of the names) and add a pin to each one.
- Pupil should then add a picture to each pin of a landmark from that city.
- Discuss the difference in size between these cities and Welsh cities (e.g. the city of Guangzhou has over 13m inhabitants, that's more than 4 times all of Wales!)
Years 3/4
- Pupils should follow the same activity as above, however they should search for the 5-10 biggest cities themselves instead of being given a list.
- In Google My Maps, pupils can change the colour and icon of each city's pin.
Years 5/6
- Follow the same activity as Years 3/4, but after pinning each city and adding a photo, they should then add a little text (e.g. population size, major attraction)
- Using Google My Map's measuring tool (looks like a ruler underneath the search bar), pupils should work out the distance between the cities of Yumen and Guangzhou and then look at how far from their own school/village/town would the same distance take them.
Bonus
Using Google Earth Timelapse, look at how Guangzhou has changed over the past 30 years or so - spreading out to swallow huge amounts of countryside around it. Discuss what effects this may have on the planet and on the people living there.
Success Criteria
Years 1/2
- I can find cities on an online map.
- I can mark locations on a map and add images.
Year 3/4
- I can search online for simple information.
- I can create an interactive map of specific locations.
Years 5/6
- I can search online for information about locations.
- I can create an interactive map of specific locations
- I can use online tools to measure distances between two points on Earth.
Framework Elements
Main Framework Element(s)
3.1 - Planning, Sourcing and Searching
3.2 - Creating
The Race of the Chinese Zodiac
The Year of the Pig is about to begin so code an animation of the traditional story of a race between the zodiac animals.