Program Manual G
Vision Statement: Mandarin Stars offers a world leading Mandarin education program for children and adults.
Head Office Contact Details Phone: 1800 18 11 18 Address: Po Box 2198, Normanhurst, NSW 2076 1
Program Manual Index 1. The Art of Storytelling to Facilitate the Teaching of Mandarin ...... 6 2. Using the Puppet Theatre & Sensory Activities to teach Mandarin ...... 17 3. Using Music to Teach Mandarin ...... 20 3.1 Music and Movement Activities within the Playgroup Setting ...... 31 4. Using Gestures and Body Language to Teach Mandarin ...... 35 5. Sensory Activities at Mandarin Stars ...... 37 6. THE USE OF IPADS IN TEACHING MANDARIN ...... 50 7. Language Games at Mandarin Stars ...... 52 8. Dealing with Onsite Enrolment Enquiries ...... 77 9. Complaint procedure & dealing with objections...... 78 10. Security procedures ...... 81 11. Equipment ...... 82 12. OH & S ...... 83 13. Emergency procedures – Fire / other ...... 84 14. Evacuation – Fire/other ...... 85 15. Accident procedures ...... 86 16. Australian Standards for Product Safety ...... 88 2
17. Cleaning ...... 92 18. Classroom Set up Configurations, Hygiene and Security ...... 94 18.1 WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE SETTING UP A CLASSROOM? ...... 94 18.2 ROOM SET UP FOR DIFFERENT CLASSES ...... 95 18.3 CREATING AN IDEAL CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT...... 97 18.4 WHY IS HYGIENE SO IMPORTANT? ...... 97 18.5 WHAT ARE THE BASIC HYGIENE RULES AT MANDARIN STARS? ...... 97 18.6 WHY IS SECURITY AND SAFETY SO IMPORTANT? ...... 98 18.7 SAFETY/ SECURITY AWARENESS AT MANDARIN STARS ...... 99 18.8 ENSURING PROPER SURVEILLANCE OF YOUR STUDENTS ...... 100
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The Franchisee shall not, except for as may be necessary for the operation of the business, or to the extent that the information is in the public domain and except as may be otherwise be required by law;
discuss the contents of the Manual with any person;
disclose to any person any information or procedures of The Franchisor which it has gained through its position as Franchisee during or within the franchise.
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The Manual may not be copied or reproduced in any form or for any purpose without the express written permission of The Franchisor.
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Changes
The Franchisor thrives on continually challenging the status quo to provide ever improving and more efficient systems. As a result the Manual will be continually improved and therefore updated from time to time.
The Franchisor will provide amendments or additions which are to be immediately inserted into the Manual upon receipt. In the case of amendments, the outgoing material should be disposed of in a secure method.
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The Mandarin Stars Franchisee Program Manual contains philosophies, policies and procedures of The Franchisor and its operations. It is to be read in conjunction with, and forms part of the terms and conditions of the Franchise Agreement.
This Manual has been developed by The Franchisor and forms part of the goodwill and value of the franchise.
The Franchisee agrees to conduct its business in accordance with the procedures outlined in this Manual.
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1. The Art of Storytelling to Facilitate the Teaching of Mandarin
WHY DO WE TELL STORIES TO CHILDREN AT MANDARIN STARS?
Story telling is a wonderful way to engage students‘ attention. It also enables:
• An understanding of human nature. • An understanding of feelings. • An awareness of the role characteristics people assume. • An understanding of sequence. • An understanding of concepts. • An ability of listening and long attention span. • An ability of following instructions. • An ability of co-operating with others. • An enhancement of children‘s language skills. o Vocabulary, grammar, syntax and pronunciation o Greater awareness of correct language use
WHAT STORYBOOKS SHOULD WE USE?
Try to choose books that have simple images to reinforce the topic taught. Choose large picture books with few words if possible. 6
If you can, neatly write the Chinese characters in the books with a black marker. Books with too many images and text can overwhelm the child. Use books that are age appropriate.
HOW DO WE TELL THE STORY?
Always tell the story in Mandarin! Search the stories you love and close to the weekly topic. Vary the volume, pitch and tempo of your voice (enunciate clearly and exaggerate expression). Use your face, body and gestures (let your body speak). Make your body and face respond to the tale. Have a clear focus and maintain concentration. Maintain engaging eye contact with the children/ individual listeners. Create a charismatic presence (make the audience believe in you). Use different, exaggerated character voices. Use your space/ be dynamic. Remember to pace yourself. Always remember to regain your style as a narrator. Use silence and pauses to add dramatic effect. HOW DO WE TELL A STORY IN MANDARIN?
Use all performance skills above. 7
Use as much Mandarin as you can. Use short and simple words/phrases/sentences. Point to the images you are talking about to help understanding.
WHERE TO BUY CHINESE PICTURE BOOKS
These can get expensive as most come from the US. Sites to try are: o Asianparent.com o Chinabooks.com.au o Amazon.com o Fishpond.com o Chinasprout.com o Primary Mandarin (HKG publisher- with picture books in Chinese characters)
Dim Sum for Everyone! By Grace Lin! (MUST GET THIS- IT‘S BRILLIANT!) Grace Lin is one of Dawna‘s favourite authors! Check out her site at: http://www.gracelin.com/ Google around for the best prices on her books as prices can change over time.
MANDARIN STARS BOOK LIST
For Playgroup:
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Baby Touch Farm (Baby Touch) (Board book)
Baby Touch Colours (Baby Touch) (Board book)
Baby Touch Car (Baby Touch) (Board book)
Baby Touch Numbers (Baby Touch) (Board book)
Baby Touch Colours & Shapes (Baby Touch) (Board book)
Where is the green sheep? By Judy Horacek
Old MacDonald had a Farm: Toddler Books by Penny Dam
That‘s not my puppy! By Fiona Watt
That‘s not my plane! By Fiona Watt
That‘s not my doll! By Fiona Watt
That‘s not my elephant! By Fiona Watt
That‘s not my kitten! By Fiona Watt
That‘s not my tractor! By Fiona Watt
Hug by Jez Alborough
Yes by Jez Alborough
Happy Birthday Spot by Eric Hill
Spot goes to the Beach by Eric Hill
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Spot Bakes a Cake by Eric Hill
Night Night Spot by Eric Hill
Spot Loves his Mum by Eric Hill
Spot Loves his Dad by Eric Hill
Where‘s Spot? by Eric Hill
Spot goes to the Farm by Eric Hill
Spot goes to School by Eric Hill
Spot can Count by Eric Hill
Spot loves his friends by Eric Hill
My Dad! By Jacqueline East
My Mum! By Jacqueline East
Me and My Dad! By Alison Ritchie & Alison Edgson
Me and My Mum! By Alison Ritchie & Alison Edgson
I love my Daddy By Sebastien Braun
I love my Mummy By Sebastien Braun
On our way home By Sebastien Braun
Let‘s play house By Emma Quay & Anna Walker
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Yummy Icecream By Emma Quay & Anna Walker
Jump over the puddle By Emma Quay & Anna Walker
Bums By David Bedford
Tums By David Bedford
Mo‘s Stinky Sweater By David Bedford
Guess How Much I Love You By Sam McBratney
Can I cuddle the Moon? By Kerry Brown & Lisa Stewart
Found you, Little Wombat! By Angela McAllister
Little Kangaroo By Guido van Genechten
The Biggest Kiss By Joanna Walsh & Judi Abbot
The Perfect Hug By Joanna Walsh
I love Korky By Teddy Slatter
Guess Who? At the Zoo By Keith Faulkner & Daniel Howarth
There‘s a house inside my Mommy By Giles Andreae
Can you cuddle like a koala? By John Butler
Bedtime in the jungle By John Butler
Just like my Dad By David Melling
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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly By Pam Adams
Kiss Kiss! By Margaret Wild
Feathers for Phoebe By Rod Clement
Why I love my Mummy By Daniel Howarth
Why I love my Daddy By Daniel Howarth
What are you? By Keith Faulkner & Stephen Holmes
Big Brother, Little Brother By Penny Dale
Grandpa‘s Mask By Jing Jing Guo & Di Wu (A MUST GET! A sweet story about Peking Opera and Chinese culture)
Mine! Mine! Mine! By Hideko Takahashi
I won‘t bite By Rod Campbell
Strawberries are red By Peter Horacek
The tallest shortest longest greenest brownest animal in the jungle! By Keith Faulkner & Rory Tyger
The Ugly Vegetables By Grace Lin
Press Here By Herve Tullet
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin and Eric Carle
Barry the Fish with Fingers By Sue Hendra
Little Rabbit Couldn‘t Sleep By Beth Shoshan & Sarah Arnold
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Lucky Bamboo By Katherine Sully & Rebecca Elliot
The Odd Egg By Emily Gravett
Chameleon‘s Crazy Colours By Nicola Grant & Michael Terry
Blue Chameleon By Emily Gravett
Little Mouse‘s Big Secret By Eric Battut
Swim, Little Wombat, Swim! By Charles Fuge
The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle
Stuck By Oliver Jeffers
Whose Eyes? By Jeanette Rowe
Mummy‘s Little Monkey By Keith Faulkner
For Older Children (Kindergarten+)
Recommended books in Chinese characters (Primary Mandarin- order via [email protected])
These books are all in Chinese characters and good for Primary School classes.
Book 1: Colours
Book 2: Food
Book 3: Everyone‘s Different
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Book 4: Me, You, Him
Book 5: House
Book 6: 1-10
Book 7: Big and Small
Book 8: The School Bag
Book 9: Follow the Dragon
Book 10: Places
Book 11: Countries
Book 12: Hair
Book 13: Dragon‘s Balloons
Book 14: Numbers
Book 15: Dragon is Missing
Book 16: By the Sea
Book 17: Dragon Goes on a Trip
Book 18: From my Window
Book 19: I Like to Eat Fruit
Book 20: Colourful Food
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Book 21: Dragon Can Count
Book 22: It‘s Time for Class!
Book 23: Dragon‘s Body
Book 24: Hello! My name is…
Book 25: My Wardrobe
Book 26: Opposites
Book 27: Daily Routine
Book 28: My Hobbies
Book 29: What do you look like?
Book 30: Languages
Chinese Children‘s Favourite Stories by Mingmei Yip
A beautiful collection of stories for Primary schoolers including:
- The Fish Basket Goddess
- The Mouse Bride
- Dream of the Butterfly
- The Cowherd and the Spinning Girls
- The Ghost Catcher
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- The Frog who lived in a Well
- Chang-E flies to the moon
- The Wolf and the Scholar
- The Wold and the Scholar
- Playing the Qin for the Water buffalo
- Carp Jumping over the Dragon Gate
- How the Fox Tricked the Tiger
- The Monkey King Turns the Heavenly Palace Upside Down
- The Monkey Wu-Kong Learns His Lesson
Red Thread by Ed Young (a gorgeous book for older children Year 2+)
The Peasant Prince by Li Cunxin (Short-listed by the Children‘s Book Council of Australia)
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2. Using the Puppet Theatre & Sensory Activities to teach Mandarin
The puppet show is a key feature to our program. The puppet theatre can be used to introduce a topic through varying mediums such as:
- Different dolls, teddy bears, zoo animals or any special puppets that a teacher would like to use. - Teachers can introduce the new friend through a ‗Knock on the door‘ behind the puppet theatre. - The idea of the theatre is that we use it to bring out a character to introduce the theme taught and vocabularies.
The Puppet show is a great way to engage children and we use this as a medium to: 1. Create wonder 2. Lay the foundation for a fun atmosphere 3. Use puppetry as a tool to introduce new ideas/ topics through: a. Flashcards b. Sensory items c. Puppets/ animals
The Puppet show is always used in the Bubs and Tots and Playgroup classes.
Here are some of the routines and phrases you can use in class:
1. Who‘s behind the door B： （用丁丁把舞台弄出点动静…） A： 哦～Wen是谁在后面呀？ 让我们敲敲门把他叫出来吧。 B： 好呀，让我们来敲门吧。 A： 我要敲门喽～ A+B：咚咚咚～咚咚咚～谁在后面呀？ 1～2～3～（一起拉幕） B：（拿丁丁）大家好！ A： 哦～原来是我们的老朋友丁丁～你好丁丁，你好！
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B： 你好，大家好！ 我叫丁丁。 A： 丁丁啊，他是一只熊猫。 A+B+C： 熊猫、熊猫！ A： 丁丁啊，他有两只黑色的耳朵！ （B指丁丁耳朵） A+B+C：耳朵！ 耳朵！ A： 丁丁啊，他还有两只黑色的眼睛！ （B指丁丁眼睛） A+B+C： 眼睛！ 眼睛！ A： 看，丁丁还有一个黑色的鼻子！ （B指丁丁鼻子） A+B+C： 鼻子！ 鼻子！ A： (指着嘴巴) 哦，Wen，这是哪里呀？ B： 这是嘴巴！ （B指丁丁嘴巴） A+B+C： 嘴巴！ 嘴巴！ A： 丁丁啊，他还有两只黑色的手！ （B摇丁丁的手） A+B+C： 手！ 手！ A： 丁丁还有两只黑色的脚！ （B摇丁丁的脚） A+B+C： 脚！ 脚！ A：丁丁还有一个X色的领结！
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A+B+C： 领结！ 领结！ A：哦～丁丁我有一个星期没见你了，我好想你啊～小朋友们一定也很想你，你跟我们小朋友抱一抱 吧～ B： （按次序让丁丁抱抱及亲亲孩子，如果有孩子拒绝，不要强求！ ） 你好xxx，你好。 C： （帮忙维持次序及鼓励孩子和丁丁说―你好‖） A：谢谢丁丁，哦～大家知道么，今天啊丁丁还给我们带来了一个老朋友！ B：哦～他是谁呀？ A+B： 我们再敲敲门把他叫出来吧！ A：（准备好玲玲/乐乐） B：（准备好丁丁） A+B： 咚～咚～咚～咚～咚～咚～， 谁在后面呀？ 1～2～3～ A+B：（一起拉幕） B：（手持丁丁）你好，你叫什么名字呀？/你几岁了呀？ A：（手持玲玲）我叫玲玲/乐乐，今年3岁。 B： 你好玲玲/乐乐，你好！ ***本topic的木偶剧。
2. Who‘s the animal behind the door
- Introduce an animal through the curtains. - Show the legs, arms, tail (teaching these words) - Dah Dah! It‘s Mr. Monkey who has a long tail, a face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth etc…. - He is brown and has a red scarf… etc.
