Meeting with Friends, Mandarin Chinese, Novice Low/Novice Mid
Please Note: Many of the activities on the Pathways Project OER Repository were created by upper-division students at Boise State University and serve as a foundation that our community of practice can build upon and refine. While they are polished, we welcome and encourage collaboration from language instructors to help modify grammar, syntax, and content where needed. Kindly contact pathwaysproject@boisestate.edu with any suggestions and we will update the content in a timely manner. — The Pathways Project
About the Boise State World Languages Resource Center (WLRC) Language Activity Repository
The activities provided by the Boise State World Languages Resource Center (WLRC) serve as foundational activities which can be adapted by any language and scaled up or down on the proficiency scale. Many of these activities offer an English Version that is “language-agnostic” to provide language instructors from around the country a platform to remix these instructional materials, infusing them with their target language and culture! The activities within the Pathways Project OER Repository seek to help students solidify their interpersonal speaking and interpretive skills through task-based situations or communicative activities. These activities should be facilitated in the target language for approximately 90% (or more), per the recommendation of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
How to use the WLRC Repository’s Activities:
1. Use the Activity as is:
Before you begin:
- Most activities are 30 minutes in duration, unless otherwise specified.
- Be sure to read through the activity description, and review the list of required materials. You will notice that the activity materials are also highlighted in yellow throughout the activity instructions.
If you have any suggestions about grammar, syntax, and content, please kindly contact pathwaysproject@boisestate.edu.
2. Remix for Your Language Classroom:
When you are ready to begin remixing the activity, in order to adapt it for the needs of your language classroom, simply click the blue “Remix This Resource” button at the top of your screen. This will then take you to a screen with a NEW, editable version of this activity. The text provided in purple is a suggestion of what you might say to your students in the target language, and may be altered for different levels and age groups. All activities have “NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do” statements, a warm-up, a main activity, and a wrap-up.
Many of the activities include printable cards and other instructional materials such as Google Slideshows. If you would like to make changes to these materials for your classroom, follow the instructions below:
- Google Slideshows:
- To begin, go to File -> Copy to create an editable version of the slideshow.
- Once finished with your changes, please complete the following steps to share:
- Click on Share
- Who Has Access
- Ensure link sharing is on and allow external access.
- Materials Saved as PDF: Please email pathwaysproject@boisestate.edu and we will provide you with an editable copy. Please allow up to two business days for a response. For YouTube videos and other websites, hyperlinks are provided.
3. Adapt for Another Language:
- See the linked English Version at the top of the activity (English Version may not be available for all activities)
Meeting with Friends (Novice-Low)
Description:
In this activity students will practice creating short narratives in Chinese by creating a mad-libs like story. Students will take turns picking cards from different categories to fit together in a short story. Students will then share their short story out loud. Students will also read invitations for different types of parties and answer comprehension questions.
Proficiency Level:
Novice Low
Keywords:
China, real-world practice, greetings, introductions, invitations, daily life, story telling, Chinese
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can understand the details on an invitation to an event
- I can accept or reject an invitation in Chinese
- I can tell a short story about an event in the present tense
NCSSFL-ACTFL World-Readiness Standards
- Standard 1.1 - Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions in Chinese
- Standard 1.2 - Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics in Chinese
- Standard 1.3 - Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics
- Standard 4.1 - Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the Chinese language with their own
Idaho State World Language Standards :
- COMM 1.1 - Interact and negotiate meaning (spoken, signed, written conversation) to share information, reactions, feelings, and opinions
- COMM 2.1 - Understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics.
- COMM 3.1 - Present information, concepts, and ideas to inform, explain, persuade, and narrate on a variety of topics using appropriate media in the target language.
- CONN 2.1 - Access authentic materials prepared in the target language by or for native speakers.
- CONN 2.2 - Analyze the content and cultural perspectives of authentic materials prepared in the target language by or for native speakers
Materials Needed:
Warm-up
1. Begin by introducing the Can-Dos for today’s activity and spend some time to review appearances.
Main Activity
This lab is in two parts. The first part is a mad-lib style story creation, the second is a reading comprehension activity with party invitations
Part One:
1. One at a time, each student will pick 2 character cards (orange) 1 location card (purple) 3 action cards (blue) and one negative card (red) and lay them out according to the layout of the story map
2. After all the cards are picked and arranged, have the student who picked the last card read out the entire short story
3. Once all students have had the opportunity to read their short story, move on to part two of the lab
Part Two:
1. In student pairs, as a larger group, or individually (depending on group size/level/or however you would like to facilitate this part of the lab) pass out a random invitation to each pair/student
2. Give students a few minutes (about 5) to look at the invitations. Ask students to try understand as much as they can and to ignore any words or details they can't recognize (they should at least be able to understand dates/times on each invitation, possibly some of the event details or locations)
3. After about 5 minutes, turn to each group/individual and ask a few simple questions about their invitation
你们的 invitation 是什么？What is your invitation for?
在什么地方？At what place?
几月几号？What is the date?
几点？What time?
你要不要去？ 为什么？Do you want to go? Why/Why not?
4. If choosing to do this activity as a larger group, choose an invitation at random and place it in the center of the group. Read it out loud with the group and then ask them the above questions as a group
End of lab:
• Read Can-Do statements once more and have students evaluate their confidence.
(Use thumbs up/thumbs down or download our student cards.)
• Encourage students to be honest in their self-evaluation.
• Pay attention, and try to use feedback for future labs!
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can understand the details on an invitation to an event
- I can accept or reject an invitation in Chinese
- I can tell a short story about an event in the present tense
Where are we? Rate yourself on the weekly Can-Do Statements using this scale: I get it!, I got it!, I kind of get it..., I don't get it...