Rutgers brain based_chineselearning_aug2010

Effective Project-Based Learning: Teaching Chinese Through Projects, Song & Drama
Robin Harvey
New York University
Project for Developing Chinese Language Teachers
August 24, 2010

To paraphrase Dr. Galal Walker, Ohio State University
We don’t teach students Chinese, we teach students
how to do things in Chinese.

This changes our whole concept of teaching language.

The New Bloom’s Taxonomy

How We Learn

Brain-Based Learning
Engage the Emotional Brain
“Why do I have to learn Chinese?”
“I have no choice, it’s the ONLY language offered here!”
Vs.
“I LOVE CHINESE! We wrote skits and they were soooo funny!
“My Chinese teacher taught us the coolest song in class!”

Engage the Emotional Brain
But that’s not REAL learning!
Real learning entails suffering!
But I didn’t learn that way!
But the kids are so NOISY when I teach this way!

What do we want our students to do in Chinese?
-Order food
-Discuss the weather
-Talk about themselves and what they want to do
-Learn About Others
-Share opinions
-Understand new friends
-Figure out what a character means

Engaging the Meaningful Brain
What is the purpose of learning a language?
To know all the rules and never make a mistake To pronounce every tone perfectly
or
To communicate and share your meaning
To share what you are thinking with others and learn about them.
Language is a TOOL we use to communicate ideas, meaning, feelings, and more.

Latin was the most popular class in my high school
Sing the song (conjugating “To Be”):Sum esestsumusestissunteram eras erateramuseratiseranteroeriseriterimuseritiseruntAnd Pray to the God of the North for a Snow Day!
Language is the tool to get a day off school!

The Meaningful Brain Seeks Patterns
Find the similarities!
呢
吧
森
妹
姐
妈
林
梅
听
吗
果
呢
树

春妈妈
春，是花的妈妈
红的花，蓝的花
张开小小的嘴巴
春妈妈
用雨点喂她。
What’s the old way of teaching poetry?

冬奶奶
冬，是雪人的奶奶
大的雪人，小的雪人
张开小小的嘴巴
冬奶奶
用热巧克力喂她。

夏爸爸
夏，是棒球的爸爸
Yankees 很棒，红娃子很臭。
夏爸爸
我最喜欢棒球！

Engaging The Social Brain
Cooperative Work
Interviewing classmates, Creative Writing (skits, plays, songs)
Harry Potter 3
Language is the tool to enjoy an activity with friends.

Engaging The Social Brain
Cooperative Work
Interviewing classmates, Creative Writing (skits, plays, songs)
Language is the tool to sell things (and to make jokes).

Language is the tool to tell a story.

The Curious Brain
Role-Play Activity: Who Am I?
Guess the secret identity (you must speak as that person, describing something about your day)
Language is the tool to discover something about someone

The Curious Brain
“Alibi”: who is the criminal?
你昨天晚上在做什么?
我昨天晚上在睡觉，做功课，看电影, etc.
Language is the tool to solve a problem.

The Olympics Projects

Model Expectations
奧运选手李小鵬简介
李小鵬是中国奧运体操选手。他是中国湖南省长沙市人。
他的生日是 1981年7 月27日。他今年26岁。家有爸爸跟妈妈，沒有兄弟姊妹。他喜欢吃妈妈做的湘菜。他平常喜欢玩电游、打电话和跟朋友逛街。

Olympic Athletes 奥运选手

Olympic Torch

福娃
中国爱福娃。
中国的福娃热。

这
是
福
娃
笔

这是福娃花园

What the names mean （part 1）
贝贝和晶晶代表 Beijing。
欢欢和迎迎代表 Welcomes。
妮妮代表You。

Comic Life –Story-telling

New York City Brochure

Sing a Song: Make your own video
Learned the original song, vocabulary and “patterns”
Designed/drew pictures of our own dream houses
Wrote the lyrics
Scanned pictures and recorded voices to create PowerPoint
(could use voicethread or other programs as well)
Language is the tool to express ourselves!

Chemistry through Dance
A failing student astounded everyone with his remarkable dance intelligence. He was able to repeat a complex twelve-count phrase after seeing it only once. "I really put in an effort to understand the chemistry so I could make a good dance," he explained..”

Project for Developing Chinese Language Teachers (DCLT)
New York University
Robin Harvey, Project Coordinator
Robin.harvey@nyu.edu
(212)992-9367

Rutgers brain based_chineselearning_aug2010

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