3. Knock Knock Knock- What have we got? (flashcards/ sensory)
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3. Using Music to Teach Mandarin
Overview:
Movement is a child’s first language and the more eloquent he/she becomes in this language the quicker they will develop speech, gross motor and fine motor skills.
The first of all senses to develop is the sense of balance or vestibular system. It is vital for posture, movement and a sense of centre in space, time, motion and depth. All other sensation passes through the balance mechanism or at the brain stem level before it passes on to the specialised regions higher in the brain. Hence all the other senses that a child will depend upon for learning are linked to balance. Our eyes operate from the vestibular circuit of the brain and our ears share the same cranial nerve; and the sense of touch is integrally linked to the vestibular through movement across hair cells, whose receptors are located on the skin. If motion is a child‘s first language, then sensation is his second.
Only when movement and sensation are integrated can the higher skills of speech, reading and writing develop fluently.
If you work with babies, are they having daily tummy time to explore their space? Are your preschoolers crawling, sliding, creeping, stretching, turning, twirling, hopping, jumping, walking on tip toes and using lots of props as part of their movement experience? Vestibular stimulation needs to be part of a child‘s normal play each day.
If you work with children of school age, they also still need regular movement up to the age of eight. Are they moving at least every twenty minutes?
How do children acquire literacy through Music?
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‗It is important in teaching early childhood students to be conscious of auditory and discrimination skills. Music and songs help increase these listening skills in a fun, relaxed manner. Listening skills are keys in singing, language and expressive movement, and later reading and writing‘ (Wolf, 1992).
Experience of music is the best literacy learning (Enriching children’s music experience) The level of a child‘s literacy in learning language depends on their experience. Music is one of the best forms of learning vocabularies, structures, memories and texts. The long-term experience of music could transform to a literacy learning with fun.
A guide to musical elements: Beat Beat is the basic unit of time Timbre Timbre is also known as tone colour or tone quality from psychoacoustics, is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the perception of timbre include spectrum and envelope. Rhythm Rhythm generally means a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time can apply to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or frequency of anything from microseconds to millions of years. Melody Melody is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. Tempo:
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Tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of most musical compositions, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece. Musical Form It refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections. Pitch Pitch is a perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale. Meter Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry (Scholes 1977; Latham 2002b) where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented (Scholes 1977; Latham 2002b).
Songs in the classroom: a useful tool
(by Hans Mol, Australia)
Songs are part of daily life for most people. Who doesn‘t enjoy music at home, while travelling or studying, or even at work? Language teachers can use songs to open or close their lessons, to illustrate themes and topics, to add variety or a change of pace, present new vocabulary or recycle known language. But how do songs actually benefit your students? In the first part of this article we look at the theoretical background to these questions; in the second half we look at what we can do with songs in the classroom.
There is strong practical evidence supporting the use of music in the English language classroom; there is also a growing body of research confirming that songs are a useful tool in language acquisition. In fact musical and language processing occur in the same area of the brain. (Medina, 1993)
Types of songs
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There are many types of songs which can be used in the classroom, ranging from nursery rhymes to contemporary pop music. There is also a lot of music writ- ten specifically for English language teaching. A criticism of the latter is that they often lack originality and musical appeal but there are good examples to be found of stimulating, modern, ‗cool‘ music, appealing to the real tastes of language learners. ‗Real‘ music that the children hear and play every day can be ex- tremely motivating in the classroom, too. However, the lyrics may not always be suitable: they may, for instance, contain slang or offensive words, there may be grammatical mistakes and they may only marginally teach the language points you want to focus on.
Which learners like songs?
Howard Gardner once said: “It’s not how intelligent you are, but how you are intelligent.” No two students learn in exactly the same way. In any classroom there will be a mix of learning styles, and one student may ‗use‘ more than one style, depending on what the task or topic is. To appeal to these differences is a huge teaching challenge. Gardner distinguished eight styles of learning, and students in his ‗aural/musical‘ category will have a lot of benefit from learning through songs. They are strong in singing, picking up sounds, remembering melodies and rhythms; they like to sing, hum, play instruments and listen to music.
This is not to say that learners with other learning styles cannot benefit from songs. Of course they can, because in the activities we develop with songs we can dance and act (physical learning style), read, draw and do puzzles (spatial intelligence) tell stories, and write (verbal learning styles).
Why are songs so suitable?
We can‘t generalize, but research has found that pop songs have characteristics that help learning a second language: they often contain common, short words; they are written at about 5th grade level (US); the language is conversational, time and place are usually imprecise; the lyrics are often sung at a slower rate than spoken words and there is repetition of words and grammar. (Murphy, 1992). Furthermore, songs are also known to lower the ―affective filter‖ or, in other words, to motivate learners to learn. So, what positive contributions to language learning can songs make?
Socio-emotional growth
You‘ll often find learners of any age singing together socially – when they are visiting friends, at a party or in karaoke bars. Teenagers and young adults seem to know an endless number of songs by heart and share them continuously through the Internet and portable music players. Even though it‘s not always easy to
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copy this spontaneous love of music in the classroom, singing songs in and with a class is a social act which allows learners to participate in a group and ex- press their feelings, no matter what their English is like.
Physical development
Songs provide a great opportunity for young learners to move around. Clapping, dancing and playing instruments stimulate memory, which makes it possible for learners to hear chunks of language as they sing and use them in different situations later. Older learners can also benefit from clapping, dancing, rocking, tap- ping, and snapping their fingers to music and songs.
Cognitive training
We all know the phenomenon of the song-that-is-stuck-in-my-head. With the right kind of song it is easy to simulate that in the classroom. Interacting with songs again and again is as important to language learners as repeatedly practicing a tennis technique is for a tennis player. The skill which develops from this is called ‗automaticity‘. Learners get to know what to say and to produce language rapidly without pausing.
Cultural literacy
Now that most music is accessible to almost anyone anywhere, either through radio, CDs, DVDs and downloads from the Internet, learners can enjoy songs from all corners of the globe. Songs used in English classes can, in that way, shed light on interesting musical traditions in countries, but can also teach teens, young adults and adults to appreciate other cultures. For adult learners they can be ―a rich mine of information about human relations, ethics, customs, history, humor, and regional and cultural differences‘ (Lems, 2001).
Language learning
In a world where non-native speakers of English are likely to produce the majority of songs in English, learners have the opportunity to listen to pronunciation in a wide range of varieties of the language. Songs will help learners become familiar with word stress and intonation, and the rhythm with which words are spo- ken or sung also helps memorization. Again, this will enable learners to remember chunks of language which they can then use in conversations or in writing. As language teachers, we can use songs to practice listening, speaking, reading and writing.
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What can you do with songs in the classroom?
The sky is the limit! There are a few things to keep in mind: simple, repetitive songs often contain a recurrent grammatical pattern which is useful to teach (es- pecially with younger children). More difficult songs often contain interesting vocabulary and idioms. Also there is often a message, a theme, or a story underly- ing a song which students can discuss, explain, debate, and write about at almost any level.
Practical tips and tasks for using songs
Focus it
Start with a focusing activity: anything that will get students thinking about the subject of the song. Have them think about the title of the song, in groups of pairs. Find a picture that relates to the subject of the song and have students make guesses about it.
Highlight it
Put a selection of important words from the song on your board. Have students ask each other what the words mean. Then, have students in groups write or tell a quick story that uses the words. You can also get students to circle, underline or highlight specific words or word categories.
Stop it
Again, write a selection of words on the board. Students must shout STOP any time they hear one of the new words. You could also stop the song before a word you want them to guess.
Lip sync it
Have students lip sync the song before a team of judges in a Class Idol show. This allows them to become familiar with the words, rhythm, stress and intonation before actually singing the words out loud.
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Strip it
Cut the song into strips. Give each student one strip to memorize. Students put the strips in their pockets. They get up and tell each other their part of the song, without looking at their part or showing their part to anyone else. Students then organize themselves in the right order, speak the song and then listen and check. You can also have students put the strips on a table in order.
Question it
Have students ask each other questions about the song (about the words, about the topics or about characters in the song). For more advanced students you could choose two songs of a similar theme, and split the class into two teams. Have each group listen to their song and draw up a list of (open or True/False) questions. Pair each student with a member of the opposite team and have them take turns asking their questions.
Gap it
You can prepare a gapped version of the lyrics and let students complete them before listening and then check afterwards.
Write it
Have students write a letter to the main character or the singer, send an answer to a person referred to in the song, rewrite the song as a story, write a story which began before the story in the song and led to it, or write a story which will continue after the song.
Change it
Change words (adjectives, adverbs, nouns -names, places or feelings), and invent new lyrics for the melody. If you have karaoke versions of the songs you can then let students sing their own versions.
Draw it
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Get students to draw or collage the song and compare the visualizations in class.
The possibilities are endless. Music and songs are fun, and most people enjoy them. Make songs a regular feature in your lessons!
References
Lems, Kirsten, Using Music in the Adult ESL Classroom, ERIC Digest, 2001.
Medina, Suzanne L, The Effect of Music on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition, ‗National Network for Early Language Learning‘, Vol 6-3, 1993.
Murphy, T (1992), The discourse op pop songs, TESOL Quarterly 26‖ (4), 770-774.
Recommended Music CDs
A Little Mandarin- Children’s Classics v1.0 By Toni Wang
A gorgeous CD of Chinese music that will brighten up your little one‘s day and make the learning of Mandarin so much more fun and lively! It‘s well produced and easily related to and created by an inspiring mother who wanted to make music that would encourage the learning of Mandarin Chinese for her own children. For more information- please visit: http://alittlemandarin.com/music/
Bilingual Songs English-Mandarin By Sara Jordan
Exciting songs in both English and Mandarin. Includes a reproducible lyrics book in English, Mandarin (Simplified) and Pinyin to aid pronunciation. Singers in English and Mandarin are native speakers. Music accompaniment tracks make singing along karaoke-style fun and class performances a snap. Topics include:
the alphabet (English and Pinyin) counting to 10 27
days of the week months of the year weather seasons colours food Chinese zodiac signs parts of the body clothing family members
Teach Me Chinese and MORE Chinese! By Judy Mahoney
The classic colouring books from the Teach Me and Teach Me More series are now combined into a 48-page edition. This new edition includes the colouring pages from both titles and a 60-minute audio CD so children can listen, learn and sing along. Teach Me Chinese and More Chinese features six new pages of vocabulary and activities perfect for pre-school to early elementary children. Narrated in Chinese, the story includes 40 songs with lyrics and translations.
