Story-based+Instruction+-+Chinese

toc //Post information, resources, and tips for learning Chinese through stories here.//

=Books in English re: Chinese Characters=

[|At the Beach] by Huy Voun Lee - In English, but with hints for re: how to remember various characters that are nicely contextualized in writing in the sand, the clouds, etc. (available from Amazon.com) user:chericem1

[|In the Snow] by Huy Voun Lee - In English, but with hints for re: how to remember various characters that are nicely contextualized in writing in the snow, etc. (available from Amazon.com) user:chericem1

[|Lóng is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children] - A children's book in English that emphasizes simple Chinese characters (available from Amazon.com) user:chericem1

=Books in English About Chinese Culture=

[|A Thousand Peaks: Poems from China] - (available from Amazon.com) user:chericem1

[|Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture] by Carol Stepanchuk - A children's book in English and Chinese that highlights elements of Chinese culture in the context of a trip through Chinatown in San Francisco (available from Amazon.com) user:chericem1

= = [|Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series)] (Paperback) – Written by an ESL teacher to give kids hands-on experiences with Chinese history using common household items (available from Amazon.com) user:chericem1

[|Made in China] – An exquisitely beautiful book that takes the reader through important sites in China with traditional Chinese papercut illustrations – an excellent example of how the text and illustrations can work together to convey culture (available from Amazon.com) user:chericem1

=Books in English About Chinese and Chinese Americans=

[|Chinese and Chinese Americans in Children's & Young Adult Books] - An annotated list of several children's picture books in English, along with links to biographies and interviews with Chinese American authors user:chericem1

= = =Lesson Plans=

[|Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See] - Links to lesson plans and pedagogically sound activities for the book, as well as worksheets in Chinese user:chericem1

[|Dim Sum] - An extensive set of lesson plans for an entire unit built around this book user:chericem1

=Stories Online=

- This site contains a collection of Chengyu stories based on Chinese idioms. Each story shows the stroke order for writing out the idiom, contains pin yin for each character, and allows students to roll over the text for an English translation.

- Wonderful collection of short, culturally authentic fables grounded in Chinese proverbs and narrated very slowly in Chinese by a native speaker from Wellesley College. Each fable is accompanied by drawings that support comprehension, as well as a short sequence of self-checking, oral comprehension questions that students answer by clicking the appropriate multiple-choice answer

- Click on the map of China to watch folktales narrated in Chinese or English

=Sources for Books=

[|Amazon.com (China)] - In Chinese

AsianKids

[|AsianParent.com] - Extremely well-designed site makes it easy to find children's books in either simplified or traditional Mandarin Chinese by age, type of book (Chinese classics or Western classics), etc. Also links to excellent articles in English for adoptive parents of children from China.

[|ChinaSprout.com] - Products (including children's books) related to Chinese culture and education user:chericem1

See also: Literacy Development Activities, Pronunciation Activities

Back to: Chinese, Home