Read-On StarTalk 2016 Home

- Complete Elementary Unit
- Complete Middle School Unit
- Complete High School Unit
- Complete College Unit 

Read-On StarTalk 2017 Home

- Complete Elementary Unit
- Complete Middle School Unit 
- Complete High School Unit 
- Complete College Unit

Read-On StarTalk 2018 Home

- Complete Elementary Unit
- Complete Middle School Unit
- Complete High School Unit
- Complete College Unit 

Research shows, high school population is becoming less active.  As a result, there has been a raise in stress level and overall happiness.  Your Chinese class has been asked to promote healthy, active lifestyle to your local school and heritage school Chinese communities.

Healthy lifestyle holds the key to one’s happiness.
健康的生活方式為快樂之本

1. What does a healthy lifestyle entail?   (diet, activity, mindset)
2. How does one benefit from having a healthy lifestyle?

1. Identify information related to lifestyles.
2. Describe healthy and unhealthy lifestyles.
3. Make suggestions to improve lifestyles.
4. Promote healthy lifestyles to the community

High School 9th – 12th grade students
Speaking Proficiency at Intermediate-Low level
Reading Proficiency at Novice-High level

Speaking (Interpersonal)

•  I can ask and respond to simple questions about healthy lifestyle.
•  I can exchange information using texts, graphs, or pictures.
•  I can ask about and identify familiar things in a picture from a story.
•  I can make suggestion for leading a healthy lifestyle.
•  I can respond to simple questions based on graphs or visuals that provide information containing numbers or statistics.

Speaking (Presentational)

• I can present information about my lifestyle using phrases and simple sentences.
• I can make simple suggestions using phrases and simple sentences.

Writing (Presentational)

• I can copy some characters and words
• I can correctly write characters, words, phrases and sentences from this unit.
• I can write suggestions of leading a healthy and active lifestyle with phrases and sentences from this unit.

Listening (Interpretive)

•  I can understand simple questions about healthy lifestyle.

Reading (Interpretive)

•  I can interpret images with text about various lifestyles.
•  I can comprehend a story about lifestyles.

• Character Learning:
  I can identify the structure of each Chinese character.
  I can correctly identify characters with given radicals or components.
• Lower-level Reading Skills:
  Expanding characters into words
  Skimming, Scanning, Rauding

Song 健康歌

Previously learned:

• Pattern:  越來越……
  

Targeted:

• 正在verb
• Subj. 應該 多 verb, 少 verb

Previously learned:
Radical：足、手
Words:  吃飯、睡覺、起床

Targeted:
Radical: 扌、口、氵、鳥、隹
Words:  健康、笑、早、睡、運動、喝開水、吃零食、水果、應該、正在

Recognize:  鶴、鴨、孔雀、麻雀、建议

Objectives:

• Identify the radicals: 扌, 口, and 氵
• Identify new words in sentences
• Describe healthy and unhealthy behaviors: using new words.

Activity 1: Warm-Up (day1 act1.pptx), slide #2-5)

• Listen to “健康歌,” audio only (day1 act1 health song.mp4). Ask students what they think about this song. (这首歌好听吗？这是快乐的歌吗？)
• Give students the health song lyric (day1 health song lyrics.pdf) .  Have them circle characters with target radicals: 扌, 口, and 氵.
• For teachers, in the worksheet of  (day1 health song lyrics marked.pdf) , the characters with those radicals (扌, 口, and 氵) are marked.
• Introduce the radicals and the characters with these three radicals.

(Note: 可、容、后、做 might be selected by students. The teacher can emphasize the difference between parts部件 and radicals部首， and deepen the concept about the formation of the characters.)

Activity 2: Key Vocabulary (day1 act2.pptx)

• Use the song lyrics given on Activity 1 as learning material. Teach the new words 笑，早睡，早起，晚睡，晚起，运动，零食, 水果and 多喝开水. (Note: When introducing多喝开水, the teacher can point out that Chinese people usually drink boiled water, not tap water.)
• Words recognition: circle the key vocabulary taught in the lyrics.
• Watch and sing the song along.

Activity 3: Character writing activity

• Teach character writing: show students the animations of the character of 健 all at once, and then stroke by stroke (day1 act3.pptx, slide #2-4)
• Show one stroke on animation, and students write one stroke, and the number.  Highlight the character has 3 components and write all the components down on the Character map (day1 act3 character map.docx).
• Lead the students to complete the Character Map of 健 independently.
• Students share their completed worksheet in pairs or groups of 3-4.
• Select one student from each “pair/group” to come up to the class and present one part of the Character Map; remind students to make corrections, if necessary.
• Teacher uses the same steps to teach other new characters.

Activity 4 Identify healthy or unhealthy activities

• Post the pictures of behaviors on the wall (pictures in day1 act4.pptx).  Teachers feel free to add your own pictures to better relate to your audience)
• Give each student two sticky notes of two different colors, one note with the character健康and one with不健康 (see day1 act4.pptx; slides #1).
• Ask students to post their sticky notes on the pictures that they consider ‘healthy’ or ‘not healthy’.
• Divide students in groups of 3. Give each group some behavior pictures from the wall.  Each group discusses about why these pictures are healthy or unhealthy, and present to the class.

Activity 5: Identify new words

• After teaching all the new words, print out two copies of (day1 act5 vocabulary cards.xls) and cut out.
• Label each word card a different number, such as #1, #2, etc.  (See example in day1 act5.pptx slide#2).
• Pass out the word cards with numbers to students. 
• Give each student the worksheet of (day1 act5 worksheet.docx).
• Teacher calls the number of a card.  The student who possesses that card says aloud the word on the card.  The rest students circle the word in the sentences in part (A) of the worksheet.
• After all the new words are identified, have students in pairs to match the 11 sentences with appropriate pictures. 
• Select students to read aloud of their matchings.   

Homework:

• Give students each a copy of (day1 homework.docx). Students read the questions and answer them based on their own situations.
• Review the new words and their pronunciation for Day 2.

Objectives:

• Ask and respond questions related to lifestyle: using new words
• Segment words in sentences.
• Give suggestions: using the structure of 多（少）+ verb phrase
• Read authentic news: using scanning and skimming reading skills.

Activity 1: Talking about lifestyles

• Speaking/reading activity: practice speaking with classmates, using the new vocabulary.  Use the questions regarding lifestyle in (day2 act1.pptx).
• After all of the questions are asked/responded, teacher selects students to report what they find out about their partners’ lifestyles.

Activity 2: Word segmentation

• Show an example how to segment words in a sentence (day2 act2.pptx).
• Give each student 3 sentences and ask students to put a slash between words (day2 act2 worksheet.pdf).
• Teacher selects students to do the word segmentation of the three sentences on the blackboard.

Activity 3: Give suggestions: using the structure of 多 (少)+Verb

• Ask students to read the phrase of 多喝水/多运动in the pictures and ask them to guess the meanings of 多喝水/多运动(day2 act3.pptx slide #2-4).
• Have students to suggest the purpose of using the structure of 多 + verb phrase. (slide #5)
• Extend their knowledge of多 + verb phrase to少 + verb phrase (slide #6)
• Give suggestions using the structures: The PPT slides provide different scenarios (slide # 7-10).
• Teacher selects students to say aloud their suggestions.

Activity 4: Reading practice

• Give students the worksheet in (day2 act4.pdf).  Students will read the short text and provide suggestions using the learned structures.  They complete the worksheet individually.
• Students check the answers with each other, once they complete it.
• Teacher checks students’ answers.
• Reread (Read aloud or paired-reading) the description of 王小明 to reinforce their character recognition.

Activity 5: Formative Assessment-reading authentic material

• Divide students in pairs.  Give each pair the worksheet (day2 act5 worksheet).
• Show the slide and ask them to read the News screenshot (day2 act5 news.pptx).
• Complete the worksheet based on the information provided in the news screenshot.  If the students have difficult time to figure out where to look for the information, teacher can point out the information on the slide.

Homework: Vocabulary review

• Give students the worksheet (day2 homework.docx)
• They have to sort the words into different categories of activity, food/drink and emotion. Teacher can modify this assignment to categories of “parts of speech”: such as verbs, nouns, adjectives.

Objectives:

• Identify character components:  “鸟”, “隹” and “扌”
• Describe one’s current action: using the structure 在+ verb
• Give suggestions: using the new word 应该
• Predict the story.

Activity 1: “鸟”and“隹”

• Guide students to notice and identify the components of  “鸟”and “隹”.  (day3 act1.pptx slide #2-5).
• Students practice the stroke order of writing “鸟”and“隹” on their white boards (slide #6-9).
• Have students to identify the  部件 “鸟”and“隹” in characters (slide #10-12).
• Introduce the 4 main characters in the story 小白鶴笑了: 小白鹤，小鸭子，麻雀，孔雀 (slide #13).  Lead them to read aloud those words.
• After students are familiar with the pronunciation/meanings of those words, give them the worksheet in (day3 act1 worksheet.docx) and they can complete it in pairs.    

