9 | I implement my science lesson, “How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?” for 1st graders who have never learned Chinese before in the dual immersion program. I let students participate in a variety of activities developed from Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar to help them understand the four stages of a butterfly’s life. Students learn vocabulary words like caterpillar, butterfly, change, cocoon (callus), and egg in Chinese by drawing pictures, reading out loud, and acting out vocabulary words. They also learn to collaborate with their peers through story retelling, acting out the four stages of a butterfly’s life, and making storybooks. In these activities, students work in small groups, in pairs, or individually. They have opportunities of revisiting and explaining the concept of a butterfly’s life through pairs or small group sharing. This assists them in understanding the butterfly’s life cycle and learning how to function in group settings. The lesson connects science with Chinese literacy and math. Students learn the cultural difference between America and China through counting days of the week and discussing the caterpillar’s appetite for American and Chinese food. I also make the lesson follow the National Standards in Foreign Language Education’s 5 C’s: Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities (sharing their storybooks with their families). Besides implementing my own lesson in the classroom, other educators’ lesson plans on the OER are great resources for me when I teach similar topics. I really appreciate all that other different language teachers contribute and their valuable ideas. |
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