Mandarin Stars Song List
Title in Chinese Title in English Sing-along difficulty Details 生日快乐 sheng ri kuai le Happy Birthday Easy Special occasions 头肩膀膝盖脚趾头 tou jian bang xi gai shou zhi tou Head shoulders knees and toes Easy Teaches children about body parts 拍手游戏 pai shou you xi Clap your hands Easy For children to sing along to Suitable for Bubs-to-Tots. Sing with 小手爬 xiao shou pa Little hands climbing Easy hand actions 小松树 xiao song shu Little pine tree Easy Sing with hand actions 小兔子 xiao tu zi Little Rabbit Easy Music video available from Vicky 28
找朋友 zhao peng you Looking for my friend Easy For children to sing along to 小星星 xiao xing xing Twinkle twinkle little star Easy For children to sing along to 两只老虎 liang zhi lao hu Two tigers Easy For children to sing along to 我的朋友在哪里 wo de peng you zai na li Where are my friends Easy For children to sing along to 如果感到幸福你就拍拍手 ru guo gan dao xing fu ni jiu If you're happy and you know it Easy Sing with actions pai pai shou Sing with actions and point out eyes, 小手拍拍 xiao shou pai pai Little hands clapping Easy ears etc. 咏鹅 yong e Ode to the goose Easy/Medium Sing with pictures of geese 王老先生有块地 wang lao xian sheng you kuai di Old McDonald had a farm Easy/medium Practise animal sounds 长颈鹿 chang jing lu Giraffe song Medium For children 3 years and up Sing with a doll and point out 泥娃娃 ni wa wa Mud doll Medium eyes/mouth etc. Preferably with teaching props such 蜗牛和黄鹂鸟 wo niu he huang li niao Snail and the yellow birds Medium as large images 圣诞快乐 sheng dan kuai le We wish you a Merry Christmas Medium Special occasions 洋娃娃和小熊跳舞 yang wa wa he xiao xiong tiao wu doll dancing with the bear Medium Sing with movements 雪绒花 xue rong hua Edelweiss Medium For children 3 years and up 五只小青蛙 wu zhi xiao qing wa Five little frogs Medium For children 3 years and up 上学歌 shang xue ge Going to school Medium For children 3 years and up 我有两只手 wo you liang zhi shou I have two hands Medium For children 2 years and up 娃哈哈 wa ha ha Smiley faces Medium For children 3 years and up For children 3 years and up, sing with 粉刷匠 fen shua jiang The Painter Medium movements 小白船 xiao bai chuan Little white boat Medium For children 3 years and up 29
小螺号 xiao luo hao Little Whorl Medium For children 3 years and up 五线谱 wu xian pu Do re mi Medium/Hard For children 3 years and up 铃儿响叮当 ling er xiang ding dang Jingle Bells Medium/Hard Special occasions 剪拳布 jian quan bu Paper rock scissors Medium/Hard Sing with hand actions 火车开了 huo che kai le Toot-toot goes the train Medium/Hard Sing with movements For activity/game time, or use as 健康歌 jian kang ge Exercise song Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 刷牙歌 shua ya ge Brush your teeth Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 数鸭子 shu ya zi Count the ducks Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 采蘑菇的小姑娘 cai mo gu de xiao gu niang Little girl goes to pick mushrooms Hard before/after class background music Shake your head and clap your For activity/game time, or use as 甩甩头拍拍手 shuai shuai tou pai pai shou Hard hands before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 稍息立正站好 shao xi li zheng zhan hao Stand up Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 西游记 xi you ji The Monkey King Song Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 三只小猪 san zhi xiao zhu Three little pigs Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 我爱洗澡 wo ai xi zao I love shower time Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 小红帽 xiao hong mao Little red riding hood Hard before/after class background music For activity/game time, or use as 种太阳 zhong tai yang Plant a sun Hard before/after class background music
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For activity/game time, or use as 七色光之歌 qi se guang zhi ge The rainbow song Hard before/after class background music Where is spring For activity/game time, or use as 春天在哪里 chun tian zai na li Hard before/after class background music
3.1 Music and Movement Activities within the Playgroup Setting
Stretchy Rong Rope Fun! Stretchy Ring Activities: A "Rainbow Ring", Stretchy Ring or "Hebi" ring is a huge elastic band covered in fabric. Often the fabric cover is made of different colours. The ring is great for... - teaching children to sit in a circle. It gives them an approximate 'visual picture' of what a circle looks like. Children have trouble forming a circle until they are around 8 years of age. - eye contact with the teacher and peers - teaching concepts e.g. in/out, left/right, over/under, up/down, slow/fast - modelling a physical boundary for younger children e.g. children can sit inside the circle, outside the circle, inside the figure eight shape To purchase the Stretchy Ring you can find them at: http://themusicroom.net.au/musicstore/rainbow-ring-4-metres/
Balloon Fun Instructions: Blow up some balloons and allow children to hold one each/ one in each hand and dance with the balloons. Language Activity: 1. Colours 2. Counting the balloons 3. Fly/ Up/ Down/ Around 4. Balloon
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Play this activity at the end of class and kids can take the balloons home. A great end of term activity as kids can take balloon home as an end of term gift. Lao Shi can mention to the kids there she has a LI WU for children at the end of class.
Baby Bounce! Instructions: Ask children to sit on the floor on mum/ carer‘s lap- you would need to say: ‗Mums/ Dads, can you put your little one on your lap like this…..‘ Teacher can use a doll/ bear as his/ her sample. Now play a song that parents can bounce the child on their Do this to the beat of the song. Language Activity: You can play a song to the activity and say FAST/ SLOW (and say FAST quickly and SLOW slowly). - Fast/ Slow - Up/ Down (raising arms together) - Clap (you can develop a sequence of 1, 2, 3, CLAP!
Seesaw Instructions: Ask children to sit on the floor facing mum/ carer and hold hands. Teacher can use a doll/ bear as his/ her sample. Lean forward so your toddler goes back and reverse the process in a seesaw motion. Do this to the beat of the song. Language Activity: You can play a song to the activity and say FAST/ SLOW (and say FAST quickly and SLOW slowly). - Fast/ Slow - Up/ Down (raising arms together) - Clap (you can develop a sequence of 1, 2, 3, CLAP!
Notes: Use a scarf to hold onto while rocking back and forth. Sing a simple song to the beat of your movements- you can use a CD player if you wish though own voices would also be good as teacher can initiate movements better like UP/ DOWN/ CLAP/ FAST/ SLOW
Dance Ribbon Materials: Empty key chain or plastic shower curtain ring
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Long lengths of brightly coloured ribbon or plastic Instructions: Attach 3- or 4-foot lengths of brightly coloured ribbon or plastic to an empty key chain or plastic shower curtain ring. The child can wave the ribbon in the air as he runs or twirl it in time to the music as he dances. Language Activity: 1. Colours 2. Counting the ribbons 3. Fly/ Up/ Down/ Around 4. Ribbon
Laminated Songs Cards Instructions: Print images that represent the songs you can sing with the group such as: - 2 Tigers (2 Tigers) - Telephone (Telephone song) - Doll dances with a bear song
Allow a child to choose the card and song to be sung. Language Activity: - Build better connections with the vocabulary of the song by saying TIGERS/ PHONE etc….
Laminated Images to Support Singing and Dancing Activities Instructions: Print images that will help reinforce the songs you can sing with the group such as: - 2 Tigers (2 Tigers) - Telephone (Telephone song) - Dolls (Doll dancing with a bear song) - Rabbits (Rabbit Song)
Allow a child to choose the card and song to be sung. Language Activity: - Build better connections with the vocabulary of the song by saying TIGERS/ PHONE etc….
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Laminated Images to Support Play and Music Activities - Let’s FLY! Instructions: Print images of items on different coloured papers and cut them out and laminate them such as: - Butterflies - Aeroplanes - Birds - Bees
Language Activity: - Use the items to make singing and dancing activities more fun by asking children to fly them around the room. Children learn the word FLY, and can learn STOP, FAST, SLOW.
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4. Using Gestures and Body Language to Teach Mandarin
Overview:
Body language and gestures can reinforce communication skills in Mandarin and particularly in an immersion environment.
Forms of Body language Facial Expression: A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. Hand sign Hand sign, the second mouth of humans, can deeply express the meaning to listener who is not good at that language. Movements with sounds The sounds here do not mean language, but it refers to some Silly sounds, Animal sounds, Sounds from nature to work in with your movements together to attract children‘s attention.
Things to consider when deciding on how to use body language or gesture in class
Parents role Parents are recommended to be invited to repeat your body language when children are shy or lack understanding. Props and environments Teacher in the class should be observant and take advantage of props and environments in particular time to assist them to do the body language. For example, torches can be shined on the ceiling after turning off the lights to be twinkle twinkle little star.
Using visual signs to teach the 4 tones by Rachel (Li-Chun) Tsai, MSc, PGDE. Hand gestures and other body movements are often used to help teach the tones. The method Rachel Tsai recommends is:
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1st tone – flat hand moved across the body at shoulder height when you say the 1st tone. 2nd tone – raise your eyebrow every time you say the 2nd tone. 3rd tone – drop your chin on your neck and raise your chin when you say the 3rd. tone. 4th tone – stamp your feet when you say the 4th tone.
Words/ phrases commonly used with gesture/ body language at Mandarin Stars
At Mandarin Stars, we recommend NEVER saying these words or phrases in English and to use body language/ gesture to reinforce meaning as through our experience, children are able to quickly comprehend the meaning of these particular words in Mandarin very easily and naturally:
Yes No OK Sorry Goodbye Come in Sit down Come here Look Look at me! Listen Listen to me! Get up! Let‘s go Stop Line up
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5. Sensory Activities at Mandarin Stars
Overview: Sensorial activities at Mandarin Stars are important because they help to reinforce the themes or content being taught. Children learn through touch in the early years and we have found that the sensory part to our program is not only effective but also very well received by children as it contributes to how they enjoy and connect with the program. Sensorial items include ‗real life‘ items of what we are teaching and also replica items such as soft toys, puppets or general toys. Real life items like fruits and vegetables, flowers or leaves are fantastic and really add substance to your program. Note that: We recommend that sensory activities should be used for each class for children age 1-5 years. Sensory activities can also be used for themes in class‘s age 5-7/7-9 years depending on the topic taught. DO NOT bring in items that are poisonous/ toxic or that might cause allergies like nuts/ egg/ strawberries (for children age 1-2years)
How to introduce Sensory Activities: Over the years, we have enjoyed introducing the sensory part to our program through: Puppet Theatre: Who‘s behind the door! o We have a usual sentence pattern that goes like this for introducing objects/ surprises/ puppets or even people behind the curtains of the Pup- pet Theatre! qiāo qiāo mén shì shuí ya . Knock, Knock, Knock: Who‘s there? 敲 敲 门 ，是 谁 呀？
. The children love this anticipation!
Secret Bag o It is important that teachers use a nice fabric bag, NOT a plastic bag. Children engage the world around them very visually and we should re- spect that they are capable of appreciating the things around them. o A simple brown paper bag is also effective. o Brown paper bags can also be decorated with felt tips/ stickers by the teacher. Even sticking strips of crepe paper on the bag to decorate are also a good idea. 37
Ideas for Sensory Activities by Topic Taught:
Colours - Ask children to find colours in the classroom (e.g. mats) or in their clothes. If they find the right colour, ask children to say ―I found it‖ (zhao dao le) in Man- darin. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some blocks/ items of these colours and place in piles of the colours Ask children what colours they all are and group them into colours.
My Family - Bring in little people/ family set and ask the children who they are. - Teacher can bring own family picture and introduce who is who. - Ask children and parents to bring a family photo in and ask who is who.
My Pet - Ask children whether they have a pet or not. If they have, ask children and parents to bring a photo of their pets in and ask their pets‘ name/age. - If the teacher has a pet, he/she can bring own pet picture and introduce his/her pet. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the pets taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each pet is and to then group them.
At the Zoo - Ask children whether they have been to a zoo before. If they have, ask children and parents to bring a photo in and ask where the zoo is/what animals they saw in the zoo. - Mini-role play: Teacher will make simple zoo animal hats before the class and ask children to pick an animal and wear the hats in class. Teacher and children can make animal sounds and movements together. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the zoo animals taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each animal is and to then group them.
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On the Farm - Ask children whether they have been to a farm before. If they have, ask children and parents to bring a photo in and ask where the farm is/what animals they saw on the farm. - Mini-role play: Teacher will make simple farm animal hats before the class and ask children to pick an animal and wear the hats in class. Teacher and children can make animal sounds and movements together. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the farm animals taught and place in a big pile. Ask children the children what each animal is and to then group them.
Insects and Bugs - Secret bag: Put toy insects and bugs in the fabric bag/brown paper bag before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children to count how many toy insects and bugs there are in the classroom. Ask children whether they like those insects or bugs. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the insects/ bugs taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each insect or bug is and to then group them.
Underwater World - Ask children whether they have been to an aquarium before. If they have, ask children and parents to bring a photo in and ask where the aquarium is/what sea animals they saw in the aquarium. - Secret bag: Put soft toys of sea animals in the fabric bag/brown paper bag before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children to count how many sea animals there are in the classroom. Ask children whether they like those sea animals. - Grouping Activity:
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Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the items taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each animal is and to then group them.
My Toys - Show and tell: Ask children to bring their favourite toys to the class. Ask children to introduce their toys in front of the class (e.g. behind the theatre). - Secret bag: Put different kinds of toys in a big fabric bag before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children to count how many toys there are in the classroom. Ask children whether they have those toys at home. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the items taught and place in a big pile. Ask children the children what each toy is and to then group them.
Transport - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of transport vehicles before the class. Ask children which transport they like or don‘t like. Children pick the picture of their favourite transport and stick it onto the board. - Secret bag: Put soft toys of transport in a big fabric bag before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children to count how many toy transport vehicles there are in the classroom. Ask children whether they have been on a train/plane/ship before. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the items taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each transport is and to then group them. 40
My Body - Bring in soft people/animal toys and ask the children to find the body parts of the toys. - Ask children to find their own eyes/ears/nose and other body parts. - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of body parts before the class. Ask children whether they can find the picture of the nose/ears/eyes and other body parts. Children stick the body parts onto the board to make a whole person.
Fruits and Vegetables - Let‘s go shopping: Prepare a shopping bag and a shopping list of the items that you are teaching. Hide the REAL items in the classroom beforehand. Ask children to find the item and put it in the shopping bag. Ask children to count the items in the shopping bag. - Secret bag: Introduce the items via brown paper bag. If they are fruits/ vegetables, make an activity of cutting/ peeling the fruits/ vegetables together. - Making orange juice is also a great activity. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the items taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each fruit or vegetable is and to then group them.
My Food - Mini-role play: Bring toy tea /cake /yum cha /sushi sets in class. Teacher will pretend to be the waiter/waitress. Children will be the customers. Children will order from the menu (e.g. teacher will prepare the menu beforehand), try to use the chopsticks, pay the bill (e.g. practice counting numbers in Mandarin) and say ―Xie xie‖ to the teacher. - Let‘s go shopping:
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Prepare a shopping bag and a shopping list of the items that you are teaching. Hide the REAL items in the classroom beforehand. Ask children to find the item and put it in the shopping bag. Ask children to count the items in the shopping bag. - Secret bag: Introduce the items via brown paper bag. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children whether they like the food or not. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the items taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each food is and to then group them.
Shapes - Make a funny face: Bring in toys of different shapes. Ask children to find a certain shape. If they find the right shape, ask children to say ―I found it‖ (zhao dao le) in Mandarin. Ask children to use shapes to make eyes/nose/ears/mouth to be a funny face. - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of shapes before the class. Ask children which shapes they like or don‘t like. Children pick the picture of their favourite shape and stick it onto the board. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some items/ puppets/ soft toys of the items taught and place in a big pile. Ask children what each shape is and to then group them.
