Faith Hollinger

Grade: 2
Content: Social Studies
I. Purpose:

The purpose is to summarize the unit on China through the use of a graphic organizer
for the book The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese
Characters. In addition, the purpose of this lesson is to have students appreciate
Chinese characters by making their own Chinese calligraphy. It is important to
conduct this lesson because students will form reading strategies through
summarizing the book as well as be able to appreciate calligraphy as an ancient
Chinese tradition.

VA History SOLo 2.1 The student will explain how the contributions of ancient China and Egypt
have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, inventions, the
calendar, and written language.

II. Objective:

The student will be able to create a work of art using Chinese calligraphy and write
the English translation of the characters given an index card with the Chinese
character and English translation with 100% accuracy.
The student will be able fill out a STORY graphic organizer given a read-aloud of the
book The Pet Dragon with 88.88% accuracy.

III. Procedure:
a. Introduction

Have the class come to the carpet and ask them what Chinese written words are
called. Tell them that today we will be learning more about Chinese characters.
Show them several Chinese characters that are in the book The Pet Dragon.
Also tell them that they will be using a STORY graphic organizer after the book is
read-aloud. Tell them that we use graphic organizers to remember the main parts of a
story and to help summarize a story.

b. Development

Begin reading the book. (Auditory) Point out the Chinese characters on each page.
(Visual) Ask questions as you read the book. Who is the main character? What is the
problem? Where is this story taking place?

At the end of the book go over the STORY graphic organizer. Have a copy hanging
up for everyone to see. (Visual) Go over and explain what should be put in each box
(setting, talking characters, problem, attempts to resolve, and problem solved).
For struggling students: Give an example of what you would put in one of the boxes
then ask the students to give an example of each from the story. Write them down on
your paper to show exactly what you expect them to do. (Auditory & Visual)
Now talk about the Chinese characters seen in the book. Ask students if they know
what calligraphy means.
Calligraphy means beautiful writing. Calligraphy is the art of handwriting. Show
students an example of Chinese calligraphy. (Visual) Tell them that the Ancient
Chinese considered writing an important form of art. They would practice for years to
write perfectly and with style.
Next give students directions as to what they will be doing at their seats. First they
will fill out the STORY graphic organizer independently at their desk. They do not
need to write out a whole sentence, they can just list. When they are done they will
put their head down on their desk.
After the student is done, give them his or her own index card that has a Chinese
character on one side and the English translation on the back. They will each get a
different Chinese character that was used in the book. Tell them to hold onto their
card. (Visual)
Then they will make their own Chinese calligraphy. (Kinesthetic) The teacher will
hand out materials to those that are ready. These are the steps: write your name on the
front of the white sheet of paper and write the English translation that you got on the
card at the bottom of the paper, apply a little paint to the paint brush and smoothly
paint the Chinese character on the paper. Place in an area to dry.
For struggling students: If the Chinese character is too complex for the student to
paint, they may get a simpler one.
For advanced students: write a sentence about your favorite part of the story on your
work of art.

c. Summary

Ask the students what they learned.

Why do we use graphic organizers? (To remember main parts of a story and to help
us summarize the story.)
What is Chinese calligraphy? (Writing Chinese characters beautifully; it is considered
an art.)
What was your experience like with making Chinese characters?

IV. Materials:

The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters by
Christoph Niemann
Index card with Chinese character and English translation for each student

STORY graphic organizer for each student

Black paint (or water color paint)
Paint brush &water
Paper
Pencil
Example of Chinese calligraphy

Criteria for
STORY
graphic
organizer

(3 Points)

(2 points)

(1 point)

Each box of the

graphic organizer is
filled out with an
example.

At least 4 out of the 5

are filled in.

3 out of the 5 are

filled in.

2 or less out of the 5

are filled in.

The example comes

from the book The
Pet Dragon.

At least 4 out of the 5

are examples from
the book.

3 out of 5 are
examples from the
book.

2 or less out of 5 are

examples from the
book.

There is correct
spelling.

Most or all of the

words are correctly
spelled.

Some of the words

are spelled correctly
(about 50% are
spelled correctly)

Less than half of the

words written are
spelled correctly.

(2 points)

(1 point)

Criteria for
Chinese
Calligraphy

(3 points)

The Chinese
character is
accurately depicted.

Chinese
character
resembles the
one given on the
index card.

Chinese
character does
not resemble the
one given on the
index card.

There is not a
Chinese
character on the
paper.

The English
translation is
written out on the
front of the paper.

The English
translation is
written out
clearly and
correct.

The English
translation is
written but it is
not legible.

There is no
English
translation
written down.

The student
correctly used the
materials to make
the Chinese
calligraphy.

The student used

paint to make
the Chinese
character and
wrote the English
translation and
name in pencil.

The student did

not use the
materials
correctly. Paint
was messy and
used to write
their name and

The materials
were not used at
all.

English
translation.

Name_________________________________________
_
Give an example of each found in the story that was read.

Setting:

The Characters:

Oops! Problem:

Attempts to Resolve:

Yes! Problem Solved: