Students Will Verbally Explain Three Characteristics of the Chinese New Year Through the Study of Various Learning Material. This Is for a Kindergarten Class

Objective: Students will verbally explain three characteristics of the Chinese New Year through the study of various learning material. This is for a Kindergarten class.

I will first connect and engage the students. Teacher: Today I brought a book I love called Dragon Dance: A Chinese New Year written by Joan Holub. It tells a story about the Chinese New Year and all the things you can do to celebrate this festive holiday. We will read the book in just a little while, but first I would like all of you to gather around the chart board and let's brainstorm about the New Year Days holiday in our country. The children take turns listing things about New Years: calander, ball drop, clock, hats, whistles. etc.... Teacher: Those are all great words that help us describe New Years in the United States. Today we are going to learn about the most important holiday for people in China. It is the Chinese New Year. Sometimes it is called the Spring Festival. We are going to learn why it is so important to the Chinese people and we will explore some of the cultures and traditions of this holiday. I will point to the world map posted in the classroom and ask the children if they know where China is? The students will respond by saying and pointing to where they think China is on the map. Teacher: We are here and China is all the way over here. China is a country on the continent of Asia. It is the biggest country in Asia and has the largest population in the world. Let's take a look at this poster I brought in. Here is a picture of the Chinese Flag. Does it look like the American Flag? Students: No, the American Flag is red, white and blue. Teacher: That's right! The poster shows some of the many mountains found in China. This side of the poster shows some children in China. Here is their school which is close to the mountains. Here it is shows the children in gym class. In China the students have gym class every day. This little boy has a pet goat? Would you like to have a goat for a pet? The children respond to the question by some saying yes and others saying no. Teacher: This is a picture of the huge fireworks show that takes place during the Chinese New Year celebration. It looks like they have a lot of fun celebrating this holiday!

Teacher: Let's go ahead and get ready to read our book Dragon Dance. Before we get started let's talk about what happens as we listen, view and read a book. Reading isn't just about the words. Reading also helps us think about the information and makes us think of our own thoughts and pictures. Reading is about thinking and thinking matters! While we are reading the story we learn about the dragon and the Chinese Dragon Dance. Teacher: In China the dragon represents wisdom and wealth. It is also said that the dragon scares away the bad spirits and bad luck. I have brought in this colorful Chinese dragon kite and we are all going to dance