Lesson 2: Exploring Chinese New Year Customs Through Inquiry and Performance
In Lesson 2: Customs and Traditions of Chinese New Year, teachers guide students beyond vocabulary memorization and into meaningful cultural understanding. The driving question sets the tone:
What do people do during Chinese New Year, and what do these customs show about their values?
This lesson is built around visual inquiry, student noticing, and low-stress language production. Teachers introduce core Chinese New Year customs, such as 拜年, 发红包, 舞龙舞狮, 放鞭炮, and 大扫除 using rich images and short video clips. Students respond using scaffolded sentence starters like 我看到…, 我觉得…, and 我想知道为什么…, allowing every learner to participate at their level.
A key feature of this lesson is the emphasis on accepting all forms of communication - single words, gestures, mixed English and Chinese so students feel confident sharing ideas while developing proficiency.
To demonstrate learning, students choose one creative option:
a mini-skit acting out a Chinese New Year custom,
a cartoon/comic strip with short captions, or
a photo gallery with simple Chinese descriptions
The lesson concludes with an ACTFL-aligned “I Can Do” checklist, helping students reflect on what they can say and explain about Chinese New Year traditions, from novice to intermediate levels Lesson 2 CNY.
Lesson 2 is a powerful example of how culture, language, and student voice can come together, making Chinese New Year not just something students learn about, but something they truly understand and experience.