Country insights: China: City and Village Life
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Julia Waterlow takes the reader on a tour of China - the country that has
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the world's largest population. China is a vast land of mountains, deserts
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and plains. In Waterlow's book, we discover how the Chinese families live
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their daily lives, at home, at work, at school and play. Then we get a closer
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glimpse at life in a city called Lanzhou (located in northwest China) and a
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small village called Shidong (located in southern China).
Week One - First Day
As an introduction to our unit, Wednesday Delight (i.e., a classroom puppet) will introduce our China box. The China box will be an integral part of our project, bringing many items pertaining to our daily lessons. Today's China box contains an inflatable ball, which, we soon discover, turns into a globe. After helping the children find their home country and state, and the country of China, Wednesday tells the children to bounce the ball around the circle. Those catching the ball have to find, first the United States and Connecticut, and then the country of China. Classmates on either side of the "catcher" make sure their neighbor has identified the areas correctly.
As we read Julia Waterlow's book in class, we will note the sharp contrast between life in a city compared to life in the country. Even the climate is very different. Southern China experiences warm and wet all year round in contrast to the north where there is less rain, hot summers and freezing winters. Hence the south is greener in comparison to the deserts and plains of the north. Houses differ too: most people live in brick apartment buildings in the city, whereas those in the country live in one or two story houses built of mud-bricks. Inside, families have few possessions with hard earth or stone floors. It is interesting to note that few children go to school in the country, or at least not on a regular basis, because their parents do not feel the necessity of an education to work in the fields.
At this point the children will gather in small groups, record information comparing city life with that of a small village, and then report back to class. Wednesday will help close the lesson by showing the children some Chinese clothing from her China Box. She tells the children that the "box" will be placed in a corner of the room so that the children may try on the clothing during our center time.
The Moon Lady
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Amy Tan's book captures the life of a wealthy Chinese family before
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the Cultural Revolution. In the story, on a rainy afternoon, grand-
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mother Ying-ying tells a tale from long ago to three sisters who wish for
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the rain to stop. When Ying-ying was a little girl she encountered the
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Moon Lady after falling off a boat rented by her family to celebrate the
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Moon Festival. The Moon Lady grants the secret wishes of those who
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ask, but Grandmother discovers that the best wishes are those you make
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come true yourself.
Week One – Day Two and Three
As the story is being read, the children will enjoy the beautiful illustrations painted by Gretchen Schields. The pictures depict lush, tropical vegetation, more like the island of Hainan. The clothing and hairstyles of the girls and ladies in the illustrations show bright colors and flowers of their surroundings. The servants who tend to the family's needs look very much like the village people in Julia Waterlow's book of the present day China.
Rickshaws are used by the family in the story. Wednesday's China box contains pictures of these and explains that before the Cultural Revolution, rickshaws were used by more affluent Chinese as a mode of travel. (A brief explanation about the Cultural Revolution will be given, citing examples from Jiang's book, Red Scarf Girl.)
In addition to the pictures, Wednesday's box contains chop sticks. To our delight, Wednesday has enough chop sticks for each member of the class. Now the fun begins - we all get an opportunity to use the chop sticks and try our best to pick up a few pieces of pasta. While we experiment with the chop sticks, we will listen to a cassette provided by Chinese Music Ensemble sent by the Chinese government to perform at Splendid China in Orlando, Florida. Wednesday explains that a few sets of chop sticks will be placed in the math center so that the children may continue to use them and build patterns with pasta of varying shapes and colors. We also note the various food dishes that the servants prepared for the family in the story and look forward to our visit to a local Chinese Restaurant where we can sample our own Chinese food. We will use Roz Denny's book, A Taste of China, as a reference book. Denny's book shows various pictures of the Chinese family preparing foods. One section talks about "How a Chinese Meal is put Together."