My Home - Bring in doll house and ask the children what the furniture/appliances are in the doll house. - Teacher can bring own picture and introduce his/her home. - Ask children and parents to bring a photo in and ask what is what. 42
- Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of furniture/appliances before the class. Ask children whether they have those furniture/appliances at home. Children pick the picture onto the board to make a new home.
In the Garden - Ask children whether they have been to a garden before. If they have, ask children and parents to bring a photo in and ask where the garden is/what they saw in the garden. - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of leaves/ grass/ flowers/trees before the class. Ask children whether they like leaves/ grass/ flowers/trees or not. Children pick the picture onto the board to make a new garden. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some REAL items taught (leaves/ grass/ flowers/trees) and place in a big pile. Ask children the children what they are then group them.
At the Playground - If time and place are permitted, the teacher can take the class to the playground. Note that parents should come together with the children. Teacher can finish the class at the playground without going back to the classroom again. - Ask children whether they have been to the playground before. If they have, ask children and parents to bring a photo in and ask where the playground is/what they have played at the playground. - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of swing/slides/sandpit/seesaw before the class. Ask children whether they like swing/slides/sandpit/seesaw or not. Children pick the picture onto the board to make a new playground.
At the beach - Mini-role play: Ask parents to bring in beach towels/sunglasses for their children. Pretend the classroom to be the beach. Ask children to put on sunscreen/sunglasses and lie down on the beach towel. 43
Teacher will play some light music with the sounds of wave/ocean/water. Ask children to collect seashells ―at the beach‖ and put them in the bucket. - Secret bucket: Introduce the REAL items (seashells/sunglasses/sunscreen) via a plastic bucket. Teacher can put sand in the bucket to make it more real. Ask children to pick one from the bucket and show others what it is. Ask children whether they have seashells/sunglasses/sunscreen. - Ask children whether they have been to the beach before. If they have, ask children and parents to bring a photo in and ask where the beach is/what they saw at the beach.
Bath time! - Secret bag: Put REAL items (comb/tooth brush/tooth paste/soap case and other bath toys) in a big fabric bag before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children whether they have comb/tooth brush/tooth paste/soap case at home. - Mini-role play: Bring in toy dolls/babies and ask the children to find the body parts of the toys. Teacher will say a body part in Mandarin and children will pretend to wash that body part of the toy dolls/babies.
Natural Environment - Make a forest: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of trees before the class. Ask children what colour the tree is in Mandarin and count the trees. Ask children to stick all the trees onto the board to make a forest. - Make a rainbow: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of different colours before the class. Ask children what each colour is in Mandarin and group them. Ask children to stick all the colours onto the board to make a beautiful rainbow. Ask children to count the colours and pick their favourite colour. - Pick and stick: 44
Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of mountain/waterfall/ lake/rainbow/forest before the class. Ask children whether they have seen mountain/waterfall/ lake/rainbow/forest before. Children pick the picture onto the board while repeating the key words in Mandarin.
Opposites - Hot and Cold can be taught by having a clear plastic bottle of warm water and also iced water. - Up and Down can be taught by giving a child a puppet/ doll and asking them to place the child Up and Down. - Big and Small can be taught by Grouping Activity or Pick and Stick activity: Bring in some items taught (e.g. animals) and place in a big pile. Ask children what they are then group the bigger ones and the smaller ones. Teacher can also prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of big animals/small animals. Then ask children to pick and stick the big- ger ones or the smaller ones. - Children can also act out these actions.
My Clothes - Show and tell: Ask children to wear their favourite clothes to the class. Ask children to show their clothes in front of the class and ask them what each clothes is in Mandarin. - Dress up party: Bring in toy dolls/clothes sets. Teacher will say hat/scarf/socks/dress/skirt/pants/shoes in Mandarin and children will find it and dress up the dolls. - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of hat/scarf/socks/dress/skirt/pants/shoes before the class. Ask children whether they have hat/scarf/socks/dress/skirt/pants/shoes or not. Children pick the picture onto the board while repeating the key words in Mandarin.
My School - Let‘s pack up for school: Prepare a schoolbag and a list of the items that you are teaching. Hide the REAL items in the classroom beforehand. 45
Ask children to find the items and put them in the shopping bag. Ask children to count the items in the schoolbag. - Secret bag: Put REAL items (book/paint/staple/children‘s scissor/glue stick/rubber/pencil/crayon) in a big fabric bag before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children whether they have book/paint/staple/children‘s scissor/glue stick/rubber/pencil/crayon at home.
Sports - The Children‘s Olympic Games: Ask children to play with their parents as a team. See which team is faster. Children can ―swim‖/hop /roll the hula hoop across the classroom. Ask children to use plate/bowl/spoon to transfer the table tennis ball to their parents. - Shoot at goal: Bring in a soft toy soccer ball. Use the puppet theatre to be the goal gate. Ask children to line up and shoot or throw the soccer ball at the goal. - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of soccer ball/rugby ball/tennis ball/swimming/ballet before the class. Ask children whether they can play soccer ball/rugby ball/tennis ball. Children pick the picture onto the board while repeating the key words in Mandarin.
My Emotions - Mini-role play: Teacher will make different face marks before the class and ask children to pick a mask and wear it in class. Teacher and children can make laughing or crying sounds and movements together. - Grouping Activity: Bring in some laminated pictures of happy/sad/angry/tired faces and place in a big pile. Ask children what the emotions are then group them. - Pick and stick: 46
Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of happy/sad/angry/tired faces before the class. Ask children whether they are happy/sad/angry/tired. Children pick the picture onto the board while repeating the key words in Mandarin.
Seasons - Teach one season as a topic for each term. Bring in items for each season (spring flowers/sunglasses/autumn leaves/toy snowman/snow flake) and ask the children what they are in Mandarin. - Pick and stick: Teacher will prepare a blank board and some laminated pictures of a) spring flowers or butterflies for spring topic; b) sun/shells/spade for sum- mer topic; c) autumn leaves for autumn topic; d) snowman or snow flake for winter topic. Ask children which season they like the most. Children pick the picture onto the board while repeating the key words in Mandarin.
Christmas - Decorate the Christmas tree: Bring in a small Christmas tree and some decorations. Ask children to pick a decoration and put on the Christmas tree. - Santa‘s bag: Put small gifts in the Santa‘s bag. Ask children to pick one gift from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children to say ―Merry Christmas‖ in Mandarin.
Easter - Easter egg hunt: Hide the eggs in the classroom beforehand. Bring in a basket and ask children to find Easter eggs and put them in the basket. Count how many Easter eggs they have found. - Secret basket: Put items (Easter eggs/little chicks/soft bunny toys) in the basket before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. 47
Ask children whether they like Easter eggs/little chicks/soft bunny toys Before giving each child an Easter egg chocolate, say ―Happy Easter‖ aloud in Mandarin. Make sure chocolates are nut free. Always ask the parents first in case the children are allergic to something else, like dairy products.
Mother's Day and Father's Day - Give massage to parents or grandparents: Ask children to give massage to their parents or grandparents. Teacher will say the body parts in Mandarin and children will find the right body parts and do the massage. - Show and tell: Ask children to introduce their parents or grandparents in front of the class. Ask children who they are and kiss and hug their parents or grandparents. Don‘t forget to say ―Happy Mother's Day/Happy Father's Day‖ and ―I love you, Mum/Dad!‖ in Mandarin.
Chinese New Year - Make dumplings/noodles/spring rolls: Teacher will show how to make dumplings/noodles/spring rolls first. Children will make dumplings/noodles/spring rolls by themselves. Parents and the teacher will help. Children can take home the dumplings/noodles/spring rolls they make. Tell the parents how to cook them properly. - Chinese calligraphy and make Chinese New Year banners: Bring in REAL items (brushes/special paper/ink) and introduce Chinese calligraphy the children. Teacher will pick simple Chinese characters and show how to write Chinese calligraphy. Children can practice writing on the scrapped/recycled paper first and then on the red paper to make the Chinese New Year banners. - Secret bag: Put REAL items (lanterns/red envelopes/ Chinese New Year banners) in a big fabric bag. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children whether they like lanterns/red envelopes/ Chinese New Year banners. Before giving each child a small gift, say ―Happy Chinese New Year‖ aloud in Mandarin.
Mid-Autumn Festival
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- Let‘s eat moon cake: make sure the moon cakes are nut/egg free. Always ask the parents first in case the children are allergic to something else. - Secret bag: Put items (toy bunny/a laminated picture of moon/moon cake) in a fabric bag. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children whether they like bunny/moon/moon cake or not. Don‘t forget to say ―Happy Mid-Autumn Festival‖ in Mandarin.
Dragon Boat Festival - Boat racing: Ask children to play with their parents as a team. See which team is faster. Children and their parents will stand and holding hands together to be a boat. They will ―row the boat‖ across the classroom. - Dragon dance: Teach dragon and its body parts first. Teacher will be the head of the dragon and children will line up behind the teacher to be the body and tail of the dragon. Dance together while reviewing opposites and action words in Mandarin. - Secret bag: Put items (rice dumplings/toy dragon/toy boat) in a fabric bag before the class. Ask children to pick one from the bag and show others what it is. Ask children whether they like rice dumplings/ dragon/ boat or not. Don‘t forget to say ―Happy Dragon Boat Festival‖ in Mandarin.
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6. THE USE OF IPADS IN TEACHING MANDARIN
There are so many reasons why we largely use iPads in classes today. Our Mandarin Stars classes use iPads because:
- IPads are quite light weight. They are easier to handle than laptops - IPads have touch screens. So students are better engaged with - iPads have long battery life that guarantees its performance - There are lots of free & low cost educational apps that we could choose and download to help better teach - iPads allow you to enlarge screen by easily pinching with two fingers - IPads allow students to easily create and share document, photos, sound, video and etc.
HOW DO WE USE IPADS IN OUR MANDARIN CLASSES?
How do you use iPads to enhance our Mandarin teaching? Our team has summarised some key points of how to use iPads below:
Do you start with a fun teaching idea or do you start with a cool app you really want to use? Either way is ok. Starting with a fun teaching idea, you need to then find a number of apps to help organize relevant activities. You should be careful when starting with a cool app in your planning. Sometimes teachers‘ pay more attention on whether students enjoy the game while neglecting educational purpose.
Ensure there is a backup plan. An iPad is like all other ITC tools. They can get malfunction sometimes. As a classroom teacher, we need to be ready for the situation when our iPad activity is no longer an option.
Set up roles. When you play a video, you need them to be quiet and listen. Students are not allowed to put their hands on iPads. According to the age group of your class, set up clear rules and ensure the follow up reinforcement.
Fun & Teaching. This is a question we should ask ourselves when we plan and when we reflect after teaching: Is/Was my iPad activity fun and educational?
Are you using it as another fancy whiteboard? Ensure your students get hands on the iPad more than yourself. It is a great tool to engage them rather than merely a demonstration screen.
Never stop looking for new apps. There are two things we can do to make our students interested: 1. Don‘t use the same app more than 3 times in a row. 2. Update your apps and look for new ones regularly. 50
DO’S AND DON’TS WITH THE USE OF IPAD
Do‘s: Have effective classroom management skills Create useful and productive assignment Pace and balance lesson plans between face-to-face teaching and using iPad apps for teaching Always try to engage students Check the software for any malfunction before use
Don‘ts: 1. Focusing only on content apps. 2. Lack of Teacher Preparation in Classroom Management of iPads. 3. Treating the iPad as a computer an expecting it to serve as a laptop. 4. Failure to communicate a compelling answer to ―Why iPads?‖
OTHERS ICT TOOLS To provide our students with a fun and productive Mandarin learning experience, our use of ICT tools does not limit to iPad only. Here are some ICT tools our team has been using and we have seen an amazing role they played in our teaching:
Cell phones Laptops Cameras CD players IPods
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7. Language Games at Mandarin Stars
LANGUAGE GAMES FOR PRESCHOOL PLAYGROUPS
No. Name of the game & Details Materials requires
1 Duck, duck, goose 鸭鸭鹅 Everyone sits in a circle facing inside. Child A walks slowly outside the circle, patting each person‘s head and says ―ya‖. A keeps saying ―ya‖ and says ―e‖ to one person of their choice (B) and B quickly stands up and chases A. If B can catch A before he/she sits down at where B was sitting, B Flashcards asks A a question (e.g. show them a flashcard and say ―zhe shi shen me?‖). If not, B gets a question from the teacher and keep walking around the circle, game continues. This game can also be used to practise other key words.
2 Musical chairs 抢椅子 Ideally there are two teachers and more than 5 children to play this game. Lay out the chairs in a circle (there needs to be one less chair than children). Children walk outside around the chairs with Chairs, stereo, music CD, the music and need to sit down on a chair as soon as the music stops. Whoever is leaving the flashcards game for not having sat down on a chair needs to answer a question (or gets to ask a question to the remaining group). Before the game starts, the teacher needs to remind children that hands need to be off the chairs at all times and they are to walk instead of run.
3 Running game 跑圈游戏 Ideally the group has more than 5 children in a big room. Get the children to sit in a circle facing inside. Child A runs outside the circle and the teacher guides everyone else to claps. When the
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flashcards clapping is fast, A needs to run fast, and when it slows down, A slows down accordingly. When the teacher says ―ting (stop)!‖, A needs to immediately stop, and asks a question to B who is sitting in front of them (e.g. ―what colour do you like?‖). B needs to answer that question, and then takes their turn to run. A sits down where B was sitting, game continues. Age 4+.
