In The Leaves Lesson Plan

In the Leaves, as well as Huy Voun Lee's other books, are a wonderful way to introduce students to Chinese characters. This title is further helpful in that it offers phonetic spellings of the Mandarin Chinese featured in the book. Students enjoy learning about the Chinese characters.

OBJECTIVE
Students will "recognize that printed materials provide information." --Massachusetts English/Language Arts Curriculum Framework

MATERIALS

In the Leaves by Huy Voun Lee
10 sheets of plain construction paper or card stock (around 4" X 11")
Sharpie marker or colored marker

SET UP AND PREPARE
Fold the strips of paper into thirds, so that the end panels are behind the middle panel. In the middle panels, draw the symbols for grain, fire, autumn, field, sprout, pig, house, mouth, harmony, and rice. They can be found at the beginning of the book, as well as at the start of most passages.

On the left panels, draw the matching picture for the character. On the right panels, write out the matching word. (I prefer to use the English word, as it helps students to identify the character, but you may opt to write it in Chinese.)

When the strip is complete, it should show the picture, the character, and the word, when the strip is unfolded. When folded, it should only display the character.

DIRECTIONS
Show students the cards, and have them try to identify what the characters stand for. Flip open the left and right panels as students identify them.

LESSON EXTENSION
Have students create their own set of folding cards.

Create individual cards that feature the Chinese characters, illustrations, and written words. Have students try to match the cards in sets, pairing like characters, pictures, and words.

Related Resources
At the Beach by Huy Voun Lee
In the Snow by Huy Voun Lee
In the Park by Huy Voun Lee

About the Author

Jeremy Brunaccioni is a kindergarten teacher in Massachusetts.

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