Chinese New Year and Curriculum Integration

Pictures to follow soon!!

I have currently been able to link art and other curriculum in some minor ways this year. Most homeroom classes at my school teach about Chinese New Year so I have incorporated a Chinese New Year Unit into the Art curriculum by having each class create a different piece of art from Asian cultures that celebrate Chinese New Year. I was excited to teach a bit about China in the Art room as I had taught in China and speak conversational Mandarin. Students learned to count and use a few mandarin phrases.

Each class studied a different cultural object from China in Art class and worked on a project. I tried to focus on objects that were very common in Mainland China but not so commonly seen in Chinese New Year classroom curriculum. During the creation phase students listened to music from the Beijing Opera and traditional Chinese Er Hu. Chinese Pinyin songs were also played students were surprised to hear all the different sounds. The Elementary art students studied images of Chinese schools and pictures from China. They talked about the differences in daily life and asked a lot of questions about the pictures. 

I hung a display in the hall that included English writing projects from my previous teaching experience in China. Students were interested to see my work from my pupils living in China. I featured writing assignments from my Chinese, Japanese, and Korean student their essays and art that described daily life in China and featured art and handwriting. 

A hall sized banner of Ancient Hanyu (writing) characters illustrate the way that pictures rather than letters form ideas in Hanyu. The banner integrated with the religion classes by breaking down 6 characters that illustrate ancient chinese knowledge of biblical account of creation as explained by Dr. E Nelsons & Dr. G. Tong Chock.

Art Projects:

PK- Tea Paintings

K- Asian Paper Bateek

1st- Dragon Puppets & Class collaborative dragon

2nd- Wei Fang Paper Kites

3rd- Asian Kirigami

4th- Clay Beijing Opera Masks

The 5th Grade teacher went the extra mile, she taught a unit on Japanese Haiku which students created their own Haiku writing piece students chose an appropriate Sumi Brush stroke project. I explained that in Asia there are often 3 core art lessons daily, Calligraphy, Traditional Painting, and Craft. Students learned the basic brush holds and pressures painted gorgeous works which the homeroom teacher will frame and display.