Exploring the Chinese Culture

1. 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University Exploring the Chinese Culture 中国文化欣赏

2. Overview 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University This Chinese culture appreciation series aims at opening elementary and middle school students’ eyes to Chinese culture through multimedia resources and hands on activities. There will altogether be 45 units with 9 themes, each unit focusing on one cultural topic. This series can serve as a toolkit to cultural exploratory curriculum and enrichment classes.

3. Design Principles 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University This series aims at stimulating students’ interest in Chinese language and culture and enriching their understanding of Chinese people and culture through: • watching multimedia resources • hands-on activities • discussing cross-cultural differences

4. Sample Contents： 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University

5. For Each Unit 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University • 3-5 minute Video • Lesson and Activity Plan • Supplementary Materials

6. Sample Unit 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University Peking Opera

7. 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University Video

8. Lesson and Activity Plan 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University The plans include teaching objectives and relevant class activities, suggested hands-on activities, and teaching resources for each unit. This plan will be provided as a PDF file.

9. Sample Lesson and Activity Plan 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University

10. Supplementary Materials： 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University Supplementary Materials – Artifacts Supplementary Materials：Pictures Supplementary Materials：Text Supplementary materials include textual and pictorial background information as well as URLs for online resources. Beijing Opera Overview: Beijing opera is the most influential opera in China and has a history of around 200 years. It synthesizes the arts of singing, dancing, recitation, martial arts, and instrumental music. Symbolism dominates the motions and stage designs. For example, the action of waving a horsewhip represents horse riding, and several equipped guys can be used to represent an army etc. • （ http://www.jingjuok.com/；http://baike.baidu.com/view/2088.htm）

11. Class Structure 密西根州立大学孔子学院 Confucius Institute Michigan State University Each class can consist of the following parts: • Introduction: (3-5 minutes) • Watch Video: (6-10 minutes) • Cultural Background: (10-14 minutes) • Hands-On Activities: (20-25 minutes) • Wrap up: (2-3 minutes)

12. Introduction introduce the cultural topic through interesting questions or background information. (3-5 minutes)

13. Watch Video (6-10 minutes)

14. Cultural BackgroundsElaboration on the cultural background information (10-14 minutes)

15. Cultural BackgroundsElaboration on the cultural background information (10-14 minutes)

16. ActivitiesClass discussion or hands on activities (20-25 minutes)

17. Activities Choose a celebrity in the U.S. Design a Beijing Opera style mask for him/her and share your design with the rest of class.