4 Pictionary 你画我猜 Work in pairs/small groups or whole class. One child draws something that we learned from the flashcards and asks their partner(s): ―zhe shi shen me? (what is this ?)‖ The rest of the group need to guess what it is, and answer in Mandarin. Whoever gets the correct answer gets to draw Pencils and paper, or next. Age 4+. whiteboard and markers
5 Whisper game 悄悄话 The group sits in a circle. The teacher whispers a word/phrase to the child sitting next to them and the child passes it on by whispering to the next person. Last person of the circle says it out loud to Nil the group what the message is. Start with simple words and if children are ready, try phrases or sentences. 6 Bowling game 保龄球 Divide the children to 5/6-person groups. Everyone stands in a line and takes turns to throw the bowling ball. Those who don‘t hit a bottle need to answer a question from the teacher before going Kids bowling set, flashcards to the end of the queue. This game also works with bean bags: Place a hoop a few metres from where the children are standing (depending on children‘s age) and get the children to throw bean bags into the hoop. Whoever missed needs to answer a question. 7 Hoop fun 跳圈 Place 8-10 hoops on the floor. Place mini cards in each hoop. A group of 2-5 children start walking from hoop to hoop. When the teacher says a key word, for example, ―ping guo (apple)!‖ Everyone needs to quickly find a hoop with a mini card of apple in it and jump into that hoop. Failing to do this Hoops, mini picture cards of means leaving the game. Whoever stays until the last wins. target words
8 Role play 过家家 This games promotes children‘s conversational skills with daily phrases such as ―please could I have…‖, ―Yes please‖, ―No thank you‖. Divide the children into pairs/groups of 3 and provide each Puppets or stuffed animal group with a few sensory items (e.g. toy fruits). Each child gets a puppet/ stuffed animal. Child A toys, Sensory items for holds Dingding and asks child B who holds Doudou: ―ni yao shen me? (what would you like?)‖ B target words responses as Doudou, and asks child A questions such as ―ni xi huan xiang jiao ma?‖ Then child A replies.
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9 Secret bag 神秘口袋 Place various mini cards in a non-transparent bag and show it to a group of children. Each person takes turn reaching their hands in the bag and takes out a mini card – then they‘ll need to answer A small bag, mini cards what it is in Mandarin. Suitable for 2-5 year olds. 10 Musical statue 木头人 Everyone dances with the music but has to stop once the music stops. Whoever moves needs to sit down on the floor after answering a question from the teacher. The person who stays till the last Stereo, music CD, wins the game. flashcards 11 What‘s the time, The teacher, Dingding, walks in front of the group, facing the same director. The group asks Dingding?老狼老狼几点了？ ―Dingding, dingding, ji dian le?‖ and the teacher answers a number from 1-12. The group walks closer to the teacher. Once the teacher says it‘s 12 o‘clock, the children need to quickly turn back A big room or outdoor and run away before getting caught by the teacher. Age 4+. activity area
12 Drop the handkerchief Everyone sits in a circle facing inside. Holding a handkerchief, child A slowly walks outside the 丢手绢 circle while everyone sings a song. A gently drops it behind child B and starts running. Child B who has the handkerchief behind him/her must stand up fast and chase A before A sits down in B‘s spot. a handkerchief (or a small If A gets caught by B, A needs to answer a question from the teacher. Otherwise B needs to answer piece of toy, ideally made of a question and continue walk around the circle. Age 4+. light material)
13 Miming game 默剧猜词 The teacher shows a card (e.g. an animal or an action word) to a child. The child needs to act like it to the group without saying the word itself. Other children in the group guess what it is and need to Flashcards say it out loud in Mandarin. Children can also be split into two groups and compete against each other. Whichever group gets more words in certain time wins the game. 14 Fish in the sea 鱼儿游 Make a big circle on the floor with mats and pretend it is a lake. Tell children that they are fish swimming in the sea. But when the teacher says ―ting‖ (stop) they have to stop swimming. Whoever Small floor mats failed to do that will have to sit down outside the circle. The child that stays till the end of the game wins.
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LANGUAGE GAMES FOR ALL!
Teaching Numbers and counting
1. Around ball Stand in a circle, with you holding a ball Explain to the children they must pass the ball around the circle, repeating the numbers to one another Pass the ball to the child on your right saying ―one‖ in the target language; they repeat this, passing it to the person on their right, and so on around the circle until it gets back to you For the next round, say ―two‖ as you pass the ball and this is repeated around the circle See how quickly you can move the ball around the circle, without dropping it – if the ball is dropped, it goes back to the start and you begin again with ―one‖
2. Bean hunt Before the children enter the classroom, hide dried beans in nooks and crannies around the room Children enter and each is given a paper cup to collect beans and sent on a search-and-recover mission Give children five or ten minutes to find as many beans as possible When time is up each child counts their beans in target language – the one with the most wins
3. Beanbags Give each child an old sock, some rice/dried beans, lentils, etc., a small freezer bag and some string Fill the freezer bag with rice/beans, tie securely and roll up in the sock, which should also be tied To play, children stand in a line and throw their beanbags on to sheets of paper/card which have numbers or pictures on them – the children must say out loud the target language word for the number/picture their beanbags land on
4. Bingo Hand out pre-printed bingo cards to each child Alternatively, give each child a photocopied blank grid two squares by eight (or ask them to draw one) and ask them to fill in numbers themselves Make sure each child has either a pen/pencil or access to counters As you call out numbers in target language, children must cross them off their card
5. Body part count
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Children walk or dance around the room as music plays When the music stops, call out a number between one and ten in target language – the children have to position themselves so that this number of parts of their body are in contact with the floor Encourage children to be as original as possible with their choices, e.g. For two – instead of simply standing on two feet, try one knee and one elbow; one foot and one hand, etc.
6. Call ball Give each child a number and tell them to spread out around the room One play begins by bouncing the ball high into the air and calling out another player's number in target language As soon as the ball leaves the bouncer's hand, the other players run away except the one whose number has been called, who must try to catch the ball before it hits the ground again If successful, this child then bounces the ball calling out another number, whose owner must rush back to try to catch the ball before it hits the ground If a child misses their number, they must leave the game
7. Card hunt Before the children enter the classroom, hide all 52 cards from one deck around the room. Separate one further deck into red and black cards Once the children have entered, divide them into two equal teams. Give each member of ―red‖ team a red card and each member of ―black‖ team a black one Each player must search the room for the card which exactly corresponds to the one in their hand. Any other cards discovered along the way should be left in place. When a child finds the matching card, they bring it to you and must answer questions in target language like ―what colour is it?‖, ―what number is it?‖ Or ―what suit does it belong to?‖
8. Hand-clap circle Standing in a circle, ask the children to hold their left hand with palm facing up and their right with palm facing down Each child places the palm of their left hand under the right palm of person to their left With their right hand, the first child claps the left palm of the person to their right saying ―one‖ in target language, who passes it on to the next person saying ―two‖... The numbers/claps are passed around as quickly as possible, until a child says an agreed target language code word, at which point the direction of play changes and counting starts again from ―one‖
9. Keepy-uppy Children stand in a circle and each child is given a number Child 1 steps into the middle of the circle and bats the ball into the air, calling out ―one‖ in target language 56
Child 2 has the time it takes for the ball to bounce once to step into the circle and bat it up again, saying ―two‖... And so on If anyone fails to reach the ball and call out their number in time, start again with ―one‖ Continue until everyone has taken a turn
10. Ladders Divide the class into two teams and ask them to sit on the ground in two lines facing each other, with legs extended and feet touching Give each pair of children (one from each team) a target language number Call out a number at random Upon hearing it, the pair who have been given that number must stand up, run down the middle of the two teams along the ―ladder‖ of legs, split at the bottom, run along the outside of their team line, and back down to their original place The first child back in position must answer a simple target language question in order to win their team a point
11. Multiple counting Children sit in a circle Begin by counting around the circle in target language, each child saying their own number out loud Explain to children that their number will remain the same for the duration of the game Count around the circle again, but this time around, any child whose number is a multiple of 3 must clap as they say their number Next time around, keep the claps in but add a foot stamp for multiples of 4, then a head nod for multiples of 5...
12. Number fishing Place the fish face down and have the children sit in two teams around the ―fish-pond‖ Give the first child from each team a fishing rod The first child from team 1 stands over the pond with the rod and must catch a fish using the magnet, lifting it out of the pond and reading the number out in target language If correct, this child keeps hold of the fish and the first child from team 2 takes a turn If incorrect, the fish is returned to the pond and the opposite team take their turn When the pond is empty the team with the most fish has won
13. Number race Children stand in a circle Go around the circle tapping each child on the head and numbering them When you call out their number, the child has to run clockwise around the circle and back to their original position
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The child must then sit down cross-legged Continue until you have only one child left standing
Teaching Colours
14. Colour race Children sit in a circle The teacher places pencils one by one in the centre of the circle, saying colours as you go When all the pencils are laid out, the teacher calls out a colour and the children must try to beat each other to pick up a correctly coloured pencil Keep going until all the pencils have been picked up; the child with the most pencils at the end is the winner
15. Elodie's colour game Divide the class into two teams A child from each team comes up to the board Say the name of a colour – the first child to touch the correct colour card/section of the board wins a point for their team The two players return to their seats and two more children approach the board After a set amount of time has passed the team with the most points wins
16. Magazine scavenger hunt Give each child a magazine and a pair of scissors One by one, children put up their hand and say the name of a colour The rest of the group must try to find and cut out an item in this colour, as quickly as possible, holding it up in the air when they have finished
17. Set your sights Divide the group into two teams, sitting in a line at opposite ends of the room Lay the sheets of a4 coloured paper out on the floor One by one, a child from each team comes forward and must throw a beanbag on to a sheet and correctly name the colour A point is given for each correct answer If the beanbag lands in between two sheets, a player from the opposing team may give the name of a colour in English which their opponent has to say in the target language Children are not allowed to aim for the same colour as the child whose turn immediately preceded theirs
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Teaching Greetings and introductions
18. Age walk Children spread out around the room, each occupying their own space Call out an age using the appropriate phrase the children have learnt The children must immediately ―become‖ that age, adjusting how they talk to each other, play, move, etc. Give children a minute or two to explore each age before calling out the next
19. Getting to know you Children walk around the room, shaking hands and using introductory phrases such as: asking/telling each other's names, asking each other how they are and where they live, etc. After a few moments' practice, stop the children and introduce a setting – examples might be: a reunion party for old friends who have not seen each other for 20 years; a funeral; a library where you are only allowed to whisper; or a factory where everyone has to shout above the noise of heavy machinery Ask the children to carry on greeting one another in a manner appropriate to the given setting
20. Greetings race You and the children sit or stand in a circle Explain that you have ―collected‖ some greetings and they are in your pocket – recap two alternative words for either ―hello‖ or ―goodbye‖ Turn to the child to your left, shake their hand and say the first word Ask the child to pass it to the child on their left with a handshake, and so on all the way around the circle clockwise Meanwhile shake hands with the child on your right and say the other greeting and ask them to pass it on anti-clockwise See which greeting arrives back in your hand first – when they have both arrived put them back in your pocket safely for next time Note that the child halfway around the circle at the cross-over point will have the tricky task of passing on both greetings at the same time and must concentrate hard not to get them muddled up
21. Identity parade Each child chooses a name, town and age which they must write down but keep secret. Then the children stand in a line One child is the police interrogator and walks along the line before asking a ―suspect‖ child his/her name The child being asked must answer either their real chosen name or bluff If the interrogator senses the suspect is lying, the interrogator says so, the suspect must then own up if the accusation was justified – if so, they sit down and the interrogator goes on to question another suspect
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If the interrogator is satisfied that the truth is being told, they continue to question the same child – if the child is in fact lying, then they have got away with it! At any point while being questioned the suspect can lie, and at any point the interrogator can accuse a suspect of lying If a child is falsely accused of lying, the suspect replaces the interrogator
22. Squeak, piggy, squeak Children form a circle around a blindfolded player Everyone in the circle holds hands and walks around to their right, counting to ten Once they have reached ten, the blindfolded child holds out their arm and points to someone in the circle (without being able to see them) and asks ―what is your name?‖ The child being pointed to must respond with the required phrase but they may disguise their voice and use the name of another child in the class to trick the child in the middle The blindfolded child has three guesses to correctly identify the ―squealer‖; when the guess is correct they swap places If the child pointed to does not want to be blindfolded, allow them to nominate a friend to wear the blindfold and stand in the middle instead
23. Where do you live? Pin the map up on the wall or board Ask for two volunteers to come up to the map Hand child 1 a flag with a piece of blu-tack attached to the back – child 1 must not allow child 2 to see this Child 2 stands with their back to the map as child 1 attaches the flag to the correct location on the map and then goes back to their seat
Teaching Body parts
24. Blindfold body drawing Children sit in a circle and one child wears a blindfold The blindfolded child is given a blank sheet of paper and a pencil One at a time, the children in the group call out parts of the body The blindfolded child must draw the correct body part, attempting to end up with a complete drawing of a person. Of course, being blindfolded the parts don't quite fit together and you end up with some very funny drawings
25. Knots and tangles As the music plays, the children dance around the room
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Explain to children that when you stop the music they must find a partner as quickly as possible Call out a part of the body, e.g. ―hand‖ - each pair must touch their hands together When they have had a few practices, make the commands harder by giving two body parts such as ―knee to elbow‖, ―big toe to nose‖, ―head to head‖, ―back to back‖ or ―tummy to little finger‖ Children must find a new partner each time
Teaching Literacy
26. Crosswords and word searches Each child draws a grid approximately 12 squares wide and 12 long Going forwards, down and diagonally, they write in ten words using one square per letter, making sure they write down the words they have used alongside the grid They fill in the remaining squares with random letters and then give it to a friend to see how many words they can find
27. Scrapbooks Give the children a category, e.g. Food, clothes, animals, etc. Using pictures cut from the magazines, the children stick them into their scrapbook, labelling each page and item in target language Have workbooks and dictionaries handy for children to look up any new vocabulary
28. Spelling bee The teacher has a list of words of increasing difficulty The other children are lined up in front of the teacher The teacher says the first word on the list The first contestant must repeat the word, spell it out then say it again If correct, contestant 1 sits down and the next contestant is given a new word If incorrect, contestant 1 is out and contestant 2 is given the chance to spell the same word The last player left is the winner You can also nominate a child to take your place as the ―teacher‖
Teaching Experience
29. Traffic lights
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Children spread out around the room One player is ―it‖ and shouts the instructions in target language. The last person to start doing the action, or whoever does the wrong action is out. The last player left is ―it‖ next term The actions are: - Red light – everyone stand still - Green light – turn around - Crash – lie on the ground - Bridge – bend over to make an arch - Traffic jam – creep along slowly on hands and knees
Teaching Food
30. Finger lickin' charades Children take turns to mime eating a particular food – e.g. Peeling a banana and taking a bite; making a sandwich by cutting bread, spreading it with butter and putting slices together The rest of the group has to guess which food is being mimed and say its name Whoever guesses correctly takes the next turn
31. My grandmother went to market Children sit in a circle Teach the children an appropriate phrase The first child repeats the phrase, giving the name of a food (or other object) that you have learnt as a class The next child must repeat the phrase with the last child's object and add one of their own Continue like this around the circle with the list getting longer and longer Whoever muddles up the list or forgets an object is out
32. Shopping lists Before beginning, the children each write a shopping list of ten food items Children sit in a circle with the plastic foods in the centre Swap shopping lists across the circle Nominate two children; child a has to ask child b for each item on their list in turn; child b must collect the items from the pile and hand over to child a
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Teaching Animals
33. Animal drawing One at a time children come up to the board/take a piece of blank paper and a pen and begin to draw an animal – the rest of the class must raise their hands to guess which animal is being drawn Whoever guesses correctly takes the next turn
34. Animal picture hop Lay the animal cards out all over the floor As you call out the names of the animals and children must hop on to the correct picture and remain there on one leg until the next one is called out Anyone who falls over/hops on to the wrong animal is out When children are out, they must call the next animal name
35. Disco zoo Children spread out around the room Ask the children to think of an animal whose name they have learnt, and to keep it secret Explain to the children that, while the music plays, they will each portray their particular animal as they imagine it would dance The children must observe each other's behaviour and afterwards ask them to identify which animals each other was portraying – you could offer points for each correct guess
36. Racing animals Children line up along one side of the room Call out an animal name and the children must then travel as fast as possible to the other end of the room, doing the appropriate animal action: - Spider – link arms back-to-back, one person moving forwards, the other backwards - Frog – leapfrog over each other - Crab – walking on hands and feet with arched back - Pig – one child carries another piggy-back - Lizard – wheelbarrow-style, holding partner's ankles - Flamingo – hopping on one leg - Snake – slithering on stomach - Elephant – run waving one arm around like a trunk - Ostrich – arm up in the air like a long neck 63
Teaching Flashcards
37. Listen and show Create images on cards which relate to key words and sounds in rhymes, stories and songs Distribute the cards amongst the children and then ask them to raise the cards showing the corresponding image as the words are recited in the story, song or rhyme
38. Card sequencing Put the children in groups Give the children small versions of the cards from activity 1, relating to key words and sounds in rhymes, stories and songs Ask them to sequence the cards as they hear them
39. Point to a card Position the cards around the room Say a word and then ask the children to point to the correct image
40. Clap if true Show a card and say a word If the word matches the card, the children either clap, say ―true‖, stand up or nod, etc.
