Grade 9: Understanding Culture and Society

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

• identify some similarities between their own customs and those of Chinese cultures
• compare Chinese cultures with other cultures

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Understanding Culture and Society in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• As a class, brainstorm a list of school traditions (e.g., dances, fine arts productions, special days, graduation ceremonies, rules, sports tournaments). Ask students to compare these to their parents' school traditions by formulating key questions about three of the traditions, interviewing their parents about them, and reporting their findings to the class. Compare the information gathered with Chinese school traditions.
• Invite a Chinese guest to speak to the class about what school was like in former days. After the talk, invite students to interview the guest to further explore the topic.
• Form small groups and have each group draw a map and label all the countries where Chinese is spoken. In class presentations, groups compare their maps and discuss similarities and differences among them.
• Suggest that students research some Chinese foods and bring in samples. Collect recipes in a class book.
• Show a video comparing aspects of Canadian and Chinese education. Ask students to comment on the differences and similarities and represent them using graphics (e.g., Venn diagrams).

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• When students compare their school traditions with those of their parents or of Chinese students (now or in the past), look for evidence that they are willing and able to:
  • recognize and describe aspects of their own school culture
  • analyse some of the causes and effects of their traditions
  • pose thoughtful questions to learn about other traditions
  • report accurate, detailed, and relevant information about other traditions
  • identify similarities and differences
  • draw logical conclusions from the information they analyse and present
• Show a video about traditional Chinese cultures and customs. To check on students' understanding of the information presented, have them write postcards or short letters about imaginary trips to China or another country where Chinese is spoken. Encourage them to focus on similarities as well as differences. Note the extent to which their writing shows:
  • respect for diversity and differences in customs
  • accuracy; includes detail
  • awareness that some behaviours, attitudes, values, or customs are common to people of many cultures
• Provide prompts such as the following to encourage students to reflect on what they have learned about their own and other cultures:
  • Three customs that seem common to many cultures are ____________ .
  • Examples of these in my culture and Chinese cultures are ____________ .

• Coming to Gum San
• Favourite Folktales of China
• A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night
• Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts
• Notes on Things Chinese
• Old Tales of China
• West Coast Chinese Boy

• Childhood of Wang Mian
• The Dragon's Tongue Series
• Pandas in the Wild

• Chinese Folk Songs
• Chinese Mandarin Resource Book - Volumes 1, 2, and 3
• The Chinese People
• Hanyu (Revised Edition)
• Out of the East Horizon
• Zhongguotong

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