Week One – Day Four
It's time to get into small groups and discuss roles expected of the Chinese girls compared to that of the boys. I think it only fitting that the children drink tea as the family members did throughout the story, The Moon Lady. The story is a girl's tale - a grandmother tells a tale from her own childhood days to three sisters. Very little is mentioned about boys in the story. However, we do meet the father and uncles once or twice. The men burped loudly after they had finished eating. (A Chinese custom still done today.) Also, there are many pictures of dragonflies in the book, beautiful dragonflies. We will discuss what the mother meant when she said, "A boy can run and chase dragonflies, because that is his nature. But a girl should stand still. If you are still for a very long time, a dragonfly will no longer see you. Then it will come and hide in the comfort of your shadow." Could a father have told this to his daughter? Or is this strictly coming from a mother's heart and her view of men? Would a male author put this statement in his book?
In the story, the mother and old ladies drank tea while they talked about their aches and pains and various herbs to soothe their swollen feet. On the other hand, the father and uncles recited poetry and looked at paintings on the walls. In Jiang's book, Red Scarf Girl before the Cultural Revolution many of the wealthy wives stayed home and were pampered by servants much like Tan's story; however, Jiang's mother was educated and held a professional job while a servant took care of the household needs of the family.
Week One – Day Five
A poem from The Clouds Should Know Me by Now: Buddhist Poet Monks of China, will be read and discussed in class. The poem speaks about a boy who says that his master has gone to gather herbs on the mountain. However, he only knows that he is on the mountain because the clouds are too deep to know where he can be located. Using the poem as a model, we will write our own poems about what we see when we climb a mountain. Do girls see the same things as boys? We will compare our poems to see if there is a difference between the writings of the girls and boys.
Week Two – Day One
Most paintings in China are placed on paper panels. We will use a small paper panel to illustrate our poem. The children will use crayon for their pictures and backgrounds. Then a wax resist wash will be used of diluted blue temper paint for painting over the entire picture. The paint fills up all of the spaces that were skipped by the children's crayons and gives a beautiful effect to the picture.
Week Two – Day Two
Grandmother had a tale to tell. I know that our families have beautiful tales to tell from their childhood days. This week's homework will allow the children to interview a family member (preferably a mother or grandmother since our story was told by a woman) and gather a tale from their childhood days. The children will bring the stories back to class, and not only read them in class but read them in our school-wide assembly, inviting the family member to stand with their child on stage.
The Chinese Mirror
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Mirra Ginsburg tells a funny tale about a family who lives in Korea. No one
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in the village has ever seen a mirror. One day a villager goes on a journey to
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far away China, purchases a mirror and brings it home. He thinks it is
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magic because whenever he looks at the mirror the man inside does every-
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thing as he does. One day his wife sees her husband laughing at a funny, shinny
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object. One morning when he goes out, she takes the mirror and looks at
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it, and to her dismay she sees a pretty young lady. She begins to wail to her
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mother-in-law that her husband has been unfaithful in bringing a pretty lady
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home from China. After the mother-in-law looks in the mirror she wonders
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why her son has brought home a wrinkled old crone. Finally the mirror
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ends up in the hands of a little boy holding a pebble who thinks that another
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child stole his pebble. A neighbor comes to his rescue, who bangs his fist into the
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bully's face only to have the mirror crash against a wall and scatter into many
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pieces.
Week Two – Day Three
Wednesday Delight will bring a mirror to class encouraging the children to look into the mirror at the reflection of a classmate and tell something special about them. In addition, we will discuss the use of mirrors in our homes today. What do mirrors tell us? Anything? In the story, the mirror appears to deceive the young wife. Do mirrors always tell us the truth? In the story, the husband's perceptions were different than his wife's interpretation. Do girls see perceive differently when looking in a mirror than boys? Why?
The children will make a fan book, illustrating each character in the story and labeling their pictures.
The Empress and The Silkworm
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Lilly Toy Hong uses a tale from long ago, almost five thousand years,
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to tell her beautiful story about Ling-Chi, a Chinese empress. While
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she is having tea in the garden, suddenly something plops into
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her cup. It happens to be a cocoon from a mulberry tree in the garden.