Activity 2: “扌”

• Review the learned characters with “扌” : “打”，“拍”,   “扭”，”抖” (the last two from “健康歌” introduced in Day 1). (day3 act2.pptx  slide# 2-3)
• Introduce new characters “摇” and “摆” which appear in the story of 小白鶴笑了. Use TPR to explain the meaning of “摇头”， “摆手”  (slide # 4)

Activity 3:

• Describe a current on-going action, using  “正在+verb” (day3 act3.pptx slide ＃2-6).
• Give suggestions: using “应该” (day3 act3.pptx slide ＃7-10).

Activity 4:  Predict a story

• Divide students in small groups of 3. 
• Give students the worksheet in (day3 act4 worksheet.docx) which includes the first paragraph of the story小白鶴笑了. 
• Guide students to comprehend the first paragraph using (day3 act4.pptx slides #2-6).
• Students write their prediction about what will happen in the story in English based on the title and the first paragraph.
• Share with their partners.  Students keep the predicated stories, which will be used later.
• For teachers: the complete story of is in (day3 story小白鶴笑了.docx).  Give the complete story in Day 4 for homework.

Homework:

• Have students review the new words and the behaviors of being healthy

(day3 homework1.docx).
2.    Practice writing new characters (day3 homework2.pdf)

Objectives:

• Use scanning and skimming skills to read the story.
• Decipher meanings of sentences using semantic and syntactic information.
• Retell a story about being active and healthy.

Activity 1: Jigsaw reading (1) : focusing on paragraphs

• The story小白鶴笑了 includes 5 paragraphs.  Students have read the first paragraph in Activity 4 Day 3.
• Teacher prints out the remaining 4 paragraphs in (day4 act1.docx), each paragraph in different color. For example, Paragraph 2 in yellow, Paragraph 3 in blue, and etc.
• Divide students in 4 groups.  The students in each group receive the same paragraph (i.e., same color of paper). 
• Students in each group read together the assigned paragraph. Underline the words, phrases and sentences that they don’t understand.  Support each other by reading and discussing their paragraph collaboratively.
• Teacher provides support and makes sure that the students in each group comprehend the gist of their paragraph.
• The goal: the students in each group should become an ‘expert’ of their paragraph.  

Activity 2: Jigsaw reading (2): focusing on the whole story

• Divide students in small groups of 4.
• Each of the 4 students in a group should have worked on a different paragraph.  In other words, each group should have one student with Paragraph 2, one with Paragraph 3, one with Paragraph 4 and one with Paragraph 5.
• Each student in a group explains/describes the main points of the paragraph he/she has studied in Activity 1.  The goal is to help each other to comprehend the main ideas of the whole story of 小白鶴笑了.
• Once everyone in each group understands the story.  Each group works to fill out the key information of the story in the worksheet in (day4 act2 worksheet.docx).
• Teacher selects students to retell the story.

Homework

• Give each student the story of小白鶴笑了(day3 story 小白鶴笑了.docx). 
• Students compare the original story with the prediction of the plot they wrote in Day 3 Activity 4, and write three main differences in Chinese between the two versions.   

Objectives:

• Reading summative assessment
• Presentation summative assessment: promote healthy lifestyles to the community

Summative assessment 1: Interpretive Reading
Use the short reading text 健康生活 (day5 reading.pdf) to evaluate their reading performance.

Summative assessment 2: video and poster

• Divide students to small teams of 3-4 students.  Give each team the instruction of public service announcement task (day5 presentation.pdf) and go over the requirements. 
• Each group will turn in a 30-second PSA video. 
• Each group will also turn in a poster from each group member (a group of 3 will turn in 3 posters related to the PSA video).
• The rest of the period is devoted to working on the PSA Video script.  Guide students to use the story board to develop the PSA script (day5 graphic organizer.pdf).
• Once the scripts are written, students can videotape the PSA outside of the classroom.

Homework:

• Each team presents their PSA video and responds to questions from classmates after viewing.  PSA Posters will be displayed on the walls in classroom for all to view. 
  
• If possible, arrange the PSA viewing in a student Chinese club or have them present the videos to students in upper Chinese classes and weekend Chinese schools.  In this way, they are promoting healthy lifestyles in a larger community.