Submitted by Xu Zhang
Objectives:
Content:
Students will:
- Compare their own ways of obtaining a permanent/steady dwelling place to the ways of people in Beijing;
- Understand how the housing policy is changing and how this has affected the life of the ordinary people in the city;
- Be aware of the merits and drawbacks of different ways of providing housing to citizens;
- Think about the ways to help with the transition of housing policies.
Cultural:
Students will:
- Understand people's feelings to the old and new housing policies;
- Understand people's feelings, reactions and adaptations to the changes in housing policies.
Language: Content Obligatory
Students will:
- Use the following words and phrases (see attachment, Word List Lesson 10, List 1)
- Use the following journalistic Chinese structures (see attachment, Grammar List Lesson 10, List 1)
Language: Content Compatible
Students will:
- Use the discourse, words and phrases for describing and representing a group of people
- Use words and phrases more proficiently for comparison and contrast
Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Time Frame:
1.5 hours
Materials Needed:
- Audio tape recording
- Reading materials on housing
Description of Assessment (Performance Project):
Context:
The students are now more proficient and understand the concept of collectivism in the Chinese city of Beijing and the coexistence of individuality as well as particular group interests.Pre-task: Pair work.
The students are to discuss the following questions: (1) What kind of buildings are you (have you been) living in now? (2) In your city/country, if people want to get themselves a place to live for a longer time (not as a tourist), what can they do? How many choices do they have? The students discuss and list the possible answers. Then the teacher calls on a whole class discussion as feedback for the pair work. Each pair is to contribute one point to the class. The teacher may write this on board for later comparison.Task set-up:
Step 1: Listening to a resident in Beijing talk about the housing for the general public there, the changes in policy and people's feelings and ways of coping with possible problems. The students are to listen to the tape individually and find out:(1) In what kind of dwellings do most residents in Beijing live? Why so? After listening, the students are to discuss their answers in pairs. Then the teacher asks each pair what they have found and list the students' answers on the blackboard as a comparison against the U.S. ways of housing previously listed.
(2) Till recently how did people in Beijing typically get their places to live?
(3) What merits and drawbacks does housing as a social welfare have in this city?
(4) What are the changes that are going to happen to the city's housing policies? How do people feel and react to this?Step 2: "Writing relay race". This is a game for the students to reinforce their vocabulary and structures for comparison and contrast. The students are divided into four teams. The teacher let the students read the points listed on board once again and then erase everything. After erasing the existing points for comparison, the teacher divides the board into 4 areas and marks them with Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, and Team 4. Each member of all teams should write a sentence comparing housing between the U.S. and Beijing. After the first person finished, s/he runs back to her team and touches the second person's hand and the second person set off to write the next. Writing should be done in Chinese. If the students' level is high, the teacher may also demand that each person mount up to the previous sentence in a logical and coherent way to make a paragraph that makes sense. The student should note that judgment is done not only on the speed and quantity, but also on quality. The teacher do not have to time the students, but should make a note on who finished first, second, and so on. When every team is finished, the teacher and the students are to examine the four teams' product and evaluate together to find out the winner. Or prizes could be separated as "the winner of speed", "the winner of quality", etc. Teacher should also make sure that all participating students feel proud of their work.
During task:
The teacher first go together with the students to refresh their memories of what the speaker just said about people's worries and reactions to the coming new housing policy. Then, the teacher asks the students to discuss in groups of 4 (each group may represent a similar interest, such as a group of newly graduate students, a group of business person, a group of very poor people, etc.). Their discussion questions are:(1) If you are in that particular situation, how do you think you are going to react? The groups are to discuss and make a list of points on a piece of. At this point, the groups are asked to keep their own particular interests to themselves and read a piece of information from news on the web that deals with the new housing policy. The articles are chosen online at:
(2) What kind of help you think you are going to need from the society, or the city administration?
(3) What information you think you would like to hear to solve practical problems or to boost up your courage?http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0281.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0285.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0289.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0263.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0219.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_067.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0142.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0210.aspEach group is to be assigned one or two passages (depending on the length and topic) to find out whether what is written on the news answered their particular concerns. If yes and you are happy with it, in what way? If partially, what are the satisfactions and what are the lacks? If no, how do you suggest solve your problem(s) as a dweller in that city? The students are going to present their discussion results and distribute the portions of the discussion evenly among the group members. The teacher can help them with this while monitoring.
Post-task: "Conference time".
After the discussion, the students are to present their discussion results in a conference involving them as the general public. Each person are to present their interest group and deliver a portion of their well-organized collective thoughts. Basically, what they need to say are the questions they have discussed. They are to speak on behalf of their special interest group by using phrases such as "we are.../ we represent...", "our concerns are...", "this answered our questions on.../this only partially answered.../this did not answer...". "Therefore, we suggest...".
Assessment:
While the students are conferencing, the teacher is going to sit at the back and fill out the evaluation form as the conference flows. The evaluation form is in the attachment, Assessment Lesson 10, List 1.
References and Resources:
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0281.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0285.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0289.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0263.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0219.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_067.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0142.asp
http://www.chinareal.com/news/news_zhongcheng_0210.asp
http://www.beijingculture.com/bjview/bjview0009.htmMarlene
audio files on housing: in folder "new_bj_housing", including 4 audio files "bj_housing" 1-4, and a word doc "Description Housing"
Attachments:
NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)Word List Lesson 10.PDF
Grammar List Lesson 10.PDF
Assessment Lesson 10.PDFsome suggested pictures are:
Housing.jpg
Housing2.jpg
newhousing.jpg