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The hot tea begins to unravel the cocoon, and Ling-Chi finds that it
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is made of a fine, shimmering thread. Ling-Chi has a dream that the
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thread is woven into a fine silk garment for her husband, the
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Emperor. It takes a lot of hard work to convince her husband that the
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work should be undertaken. But with the persistence of the young empress
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the first silk cloth is woven.
Week Two – Day Four
Today Wednesday Delight's China box contains a silk skirt that came from a city called Nanchong. Nanchong is located in mainland China in the province of Szechwan. There is very little western influence in the city. When the children look closer, they will find some cocoons in Wednesday's box. Will we be able to find any threads in our cocoons like the empress did of long ago? How is silk made? Teams of children will be sent to the library, research the process of making silk, and report back to class.
The clothing box will continue to be a part of our center time where children may continue to try on traditional Chinese clothing. Pictures will be taken of the children and displayed in our China corner in the classroom.
Grandfather Tang's Story: A Tale Told With Tangrams
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Ann Tompert tells a beautiful take about Grandfather Tang and Little
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Soo as they sit under a tree making various shapes from tangram
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puzzles. Grandfather makes a fox with Little Soo's seven pieces
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of tangram puzzle. Then Grandfather tells a tale about two foxes
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who are always trying to compete with each other. Each one tries to
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outdo the other by changing into various animals. During the story
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Grandfather makes the various animals with Little Soo's seven piece
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tangram puzzle. After changing into geese, the two foxes become
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tired of the game. However, before they can change back into foxes
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one of the foxes is shot down by a hunter. Instead of deserting his
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friend, he changes into a lion and frightens the hunter away. The two
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friends change back into foxes. Chou stays with his friend, Wu Ling
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the fox, who is hurt, until he is mended.
Week Two – Day Five
According to Tompert, "Tangrams are ancient Chinese puzzles that are still used today by adults as well as children." All tangrams are cut into seven standard pieces that begin with a square. Each of the seven pieces is called a tan. When creating a picture, each piece must touch another and all seven tans must be used. However, none of the pieces may overlap. When one tells a story involving many characters, the tans are rearranged each time a new character is introduced into the story. The fox fairies in Tompert's story stem back to folklore that originated eight hundred to a thousand years ago in China.
Grandparents play an important role in the lives of young children. Many grandmothers are rearing their grandchildren today. This book will be used to discuss the role of grandparents in the lives of the children. It is interesting to note that Tompert's tale involves a little girl's relationship with her grandfather about a story of competition. It is an endearing relationship of a grandfather and his little grandaughter sitting under a tree, enjoying the company of each other as grandfather tells a tale and they use the trangrams to illustrate the characters. We want to find out what experiences our girls have had with their grandfathers or older relatives. Are those experiences different than those of the boys in our class?
Week Three – Day One
Wednesday's China box contains a set of tangrams for each child in the classroom. Today we will integrate our math skills with our writing skills while we make various shapes and stories from our tangram puzzles. The children may use Tompert's book as a reference book or they may be creative and come up with their own animal creations.
The Treasure Chest: A Chinese Tale
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Rosaland Wang tells a story that takes place in southern China. Laiful is
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a poor boy who is in love with a beautiful orphan girl named Pearl.
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They plan to get married; however, the evil ruler Funtong is taken by
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Pearl's beauty and is determined to win her from Laiful. The evil ruler
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challenges Laiful to three impossible contests. Lauiful triumphs over
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the wicked ruler with the help of his Pearl and a magical-colored fish.
Week Three – Day Two
As we discuss this book, we will talk about beauty and what it means to the children. What is beauty? Is it only found on the outside? What does the tale mean when it says that Laiful fell in love with a beautiful orphan girl? Was she beautiful on the outside or was the tale referring to inner beauty? If the tale is referring to beauty on the outside only, how would you change the tale to include inner beauty or someone who is found pleasing for their character? Since the tale is talking about an orphan girl we will think mostly of girls; however, boys in first grade need to know that inner character is more important than outside appearance too.
Wednesday's China box will be opened and there we will discover pictures from southern China, showing the huge stone mountains that are found in this part of China. Wang illustrates these throughout her story.
