Planning for the Weather, Mandarin Chinese, Intermediate 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)
Planning for the Weather
Description:
In this activity students will help reinforce their knowledge and understanding of terminology for weather in Chinese by playing a weather charades game. Students will then prepare a weekend weather report for a Chinese city of their choice and use it to present a forecast to their classmates where they also suggest activities to do based on the weather!
Proficiency Level:
Intermediate Mid
Keywords:
weather, forecast, temperature, outside, activities, Chinese, weather report, seasons
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 spoken and written Chinese on a variety of topics.
- 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 Content Standards for World Languages:
- 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
- COMM 3.2- Adapt presentation to various audiences of listeners, readers, or viewers.
- CLTR 2.1- Analyze the significance of a product (art, music, literature, etc...) in a target culture.
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can understand a weather report in the target language
- I can plan an activity that is appropriate for the weather
- I can present information to a group of peers using the target language
Materials Needed:
Warm-up
Begin by opening the Google Slideshow and introducing the Can-Do's for today's activity.
Weather Charades!
1. One at a time, a student will pick a small weather card at random. The student will then act out a description of the type of weather on their card to try to get fellow students to guess what type of weather they picked.
2. The student who guesses the correct weather first wins the card the actor picked.
3. After all the cards have been guessed, the student with the most cards at the end wins!
Main Activity
A Weather Report
1. Each student will get a marker and a weather report sheet. Each student will also need their cell phone or a computer. (if a student has neither, stop by the lab desk and check out an ipad for use during the lab)
2. Students will each look up the weekend weather forecast for a Chinese city of their choice. The easiest way is to Google “CITY weather”
For example, google “Beijing Weather” or “Taichung Weather”
3. Students will then fill out their cards with the AM and PM high and low, as well as any type of weather happening at those times, for all three days.
4. Then, once all students have filled out their cards, they will one at a time present their card to the rest of the group as if they were a weather reporter. When they give their report, students should also suggest an activity (indoor or outdoor) that would be appropriate for the weather on each day.
Example:
”这个周末北京的天气会很好。星期五下午大约会是华氏七十五度，晚上大约会是华氏六十八度。星期五会是晴天，所以很适合去公园散步等等...“
This weekend the weather in Beijing will be wonderful. Friday afternoon will be 75 degrees, and the evening will be 68. It will be a sunny day, so it will be a good day to go for a walk in the park. etc….
Wrap-up
End of lab:
Can-Do statement check-in... “Where are we?”
- Read can-do statements and have students evaluate their confidence with cards or holding up fingers 1-5
- 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 a weather report in the target language
- I can plan an activity that is appropriate for the weather
- I can present information to a group of peers using the target language