The spring festival activity day started at 1:50pm on January 24^th 2019 for the year 7-9 student. There were 12 activities in the gym and 1 in the cafeteria. There was lantern making, fan decorating, riddle solving, Chinese lock, lucky arrow throwing, 5 in a row etc… after we did the activities in the gym we all moved to the cafeteria and watched the fashion show. Some of the students and their parents participated in the fashion show. Even some of the teachers were in it! They were all wearing traditional Chinese clothes. The day ended with the the. Co-principals’ closing speech and the school bell ringing at 3:30.

Y7B – BARBIN Abigail Abby

 

I am a Year 8 student and I have to admit that it had been great fun taking part in the activities. The celebration was on Thursday, 24^th of February, at period 6 and 7. Our Chinese teachers had given us each a card, with the activity names on it and a dog pin.

As the bell rang and the gym doors burst open, students from year 7-9 flooded in. I felt amazed at all the gorgeous decorations that where hung up. There where booths set up which where ran by our Chinese teachers. Each year level was assigned to be at different sections and would rotate.

The booths where all very different and interesting. I took part in making the Traditional Lanterns which were considered quite hard to me. It needed time, patience and some parts took a long time to fit in. I found this quite frustrating but the final product was gorgeous. I also took part in the Happy Chopsticks activity. I had much fun but it got a bit out of control. We all wanted to win but I didn’t really mind. It was just a game after all. To relax and have some quiet, we took part in Paper Cutting.

Finally, we will all gathered downstairs in the cafeteria where a temporal cat-walk stood. Teachers and students from the lower secondary took part in the fashion show, showing off their spell-blinding costumes. It looked almost like they had come out of the olden Chinese days…

Once the fashion was concluded and we scattered, the Chinese New Year Celebration was officially over.

Y8D – SZE EN

 

On the 24th of January 2019, the lower secondary students of YCIS Shanghai attended a Chinese New Year Activity held by Chinese teachers of the school. The entire gym was its destination—and students rushed eagerly into the room to enjoy the festival.

We were each given a badge—a picture of an adorable pig sat on its hind legs—and an activity card as well, listing down the schedule of which year level was to stay at which station at which time. Most importantly, the activities and fun games were written down clearly in the little book—from Chinese Locks to Chopstick Games to Calligraphy. There were all types of traditional games as well, successfully bringing back a light scent of Chinese New Year amongst the atmosphere. The goal of the activity was to play all the games—and there were twelve in total, each representing an animal from the twelve animals of the zodiac. Students who successfully finished all twelve games were to receive a coupon, some letting you skip one Chinese dictation in class, or allowing you to skip a homework assignment sometime, etc. To teachers, these coupons weren’t worth a lot of work, while on the other side, the coupons valued highly in the students’ hearts.

After the games were played and the activities finished, the lower secondary was to go down to the cafeteria to watch a fashion show. Models could be anyone who signed up, and each one was to wear something Chinese-related. However, this year’s fashion show was slightly different from the previous years—as some professional models and parents were also modeling. The models who then signed up were each rewarded with a little Peppa Pig doll—representing the Pig Year.

All in all, everyone thought the festival was a success. The games were carefully thought through, the show was outstanding and organized, but most of all, everyone celebrated the new year with happy smiles and positive thoughts. Let us all welcome 2019 with wide open arms, and happy new year to everyone!

Y9D – Anne Wang

“The new year came in the sound of firecrackers; The spring breeze brought the warmth to everyone’s house. With the new rising sunshine, everyone is busy with replacing their peach wood charms. (which are believed to prevent evil) Reading the New Year’s Day poetry written by WANG Anshi, Year 4 students started their topic study of New Year’s Picture in Chinese Studies Classes from peach wood charms.

New Year’s Picture is a unique folk art in Chinese tradition and also a common decoration in household which represents fortune. These colorful New Year’s Pictures have brought the happy and prosperous festival atmosphere to households. They also carry the beautiful expectation of the Chinese people on the future. As the time flies, the creation and content of New Year’s pictures have been changed. However, the Chinese people’s appreciation and inheritance on this valuable art remains the same.

