How to Teach Chinese Culture to Your Special Education Students
Throughout my next few blog posts I will include tips and/or resources about how to teach Chinese culture to your students. I love to incorporate cultural activities into my classes, and the students are fascinated & engaged. Fun Fact: Chinese New Year in 2021 is February 12th, so now is the perfect time to include these activities into your classroom!
Learning Chinese Culture
Did you know that I lived in China for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer? I lived in Chengdu, China & taught English at a university. My first two months in China I lived with a Chinese family in their apartment.
One food that my host family taught me how to make was Jiǎozi (dumplings). The older couple in the pictures was my host-grandparents and the younger woman was my host-mom. My host-grandparents did not speak English, so we communicated with a lot of hand motions and my broken Mandarin that I was struggling to learn.
Jiǎozi quickly became one of my favorite foods! We made them with pork or beef, and then added chopped vegetables like cucumber or cabbage in them. Normally, we boiled the jiǎozi and ate them that way, but sometimes we would fry the dumplings. Have you ever eaten Chinese dumplings? They are delicious! Chinese dumplings are a popular food to eat during Chinese New Year.
Teach Chinese Culture
When I returned to the USA to teach, I shared my experiences with my special education classes. My American students loved to hear my stories about living in China. I would write short stories for them about my travels and funny stories, and include interesting pictures. Then, I would ask them reading comprehension questions about the story. I also taught my American students how to count to 10 in Mandarin! I included these activities in my English & Social Studies classes.
Do you want to incorporate cultural activities in your classroom? Get this free page for students to practice counting to 10 in Mandarin! It includes pronunciation tips to help the students say the numbers correctly. Click the link below for this freebie:
FREE: Practice Counting to 10 in Mandarin
Why Should I Incorporate Culture In My Classroom?
Sometimes we live in a bubble. Incorporating culture in our classroom promotes great discussions and makes everyone feel welcome! We are diverse and sharing diversity is important! Teach your students about different cultures & invite them to share more about their culture. Sharing cultural stories can help to build a positive classroom community.
Sharing cultural stories builds connections and encourages positive cultural curiosity with our students. Encourage students to share their own cultural stories! Everyone has a different story and it’s important to learn from each other.
Looking for Ways to Teach Chinese Culture?
I’ve made no-prep reading, writing & creative packets on different cities in China and traditions of Chinese New Year. You can start adding more cultural activities in your classroom with these easy packets that support fun & interesting discussions! Grab these no-prep packets here.
Read more about how to incorporate Chinese New Year into your classroom here.
You can also grab this free geography activity below!