Each child will have the opportunity of making their own magical-colored fish, using water color on white construction paper. We will make two sides, cut them out and stuff them with newspaper. We couldn't pass up the opportunity of writing our own tales to go with the magical-colored fish.
The Chinese Siamese Cat
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Amy Tan tells an amusing tale about Sagwa, a naughty little kitten, who
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lives in the house of the Foolish Magistrate. He is a greedy man who
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makes up rules that are only a benefit to himself. One day while Sagwa
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is napping in the Foolish Magistrate's study, she overhears the newest
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rule that does not allow anyone to sing until the sun goes down. Sagwa
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decides the rule is terrible. After the Foolish Magistrate leaves the
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study, Sagwa jumps down from a bookshelf and lands in an ink pot.
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Sagwa is covered with ink, and before she knows what she is doing,
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she blots out the word not with her nose. Now the new rule says that
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the people have to sing all day until the sun goes down. As the people
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sing they praise their ruler. This warms the Foolish Magistrate's heart
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and he becomes a wise magistrate. Of course, Sagwa becomes the greatest
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of all the cats.
Week Three – Day Three
Tan's book is a nice sequel to Wang's book, The Treasure Chest. We will pay special attention to the illustrations as we read the book in class. It will be interesting to look at the brightly colored clothing worn by the ruler and the people in the illustrations and contrast them to the clothing worn by the people after the Cultural Revolution. The communists insisted that the people wear garments mostly of dark colors, gray in particular. Wednesday's box contains a shirt typically worn during this era. During the 1960's some Chinese people no longer wore Chinese clothing and adopted more western styles. We will especially think about the ladies and young girls who had to replace their brightly colored clothing with plain colored shirts and skirts. Could we put ourselves in their place? Would it have been easy? Why or why not? Do clothes have anything to do with the way we feel inside? Should they?
Two of Everything
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Lily Toy Hong tells a funny tale about a Mr. Haktak who digs up a
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brass pot in his garden. He has no idea what he will do with the pot.
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On his way home, he carries his coin purse inside the pot. Mrs. Haktak’s
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hairpin accidentally falls into the pot. As she retrieves the hairpin,
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she discovers that not only are there two hairpins but also two coin purses
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inside the pot. Mr. and Mrs. Haktak soon discover that they have two of
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everything and will no longer be poor. However, the magic brings trouble
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when Mrs. Haktak falls into the pot and out comes another Mrs. Haktak.
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The story ends on a happy note when Mr. Haktak falls into the pot. Now
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there are two Haktak families. The Haktaks become good friends and
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decide to have two of everything.
Week Three – Day Four
This delightful book shows a typical peasant farm family living in a little village. Communists made drastic changes during the 1950's by breaking up the large farms operated by landlords and giving the land to individual farmers. Rice and wheat are two main crops grown in China. Rice grows best in paddies (i.e. water covered fields) found in the southern part of China where it is warm and wet. Wheat is generally gown in the northern plains of China. Chinese farmers lack modern equipment for cultivating and harvesting their crops. Water buffaloes and other animals are used extensively for plowing valley fields and muddy plots where rice grows.
After reading Two of Everything, we will send teams of children to the library where they will look for information about China's main crop, rice, and how it is grown. The teams will report back to the class, reading their reports and showing pictures from the internet, encyclopedias and other informational books.
Week Three – Day Five
The children will watch parts of a video made by a China Education Exchange teacher during her teaching assignment in China. The video shows a typical rural Chinese family whose father is a minister in a local church. Under Communist rule, churches must be registered by the government in order to be considered legal. China lacks enough pastors for all of its churches. Therefore, one of the young ministers in the video has to pedal his bicycle many miles each Sunday to preach in several churches. Women assume pastor roles in the church. In addition to preaching, they clean the church before and after services, lead the congregation in singing, and help to provide meals after the services. The video takes us inside the local church, as well as inside the family's home and outside courtyard kitchen.
In addition, the children in the After School Program will rehearse for a play modeled after the book, Two of Everything. The play can be found in the appendix section.
