Fun Ways to Classical Chinese Poetry
希望我們在這裏分享的各種遊戲能帶給孩子學習的歡樂，也帶給你更多的家庭教學靈感。大家發到【講媽 ⦁ 講爸】Facebook 群組 的孩子學習照片為我們帶來很大的鼓舞。要是你還未加入我們的大家庭，那就要趕快去看看喔！
We hope you have been finding these activities and tips helpful and fun. We certainly have been enjoying your pictures and feedback in our Sagebooks HK Parent Support Facebook Group. If you haven’t checked us out there yet, please take a quick second to join!
As we discussed previously, knowledge of both classical and modern Chinese poetry is one way to learn new and creative applications of Chinese words. For the coming weeks, we’ll be doing activities to help our children learn about classical and modern Chinese poetry.
ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK
ACTIVITIY 1 - POETRY STRIPS
(age 3+, single/multiple player)
WHAT YOU NEED 道具
- Classical Chinese poems for reference
- Pen/Pencil
HOW TO MAKE 準備
- Write or print out several Chinese classical poems
- Feel free to download some examples in Traditional Chinese or Simplified Chinese
- Cut each line of poetry into its own strip of paper
- Depending on how you plan to play, you may need to do this multiple times per poem, or even provide more than one poem.
HOW TO PLAY 玩法
- Mix up the strips of poetry lines
- Have kids work together to put the lines in order
ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO PLAY 玩法變化
玩遊戲
Let's play
ACTIVITIY 2 - Fill in the Blanks
(age 3+, single/multiple player)
WHAT YOU NEED 道具
- Classical Chinese poems for reference
- Pen/Pencil
HOW TO MAKE 準備
- Write or print out several Chinese classical poems
- Feel free to download some examples in Traditional Chinese or Simplified Chinese
- Cut each line of poetry into its own strip of paper
- Depending on how you plan to play, you may need to do this multiple times per poem, or even provide more than one poem.
HOW TO PLAY 玩法
- On the printed out poems, cover a few of the characters per line
- Ask your child to fill in the blanks (either written or spoken)
- You can take turns each blank, or hand out sheets and have them write it out.
ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO PLAY 玩法變化
ACTIVITIY 3 - DRAW THE POEM
(age 3+, single/multiple player)
WHAT YOU NEED 道具
- Blank paper
- Drawing utensils (pens, crayons, paint, etc.)
HOW TO PLAY 玩法
- Read and explain the poem
- Ask if children have any questions
- Ask them to draw how the poem makes them feel, or illustrate the story of the poem
ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO PLAY 玩法變化
If your children are younger, it’s easier to have them draw what happens in the poem or something tangible and concrete. For older children, you can have them draw a more abstract representation of the poem. For example, instead of what is happening in the poem, they can draw how this poem makes them feel, or how the narrator is feeling, or the ideas/themes of the poem.
Children's interpretation of 靜夜思 (by 李白)
ACTIVITIY 4 - WRITE YOUR OWN POEM
(age 3+, single/multiple player)
Although there are many in-depth rules and structures for classic Chinese poetry, that is outside the scope of this articles. For our purposes, we will stick with some simple definitions:
- Couplets: 2 line verse that rhymes
- 2 Couplets (4 lines): the minimum number of lines in a poem
- Fixed Line Lengths: typically 4, 5, and 7 characters for each line
Depending on how much you want to explain or make your children do (or how hard they think it is), you can choose to have them create couplets, two couplets, of any fixed line length.
WHAT YOU NEED 道具
- Paper and pencil/pen
HOW TO PLAY 玩法
1. Explain the different types of poem structures (see above)
Choose which formula you want the kids to follow (or have them choose for themselves).
Choose a topic. (It is usually easier for children to have a topic.)
Write and then share/read aloud.
ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO PLAY 玩法變化
Depending on the age of your child, you can increase or decrease the difficulty level of the activity by:
我們希望能看到你的孩子做這些遊戲的照片或影片，也希望能聽到你的意見或提問。更歡迎加入我們的【講媽 ⦁ 講爸】Facebook 群組，我們等你喔~
We would love to hear your comments and see pictures of your kids doing the activities. Make sure you join our Sagebooks HK Parent Support Facebook Group and share with us!
HOMESCHOOLING TIPS
Keep the BIG PICTURE in mind.
Because we have such limited time but so much desire for our kids, often, we obsess over tiny details out of the fear that we’re missing a learning window or some secret to teaching 5,000 characters in a year.
Don’t worry so much.
Yes, learning Chinese poetry is interesting and can be important to learning Chinese and Chinese culture. But stressing out on WHICH poem is likely not going to make a difference in the long run.
Yes, learning Chinese radicals is helpful for recognizing characters and can be a fun puzzle game. But don’t worry so much about it if your kid hasn’t memorized them all or doesn’t understand the finer nuances of Chinese characters. It’s OK. They will still learn to read.
Not everything is make it or break it. There is a lot of give and take on this bilingual journey.
Like this tip? Join us in our Facebook Group and meet other parents who are teaching their kids Basic Chinese 500 at all different ages and levels.
我們會經常為大家探討漢字和語文的課題。
要是你有特別的相關課題希望我們探討，歡迎您告訴我們。
We discuss Chinese language and culture related topics on a regular basis.
If you would like us to discuss certain topics about Chinese, please let us know.
更多教養支援 SUPPORT FOR YOU
很多家長都已是我們 Facebook 群組【講媽 · 講爸園地】 的成員。歡迎你也加入我們，一起互相鼓勵和支持，共同為孩子的學習而努力。
Many parents are already part of our Facebook Group. If you’d like to take advantage of the collective wisdom of your fellow parents, please join us.
We’d love to hear from you.
Sagebooks Hongkong promotes independent reading and life-long learning by nurturing the child’s confidence, autonomy and self-teaching abilities. Since 2006. Find out more About Us.
© 2020 Sagebooks Hongkong. All rights reserved.
Sagebooks Hongkong promotes independent reading and life-long learning by nurturing the child’s confidence, autonomy and self-teaching abilities. Since 2006. Find out more About Us.
© 2020 Sagebooks Hongkong. All rights reserved.
Sagebooks Hongkong promotes independent reading and life-long learning by nurturing the child’s confidence, autonomy and self-teaching abilities. Since 2006. Find out more About Us.
© 2020 Sagebooks Hongkong. All rights reserved.