41. Splat Stick the flashcards for a given topic on the board Divide the class into two teams and ask a representative from each team to come to the board Say a word or sound, and the first person to ―splat‖ the corresponding card wins a point ―first touch is the only touch‖
42. Strange voices Using a visual image on a card as a prompt, ask the children to say the word or phrase slowly, quickly, quietly, loudly, sadly or in a strange voice, etc.
43. Numbered cards Once the children know some numbers in the target language, stick flashcards onto a whiteboard and write a number next to each one 64
Call out a number in the target language and the children say the word for the picture on the flashcard
44. Guess the card Put the children into teams Jumble up about eight flashcards and hold them with the images facing you and away from the children One child from the first team guesses what the first card is. If the guess is wrong, the next team has a go and so on, until the correct word is guessed Once correctly guessed, display the cards so as to remind them which ones are no longer in the pack The game continues until no cards remain 45. Card above the head Ask a child to sit at the front and hold a card above his/her head so s/he cannot see it The child has to guess what the image is. The rest of the class says if the guess is correct or not
46. Slow reveal Slowly reveal one card at a time from behind a box or out of a bag Ask the children to produce the word or phrase as quickly as possible once they recognize it
47. Quick flash Once the children are familiar with the images and words, ―flash‖ a card quickly so that the children barely see it Goal is for children to recognize the image and produce the word as fast as they can
48. Which is missing? Display the flashcards and then ask the children to close their eyes Remove a card, then ask them to open their eyes and say which is missing
49. Mime a card Ask a child to select one of the cards but not to show it to the rest of the class The child mimes what was on the card and the other children have to guess what it is
50. Which card do you have? Ask several children to stand at the front of the classroom holding a flashcard facing towards them The rest of the class tries to find out who has which card by asking questions such as ―do you have...?‖, ―do you like...?‖ Or ―is it...?‖, etc. The children with the cards can only answer with ―yes‖ or ―no‖
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Teaching Reading
51. Match the word to the image Create small versions of picture flashcards and provide accompanying cards with the written word. Hand these out to the children Ask the children to pair up the word and image so that they match
52. Pairs Ask the children to spread the cards out face down and then take turns to turn them over two at a time. If the word and image match, the pair is kept The winner is the child with the most pairs at the end
53. Order the words Provide each child or pair with a set of cards with a word or phrase on each Read out loud a list of words and then ask them to arrange the word cards in that order on the table in front of them
54. Make a sentence In preparation for a writing activity, provide small cards with words from key phrases Ask the children to construct their own sentences for a given topic
55. Read and show Distribute the key word cards for a story, rhyme or song and ask the children to hold up the appropriate word card as it is heard
56. Word sequence (numbers, days, months) For vocabulary which follows a definite sequence, such as months or days of the week, provide teams of children with sets of cards with words written on them Mix up the cards and then ask the children to race against each other to arrange the words in the correct order
57. Words in a bag Place words written on cards in a bag, ask a child to take out a card, look at it and then invite the other children to guess what the word is
Activities with Puppets
58. Model puppets When practicing asking and answering questions, use one of your puppets! Ask a child to come to the front of the class to ask the puppet questions 66
such as ―what's your name?‖, ―how old are you?‖ Or ―do you like the colour blue?‖ Your puppet then responds and asks the child the same question Once several children have come to the front of the class to ask and answer questions, this will have provided the rest of the class with a good linguistic model which they can use as they ask and answer questions with one another Alternatively, when they come to the front of the class, they can get their puppets to ask and answer the questions
59. Puppet fun Ask children to each bring in a puppet from home and to interact with each other's puppets to ask questions and seek information
60. Puppet mind-reading Ask a child to stand up with his/her puppet and to ask it to ―think‖ of a word, statement or opinion Then say that the other children or puppets need to try to find out what it is by asking questions
61. Hunt the bear Choose a child to go out of the room and ask another child to hide a soft toy somewhere in the room Invite the first child to come back in. The rest of the class then guides the child to it by saying a sequence of words, loudly as the child gets near and softly when the child is far away
62. Which colour? (colours) Provide each child or group of children with a selection of coloured bricks Say colours aloud in a specific order and ask the children to build a tower with the bricks in that same order
63. Dressing up (clothes) Provide two piles of clothes identical in type and colour Name an item of clothing and its colour A point goes to the team who correctly identifies and puts on the item of clothing first
64. Please and thank you (greetings) Give a child an object, such as a ball The child sitting next to him/her asks for the object politely, the child with the object hands it over and the child receiving it thanks him/her. This continues around the class or circle To allow for the greatest amount of child participation, provide several objects which can be passed around at the same time
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65. Feel in the bag Place objects representing the vocabulary which the children have been learning in the feely bag Ask a child to feel for an object and say what it is before taking it out Once removed from the bag, ask the rest of the class for confirmation of the correct word or phrase given. If it is correct, the item is retained by the child, if not, it is returned to the bag
Sentence practice
66. Yes or no? Present to the class similar objects in a variety of colours, sizes or shapes, such as pencils of different colours Place one object in a feely bag without the class seeing what it is Ask the children to guess what the object is by making statements like ―it's a small blue pencil‖, upon which you reply either ―yes‖ or ―no If the answer is ―no‖, another child makes a guess If the answer is ―yes‖, it is that c child‘s turn to put something in the feely bag for the others to guess
67. On the phone Try using two telephones and ask the children to sit back-to-back whilst holding a conversation This makes the interaction more challenging, as there are no visual cues
68. Buying and selling Using goods in conversations related to buying and selling means that the element of choice is introduced, which renders the communication more authentic
Speaking Games
69. Add up the dice Using two or three dice for each team, ask the children to roll the dice and add up the numbers Each team tells the rest what their total is and the team with the lowest number goes out The game continues until only one group remains
70. Secret die Customise a blank or large soft die by attaching images such as classroom objects or colours Find a box large enough so that the die can be thrown inside but remain hidden from view 68
Ask a child in each group to throw the die inside the box The task for the other children is to find out which image is showing upwards. Each child in the group should be allowed one turn at a time to guess what it is The first person to discover what the image is swaps with the thrower and the game starts again Keep a tally to see who was the most successful
71. Pass and answer The child with the ball says the name of another child, asks a question and then throws it to that person. The child receiving the ball answers the question appropriately
72. Lip-reading Instead of saying a question aloud and passing the ball, try mouthing it silently instead This requires more concentration and focuses the children on mouth shape formation, which helps with pronunciation
73. Musical ball Play some music in the target language as the children pass it around the group The child holding the ball when the music stops needs to ask the person of his/her choice a question
74. Grab the beanbag Divide the class into two equal teams Assign a different number, item of vocabulary or phrase to every child on one team Use the same numbers or items to name every child on the opposing team, so you end up with each number or item assigned to one child per team Line up the two teams facing each other, about five or six metres apart. Use lines marked on the ground, as this helps to keep the teams equidistant Place a beanbag on the ground halfway between the two teams Call out an item or number, or show a corresponding flashcard, and the child from each team who is responsible for that word or phrase needs to pick up the beanbag first and get back to his/her place in the line before being caught by the other child. This earns one point for that team
Other Great Games!
75. Roll and construct a sentence Write a familiar sentence on card and cut it up into six pieces with individual words or phrases on each. Randomly number the pieces from one to six In small groups, ask the children to roll a die in order to collect the necessary pieces to reconstruct the sentence Prepare a card with the correct order of words for the children to check their sentence at the end 69
76. Simon says If you ask the children to do an action and you say ―Simon says...‖, they have to do it If you ask the children to do an action without saying ―Simon says...‖, they have to continue doing the last action Use children already eliminated to spot anyone making an error
77. Quick draw Divide the class into two teams and ask for a representative from each to stand at the board Say a number, word or phrase and the first person to draw an appropriate image on the board wins a point
78. Odds and evens (numbers) Ask the children to stand up Tell them that when they hear an even number they should rub their stomach, and when they hear an odd number they should pat their head Any child caught doing the wrong action at the wrong time is out
79. Fruit salad Ask the children to sit on chairs in a circle Give every child a word or phrase to remember, with each word allocated to more than one child Call out one of these and everyone responsible for it must get up and find a new seat Occasionally, call out ―fruit salad‖ and everyone must change places
80. Left, right, straight on (directions) Ask a child to stand up and move away from his/her seat Blindfold the child (try using the blindfolds given out on airplanes to block out the light and help you sleep) Then ask another child to direct the blindfolded child back to his/her seat using commands such as ―left‖, ―right‖, ―straight on‖ and ―stop‖ To ensure safety, remember to monitor the blindfolded person and remove any obstacles in his/her way
81. Higher or lower One child comes to the front of the class and thinks of a number, for example, between 1 and 20 Another child makes a guess as to what it might be, and the child who has thought of the number says whether it is higher, lower or correct The child who guesses correctly has the next turn of thinking of a number
82. Hello, goodbye 70
Ask the children to stand in a circle facing inwards One child walks around the outside of the circle in a clockwise direction, tapping each child one the shoulder and saying hello in the target language When the child taps the shoulder of another and says goodbye, both of them run clockwise around the circle to see who can be the first to get back to the empty place in the circle Whichever of them is last is the person who then walks around the edge of the circle tapping other children's shoulders
83. Chinese whispers Divide the class into teams of about eight, standing in lines Give a word or phrase to the first child in each team, which s/he must whisper in the next person's ear The second child then whispers the word or phrase to the next child, and so on along the line When the message reaches the last person in the line, s/he should then either rush to you to say what it is, select an appropriate flashcard, or write it on the board It is not necessary to give the same word or phrase to each group
84. Draw with a finger (numbers) Ask the children to find a partner each One child in each pair thinks of a number and draws it with his/her finer on the other child's back The other child must say what s/he thinks it is in the target language If the answer is correct, they swap roles
85. Mexican wave (numbers, days, months) Choose a list of vocabulary, such as numbers, days and months Decide on the sequence around the room, namely who goes first, second, etc. Ask the children to stand up in turn, throw their arms in the air and say the next item on the list. As soon as one child has sat down, the next child should perform his/her word and so on until the last person is reached You can time the children with a stopwatch and see if they improve over several tries
86. Picture dictation Form two or three teams and secretly show the same picture to one member of each team Each team member returns to the rest of the team and draws the image The first team to say in the target language what is being drawn wins a point
87. What's the time, Mr. Wolf? 71
The wolf stands at the front with his/her back to everyone else, and the rest of the group asks a pre-determined question The wolf cannot turn around until s/he has answered the question, during which time the rest of the children try to move forward as close to the wolf as possible After answering the question the wolf spins around. If s/he spots the other children moving, these have to go back to the starting line. If the wolf does not see them move, they continue from where they are for the next question The winner is the first person to touch the wolf on the back without being seen
88. Find Mr. X (self-introduction) Give each child a square of paper. Most of the pieces of paper should be blank but three or four pieces should have a cross on them (make sure the cross cannot be seen through the back of the paper) The children circulate in the room, practicing a question and answer on the current topic. However, the children who are ―Mr. X‖ can only response with ―my name is Mr. X‖ When the children ask the question and receive the response ―my name is Mr. X‖, they should sit down quietly without telling anyone else who Mr. X is. Otherwise they continue to circulate asking other children the question The game continues until only Mr. x remains
89. Find someone who... (likes and dislikes) Give each child two grids of images for this topic, one under a symbol for ―like‖ and the other under a symbol for ―dislike‖ Ask the children to interview others in the class to find a different person for a variety of categories, for example, someone who likes chocolate or someone who doesn't like cabbage, etc. The child writes the name of the person under the relevant image Once completed, ask the class to share their findings
90. Scavenger hunt Give the children a list of items to be found, for example, a brown leaf, something red or three stones, etc., all written in the target language The winners are the first group to come back with all these items You could ask the children to devise their own list for others to use
91. The birthday train (enhances creative thinking. This activity works well for students younger than 8 yrs. old.): Ask the children to form a circle. Take the hand of one child. Walk around the inside of the circle with that child as everyone chants, Come aboard the birthday train,
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Come aboard the birthday train. What do you want for your birthday? Come aboard the birthday train. Pause in front of one child. Ask him to say what he wants for his birthday in Chinese. After he does, ask him to join the train. Continue chanting the verse until all the children have had a turn to tell what they want for their birthday. As the game ends, there will be one large birthday train!