Through image and text documents, the students learned the history and development of Chinese New Year’s Picture. Originated from Han Dynasty, New Year’s Picture had its development in Tang and Song Dynasty. With its prosperity in Ming and Qing Dynasty, it has been passed along till now. The students were quite interested in the long history and mysterious stories behind New Year’s Picture. Besides, they watched a video about a traditional craftsman who had been devoting himself to painting New Year’s Pictures. Despite their young age, the students showed their amazement of the traditional technique and admiration of the craftsman’s perseverance. They have gained their own understanding of the meaning of New Year’s Picture to the Chinese people.

In Chinese Studies Classes, the students also made their own New Year’s Pictures to bring fortune to the coming Year of the Pig. Each student was concentrated on color choosing and creation of beautiful New Year’s Pictures. After posting them to both sides of red papers, they skillfully tied red braids below. After being hung in the classroom, these pictures had filled the room with great festival atmosphere.

Y4E Co-Teacher – Ming ZHANG

The significance of rivers for a country is not only shown in resource, but also in culture. In the land of China, there are two major rivers: Yangtze River and Yellow River, which irrigate the land of China and nourish the Chinese. Chinese believe the motto which says “When one drinks water, do not forget where it comes from”, i.e.  “Be grateful for favors received”. Students live in China, who learn Chinese and Chinese culture. Why not get to know Yangtze River and Yellow River?

In Chinese Studies classes, students started a travel to discover Yangtze River and Yellow River.

Some students asked: “Why is Yellow River called ‘Mother River’?” What a good question! Once Chinese is mentioned, Yellow River is mentioned, which is Chinese’s mother river. With help of maps, pictures and teachers’ explanations, students learned the location, features and the importance in Chinese civilization development of Yellow River.

However, Yangtze River is the biggest river in China. The areas it flows are the origins of ancient Chinese and Chinese civilization. Yangtze River breeds characteristic culture which is different from Yellow River, for instance, Bashu Culture (present Sichuan and Chongqing), Jinchu Culture (present Hunan and Hubei), etc. Shanghai, which is familiar for students, is the big city near to the entrance of Yangtze River.

After learning the brief information of Yangtze River and Yellow River, students started to do their own discovery on the maps: drew the two rivers, colored the provinces and cities, wrote the main cities the two rivers flow, etc. What is more, they also studied these main cities: places of interest, characteristic food, famous people and interesting stories, etc. How fun it is! That is why Chinese say: “The unique features of a local environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants.”

Y5E Co-Teacher – Betty MENG

During their new Topic unit, Year 2 are learning how safely, sensibly and correctly research using different styles of media. Each class has been researching their own person, and during the course of the unit they have been using iPads, books and other paper-based materials to find out more about them. 2A have been researching Jane Goodall, an animal and environmental activist, whereas 2B have been enthralled by the invention of Braille and exploring how to write using split peas, courtesy of Louis Braille the inventor. 2C are investigating Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon and 2D have enjoyed identifying the life of Florence Nightingale. 2E have been exploring the fantastic and exciting author, Roald Dhal, and 2F are investigating the life of Rosa Parks, a pioneer for civil rights. The entire year group will enjoy an end-of-unit information sharing during assembly time, to find out about all of the fascinating people, courtesy of their peers’ research. Ask your child about their life-changing person!

Year 2 Leader & Y2E Co-Teacher – Michelle COOPER

When our children came back to school after the Christmas Holiday, they asked what happened to our Christmas Tree.  As they wanted to continue celebrating, one of our mums explained to our children that, Christmas is already finished, but soon we will have Chinese New Year celebrations. Most of our children did not remember their previous Chinese New Year celebrations or have not experienced it yet. To help our children gain some understanding of what Chinese New Year celebrations are about, the teachers read some books and provided many meaningful activities such as writing couplets, cooking special food and cleaning the house. Children also experienced the tradition of counting money and putting it into the red envelopes and also exploring the sounds of Chinese drums and other Chinese musical instruments. We are sure that next year our children will already be able to recall how they celebrated Chinese New Year in K2A class.

K2A Co-Teacher – Maria Szymanska & Catherine Ren