Maria Mercurio, James Madison High School
Level: Beginning/Intermediate-ESL

READING (From In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, by Betty Lord)

VOCABULARY

HANDOUT

Instructional Objectives:

1. Understand and use selected vocabulary
2. Read and analyze passage
3. Compare student's own experience in a new school with this selection by Bette Bao Lord
4. Compare/Contrast Chinese customs with American customs
5. Research an aspect of Chinese culture and report about it to class

Procedure:

1. China's Little Ambassador is divided into three lessons and each lesson is divided into three
parts.
2. Vocabulary is taught in context prior to reading.
3. Vocabulary is subsequently modeled by the students with choral repetition.
4. The model question is written on the board at the beginning of each part.
5. Reading is accomplished through individual, choral and silent reading.

Aim: How does Shirley feel about her first day of school?

1. Vocabulary:

1. foreign - from another country
2. eyebrows - hairs directly above eyes
3. tilted - not straight
4. proof - test of the truth, facts that show the truth
5. obediently - following the rules
6. reputation - way people think about you
7. gesture - movement
8. ambassador - an important person sent by one country to another

Motivation: Think about your first day in a new school. What are some words that tell how you felt? Create a two-column chart. In the left column list things that made the first day at a new school easier. In the right column list things that made it harder.

Leading questions: (p. 1-2)
Part I: (paragraphs 1-4) How does Shirley describe the principal?
Part II: (paragraphs 5-11) How does Shirley's age cause confusion for Shirley?
Part III: (paragraphs 12-19) How does Shirley feel when her mother leaves her at school?

Summary through cooperative peer interaction:

Students will break into pairs to discuss the following question: What does Shirley's mother mean when she tells Shirley, "You are China's little ambassador?"

Homework:

Write an essay about how you felt on you first day of school. Compare it to Shirley's experience.

II.

Vocabulary:

1. ebony - hard, black wood
2. chopsticks - two small wooden sticks used for eating
3. dainty - small, delicate
4. fiery - like fire
5. previous - earlier, one before
6. dwarfed - was taller than
7. trifle - a small unimportant thing

Motivation: What is the first thing that struck you when you walked into your new school?

Leading Questions: (p. 3-4)
Part I (paragraphs 20-24) How does Shirley describe her classmates? How does she describe her classroom?
Part II: (paragraphs 25-26) How does Shirley feel about Mrs. Rappaport?
Part III: (paragraphs 27-29) Where does Shirley go at lunchtime? Does she enjoy herself? How do you know?

Summary through cooperative peer interaction:
List at least five comparisons that Shirley makes about her classmates, classroom and teacher. Which ones seem funny to you? (Students can illustrate one of the comparisons.)

Homework:
Imagine you are a classmate of Shirley's. Write a letter to her explaining what she needs to know about an American school in order to succeed.

III

Vocabulary:
1. escapade - wild adventure
2. shamed - lose respect, feel small
3. to lose face (idiom) - to lose respect
4. flinched - jumped back
5. curiosity - need to know
6. trembling - shaking
7. quizzical - questioning

Motivation: How do differences in culture lead to misunderstandings in real life?

Finish reading the passage (p. 5-end). Answer the following questions:

1. How does Shirley feel when she returns from lunch? What is she afraid of?
2. What does Mrs. Rappaport give Shirley at the end of the day? How does this
make Shirley feel?
3. What does the note from the teacher say? What did you think it was going to say?
4. Why did the teacher think there was something wrong with Shirley's eyes?

Summary through cooperative peer interaction:

Students will break into pairs to answer the following question: Mush of the humor in "China's little ambassador" is due to Shirley's misunderstandings between Chinese and American customs. (elicit from students: calculating age, animal calendar, blinking of eyes, obedience, losing face, not questioning authority) what are the Chinese customs that are different from American? List five from the story.

Homework:

Describe a real life example about someone who was misunderstood because of a difference in culture.

Follow-up lessons:

1. Students can research a feature of Chinese culture to report to the class (food, language, school, arts, religion, etc.)
2. Learn the Chinese calendar in which years are represented by animals.