饮食yǐn shí (Food and Drink)

2. Growing rice

Prior Knowledge:It is helpful if children can recall the question word 什么 shénme (what?)
Framework Objectives
O3.2Recognise and respond to sound patterns and words.
O3.3Perform simple communicative tasks.
IU3.2 Locate country/countries where the language to be studied is spoken /

Support

Use flashcards of vegetables and types of rice to elicit responses
Extension
Look at where wheat is grown in China; primarily in the Chang Jiang Valley and on the North China Plain. Talk about how this affects what people eat in different parts of China i.e. wheat noodles in the north).
Add this area and related noodle dish pictures to the class display adding pictures of wheat growing and noodle dishes / Main
  • Pronunciation grid warm-up. Ensure the children are able to see how your mouth moves and talk about how the tongue moves in the mouth too
  • Revise vegetable and fruit names. Ask children which are common and unique to China and the UK and/or which they like and dislike.
  • Introduce the different Chinese terminology for rice – cooked and uncooked, plain and fried:米 mǐ(rice),饭 fàn(cooked rice), 白饭 báifàn (plain rice), 炒饭 chǎofàn (fried rice) using images to support understanding. Explain the importance of rice in Chinese cooking. Rice is a staple food in China. The Chinese were the first to cultivate it.
  • Revise the question word 什么 shénme (what?) and ask the question 你喜欢吃什么饭? nǐ xǐhuān chī shénme fàn?(What kind of rice do you liketo eat?) Using pictures/rice to elicit answer 我喜欢吃白饭/炒饭 wǒ xǐhuān chī báifàn/chǎofàn (I like to eat plain rice/fried rice)
  • Show children a rice grain and ask the children in English if they know how rice is grown. Talk about the life cycle of rice and dishes involving rice (referring back to session 1 rice vocabulary)
  • Show the children the characters for米mǐ(rice,水田 shuǐtián (paddy field) and ask the children which is which. They might remember 田from being introduced to it when learning to create Chinese characters.
  • Practise the writing of the characters either by brush stroke and/or by looking at the whole character and then looking away and copying it. Ask the children what else might work as a learning strategy for Chinese characters.
/ ICT opportunities
(levels of difficulty 1= easier, 3= more complex)
Research the internet for material to share with the children on rice growing – see teaching tips(2)

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饮食yǐn shí (Food and Drink)

2. Growing rice

Throughout the week:
Practise recognition of the characters for 米mǐ(rice,水田 shuǐtián (paddy field).
Keen children can practise writing the characters using a work-sheet that provides the brush stroke order. These characters can be added to the class display. / Main Follow up Activities
Choose one of the main rice growing areas in China (e.g. Yunnan) and create a labelled display against a background of a map of China (the one perhaps used in unit 1) showing the planting, growing and harvesting process within a flooded paddy field.Add pictures of Chinese rice dishes from the Yunnan area e.g. 米线mǐ xiàn(noodles) from this area that are usually sold fresh rather than dried.
And/or visit a local restaurant to taste different plates of rice or invite a chef from a local restaurant to visit school. / ICT Follow up Activities
Video the class displayon rice (as a whole display and elements of it) adding some sound in Chinese and English and send to partner school in China or another school in the UK/USA learning Mandarin Chinese (2). Or create an e-presentation using digital photos and add sound files or explanatory notes in writing (pinyin and English).
Show animations for the writing of the characters rice and paddy field and ask the children to follow the animation (or repeat yourself) using their arm in the air or on a friend’s back. (1) Can they remember how they learnt letters in reception?
Learning Outcomes
Children:
  • know that in Chinese there are multiples words for rice representing its importance in Chinese cooking
  • understandthat rice has a life cycle involving planting, growing and harvesting
  • learn to recognise the characters for rice and paddy field
/ National Curriculum Links
Science
SC2understand that life processes common to plants include growth, nutrition and reproduction.Life processes 1c to relate life processes to animals and plants found in the local environment.
Teaching Tips
  • Rice is generally grown in fields flooded to supply water for growing, and to avoid weeds and animals. Planting seedlings and harvesting is hard work unless expensive rice harvesters are used.
  • Searching the internet using ‘Life Cycle Rice’ and ‘Rice Harvest China’ can help prepare for this session.
/ Resources
Rice grains and preferably packets of rice with Chinese labelling
Cooked rice if possible (note some local restaurants might welcome a visit)
Labels in pinyin of vegetables (with pictures of vegetables indicating relative size on reverse if needed)
ICT Resources
Access to Internet search engine for information about rice
Character animation softwareor internet programme
Video equipment and video editing software
老师的词汇 / Teacher Language / 学生的词汇 / Children’s Language
米饭 mǐfàn
米mǐ
饭 fàn
白饭báifàn
炒饭 chǎofàn
什么 shénme
你喜欢吃什么饭?
nǐ xǐhuān chī shénme fàn?
我喜欢吃wǒ xǐhuān chī…
水田 shuǐtián / Cooked rice
Rice
Cooked rice
Plain rice
Fried rice
What
What kind of rice do you like [to eat?
I like to eat…
Paddy field / 米饭 mǐfàn
米mǐ
饭 fàn
白饭báifàn
炒饭 chǎofàn
什么 shénme
你喜欢吃什么饭?
nǐ xǐhuān chī shénme fàn?
我喜欢吃wǒ xǐhuān chī…
水田 shuǐtián / Cooked rice
Rice
Cooked rice
Plain rice
Fried rice
What
What kind of rice do you like [to eat?
I like to eat…
Paddy field

Developed by Bamboo Learning Limited in partnership with CILT for the TDA – downloadable FREE from

Crown copyright – strictly not be used for commercial purposes