92. On my birthday (this activity designs for older group of students. They have had background knowledge of mandarin. It helps to build memory skills): Children love to talk about their birthdays and about birthday presents. This game combines both of these loves. The first child says, ‗on my birthday I want a doll.‘ the next child says, ‗on my birthday I want a doll and a bicycle.‘ the next child repeats the phrase, adding a third item. This game is very challenging and also very funny. Sometimes the children laugh at the items suggested as birthday presents. They may also say funny things like ‗on my birthday I want a gorilla.‘ Alternatively, if it is hard to think about the words for the presents, teacher can relate to the animal topic to say the name of different animals as a pet.
93. Group/pair work Make flashcards for each lesson: children will use white paper to make flashcards for all the key words learned in each lesson. When finish all the flashcards, teacher will say the words in mandarin and ask each team or group to find the right card.
94. Make a Chinese shopping list Ask children to list the Chinese food they like or dislike. Ask children to write the pinyin or Chinese characters for the food they like on the shopping list. Ask children to help parents to do shopping in a Chinese store by using the shopping list they make.
95. Mini-role play Teacher will pretend to be the seller. Children will be the buyers. Teacher will prepare a dialogue first and ask children to rehearse before the play.
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96. Let‘s go shopping! Prepare a shopping bag and a shopping list of the items that you are teaching. Hide the real items in the classroom beforehand. Ask children to find the item and put it in the shopping bag.
97. Make an outer space Group work split the class into groups. Ask each group to draw a planet. Children will write down the name of the planet they make in mandarin. Teacher will prepare a big piece of paper before the class. When each group finishes their part, they can stick them on the paper to make an outer space.
98. The Play Cube
Create a play cube as per image below.
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Instructions: Write instructions on the cube in Pinyin/ Chinese characters. This is a good starter activity- preferable for where space is provided for movement. Instructions to create- ideas as follows: 1. Jump (5 times) (have this in Chinese characters) 2. Skip… (have this in Chinese characters) 3. Hop… (have this in Chinese characters) 4. What is your name? 5. How old are you? 6. Where do you live? 7. Count to 10 in Mandarin! 8. What is ‗teacher‘ in Mandarin? 75
9. How many colours do you know in Mandarin? 10. How many animals do you know in Mandarin?
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8. Dealing with Onsite Enrolment Enquiries
Sometimes parents will ask a teacher about re-enrolment. There are several actions to follow in these circumstances:
ENQUIRY FROM A NEW WALK-IN ENROLMENT:
- Welcome the parent - If the class is not full then you are welcome to accept the parent for a free trial session - Make sure that you take the parents name, phone/ mobile details, email address, child‘s name and age. - Send these details to [email protected] along with the day and class that the student attended. - [email protected] will now follow up on booking this parent for the full term.
ENQUIRY FROM A CURRENT PARENT WHO WANTS TO RE-ENROL:
If a parent wishes to re-enrol, tell the parent that the Enrolment Office will contact them to confirm their place for term 2 or to directly call the Enrolment office.
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9. Complaint procedure & dealing with objections
When dealing with complaints it is important that staff respond in a manner that is:
Calm Sensitive to the client‘s concerns Committed to acting upon the complaint and finding a solution within 24 hours.
Ideas for what to say after a parent complaint is received:
“I’m really sorry to hear your feedback. Please allow me to follow up on this. I will get back to you within 24 hours. Once again, I am sorry for your concern and feedback and will come back to you soon.”
“Thank you for your feedback- I really appreciate it. I will follow up on this matter and get back to you within 24 hours. I am sorry there has been an issue. I will get back to you.”
It is important that you then follow up on the complaint through whoever is involved (teacher/ parent) and: 1. Inform the franchisee 2. Find out what happened 3. Find out why it happened 4. Address a suitable solution/ resolution to the problem 5. Have the franchisee contact the franchisor if advice is required in the matter.
If a parent asks for a refund, it is advised that depending on the reason for the refund, it is sometime just easier to give the refund back instead of trying to deal with a disgruntled parent. We rely a lot on referral for repeat business and therefore in these very rare cases, it is just easier to give a refund for the remainder of the term.
Ideas for what to say in this scenario:
“I’m really sorry to hear your feedback. Please allow me to follow up on this. I will ensure you are refunded for the remainder of the term immediately. Thank you for telling me and once again, I am sorry for your concern and feedback and will come back to you soon.” 78
“Thank you for telling me your concern. I will arrange a refund for the remainder of the term ASAP. I will also address your concerns ASAP. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
Dealing with objections
From time to time you may come across objections from parents as to why they don‘t want to enrol for your classes. Usually reasons are due to lack of experience of our classes or knowledge on 2nd language acquisition. Here are some classic objections that we deal with and how to handle them:
“Your classes are too expensive”
We charge what we do because of the quality that we offer.
Staff are well trained into managing our students' learning needs.
Our staff attend over 12 hours preliminary training then courses each term (for around 3 hours) on an ongoing basis.
Workbooks and worksheets are created on an ongoing basis for students to tailor their learning needs.
We try and tailor to our students as best as possible and also work hard to train our staff.
“My child has had a term and is not saying much!”
- This is normal! It can take a few terms for language output to occur. The main elements to consider are:
- Is my child enjoying the classes? (If they enjoy the classes then this really positive- they may just be taking the language in and processing it in their own time. This is normal)
- Are you completing the homework activities? (It is important to complete the activities at home- this will reinforce what is taught and instill confi- dence for the next lesson)
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- Are you listening to the CD? (Try and listen to the CD as much as possible at home/ in the car. It is also important to complete the homework activi- ties at home and combined with listening to the D, this will definitely reinforce what is taught and instill confidence for the next lesson)
- Are you practicing at home (just once/ twice a week will help)
“The class is too busy and there are too many students”
(We find parents say this if they have had a small class then suddenly numbers increase. Note that we always stick with our ratio of 1:8 max).
- I can understand why you would say that however our average ratio is 1 teacher to 8 students maximum.
- Some classes only have 1 teacher to 2 or 3 students however this class is closer to 1:8. Once we hit 8 we will bring in another teacher.
Sometimes parents just don‘t want to enroll (for financial/ time constraints/ personal issues) and although they may not wish to tell you exactly why, it is ok (and professional) to just say:
“Thank you for thinking of Mandarin Stars- we do hope that you will consider us again for the future. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions in the future.”
It is important to know that parents often do return to Mandarin Stars after taking a break. It is therefore important that when a parent exits, we make it an easy process for them and are professional in our approach so that they feel comfortable enough to return to us in the future.
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10. Security procedures
PREMISES
The franchisee must ensure that all external doors and windows are fitted with adequate locks and that keys to these are kept secure. A register of keys issued to personnel must be maintained. Anyone issued an office key is responsible for the safeguarding of the office.
The franchisee is not responsible for any theft or loss of personal items left in the office. The last person leaving the office must make sure that all accesses into the building are firmly secured, all lighting and business equipment and appliances are turned off, and that the security alarm is activated before leaving the building.
For all hired premises, the franchisee or staff member in charge must be made aware of all security procedures set down by the premises that are being hired.
Regarding safety of the venue, it is the responsibility of the franchisee to ensure that the site is kept safe for students and parents at all times. It is required that:
- All sharp instruments such as scissors and knives are kept well away from children. - Any spillages are immediately cleaned and wiped up to ensure children or adults do not slip over. - The site should always be clean and tidy with non-slip flooring. - If scissors are to be used in craft activities then this must be closely supervised by teachers. - If glues, crayons, felt tips or other art supplies are to be used in craft activities then this must be closely supervised by teachers to ensure that smaller children do not put them in their mouth.
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11. Equipment
All valuable equipment should be engraved with some form of identification number. A register of this equipment should be maintained and filed in a secure location.
All electrical equipment should be tagged according to regional OH and S guidelines.
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12. OH & S
Overview
The Franchisor recognises that the health and safety of its Franchisees‘ employees is of paramount importance. Furthermore, the Franchisor endeavours to ensure that the work place environment provided for its Franchisee employees is safe without risk to health.
In fulfilling this responsibility, the Franchisee is required to:
Provide a safe and healthy work environment. Maintain all equipment and infrastructure in a safe, secure and sound operational condition. Provide adequate facilities to cater for the welfare of all employees. Provide information and training for all employees on work place Occupational Health and Safety Issues. Maintain information and records relating to Occupational Health and Safety issues. Encourage employees‘ participation in the promotion of Occupational Health and Safety issues.
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13. Emergency procedures – Fire / other
Emergency procedures for fire and other hazardous situations should be checked with the venue that is being hired for classes and communicated to all teaching staff.
Fire drill procedures need to be clarified to all new staff to ensure they are aware of emergency procedures such as:
Display emergency telephone numbers near all telephones. Keep an effective fire extinguisher in a central place and near the exit. Fire extinguishers should be tested every year, along with smoke alarms, exit lights and emergency lighting.
Keep a fire blanket in a prominent and readily accessible location. Do not store flammable liquids in the workplace. Do not store material in thoroughfares and keep a clear direct path to fire exits at all times. If a fire occurs:
Extinguish the fire if possible Call the fire brigade Shut all doors and windows Turn off all electric power.
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14. Evacuation – Fire/other
Evacuation procedures for fire and other hazardous situations should be checked with the venue that is being hired for classes and communicated to all teaching staff.
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15. Accident procedures
Accident procedures for accidents and other hazardous situations should be checked with the venue that is being hired for classes and communicated to all teaching staff. All venues should have a current First Aid Box on site.
Overview
The safety of our students is paramount and every measure should be taken by the franchisee and the teacher in charge to ensure that they are protected from hurting themselves. However, accidents do happen and the following information details how the incident should be dealt with either by the franchisee or teaching staff in charge:
- The child should be comforted and reassured. - The extent of the child's injuries will be ascertained and if necessary medical assistance will be called for. - Necessary first aid procedures by a qualified First Aid Officer will be carried out on your child. - The accident should be reported in an Accident Report and should be signed by both teacher in charge/ franchisee and also the parent of the child. - A copy of the report should be kept by the teacher in charge/ franchisee and a second copy should also be given to the parent.
ACCIDENT REPORTING
Franchisees should ensure that all sites and venues used for classes are deemed safe and suitable for teaching by:
- Checking daily for any potentially hazardous items such as scissors, knives or glues that might be left lying around and removing them. - Checking daily that floors are clean and dry and any spillages are wiped up. - Checking daily that chairs and tables are fit for usage with no loose bolts. - Checking daily that all materials such as toys used in class are safe to use with no breakages and loose pieces.
In the case of an accident, the following procedures should take place:
- The child/ injured person should be comforted and reassured. - The extent of the injured person/ child's injuries will be ascertained and if necessary medical assistance will be called for. 86
- Necessary first aid procedures by a qualified First Aid Officer will be carried out on your child. - The accident should be reported in an Accident Report and should be signed by both teacher in charge/ franchisee and also the parent of the child or the injured person. - A copy of the report should be kept by the teacher in charge/ franchisee and a second copy should also be given to the parent or injured person.
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16. Australian Standards for Product Safety
Franchisees should also ensure that any materials or toys used should comply with Australian Standards as detailed below:
Toys for children up to and including 36 months of age: http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/974860#h3_67 Australian Standard AS/NZS ISO 8124.1:2002 ‗Safety of toys Part 1: Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties‘.
For complete information about all mandatory requirements for toys for children up to and including 36 months old, you must read Consumer Protection Notice No. 14 of 2003, as amended by Consumer Protection No. 1 of 2005. This information is essential to ensure you and your business complies.
Toys for children under three years old is a very broad category of toys and can include, but is not limited to: rattles, toy dummies, teethers, and squeeze toys toys for attaching to cots, playpens, prams and strollers push and pull toys pounding toys blocks and stacking toys bath toys rocking horses and other ride-on toys musical chime toys jack-in-the box stuffed toys and dolls toys with pompoms games and puzzles toy cars, trucks and other vehicles. battery operated toys electric toys and appliances.
Children's toys containing magnets http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/975279/fromItemId/973865
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Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZS ISO 8124.1:2002, Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties, and Amendment 2 to AS/NZS ISO 8124.1, as amended by Consumer Protection Notice No. 5 of 2010. Also applies to Erasers & fridge magnets in food form.
Sunglasses & fashion spectacles http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/973556/fromItemId/973548 Australian Standard AS/NZS 1067:2003 Sunglasses and fashion spectacles. AS/NZS 1067:2003 is a voluntary standard except for those sections specifically called into the mandatory standard, which then become law. You must consult the mandatory standard for these details. Consumer Protection Notices No.13 of 2003 and No. 4 of 2005, as amended, outline the mandatory aspects of the standard. They cover specific performance requirements for sunglasses and fashion spectacles.
Lead and other elements in toys and finger paints http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/981719/fromItemId/974135 Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 8124.3:2003 ‗Safety of toys, Part 3—Migration of certain elements‘. Clause 4.4 covers ‗Safety of toys Part 7 – Finger paints‘. For complete information about all mandatory requirements for toys with lead and other elements and finger paints for children you must read Consumer Protection Notice No. 1 of 2009.
Aquatic toys http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/973551/fromItemId/973496 Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZS ISO 8124.1:2002 ‗Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties‘. For complete information about all mandatory requirements for aquatic toys, we strongly advise that you read Consumer Protection Notice No. 2 of 2009.
REGULAR SAFETY CHECKS
All toys and materials should be thoroughly checked that they are in safe and good working order before being used in any class.
Any unsafe items should be disposed of.
All toys and materials should be thoroughly checked that they are in safe and good working order once per term during the school holidays before the start of a new term. Any broken items should be fixed and any batteries should be replaced.
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HEALTH AND HYGIENE
All staff and children at All Language Stars classes should wash their hands: before handling and preparing food of any kind before eating after going to the toilet after cleaning up body substances of any kind after handling garbage after handling animals; and/or before and after giving medication or first aid.
In some classes, food may be offered at fruit time. Our fruit time policy in class is as follows:
- Parents (for Playgroup classes) may bring a piece of fruit to the class for sharing and eating. - Fruit may be cut by the teacher in charge or a parent. o Hands are to be washed beforehand before fruit cutting and preparation. - Parents (for Playgroup classes) are responsible for children washing their hands before eating food. - Parents (for Playgroup classes) are responsible for the consumption of food by their child and any allergies that the child has/ might have.
FOOD POLICY
All classes are strictly nut-free.
- Food consumed in Playgroup Classes for children under 5 must be supervised by parents. - Food is not to be consumed by students in SuperSTARS classes (children age 5+) unless authorised by both parent and teacher in charge. o From time to time, lollies (that are dairy, egg and nut free) may be offered to students. In this case, the teacher in charge should check if students have any allergies before offering them. - All students are allowed to bring a bottle of water to class which may be drunk in class if students are thirsty.
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BATHROOM POLICY
- Students attending classes for under 5 years must be accompanied by the parent to the bathroom. It is not the responsibility of the teacher in charge to accompany children to the toilet. - The teacher in charge should always remain in the classroom from which he/ she is teaching and must not leave students alone in the classroom being used. - Students in our SuperSTARS classes age 5+ will be allowed to go to the bathroom by themselves if absolutely necessary however the teacher in charge should communicate to both parents and students that all students should go to the bathroom before class.
OTHER ADULTS IN THE CLASSROOM SETTING
There should not be any persons allowed into the classroom setting other than:
- A parent or carer of the child. - A teacher from the venue/ school being hired. - A staff member of the venue being hired. - A teacher in training. - Any other person that needs to be in the classroom setting must be authorised by the franchisee or teacher in charge. This also includes siblings.
- Siblings are allowed in the classroom setting for playgroup sessions however they must:
o Be authorised to attend by the franchisee or teacher in charge o Must not disrupt the classroom setting o Must be taken out of the room if they become disruptive to the harmony or educational setting of the class.
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17. Cleaning
CLEANING OF INTERNAL PREMISE/ HIRED VENUES
Overview
As teaching spaces are hired at schools, community centres or other such spaces that are deemed safe for children, it is the responsibility of the hiring manager to ensure that the space hired is kept consistently clean, hygienic and well maintained on a regular basis by the venue and deemed safe for children‘s use.
Different venues will have different arrangement for cleaning and also how spaces should be left after being hired and it is up to the franchisee to make sure that all staff/ teachers employed by the franchisee are made well aware of these conditions.
Generally, all venues should be left as they are found at the start of hiring.
In the case that the space is not up to cleanliness standards, it is the responsibility of the teacher in charge or franchisee to inform the hiring manager and address the issue immediately.
Note that after hiring the venue, the franchisee must make sure that all staff/ teachers hired for teaching the class(es) understand if and how the venue is to be left with, for example:
- Air conditioning turned off - Windows locked - Doors locked - Keys returned
CLEANING / STORAGE OF STOCK
All stock should be stored in a clean and dry space.
CLEANING OF EQUIPMENT
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All toys and materials should be thoroughly checked that they are in safe and good working order before being used in any class.
Any unsafe items should be disposed of.
All toys and materials should be thoroughly cleaned and checked that they are in safe and good working order once per term during the school holidays before the start of a new term. Any broken items should be fixed and any batteries should be replaced.
MAINTENANCE
The Franchisee will ensure that all equipment, stock, vehicles and the premises are properly maintained and that any necessary repairs and maintenance are carried out promptly as required.
EATING IN THE WORK AREA
Where applicable food and meals should be eaten in the designated area. Eating in your office in plain view of the customer or client is considered unprofessional and is not acceptable.
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18. Classroom Set up Configurations, Hygiene and Security
Classes are generally held at:
Schools Hired venue, like community centre or church Library Childcare Children‘s home
18.1 WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE SETTING UP A CLASSROOM?
Check the school/ venue policy
Check what the regulations are the venue regarding decorations and classroom configuration. For example, some principals only allow a certain desk formation. Some libraries do not allow commercial signs and decorations.
Understand what requirements you have for the classroom o How many tables do you need? o How many chairs do you need for BOTH children and parents? o Where is the Power Point for your stereo? o Where are the switches of the lights, fans and air conditioner? 94
o Where is your storage area if there is one? o Is there a whiteboard/interactive whiteboard if you can use?
Decide on how you want the room be set up
18.2 ROOM SET UP FOR DIFFERENT CLASSES
Bubs to Tots/Playgroup classes o Keep a reception table by the entrance if the room is big enough. o Put the Mandarin Stars tablecloth on the reception table o Leave the first aid kits, flyers, and fruit basket on the table if you have fruit time. o Stick the signage on visible places to help the parents find the classroom. o Stick the laminated basic Mandarin phrases of greetings, like ―hello‖, ―thank you‖ on the wall. o Stick parents‘ tips in English on the wall, like ―Please keep your mobile silent‖. o Turn the lights on and fans or air conditioning on if it is dark or hot. o Open the curtains if the room is dark. o Put mats on the floor in a circle around the puppet theatre. o Keep little chairs stacked up until table time; otherwise children may push it around. o Keep the stereo close to you or your assistant. o Keep your stationery, pencils, crayons, paper, and craft decorations on another table neatly. o Keep your scissors, knives and sharp stationery out of reach of children. o Keep your own bag in a safe place. o Make sure you leave the room as you found it. 95
SuperSTARS Class at hired venues o Keep a reception table by the entrance if the room is big enough. o Put the Mandarin Stars tablecloth on the reception table if you have one. o Leave the first aid kits and flyers on the table. o Stick the signage on visible places to help the parents find the classroom. o Turn the lights on and fans or air conditioning on if it is dark or hot. o Open the curtains if the room is dark. o Keep your stationery, pencils, crayons, paper, and craft decorations on a table close to you. o Put the chairs around the table and allocate a spot for each child. o Place the whiteboard in front of the class and make sure all students can see it. o Keep your own bag in a safe place. o Make sure you leave the room as you found it.
SuperSTARS Classes at schools
o Leave the first aid kits and flyers on the table. o Turn the lights on and fans on if it is dark or hot. o Keep your stationery, pencils, crayons, paper, and craft decorations on a table close to you. o Put the chairs around the table and allocate a spot for each child. o Place the whiteboard in front of the class and make sure all students can see it. o Use the interactive whiteboard properly if you are allowed to use it. o Keep your own bag in a safe place. 96
o Make sure you leave the room as you found it.
18.3 CREATING AN IDEAL CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT.
Play some soft Chinese music before the class in the background to make children and parents welcome and comfortable. Make sure the classroom is not too crowded with tables and chairs. Make sure the classroom is not too hot or too cold. Make sure the classroom is setup already before the parents and children come in. Decorate the classroom in festivals if the venue allows you to do so.
18.4 WHY IS HYGIENE SO IMPORTANT?
Hygiene & safety is vital in preventing cross contamination between the child and the teacher, and also preventing picking up viruses that cause colds, flu's, food poisoning, hepatitis etc. which can be passed onto each other via all bodily fluids. Children could get very sick from using plates that have not been cleaned thoroughly. Parents will get upset from seeing utensils that are not clean. It is very unprofessional.
18.5 WHAT ARE THE BASIC HYGIENE RULES AT MANDARIN STARS?
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Let the child cover their mouth with the elbow if they cough or sneeze. Wash or wipe the child‘s hands and then your hands if they touch their nasal discharge. Before the snack time, clean tables that are to be used for the snack time. Wash and dry your hands before preparing or serving food. If you are interrupted to care for another child while preparing food, be sure to wash and dry your hands again before you continue. Wash your tablecloth once they are dirty if you use a tablecloth in class. Check that all the children‘s hands are washed or cleaned before they eat. Teach children to turn away from food when they cough or sneeze. Teach children to use fork or spoon for food and don‘t use their fingers to touch the food. Tie up any long hair. Make sure you have dishwashing detergent and tissue box in your classroom. Make sure the utensils are cleaned and dried thoroughly after every class if you have the snake time. Sanitise the toys and sensory items by the end of each term. Sanitise the utensil tub every two terms. Exclude sick children and teachers who are known to be infectious. o To avoid conflict between parents and the teacher, there should be a written policy states the exclusion criteria. This policy should state the Na- tional Health and Medical Research Council‘s Recommended minimum exclusion periods (see attached pages)
18.6 WHY IS SECURITY AND SAFETY SO IMPORTANT?
Children have the right to a safe place in which to be educated.
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You are responsible for children‘s security if they are in your class. All sharp instruments such as scissors and knives are kept well away from children. Any spillages are immediately cleaned and wiped up to ensure children or adults do not slip over. The site should always be kept clean and tidy. If scissors are to be used in craft activities then this must be closely supervised by teachers. If glues, crayons, felt tips or other art supplies are to be used in craft activities then this must be closely supervised by teachers to ensure that smaller children do not put them in their mouth.
18.7 SAFETY/ SECURITY AWARENESS AT MANDARIN STARS
Falls are the most common cause of injuries to children less than 5 years old. o Slippery/uneven floors o Running/pushing while playing o Climbing on the tables Electrical appliances/outlets/Power Points/Sharp tools or stationery should either be: o Stored out of reach of young children; o Made inoperable for young children; or o If they are within reach of children, be made inaccessible by the use appropriate barrier.
Hot water or liquids, foods and hot beverages should either be: o Out of reach of young children; or o Made inaccessible by appropriate barriers. 99
Rules when buying toys o Check for sharp edges or rough surfaces as they can cause cuts and splinters. o Buy washable, non-breakable toys for babies. Anything small enough to fit into a 35mm film canister can choke a child under three years old. o Toy chests and boxes should be designed not to close on top of children, or better still with a removable lid. Anything big enough to crawl inside must have ventilation holes. o Read the age labelling on new toys. 'Not suitable for children under three' means that there are small parts which could be swallowed; it is not an indication of skill level or intelligence. o Check toys regularly for loose parts which may be choking dangers. o Check that there are no gaps or holes which could entrap a child's fingers. o If buying a projectile toy, only choose ones that have soft, one-piece darts or non-removable suction caps. o Be wary of toys that make loud noises as they can be harmful to hearing. Particularly toys which are held against the ear, such as walkie talkies and toy mobile phones. o Ensure that ride-on toys are appropriate to the age of the child and are stable. Toy bikes should have effective brakes which can be applied by the rider. o Check toys that contain magnets to ensure that they have not come loose. Remove loose magnets from the toy box.
18.8 ENSURING PROPER SURVEILLANCE OF YOUR STUDENTS
o Parents should stay in the Bubs to Tots and PG class, but teachers should still always keep a good record of their students in case they leave the classroom when their parents go to the bathroom. o NEVER leave the children alone in the classroom or if they are not collected by parents at anytime. Wait with them until their parents come.
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o Students should only be collected by parents who have booked the classes for them or are listed as authorized persons for collection. o Teachers will know who that authorized person is by checking on the class list. o The class list will say who can pick the child up. o If someone turns up to collect (Aunty/ Friend of the parent etc.), who is not on the list, then the teacher should call the parent and confirm re- lease of the child. o If the teacher does not have a phone or phone is not working then the teacher should take the child to the school office and use the school‘s phone.
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